Tuesday, 18 November 2014

Shadows over Gondor: The Battle of Amon Thorongil (test-run AAR), Part 1.

WHAT IF...

The Great Goblin sent out his hordes in close pursuit of the escaping adventurers, and Gandalf had to summon Gwaihir and speed ahead to mobilize the Elves of Mirkwood, and the Beornings, to stem the tide. Thus Gandalf's attention was turned away from Dol Guldur, and other events kept him busy after that.

The Dwarves and Bilbo reached Erebor, and aroused Smaug by stealing the Arkenstone, and Smaug laid waste to Dale and Esgaroth, but was killed by Bard. The men from Dale and Esgaroth approached Erebor, only to find a defiant Thorin Oakenshield and his companions.

The Battle of 5 Armies never happened, and Thorin, relieved by the arrival of Dain Ironfoot, defeated the small army of men, and became King under the Mountain.

The Necromancer, sensing the weakness of the Free Peoples of the East, orchestrated an attack by Orcs and Easterlings.

The Dwarves withdrew to Erebor, leaving the human forces to be routed by the ravening hordes, who continued their onslaught through the East Emnet of Rohan, falling into northern Anórien.

Thorongil once more rode in the service of Gondor, leading an army to stop the forces of Darkness.
At the ruins of an ancient watch tower, battle was joined, and the evil hordes defeated – but at a terrible price: Thorongil had fallen at the head of the counter-attack that finally broke the forces of the Enemy, and his body was laid to rest, facing East, in a mausoleum at the foot of the hill, henceforth known as Amon Thorongil.

During the years to come, the Necromancer worked his foul machinations, sending out agents to stir up the Free Peoples against each other. At some point, rumour of a certain ring worn by the slain captain of Gondor reached his ears deep beneath the Tower of Dol Guldur, and he became very eager to confirm this rumour. Not yet ready to reveal himself to the world, through his dark emissaries he planted the idea in Thorin Oakenshield, who was known to make decisions based on greed, that the tomb of Thorongil contained a priceless ancient Dwarven artifact.

Thorin sent out Fíli, leading a strong expedition force, with the orders to retrieve anything of value from the mausoleum.

Denethor, using the Palantír, sensed the imminent danger to his northern borders, and when the Ranger scouts confirmed that a Dwarven army was approaching, he and his eldest son took command of a hastily assembled force to meet the intruders, leaving Faramir to gather the main army and march north as soon as possible.

It is an Hour of Wolves and Shattered Shields...
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Special rules for the scenario:
  • The ruined mausoleum of Thorongil counts as the Gondorian camp.
  • If the Dwarves sack the mausoleum, and their army is broken, they still win a minor victory.
  • If the Dwarves sack the mausoleum and break the Gondorian army, the Dwarves win a major victory.
  • If the Gondorians keep the tomb of Thorongil intact, and their army is broken, they win a minor victory (they have stalled the invaders long enough for Faramir to arrive).
  • If the Gondorians keep the tomb of Thorongil intact, and manage to break the Dwarven army, they win a major victory.

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We started setting up half the Gondorian force


Then the dwarves were deployed in full force (except the miners, who were represented by 2 soil bases).



Took some time, but finally the rest of the humans could be deployed


A view from the other end of the battlefield.


Duregar started moving his miners forward



Denethor called upon the help of the Valar, giving a unit of Fiefdom Warriors the ability to fly (mad as a hatter, that guy ;D)



The dvarven center started advancing


Countered by a unit of fiefdom warriors


More advancing dwarves


The flying warriors leaped towards the enemy supply lines


A unit of dwarven archers moved to counter the advancing flank of the humans


And the fiefdom archers took up a central position to - hopefully - rain death on their foes


A unit of dwarven berserkers move forward on the right flank.



To be continued...

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