Battle Report: Rohan vs Easterlings (07/03/15)

Now that we have a new gaming room, I got my two boys together this afternoon for a rumble somewhere on the borders of Rohan. Nick played Rohan and Alex played the Easterling raiders (the only two armies for which I have painted minis). I sorted them out a Battle Company each and let them go at it.

I am very rusty with the rules at the moment, so a few things were missed and a couple of things were done in the wrong order during a turn or two, but these may not have made any difference anyway as Nick's dice-rolls were a typical little kid's and newbie's rolls - he always rolled what he required when he needed it except in the first couple of turns.

I began to photograph the game, but the camera battery died on me after a couple of turns. I recharged it and took a picture of the battlefield after the fifth and final turn!

Nick set up on the left hand side of the board in a small mass of troops. Alex, as he was on the right hand side of the board and therefore partially cut off by the river, he decided to set up as close to the ford as possible.

Turn 1 - Rohan priority

Nick and Alex both advanced their troops. Nick moved towards the barn and Alex made his way across the ford.

Turn 2 - Easterling priority
Alex advanced but Nick was a bit more canny and after advancing his warriors, he used his archers to shoot from a distance - both missed.

Turn 3 - Easterling priority
Alex advanced more and Nick did the same - again both archers missed.

Turn 4 - Rohan priority
Nick advanced into combat but used his throwing spears on the way in, killing the Easterling leader. This caused an immediate morale check which caused an Easterling archer to flee off the table and one of the spearmen to retreat - the rest held their nerve.
Alex was able to retaliate in his turn, with the remaining archer shooting into the Rohan ranks (but missed) and his heavily armed troops despatched a Rohan warrior.

Turn 5 - Rohan priority
This is where it completely fell apart for Alex.
Nick advanced his men back into combat, but the throwing spears missed. He then proceeded to win every combat. The first combat between the Rohan leader and one of his men and a single Easterling led to the Easterling being despatched. The other two combats resulted in no wounds being scored. This is where we got it in the wrong order. We had missed Nick's Shoot Phase for his archers, so we ran it now - they killed another Easterling warrior!

Alex ran a further Morale check on his troops as they had dropped below 50%, but only one failed. He decided to run with the combat as his armour was better than the Rohan warriors' and he fancied his chances, but he lost both of the fights and his warriors were both killed. The last remaining member of the Easterling Battle Company fled the table.

Summary - A Rohan Victory

Rohan lost 1 warrior to the Easterlings' 5 warriors.

I am not sure what would have happened if Alex had attempted to use his Fate point for his leader, but the way Nick was rolling the result was inevitable anyway.

Nick really enjoyed his victory, but was very upset when he lost his single warrior. Alex took it on the chin and chalked this experience up to Nick having beginner's luck and the usual knack for six year olds to roll whatever die score that is required (never play Nick at Frustration - he never loses!).

Both boys said that they would love to play again next weekend, with Alex using his own figures - his High Elves. I will continue to play Battle Companies with them but not use the promotion tables etc. yet. When we are all familiar with the rules again and can cope with larger amounts of minis, I may push the points limit up from approximately 50 or so to 250. This will allow the boys to field a couple of warbands with proper captains/leaders and maybe even named heroes.