Battle Companies : Gondor vs Orcs

This weekend the kids were over again. Two weeks ago, when they should have been over last, I had spent a long weekend in York, so missed out on a gaming opportunity with my youngest. We didn't get the chance to update the rest of the warband roster sheet and stats, so we have carried on from last time we played. We grabbed our miniatures, rolled for the scenario and put out the scenery.

12. Plunder the Camp

The table was set up as per the scenario. In the roll-off, we determined Gondor as the defenders and the orcs as the attackers. Gondor therefore had to set up first and then the orcs could set up no closer than 6" away from the encampment.

Upon re-reading the scenario after we had finished playing, we realised that we had made the camp only 6" across instead of 12". Not sure if this would have made much difference to the outcome, but it was a fast-paced, exciting game none-the-less...

The forces of Gondor led by Damril (the five objective markers for the scenario are the barrels)...

The few days after the encounter with the troll at the previous watchtower, Damril led his patched-up men onwards to the next watchtower along the valley. Again, the small hamlet should have been uninhabited, but hopefully he could repair it a little, like the previous one, and report back to his commander that he had had some success ridding the area of a troll, an orc warband, and had reinforced the two watchtowers so that fresh guardsmen could be posted in them thus allowing freer movement of troops throughout the valley.

Night was falling and the light was fading fast as Damril and his warband approached the next hamlet. In the distance he and his men could see the glow of a campfire. He whispered his orders and the troops approached the camp cautiously, but all was deemed safe when the camp password request was sounded out from behind the ruined walls. He responded with the correct code for the day and the warband made their way into the camp.

The latest news and passcodes were swapped over a hot meal and then the current incumbents gathered their belongings and moved out. However, Damril was told that a new recruit, a spearman, would be his to train up over the coming weeks, thus his warband now ranked seven warriors; Damril, two archers, three spearmen, one of whom was the new recruit, and another swordsman. It was time he decided upon a couple of sergeants to help him with the chain of command.

By the time the other warband had left, Damril had staked his camp and ordered the watch; no-one could see further than a dozen or so yards in front of them due to the darkness, which would make it very difficult for the archers to pick out targets when on sentry duty. Damril got his company of weary troops into position to see out the night; he was wary that the orcs they had encountered the previous day would still be somewhere in the vicinity.

On the other side of the settlement, Ushnar was approaching the camp with vengeance on his mind. He had wanted the glory of killing that troll, so he had followed Damril and his warband throughout the day in order to spring an ambush at an opportune moment. Upon arriving at the campsite, he noticed that bundles of supplies were dotted around the camp. If he could destroy some of these, he thought, he could whittle down his enemy through hunger and fatigue, and then finish them off when they were weak and weary.

He split his forces and gave each squad orders on what he needed them to do. With a few hooted signals, the orcs advanced upon their foe. The two orc warriors with bows loosed their arrows at the earliest opportunity, but their shafts flew wide of the mark. The Gondorian archers returned fire and felled two of the orcs charging the campsite, but this did not stop combat ensuing. The orcs had the worst of the affray and two more fell to the trusty swords of the Gondorian soldiers.

The combat in the camp became more intense as more orcs joined the fray. A further orc fell to the Gondorians but they managed to set fire to two bundles of supplies. Fearing for their supplies, the Gondorians pulled back from the orcs to readjust their battle lines, but one of the swordsmen was felled by Ushnar (using his point of Might). Damril returned the favour and slew another orc (using his point of Might), before the rest of the orc warband turned tail and fled the scene.

The final score was that two bundles of supplies had been destroyed before the orcs had to retreat. This meant a victory for Gondor. Again, the orcs were cursed with rolling too many ones and twos, whilst the Gondorians were blessed with an inordinate amount of fives and sixes. If the orcs hadn't lost four of their number in the second round alone, then things might have been different and a possible draw could have been snatched by the orcs.

These two warbands are now slowly drifting apart in power; Gondor has two victories under its belt, so this gap will widen a little more. We still did not use the full rules and we will hopefully get two sergeants statted up by the time of the next game. 

Anyway, here are the Experience scores...

• Orcs - HW Orc killed Gondor swordsman
• Gondor -Archer 1 killed 2H orc, Archer 2 killed spearorc, Sword 1 killed HW orc and 2H orc, Damril killed HW orc and spearorc
  

and Influence...

• Orcs - Taking part (2)
• Gondor - Taking part (2), Winning the Scenario (2)
  

We ran out of time to see who survived and died or how to spend our Influence points. We will do this next time he is over.

In this battle, we used the orcs and Gondor warriors that I painted up for him recently. What with my new temporary role being extended out for another three months, I will not be able to paint and procrastinate about our games as much as I was just five or six weeks ago before I started work. That said, at least we have longer evenings now, so I may be able to do something if I get the chance.