Theodred's Guard vs Angmar Part 2: 650 point Hold Ground

After our first round, we were eager to see Theodred get another shot at Angmar. Gulhavar is just gross, and we want to try to figure that puzzle out! We rolled for scenario and came up with Hold Ground; which I think was a good test of both lists. 

ANGMAR

Warband One: The Witchking of Angmar 

    with Morgul Crown, Armored Horse, 3 Might, 18 Will, and 2 Fate

• 1 Dead Marsh Spectre
• 6 Angmar Orcs with Shield
• 4 Angmar Orcs with spear
• 1 Angmar Orc with two-handed weapon
• 1 Angmar Orc with banner and shield

Warband Two: Gulavhar

• 6x Wild Wargs

Warband Three: Barrow-Wight

• 1 Dead Marsh Spectre
• 5 Angmar Orcs with Shield
• 3 Angmar Orcs with spear
• 1 Angmar Orc with two-handed weapon

THEODRED'S GUARD

Warband One: Theodred, Heir of Rohan with Horse and Shield 

• 6 Rohan Royal Guard with Horse and Throwing Spears
• 1 Rider of Rohan with Banner

Warband Two: Grimbold of Grimslade

• 10x Warriors of Rohan with Shield, Throwing Spears, Helmingas upgrade
• 1x Warrior of Rohan with Bow

Warband Three: Elfhelm, Captain of Rohan

• 4 Riders of Rohan with Throwing Spears
• 9x Rohan Royal Guard with Throwing Spears

We changed up Theodred's guard a tiny bit- opting for more bodies at the cost of some cavalry. I envision a nice battle line fronted by Royal Guards and supported by Helmingas, with some cav to keep the opponent honest can make the list work okay.

The board. We are experimenting with terrain density- what do you think? Too much? Too little? Just right??

Maelstram of battle worked well for both lists- the view above is at the end turn one.

Angmar grouped up.

I should note here that Gulhavar is clearly a proxy- we made sure the immense size of the actual model was taken into account.

The Prince and his retinue

The forces head to the center. Elfhelm's warband moves to harass the flanks with throwing spears

The forces are about to collide! Elfhelm tries for a quick wound on Gulhavar but fails to connect.

Moving into the mid game

At last the forces clash! 

The Witch King compels a Royal Guard forward and the orcs swamp it, mostly to protect themselves from throwing spears.

Elfhelm falls to a paralyze from the Barrow Wight; while Gulhavar charges a Royal Guard on horse for a juicy hurl.

The hurl is devastating. Both Gulhavar and the Witch King call heroic combats and orcs sweep forward making ground. Theodred is unhorsed, but Gulhavar can't push through to him.

On the left flank, Elfhelm's men rally around him battling wargs and orcs.

The developing situation in the middle.

The Witch King and Gulhavar take the fight to the objective while Elfhelm's warband starts rolling up Angmar's left flank. Elfhelm is paralyzed, but the following turn a few Royal Guardsmen dump Eowyn's stew on his face and he wakes up sputtering.

The Witch King does Witch King stuff.. including a black dart that causes a wound on Theodred.

Gulhavar chomps into the line of Helmingas. 

Angmar's left flank has mostly collapsed

The orcs of the left flank start shifting towards the objective. 

Gulhavar heroic combats off a group of Helmingas and catches Grimbold on his own. He eats him.

Angmar nears the broken threshold. Rohan has lost a hero and a number of soldiers.

The battle moves into the late game.

Theodred charges Gulhavar and 6 helmingas join in... the Barrow-Wight manages to move into range and paralyzes Theodred before he can strike up. Theodred had 3 will and 2 might and failed to stop the paralyze! With that, Theodred dies and the game enters overtime.

Elfhelm's men collapse in from the left after Theodred falls- it's a matter of time now.

Gulhavar charges Elfhelm and spends his last might point on a heroic combat. He has to clear out Rohan soldiers as they have more bodies in the middle.

(Sorry pics got a little light as it got quite wonderfully tense at the end!) Andrew ties up both of my heroes after a lot of failed terror checks... I lose 4 orcs to courage. The game ends with the state shown above! 

Rohan holds the middle by 4 models and broke Angmar without being broken for 6 points. Angmar murdered Theodred for 2 points.

Major Victory to Rohan.

final thoughts: Wow! That was really a doozy of a game. It's interesting in hindsight... it FELT like Rohan was losing across the board.. and in some ways they were! Gulhavar killed all 3 of their heroes. BUT almost every other fight went Rohan's way, seeing orcs coming off the table in droves. In the end, the larger force of Rohan being mostly foot meant the middle was easier to hold onto and ultimately secured them the win.

Obviously Theodred's Guard (and any force with built in fearless) is a better matchup vs Angmar than it could be otherwise... The Riders of Theoden would really suffer here. Fearless shuts down the Angmar army bonus and negates the Dead Marsh Spectres. 

Gulhavar is unbelievable. Fight 7? Strength 8? What can men do against such reckless hate? But today, the courage of men held.