It was high time I took my turn with Theodred's Guard. After
Andrew ran them twice against Angmar, I was excited to give them a shot! We played at 700 so Andrew could test out the Mordor Troll chieftain he'd been interested in seeing on the table. We're proxying the regular troll for the game, but the actual chieftain will be done soon! I'll post some pics here when he's ready.
THEODRED'S GUARD
We rolled up capture and control for the mission on a
ruins-heavy board.
 |
| Elfhelm and company |
My plan was for Elfhelm's boys to just harass the Mordor troll and maybe bait Andrew into chasing them.
On the left I felt pretty confident my forces could smash into the orcs and come out on top. The front rank of Royal Guards backed up by Helmingas was evilly mirrored with the Black Numenoreans and Morannons.
Right off the bat, the Witch King compels one of my Royal Guards forward and I decide to charge to try and save him. Reckless? Sure, but it was fun!
The charge on the left! I should've gotten Theodred in. I take some losses, but right off the bat the forces of Mordor get smashed up quite a bit.
In the center, Grimbold and company absolutely smash through Shagrat's orcs.
The left well and truly goes my way. I take some losses, but for the most part Mordor forces are dying in droves.
Heading into turn 2. Mordor wins priority.
Andrew refuses to take the bait and shifts the Troll and his team towards the center to hit Grimbold's warband from behind. I decide to send Elfhelm's team in on the flanks. This is a mistake. Without Theodred's "Arise" rule, and no +1 str on the charge regular Riders of Rohan are not a match for spear supported Morannons.
On the left, Andrew very carefully places all of his forces to keep my line tied up, meaning Theodred cannot break through. This picture is after the combat phase where Mordors losses are devastating.
In the center, all of the orcs are eliminated and only Shagrat stands.
On into turn three- Shagrat moves in, and Mordor has just enough forces to AGAIN frustrate Theodred and his Royal Guard with their inability to push through the line. I needed to move Theodred more centrally at this point, but waffled with him.
Heading into the late game. Much of Grimbold's warband shifts back to the center to fight the Troll. One rider of Rohan breaks away to head towards the rear objective where Andrew has cleverly placed one orc. The left continues to see a handful of Mordor troops locking down the entire Rohan force.
The central objective becomes quite contested. A handful of orcs and the troll chieftain stand against several Royal Guards and the remnant of Elfhelm's forces.
At this point, Andrew makes a critical, pivotal, genius move. Seeing the writing on the wall on the left flank, he calls a heroic move with the Witch King... to get him out of dodge. He flees for the backfield objective. Mordor is long broken, but we keep rolling for the game to go on.
The hour draws late. The men of Rohan have soundly won the left flank. The Witch King has disengaged. The lower central objective is well contested. The far central objective sees a Rider of Rohan riding down a lone Orc warrior. Elfhelm disengaged from the fight to go claim an objective as Mordor is down to just a handful of models total.
Men of Rohan have completely won victory on the left- except for the Witch King who's just barely escaped our clutches. Grimbold is in range to charge if the game lasts another turn.
The Witch King, having escaped the men, moves into range to let the Orc survive his courage check thanks to Stand Fast! But, to add insult to injury, the Witch King black darts the Rider of Rohan, securing the objective for Mordor!
The center objective is just barely held by Mordor after the troll pulls off a sweet barge on the royal guard in the back. The Helminga in the green cape is just out of range of the point. Reinforcements are just down the street! Just in the top of the picture you can see the wily morannon banner bearer who scrambled up the rubble to get into range of the central objective.
Elfhelm alone stands on the rightmost objective...
When suddenly I roll to see if the game ends... and it does. Wow! Mordor is down to 6 total models... but pulls off the narrow victory! They hold all 3 central objectives. Rohan holds 2 objectives and broke Mordor making the final tally 6-5 to Mordor.
GAME ANALYSIS: WOW! That was SO MUCH FUN. Looking back, I committed to much to the left on a narrow front; and Andrew played it very smart to keep me tied up. Theodred never even saw combat this whole game! I so love that you can just lose models left and right and still pull off the victory in this game. It's so narrative! The Witch King and his forces held off the forces of Rohan just long enough to further some machination of the Dark Lord which certainly portents doom for the Men of the West.
Great game, that was well played by Andrew.
I LOVE Theodred's Guard. BUT, I really underestimated how bad Riders of Rohan are when they are out of "Arise!" range AND don't get the normal Rohan army bonus. They really floundered against the Morannon orcs. My original plan with Elfhelm's warband was to just be very skirmishy all game and go after objectives; and I should've stuck to that. Grimbold really performed this game, supported by royal guards and spears he just guarantees the kill.
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