Angmar vs Rohan & Gondor in Hold Ground

Having recently completed a fresh Gulavhar proxy, we were excited to see him back on the table! So, Andrew noodled out a Rohan Gondor alliance, and I got together a nasty Angmar list and we saw it through on the table. We used the veto system (quick side note- I think I am over the veto system...) and rolled up Capture and Control (vetoed by Andrew), Storm the Camp (vetoed by me), and Hold Ground.

My Angmar list. To be honest, I don't really rate the Dead Marsh spectres and instead went heavy into orcs and the cave troll to anchor the line. I feel like this is a really well balanced list that can hit hard with magic and bring plenty of fight with the monsters.

Andrew's list. We haven't really done a lot of alliances here on Now for Wrath, and I think Andrew was keen to explore some of the synergies between Gondor and Rohan.

The board on the bottom of 1. I burned TWO might from the Witch King in order to show up with my army (going from a 2 to a 4). Andrew rolled a 1 for both Dernhelm and Boromir (I think it was a 2 for Boromir, but Andrew used Madril to drop to a 1 and see how the board developed). Theoden and Madril are in the "North West".

The Witch King's warband.

Gullie and friends.

On the bottom of two- sure enough both Boromir and Dernhelm arrive behind the Witch King! This was a huge gamble by Andrew and it was fun to think through the pros and cons. Ultimately Andrew decided to give it a shot, knowing it was a huge gamble.

Boromir and Dernhelm's flank forces charge in! Gulavhar is able to line up a pretty nice hurl, and as priority is mine it's gonna result in a lot of lost horses. The angle just barely clips Boromir's fight, who had charged the cave troll.

In the center, Theoden and his Royal Guard secure the objective and let loose with throwing spears.

Gulavhar's hurl is very nasty! He kills the rider he charged, the other Rider of Rohan, unhorses Eowyn and Merry, and unhorses Boromir while also putting a wound on him! Two orcs also die, and the cave troll takes a wound but... it takes breaking some orc eggs to make an orc omelet!

The fight continues in that region of the board as my two barrow wights set their sights on Boromir. Between the Witch King wearing down his will, and both Wights- Boromir is paralysed.

A prone Eowyn strikes against Gulavhar, while Merry is surrounded and murdered by orcs. Eowyn beats Gulavhar back and survives. Boromir takes another wound but at the end of the round manages to stand up!

Meanwhile in the center, Theoden's forces charge forward as Madril moves to reinforce. I'll be honest, at this point as I watch orcs dying left and right I assume the game is Andrews as the pincer move is paying off.

As we reach the mid game. I am tied up in the South very far from the objective and Andrew is moving to box me in just past the objective as reserves move to reinforce it. Then... I forgot to take a few pics but here's what happens next:

• Barrow Wights again paralyse Boromir, and Gulavhar is able to go in for the kill.
• The Witch King's warband performs a fighting withdrawal, heading back towards the center.
• The Witch King starts burning down Theoden's will before, you guess it, the Barrow Wights spend the last of their will reserves to paralyse him...

Which brings us back to when I remembered to snap pictures. Gulavhar is in combat with a paralysed Theoden. Editor's note- they are not in base contact because Theoden was on his horse and was paralysed after Gulavhar charged in. You can guess what happened to poor papa Theoden.

The fight is moving towards the objective. And now that 3 of my spirits are back in the center of the board, terror is starting to take its toll, making it hard for Andrew to charge where he wants. At this point, both forces are close to Broken.

Angmar is the first to break, forcing the roll to see if the game continues! Unfortunately for Andrew, we continue 3 turns past that point; with each turn that passes giving Angmar the edge. With Theoden gone, bodyguard is out the window.

There are now scattered combats all over as both sides try to box each other out of the center. Both forces are broken- priority often goes to Andrew but terror takes its toll. Andrew's courage checks are universally abysmal.

Eowyn and Madril are both still standing and holding the forces together. The Witch King keeps getting charged by shlubs and both barrows are out of will- but Gulavhar and the Troll are tearing their way through the forces of good.

Madril spends his last might on a heroic combat and takes down two more orcs, but the tide of Evil is now too great.

The game goes 4 turns past the Angmar's breaking, and ends on the turn Angmar gets the edge.

Angmar has 6 models within the center objective, compared to Good's 3 giving Angmar 5 VPs. With Theoden dead, Angmar scores 2 VPs for killing their leader. Finally, the forces of Good are broken for 1 VP. Good has broken Angmar for 1 VP.

Thus, the game goes 8-1 for Angmar.

Closing Thoughts: Whew, what a game. Angmar is obviously very strong but Andrew's gamble almost paid off! If the game had ended one turn earlier it would've have absolutely swung the other way. The Angmar army bonus really made all the difference here; I honestly think without so many terror check failures Andrew would've had a much easier time dictating the flow of the battle.

Also, wow! Barrow Wights. Nasty. 

Thanks for reading!