We finally answer the age old question of "what if Gondor was THERE when the Westfold fell?" Andrew picked up arms with the Men of the West and I fell under the sway of the voice of Cuinir and ran Isengard. We've done away with the veto system for now, and so we rolled up Fog of War!
Here are the lists. I will say, I would almost always take Grima cause I love him, but I knew Andrew was running Rohan and, specifically, Theoden so that felt a bit too cheesy.
Deployment was pretty normal. I chose the long house with barrels outside in the "North East" as my objective. I chose Vrasku to keep safe, and Merry as my target. I assumed Andrew chose Lurtz as his target and Boromir to keep safe (since Theoden was his leader).
My crossbows squared off against Andrew's bolt thrower on the left.
Forth and fear no darkness!
Don't... uh.. let 'em burn the Westfold!
On turn one, I marched with Lurtz. Andrew obliged by staying back to skirmish with bows. Crossbows remained stationary and Andrew accidentally moved two cavalry into range. One died hard. His bolt thrower moved forward to get into range as well.
The boys lookin' to do some burnin'
Saruman compels a Rider forward and the Uruks swarm it, slaying it. I also tried to protect myself from shooting by having many models engaged with the rider.
As we get into the mid game, my crossbows have decimated Andrew's bolt thrower crew, leaving only the commander with no fate or might. On the right, Boromir and his cavalry have made a sweeping move to flank me... but I have sent a few Uruks into my target building. This tips my hand, but it will be tough to dislodge them.
I command a Royal Guard forward and Lurtz slingshots a heroic combat off of it. Unfortunately, I then lose every other fight that that set up for me!
Gondor cavalry swarms my scant flank defense.
But on the left, the Palantir and a move-off sees me charging and denying Andrew's cavalry their charge bonuses! Sorcerous blast unhorses two royal guard.
Boromir heroic combats and Uruks fall in large numbers.
I use my Crebain to tie up Theoden, and thus keep might out of the main fight for as long as I can. Lurtz and Dernhem square off. Dernhelm strikes while Lurtz is now out of Might. Lurtz loses one fate, but does not take a wound.
We consolidate our gains, holding the door!
As we enter the late game, neither Dernhelm nor Lurtz have might. Lurtz wins a fight and slays Merry and Dernhelm's horse! All semblance of rank and order goes out the window. Isengard breaks, but the Men of the West aren't far behind.
The right flank is still a bit of a mess- Gondor is cleaning up but have suffered quite a few losses of their own.
Vrasku and the boys finish off the bolt thrower commander and march to get into the fray. Saruman loses a fight to a pesky ranger and is unhorsed for his trouble.
As Gondor breaks (following Isengard on the prior turn), Boromir rides forward to plant the banner of Minas Tirith in Andrew's terrain piece. Fortunately for Andrew, the game goes on with a roll of a 4.
One brave Uruk, still desperate to do some burnin' stands.
The ground is littered with the dead. Theoden rides into the scattered fighting.
Theoden is blasted off his horse by Saruman as Eowyn rallies the remaining Riders. She starts heading towards the building. I really need the game to end now.
Boromir rides into the wood and plants the banner.
I hold both doorways just in case!
Vrasku's reinforcements show up...
But the die is cast and the game comes to a close.
Isengard broke Rohan for 1 VP, killed Merry for 3 VPs, and fully held their terrain for another 3 VPs.
Rohan & Gondor broke Isengard for 1 VP, and fully held their terrian piece for 3 VPs. It turns out Andrew selected Vrasku as his target. His bolt thrower (which had abysmal luck with the "number of shots" rolls) did manage to hit him once, but Vrasku saved it with his only fate.
Closing Thoughts: This really was a cool game! Love the scenario and love the forces. Isengard is a blast to play and I really love Saruman!
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