Lord of the Rings: Uruk-Hai vs. Rohan
We played a Lord of the Rings fantasy game at the Centre on Friday 24 October. Rob umpired using Midgard rules and his nicely painted 28mm figures. The scenario was ‘Ford of Isen’, with an open table apart from a river with two fords, a wood on the Rohan right, and a rocky outcrop near the Rohan left.
The objective was to possess the two fords on the River Isen by end of play, initially defended by Rohan’s army under Prince Theodred (Joel, Mal, Trevor). The attackers were the larger Orc army of Uruk-hai (Paul B., Paul S., Doug and Patrick).
Deployments
The army of Rohan deployed first – in two commands. On the right, Joel concentrated Prince Theodred and his Bodyguard, two supporting units of mounted Eaorlingas cavalry, while Mal controlled two units of dismounted Eaorlingas, and two units of archers.
On Rohan’s left, Trevor positioned three units of dismounted Eaorlingas, and a unit of dismounted Eaorlingas archers.
The Orcs deployed in three commands. On the left, Paul B. placed several units of Orc pikemen, their left secured by two units of crossbows, and a Troll.
In the middle, Paul S. concentrated crossbows and scouts in the front ranks, followed by berserkers and warriors, and finally more warriors and berserkers.
On the right, Doug deployed a unit of Warg rider archers on either side, and scouts followed by five units of Orc warriors.
Turn One: A Bold Move
Doug and Paul B. advanced from either end of the Uruk-hai line.
Joel took bold action and crossed the river with Prince Theodred’s bodyguard, supported by the two mounted Eaorlingas cavalry units.
Turn Two: Rohan against Pike
Doug’s Warg riders approached the river but missed the defenders after firing their bows. The rest of Doug’s Uruk-hai infantry moved up. Both Pauls moved up the Orc left and centre.
Joel now charged Theodred’s guard into the Uruk-hai pikemen, supported by the mounted Eaorlingas.
Having dealt a few hits with javelins, the Bodyguard charged in, but lost the melee and retreated.
Desultory crossbow fire by Paul B.’s Orcs on the left, Paul S.’s scouts, and Mal’s archers, followed.
Turn Three: Orcs on the Backfoot
Paul pushed forward the Orc pikes, and his Troll approached. Joel counter-charged the pikemen with a unit of Eaorlingas.
Doug sustained his advance on the right, but his scouts (archers) missed after firing at Trevor’s infantry.
Paul S. wheeled his archers to threaten the Eaorlingas on the left of the Rohan cavalry.
Joel’s two Eaorlingas cavalry units now fought two melees. In the first melee, the Eaorlingas on the right forced Paul B.’s pike unit to retire, pushing back a unit of crossbows. In the second melee, the Eaorlingas on the left also forced the pike unit facing them to retreat.
Joel now followed up with all three mounted units. The cavalry on the right won again, forced the pikes back, and followed up once more. The Bodyguard in the centre forced the pikes facing them to retire. The cavalry on the left fought the pikes opposite but the combat was drawn.
Missile fire was indecisive, apart from Mal’s archers who forced the Troll to retire. However, Paul S.’s skirmishers forced Theodred’s cavalry back once more. Rohan looked to be winning, and the Orc advance on the right had been blunted.
Turn Four: Theodred vs. Troll
Patrick took over from Doug, and kept advancing on the Uruk-hai right.
Paul S.’s centre was now penetrating the rear of the Rohan right, and so the Rohan cavalry was vulnerable to counterattack. The left-hand Eaorlingas cavalry was destroyed after facing the Orc pikemen ahead, being unable to retreat.
Prince Theodred led his Bodyguard against the Troll, won, and followed up.
Both Paul B.’s crossbow and Paul S.’s skirmishers missed against Mal’s infantry on the riverbank.
Turn Five: Uruk-hai Pressure
The Orcs had been pushed back, but their left and centre rebounded and now closed in on the remaining units of Rohan.
Rohan had two cavalry units left across the river. Sadly for them, the Bodyguard was destroyed by the Troll in a melee, leaving Theodred alone on the field of battle.
Trevor’s force had been fairly quiet, but now one of his units charged into some of Patrick’s Orcs, while another attacked a unit of Orc scouts.
The Orc scouts were obliterated by the first unit of dismounted Eaorlingas, and so were the Orc warriors by the second unit.
Both Pauls fired – crossbows and archers – on Mal’s units, but missed. They were not in the close ‘killing ground’ required for additional dice.
Turn Six: The Final Assault
The initial progress of Rohan at the small ford was cancelled out as Patrick closed in, and Trevor now had just one unit across the ford.
The Uruk-hai on the left and centre advanced on the river, facing Mal’s defenders.
Prince Theodred bravely charged the Troll, but picked up a wound.
Meanwhile, Trevor’s dismounted Eaorlingas charged Patrick’s Orcs but lost and the Orcs followed up…
Now Mal charged two units of dismounted Eaorlingas into Orc scouts and warriors. The scouts retired, but Paul S.’s warriors forced Mal’s unit to retire. The Orc warriors followed up, but lost, and Mal’s unit followed up in turn.
Trevor again assaulted Patrick’s Orcs. The Rohan hero Grimbold killed Orc chief Grishnak in single combat, and the Orcs fell back. The dismounted cavalry pushed on.
Paul S.’s skirmishers finally pushed one of Mal’s units into the ford. But it was not enough. The army of Rohan had triumphed!
Epilogue
A very good game with great figures using playable rules. The Uruk-hai ran out of time, not men, and could have attacked more quickly. Their missile troops never got into decisive range. Rohan’s cavalry assaults delayed the Orcs sufficiently to enable Mal to hold the ford. Trevor’s position was more precarious, but he won the majority of close combats. The use of special actions was important to the game, but the lack of Orc singlemindedness may have doomed their advance. Thanks to Rob for hosting, and well done to Rohan. LOTR has great potential and I’m looking forward to chronicling our games… or just providing command input on the tabletop!
