Not sure if this is the right place to put it but as it concerns playing scenarios...

I've been trying to play one or two of the Fellowship of the Ring scenarios and something that has struck me is that the Hobbits are all armed (though no Sting/Mithril Coat). In the books they don't get weapons until after their adventures on the Barrow Downs and in the movies it's once they arrive at Weathertop (same break in scenarios). On an unrelated note, please tell me Aragorn retrieved those weapons from a Dunedain cache and wasn't happily carrying around exactly 4 Hobbit sized swords in a lucky coincidence . Anyway, I was wondering how the scenarios would play out if the Hobbits were unarmed? I haven't tried them before, but the two Nazgul ones have the Hobbits fleeing, not intentionally engaging the Nazgul in combat and the Barrow Wights are trying to paralyse them. My only concern is that it might make the Hobbits a bit too vulnerable?

It also raises an interesting question. Would Sam still count as being armed with his saucepans?

Appreciating any feedback and whether you think it'd work or not

It may well unbalance the scenario (which are not terribly balanced anyway, but I digress...). If you want theme, then remember that all the swords in Middle-Earth are not as powerful as fire against Nazgul (a burning brand could count as a weapon) or the words 'Gilthoniel Elbareth'.

I think you could make it work in the right situation.
It would call for a more tactical game if you had four unarmed hobbits trying to escape from a persuing enemy. Prehaps include a hero such as strider as their only defence.
With a bit of thought you could probably get a good game out of it. If it seems unbalanced just put in some house rules to make it more even.

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Veni Vidi Vici

I tried Shortcuts Make Long Delays and Buckleberry Ferry with all Hobbits except Sam unarmed.

Shortcuts Make Long Delays went smoothly for the Good side, with Frodo 2 turns away from moving off the board by the time the Ringwraiths were alerted and never in any danger (Good priority moving the Ringwraiths away). Sam with his hand weapon and an unarmed Pippin managed to hold off the Ringwraiths (and drain their Will) by double teaming while Gildor killed one and the other 2 banished after a few rounds of fighting. Gildor's Transfix and 2 attacks was incredibly effective against the Ringwraiths. Casting Transfix meant that the Ringwraiths had to decide between resisting or conserving their small Will stockpile and the extra dice really helped, particularly when it was 3 or 4 dice (if the Hobbits managed to charge) against 1.

Buckelberry Ferry involved a great deal of luck for Good, where although the Nazgul were alerted in time to catch the Hobbits and succeeded in getting Frodo to keep the Ring on, they only managed to inflict a single wound on Sam. In return Sam killed a Ringwraith in his first combat and the strangest occurrence of the game was Merry taking out the 2nd with a stone (the only stone throw of the game) by rolling 6/6. After that, with Frodo being victimised by the last Ringwraith, the Hobbits piled on (when they could muster their courage) and Merry managed to kill the 3rd and final Ringwraith despite being unarmed... Merry was the only Hobbit who ever actually made it to the ferry before leaving it again to help Frodo. So a lot of luck in taking out the Ringwraiths but also a lot of bad luck for Frodo who always got Compelled and didn't manage a single resistance. But even with the heavy fighting, being unarmed didn't seem to cripple their chances, just balance out the odds a bit more.

So in both the games, I didn't notice anything detrimental about Merry/Pippin/Frodo being unarmed. It made Sam a bit different to the others and the loyal defender of the group. In the first game you can rely on Gildor to do the damage, and in the 2nd, it's about trying to avoid the Ringwraiths long enough to get on the Ferry, with Sam running interference as needed while Merry/Pippin get the Ferry going.

I must say I'm interested in using the 40k scatter dice for sentry movement now... Could make the Ringwraiths more unpredictable and stop them arriving piece meal at the action while 1 gets swamped by the combined forces of the other characters.

Nice one, I'm glad it worked out.
Sounds like an interesting game and you had fun too!

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Veni Vidi Vici

Sam manages quite well against the goblins using the heavy frying pan! Hobbits will always be near food. Where there is food, there are condiments, utensils, crockery, pots, pans and kitchen knives. So essentially, you are more likely to encounter an 'armed' Hobbit than an unarmed one.

They get quite aggressive if they think you are going to steal their food.

You have been warned!

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