There have been a few more interesting games which never made it to a Batrep, including Angmar vs Arnor special scenario, and a Misty vs Gondor grudge match. But here is a battle between the Dwarves and Mordor.
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Dwarves (1200 points)
400 Durin's Guard
200 Saruman
25 Fortune: Counterspell
160 4 Co Dwarf Warrior Kinband (2-Handed Weapons)
120 3 Co Dwarf Warrior Kinband (shields)
+25 Shieldbearer
120 3 Co Dwarf Ranger Kinband
+50 Captain
100 4 Co Warriors of Minas Tirith
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Mordor (1200 points)
125 The Tainted
125 The Betrayer
25 Fate: Curse of Morgoth
165 3 Co Grishnakh's Trackers
135 1 Co Castellans of Dol Guldur
100 4 Co Morannons (shields)
+100 Shaman
+25 Taskmaster
+15 Drummer
100 4 Co Morannons (shields)
+35 Banner
+50 Captain
100 5 Co orcs (shields)
100 2 Co Siege Bows
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Setup:
Scenario: The High Ground
Deployment: Maelstrom
Mordor
The Dwarves won the roll-off, and elected to go Second, this was to see if and where any Nazgul and the Siege Bows would be, before entering the field of battle. Mordor moved the siegebows into the large ruins in the NE (remember artillery can make 1 movement when they arrive as reinforcements). Subsequent rolls brought on The Tainted and his orcs along the north as well as the Castellans. The Morannons however fail to arrive. So far so good, the Evil forces are together.
The Dwarves start with Dain and although he arrives in the North, he is moved behind the hill in the NW to keep out of range of the siege bows. Three other formations arrive in the west, and despite Saruman still not having arrived, the Dwarves are happy to be together, well away from the artillery.
Turn 2.
Mordor is forced to move first, and the orcs via Wings of Terror start to sweep south and the Castellans move so they don't black the siege bows' line of sight that isn't already blocked by the woods. Those woods are a little awkward for the bows, but Evil is still satisfied with their position, and glad they didn't move on to that NW hill as originally planned or would be vulnerable to the bulk of the dwarven army, and the orcs and Dwarves might be tangling hand to hand this turn. No more reinforcements arrive. The Betrayer could have arrived in the west.... but the Dwarven deployment means there is no room! And so both formations of Morannons are still lost somewhere it seems... However Grishnakh's Trackers pop out of ambush in the central woods (the high ground / objective) This stakes an early claim on it, plus as the bulk of the Dwarven army has arrived in the West means they can rake them with shots (although 2 companies and 1 support against defence 7/8 dwarves is hardly much more than a minor annoyance to the stumpy ones).
The Dwarves shuffle forward manouevring and keeping away from the bows for now. Holding back waiting for Saruman or the Morannons to arrive before heading for the centre. And indeed in the reinforcements phase Saruman arrives... in the west! The Dwarves are confident with all their army arrived, and together. So far it feels more like 'Battle for the Pass' rather than Maelstrom with Mordor having raced to the centre.
Turn 3.
Mordor is again forced to move first. The Dwarven commander wants to see where the Orcs go, and if the Morannons arrive. Mordor moves up, The Tainted racing towards the southern flank. Again, no Morannon's arrive as reinforcements.
Dwarves
The arrival of Saruman and the combined dwarven armies start to advance up the field. The rangers into the wooden building (crucially just out of range of the tracker's in the central woods). Durin marches over the hill, and the other formations move between the terrain.
Shooting.
The Dwarves have exposed Durin's Guard, being the only formation just in range of the siege bows, but the Dwarves take the risk. But it turns out badly, two 6's on the artillery attack means 2d6+8 strength 8 hits! 6 of the doughty Khazads fall.
Turn 4.
The Dwarves are forced to move first this time. The 6 dead Guards are expensive, and to bolster them, some desperate movements take place: The kinband with shields hastens to the woods, making space for the Guard to move south and in range of Saruman... who epic moves to them and uses Blessing of the Valar (using a might point to change a success of a 4 to a 6 and so bring back d6 instead of d3) to bring back back 4, and mitigate the previous devastatingly accurate Siege Bow volley.
Mordor sees the Guard still exposed, and takes a small gamble. The tainted casts Wings of Terror and moves within 12". This enables his special ability (formations can't use any hero's Courage value which in this case would be Saruman the White's rather tasty value of 7). But first The Tainted uses Strength From Corruption to kill off another 4, then Visions of Woe and rolls a 6! Courage now down to 4 and rolling a 2 on a d6 means 5 more run away (House rule of Courage Tests on 11 not 10). The orcs then don't hang around for a Dwarven counterattack and use their Wings of Terror speed, and a fortunate At the Double! to retreat out of the rangers' bowrange.
Shooting.
Two more hits from the siege bows and a couple of casualties from the Trackers means, despite Saruman's best efforts the Guard are down to 11 Dwarves.
Turn 5.
Mordor chooses to move first after winning priority, hoping to finish off Saruman and the Khazad Guard. The Dwarves call a Heroic action, which Mordor decides to leave uncontested. The Dwarves have what is left of their 400 point formation plus 200 points of Saruman which would die if it takes just 7 casualties! They need to get it and the White Wizard to safety. Saruman then returns via Epic Move to the kinband with 2-Handed axes on the southern edge, while Durin and co retreat behind the trees to lick their (numerous) wounds.
The evil forces concentrate and take a gamble. The Nazgul join Grishnakh and his bow armed orcs in the central woods, just in range of the kinband defending the woods near Durin's depleted band. Some Visons of Woe and Strength from Corruptions soon has them to below half strength. The remaining infantry press forward along the southern frank and reform. The Final company of Morannons makes it on, also in the north, the shaman leading them has a choice to cast a spell Durin or the depleted kinband in the woods, but decides to whittle more of Durin's band, but the Dwarves use their Fortune: Counterspell to negate it.
Dwarves
That could have been a mistake. Sensing an opportunity to catch both Nazgul at once in a small formation, the dwarves move closer. The rangers exit the house to get into bow range. The (now Strength 8 ) dwarves in the woods exit in such a way as to have a fair chance of charging. Saruman moves forward to get in range for his spells of Ruin, Excsiccate and Bolt of Fire kill 10 of the trackers, softening them up for the rangers and the kinband's assault.
Shooting.
The ranger captain calls Heroic Shot to shoot at the Trackers first and kills a couple more orcs, leaving them with just 15 including the Nazgul, but was not as effective as was hoped (low rolls). Mordor concentrates all fire on the kinband and fires the siege bows first, because if the trackers shoot first and reduce the kinband to one company, then the siege bows would have a penalty for shooting at a single company. Two hits, and then shots from the depleted trackers sees off the kinband.
Turn 6.
Finally the armies start to close for actual hand to hand mayhem.
Mordor
First Mordor wins and keeps priority, but still seeing the Nazgul are vulnerable the Dwarves announce an intention to call a Heroic action. Knowing this will be a Heroic Move for Saruman, the evil side weighs the odds, feat, and Might points, and decides not to risk a precious Might point in a roll-off for which Heroic Move will go first. Uncontested, Saruman calls the expected Heroic Move and Epic Ruination, and is now out of Might Points. First, Exsicate. Rolling a 2 for a success, Mordor uses it's Fate: Curse of Morgoth to turn that into a 1 and the spell fails. Saruman makes his focus roll and begins casting Bolt of Fire, which The Betrayer manages to successfully Will of Iron. Relieved, the two Nazgul relocate to the safer formation of Orcs and move within 6" of Saruman and the Dwarves. The Betrayer begins casting but, while passing all his focus rolls, each spell fails on a '1's. The Tainted manages to Pall of Night the Dwarves keeping them unable to charge, but his Black Dart fails to trouble Saruman, who has no more Might left to lose anyway.
The Castellans move in closer next to the orcs and the Nazgul. And the Mornanons in the north, led by the shaman move in to limit Durin's options, expecting him to retreat to the woods recently vacated by the kinband.
Dwarves
The remaining Dwarves move in to attack. Durin faces the Morannons and closes, planning to take as many down as possible in a sacrificial charge, and not get picked off by magic while cowering in the trees. The rangers move up close to the orcs a full move with a successful At the Double!. It doesn't look like they plan to shoot this turn. The Men of Minas Tirith have been languishing in the rear all game, they move up now, but are still out of range of charging any enemies.
Shooting. The siege bows have no targets and the Trackers kill a ranger or two. The Dwarves do not shoot.
Charging.
Durin calls Heroic Charge, to prevent two or three companies of orcs attacking him, by being able to charge first and pick where his Dwarves will strike. They hit hard, and call a Heroic Fight, hoping to win and charge a second time. But the Morannons are too numerous, and while losing a company, they kill enough dwarves to send Durin and his bodyguard to the Mandos's Halls of Waiting.
The Orcs and Nazgul decide to take the fight to the rangers and charge. The rangers pass their Terror test. The captain uses his last Hoarded Might to call a Heroic Duel on The Betrayer, who has burned his only Might point already. Despite the advantage for the Dwarves, The Betrayer wins and scores one hit on the Captain but not enough to kill him, but no other casualties. This was a blow for the good guys, hoping a lucky roll might halve the opposing Nazgul count. The fight itself is brutal and the rangers are left with 1 company, after casualties and fleeing dwarves after ending up in disorder.
The Castellans charge Saruman, getting past his Voice ability. The Dwarves fail their Terror test but this simply gives the Castellans 3 extra attacks as they only have a paltry 3 Fight value, but the nearby presence of The Tainted means that the Dwarves' courage is the base 4 not Saruman's mighty 7. (The Castellans' Spirit Grasp targets the enemy Courage value not Defence value in attacks.) In the melee 6 dwarves die and 1 Castellan. The dwarves end up disordered however, having lost their fight and failed the panic test.
Turn 7.
Mordor wins priority and moves first. The Nazgul each use a Strength from Corruption to kill the last couple of rangers. And then both try to Black Dart Saruman. Again to no effect. The other Mordor formations move in to close down the Dwarves and keep them far from the objective.
The Dwarves have one slim chance if Saruman can move and cast spells... but they fail their disorder check, leaving Saruman and his formation completely exposed and unable to do anything. The Dwarves capitulate and leave Mordor owning those so important... trees.
In conclusion
The Dwarven player was bullish after the first rounds of deployment. Having a very good arrangement considering the Maelstrom setup. He was deliberately holding back, after having lost another game before by siezing the High Ground too soon and getting whittled away in the centre. In this case though, Mordor had the momentum, siezed the centre and kept moving. Artillery always worries the enemy, and 2 siege bows at one end of the board kept the Dwarves pinned down for many early turns. Dwarves, being so slow, need to be always moving forward, which they were not here, and critically exposed their key formation to the artillery without moving up elsewhere. The Men of Minas Tirith were meant to be a 'meat shield' to use rather visceral imagery, but ended up bogged down in the rear, and not screening the elite formation.
The Dwarves hanging back meant that magic was a key component for most of the middle game. But the game did turn on the single moment, when Durin moved too far forward and two lucky hits (double 6 is rather lucky) from the siege bows slammed them, followed by the debacle of Saruman's attempts to replenish them in short order.
But even then if the vulnerable Nazgul HAD been destroyed in the woods, the Dwarves would have regained the initiative, and the battle would have been in earnest once more.
