Thanks for another splendid battle report. Excellent as always

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My This and That Again WIP blog: viewtopic.php?t=25598

Our seventh scenario is another night scenario, this time set mostly within the ruined watchtower of Amon Sûl, also known as the Weathertop. Since Gandalf managed to escape imprisonment by the treacherous Saruman, the hobbits are now accompanied by both Aragorn and Gandalf. We preferred the Hobbit rulebook scenario to the one presented in the Fellowship journey book; the latter uses only the Weathertop ruin, while the former is played on a 4x4 foot area with the Amon Sûl hill and some surroundings. The following picture shows the gaming table used.



The evil side includes the Witch King and four other Ringwraiths; we chose the Betrayer, the Dark Marshal, Dwimmerlaik and the Knight of Umbar – these have the largest reservoir of will points still remaining. The evil objective is simple – kill Frodo and reclaim the Ring for Sauron. The good side must banish all the wraiths before this in order to win. To keep to the spirit of the campaign, we decided that the game does not automatically end if Frodo is slain; rather, the Ringwraith with the Ring must escape the board first. The scenario has some special rules: Aragorn is initially gathering wood outside the playing area, and the hobbits (plus Gandalf) are unaware of the approaching Nazgûl – until the good player rolls 4, 5 or 6 after the priority roll, or the wraiths enter the Weathertop ruin (or cast a spell while still outside). At this point, Aragorn may enter via the northern board edge. The campfire in the center of the Weathertop allows the good models to pick up a flaming brand – this can be used to attempt to set the wrights ablaze.

Turn 1 – evil priority. Our game begins with Aragorn still gathering wood, while hobbits warm up by the campfire, accompanied by Gandalf. The five Ringwraiths approach the central hill, unseen and unheard. The Witch King moves in from the northeast, the Dark Marshal from the western side, the Betrayer from the south, the Knight of Umbar from the northwest, and Dwimmerlaik from the north.





Turn 2 & 3 – good priority. The hobbits are preoccupied by the crispy bacon being fried by Sam, and they continue to be blissfully unaware of the danger creeping closer. The Nazgûl continue to advance, and the Betrayer is already almost able to enter the ruins.



Turn 4 – evil priority. Suddenly, two black figures jump to the edge of the ruined tower. The hobbits and their protector are taken completely by surprise. The Witch King and the Betrayer are also surprised to see the wizard – this powerful enemy was not something the wraiths expected to meet. Before the Grey Pilgrim has time to react, the Betrayer targets a will-sapping spell against him, and succeeds to severely deplete Gandalf’s will. To add to the injury, the Witch King casts another successful spell, as he hisses “Your staff is broken”. The surprise attack has all of a sudden rendered the wizard almost completely unable to use any magic.



In retaliation, the Grey wizard picks up a flaming brand, as do all the hobbits. Frodo retreats to the stairs leading to now non-existing upper floor of the tower. Merry follows and protects his retreat. Gandalf charges the Betrayer, and Pippin charges the Witch King. The wizard is apparently still badly shaken by the evil spells, as he loses the duel – luckily, the Betrayer is unable to wound him. Meanwhile, Pippin manages to win, and he forces the Witch King to drop back down to ground level. His flaming brand fails to set the Nazgûl ablaze, however.



A few hundred yards due north, Aragorn hears the shouts and the clashes, and realizes that something is very wrong. He runs at the double towards the ring of ruins…



Turn 5 – evil priority. The Knight of Umbar and Dwimmerlaik enter the Weathertop via the stairs on the western side, and the Dark Marshal jumps in from the south. The Witch King attempts to get in, too, but Pippin’s taunts cause him to lose his concentration and he fails his jump. The hobbit even stoops up a stone and throws it at the leader of the wraiths – but to no avail (apart from irritating the Nazgûl even more). Within the ruins, the Betrayer casts a successful black dart, which wounds Frodo. With evil glee, the wraith continues to charge Gandalf. Sam, in turn, joins the fight against the Betrayer to help Gandalf. Merry charges the Knight of Umbar, allowing Frodo to retreat further up the steps and out of sight.



Sam and Gandalf win their fight but fail to set the Betrayer ablaze. Merry loses but manages to dodge the striking Knight of Umbar. Outside the ruins, Aragorn continues to run towards the battle, fearing that he may be too late…

Turn 6 – good priority. Gandalf takes initiative and he charges the Knight of Umbar. However, both Merry and Sam freeze in terror. Pippin continues to throw stones at the wraiths (without any effect, as one might expect). Aragorn is already at the steps leading up to the ruins, but he is still too far to prevent the wrights from pressing on – the Betrayer charges Sam, and Dwimmerlaik charges Merry. The Witch King re-enters the ruins, in time to see Sam emerging victorious – the Betrayer has finally depleted his will, and is banished. The other dueling wrights beat their opponents but neither manages to cause wounds.

Turn 7 – good priority. Aragorn has finally arrived, and he immediately charges the Knight of Umbar. Relieved to see Strider at last, Gandalf and Merry charge Dwimmerlaik, and Pippin challenges the Witch King. Sam, however, is still terrified and dares not charge the Dark Marshal. The two commence duel nevertheless, as the Nazgûl charges Sam instead.



The fighting is intense – the Dark Marshal wins and wounds Sam. Gandalf and Merry are no match for Dwimmerlaik, and the wright deals the hobbit a deadly wound. Merry’s limp body falls down on the worn stone floor…



Aragorn wins but fails to wound the Knight of Umbar. Over on the eastern edge of the Weathertop ruins, Pippin manages to set the Witch King ablaze, and the Nazgûl flees screaming. “I hope Merry saw that”, Pippin thinks and smiles, not realizing that his friend lies already mortally wounded behind him…



Turn 8 – evil priority. Realizing that Dwimmerlaik can now freely go after Frodo, both Gandalf and Aragorn attempt heroically to stop the wraith. Alas, Dwimmerlaik saps their fortitude, and the heroes’ might is wasted. The Nazgûl moves up the stairs and around the bend, and seeing Frodo, Dwimmerlaik attempts to cast a compel spell, hoping to make Frodo put on the Ring – thankfully, he is unsuccessful. Frodo leaps past the wraith onto the ruined wall, and he drops down to a treacherous ledge on the outer side.



The two remaining wraiths, the Dark Marshal and the Knight of Umbar, charge Sam and Gandalf, respectively. Aragorn joins the fight alongside Gandalf, and Pippin helps Sam. The Dark Marshal is victorious, but his blade hits only air as Pippin manages to dodge in time. Gandalf and Aragorn overpower the Knight of Umbar – the wizard fails to set the Nazgûl ablaze, but Aragorn’s ranger sword swiftly dispatches the servant of Sauron.

Turn 9 – good priority. Two Ringwraiths remain. Gandalf charges Dwimmerlaik, and Aragorn engages the Dark Marshal. Sam is still terror-stricken, and he can but watch as Pippin rushes past and joins the fight alongside Strider. The Nazgûl are victorious this time, and Dwimmerlaik deals a wound to Gandalf.

Turn 10 – evil priority. The Dark Marshal attempts to cast a transfix spell against Aragorn, but without success. The wraith charges Sam instead. Dwimmerlaik, however, sees the steely look in Aragorn’s eyes and loses courage – the other remaining Nazgûl flees the battlefield. Aragorn and Pippin engage the last evil spirit, and together with Sam, the three trap the Dark Marshal. Pippin sets the wraith ablaze – this is not enough to destroy the dark creature, but Aragorn’s sword is…



Aragorn rushes to gather herbs, hoping to revive Merry. As he frantically picks up white flowers, a blade touches his skin and a soft voice of Arwen says “What’s this? A ranger caught off his guard?” The lovers return to Amon Sûl – and thanks to Aragorn’s healing powers, Merry regains consciousness…



Conclusion – Despite having the game definitely balanced in favor of the good side, the dice favored evil at first, allowing the Ringwraiths to effectively turn Gandalf from a wizard into a mere swordsman (or a flaming brand man, rather). The one-wound hobbits are seemingly in constant danger of being slain for good – in the Bucklebury Ferry scenario, Pippin nearly bought it, and this time, Merry was a single modifier away from dropping out of the campaign (fate point didn’t help, either). Hopefully, their luck remains good – at least, Merry and Pippin will regain their fate points in Rivendell (provided they survive the next scenario, that is). As to the gaming terrain, the Ziterdes Weathertop worked very well – we initially thought it was somewhat small in diameter, but that did not seem to be a problem at all.

However, the proto-Fellowship has yet much ground to cover before the Ringbearer and his friends and protectors can rest in Rivendell. Can Arwen help Frodo escape the final attempt of the Black Riders to snatch the Ring? Stay tuned for the next scenario, “the Ford of Bruinen”…

Awesome report! I'm looking forward to the next one already.

Excellent as always! So will Gandalf be without his staff for the rest of the campaign? Or will he make a new one?

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Manners maketh man

I believe wizards always have duct tape in the robe pockets, so Gandalf will be able to fix the staff for the next game! Hmm, maybe we should rename the spell "Your staff is temporarily out of order" for the duration of our campaign!

Haha yeah I suppose if G's staff were permanently destroyed by the spell it would make the campaign almost impossible - and G about as useful as a chocolate teapot!

Once again, Celevue, excellent work. Your photos, reports and scenery are just superb and so inspiring! Thanks so much!

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Manners maketh man

I love the fact that you're changing Middle-Earth history. That's why I love campaigns.

Great report, and I really like that fire! It's certainly very atmospheric, as is the scenery.

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“A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.”

Love this campaign That fire is fantastic

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'You would die before your stroke fell!' ~Legolas

Check out my WIP!

So far beyond fantastic. Can you imagine how many more customers GW would have brought over to LOTR had they advertised the game in a way like this?!

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Feel free to check out my galleries and painting guides! www.freewebs.com/necromancer7

Thanks for the comments, folks! @Necromancer7, I certainly would have been instantly hooked had there been an ongoing campaign like this in White Dwarf. Since there wasn't, we decided to create one ourselves. We, like probably many others, feel that WD has pretty much abandoned LotR - they e.g. hinted at combining WotR and SBG rules within a single game, but nothing ever came out. We'll certainly attempt that at both Helm's Deep and Minas Tirith.

Brilliant again!

I'm looking forward to Moria... and even more looking forwards to the huge battles at Helm's Deep and Pelennor Fields, though I guess those are some way off. Keep it going

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WIP thread: viewtopic.php?f=50&t=25860

I love your gaming boar! Have you thought about doing a scenery making article? Have you got any more stuff that we could see? Particularly as the standard is so high.

Thanks for the comments! @Bilbo, at the moment I haven't thought of converting / expanding my WIP thread posts to articles. I hope to convey the essential steps in the WIP thread without the need for specific articles, but perhaps I will convert the best bits into articles after the campaign is over. The only finished scenery item not extensively shown is Balin's Tomb, I guess. It will be shown in battle report & probably with a few extra pics in the behind-the-scenes / WIP thread in a couple of months or so.

Fantastic, I shall look forward to seeing the images, good luck with the campaign!

Great reports
I never combined WOTR and LOTR, but I have an idea:
when formations are locked in fight using siege towers/ladders, instead of fighting Wotr rules play about 4 turns in Lotr. Profiles change to these from Lotr.
Each might is worth 2 points, and will 1 point. When hero uses 3 points he loses 1 point of might from Wotr profile. Free will and might does not "cost" points. When he loses a wound, then when someone rolls on his heroic duel table, he adds +1 for each lost wound.
When wounding creatures like trolls or siege towers 1 wound=1 wound counter. Creature that has 0 lives or rolls 6 on Hard to Kill! table is dead (however, that means troll with 3 wound counters would be dead, even if didn't roll 6 on hard to kill, so I'm open to new ideas).
After these 4 turns game comes back to WOTR, models are again put on company bases and the winner is decided as usual.
But I have never tested it, so you'd better have before playing Helm's Deep or Minas Thirith.

Nice one! I was AFK for a month and I return to not one, but three reports: what a treat. My favourite shot has to be that of Sam wielding his skillet, freshly taken off the bonfire...

Is that the Thomarillion Amon Sul model? I had contemplated it, but opted to build my own using the Fellowship Campaign Book. Having completed the build I must say that the only intimidating part was increasing the photocopy to the correct size (so I turned that into a print-and-use pdf for others to use).

That's enough self-promotion: I'll eagerly await your next instalment.

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3coloursbased - irregular painting and gaming blog

@koriakin97: Good ideas about the combination - I also had a vague idea of taking a company from WotR and converting that to an equal number of individual models for SBG skirmish, but hadn't given any thought on might and will, actually, so your suggestions will definitely be playtested this summer once I have my Helm's Deep terrain in a stage which allows some playing. I'll let you know how that goes.

@andymeechan: welcome back! That is, indeed, the Thomarillion/Ziterdes "Nalog" watchtower ruin, with added statues and a drybrush paint job (plus the added fire, of course).

This campaign sounds very promissing, although your 1st big test for your campaign will be Moria, least 60% of the campaigns I saw never pass moria 25% pass Moria but with dead fellow members and 15% actually pass it entirely almost like the movie