Easterlings vs Mirkwood & Lothlorien
Turn 1 – Good
The first turn sees little action as the respective warbands arrive on the battlefield. Legolas arrives from the south leading his Mirkwood Archers while Haldir appears on the Eastern edge of the battlefield at the head of his spearmen. Coming from further away, Naethlang and his Galadhrim Warriors do not arrive this turn.
The first turn sees little action as the respective warbands arrive on the battlefield. Legolas arrives from the south leading his Mirkwood Archers while Haldir appears on the Eastern edge of the battlefield at the head of his spearmen. Coming from further away, Naethlang and his Galadhrim Warriors do not arrive this turn.
Amdur appears from the West at the head of his Easterlings,
while Kanwarth and his force emerge from the forest on the Eastern edge, mere
paces from Haldir and his warriors. Borfast and his warband appear silhouetted against
the sky atop a hill near the North-western corner. (The warbands rolled _, 6,
1, 3, 3, and 2 respectively).
Turn 2 – Good
Eager to make up for their tardiness, Naethlang and his warriors from the Golden Wood arrive from the north, roughly between Borfast and Kanwarth’s warbands.
Eager to make up for their tardiness, Naethlang and his warriors from the Golden Wood arrive from the north, roughly between Borfast and Kanwarth’s warbands.
Legolas takes the first shot of the battle, aiming carefully and firing
an arrow at a kataphract. Unfortunately for the woodland Prince, the arrow
clangs harmlessly off his thick armor. The rest of his retinue draw back their
bows and let fly with a hail of arrows, one killing a pikeman while the others
either missed or caused no damage.
In response, the Easterling archers of Amdur’s
warband fire back killing a wood elf bowman. A second elf is struck, but avoids
more than superficial harm.
Haldir leads three of his spearmen in a charge
against the nearest kataphract, denying him the opportunity to charge, or ride
out of range. The rest of Kanwarth’s warband responds by counter-charging
Haldir and his elves. In the ensuing melee, a wood-elf bearing a spear is
ridden down by a kataphract, while a second elf is defeated, but avoids damage.
Haldir defeats the kataphract that he charged, but is unable to make a dent in
his armor.
Turn 3 – Evil
Shouting “With Me!” Haldir charges back into combat against the kataphract he had defeated moments before. One spear elf ran to support Haldir himself, with two others rushing to engage the second horseman.
Shouting “With Me!” Haldir charges back into combat against the kataphract he had defeated moments before. One spear elf ran to support Haldir himself, with two others rushing to engage the second horseman.
Leaving most of his men to
deal with Haldir and his elves, Kanwarth takes a swordsman heads to the center,
skirting a small copse of trees. The unengaged pair of kataphracts ride around
the northern edge of the copse, taunting Naethlang and his elves as they went. In their haste to reach the objective and
perhaps angered by the Easterling insults, Naethlang leads his warriors
straight toward the center of the battlefield, pursuing the pair of kataphracts
and leaving Borfast and his men unmolested atop the hill.
A pair of elven
spearmen charge Kanwarth’s companion, but cannot reach Kanwarth himself.
Legolas and his wood elves continue their slow advance to the objective. Amdur and
his warband also maintain their steady march, the archers lagging behind readying
their bows.
Aiming at the backs of Naethlang’s elves, Borfast’s archers loose a
flight of arrows. Two finding their marks, a pair of elves are struck down,
feathered shafts in their backs.
A wood elf archer also falls twitching after
sprouting an Easterling arrow from his chest.
The remaining elves fire their
own arrows at the pair of kataphracts, but are unable to harm them. Legolas
carefully draws back his own bow, and fires a shot at Amdur, but again his luck
deserts him and the arrow clangs harmlessly off his armor. Kanwarth’s swordsman
companion is driven back, but manages to avoid the hungry spears of the elves.
One of the kataphracts near Haldir is not so lucky, being pulled from his
saddle and skewered mercilessly by elf spearmen. In revenge, the two elves
nearest Haldir are slain by the swords and pikes of Easterling warriors. Haldir
himself fights off the kataphract and two other Easterlings, but is unable to
slay any of them.
Turn 4 – Evil
Haldir again shouts “With Me!” and charges back into action with his nemesis the kataphract. Three nearby wood-elf spearmen throw themselves into combat against the Easterling warriors.
Amdur and his men rush to try and head off Naethlang’s elves, who heedless of their losses continue their march to the objective.
Some of Borfast’s infantry begin to pick their way down from their perch on the hill, slowed by the difficult terrain. The archers on the hill again loose a flight of arrows, hitting two elves but this time their armor protects them.
Amdur’s archers again shoot at their elven counterparts, firing through the gaps in a patch of woods, but cause no harm. Firing back, the wood elves slay an archer, while a second arrow strikes against the ruined wall surrounding the objective instead. Continuing their fire the elves score hits as a second Easterling archer drops with an elven arrow in his throat while a swordsman also meets his end at the hand of elven archery.
Continuing his unbroken string of not success, Legolas again fails to kill his target. The pair of kataphracts charge a pair of wood-elf spearmen, but the elves deftly avoid their blades.
Haldir loses his battle but again escapes harm. Kanwarth doubles back and dispatches a wood-elf spearman, sinking his blade into the elven body. Near the ongoing melee between Haldir and his elves and Kanwarth’s Easterlings, a pikeman doubles over with a spear in his belly, while an elf is driven back but not killed.
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Haldir again shouts “With Me!” and charges back into action with his nemesis the kataphract. Three nearby wood-elf spearmen throw themselves into combat against the Easterling warriors.
Amdur and his men rush to try and head off Naethlang’s elves, who heedless of their losses continue their march to the objective.
Some of Borfast’s infantry begin to pick their way down from their perch on the hill, slowed by the difficult terrain. The archers on the hill again loose a flight of arrows, hitting two elves but this time their armor protects them.
Amdur’s archers again shoot at their elven counterparts, firing through the gaps in a patch of woods, but cause no harm. Firing back, the wood elves slay an archer, while a second arrow strikes against the ruined wall surrounding the objective instead. Continuing their fire the elves score hits as a second Easterling archer drops with an elven arrow in his throat while a swordsman also meets his end at the hand of elven archery.
Continuing his unbroken string of not success, Legolas again fails to kill his target. The pair of kataphracts charge a pair of wood-elf spearmen, but the elves deftly avoid their blades.
Haldir loses his battle but again escapes harm. Kanwarth doubles back and dispatches a wood-elf spearman, sinking his blade into the elven body. Near the ongoing melee between Haldir and his elves and Kanwarth’s Easterlings, a pikeman doubles over with a spear in his belly, while an elf is driven back but not killed.
.JPG)
Turn 5 – Evil
In a scene that has almost become a candidate for broken record status, Haldir calls forth his last reserve of might to charge the remaining nearby kataphract. In the race to secure the objective, both Amdur and Naethlang call Heroic Moves, but the elven captain proves to be the quicker. The elves rush to occupy the ruined structure and form a cordon between the objective and the approaching Easterlings. A few split off to join their comrades fighting against Kanwarth and his warriors just to the East. Following hot on their heels Amdur and his men charge after them, bringing two of them to battle.
Borfast and his infantry continue their descent of the hill, picking their way down to level ground and setting off to the ruin.
Continuing their running exchange of fire, two elves fall to Easterling arrows, while one of the easterling bowmen is also slain by an arrow.
In what has become a recurring theme, Legolas again fails to cause any damage with his arrows. The swirling melee over on the eastern edge of the board shows no sign of abating as Haldir again defeats his opponents but causes no damage to his assailants. An Easterling swordsman stains the grass after a wood-elf rips open his chest with his spear. A Pikeman manages to defeat a wood-elf spearman, but is unable to kill him.
.JPG)
Kanwarth loses a fight with another spear elf, but his heavy armor protects him from harm. His swordsman companion is similarly defeated, but his heavy armor holds true. Nearby, a spear elf is slain by a charging kataphract while the other kataphract is defeated but not killed.
In the developing fight at the ruin, a Galadhrim warrior is slain by no less than five Easterlings. A second Galadhrim is driven back further into the ruin.
In a scene that has almost become a candidate for broken record status, Haldir calls forth his last reserve of might to charge the remaining nearby kataphract. In the race to secure the objective, both Amdur and Naethlang call Heroic Moves, but the elven captain proves to be the quicker. The elves rush to occupy the ruined structure and form a cordon between the objective and the approaching Easterlings. A few split off to join their comrades fighting against Kanwarth and his warriors just to the East. Following hot on their heels Amdur and his men charge after them, bringing two of them to battle.
Borfast and his infantry continue their descent of the hill, picking their way down to level ground and setting off to the ruin.
Continuing their running exchange of fire, two elves fall to Easterling arrows, while one of the easterling bowmen is also slain by an arrow.
In what has become a recurring theme, Legolas again fails to cause any damage with his arrows. The swirling melee over on the eastern edge of the board shows no sign of abating as Haldir again defeats his opponents but causes no damage to his assailants. An Easterling swordsman stains the grass after a wood-elf rips open his chest with his spear. A Pikeman manages to defeat a wood-elf spearman, but is unable to kill him.
.JPG)
Kanwarth loses a fight with another spear elf, but his heavy armor protects him from harm. His swordsman companion is similarly defeated, but his heavy armor holds true. Nearby, a spear elf is slain by a charging kataphract while the other kataphract is defeated but not killed.
In the developing fight at the ruin, a Galadhrim warrior is slain by no less than five Easterlings. A second Galadhrim is driven back further into the ruin.
Turn 6 – Good
With a shout and brandishing his Falchion high, Amdur and his companions charge into the battered elves defending the ruin.
Three of the elven archers abandon
their shooting and sprint forward toward the ruin, leaving two of their number
behind to continue shooting. Over on the Eastern board edge, Haldir and his
remaining companions continue their struggle. In the North, Borfast and his men
continue their belated rush to aid their comrades.
The remaining archer from
Amdur’s warband shakes his fist as he slowly topples forward with an arrow in
his belly.
Borfast is targeted by another arrow, but it strikes harmlessly
against the wall of the ruin. Needless to say, Legolas again fails to do
damage. Kanwarth swats aside a wood-elf archer, his blade marking a spray of
blood on the grass.
Haldir is again defeated, and is almost injured but fate
was with him, saving him from harm.
In the ruin, a Galadhrim warrior’s deft
swordplay drives his two assailants back, but not far enough away from the
objective. Another warrior from Lothlorien is slain by a kataphract just to the
East.
Amdur and an elven warrior engage each other, their blades glittering in
the sun. In a nearly even match, the Lord of Blades barely managed to defeat
and kill his opponent (the Galadhrim warrior rolled a six and Amdur had to fall
back on his banner effect to roll a six of his own). Naethlang dirties his own
blade, staining it with Easterling blood as he gracefully decapitates a
swordsman.
Due to time constraints we were forced to call the game at
the end of turn six.
The good army was very close to broken (depending on if fractions are rounded up or down), but there were no wounds on either general (Amdur & Legolas), so the victory came down to numbers within 6” of the objective, which was also very close (nine Easterlings to eight Elves). Over all an Easterling victory, but it was quite close, and an enjoyable battle for all J I must say my Easterling’s collective bacon were saved time and time again by their heavy armor. To see all those fives being rolled and my warriors still standing tall was a nice change after the last few battles of using lighter armored troops. I was also quite surprised by Legolas total lack of performance. He had some really terrible die rolls and just couldn’t pull it off this battle. Of course that means next time he shows up he will probably be an absolute beast. For as little as he did, I probably could have gotten at least as much, if not more mileage out of a generic captain (if I had another one) than I got out of Borfast. I would really have liked to have rolled out my Dragon Knight, but that Independent Hero status is a real stick in the eye. All in all though, it was a fun battle. Looking forward to the next one J
The good army was very close to broken (depending on if fractions are rounded up or down), but there were no wounds on either general (Amdur & Legolas), so the victory came down to numbers within 6” of the objective, which was also very close (nine Easterlings to eight Elves). Over all an Easterling victory, but it was quite close, and an enjoyable battle for all J I must say my Easterling’s collective bacon were saved time and time again by their heavy armor. To see all those fives being rolled and my warriors still standing tall was a nice change after the last few battles of using lighter armored troops. I was also quite surprised by Legolas total lack of performance. He had some really terrible die rolls and just couldn’t pull it off this battle. Of course that means next time he shows up he will probably be an absolute beast. For as little as he did, I probably could have gotten at least as much, if not more mileage out of a generic captain (if I had another one) than I got out of Borfast. I would really have liked to have rolled out my Dragon Knight, but that Independent Hero status is a real stick in the eye. All in all though, it was a fun battle. Looking forward to the next one J
Good- Evil-
5x Wood-elf Warriors /w Bows 3x Easterling Warriors /w Shield
6x Wood-elf Warriors /w Wood Elf Spears 2x Easterling Warriors /w Shields & Pike
5x Galadhrim Warriors /w Shields 4x Easterling Warriors /w Bows
1x Easterling Kataphracts
