Scenario 1 - Mordor

Following the carnage that was the dwarves attempt to traverse the forest, the members of the Fist of the Eye begin their own journey. The board is the same and we used the same number of lairs to keep it consistent, but we did get slightly different results when rolling for the beasts. This time we had a warg in the NW, a giant spider NE and SE, and bat swarms in the SW and center.

Turn 1
 Here is the initial deployment of the company:

 Here is the board, looking east with the beasts in place in their lairs.

Gracbaush barks out the order to march, and the company begins trudging nervously eastward, aware of the splashes of dwarf blood on the forest floor and the surrounding trees. The three archers lag behind slightly, keeping their bows ready.

The closest bat swarm flits around the flank  and charges Murog.

The other beasts advance, with the warg skirting the pile of rocks.

 Here is the board following the Movement phase:

Auzath and Guldursh live up to the expectations of orc archery and hit nothing (though Auzath narrowly missed his own foot). Murog turns the tables on the bat swarm, knocking one of the bats out of the air and causing a Wound and.



Turn 2
Here is the board at the start of the turn:

Auzath and Guldursh continue their half move forward and Murog charges back into combat with the bats. The rest of the company continues east with them starting to split north and south around an upthrust rock formation.

The beasts leap to attack Zorzagar, who is slightly ahead of the others with only the north-east spider still lagging behind. Zorzagar becomes the first of the Fist's casualties as he is surrounded and Trapped. Losing the duel, he quickly succumbs to the fangs of the beasts.

Murog surprisingly wins his duel roll and strikes down another bat, causing one more Wound to the swarm.

Turn 3
The board at the beginning of the turn.

Murog hopes to keep his streak going, and charges the bat swarm once more. Gracbaush takes his part of the company past the rock pile and keeps moving east. Bolgash charges the bat swarm, and Krugac, aided by Shuglogh attack the closest spider. Auzath and Guldursh take full moves, heading east as quickly as they can.

The Giant Spiders skitters quickly across the forest floor and charge Ogzit and Gracbaush, fangs bared.

Combat is mixed this turn. Gracbaush defeats his spider, but the creature quickly sidesteps the blow from his pick. Ogzit loses his duel and is forced to expend his Fate point to avoid injury. Krugac and Shuglogh slay the warg, it's howls abruptly cut off.

Bolgash is enveloped by the swarm of bats, and once the air clears he is left laying still on the ground. Murog takes revenge, inflicting yet another Wound on the bat swarm he faces.

Turn 4
I apparently forgot to take an overall picture for this turn. A third Giant Spider takes the place of the fallen warg, appearing from the south-west lair. Gracbaush passes a Courage check and charges the spider ahead of him, entering the control zone and sidling around behind it. Uthragh also attempts to charge a spider, but fails his courage check and freezes in place. Ogzit and Auzbog rush eastward, avoiding the spiders.

Krugac also fails to charge a spider and remains in place. Shuglogh attacks the nearby bat swarm, and Murog hopes to finish off his own bat swarm. Auzath and Guldursh continue their run eastward, angling to the north-east to pass a dense patch of trees.

The two spiders not engaged rush forward past Uthragh and Gracbaush to attack Ogzit and Auzbog.

Combat opens for the turn with Gracbaush defeating his opposing spider but again fails to harm it. Ogzit loses to his spider, but manages to dodge out of the way of the fangs. Auzbog drives back the spider attacking him but is likewise unable to cause any damage.

Murog again defeats the bat swarm, but this time, perhaps due to fewer bats to hit, he fails to cause a Wound. Finding success, the other bat swarm manages to kill Shuglogh.

Turn 5
 This turn, Gracbaush strikes out to the east, but Ogzit and Auzbog each fail Courage checks to tie down the spiders. Uthragh does pass his Courage check this turn, and engages one of the spiders.

Angered that the bats continue to plague him, Murog rushes back into combat. Krugac, too, charges the nearby bat swarm as Auzath and Guldursh continue their flight north-east.

The brown spider, spotting the pair of running orcs,  sets off to catch them, passing into the dense patch of dead trees. The other free spider rushes forward to cut off Gracbaush's flight.

The bats manage to reverse their fortunes slightly, defeating Murog but are not able to do any harm to him. Uthragh is not so lucky, the spider leaping upon him and sinking its fangs into his skin. Krugac loses his Duel, but the bats are unable to pierce his armor.

Gracbaush wins his duel, his pick sinking deeply into his foes body. Ichor seeps from the wound, but the spider is still very much alive.

Turn 6
Here is the board at the start of the turn (apparently I finally remembered to take a picture).

With apparently no thoughts of anything else, Murog attacks the bat swarm again. Gracbaush makes his way north-east, while Ogzit and Auzbog run south-east. Krugac abandons the bats and runs east as Auzbog and Guldursh continue running north-east.

The beasts continue to harry the orcs. The bats easily catch up to Krugac and one of the spiders skitters down to attack Ogzit. Gracbaush is caught again, and the brown spider catches up to Guldursh.

Combat is savage, and goes entirely the beasts way this turn. Murog loses to the bats but manages to save his skin. Ogzit is pulled down and bitten mercilessly while Gracbaush suffers a similar fate, not having enough Fate points to save both Wounds.

Krugac is so confused by the randomly flitting and swirling of the bats that he trips over his own feet, and is immediately set upon by the creatures.

Guldursh's flight comes to an end at the snapping fangs of the brown spider.

Turn 7
Here is the board at the beginning of the turn.

Murog continues his fixation, and charges the bat swarm one more time.

Running fast, but not fast enough, Auzbog heads east, south of another patch of trees, and Auzath heads north-east.

A spider catches up to Auzbog, with the free bat swarm closing in.

The brown spider turns its attention to Auzath, and the eight legs easily carry him into charging range.

Finally achieving his goal, Murog causes a Wound, and strikes down the last remaining bat.

His triumphant evil laugh is cut short by Auzbog's scream as spider fangs sink deeply into his arm.

Auzath manages to beat back the spider, postponing the inevitable.

Turn 8
The turn opens with a replacement bat swarm arriving next to Auzath.

Murog shoulders his bow and trudges eastward, chagrin on his mind as a spider and bat swarm rush to meet him.

Auzath attempts to run, but is easily caught by the brown spider and the newly arrived bat swarm with a second spider approaching.

Unsurprisingly, the spider and bat swarm are successful in their duel, and Auzath joins his companions on the dark floor of the forest.

Following the precedent of the earlier game, Murog succumbs to his impending doom, and is removed as a casualty. In the second half of Scenario 1, the beasts reign supreme in their gloomy domain.