So far we have done the introductory narrative mission and a couple of vs. missions. This will be our last vs. mission before the next narrative mission.
Seize The Area involves our two squads having to roll to see where they come in and the objective is to have more than your opponent at the central objective, in this case the only water for miles around.
My son set up the scenery and tried to make obstacles and rough ground fairly equally spread across the map with the objective (the well) in the middle of the ruined tower.
Here's a gratuitious shot of my new lava crater. Nice sunny day outside, perfect for staying inside =)
I managed to roll three of my guys in one spot against my brother's single spear guy, so they immediately charged in and Brynmor takes the first kill of the day!
Oh, I should mention as you see this aerial shot that my brother's old war wounds and previous injuries meant that we were playing with the same number (8) of troops as each other even though usually he gets more! It seemed unfortunate for this particular mission as my better defence meant that it was unlikely he could win. We decided to play on for all the xp anyway!
You can see that there are troops scattered across the map! This would be a great mission (or mission type) to play for those of you who really like a fun skirmishy game rather than starting with each player all set in battle lines.
By winning priority, his Haradrim manage to keep running away from the dwarves as the humans have longer legs!
The mounted troops can really cover a lot of ground quickly! Especially compared to dwarves! My two archers came in off by themselves and took multiple shots, though nothing hit.
And Loki, newly advanced to a Ranger is taken out on the charge by The Falcon! Loki did an awesome job last game, but not this time!
Boggle uses some might to finally get in a charge, throws an axe and slams into the new spearman!
And the cavalry continue to take out archers, Archie falling beneath the horses hooves this time!
Looking at the actual objective, there is pretty even representation, but the dwarven heroes have entered the building!
The Falcon charges into Diva and uses a point of might to slay the dwarf. It was at this point (after the cavalry had done so well) that we realised we'd been forgetting to roll double dice after the charge knocks a dwarf down! Not that he'd needed it, but that's how well the cavalry had been going!
In the doorway a Haradrim archer is trapped by Boggle and another dwarf, but the dwarves manage to fumble their weapons!
Brynmor charges forward and takes out a spearman while Etako barely fends off the charging horse and The Wolf (in the corner).
The Falcon uses his last point of might to overcome Skodi, who shielded up but couldn't withstand the horse charging! Meanwhile the man in the doorway manages to fend off two dwarves again!
In the courtyard an amazing melee breaks out as the dwarves fail all of their rolls but manage to stay alive.
Etako takes out The Wolf in the corner and it's four against four! I was convinced the dwarves would walk right over the Haradrim, but instead they've charged into battle!
Etako uses his might to try and take out The Falcon, but fails. Monty is taken out! Suddenly the dwarves have a broken force! Does the game continue?...
Yes, the die is rolled and the game continues on! Boggle fails his courage test (after feeling so awful about failing to kill the guy trapped in the doorway for so many turns!)
A low angle shot shows the true MVP of the match, The Falcon on horseback!
The game continues on for yet another turn, The Talon takes out Brynmor, Etako wins his fight against The Falcon, but can't get a wound in. And the game is over! Harad victory!
Oh... my... goodness! That was a crazy match! It looked as though the dwarves would romp it in, but starting scattered, being slow and (to be honest) rolling terribly did not help them. Really though, my brother played to the strengths of his force and made sure to set up cavalry charges whenever he could to great effect, taking out my less armoured guys first and working up to the tougher guys.
Such a fun game, I love it when you think you've got it figured and then there's a surprise!
Post-game Brynmor gets an Old Battle Wound and Defiant Diva will miss the next game. I also realised I'd cheated previously by upgrading dwarves to heavy dwarf armour who weren't eligible for it. So I took that all back and with the extra influence I rolled on the reinforcement charts and got a Vault Warden team and another 2-handed axe warrior! I still only have one special rule, Furious Charge but now have 11 characters!!
My brother continued upgrading to horses wherever possible as well as war spears. He now has three heroes with special rules (Bane of Kings, Steady Aim and Lethal Aim) and 11 characters.
Our next missions will be narrative again - a spider filled forest!
