The Penultimate Alliance - A Game of Middle Earth Fantastic Battles

Firstly, apologies for the lack of posts recently.  I haven't even posted the traditional 'look back and look ahead' waffle for 2021/22.  I did have something roughed out, but a series of migraines prevented me polishing it sufficiently to post, and now it seems a bit too late.

Still, I have been painting.  Work progresses on the dwarves for FfoL, but I've also been painting 10mm Gondor troops for Fantastic Battles, and I got a game in with them against Bodvoc recently, The Penultimate Alliance.

As host I came up with a brief outline; at the end of the Second Age the forces of the Elves and Men are assembling to begin the march on Mordor.  Sauron, perhaps underestimating the threat, has sent an army out to crush them.  The Alliance are trying to kill Boldog, the orc warlord and banish the Nazgul, while the Forces of Darkness want to kill both Boromir and Elrond, hoping this will stop the two races allying.

I have virtually no 10mm terrain, so I was relying on Bodvoc's collection; hence the battlefield wasn't particularly well thought out and caused both of us a lot of trouble manoeuvring around woods, huts and towers.

After deployment the Mishaps rolls resulted in the Rangers and the Elven Knights  rushing forwards, matched by the Warg Riders, the Trolls and the Orc Bows on the Evil side.

The battlefield after Mishaps rolls

The Evil army arrayed for battle (Wargs waiting in the woods to ambush the enemy)

The Gondor half of the Alliance

The Elven force

The Alliance wisely held back, relying on their superior archery.  The Elven cavalry section advanced, trying to roll up the Evil flank, while the Rangers, regretting their impetuous advance, tried to seek cover in the woods.  The Warg Riders took advantage and charged, taking heavy casualties to bowfire, but eventually wiping out the Rangers.  The Wargs swung wide round the hut and tried to flank the Gondorians.

Rangers clash with Warg Riders on the edge of the woods.  Alas they hadn't time to withdraw safely into the trees and were wiped out

The Battle for the Woods heats up as the Wargs swing wide

On the other flank, the Elven cavalry take the hill, the scouts exchanging arrows with the Orc Bows and Warg Scouts. The Trolls advance into a storm of arrows, slowly taking damage.

The Elven Battle for the Hill

The Warg Riders and Rangers wipe each other out and the Elven Knights try to ride down the skirmishing Warg Scouts.  The Wild Wargs advance through the now empty woods, but stop just short of the flank of the Gondor Archers.  One block of Orc Warriors is wiped out by the Gondorian Spearmen, the Nazgul doing little to help (he had curse, but I only had him in position to use it once, and fluffed the dice rolls).   The Trolls struggle against the Elven Spears, boosted as they are by the magical trickery of Gandalf.  The only bright spot for the forces of Evil is the Orc Warriors taking down Boromir as they go.  

The Men of Gondor have wiped out a block of Orc Warriors, while the Trolls struggle against the Elven line

The Elven Spears and the Trolls (including Boldog) wipe each other out as the Elven Knights finally catch the Warg Scouts.  Already damaged by constant arrow fire, the Knights (and Elrond!) are destroyed, taking down the last Wargs and Orcs as they fall.  The Gondorian Archers chance a charge against the Nazgul, and although they are terrified by the evil presence, they manage to dismiss the wraiths - for now. 

The loss of both sides' Warlords causes panic through both sides.  After adjusting for this, both sides are broken.

The battlefield with what few troops remain.

At the end, both sides were broken in the same turn, and both achieved their victory conditions.  So a hard fought draw.

We both really enjoyed the game.  You can read Bodvoc's version of events on his blog here. There were a couple of points that confused us, but we worked out a solution, which turned out to be correct after questioning the Facebook group.  We both said the game felt like a battle in Middle Earth, so our lists are working about right.  Being on the receiving end of two very successful castings of empower, I felt it a bit overpowered.  I may not have felt that way had it been me casting it.  Curse was a failure, partly as I haven't quite got the hang of using a Magic User as a Passenger in a company.  In fact, the only thing I'm not quite happy with is how to represent the Nazgul.  Here I used a Magic User with curse (I am going to try using empower as well next time) and an Elite Mounted company with Passenger and Terrifying.  Close, but not quite what I have in mind.  this might be due to me not fully appreciating how to use it yet though.

I struggled at several points in the battle due to my poor deployment.  This is something I need to work at.  I was disappointed with the Trolls, though they were against elite Elf Spears, and I failed to support them properly.  I was pleased with the Warg Scouts, keeping the Elf Knights busy all battle, and even managing to wipe them out, and Elrond too!  Despite the Wild Wargs not actually taking part in the fight, they were a very real threat on the Gondorian flank.  It would have been nice to actually have got them into the archers though.

As you can see, I need to paint more of my Mordor army.  I bought a few more packs since last time, and they are based and undercoated for this battle.  I do need a few more its to have a good selection for a 1000 point Mordor force, and I need heroes etc for my Gondor force to bring it up to 500 points.  I'm aiming for 1000 points of course, eventually.  

I suppose I need to do a post showing the Gondorians soon.