Nuri the Dwarf, Bungo the Hobbit and Forlong the Ranger sit at a good table in the Prancing Pony Inn enjoying their ale. Floki the Dwarf is reintroduced to them and he requests a small favour, that they deliver a sealed message to his brother Flonar. He explains that he will be in the Dwarven Halls of the Blue Mountains to the West should his brother wish to reply with another message.
After some questions and discussion, they agree and head out West through the Shire and then North towards the Lake. With Forlong as the guide they make haste and avoid all mishaps. Looking out towards the Lake they wisely decide to avoid the fog which obscures its surface and the ancient ruins to the east.
They come across the dwarves at the Vale of Gold. They are all dead and their camp is afire. The heroes make short work of a group of goblin archers, felling three outright with their initial volleys as they come across the foul creatures unawares. They discover that twelve dwarves have been taken prisoner and that something was taken, roughly ripped from a necklace on Flonar’s body.
They track the orcs to a hidden vale to the east and decide that the force is too large to attack alone so head east to the Blue Mountains and the Dwarves.
There they meet Vilia a clan chieftain and Floki. After some intrigue and treasure they are invited to the council of the dwarves to discuss the matters at hand. Floki persuades them to intercede on his behalf: or perhaps it is the plight of the dwarvern prisoners; or indeed the tale of a secret key to Moria being the item taken from Flonar’s corpse; that inspires them. Forlong is intent on pursuing his oath and moving further North to the Hill of Fear and leaving the Dwarves and Floki to their fate. In the end the heroes agree to travel to the fortress of the orcs in the Ettenmoors with a group of dwarven scouts in an attempt to rescue the prisoners. They are rewarded with armour and helms of ancient dwarven make, inscribed with Runes and of fabulous craftsmanship. Crossing the land in relative haste they recover the trail at the hidden vale and aided by the dwarves find themselves looking across the moors to the iron gates of the fortress
Our heroes; Nuri the Dwarf, Bungo the Hobbit and Forlong the Ranger gathered once again ready for adventure. In a small fishing village of the folk of Lond Daer the crowd are angry. They encounter a wild looking character known as Jon a Leaping. The village cobbler Borlas has been held against his will in Tharbad which lies up river. Jon has in turn been caught by the villagers as an outlaw, thief and bandit who has been preying on the villagers for some time now. He claims to be a friend of the Lord and Master of Tharbad, Gurnow. So the village leader asks the heroes to take Jon to Tharbad and ransom him in exchange for Borlas.
They agree and over the next few days travel with Jon upstream along the river bank. Jon escapes and is followed to the Watchful Stones where the group once again meet with Orothel the Ranger. It transpires that Jon has been her messenger into Tharbad and she has been waiting here 5 days for him. After some discussion they agree to continue with Jon to Tharbad and agree to help Orothel obtain a message from her mysterious agent in Tharbad.
The heroes visit Tharbad and during their time find an old Library maintained by an all but forgotten scribe. Bungo searches about but resists the temptation to steal from her whilst Gimli and Forlong obtain her aid in future research as well as finding some useful maps and lore. She receives a generous donation from Nuri. Between them they learn more about the mysterious Hill of Fear to the North and Moria. They find an ancient map of the Redhorn Pass.
Eventually they meet Gurnow in his Hall. Jon is handed over much to his dismay and placed in the prison awaiting execution. They see Tharnow the Lord’s brutal son and learn more about Lady Stock. They earn the Lord’s favour for bringing in Jon and use this to travel with relative freedom about the town. They meet a an antiquarian or treasure hunter, again gleaning some more useful information and a potential future contact. They find the message from Orothel’s mysterious agent.
They set out to the prison and convince the gaoler of Garth Tauron, one Valandur to leave in a hurry with his guardsmen (on the pretext of urgent orders from the Master) whilst they investigate. They find Jon and Borlas who have been brought up from the cells and are being loosely guarded due to the heavy rain flooding the lower levels. Rescuing them both they head out of town using a secret route and reach Orothel. However Forlong has taken a nasty blow to the head.
Orothel reads the letter and is furious with Jon for causing the delay. She accompanies the heroes in all haste after one Deor, a stranger to these lands. He had been seen in the company of Dwarves, one of whom was named Flonar. Then he had spoken with the Master and the Lady before setting off in a boat headed North.
They eventually find Deor’s body which grasps out at one of them even in death. Dark spirits gather and a black cloud suddenly obscures the sun. Orcs and Goblins attack in great numbers. Orothel does her best to fend off the great host. Forlong lifts Esterlang aloft and banishes the clouds and evil spirits, half blinding the Orcs with the sunlight. The heroes are victorious but Nuri is exhausted, Forlong injured.
Orothel is badly wounded by an arrow. Searching about and discovering the Orc camp they find some clues. Also, they are able to interrogate the Orcs who talk about one Snava, an Orc Boss “Up from the Fire”.
They discover two artefacts bearing the sigil of the Lidless Eye, bound with dark magics, which Bungo takes into his keeping. One an iron talisman and the other a circlet which he can use should he choose, to enhance his skills. Also a small amulet which they later learn is from the far north made from the carapace of the fabled Fastitocalon. This is a token of friendship from the Snowmen of Lossoth.
They return to Bree at the Sign of the Prancing Pony where they find Balin once again and are re-introduced to the Dwarf named Floki, who has a small errand for them. Simply to deliver a note to his brother…
So M came round and took on the role of Rohan vs my Isengard with Dunlendings.
The battle started with my creatures bouncing off the Rohan shield wall on my left flank . Then my Troll got bogged down in combat vs Royal Guard and warriors on my right for the whole five turns of the game .
My Dunlendings with two handed axes tried to chop down the Ent in the middle of the road but got wiped out . The Ent was left exhausted though .
My berserkers hearth guard got arrows rained down on them by the archers hiding behind a stone wall in a field of wheat . They charged after suffering casualties and dealt heavy damage . They and my Leader tried to charge into the royal guard but bounced off.
Meanwhile the Paladin and warriors finished off the creatures warg riders and levy on my left flank .
So it was all over by turn five with Rohan in double figures on the VICTORY CHART . Well done M .
A raiding party of Uruk Hai attack a Rohan village . They call for aid and the Eorl rides through the night with his hearth guard arriving just as the attack begins. An enraged Ent joins the fray to aid the villagers who have been careful in respecting the Forest whereas the Uruk Hai had felled trees to make fires with no regard for leaf or bough .
No sorcerers or magic in this learning scenario. The points were slightly in favour of the attacking Uruk Hai and some questions arose especially with regards to changes in version two of saga. So it was good to get this done before playing it for real with the group.
The Rohan guard rode around the right flank and were caught unawares by the charging warg riders who used a faction rule to gain a bonus charge distance . They chewed through the horses.
The Lord countercharged them but was also defeated leaving the wargs exhausted. The Troll and the Ent moved up and fought around the carnage .
Meanwhile the Captain moved down the road behind the warrior group supported by the archers . They defeated the Uruk warriors but then were cut down by the berserker guard . Then the Uruk hai lord advanced towards the archer levy and took heavy fatigue lacking a shield to protect him . His berserkers took the hit for him being his bodyguard .
Finally with the warriors destroyed and the Ent and the Troll both exhausted it was time to stop with victory going to the attackers this time .
We played several games of Ticket to Ride Europe having found the 15 anniversary edition available at half price .
Also some Ho Nuts for Donuts.
Finally this weekend a game of Frosthaven where our heroes advanced to the edge of the world and discovered they needed a boat to go further .
In the campaign phase they built a boat at the craftsman and brewed some useless potions at the alchemist . They encountered the lone surviving mercenary from the group they hired and vowed vengeance on the monsters who defeated them . They were also hired to open up the pass through the mountains using explosives.
So lots to go with multiple branching opportunities ahead .
Used Link’s excellent space marines against his as yet unpainted but boosted Tyranids. All the marines are very nicely done now .
The battle took some time but was lots of fun for link on a bank holiday weekend. The Tyranids grabbed all the VPS early on and completed their ritual in the centre of No Mans Land by turn three to four.
So they were well ahead on points but rapidly losing units to the marines devastating firepower or melee combat .
The dreadnought ripped holes in any monster that appeared over cover .
So in the end it was another victory for the Marines as they completed side objectives and held the BIG victory point areas in the final round unopposed.
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