The Fellowship in Flight

Scenario 5: Flight of the Fellowship
The Fellowship have left the mines, although Gandalf didn't make it. Aragorn takes up leadership of them, but many hills lie between them and the safety of Lothlorien. Some returning goblins plant an ambush for the Fellowship and soon after the trap is sprung more goblins emerge from the mines to avenge their brethren.

Objectives: Good must move four members of the fellowship off the Eastern board edge by the end phase of turn ten. Evil must prevent this.

Special rules: Tide of goblins - At the end phase of each turn, from turn 2 onwards, roll a D6, the evil player may place goblin(s) with shield, spear or bow at the Western board edge based on the result from the roll:

• 1-2 One goblin
• 3-4 Two goblins
• 5-6 Three goblins

Goblin forces: 20 Goblins (8x spears, 8x shields, 4x bows)

Playing area: 24''/61cm x 24''/61cm

Deployment, 2 goblin archers are deployed within 3''/8cm of either
corner. The fellowship within 3''/8cm of the centre of the western board
 edge. And seven goblins within 6''/14cm of the centre of the board

The archers shoot at the hobbits to little avail,
as they are in combat

Boromir and Legolas claim a kill each, while Aragorn takes a wound

The archers close in further as the sides melee again

Boromir slices and Legolas stabs another goblin each and Gimli joins
them squishing a goblin beneath his axe

One goblin draw by the sounds of battle

Aragorn urges the Fellowship forward while he holds a couple of
goblins back

Three more goblins rush onto the field

Aragorn gets more tied up and more members are engaged

But four goblins fall under the superior fighting skills of the Fellowship

Two more this turn

Aragorn seems to be soaking up most of the goblin's attention

Letting the four hobbits race, slowly, eastwards

Boromir and Gimli redeem Aragorn's lack of fighting skills

Three more arrive, much to Aragorn's annoyance

And eagerly charge straight into combat

The hobbits get closer to the board edge

Boromir downs another goblin, where Aragorn succumbs to the weight of goblins around him

Another three hastening to the battle cries

The Fellowship back away, and the hobbits inch closer to the
eastern board edge

An archer arrives

The Fellowship gain priority and the hobbits move over the board edge

Giving the Fellowship a victory and an overall victory 3-2!


This was quite a difficult scenario to make, as too many goblins in the centre would prevent any chance of members getting through and with too few the Fellowship would not be slowed down enough to allow the other goblins to catch up.
The main problem though is that the goblins had to get priority consistently, as they did in this battle, to have a chance at killing five members. 
This could either be solved by allowing the player with priority to choose the deployment edge or allow them to deployed at the Northern and Southern edges instead?
Moreover more terrain is needed to slow the progress of the Fellowship and so the goblins can use their cave dweller special rule.

Boromir was the only hero to kill an opponent in every combat he fought in, totalling five so gains the Performance of the battle. While Aragorn won a couple of combats but couldn't capitalise on them so gets the Flop of the battle.

Performer of the Campaign goes to Boromir, he managed to get 16 goblin kills in 4 scenarios. 
Aragorn did reasonably in the third and fourth battles, but slacked in the other three, despite this he managed 14 kills and two wounds on the troll from 5 scenarios.
Legolas managed 6 kills, one by bow, from 4 scenarios. 
Gimli managed 9 kills and the troll from 4 scenarios. 
The hobbits managed 7 kills from their 4 scenarios.
The Flop of the Campaign though, has to go to Gandalf, he managed a single kill in the 3 scenarios he played, not only that, he was a casualty in one, despite having three wounds and used blinding light to little effect.

This concludes my Easter jaunt, hope you enjoyed or learnt something from the battles, painting and my long tactical analyses which I have been 'trying' to keep to a minimum.
Hopefully when I'm back I shall cover some different ground, maybe in the Siege of Gondor booklet or a couple of The Two Towers scenarios, some more board work and finish of some painting...

Until then

Fish

Battle in Balin's tomb

Previously in the Mines of Moria booklet:

Legolas gets struck down by goblin arrows 

Aragorn succumbs to Goblin numbers

Merry secures a trapdoor while the others hold the goblins

Legolas closing the final trapdoor

The score is 2-1 in favour of the goblins going into Balin's Tomb the final scenario in the mines of Moria booklet.
Strangely they didn't include any about the bridge of Khazad-dum or the flight over the stairs.

Scenario 4: Battle in Balin's tomb
The Fellowship find a stone chamber where Gimli's cousin Balin was laid to rest after meeting his tragic fate. Their grief is interrupted by the booming of drums and the the arrival of yet more goblins, this time "They have a cave troll".

Objectives: Good must kill the cave troll. Evil must kill four members of the Fellowship before the cave troll is killed.

Special rules:
Trapdoor - At the end phase roll a D6, on a 4,5 or 6 a goblin with either spear, bow or shield may be placed in contact with the trapdoor.
Cave troll - At the end of a turn where both sides have drawn the priority roll-off the cave troll may be placed in base contact with the doorway. If models are blocking the trolls entry then they must be moved out of the way, unless they are newly arriving models, then the troll arrives in the next turn.
The doorway - At the end phase roll a D6, the result is the number of goblins with either spear, bow or shield may be placed in contact with the doorway, if there is not room to place newly arriving models then the models blocking their entry may be moved aside. Unlike trapdoors the doorway may not be sealed.

Goblin forces: 24 goblins (8x spears, 8x shields, 8x bows) , Cave troll

Playing board: 56cm x 42cm

Deployment

Aragorn and Boromir attack the goblins at the doorway
 Legolas and Gimli move to a trapdoor

Gandalf and the hobbits move to the other
while Sam helps Aragorn and Boromir

Three fall under the men's blades

Legolas taking a goblin arrow

Both attack quick before more goblins come through the trapdoor

Sam provides light assistance, where the men take up the bulk

One Goblin arrives, Gandalf and co. attack again

Both get kills here, and close the trapdoor

Frodo and Merry kill here, nearing the closure of the trapdoor

The men only manage two kills

Legolas and Gimli move to help the men at the doorway, the troll bursts
through trapping Aragorn, three goblins are wait outside the door

Pippin rushes towards Sam, as Gandalf and co.
surround the final goblin here

Sam smashes a goblin with his pan, Boromir carves the only goblin
brave enough to face him. Aragorn narrowly avoids the attacks of the
troll and goblins managing to put deep cuts into the troll

The goblin here falls to Gandalf

Legolas is held up, as half a dozen more goblins emerge from the door
Gimli bravely charges the troll

Another goblin clambers from the trapdoor

Pippin is stabbed in the stomach, while Boromir slays two more

More attacks again

As another goblin joins the fray Sam faces twice his number
Legolas trapped against thrice his and Gimli faces-off the troll again

Sam succumbs, Boromir stabs and Gimli cleaves the troll

Giving the Fellowship their second victory and the overall score to 2-2.

The Fellowship managed to close a trapdoor, reduce the effectiveness of the second and kill the troll. Things got sticky as the troll entered on the third turn, and after Sam and Pippin fell being used to reduce the number of enemies facing Boromir and Aragorn. However when Legolas and Gimli came to help the hobbits use had been fulfilled. 

The Performance of the battle award has to got to Boromir, as he won all of his combats and killed 6 of the 10 goblins coming through the doorway. Aragorn did well to kill three and get two wounds on the troll but lost a couple of combats meaning he allowed more goblins to be in the tomb.

Flop of the battle goes to the troll, that couldn't inflict wounds on Aragorn despite being surrounded, and Gimli in a face-off.

The Fellowship easily handled the goblins at the trapdoors, since I used the movement as depicted in the booklet. 

Aragorn and Boromir move to the door, Gandalf and the hobbits to one trapdoor, Legolas and Gimli to the other.

Gandalf's sub-force outnumbers the goblins initially meaning they had to get quick kills while the number ratio was in their favour and they are unlikely to have strikes against them, easier when they were in attacking range from the first turn.

Gimli and Legolas have to charge full speed towards the second trapdoor, no shooting from Legolas, before one or two goblins come through the trapdoor when they get there, so less turns are spent killing them when even more goblins can come through.

Lastly Aragorn and Boromir are best suited to defending the doorway, as they have the most combined attacks and wounds and need to kill three or four goblins per turn, so they won't get surrounded. Also as they are better candidates for killing the troll when it arrives.

Generally once the trapdoors are sealed Gimli, Legolas, Boromir and Aragorn can easily stem the tide of goblins coming through the door and kill the troll.

Until then

Fish

First footsteps in moria

Here are the first two scenarios in the mines of Moria booklet:

The fellowship are down to reduced profiles, such that, no might, will or fate may be used. Moreover the only special ability any of them have, is use of Gandalf's blinding light. 
Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin have the same profile of: F(3) S(2) D(3) A(1) W(1) C(4).
Gimli has three attacks as he is using his one-handed axes, Legolas has only one shot per turn, and Boromir cannot use his horn.

Scenario 1: Into the Dark
Gandalf leads the Fellowship through the gloomy corridors as swiftly as possible, avoiding the arrows of the vile Moria golbins:

Objectives: Good must either kill all the archers or get all members through the doorway. Evil must prevent this.

Special rules: The Fellowship don't have time to stop and fight, as such no model many move within 1''/2cm of an enemy model.

Goblin forces: four goblin archers

Playing board: 42cm x 28cm

Deployment

Aragorn and Legolas flank the pillars to fire on the other goblins

One goblin suspects this, cocking his bow, finding Aragorn

The goblins back away, guarding door

Legolas and Aragorn block any flanking, protecting the hobbits

Aragorn repays his wounds

Gandalf and Legolas trap a goblin, the rest must block the door

More moving

Good defending from the Goblins

Eager Legolas gets an arrow in his stomach,
still unable to wound his adversary

...........

Legolas repays his blood like Aragorn

More moving

Unable to move through the door, the archers engage the fellowship
in a close range shot-off

Another arrow finds it's mark in the woodland prince's shoulder,
while Aragorn finally takes down another goblin

This gives the goblins a victory!

It's clear that if any evil player had sense to block the door with a couple of goblins, the game would turn into a shoot out, which is quite an even match, due to the omission of some special rules and no might or fate.
It's not only the hobbits who need protecting in this scenario, Legolas has defence 4 and one shot making him very vulnerable. In two instances the battles turned into shoot outs, at the end and beginning of it, while this scenario might need a bit of tweaking in terms of where the goblin archers can be placed, it is still a pretty good scenario all together. 

Their was no clear hero who over-performed, as Aragorn and Legolas with better bows and shoot values, clearly couldn't dispatch any of the archers at appropriate time leading to Legolas's death. So both gain the Flop of the battle.
While the Goblin archers performed in a satisfactory state, killing Legolas, wounding Aragorn and blocking the exit, so they gain the Goblins of the Battle.


Scenario 2: Ambush!
While the Fellowship is resting from outrunning the archers, Aragorn scouts ahead. An assembly of goblins ambush the ranger in one of the halls, he must fight his way clear and get back to his companions:

Objectives: The good side wins if Aragorn can fight his way clear, moving through the doorway. Evil wins if they can slay Aragorn.

Special rules: Trapdoor - At the end phase roll a D6, on a 4,5 or 6 a goblin with either spear or shield may be placed in contact with the trapdoor.

Goblin forces: 8 golbins (4x spears, 4x shields)

Playing area: 42cm x 28cm

Deployment

Aragorn shots at the goblins, to little effect

Another emerges from the trapdoor

Aragorn, losing focus, is surrounded by seven goblins

But still manages to fend them off, slicing through one

Yet he is engulfed again

He fares better this time, carving up two of them, while one comes
through the trapdoor to add to their numbers

Six attack him this time

And easily get the better of him

Giving the goblins another victory!

Here Aragorn is quite outnumbered, more than usual. Without fate and his free might points, he has to win every fight, due to his low defence, or at least choose the fights he losses.
Moreover Aragorn moved into the centre, and trying to kill goblins by archery, which was a mistake, he was less likely to win priority and would have been surrounded either way. 
So it was better to choose which three/four golbins he wanted to be attacked by in the first couple of turns, than by most of them in a subsequent turn.

Aragorn could've performed a lot better, but considering he was surrounded most of the time, the result is expected. So misses out on the Flop of the Battle.

Next time the Fellowship are surrounded, and Aragorn must hurry to their aid!

Until then

Fish