Battle companies tournament - Round 2 Part II

Harad Vs Gondor (To The Death!)

After the first round of fighting the Haradrim took some easy points of a disorganised Rohan company. However their next battle is tougher as they face a Fresh-faced Gondor company, to make matters more difficult, aside from the difference in armour, they are missing two spearmen through injuries, which puts them at 7 members to the Gondorians 8.

Setup.

..........

The Haradrim archers fire at the Gondorians to little effect...

The Gondorians charge over the wall eager to fight the Haradrim.

Although one of them manages to injure an archer, Abaan rushes 
into the nearest spearman and stabs him deeply in the thigh.

Ingold orders his men back behind the wall as the Haradrim attack again.

Meanwhile two Gondorian bowmen have been flanking and loose their 
arrows; with one finding the throat of a Haradrim spearman.

The attack continues, as does the flanking of the Gondorian archers.

Another Haradrim archer is injured in the melee, with the rest of 
their attacks bouncing harmlessly off the wall.

The Gondorians prepare again, but Abaan concentrates his assault.

This assault fails again and as the Gondorian archers try to trap the 
Haradrim against the wall they charge them!

And manage to stab and slice up the archers badly...

However Ingold and co. catch up with the Haradrim.

Abaan is caught off guard and a Gondorian punches a hole in his armour.

With their leader gone two Haradrim spearmen flee under pressure!

The last Haradrim backs away from the pointy weapons.

But eventually the Gondorians bring him down...

With the Haradrim removed from the field the Gondorians are victorious!

Gondor gain 6 points and 5 influence. Harad gain no points and 2 influence.

Gondor – Both bowmen will miss the next battle and the other injured spearman recovers. One warrior is promoted to a citadel guard (+1fate), no other promotions.

Harad – Adaan and on bowman recover, two bowmen and a spearmen die from their wounds. Adaan gains +1 courage. Otherwise there are no other promotions.

The Haradrim use 6 influence for two rolls on the reinforcement table - And they gain one warrior of Harad with dagger.

The Haradrim tried to go out all guns blazing but couldn't sustain the attack on the wall without significant losses as the Gondorians had heavy armour, shields and a barrier in the way, they got lucky injuring two archers, but they might've achieved a draw if they had broken the Gondorian company and forced the battle also into a battle of courage tests...

This means that the overall table is as follows:

Company	Battles	Inf.	pts	EXP (H)
Moria	2	9	11	4
Harad	2	0	6	6
Gondor	1	4	6	2
Rohan	2	1	0	4
Isengard	1	2	0	1

The Haradrim retain second place, but only due to the amount of experience gained by Abaan, while Gondor leapfrog both Rohan and Isengard companies.

Until then

Fish

Battle companies tournament - Round 2 Part I

Moria Vs Rohan (Ill Met by Moonlight)

After an unco-ordinated first round to forget, the Rohirrim move on to the second round with a warrior and rider of Rohan missing through injury. Meanwhile the goblins are only missing one goblin. Further one of their archers has a fight value of 2/2+ (always good) and more to the point they have the advantage of numbers. 

But in this scenario, archers cannot shot over 12''/28cm so archery may be pointless as enemies can simply evade where necessary - This promises to be a more melee-centred battle, which is still in the favour of the goblins.

Setup.

The goblins hold a line, while the Rohirrim split.

Then they move behind hedge and tree to the annoyance 
of the goblin archers!

The goblins move a step too close to the gap and spears fly through 
splicing into two goblins leaving them howling on the ground.

The goblins archers move again and a section of the goblin company 
flanks slowly through the forest as the rohirrim warriors attack again!

With the Rohirrim taking a casualty, both sides then retreat with
Eogar falling behind the hedge.

The other Rohan warriors can't see the goblins coming through the 
forest, but can prevent them coming through it.

The goblin archers have had enough and charge through the gap, 
while the other goblins move to the forest.

Radmuz swings his tiny blade in furious arcs, and cuts the thighs of a 
bowman, leaving him kneeling on the floor.

He then orders another charge into the outnumbered Rohan warriors.

Meanwhile at the gap, one warrior launches his spear in the face of an
archer and pommels the one next to it unconscious. Eogar fares less well
 as the archer draws blood from his chest, but the hero stands his ground!

The two other warriors retreat towards their hero, trapping a lone archer.

Eogar then gets his revenge on the goblin archer!

Eogar calls the Rohirrim to form up and brace for the goblins.

After a brief and uneventful exchange of spears the sides clash!

Both sides are pushed back, although one goblin manages to pierce a 
Rohirrim in the calf, bringing him down and breaking the Rohan company!

Radmuz then calls his minions to charge, seeing the advantage, 
and they swam them! 

The shear weight of goblin attacks forces two Rohan warriors to succumb,
while Eogar holds off the goblin hero.

He then Musters his courage and falls back and hopes to injury 
a couple of goblins from afar...

But his courage is limited, and Eogar flees the field!

Thus with the Rohan forces injured or routed the goblins claim a major victory!

Rohan gain no points and 2 influence. Moria gain 6 points and 5 influence.

Rohan – Two warriors recover, while two will miss the next battle and one warrior dies from his injuries. One of the warriors promoted to a Rohan royal guard, so Eogar calls for him to be his bodyguard.

Rohan use 3 influence to roll on the reinforcement table, however there is no effect and they gain no new recruits.

Moria – Two goblins recover, two will miss the next battle, one dies. Meanwhile one goblin becomes promoted to a hero.

The Rohirrim fought so well, they had a decent battle plan, the goblins were forced through bottlenecks, where their numbers counted little and used their throwing spears more effectively than the goblins used their bows..

But after the goblins broke through, the Rohirrim failed to get the kill that would break the Goblin company, which firstly gets points they need, and secondly would have made finishing them off easier such they they could have fought them while they had to do courage tests. 

Instead they only get experience for warriors and a small amount of influence points...

This leaves the overall table like:

Company	Battles	Inf.	pts	EXP (H)
Moria	2	9	11	4
Harad	1	5	6	4
Rohan	2	1	0	4
Isengard	1	2	0	1
Gondor	0	0	0	0

The Goblins hop the Haradrim and steal first place, meanwhile the Rohirrim manage to overtake Isengard on experience only, but they have battle in hand they are likely to overtake them. 

After two battles a getting no points the Rohirrim are quite out of the picture at the moment, unless they can force two victories against Isengard and Gondor, and further other battles go in their favour they are unlikely to become winner in this tournament.

Moria however stand a good chance, with only two victories from two and two battles left, it seems likely that they'll at least get one win bringing them to around 16-17 pts which is going to be difficult to beat, but with Gondor still yet to face any company, and Harad within range of overtaking them, it's still all disputed at the moment.

Next up is Gondor vs Harad in To the death!

Until then

Fish

Battle companies tournament - Round 1

This tournament consists of five rounds, two battles will take place in each. These will decide the initial points values of each company and any special advantages that they have in the final battle.

The first two up are:

Harad Vs Rohan (Reconnoitre)

Setup.

Archers from either side take up positions as the 
forces move closer together.

More moving closer, both the Haradrim and Rohirrim send out flankers
In the hope of gaining points early on. Arrows fly, and hit nothing.

The Rohirrim fan out to prevent any infiltration, but the Haradrim 
concentrate on single enemies.

Which means that two Harad warriors cut up two warriors of Rohan.

So the Rohirrim charge into the main line, and send more men 
to flank on the right.

And the Rohirrim get the better of the melee, with their bowmen 
bringing down one Hardrim each. But Abaan manages to pierce 
the thigh of a nearby Rohan warrior in return.

Abaan then holds up Eogar and a warrior to allow two other 
Haradrim to break through the 'line'.

One of the Haradrim manages to infiltrate the enemy lines! Abaan then 
parries Eogar's weak attacks and slices his chest, also the warrior next 
to him injuries a bowman. This breaks the Rohirrim forces!

With one Rohan warrior close to infiltrating enemy lines, another Haradrim
manages to do so too. But the last remaining bowman loses his 
nerves and flees! This reduces the Rohirrim below 25%!

And so this gives the Haradrim a major victory (by a margin of 2-0)!

For this they gain 6 points (breaking the enemy force and achieving a major victory) and get 5 influence, the Rohirrim get 2 influence but no points.

Harad - Both injured spearmen will miss the next battle. No members are promoted.

Rohan - Eogar and two other warriors recover, two will miss the next battle. One of the injured archers is promoted to a rider of rohan.


Moria Vs Isengard (Domination)
Capture three objectives for a minor victory, four for a major victory, if two or less are captured then it's a draw.

Setup

The uruk-hai split to defend two objectives, while the 
goblins go on the offensive.

The goblin archers prepare their first volley, one pierces the neck of an 
uruk which gives the goblin a huge amount of confidence 
(He gains Marksmanship).

The uruks then retreat from the gap to try and defend the hedges on 
either side. Meanwhile the goblins flank and secure an objective.

Gazlur and an uruk assail the goblins on the left. meanwhile the goblins 
on the right flank the uruks as they try to counter flank them.

Gazlur's support falls to a goblin spear.

The uruks however manage to entrap the goblins here!

Gazlur is caught against four very unhappy goblins that manage to
wound the hero, but he continues to fight on.

But his other warriors seem to have a handle on the other goblins.

As the uruks then surround two goblins, two archers move to support
 them, but one of them takes a fall over the wall...

Meanwhile more underdog fighting from Gazlur.

Gazlur eventually succumbs, and so does another goblin. But with the
uruks broken and the still cutting down goblins in their 
numbers both sides decide this is enough!

So as the battle ends, the goblins take three of the objectives compared to the Uruks zero, this gives them a minor victory!

For this they get 5 points and 4 influence, while Isengard get no points and 2 influence.

Moria - Of the four injured warriors, three revover and one will miss the next battle. There are no promotions, but one goblin archer gains marksmanship (so gets a 2+ to hit fight value).

Isengard - Of their three injured, two recover and one misses the next battle. There are no promotions otherwise.

This makes the overall table look like:

Company	Battles	Inf.	Pts	EXP(H)
Harad	1	5	6	4
Moria	1	4	5	2
Isengard	1	2	0	1
Rohan	1	2	0	1
Gondor	0	0	0	0

The Rohirrim approached the Reconnoitre scenario completely wrong, either: You concentrate on infiltrating and leave minimal warriors to hinder the enemy's infiltration, or concentrate on breaking the enemy and then infiltrate before reducing the enemy to 25%. They did neither really...

Whereas in the other battle, the Uruk-hai didn't really have a battle plan so tried to defend the gap in the hedges, but the line of goblin archers (even though goblins) would have reduced them too quickly, so they had to split and try to claim another objective, but got really unlucky rolls...

It's still early doors, but the influence, experience and injuries gained by members in the first couple of battles will shape the fortunes of each company in the coming rounds and the final battle.

Next up is Gondor Vs Harad and Rohan vs Moria...

Until then

Fish

Battle company tourney Forces and Rules

Battle company tourney

Forces
All of the companies are taken roughly as-received from the original rules, a couple have been modified so that the sides fall within the 33% archers regulation.

All companies will elect a leader, that is promoted to hero status and gains +1 might, will and fate.

- Rohan company: Lead by Eogar

- Isengard company: Lead by Gazlur

- Harad company: Lead by Adaan

- Gondor company: Lead by Ingold

- Moria company: Lead by Radmuz

Rules
Standard battle companies rules apply, with exception that:

- Any company may not play rescue missions for injured hero members that roll a 3 on the injury chart, they are considered dead (as if they had rolled a 2).
- No company may have more members than their starting amount, therefore members of the existing party must be killed or retired before new members can be acquired.
- Members that would otherwise miss the next turn due to their injuries simply miss the next battle. 
-To clarify for this tournament: Companies receive 2 influence per battle they are involved in, they gain 1 influence if the result of the battle result is a draw, 2 for a minor victory and 3 for a major victory.
- Influence may be used to purchase equipment for members of the battle company or to modify rolls made on hero/warrior injury and warrior promotion tables (1 influence is equivalent to a single re-roll).
- Alternatively, a company may use a single influence point per battle to re-roll one of their own priority rolls.

Specials
ArmourBane - If a company's leader deals the killing blow to the enemy leader then their killing weapon gains +1 on the to-wound roll (This is cumulative with weapons that already have bonuses, eg. two-handed weapons and lances).

Marksmanship - If a ranged company member kills/injures an opponent with their first shot of the battle, this member automatically and permanently gains a ranged fight value of 2+.

Total domination - If a company completely kills/injures all enemy participants, or captures all objectives in a battle, then they may acquire a banner (which can be carried by a friendly warrior) for use in all subsequent battles.

How to win?
The victor of each battle will be decided by the battles objectives (as per LOME rules). Each company will be given points for each of the following:
- Breaking an enemy force (3)
- Killing an enemy leader outright (2)
- Achieving major victory conditions (3)
- Achieving minor victory conditions (2)
- Achieving draw conditions (1)
- Achieving victory conditions in the final battle (4)

After each company has fought all other companies they will face each other in the final big battle. A battle company may gain the advantages for this final battle by achieving the following:

• Remain undefeated as a company - All members gain +1 courage and +1 fight values (even though this may take them above their maximum allowed values).
• Have no injured party members after the company's final round of fighting - This company gains a weapons stash objective for use in the final battle. It may be deployed along with the rest of the battle company in this battle, provided there is enough room to do so. If multiple companies achieve this, then control of the weapons stash is given to whichever company has more models within 6''/14cm of the objective.

A member of the company that controls the weapon stash may wield any of the following items of wargear provided they are within 3''/8cm of the objective : 

- Shield

- Heavy armour

- Spear

- Pike

- Lance (must be on horseback to use this)

- Bow, crossbow or throwing weapons (provided the company member has a ranged fight characteristic that is not - )

- Two handed weapons eg. axes
Heroes and warriors using the objective in this manner must declare what items are being used by whom at the end phase of the turn, such that they can be used in the next turn.

After the final battle, the companies will be ranked in terms of the most points obtained, the company with the highest is the winner. However if two sides still are level, then the company with the highest accrued experience of all the hero members (dead or alive) will take precedence.

Battle order:

Round 1 - Harad vs Rohan (Reconnoitre) , Moria vs Isengard (Domination)

Round 2 - Gondor vs Harad (To The Death!) , Rohan vs Moria (Ill Met by Moonlight)

Round 3 - Rohan vs Isengard (Storm the Camp) , Gondor vs Moria (Reconnoitre)

Round 4 - Moria vs Harad (To Kill a King) , Isengard vs Gondor (Storm the Camp)

Round 5 - Gondor vs Rohan (Meeting Engagement) , Isengard vs Harad (Contest of Champions)

Final battle (To be revealed)(All companies)

Hopefully this sets the scene for the battles to come and something to look forward to.


Until then

Fish