Scenario: Ambush at Minas Ergal

Ambush at Minas Ergal 

A Middle-Earth Scenario for Song of Blades and Heroes

The orcs had routed as the first fingers of dawn appeared in the east. The wild-men having fallen quickly to elvish steel ,the party wasted no time. The trail was not hard to follow: orcs were clumsy at the best of times, in their fearful flight they had left a clear track of broken branches, trodden grass and disturbed ground. Cautiously though, the rangers and elves went forward, as they approached a clearing a pale hand was held across Dorrin's chest, stopping him from blundering into the camp. 'There's more here than orcs and wildmen,' the ranger hissed.

This scenario follows The Ruins of Annis Minnor (which can be found here). When we played this game the forces of evil were defeated soundly, the orcs fleeing from sunlight. This scenario follows on, where the good party has tracked the orcs back to the evil party's camp. Here they find that the Wildman chieftain has allied himself with a Black Numenorian. What their plans may be is unknown, but the good party decides to cease the initiative and ambush the camp before their presence is discovered.  

 

Forces

This is a skirmish level battle for two players. One player takes the forces of good, and should pick a party consisting of Elves, Dwarves and Rangers. The other takes the forces of evil and should pick a party consisting of Wildmen, Orcs and other fell creatures of the Ettenmoors, but may not include any mounted characters. The evil force should include a Black Numenorean, a powerful sorcerer/ess. The Fightin' Funghi rulebook is a good source of spells.

The evil party should have twice the points of the good party.

Table Set Up
A table that is at least 4'x4' should be used, otherwise the god side will struggle to avoid the sentries. In the centre of the table should be a ruined tower, Minas Ergal (see special rules below), everywhere within long distance of this tower is the orc/wildman camp, some tents should be spread across this area but otherwise it should be quite open. The edges of the table should be heavily wooded.

Deployment

The evil side deploys first. All miniatures should be placed with n the camp, except for the four sentries (see below) which can be set up anywhere more than long distance from a table edge. After evil deployment, orders should be given to the sentries (see below).
The good player deploys next, anywhere within long distance of any table edge. 

Special Rules

Day or Night: The good player can decide to attack whilst it is still light or to wait until dark. If s/he choses day then all orcs suffer from the 'coward' rule. If s/he choose night then it is harder for the sentries to spot their party (see below)

Sentries: The evil player nominates four miniatures to be sentries. These may not be personalities. After s/he has deployed, but before the good player deploys orders should be written for the sentries. This may be simple such as 'move clockwise around the perimeter of the camp' or complex, such as 'move clockwise round perimeter of the camp for three turns then move towards the table edge for one turn the spend one turn moving back towards camp before moving counter-clockwise around the perimeter of the camp for three turns. Repeat.' They must be clear and unambiguous. They should be kept secret from the good player.

At the start of the turn the evil player may only activate the four sentries, and may only move these in accordance with the orders given, until one of the sentries has made a successful observation roll (see below). After this time all evil miniatures may be activated as normal.

Observation Roll: After the evil player has declared a sentry is going to be moved, but before rolling for its activation, an observation roll should be made. To do this make a quality roll on three dice. For each success the miniature can detect an enemy one distance away. The type of distance depends on whether it is night or day, and if there is any intervening terrain. 

	Open	Behind Terrain
Day	Long	Medium
Night	Medium	Short

So in the first example on the right the orc (Q:4) passes two rolls, the human is in the open and it is daylight. The distance between them is less than 2x long distance, and so the alarm has been raised.
In the second example the orc has again passed two rolls, but this time it is night, and the human is behind some terrain. The distance between them is greater than 1 x short + 1 x medium and so the alarm is not raised.

All mounted models are seen at long distance whether or not they are behind terrain and even if it is night.

Note that a line of sight does not need to be drawn, it is assumed they can be heard as well as seen.

Once a member of the good force has been spotted then all the evil force may be activated as normal, and sentries do not need to follow orders any longer. Any sentries who have already moved before a good miniature was spotted do not get to move again. 

Minas Ergal: In the centre of the board is a ruined tower, Minas Ergal. When any model moves into the tower for the first time in the game, roll on the following table to decide what they find:

1. Black Blade: The model finds a sword which was forged by a dark power many centuries ago. This blade may only be wielded by an evil character. All attacks count as Poisoned, but reduce Q on a 3+
   
   
2. Numenorean Amulet: The model finds an ancient armlet with magical warding properties. If the bearer looses a combat, roll a die, on a 5+ the result is instead a draw.
   
   
3. Skagger: An orc from the red mountain tribe has taken refuge in the tomb after being pushed southwards by the shifting power in the Ettinmoors. He has the following stats: C:3, Q:4+, Fear of Sunlight. He joins the evil side.
   
   
4. Baashab: A gigantic spider unfolds it's self from the tower. It has the following stats: C:4, Q:3+, Huge, Entangle, Dashing, Long Move, Tough, Terror. Follow the AI rules below each turn to determine motivation.
    
5. Giant Spiders: C:3, Q: 3+, Dashing, Entangle. Follow the AI rules below each turn to determine motivation.
6. Re-roll (or you could have a cheap good character join the good side)

AI for Spiders:

The Spiders will try to make d3 activations. The four great spiders will activate as a group, though their AI should be worked out individually.

If the spiders are in combat, they will fight. If against more than one opponent they will randomise their attack. Otherwise roll a dice each turn and consult the table below:

1. The Spider will attack a random standing enemy who is within short distance. If no enemy is within short distance they will attempt to drag an entangled enemy towards the tomb. If no models are already entangled they will attempt to Entangle any enemy on the floor with in long distance. If there is no such target they will move towards the tomb.
   
   
2. The Spider will attack a random standing enemy who is within medium distance. If no enemy is within medium distance they will attempt to drag an entangled enemy towards the tomb. If no models are already entangled they will attempt to Entangle any enemy on the floor with in long distance. If there is no such target they will move towards the tower.
   
   
3. The Spider will attack a random standing enemy who is within long distance. If no enemy is within long distance they will attempt to drag an entangled enemy towards the tomb. If no models are already entangled they will attempt to Entangle any enemy on the floor with in 2 x long distance. If there is no such target they will move towards the tower.
   
   
4. The Spider will attack a random standing enemy who is within 2 x long distance. If no enemy is within short distance they will attempt to drag an entangled enemy towards the tomb. If no models are already entangled they will attempt to Entangle any enemy on the floor with in 2 x long distance. If there is no such target they will move towards the tower.
   
   
5. The Spider will attempt to drag an entangled enemy towards the tomb. If no models are already entangled they will attempt to entangle any enemy on the floor with in 2 x long distance. If no such target exists the spider will move towards the tower.
   
   
6. The spider will move towards the tower.

Victory

If the Black Numenorean is taken out of action then the good side wins. If not the evil side wins.

A battle report is soon to follow...