This is my first game of War of the Ring. As I was trying to explain the game to a friend I thought I’d also make a mini battle report. We both kept it fairly simple and took 800 points of troops. I used Rohan, my opponent had Isengard. Both armies are mine, i wrote out two lists (he hasn't got the book) and gave him the option of either army. I didn’t want to take magic or many named characters.



Here are the lists;

The Muster of Rohan

Erkenbrand, Lord of the Westfold …….. 75
6 companies Riders of Rohan (banner bearer, Erkenbrand here) …215
3 companies of Riders of Rohan (captain, banner bearer) … 175
3 companies of Riders of Rohan (captain) …. 140
3 companies of Militia (captain) … 110
2 companies of Bowmen …….. 40
2 companies of Bowmen …….. 40
Total= 795



Forces of Isengard

4 companies of Uruk-hai Warriors (captain, banner bearer)…. 225
3 companies of Uruk-hai Phalanx (captain, banner bearer)…. 190
3 companies of Uruk-hai scouts …… 90
4 companies of Warg Riders ….80
1 company of Berserkers … 110
1 Isengard Troll …. 100
Total = 795





Daylight Raids

During Thengel's reign, Saruman declared himself Lord of Isengard. Saruman has secretly made alliances with the Dunlendings and has built an army of Orcs, including a particularly strong kind known as the Uruk-hai which could withstand sunlight. The Uruk-hai have begun to raid Rohan, though the Rohirrim do not realize at first that they have come from Isengard.

Orcs from Mordor in Sauron's service have also started to cross the Anduin to steal horses - especially black ones to be used as steeds for the Nazgul.

Saruman has employed an agent to weaken King Theoden and thereby leave Rohan open to attack. His Uruk-hai have become bolder with their success, and destroy all in their path. Without any orders from King Theoden, his son Theodred has now assumed command of Rohan's forces and organised the defenses.

For military purposes, Rohan is divided into the the West-mark and the East-mark. The Rivers Entwash and Snowbourn form the boundary between the two. There are three Marshals of the Mark commanding Rohan's military forces. The First Marshal commands the Muster of Edoras and the surrounding lands including Harrowdale. The Second Marshal commands either the East-mark or the West-mark, depending on where the threat is the greatest. The Third Marshal commands the remaining region.

Theodred has entrusted Erkenbrand to defend Rohan against the threat from Isengard. As Lord of the Westfold, Erkenbrand is the highest ranking lord in western Rohan. He lives in the Hornburg of Helm's Deep, across the Gap of Rohan from Isengard. As the threat of attack from Saruman increases, Erkenbrand musters his horse lords and prepares for the daylight raids.




Objective
The watch tower contains a huge bonfire that’s lit to warn a nearby Rohan hamlet of any imminent danger. If the forces of Isenagrd can gain control of the tower they prevent the Rohirrim mustering an organised defence.
In games terms, whoever controls the watch tower at the end of turn 6 is declared the winner. To control the tower you must have a company within 3” of the tower (disordered companies don’t count) If both sides achieve their objective, it’s a draw.




Terrain
The game is played on a regular 6ftx4ft table. In the centre of the board is a watch tower (the objective) Either side of the tower are rohan buildings, representing the outskirts of a small hamlet. There’s a smattering of hills, four total. A small woodlands, and some nearby ruins.
We decided;
- ruins were impassable
- woods = capacity 3, defence +2
- watch tower = capacity 4, defence +2
- barn = capacity 1, defence +1
- rohan thatched house = capacity 2, defence +2



Deployment
I win the roll. I decide I’ll make him deploy first, but he’ll also have the priority in turn 1.
His two big uruk-hai units go near the watch tower, with a troll to back them up. Berserkers also near the tower. Scouts behind the woods (they move through without penalty) Looks like his warg riders will attempt to flank my army.
My bowmen formations occupy both hills. The militia will stay back and try and survive so they can contest the tower if he occupies it. (cavalry can’t go in buildings) Erkenbrand’s formation opposite the troll (they pass terror automatically) Then rider formations where I can fit them in.




Turn 1 (Isengard has priority)

Movement
Most formations move up. The Uruk-hai warband moves “At the Double!” (passes his roll to do this)



The berserkers move behind the uruk pikes, to shield themselves from possible bow fire. Warg riders attempt to hide behind the barn.
Reacting to his movement, I put all my riders just beyond 8” from his infantry, so he can’t charge me.


Shooting
He has no shooting (the troll can throw rocks/spear, but it’s range 6”)
In the centre of the battlefield two formations of riders load their bows and fire at the uruk-hai warband. (19 shots) The uruk-hai form a shield wall, deflecting most of the arrows, only two uruk-hai fall.
On the hill behind the riders a formation of archers fire at the uruk pikes. Three uruk pikes fall.
My archers near the barn manoeuvre so they have line of sight to the warg riders. Riders aid them with missile fire. The archers manage to drop one warg riders (2 hits) Then with an amazing display of dexterity eight out of nine arrows from the riders strike true, that takes down another four wargs. Under the hail of arrows the wargs are driven back 2”.





Charge
Only Erkenbrand’s formation charges. I roll a 6 for the charge, it’s an unstoppable charge.





Fight
Erkenbrand calls an Epic Duel (he rolls two dice) The uruk-hai captain has the same fight value, I get a +1 bonus. I get 2 and 5. He gets a 4. I win by 2. The results are Erkenbrand slashes through the unit to get to the uruk captain (killing 2), cuts the captains head off, then kills another 2 uruk-hai.


The charging Riders of Rohan have 33 attacks. In a brutal hack and slash melee they take down another 5 uruk-hai. Some of the uruk-hai manage to pull riders off their horses (2 wounds, which 1 dead rider)
The uruk-hai shrink back from their foe, their shield wall buckling. They are now disordered. (they pass their courage test, so no more uruk-hai fall)





My summary so far ....... A good start for my Rohan force, those cavalry charges are devastating.

Turn 2 (Isengard has priority)

Movement
Isengard move first. The uruk-hai warband decides to fall back (think he rolled 5). The troll and phalanx both position themselves in front of the retreating uruk-hai warband.
The warg riders decide not to risk approaching the archers, and sprint out of range. The berserkers move forward, probably to give my riders something else to worry about.




My main concern is now Erkenbrand’s formation. He’s positioned his troll very close, so I can only move at half rate. If I don’t get out the way quickly Erkenbrand is in trouble. Erkenbrand calls an “At the Double” move, and successfully wheels his riders out of charge range.





Shooting
My archers and cavalry near the barn shoot another 4 uruk-hai scouts.



Every other unit (2 archer companies, 3 riders, 6 riders) all shoot at the uruk-hai phalanx. This kills another 9.



Charge
Erkenbrand’s formation is 11” away from the troll (the trolls max charge is 10”) Erkenbrand attempts a charge, but only rolls a 3, so doesn’t charge.
My riders near the barn attempt to charge the uruk-hai scouts, but their charge is stalled.

summary ........ Still fairly confident at this stage. It’s looking good for Rohan



Turn 3 (Isengard wins priority)

Movement
The retreating uruk-hai warband passes their courage, and they move back into a threatening position (they can no longer move “at the double” because their captain was killed) The phalanx are fearing my missile fire, they move “At the Double” (they pass with a -1 with Rohan within 6”) , now they are 2” from my riders, and have the priority with the charge. The berserkers move inside the tower, they are going to be tough to move out the tower.




My riders near the barn move “At the Double” (also with a -1 for nearby foe) They position themselves so they can flank charge the scouts.




Shooting
The archers and riders near the barn shoot down another 5 scouts, driven back 1“.
Erkenbrand’s riders all aim at the troll, they hit it once, but this is not enough to worry the troll.
All other units aim towards the uruk-hai phalanx. Total of 5 more fall (the militia take down one phalanx with a throwing axe)



Charge
The uruk-hai phalanx charge my militia. I was surprised he did this, but now he’s presented a flank to my cavalry. Not surprisingly I accept the flank charge to the phalanx.




The troll gambles, and just reaches Erkenbrands unit with an unstoppable charge.





The scouts surprise me as well, and manage to charge my cavalry.




Fight
Cav v’s scouts near the barn… The cavalry are only effective on the charge, and kill one scout. The scouts have 14 attacks, score 5 hits (which is 2 dead riders) The riders then fail their courage by 4, this wipes out the formation as they run for the hills.

Cav/Militia v’s pikes …. Cavalry go first, and run down 5 phalanx, that just leaves the captain. He cuts down one militia, before he’s butchered.

Troll v’s Erkenbrands formation …the troll has 7 attacks at a massive str7. He smashes 3 riders off their horses for no return blows.



Summary ..... Well that’s turned it around, with limited time and fleeing units he’s in a strong position now.

Turn 4 (Rohan wins priority)

Movement
Erkenbrands formation falls back.
My militia move up to attempt to take over the tower.
Riders move to charge the troll or the warband, but afterwards he puts his troll 1” away from my archers, aware of how tough he is.
His uruk-hai warband move away from a possible cavalry charge, and also to contest the tower if anything should go wrong.
Warg riders appear from behind the woods, and now threaten my militia, but I’ve already committed them now. (that may be a mistake by me)
The scouts move towards my archers. I can only move 3” and fire, so I decide to stand and try and shoot as many as I can.





Shooting

The archers near the barn kill 5 scouts.
Before charging in the militia may as well try to throw their axes against the berserkers in the tower. The berserkers have extra defence, and 9 axes thud against the wooden tower.
My archers next to the troll all aim at the monster, and amazingly manage to hit 4 times!!! The final result is they wound the troll twice.
Roaring in pain the troll then has his revenge, picks up a huge rock and kills 3 archers.




Charge
The only active Riders pass their courage and charge the troll (I’m hoping to use the captains might for a kill here, if any survive) Also the other reason is I didn’t want the troll charging me.
The scouts get an unstoppable charge and smash into the archers.

The battle of the tower begins. My rohan militia charge through the doors, and his warg riders flank charge the militia outside.





Fight

Scouts v’s Archers …. Simultaneous combat. This is a blood bath on the hill. The uruk-hai scouts cut down 9 archers. The archers fight for their homeland and the courageous archers manage to kill 7 uruk-hai scouts. This takes the last scout company below 50%, so the rest scatter, running back to isengard.

Troll v’s riders ….. The troll attacks first, gets 3 hits (rounded down to 2 for resilience) which is one rider killed. The riders have 16 attacks, but they need 6/4. I use one might to make sure I get two hits, this allows me one roll on the “hard to kill” chart. (+2 bonus from 2 wounds) I roll a 3 (total of 5 from +2), then use the captains remaining might point to modify that to a 6. A death blow. The troll is killed.

Battle of the tower …. The wargs strike first, and also get an extra dice from flanking (they have the prowler rule) for a total of 10 attacks. Their spears kill 4 rohan militia. The berserkers work themselves into a frenzy (they’re str8 until end of phase) and butcher another 5 militia. Inside the building the valiant rohan try their best against the berserkers, but they’re outclassed. They cut down 3 of the frothing uruk-hai.




Not sure how to move those berserkers from the tower, my main attack is my riders of rohan and they can’t enter the building. Maybe bow fire is the answer. Weaken the berserkers then charge the militia in. I’m also concerned by that big formation of uruk-hai warriors now.

Turn 5 (Isengard takes priority)

Movement

The warg riders press forward. I decide to fall back with my militia. My archers near the barn move around the gain a line of sight to the warg riders.
His uruk-hai warband moves as close as he can to the tower, and adopts a defensive fighting formation.
Erkenbrand rallies his men, and moves his riders “At the Double” right back into the action





Shooting
Archers near the barn aim at the warg riders. With their depleted ranks they only get 3 hits, which is 1 dead warg rider.
The other small rider formation also fires at the warg riders. They score 3 hits as well, which another dead warg rider. Now there’s one warg rider left. He’s the last company, and 50%, so he’s removed.

Desperate to remove them from the tower my archers rain down a shower of arrows on the berserkers (now at defence 7 from the wooden tower) I need 6/4, and amazingly manage to kill 3. Then Erkenbrands formation shoots the last two.



Charge
Now he has one unit left. I’m out of his charge range. I charge with Erkenbrands formation




Fight
Using his last two might Erkenbrand and his riders kill 4 uruk-hai, they kill 1 rider. Now he’s disordered, he fails his courage by 2, another 2 uruk-hai fall.

Turn 6 (Isengard priority)

The uruk-hai fall back, now more than 3” away from the tower. I move my formations up to claim a victory

The bonfire is lit, and the Isengard army is forced back across the River Isen.




This is how the battlefield finished at turn 6

Ah bloody hell I was reading through this on Warseer and had to click everyone of the links to look at all the pics. Then I come over here and its all laid out ><

Fantastic looking game mate, and a well-deserved victory. I haven't played WOTR yet, but it looks very interesting!

Where did you get the hills from?

Cheers

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Available for commission painting, PM me if you're interested.

Yeah Warseer don't let you put pics up, it has to be a link. Annoying.

The hills?? ermm think a friend gave them to me ages ago. I'm fairly certain they are old GW hills.
You could probably find them cheap on ebay

This was nicely detailed and well documented.

I'm a WotR newbie, and this battle report really made understanding the turn sequences and combat a bit easier for me. And it was great to see companies built into formations. A much easier visual to understand army building.

And I too am a Rohan player, so that this battle report that much sweeter

Thanks Skipper.

Hopefully i didn't do too many things wrong, it's always difficult first game.

I love how tactical the movement is, Riders of Rohan are great. I found that one of the most useful rules in the game was "at the double", that got me out of trouble a few times. So, i'd recommend taking a rohan captain with your rider formations.

Archers are better than i thought they'd be, but could have been beginners luck. When i saw that they were str1 at long range i thought they'd be useless. But i stand corrected, they performed well.

Was the watchtower scratch built?

Nice battle report. It was well laid out and I liked how you did the pics with some words and the arrows telling the rest.

A battle report with pics of nicely painted miniatures... and Rohan won!
They can't get much better!

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TO9G - 2010 Isengard

Thanks all I like the rules system, it ran smoother than warhammer



I bought the watchtower, and painted it myself

My favorite battle report so far, very well done, hats off to you.