The Gate is Breached!

The Gate is Breached, my first ever scenario!  

Orcs are pouring into Minas Tirith, Grond has broken down the gate and showered the courtyard in wood and metal. Will the brave people of Gondor hold out?

This scenario is taken straight from the movies, and you can find it in Gondor at War. Mordor has broken down the outer gates of Minas Tirith and rushing into the city, the good side have to hold out for 6 turns and the winner is the side who has the most models within 6" of the centre of the board.

There is a slight twist however, if an orc is killed, they can move back on to the battlefield through the gate! To counter this, Gandalf's presence gives the brave warriors of Minas Tirith great courage, they don't have to take any courage tests throughout the game.

I played this scenario with my friend Will who was championing the forces of good, with myself the evil hordes of Mordor. We are lucky enough to have a fantastic set of terrain that allowed us to set out the board in a way very similar to the layout in the scenario page.

We started with a standard 4x4 board, with the entire East edge having the walls of Minas Tirith, with the gatehouse in the centre from where the hosts of Mordor emerge. The centre of the board has a large fountain that we used as the central objective mentioned in the victory conditions above. The remainder of the board have several Minas Tirith themed houses, barrels and statues set up in a way to replicate the lower part of the city.

Board set up

Two large armies take the field for this scenario, the good side is lead by Gandalf the White and supported with Hurin, Ingold, Irolas and Beregond coupled with a whole host of Warriors of Minas Tirith, 36 in total with an even split of 12 of each shield, spear/shield and bow.

The evil side is lead by Goroth, with Zagdush and two Morannon captains. An equally large host of orcs follow the evil heroes into battle, with 36 Morannon orcs, 9 with shield, 9 with spear, 9 with shield and spear and 9 with no additional war gear. Let's not forget the small matter of three Mordor trolls!

Deployment started with good setting up ranks on the west side of the board, split into three cohorts with the central one backed up with the mighty Gondor heroes. Evil came on through the gate on the east side of the board, streaming into Minas Tirith as one large host with Goroth at the centre, flanked by his trusty captains and Zagdush. The trolls plodded through the gate behind the orcs.

Turn one started with both armies advancing towards each other, the warriors of Minas Tirith released a volley into orcs with little effect. Turn two, things started to get a little interesting with one troll and a small subsection of orcs splitting from the main force to assault the group of archers on the south edge of the board, seen in the pictures above. The main evil force continued to move forward towards the central fountain, whilst the good forces formed ranks within 6" of the west side of the fountain and prepared for battle. Gandalf, feeling lazy turn one, attempted to make himself a visage of terrifying light but failed his cast, trying again turn two and succeeding in now striking terror into the hearts of any evil models who would engage him. Evil would indeed now have a hard time confronting Gandalf.

A troll and small band of orcs split from the main force to engage bowmen of Minas Tirith

Turn 3 started with evil priority, and the chaos truly begun. Although one troll was compelled to turn and flee from Gandalf, the majority of the evil force slammed themselves into the formidable shield wall of the brave men of Gondor. On the south board edge, the breakaway troll found itself over extended and surrounded by archers, auto passing all courage tests was indeed a boon to the men of the White city.

Although the denizens of Gondor pushed forth their full might and tried all the tricks available, with several combats and heroic strikes called in the centre of the battle from their heroes to try catch out the evil leaders, little casualties were caused. Evil had similar luck, with only a handful of warriors falling to the orcs, although the brave Morannon captain with his scythe started what would be a day of merciless killing, taking out two warriors of Minas Tirith. The unfortunate troll in the south of the city, surrounded, out numbered, and trapped up against a building fought hard and although took serious injury, survived with a single wound to go into turn 4 still a force to be reckoned with.

The lines clash after turn 3 movement

Turn 4 started and the good side found themselves immediately up against the odds. Hurin and Ingold became embroiled in combat with multiple Mordor heroes, including a Heroic striking Goroth and mordor trolls. Although they fought bravely, losing the duel roll meant swift death against such terrifying and strong foes.

Having seen their leaders start to fall, the men of Minas Tirith lost some hope and started to break ranks. Swathes of men where cut down, with the two handed Morannon captain again proving lethal with his scythe. However, hope was not lost, a steady stream of orcs had been slain. Although, more continued to pour through the gate to replace the fallen. 

A light in the dark continued to be the archers on the south board edge, the resilient troll fell to their swords and they started to make light work of the remaining orcs. This did not miss the attention of the orcs however, who dispatched more forces to deal with them once and for all.

Morannon orcs pour through the gates of Minas Tirith to replace their fallen comrades

Turn 5 found the defenders out numbered, and out matched, with several of their heroes lying in the dust. The orcs started to wrap around the remaining men, trapping them. Gandalf found himself engaged with the two handed morannon captain, with only Ingold and a splattering of men left around him before the wave of orcs that had surrounded them.

One brave warrior of Minas Tirith stood firm in the face of two Mordor Trolls in the centre of the battlefield. The trolls had a cunning plan to barge the lowly warrior out the way and march into the face of the nearby Gandalf, providing their higher fight value into the combat. However, the brave warrior raised his shield, shouted his battle cry and unbelievably held off both trolls for the entire turn!

This show of definance was not replicated across the remaining army of men, more fell, many more fell. The men of the White city's hope trickled away as the streets of Minas Tirith ran red with their blood. The orcs, having trapped most of the remaining warriors, carved through them with their strength four strikes. Even the resilient archers had a turn to forget, with the majority of their numbers falling to the rusty blades of the evil orcs.

The final turn, 6, started with just a handful of defenders remaining, with Gandalf and Ingold the only heroes of good left on the board. Hope was gone, they could not win, but one last showing of courage threw them into combat to try take as many orcs with them as they could and protect the city beyond.

Gandalf is in trouble, surrounded by some fearsome foes

Movement finished with the remaining warriors of the White City completely surrounded, including Gandalf who was facing up vs Goroth, the two handed Morannon captain and a troll following some lucky courage tests to charge. Goroth struck, Gandalf was out of might, evil won. Shadowfax went down to the first attack and Gandalf rolled 1 on the thrown rider test. This spelt the end for the white wizard, many high strength attacks coming his way lead only to doom.

Once the remaining good warriors seen Gandalf fall, darkness struck their hearts and they swiftly followed Gandalf in death. By the end of turn 6, the final of the game, not a single warrior of the light remained on the board. The gates had fallen, the courtyard was taken and the hosts of Mordor had a firm footing into the white city.

The end of the final turn, evil have taken the courtyard

Conclusion

This was my first ever scenario, and what a way to start! Will was a great opponent and we had much fun. In true theme, no matter the odds, not once did a warrior of evil shy from trying to kill the defenders, never shielding and only pushing forward as quickly as possible into the city.

The scenario itself seemed balanced towards the evil side. With morannon orcs coming back on after being killed, it meant that it was almost impossible for the good side to have more models in the centre at the end of the game.

However, we both found it unexpected for the good side to be tabled. Six turns isn't many, but looking back, once the good side started to get trapped, losing their shield wall and having double dice from S4 morannons or worse come their way, the end was near.

This was definitely a 7/10 in terms of fun and theme, and will likely be easy for most people to play given the majority of the units are included within the recently starter boxes, or battle hosts.

I look forward to continuing the battle, with "The Streets of Minas Tirith" next on our agenda to play through! Until then, and if you have made it this far through my ramblings, thank you and see you next time!

Ryan