Batrep 28/11/10 1000pts Reunited Kingdom vs Isengard part 2
Part One is here. 
The End of turn 2 was the high-water mark for the forces of the Reunited Kingdom. Proving the maxim that painted units perform better, Faramir led the Rohirrm in a frontal charge on the Uruks anchoring the Isengard left flank. They smashed into their front with a Heroic Fight, killing half of them, losing a couple of horses in return, then they got to have a second charge vs a now disordered Uruk formation. They killed them to the last. What you see above is an empty space where the formation used to be. Now, with my lines rotated so that the Ferals were out of position, the Crossbow constantly jockeying to even line up a shot on something that mattered, and the guardians of the Isengard left flank obliterated, I only had to press my advantage and make a game of it.
Here in turn three you see my lackluster efforts to do so. I won priority and elected to go first. He responded by popping the crossbows back into a forest (so here was my chance to advance without having to take their fire) , bringing the Uruks with shields around from his right flank to bolster his center, refacing the 2HW Orcs, and of course beginning to bring the ferals back to where they could participate. Here, my lack of faith in cavalry led me to hold them behind the hill while I sent Faramir back to help bring up the Axemen of Lossarnach. King Elessar refaced his unit, so as to be ready for a combined assault in a couple of turns time. There was no crossbow fire this turn (due to houserules) and the White Coy still only had bows, so did not even manage to take the remainder of the depleted Coy off the Ferals with their shooting. Saruman lobbed a fireball at them, they used 'Will of Iron', and it failed them once more. Jason remarked that this made sense, you'd think a fireball would be pretty deadly when unleashed into stone rooms! No charges for us this turn, due to my excessive timidity.
At the start of turn four I once again got priority, and elected to go second again this time. The photo above shows things midway through my move phase. Most of the Isengard troops awaited the arrival of Saruman and the Ferals, who were running toward the big hill. In my move, the White Company jumped out to threaten their flank, or even rear, if their got their hopeful charge off against King Elessar's unit of Eriador Warriors. Faramir and the Axemen of Lossarnach were moving around to reinforce the High-King, but they were suffering a bit for lack of space - so I spent a second turn not really doing anything to threaten the forces of Isengard and without my own shock-troops concentrated. Shooting was not much of a factor for either of us, though the Isengard casters did take the shields from King Elessar's formation. Then the charges... the Ferals roll a 1! The Beige Wizard lacked the might to make that work, then the White Coy attempt to hit the flank, they have the might to make the charge distance, but are beguiled by the Voice of Saruman
Which means that on the final tun (final, since we ran out of time to get the kids home for their dinner!) the Isengard and Reunited Kingdom lines face off along the length of the hill. Jason got priority, and had me go second. I used King Elessar's only point of might this turn to attempt to Epic Challenge the Beige WIzard, but like a couple of times already this game, this was unsuccessful. So he lined up his three melee formations, then I lined up mine (the Axemen finally having Exsiccated the approaching Axemen, but had been sick of endlessly failing focus roles so used Epic Channelling instead of the usual Epic Ruination. Then there were the charges - the 2HW Orcs hit the Rohan Cavalry. However, I had carefully 'stepped' my frontline, so they did not catch King Elessar's formation and he could still choose his charge target. With the Orcs blocking the Uruks with Shields from also charging, it was left to the Ferals, who went berserk and smashed into Faramir's Axemen with an Unstoppable Chage, only to then be flank charged by King Elessar's men.
Fearing all hope was lost, Faramir seized the opportunity provided by the Wizard in close quarters to duel him out. But some genius decided that Epic Strike should now just be the +2... and Saruman contemptuously blew the Prince of Ithilien to dust and ashes before he even got within sword reach.
Here I discovered just how effective Ferals were when everything went right for them. They caused 32 Casualties on the Axemen, which added to the effects of the spells already this turn, wiped them out. The Axemen and King Elessar's men did cause a fair bit of damage back, but at the end of the turn there was a huge gaping hole where Faramir and his formation had been, the Ferals had another good charge in them, the 2HW Orcs had of course seen off the Cavalry, so I think we can safely call that a win for the Beige Wizard.
*I'll get him next time*
The End of turn 2 was the high-water mark for the forces of the Reunited Kingdom. Proving the maxim that painted units perform better, Faramir led the Rohirrm in a frontal charge on the Uruks anchoring the Isengard left flank. They smashed into their front with a Heroic Fight, killing half of them, losing a couple of horses in return, then they got to have a second charge vs a now disordered Uruk formation. They killed them to the last. What you see above is an empty space where the formation used to be. Now, with my lines rotated so that the Ferals were out of position, the Crossbow constantly jockeying to even line up a shot on something that mattered, and the guardians of the Isengard left flank obliterated, I only had to press my advantage and make a game of it.
Here in turn three you see my lackluster efforts to do so. I won priority and elected to go first. He responded by popping the crossbows back into a forest (so here was my chance to advance without having to take their fire) , bringing the Uruks with shields around from his right flank to bolster his center, refacing the 2HW Orcs, and of course beginning to bring the ferals back to where they could participate. Here, my lack of faith in cavalry led me to hold them behind the hill while I sent Faramir back to help bring up the Axemen of Lossarnach. King Elessar refaced his unit, so as to be ready for a combined assault in a couple of turns time. There was no crossbow fire this turn (due to houserules) and the White Coy still only had bows, so did not even manage to take the remainder of the depleted Coy off the Ferals with their shooting. Saruman lobbed a fireball at them, they used 'Will of Iron', and it failed them once more. Jason remarked that this made sense, you'd think a fireball would be pretty deadly when unleashed into stone rooms! No charges for us this turn, due to my excessive timidity.
At the start of turn four I once again got priority, and elected to go second again this time. The photo above shows things midway through my move phase. Most of the Isengard troops awaited the arrival of Saruman and the Ferals, who were running toward the big hill. In my move, the White Company jumped out to threaten their flank, or even rear, if their got their hopeful charge off against King Elessar's unit of Eriador Warriors. Faramir and the Axemen of Lossarnach were moving around to reinforce the High-King, but they were suffering a bit for lack of space - so I spent a second turn not really doing anything to threaten the forces of Isengard and without my own shock-troops concentrated. Shooting was not much of a factor for either of us, though the Isengard casters did take the shields from King Elessar's formation. Then the charges... the Ferals roll a 1! The Beige Wizard lacked the might to make that work, then the White Coy attempt to hit the flank, they have the might to make the charge distance, but are beguiled by the Voice of Saruman
Which means that on the final tun (final, since we ran out of time to get the kids home for their dinner!) the Isengard and Reunited Kingdom lines face off along the length of the hill. Jason got priority, and had me go second. I used King Elessar's only point of might this turn to attempt to Epic Challenge the Beige WIzard, but like a couple of times already this game, this was unsuccessful. So he lined up his three melee formations, then I lined up mine (the Axemen finally having Exsiccated the approaching Axemen, but had been sick of endlessly failing focus roles so used Epic Channelling instead of the usual Epic Ruination. Then there were the charges - the 2HW Orcs hit the Rohan Cavalry. However, I had carefully 'stepped' my frontline, so they did not catch King Elessar's formation and he could still choose his charge target. With the Orcs blocking the Uruks with Shields from also charging, it was left to the Ferals, who went berserk and smashed into Faramir's Axemen with an Unstoppable Chage, only to then be flank charged by King Elessar's men.Fearing all hope was lost, Faramir seized the opportunity provided by the Wizard in close quarters to duel him out. But some genius decided that Epic Strike should now just be the +2... and Saruman contemptuously blew the Prince of Ithilien to dust and ashes before he even got within sword reach.
Here I discovered just how effective Ferals were when everything went right for them. They caused 32 Casualties on the Axemen, which added to the effects of the spells already this turn, wiped them out. The Axemen and King Elessar's men did cause a fair bit of damage back, but at the end of the turn there was a huge gaping hole where Faramir and his formation had been, the Ferals had another good charge in them, the 2HW Orcs had of course seen off the Cavalry, so I think we can safely call that a win for the Beige Wizard.
*I'll get him next time*
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