LotR: Combe North Gate Playtest - GF, JR

Combe North Gate is a landmark within Archet Dale in Bree-land.

This location is a guarded gate between Archet Dale and Combe, where the only passage from Archet to the rest of the Middle-earth is as narrowest. The gate had been blocked by Blackwold brigands, letting nobody through.

Good Objective: Alert Combe of the Blackwold's plan to attack Archet. Two Good models must move off table behind the gate and fences.

Evil Objective: Prevent Good models from passing through to Combe.

Good Forces:
Halbarad
5 x Warrior of Minas Tirith with Bow
5 x Warrior of Minas Tirith with Sheild
6 x Warrior of Minas Tirith with Spear and Shield

Evil Forces (using orcs as sufficient brigand models weren't available):
Shagrat
8 x Mordor Orcs with Bow
8 x Mordor Orcs with Sword and Shield

The Battlefield featured a defended gate and several fences in the upper corner. The village of Combe lies beyond and this is where the forces of Good are headed.

Halbarad leads his melee troops forward while the bows provide cover fire. The Evil defenders wait patiently for the enemy to close. Orcs fire bows with little/no results. As with most of our LotR: SBG games, bows seem rather ineffective.

The Warriors of Minas Tirith and Halbarad reach the first line of defense. The orcs are clearly outmatched, but the added benefits of defending the obstacle helps spare a few lives.

Shagrat (using Arathorn proxy) reinforces the orc defenders and starts turning the tide against Good. Might points are spent liberally. Halbarad knows he cannot easily defeat Shagrat and keeps his eye on the objective. With a small group of warriors, Halbarad makes a dash up the hill towards Combe.

The orcs on the far left move towards the action in the middle of the battlefield in hopes of reinforcing the dwindling defenders.

Shagrat tries to chase down Halbarad but is too late. The hero and warrior of Minas Tirith dash past the last of the orc defenders to alert Combe of the impending attack on Archet.

Overall, a very enjoyable game. The heroes proved to be game-changing and at the end of the day, a priority roll or two made all the difference. Good game!