Town Defense of East Bight - Battle Report Part 1

 Last Minute Amendments And Clarifications

8 Game Turns might be excessive for such a small board, so let's drop it down to 6 Turns.

Goldberry's Banish Spell has a 12" range and needs LOS.
Her Kindle Hearts Spell also has a 12" range.

The Chaos forces also have 5 Tzaangor beastmen with bows.

Tzaangor with Bow: Move 6" Health 4 Save 5+ LD 4+
- Melee: To-Hit 5+, Attacks 1, Damage 1
- Bow, Range 18": To-Hit 4+, Attacks 1, Damage 1

Attacking Buildings
An attacking model may move unto the 2nd floor of a building if at the start of its movement it is already in contact with the building. However, if there is no room for the model to be placed on the 2nd floor, it must remain on the ground floor. Adjustments must be made to accomodate the attacker to fit on the 2nd floor as best as possible to ensure "good form".
If an attacker on the ground floor is in base contact with a building with a 2nd floor he may make upward melee attacks with a defending model in it at -1 To-Hit. The defending model attacks as normal to the lower model without penalty.

Ranged attacks that target defending units on a 2nd floor are made at -1 To-Hit. Ranged defenders may fire without penalty to units below that are not in cover.

 ~~~

So the Battle of East Bight is upon us.

Why did Hobbits decide to build a town on old ruins - some ancient Easterling settlement of some sort. Probably Wainriders. This ruin is close to Dol Goldur and Mordor and was once a forested area and part of Rhovanion Forest (Mirkwood) until the settlers started the deforestation of the area. Perhaps it was rampaging Orcs who ended their civilization. Or perhaps the environmentally minded Elves of Mirkwood. Or those Rohirrim who once lived in the northern banks of the Anduin, before they were gifted lands to the east of Gondor. Whoever ended the civilization here, it was long ago. But in the recent events of the last age where Sauron and his master Morgoth were defeated, and the recapture of Moria by the Dwarves and their eventual disappearance (again), Hobbits have flourished and pushed their colonies and borders ever further into the political voids left by the races of Middle Earth. Those simple minded Hobbits thought that Middle Earth was theirs for the taking and the forces of Orcs, Trolls, Wraiths, and Corrupted Men were gone forever. Then the Chaos Gods began encroaching from the edges of the Known World. And their first push from the East fell right on this fledgling Hobbit town - East Bight! The Hobbit citizens were evacuated into the (Not So) Brown Lands, for the Entwives had returned and turned that area into a garden again. And the Hobbit refugees were welcomed by the Dryads and Tree-Kin there. But a dedicated few remained - the Hobbit Scout Militia. The Hobbits pooled their money together and searched for heroes to help defend their town from the coming of Chaos.

The Hobbit Militia (Left to Right)
Scoutmaster Jumbo and 3 scouts - Bingo, Bobo, and Bumbo

The Hobbit scouts set their traps while their scoutmaster manages things from atop the city gate.

So 3 areas that are laden with traps are: 1) just outside the City Gate, 2) To the Southeast between the Gate and the Southeast building, and 3) in front of the Beer Fountain.

Goldberry Nimrodel is here to defend the Fountain.

Bumbo the Hobbit: Excuse me, Lady Goldberry, but are you sure these "heroes" are good enough to defend our town? I hear they are simple mercenaries for hire and not proper heroes.

Goldberry: They might not be the heroes you deserve, but they are the ones you need. *Bumbo gives her a meh face* OK... fine. And also, they are the only ones who answered your Craigslist ad.

Bumbo: That info doesnt inspire me. -_-

Upperfloor, above the City Gate... Bortai, Bingo the Hobbit, Alpha, Scoutmaster Jumbo

Scoutmaster Jumbo: We have a ruined gate but no walls, we need to have some words with our City Planning Commissioner. And these windows are too high for a Hobbit defender. This is supposed to be a Hobbit sized town! 

Alpha: Should I get you a crate for you to stand on?

Upperfloor, Southwest building... Xanthia with her cat Buttons on her shoulder, and Bobo the Hobbit.

Upperfloor. Northwest building... Zoltar and Bumbo the Hobbit.

Zoltar: Dont you worry, young Hobbit. I will summon Vorpal Rabbits to lop off enemy heads. Just you watch!

Goldberry, Sir Solaire, and Rattlebones guard the Beer Fountain in the Town Center.

In the background, Kano is standing guard outside Zoltar's building.

Sir Solaire: Praise the Sun! The day dawns on a battle day!

Rattlebones: This is the job. Dont wait for it to happen. Dont even want it to happen. Just watch to see what does happen.

Goldberry: Well I cant wait for this fracas to be over, so I can go take a nap by the river Anduin. Who else wants to go river-napping?

Below Xanthia's building, Stroika hides in the shadows, waiting to ambush any enemy who ventures too close.

The starting deployment. The Forces of Chaos enter from the East.

An over the City Gate view... facing East.

Scoutmaster Jumbo: Oh... those are Blightkings of Nurgle! And Tzeetchian Beastmen! And Daemonettes of Slaanesh! They just ran through our advance guards earlier this morning!

Alpha: Steady boys... The army doesnt like more than one defeat per day. Looks bad in the newspapers and upsets civilians at their breakfast.

Scoutmaster Jumbo: They literally ate our Hobbit scouts for second breakfast! I should think a little panic is in good order.

Slaanesh Daemonettes. These cavorting and frolicking lady daemons are glass cannons. They hit hard and can cut through armor easily. Those are Rending claws.

Blightkings of Nurgle. They are plague infested Chaos Warriors who might not have Rending, but they do have a good Save and lots of Health points. (Ironic, I know...)

Tzaangor Beastmen Archers and a Tzaangor Shaman. They pack the Ranged attacks for the Chaos Force.

Another overview of the table before the battle starts.

And the battle begins with... Scoutmaster Jumbo sending up a signal for the offboard Hobbit Hotpot Artillery to begin firing.

Scoutmaster Jumbo: Redleg, Redleg, Ripper Bravo Two actual. Fire mission. Grid 6-4-9-4-0-2. Direction 6-1-0-. Adjust fire, over.

And the first salvo of Hobbit hot soup aims for the Nurgle Chaos warrior center - it goes awry and misses.
Alpha uses his one Disintegration Shot ammo and fires at a Nurgle Blightking. It hits! But even with Rend, it fails to breach the Chaos armor.
Bortai and Scoutmaster Jumbo hit, but also cannot penetrate their armor.
The Hobbit Bingo finds his mark and it scores a wound on a Blightking! Figures... if anything hits at all, its a simple Hobbit bow that does. Still the Nurgle warrior laughs - its down to 3 Health... Still first blood for the Shire!

Tzaangors move forward up to a ruined wall.

Xanthia successfully casts Bad Luck on the Tzaangor Shaman! So now, once a turn, every turn, any one successfull die roll made by the Shaman must be rerolled.

Xanthia: *to the cat on her shoulder* We got him, Buttons!
Buttons the cat: *meows in approval*

The Nurgle Blightkings move up the center towards the City Gate and one Nurgle Warrior is wounded by a trap!

The Daemonettes move up to a northeast building. Will they move forward and attack Zoltar's building, the Beer Fountain, or the City Gate?

Another overhead view

The Beastmen let loose a volley of arrows and one finds its mark and kills poor Bingo the Hobbit. At least he wounded a Nurgle Blightking before he died.

Bortai: Sleep well under Shire hill, little Hobbit. Yours was an honorable death.

Three Daemonettes attempt to climb the north side of the City Gate.

While the rest of them head towards Zoltar's building.

Zoltar casts a Fireball and slays one Daemonette in a fiery inferno.

The Nurgle Warriors are just 1 inch shy from the City Gate. Looks like there will be more fire poured upon them before the Gate is sieged.

The Hobbit Hotpot Artillery strike hits true and causes 3 wounds on the Chaos warrior center. One Blightking is brought down!

Bortai misses, Alpha hits and scores a wound and so does Scoutmaster Jumbo! 2 more wounds on the Chaos warriors. That brings a chaos warrior down to 1 health.

One Tzaangor is wounded from a trap.

Bortai is wounded from a Tzaangor beastmen arrow and is down to 1 Health.

Xanthia casts Ice Blast which wounds a Tzaangor Beastman and freezes it, causing it to lose its next turn.

The Tzaangor Shaman successfully casts Boon of Tzeentch, but because of Xanthia's Bad Luck Spell he rerolls it and this time fails!

Buttons the Cat: *snickers*

The Daemonettes attack in a flurry of claws! Bortai and Scoutmaster Jumbo are slain! Alpha is wounded and down to 2 Health and is the last remaining PC atop the City Gate! The Daemonettes are terrifyingly vicious and the Nurgle Warriors watch the slaughter with disapointment. Leave something for us to kill, they say with pox infested lips.

~~~

The battle continues in Part 2 coming soon...