The Battle of Rhun Wald

 Welcome to the battle report of Rhun Wald.

The ambassador/heroes from Cathay and Nippon have just passed the Sea of Rhun and entered the boundaries of the West. The settlements along the Rhun seem to be filled with settlers from Gondor, Rohan, Esgaroth-ians aka Lake-Towners, and even Hobbits! Gentrification has really been driving up rent in this area! Starbucks and Peets on the shore front high-streets of the Sea of Rhun, who'd've thunk?  The heroes wonder where the old school Easterlings - the Balchoth, Wainriders, and warriors of Khand are these days. They see a knight of Gondor who seems to have been expecting them...

They are greeted by Sir Fenring, of House Fenring, a vassal House serving under House Corrino. Fenring fills in current events about the Near Easterlings. This time of year, the warriors of Khand are off campaigning with the Hyrkanians in Astapor and Qarth. The Balchoth struck oil in their desert lands and have built the tallest wizarding tower in all of Middle Earth. Wainriders have gone into business with the East Rhovanion Trading Company, running caravans from the Grey Havens to their HQ at the Carrock and all the way to Old Valyria.

Left to Right: Priest Asura, Lady Snow Blossom, Iron Dragon, Sir Fenring of Minas Tirith

Sir Fenring: Welcome, my Lords and Lady of the East. I  have been tasked by the White Tower to bring you to Minas Tirith. At my command we have foot knights from Gondor and archers from Rohan to ensure our safe travels.

Iron Dragon: *bows* Many thanks, we are honored.

Priest Asura: We pray for a peaceful passage.

Lady Blossom: Peaceful? No thank you. An entertaining little battle would be nice. Nothing but sacred rivers, hidden libraries, ancient museums, and no offense Priest Asura... holy temples. Its been a long boring trip.

Priest Asura: *gasp*

Lady Blossom: I don't know why you always have to be judging me, because I only believe in science!

Priest Asura: *places a bowl of holy water in front of Lady Blossom and dunks her face into it*

Sir Fenring: You may get your wish, my Lady. We are close to Mordor and dark powers have risen once again within its borders. We must be on guard. 

Iron Dragon: May sleeping Ogres slumber on our journey. Lead on, Sir Knight.

Knight of Gondor: Hey there, buddy. Whose a good boy? You are. You are....

Archer of Rohan: These are weird creatures. And Ive seen Oliphants before.

The Western entourage is made up of plastic Perry Twins 100YW miniatures.

Sir Fenring: Hold! Did you hear that? I smell a trap. Form square! 

~~~

THE BATTLE OF RHUN WALD

Summary
The House of Red Dragons is a delegation of Easterlings who have been sent on a diplomatic mission to make peace with the West in a post-Sauron world. The delegation is met with an allied western force of Gondor foot knights & Rohan archers led by Sir Fenring. As they pass a wooded area near the Sea of Rhun, they are ambushed by forces from Mordor. The villains have been ordered to stop any alliance between East and West.

Board Setup
Table size is 22" x 30". The hero player must place an 8" circular hill within 12" of the center of the board. Then the monster player can place two 6" clusters of terrain - trees, rocks. Each cluster of terrain must be at least 4" away from any other piece of terrain.

Deployment
The hero player chooses which long edge to deploy from. All figures must be within 3" of the long edge and not closer than 8" from the shorter edges. The hero player deploys first with the 5 eastern delegates, Sir Fenring (on horseback), 10 human knights & 10 human archers. Once deployed, the monster player deploys half his force on the opposite 30" edge. The other half may be deployed along either of the 22" edges. The monster forces are Murkillor the Wraith, Calibog the Troll, Nyxa the Basilisk, 3 Wights and 10 Bugbears.

Victory Conditions
- The Villains immediately win if Iron Monkey, Lady Snowblood, and Asura the Priest are all slain or rout off board.
- The Heroes immediately win if Murkillor, Calibog, and Nyxa are slain or rout off board.
- At the game's end (6 turns with variable end turn rolls thereafter), the side that caused the most damage to the oppossing 3 main named heroes/villains wins.

The left formation.

Sir Fenring: Something stirs beyond the hill, I think.

The right formation.

Iron Dragon: Yes, beyond the hill are powerful enemies. But nearer at hand is the closer danger.

From the left side, a Wight and Bugbears seemingly spring from out of nowhere.

Not only do those Bugbears appear on the flanks, but they gain an extra move even before the game starts because of their Bushwhacker ability.

Then on the right, another Wight and more Bugbears! Its a trap!

And behind the hill, the main force of the enemy. Another Wight but even worse... a Wraith! And not just any wraith... its Murkillor! Wights in my game cause Fear, but also can Curse an enemy which gives them a -1 to its rolls to hit, to save, and to cast. But Wraiths have direct damage spells like Siphon which causes damage but also heals its caster. Wraiths can also cast Sleep. Wraiths are also deadlier in close combat and have Armor Piercing.

Murkillor the Wraith: Now we will show these Far Easterlings that no one quits the Mordor party!

Nyxa the Basilisk: Rahr...

Calibog the Marsh Troll: Garrr...

Murkillor: Feeding time is here, my pretties!

The initial clash on the left flank. Gondor knights hold the line, while Rohan archers fire from behind at the Bugbears. Another Wight and more Bugbears come from around the hill. Sir Fenring and some knights and archers move to intercept. For Gondor! For Rohan!

And the clash on the right flank. A brave foot knight challenges a Wight and moves forward. He gets Cursed for his impetuosity.

The 3 main villains take the hill. From there, the Wraith can rain down spells on the Alliance! Remember the Victory conditions, the most kills on the 3 main heroes or villains wins the battle! The 3 main heroes are Iron Dragon, Lady Blossom, Priest Asura. The 3 main villains are Murkillor the Wraith, Nyxa the Basilisk, Calibog the Troll. The heroes decide to take the fight to them!The fate of the battle will be decided on the hill.

The left flank holds.

Sir Fenring is Cursed and finds it difficult both to hit and defend. But still he fights on.

Priest Asura lays down his Healing Totem right on the hill, in the center of the battle. All friendly figures in 3" of it has a chance of being healed every turn.

A knight tanks a Wight to prevent it from casting its Curse on anyone. While Kyubee the Kirin casts Fireball at the Wight.

Murkillor versus Iron Dragon. Iron Dragon hits the Wraith with a natural 6 for a Grievous Strike that negates the enemy Save. While Murkillor decides to not step back out of melee to cast spells, but wounds Iron Dragon in close combat anyway. But the Healing Totem heals Iron Dragon.

Its Poison blade vs Poison fang and spikes! Lady Snow Blossom has coated her blade with her Vial of Poison. Nyxa the Basilisk has poison dripping from her fangs and gives Lady Blossom a good nip to the ankles. Lady Blossom sinks her blade into the Basilisk's leg who lets a out a squeal. Which poison will kill the other first? The Healing Totem heals Lady Blossom.

On the right flank, a cursed knight is slain. And his archer companion runs away.

And the right flank gives way as the rest of the knights are crushed by Bugbear savagery!

While the left flank holds, Sir Fenring himself is slain by a Wight and Bugbear!

The right flank make a tactical withdrawal. The archers back away while firing.

Archers: Would it help if we ran away farther? Lets say yes...

Wight: Ok I get it. You come from a different direction - fear based.

Bugbears: No fair! Stand and fight!

The Wight on the hill is slain by a knight and Kyubee the Kirin. Then his bones are ignominiously dumped over the side. Oh the shame! Kids these days. No respect for the elderly!

And Lady Blossom has done it, she outpoisoned the Basilisk! Thanks to some help from Priest Asura's Healing Totem.

Lady Blossom: I take back what I said about holy temples and museums and libraries, Priest Asura! I will say a few Hail Mary's or Hail Buddha's on Sunday. Promise!

Priest Asura: Help me fight this thing, Lady Blossom! Its got way too much Health and also has Regeneration.

Lady Blossom: You go high, and I go low. *stabs Troll but fails to penetrate its tough hide* This thing IS tough.

Kyubee singes Murkillor with a Fireball. And Hachi the Foo Dog charges the Wraith. Iron Dragon wounds Murkillor again, but still the Wraith remains!

Iron Dragon: We dont need to kill anymore. Just make sure none of us die. The game is nearly over and we already knocked out one of the main villains. So everyone just run out the clock. 

Murkillor: This isnt going the way I planned it... again. Alright team, listen up. After the game, we will sit at the bar. Have a beer, a hard boiled egg and a pickle. And talk of the old days.

And the game clock winds down, as the Bugbears continue chasing the retreating archers who keep firing arrows back at them.

And for shits and giggles the last living knight makes a last melee roll and downs a Bugbear. He raises his hand in triumph. Score! The game is a win for the Alliance. As the Bugbears leave the field of battle, they shake hands with the winning team. Good game. No hard feelings, eh?

~~~

"We really shook the pillars of heaven, didn't we Wang?" - Jack Burton

So, where did things go wrong for Murkillor the Wraith again? Hubris, methinks. Firstly, he should have stayed at distance to cast his spells, but he thought he could kill Iron Dragon with his combat skills. Secondly, the villains should have gave up the hill, once the Priest laid down that Healing Totem. 

But the villains did do their damage, the Bugbears won their battles and crushed the foot knights. Only 1 out of 10 foot knights lived to tell the tale of the battle. The archers fared better, but their die rolls were abysmal - to the point where it seemed to break the rules of probability and reality. Mr Joe P, who commanded the heroes should be oddly proud of that. Still, the heroes won the war and got the job done.

As for casualty rolls, Nyxa the Basilisk survived. (Yes! Nyxa is such a good name for a Basilisk, I didnt want to see her perma-death) 

But Sir Fenring did not survive the Battle of Rhun Wald. Godspeed... or Valarspeed, brave Sir Fenring. We hardly knew ye! But he did his duty for Sigmar and Country. And btw I just found out Count Fenring has been casted and will show up in Villenueve's Dune Part 2. I didnt think that would happen. Fenring and Margot should have had a party with the Atreides in Part 1 before the Harkonnen/Sardaukar attack. Maybe they will do a flashback? But as far as this blog goes, Sir Fenring is kaput, finis, dirt-napping. Wait, if Fenring served House Corrino... and in our blog the  Emperor is Sigmar, then Sigmar is the Padishah Emperor of House Corrino?! Bless the Maker! The Emperor protects! :p

~~~

Music played: started with some krautrock favs, Popul Vuh - Letzte, Can - Future Days and Embryo - Opal but forgot to switch to : 60s-70s Japanese Instrumental Cinema Funk Breaks & Beats

Cheers,

Mar