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There is a dearth of published scenarios and play ideas for WotR, and as we have been very active with this game for nearly 2 years, I thought we should share some ideas.
One perennial problem is sometimes we get an odd number of players, and while 2 v 1 (with each team having same points total) can be fun, a 1 v 1 v 1 is always exciting, but can be prone to eventually 2 players ganging up on the third.
So here we present a scenario we have been playing and playtesting still. A 1 v 1 v 1 battle, in which elves get a chance to shine, as that's all who play.
The Crucible
Background:
In the First Age the Silmarils and the lust for them drove the elves into exile from Arda, and wars between the elven kingdoms. It is rumoured that one of the legendary jewels has been found, but the bearer has been lost waylaid by trolls. Three armies close in on the location willing to deal with the troll threat and recover the Silmaril. However when each arrives they find they are not the only with that thought. Who will find the jewel and will elvish blood be shed?
Board:
Play area is a 6' circle. (We achieved this pushing two 6 x 4 boards together and marking out the boundary with terrain).
Each player has a starting point on the board edge equidistant from each other player.
Deployment zone for each player is a 15" semi circle from the starting point.
Terrain: 3 'caves' and 3 woods. The caves (use small hills) are placed about 9-12" or so from the board edge halfway between each players deployment zone. The woods are placed similarly between each of the caves (therefore close to or crossing the deployment areas)
Each terrain piece is capacity 4 and defence value 2. There are no elevated terrain positions.
Objectives:
Game is played as usual over 8 rounds. Victory is determined by victory points, which are scored during each round, to make a running total.
For each troll that is killed score 1 VP (it is possible for 2 or even 3 players to kill the same troll in the same fight if so all participants gain 1 VP)
For each cave that is occupied by a player at the end of the round (after all combats) score 2 VP.
(The elven hosts are searching the bodies of the slain trolls and their dens for the Silmaril)
Forces:
All the armies must be elven, with no allies. Each player takes on one of the 3 sub-factions of elves and limited in their choices of troops. (Use the WotR stat blocks and names but you could rename the heroes to First Age names such as Thingol, Melian. Of course Galadriel herself was active in the War of the Silmarils and there was a (different but as mighty) Glorfindel back then )
Points 1200 an army.
Bow limit: 50% by companies. (encouraging the wood elves to come out and play and not rely solely on archery)
Each force must include at least 1 legendary formation and 1 rare formation
Wood elves:
Common
Wood Elf Warband 40/c (longbow/glaive +5)
Rare
Mirkwood Sentinels 50/c
Legendary
Gildor's Household 160 + 40/c
Epic
Thranduil 125
Legolas 200
Galadhrim:
Common
Galadhrim Regiment 45/c (shields +5)
Galadhrim Archers 50/c
Rare
Galadhrim knights 50/c
Guards of the Galadhrim Court 70/c
Legendary
Haldir's Elves 95 + 50/c
Guardians of Caras Galadhon 125 + 70/c
Epic
Galadriel (175/200)
Celeborn 175
*Arwen 125
High Elves:
Common
High Elf regiment 55/c
High Elf Archer 60/c
Rare
High Elf Cohort 60/c
Legendary
Rivendell Guard 125 + 65/c
Glorfindel 250
Epic
Elrond 215
Cirdan 75
*Arwen 125
Gil-Galad 300
Elladan 35
Elrohir 35
*Arwen dwells in both Rivendell and Lothlorien as Galadriel is her Granny, we are applying the Third Age concepts to First Age setting (fluff) for simplicity.
Special Rules:
Three way priority. This is a 3-way game. Each player rolls for priority. The player who rolls the highest gets to pick whether to go first, second or third. Then the player who rolled second highest gets to pick. (For example the winner chooses to move/act second, then the player who rolled the next highest has a choice of moving/acting first or last)
'Endless' Trolls. These are the dens of the trolls, low rocky formations riddled with cave entrances and tunnels. On turn 1 no trolls are deployed. Then each turn, after priority is determined, but before movement begins, roll for each cave defensible terrain piece. On a 3, 4, 5, or 6 a troll will appear. The troll will appear inside if possible. If the Terrain piece is occupied, then roll a scatter dice and the troll appears adjacent to the terrain 1" away. If the terrain piece is partially obscured by a formation moving across it, place the troll near the centre.
Desperate Defence. The trolls' homes and young are under threat and they fight with an increased ferocity, to protect them and have the following special rules:
- Trolls do not need to make Terror tests against the invaders (but the elves have to)
- Trolls thrown Rocks into or out of defensible terrain can be measured to the edge of the terrain piece not the centre. (elves still always measure to the centre for LoS and range when they shoot into or out of terrain)
- If a troll attacks a cave, and wins the fight and ousts the defending elves he may immediately move inside.
- Trolls will randomly attack a formation attacking them in close combat, in the open, and the nearest formation when throwing stones.
- Trolls will always choose to throw / charge and attack a formation in the caves over one in the open nearby, even if closer.
- If a cave is defended by a troll and another troll is generated outside, it will move directly towards the nearest enemy it can see
- Trolls always get priority to move/throw/charge before the elves.
Optional/house rules:
We play with the following house rules:
Glaives are deemed 2-handed weapons (+1 to hit) but dont lower Fight value
Each army must include: A fortune, a captain, a hornblower, a banner, and a stormcaller (for Galadhrim). Note some legendary formations have banners and/or hornblowers included.
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Phew there it is in detail... We have pics from our first outing with this setup. Though we only used VP from occupying terrain, using the troll count for breaking ties. I think having the trolls as VP encourages a little bit more focus on them rather than killing your foes in the first 3 rounds... as even at 1200 points, you only get 14-18 companies in each army.
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