This weekend I played through the The Causeway scenario from the War in Rohan book. Drop on by if you're curious to see if Aragorn and Gimli can hold off the Uruk-hai.

http://davetownsend.org/Battles/LotR-20200620/

That picture in the thread is really awesome, Dave! You are humble about your hobby skills but that picture really brings the scene to life.

I enjoyed reading your report and this scenario reminds me of one of the Goblin Town scenarios a bit. It is fun getting to see and use the heroes in a situation like this and while this isn't a strategically rich scenario it does sound like good fun to play. Your ability to tear through the MESBG scenarios is enviable and I look forward to seeing what you play next

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You can find me at: https://KuribosPainting.com/ and on Instagram @kuribospainting.

Good write-up, I enjoyed reading that!

How does it differ from the version in the Journey Book?

Loved reading through that report Dave, great stuff

The terrain and pictures are fantastic and really capture the themey nature of these narrative scenarios that I love. You also really portrayed the tense nature of such a close quarters fight really well

I don't know if you have seen the Failed Charge Games guys on YouTube, but they played this scenario with the 6" wide causeway and, as you predicted could be the case, the two Heroes could not stop the uruks getting around them and breaking through the gate. Your size of causeway seemed to make for a much more evenly contested scenario, with Aragorn and Gimli cutting down plenty of Uruks, but slowly being pushed back towards the gate and burning through their resources until they just about managed a victory.

I'm looking forward to playing this scenario in my own campaign, as I followed the Two Towers Journeybook guide for Helm's Deep too!

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/captainquark38/

Thanks for the encouragement, gang. It really is appreciated.

Re: humble: I'm reminded of Churchill's burn of Atlee as "a modest man that has much to be modest about". The community in general really seems to be upping its quality lately and when I see what folks like Zorpazorp and Celevue are doing my stuff just doesn't compare. (For example, I'm irked by my causeway, which I made too steep and so I spent half my playing time trying to keep models and casualty gems from sliding down the ramp.)

But I've tried to take the attitude that serviceable models and terrain I can actually play with are better than lovely models and terrain that I can only admire. And I do think I'm getting better (if not consistently so) at painting, terrain making, and photography.

Re: Journey book comparison: Hm, I should've put that into the write-up, shouldn't I? The basic parameters of the scenario (setup, length, turns) are the same, but the Evil cast of characters is vastly different, featuring a mix of Uruk-hai Warriors with shield, Uruk-hai Berserkers, an Uruk-hai Captain, and a slightly reduced Dunlending war band.

It's a pretty big difference! Although Evil has no pikes(!), there are a couple of Evil heroes with Might, so Good can't guarantee going first every turn. I imagine that makes it tough for Aragorn and Gimli.

I don't remember any Dunlendings attacking the gate in the movies, so I'm not too keen on seeing them here in the game, either. Actually, I'm not a big fan of the might-as-well-be-Rohan Dunlending warrior aesthetic, so that's another reason that I prefer the War in Rohan version. (I do like the Wild Men Dunland models, though, and the new leaders are fine.)

Re: Failed Charge Games: I did see that; thought it was an interesting replay and it contributed to my thoughts about narrowing the Causeway.

How happy are you with your Helm's Deep, @captainquark? I made mine years ago (though the rock base and ramp are brand new) so some of the details are hazy, but I seem to recall the journeybook instructions weren't as complete as I hoped, especially for the Gatehouse. And though I think I followed the JB measurements correctly, the end result seems a bit squat, and were I to do it again -- which I probably will -- I would like the Gatehouse to be taller.

Thanks again for the comments!

The Causeway itself is excellent, really nicely done - Shame it was slippery, maybe a rougher texture paint or something could have helped? Or double-sided tape on the bottom of the Uruk bases?

I was lucky enough to score one of the GW Helms Deep models on eBay for a reasonable price, but I will still need to make a causeway, and the rocks for the walls to sit on to raise them up.

I thoroughly enjoyed building Helm's Deep following the journeybook guidelines, however I do agree that they weren't the most detailed instructions. The instructions for the wall sections were fine, however in hindsight and after playing some games using the terrain, I would make the walls a bit wider.

I mostly felt that the gatehouse was fairly complete with instructions, although I did build it a while ago myself so I am a bit hazy at remembering. I had to design two parts completely myself though, the triangular wedge of stairs that leads up to the gatehouse from the deeping wall, and the ramp inside the gatehouse. However, having built everything else by that stage, those two pieces were simple enough to put together.

In terms of the height issues with the journeybook version, I do agree that it is not accurately scaled as per the movies. I both like and dislike this; I like it because it enables much easier storage, especially when combined with the fact that there are so many separate pieces for the whole Helm's Deep structure which means that there is no one-piece huge structure to attempt to store somewhere. But on the flipside, the model does lack that verticality that is pretty iconic of Helm's Deep (for me anyway).

Maybe when I get some more storage space somewhere down the line I'll attempt a more detailed build, but for now, judging by your report, it seems to be sufficient

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/captainquark38/

That sounds about like my experience. I agree that the modularity makes storage much easier. I don't know how folks with custom 4'x4' tables handle it. Those builds sure do look amazing, though.

I will probably be finishing out the basic walls so as to play the War in Rohan scenarios. Then I expect I'll try eBaying them and making something better.