Being the second part of my report on The Battle of Five Armies game using the Midgard Heroic Battles rules at The Other Partizan, October 13th 2024. You can see Part 1 here if you missed it! All quotations from The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien.
Goblins had scaled the Mountain from the other side already many were on the slopes above the Gate, and others were streaming down recklessly, heedless of those that fell screaming from cliff and precipice, to attack the spurs from above.
At this moment, goblins also began to arrive over the Mountain, shooting arrows and hurling rocks. We represented these Units as Skirmishers, given that they would have been dispersed by their mountaineering activities. Nevertheless, they caused some consternation in the ranks of the Free Peoples, particularly amongst the dwarves and men, who only had a single line of Units. Bard led back one Unit of Lakemen to see off the goblins.
“To me! To me! Elves and Men! To me! O my kinsfolk” he cried, and his voice shook like a horn in the valley.
With the appearance of Bolg at the Front Gate, Thorin and his company finally came forth to see them off.
This was heralded (literally) by GM Dave calling out, “To me! To me! “ in his most Shakespearean voice!
A huge melee erupted around the ruined bridge as the dwarves pushed the goblins back towards the Running River and the ruins of Dale.
At this point, Thorin was slain fighting Bolg’s bodyguard. We’d given him the Fated Trait, which meant that he couldn’t use his Mighty Deeds to re-roll Risk to Heroes tests but guaranteed him a glorious ending! He went down cleaving goblins left and right with his axe before being bundled out of the fray by his comrades.
Another setback now hit the Free Peoples on the southeast spur of the mountain as Bard was also killed, fighting at the head of the Lakemen. He had turned his Unit to face the goblins climbing over the slopes and was struck down by a boulder.
Once again the goblins were stricken in the valley; and they were piled in heaps till Dale was dark and hideous with their corpses.
The Lakemen were now in dire straits as Bard’s Unit was destroyed and the other was on the verge of breaking. The combined loss of Reputation put the Free Peoples in danger of breaking.
“The Eagles! The Eagles are coming!”
Fortunately, at this point, the giant eagles turned up. Their arrival also increased the Reputation of the Free Peoples, adding an extra 5 Reputation tokens to the goblet, which would prove critical in the next Turn. These beasts got straight to work. In Midgard, they are represented as Monstrosities – a Unit type that covers both giant creatures and war machines. Usually, they are used as single model Units, but because of the scale of the game we used three miniatures in each Unit.
Using the Flying Trait, the eagles came straight in with a swooping attack, a special rule that allows them to carry out a ‘fly past’. Needless to say, the dispersed goblins who had been scaling the heights were their first targets, and they fell like wheat.
However, Dain’s left flank collapsed as one of the Iron Hills Units finally broke under the onslaught. With both Units of Lakemen now driven off, the Free Peoples were losing the battle for the southeast spur, though the elves were still winning around Ravenhill.
In that last hour Beorn himself had appeared – no one knew how or from where. He came alone, and in bear’s shape; and he seemed to have grown almost to giant-size in his wrath.
Fortunately, help was at hand with the arrival of Beorn, the skin-changer, who also boosted the Free People’s Reputation by another two tokens. Another Monstrosity Unit, GM Dave placed him in position to charge the goblins. He surged in from the goblin rear.
On the other spur, the elves were driving the goblins back, one archer Unit having accounted for no fewer than four times their number of orcs.
“Victory after all, I suppose! Well, it seems a very gloomy business.”
The final Turn of the game was a suitably tense affair as both sides started with just five Reputation tokens in their goblet. Beorn continued to tear his way through the goblins, wounding Bolg in a final attack on his bodyguard.
The elves were now under pressure from sheer numbers on their spur; Gandalf drew Glamdring and entered the combat along with the Elven-king which helped to steady the line and halt the goblin onslaught. The surviving dwarves were now on their last legs, but the arrival of Beorn and the mounting losses caused by the eagles turned the tide – their goblet of Reputation empty, the goblins finally broke and ran. Victory for the Free Peoples!
Well, it had been quite the game. Dave’s scenario had been a resounding success, giving us a very near result to that in the book without it feeling forced at any point. Thorin had been felled earlier than in the story; Bard had also been killed, along with many of the Lakemen; and the elves had done rather better.
However, as in Tolkien’s account, the Eagles and Beorn had turned the battle from seeming defeat to a close-fought victory. In around four hours of gameplay, we had concluded the Battle of Five Armies with around 1500 miniatures! Using Midgard Heroic Battles with the larger Units had worked a treat, the simplicity of the mechanisms and the Reputation system allowing a clear result within our time limit.
I need to thank the Morris & Chums group for their dedication and commitment to this slightly crazy project. Simon Tofield contributed above and beyond with his huge collection of miniatures, providing part of every Contingent on the battlefield as well as the eagles and Beorn.
Paul Welsh and Martin Hogg also provided significant reinforcements for the elves and goblins respectively, and Sam, Andy, Kirk, Pete, Lewis and Tom who all turned up and played throughout the day. Hats off as well to Dave Hunter, who masterminded the scenario and ran things all day with great aplomb.
mogsymakes 