The Battle
of the Five Armies
A 'Hordes of the Things' Battle Report
By
Blake Radetzky
After a discussion concerning all-aerial armies on the HOTT mailing list, Blake submitted this battle report - Alan
I have used my all-aerial army in one Big Battle HOTT (BBHOTT) game about two years ago. I was teaching a class on THE HOBBIT to my summer school kids. Of course the Battle of the Five armies was the main focus. Most of the kids had read the books and knew about the battle. All the kids received a 10mm Pendraken painted HOTT sized army; there were eight Goblin Armies, one Men of Dale army, one Elf army, two Dwarf armies and a Gandalf element. Yes I know Thorin Oakenshield's band of thirteen Dwarves does not make an army, so I cheated and besides two kids really wanted Dwarves.
The BBHOTT pitted of course the four armies of Men, Elves, and Dwarves against eight Goblin armies, with each Goblin army having one Wargs (beasts) element and two shooters and the rest various mixes of hordes, riders and warbands.
So the battle proceeded with the Goblins advancing across the table with five armies frontally assualting the Lonely Mountain. The other three Goblin armies started rolling on Turn 2 for arrival. If successful, then they rolled for deployment in one of three areas, Goblin baseline, Good Guys left flank, Good Guys Right flank. The first roll the Goblins needed a 6 for each army to deploy, two rolled sixes! I thought that the Good Guys would have had at least three turns before the hordes really hit. So one deployed at baseline, the other deployed at the Good Guys left flank. The frontal assault was being beaten back by the Elven and Dale archers deployed along the right spur of Lonely Mountain, while the center was held by Thorin's Dwarves. The Goblin PIPs rolling 1s and 2s helped stall the advance also.
On turn three the third offboard Goblin army now needed a 5+ to enter the table; he rolled a 4. A cheer went up from the Lonely Mountain Defenders. The Goblins frontal assualt was stalling all over with low PIPs again and high dice rolling by the defending shooters, However, the flanking army was zipping along with 5 PIPs to close with the Dain's Dwarves defending the left spur. Dain's Hammers (blades) proved to be too tough a match for the Goblins to just run up the hill and bash them. The assualt was recoiled. Somehow, the Goblins only lost one element and so did Dain! The defenders' third turn was good and they were able to reform lines and attack some Goblin elements at the bottom of the hill. Killing most. But there were tons of Goblins still coming.
On Turn 4 the last Goblin army made the roll needing a 4+ and rolled a 4 and then arrived on the very exposed right spur of the mountain. (Much shouting and gnashing of teeth from the Goblin side) The Elves had shifted to their left to support the Men of Dale who were being recoiled and some holes were in their line.
Turns 5 and 6 saw much back and forth recoils or locks but no kills except to some shooters of Dale. And now six of the eight Goblin armies were making slow progress up the mountain. However, starting on Turn 5 I had the player of Thorin's army roll a D6 at the start of their turn. I would not tell anyone why, I just said roll a die.
By Turn 7 Dain had lost 6AP, Thorin had lost 4AP, Bard had lost 8AP and the Elves only 4AP. The Goblins on the other hand had lost an entire army due to Dain's valiant dwarves. Three each had lost 9AP and one only 2AP the other four were untouched by losses. The defenders were in a desperate position. This time when Thorin rolled the d6 at the start of his turn like I said and the magic 6 appeared! All I said was good roll. They asked me what happened, all I said was roll for pips and make your moves. So they did and while they were making moves and the Goblin players were watching intently the battlefield. I slowly walked over to my desk and opened up my desk drawer and pulled out my Eagles, hid in hand and walked back to the right flank of the Good Guys. I stood there for a moment answering questions as if he could move into a flank position while resolving the combat phase, I slowly placed three Eagles on the table edge. Suprisingly no one noticed, so I walked back and picked up 3 more elements and then as I placed them on the table made a loud screeching sound that made the room go completely quite. Then suddenly the Good Guys saw the Eagles on the table edge and jump out of their chairs flailing their arms and screaming at the top of their lungs, 'The Eagles, The Eagles, The Eagle Are Coming!!!' They were all dancing around and shouting as I brought the Aerial Heroes out, one being the general. The Goblins were yelling at this time also so the noise level was off the scale in the room, luckily we were in the music room with sound proofed walls.
Turn 8, the Goblins on the right spurs who had been lining up his Goblins in neat lines to assault the Elves' flank rolled low and could not get his troops turned to meet the Eagles, and left out to dry all by its lonesome was his warband General. Other Goblin armies started moving their shooters toward their left flank to put up some sort of defense against the Eagles.
Good Guys turn, of course I played the Eagles, one aerial hero general with two supporting Eagle flyer escorts and the fighter wing of one aerial hero with four supporting Eagle flyers. And of course I roll a 5 for PIPs. Needless to say the General and escort slammed into the warband general and the other wing hit the end of the Goblin line making sure we had the overlap. So everyone agreed to fight the Eagles last, after all other combats were resolved for the Good Guys all eyes turned on the Eagles.
Well the fighter wing was lined up so that my aerial hero was on the goblin's only shooter, risky but it was my best match up and I started on the end to walk the combat to my hero. My combat rolls were amazing; the first two combats saw a 5 and a 6 both of which doubled the Goblins. The shooters were overlapped so my hero rolled a 5, shooters rolled a 2; dead shooter. My other two rolls were also 5s and the Goblins' bad luck was still with them and they roll a 1 and a 2 counting overlaps, so both Goblins died. So I was 5 kills for 5 combats. Much cheering and moaning. Now the big combat. Goblin warband general against Eagle aerial hero general and the Goblin was overlapped twice! Dice were rolled and the Goblins were yelling 'NOT FAIR', the Good Guys were hooting and yelling. So the Eagles destroyed a Goblin army on first contact. But lady luck was with me in both PIPs and combat rolls! Not how my dice tend to roll normally.
On Turn 9 the Goblins move all shooters to form a line in middle of the battlefield. Bard's Men of Dale succumb to the hordes and are defeated. Thorin's Dwarves are being flanked and Dain was trying to get his army turned around to advance toward the center to help his brethren. Thorin also rolled another die at the beginning of their turn; a 6. Goblins were now yelling even louder cause they had figured it out: Beorn was arriving, but luck was against Beorn (behemoth) and his placement roll put him smack dab in the middle of a wooded area on the Goblin's baseline.
The Eagles rolled a 4 so both flying formations were able to move. The General flew over the shooters while the other wing flew over the shooters and formed a line between the shooters and their Eagle general. Meanwhile the Elves had advanced down the hill to attack the scattered Goblin elements. Gandalf helped the Elves. This combination destroyed another Goblin army. Three down and five to go. Thorin lost another blade and he was at 10AP lost.
On Turn 10 the Goblins sent all Wargs available towards Beorn while he was still in the woods. Beorn was an army unto himself, so if I rolled a one for PIPs he would not move on a roll of 2+ he could move. Goblins turned their shooters and killed two Eagles from the protecting wing. Good Guys turn, Beorn rolled a ONE! Eagles rolled a 3! The Eagle general turned his wing into the center to help Thorin, crying back to the other wing to hurry when they could. The Eagle general with his supports killed another lonely rider. Thorin gathered the rest of his troops around him to make a final stand before the gates of Lonely Mountain. Dain was distracted by another Goblin army moving up towards his flank. The Elves and Gandalf reformed their lines with low pips. The Goblin shooters forced the remaining Eagles to recoil away from the aerial hero, who was now a single element in front of 4 shooters and it would be the Goblins turn next!
On Turn 11 the Goblins Wargs make contact with Beorn. Goblin shooters mass against the lonely aerial hero and roll a 6 vs the Hero's 1: argggh! Thorin's short line is attacked by the Goblins. The Goblin warband general with rear support matches up with Thorin. The Goblin is able to walk both flanks towards Thorin and recoils both of Thorin's supporting Hammers. Thorin rolls the dreaded ONE and Thorin is dead. Great shouts go up from the Goblins! Beorn beats off the Warg attack. Dain is enraged by the news that Thorin has fallen and leave two Hammers behind on top of the hill to face the Goblin army and takes the rest of his army down the hillside towards the valley where Thorin was last seen. Beorn moves and attacks one Warg. The Eagle general furious at the death of his brother by the shooter and seeing the body of Thorin fall, screams towards the Goblin general that slew Thorin regardless of the numbers of Goblins supporting the Goblin general. Leaving the Eagles that were in his brothers wing stranded facing the Goblin shooters. The Elves and Gandalf move to attack more Goblins in the valley, killing enough to break another Goblin army. The Goblin shooters' luck ran out and only get recoils on the stranded Eagles. Beorn kills a Warg unit. The Eagle hero general smashes the Goblin general in another spectacular 6-1 kill! The Goblin general has lost one of its supporting side element to a recoil from an Eagle. And that breaks another Goblin army.
It's Turn 12. Class time is just about out, the Goblins are losing but still everyone wants one more turn. So off we go. The Wargs get to surround Beorn this turn. The Goblin shooters fail all their shooting attacks against the Eagles. The Goblins kill the two Hammers that Dain left on the hill with flank attacks. The Wargs win the combat and kill Beorn! The Goblins are shouting with joy at this time and it is the same time that the parents are arriving in class to pick up their kids. Game over!
Final results:
Bard and the Men of
Dale defeated.
Thorin killed and his Dwarves defeated.
Beorn is
dead.
Dain have lost 10AP
Eagles have lost 10AP
Goblins lost
5 armies
Goblins blue army lost 10AP
Goblins yellow army lost
7AP
Goblins black army lost 4AP
It was a close battle able to go either way but the Defenders of Lonely Mountain gain a costly victory!
The battle could have been worse due to the fact that the Eagles cost that extra pip to move. When I lost the aerial hero his supporting flyers were in two different groups, so I needed a 6 to move all the Eagles. Very tough, if the flyers can stay together and not break up, they can do some damage.
I think all-aerial armies are very cool and fun to play, but if you are wanting them for competition then you will have some very hard games to play.