Adventures on the Wargames Table

After reading (a) James Morris' article in WSS, and (b) Andy Hawes' blog about playing Lord of the Rings, I was inspired to get back in to playing wargames in Middle Earth. I picked up a copy of this rulebook (after selling mine a few years back!?) for a bargain price in Ebay last week. My girls were delighted with the idea of playing some Lord of the Rings (not on the Wii) so a game was clearly in order. So I spent about 30 minutes digging through boxes (we're getting ready to move - possibly) to find the necessary forces; Minas Tirith and Mordor. I decided to keep the game fairly simple. I left out lots of the advanced rules such as Might, Will & Fate, different weapons, etc. The result would have been a straightforward encounter, but I decided to make things a little more interesting... the premise of the scenario was that some of the outlying farms near the White City were being attacked by roving bands of Mordor Orcs. Gondor must strike back at the enemy! ...

Having recently "completed" my Anglo-Saxon (or perhaps Anglo-Danish) army, I thought you might be interested to see a few pictures. Here it is. The King and his banner bearer take centre stage, accompanied by his Huscarls. To the right are a unit of Thegns, to the left and behind are units of Thegns/Ceorls. Two units of skirmishing Geburs provide some ranged support. A pair of Ealdormen and a Bishop provide some additional leadership. Here are some closer shots. As with most armies, it's still not really complete. I plan to add at least one more unit of Thegns/Ceorls and maybe some skirmishing Geburs with bows. After that I'll look to add some allied cavalry or archers. I also want to create a few more little vignettes using some villagers, wounded warriors, livestock, etc.