Grand Campaign 5: Angmar Attacks Bree

An army of orcs from Angmar creeps towards Bree, while the brave shirrifs of the Shire sets out to protect their town and their pints.

The Story Up To Now

While the war rages back and forth in Rohan with more blood spilled upon the fords, the elves of Lothlorien are forced from their homes, and a small orc army lead by the troll chieftain Buhrdur and a pair of Wights moves south from Angmar to the East Road, poised to strike east towards Rivendell or west towards the Shire. 

In the meantime, Mayor Will Whitfoot, ever the cunning politician, decides this is a grand time for an expedition to the Bree taverns. There is freshly brewed ale to sample, and a restock of the supplies back in Hobbiton would merit a great deal of appreciation from Mr. Whitfoot's constituents. He offers a sizeable bounty to any shiriffs who accompany him on this endeavor. Little does he know, his little drinking expedition would be interrupted by a band of orcs…

Armies Involved

Forces of Good

Mayor Will Whitfoot is not one to travel alone, and he brings along with him a whopping 78 hobbits on his adventure. The Mayor has been joined by prominent personalities of Hobbiton, including Shirrifs Holfoot Bracegirdle and Robin Smallburrow, Baldo Tulpenny, Farmer Maggot, and Farmer Tolman Cotton. Even 2 Dunedain have joined the expedition, no doubt wary of the rumors they've heard in the Prancing Pony of untoward happenings in the area of Bree.

Forces of Evil

Marching from the fallen kingdom of Angmar, the Army of Angmar is led by the pick-wielding troll Buhrdur, supported by an Angmar Orc Captain and two ghoulish Barrow-wights. Comprised primarily by the cruel and cowardly Angmar Orcs, a pack of wild Wargs and a fearsome Cave Troll have joined the forces of the hills.

The Scenario

The Battle of Archet is a custom scenario, located in the small village of Archet, located just outside of Bree. Rubble and ruins surround the small shops and taverns that Mayor Whitfoot's hobbits have come to patronize.

This custom scenario sees The Shire forces begin the battle within 3" of any building in the village, with the warbands of Angmar orcs closing in from any board edge on the first turn. The forces are clashing over 3 objectives, each one a tavern full of villagers, and more importantly, ale. The forces will battle it out until one is quartered, at which point the battle will end. Whichever side holds 2 of the 3 taverns will claim victory and all the pints.

The Battle

With the Shire starting in control of all three taverns, Angmar has to seize at least two taverns to secure victory. Buhrdur leads his forces onto the field just behind one of the taverns, using the building as cover to keep most of the hobbit archers out of line of sight for bow fire. The orc captain leads his wargs on a flanking maneuver around the second tavern. Hobbit archers posted above the first tavern shoot the first of a few wargs that fall to bowfire. 

Their revelries now interrupted by the cries of “fear, fire, foes, awake!”, the shiriffs don their caps and grab their clubs to drive off the rude interruption of their drinking bouts by the orcs. Now that team good sees where the orcs have moved on from, hobbits move to intercept. The orcs split their forces around the sides of the first tavern, Bruhrdur leading his forces to the left, while a wight leads the rest of the orcs and cave troll to the right. Hobbit bowfire takes down another warg. 

Battle begins in earnest on the third round, as Buhrdur charges after Farmer Maggot, followed closely by his orcs, while on the left flank the cave troll moves forward to engage. Farmer Maggot is no match for the troll chieftain, swiftly falling to his pick. On the opposite side of the tavern, the orc forces continue to close with the hobbits.

On the far left flank, the wargs swing around to engage the hobbits, but make little headway against superior numbers. On the far right flank of the orc force, a band of shiriffs starts to move as fast as hobbits can to outflank the orcs. Three orcs enter the tavern in the center to clear out the hobbits on the second floor. 

Now in position to join the fray, the orc contingent in the center with the cave troll charges into battle. The cave troll aims for one of the Dunedain, but instead of bashing the man to a pulp, the brave Dunedain wins the fight, and leaves a nasty gash in the troll’s stomach, nearly slaying the beast in one stroke! In the meantime, the wight uses his infernal powers to paralyze the mayor, though his trusty shirrifs swiftly close in to revive the mayor and get him back on his feet. Buhrdur moves in to thin out the hobbit ranks, pushing past farmer Maggot’s dogs to engage more hobbits. The orcs in the central tavern manage to push to the second floor and slay a hobbit. In an ongoing theme for the battle, even where orcs push back the hobbit forces, they prove tougher than expected, and the orcs struggle to fell their hobbit foes. 

The battle heats up now, with all the orcs engaged and a sizeable number of hobbits pushing back to keep the orcs at bay. Determined to put down the trolls and save the hobbits from fighting these bests, the second ranger musters his courage to charge the troll, and inspired by his fellow ranger, slays the wounded beast! On the far left, the wargs struggle to make headway against the superior number of hobbits, even with the orc captain slaying two hobbits and pushing past them to engage more. The orcs in the tavern attempt to clear a way to the balcony where hobbit archers continue to pick off orcs, but a valiant archer holds the doorway. 

With Will Whitfoot back on his feet, and a path cleared through the hobbits, Buhrdur decides the mayor will make a nice snack, and charges for him. With the cave troll dead, the Dunedain lead the hobbit counterattack in the center, with more hobbits joining the fray having climbed down from the belltower. Buhrdur surprisingly loses to the mayor, driven back by determined cane blows of the mayor and his trusty shiriffs. The flanking force of hobbits on the orc right flank makes contact, attempting to take down the orc banner. On the left flank, more wargs fall to the hobbit horde. With orcs numbers decreasing, the wights enter the fray to shore up the lines, and begin taking a steady toll of hobbit lives. 

Having lost a significant number of orcs to hobbit bows and clubs, the orc morale begins to waver. The wights have no trouble keeping orcs nearby them in-line, but Buhrdur, disheartened by getting beaten off by a mere hobbit with a cane, loses interest in the fight and flees the battlefield! Will Whitfoot’s steadfastness facing down the troll emboldens the hobbits, and they charge into the disheartened orc lines. Lead by farmer Cotton and the Dunedain, the orcs in the center of the battlefield are surrounded and picked off. The orcs in the tavern yet against fail to make it onto the balcony, with the lone archer felling an orc while he holds the doorway.

Without either troll to help thin out the hobbit numbers, the battle really starts turning against the orc host. Hobbits close in on both flanks, as the orc captain leads a decreasing number of wargs to hold the line, and the orcs on the right fall back into a closer line around the tavern. With the wights engaged, their attention is diverted from rallying the orc numbers, but the majority of the orcs hold out for a little while longer. 

Determined to reclaim the one last tavern, and guard the valuable storehouse of ale to bring back to the Shire, Will Whitfoot pushes his shiriffs forward. In the midst of the fray, one of the Dunedain falls to an orc spear, while the hobbits on the far left take down the remaining wargs and surround the orc captain. The orcs in the tavern finally slay the hobbit on the balcony, then rush back down to aid their beleaguered comrades. 

As overwhelming numbers of hobbits pour over the orcs, the battle reaches its end, with the orcs unable to hold the tavern against angry hobbits determined to retake the storehouse of fine brews. The orc captain and wights continue to hold out, but cannot make a difference against so many hobbits. 

After Action Report

Final Result

With the forces of Angmar quartered, the hobbit force not quite yet broken, and all three taverns in the hands of Will Whitfoot’s trusty shiriffs, the battle is a major victory for the forces of good. Although the superior fighting force, the orc hordes suffered heavily from poor wounding rolls and could not recover against the numbers of the hobbits. The Cave troll struggled significantly, losing both fights it engaged in and taking wounds in both. Buhrdur losing his nerve and fleeing the field sealed the deal for the already beleaguered orcs. The muscle provided by the trolls also failed to make a strong impact; the Cave Troll lost both of it's fights and took wounds in both, while Buhrdur lost his nerve and broke along with his army, denying the orcs a valuable source of stand fast.

Out of the large force of hobbits, nearly half of the hobbit forces fell or took major wounds, but not enough to break the army of the Shire.

Hero Attrition

On the victorious side, Farmer Maggot and one of the Dunedain fell in combat, meaning they will continue without their single point of fate.

The forces of evil, despite quartering and losing a significant number of orcs, kept all of their heroes alive, meaning only Buhrdur will lose fate for fleeing the battlefield.

Big thank you to Aaron C. & Ben B. for writing and documenting the vast majority of this battle report!

With Bree safe from the spooky intruders, the sun sets on this turn of the campaign. The pieces are in motion, and the forces of good and evil will soon be clashing across Middle-earth again....