Afternoon #Warhammer Community we've been playing MESBG again. Liam is on holiday and Ben was working so it was just me and Otty, with Will adding helpful advice and the occasional dismissive comment about the state of our dice rolling! 🤣 Otty and Ben had tried playing this older version of the Scouring of the Westfold and had come to the conclusion Isengard had no chance. Given the Westfold actually got scoured they felt this wasn't particularly accurate. So, I wasn't overly keen to give it a go. It's not always fun to go into a game being told your position is impossible and Rohan are going to win. It's also not helpful if you only pay attention to part of the rules.
So at this point all I know is I have to burn down all three buildings, two gets me a draw. The Rohan infantry are protecting them in the centre, the cavalry can come on from turn two with a D6 5+, turn three 4+, four 3+, five 2+. At the beginning of the fight phase I can burn a building on 5+, but for every additional model in base contact I get plus one to the dice roll to a maximum of 2+. Otty can try to put the flames out in the same manner - 5+ but every additional model adds plus one. With time against me I decide to blow two of my four might points and Heroic March with both my left and right flanks. I needed to get to the buildings ASAP and set them alight before the cavalry arrived. Meanwhile, my archers tried to pick off a warrior, and I think they managed at least one.
Otty was stunned to see me spend the remaining Might to get both flanks into base contact. But it was worth it as both houses were set alight, with the great house on the left only just sparking with the 2+ it needed. My archers continued to fire into the Rohan infantry. I know I was more effective than Otty, he failed to kill anyone with bows for the entire game. I think by the end of turn 2 he was able to extinguish the fire on the great house but not top right, which didn't spread. The cavalry, needing a 5+ to arrive, fell short with a 4
I think this is turn four as the cavalry need a 4+ to arrive in turn three and fell short with a 3. It was only turn four needing a 3+ that they managed to arrive from the north, with the outriders in the back, out of range of my archers, which had pushed up to support the centre. I'd reignited the great house but it just wouldn't spread on a 4+. His infantry had started to come round the great house. There was a scrap in the offing but who would commit? To cap it all while the warriors waited to engage they put out the flames on the great house again!
The warriors repositioned and with the right flank in my control I managed to set fire the small hut, but failed to light up the great house again.
Otty was able to get his cavalry into my Uruks and wildmen to the north of the settlement. Their charge won the duel but they couldn't kill a single model!
But I won the next priority and was able to counter charge to avoid being knocked prone by the cavalry. I was able to chop down the leader, but the banner remained alive.
At this stage I began to realise how hard this mission was. Each building needs six flame markers. We realised that we'd missed a couple of chances in the early turns to see if the spread - you set fire at the beginning of the fight phase, they spread at the end of it. So the great house got set alight, spread that turn and spread again the next turn while the other two buildings refused to spread. It became apparent the best chance I had was just to wipe the Rohan [they can't be broken in this scenario]. The Outriders had managed to join the fray in the middle.
But I was able to take a few down so I had weight of numbers to gang up on the banner, the last outrider and then commit forces to assault the infantry from behind. Meanwhile another flame broke out on the great house and on the small hut.
Having wiped the cavalry the hut was on 3 fires, great house 4 and the long house still only 1. But the Rohirrim had been vanquished.
We continued to play on for a bit to see how long it would take to scour the Westfold. The hut finally succumbed.
And then the great house.
With the long house inevitably to follow.
The impossible mission was won! Now we debated whether my heroic marches had made any difference, or whether the 4th turn arrival of the cavalry was too late. I thought that although the early fires had been extinguished I was in a strong board position because of the march. But attempting to burn the houses was less effective than just killing everything. Perhaps if there was a way to help the flames along, similar to starting the fires it would feel more achievable to get the 18 flame markers needed. That fixed 4+ to spread seems arbitrary if it can't be influenced.
Anyway, flushed with success [for once] Otty decided to check something given this was an older scenario using legacy models and it turns out the Isengard faction has a 40+ point advantage! So, once again I have to have more points to win! A little galling, bringing me down to earth with a bump. But I did do what neither of my more competitively successful friends had failed to do with the same list! 😜 So, not all bad afterall...
Hopefully Ben is back next week but this was surprisingly fun, given I expected to fail from the beginning. Winning is actually quite nice 😎
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