Escape from Goblin Town

The Dwarves Make their Escape

This was very much a game of two halves, with the second half belonging to the dwarves. At the beginning of the game the situation looked quite bleak for the dwarves with the goblins bearing down on them and the early loss of Ori. Balin will need to find another scribe.

However, slowly as the game progressed the dwarves began to gain the upper hand and then Thorin managed to take down the goblin king with a little of Gandalf’s magic. In end with the death of the goblin heroes, the dwarves escape looked certain. It was then just matter minimising risk to the vulnerable heroes and get them across the table.

Throughout the game Oin, struggled to heal any of the wounded dwarves, which was my plan to get a couple of the dwarves healed before the bulk of the goblins arrived. So, in the end I had to commit fighters like Fili and Dwalin to battle with only one wound.  

The first few turns were quite tense as the dwarves struggled to deal with the masses of goblins and Ori had to sacrifice himself to stop Thorin from being surrounded. Gandalf’s use of immobilise was crucial to stopping the goblin king to pilling in at key moments. 

Turn four marked the low point for the dwarves and with the exception of Dori, the dwarves only won through desperate measures (might) and even then, both Bofur and Fili were beaten down to one wound each. Thorin duelled with the goblin king after he had been immobilised by Gandalf but couldn’t land a wound. And to cap it all Oin still couldn’t heal any wounds, so Dwalin had to join the fray with only one wound. 

And then on turn five the game turned again, and the dwarves took down scores of goblin and the king was dead. Gandalf being able to Immobilise the Goblin king meant the dwarves could pick who took him and deal with his bodyguards first. 

After the Battle

Interestingly both Fili and Dori managed to kill hordes of goblins in every game but both were taken out of action before the final game. Dori seemed particularly lucky right up to his last stand. Where as both Dwalin and Kili didn't perform all that well. 

Now, the dwarves have escaped the Misty Mountains they have just the small matter of evading a few angry Wargs and goblin riders…

I now fancy painting up a few Mirkwood spiders to continue the adventure.

Not Friday Night Beer

Ok so it's not Friday night, and not technically a beer but I was given this by some friends and while I wouldn't drink this all the time it is an interesting change.

Rob

Riddles in the Dark

Special Guest Appearance

No trip to the Misty mountains is complete without a visit to Gollum's cave. I didn't have a modern Gollum model, so a quick purchase from eBay  sorted that problem. I did think about a quick scenario with Gollum and Bilbo but last battle was calling. And I went straight to the Escape from Goblin Town. Anyway I have a feeling Gollum will show up again. 

The Wizard & the Burglar

The major change to the scenario rules was to move the goblins back to the platform and reinforcement locations would be randomised in the same way as in Scenario 3.

With no real choice Gandalf and Bilbo raced towards each other. And Bilbo put on the ring at the first opportunity. The goblins had the better of the priority rolls and Gandalf had to use his might to call heroic moves to try and stay ahead of the pursuing goblins. When Grinnah got in range he also called a heroic move to cancel Gandalf’s. Winning the first roll off, Grinnah then managed to get one goblin into combat with another one supporting. Gandalf’s terrifying aura keeping most of the goblins at bay.

As with the previous game, Gandalf doesn’t do well when outnumbered and lost a wound and all of his fate over a couple of turns of combat. Bilbo fared better when a pair of goblins finally cornered him and took one down.

With his last point of might, Gandalf called one last heroic move which Grinnah attempted to counter, but this time Gandalf won and reached the hobbit. 

 

After the Battle 

Gandalf proved his wizard’s cunning and recovered, a wound, two points of fate and a point of might.

Before the final battle, I rolled to see if any of the dwarves had escaped their seemly certain deaths both Fili and Dori had made back to the land of the living. Dori continued his good luck by recovering a 2^nd wound, point of might and fate.

For winning the previous scenarios, the dwarves gained 4 points of might or fate which were shared out between Gloin, Dwalin and Balin.

Rob 

Ori Finds His Mark

A Bit of Extra Fun

And I played a quick solo extra scenario, after recovering their gear, Gloin becomes separated from Nori & Ori. However, they quickly run into goblins looking for them. As they try to escape, they find Fili out looking for them. 

Scenario Rules

Goblins start with two goblins (the number of goblins that exited the table from the previous scenario). The goblins at the start of scenario are searching for the dwarves and so are moved randomly until they have line of sight or another goblin with 6” has line of sight.

Roll D6 for each goblin:

1-4 the goblin moves forward.

5-6 The goblin stops. 

When a goblin reaches a junction, roll to determine which direction he takes. And just use a bit of common sense!

The dwarves are also not sure where the goblins are, so if there are no goblins in line of site, take a Courage test. The test is passed then move the dwarves normally, if the test is failed then move the dwarves in the same way as the goblins. 

For the first three turn the goblins receive D4-1 goblin reinforcements from starting point A. From the four turn onwards roll D6, on the first roll, for Fili’s appearance. 

Turn Score 

4         6

5         5+

6         4+

7         3+

In the turn after Fili appears, goblins get D4-1 reinforcements from starting points C & D. 

In addition, six markers are placed at key junctions, when dwarf gets into base-to-base contact with a marker roll a D4. 

Score Result

1         Nothing.

2         Something useful, roll D6:

                a. 1-3 Alcohol. 50% chance of recovering one point of Might.

                b. 4-5 Healing herbs. 50% chance of recovering one Wound.

                c. 6 Lucky Charm. Recover one point of fate. 

3         One goblin. 

4         Two goblins.

Playing the Game

So, I used D4 as markers as I couldn’t be bothered to look for some markers and my nearly forty-year-old* (Games Workshop 1986 Dungeon and Cavern Floor Plans). Annoyingly I don’t have the free plastic dwarf that came with the box. 

 

* When I say they are nearly forty years old, it sounds like I am making this stuff up but yes I checked my maths and 1986 to now is 38 years ago! It says c1986 on the boxes, so I didn't even have to go and look it up. 

The game started with Nori & Ori creeping up the right tunnels after a bit of squabbling (they failed a Courage test). And the goblins went wandering about but with lucky rolls to send them towards the dwarves. 

One goblin emerged from tunnel as Nori & Ori debated jumping the river (Nori failed a jump test). And I decided to let Ori have one go with his slingshot to see if he could silence the goblin before he raised the alarm. And amazingly he did!

More goblins arrived, by some goblin cunning and two more despatched by Ori with his slingshot, but by the now the alarm had been raised and more goblins closed in on the dwarves. However, Fili also made a timely appearance and rushed to join the dwarves. As we headed towards the dwarves he found two secret stashes of alcohol, they could be handy later. 

First strike to Ori

And Ori goes one better and bags two goblins in one turn.

A fierce melee broke between the Nori & Ori and the goblins, again Ori surpassed himself by taking down a goblin while Nori took a wound. But Nori returned the favour and took down several goblins over the next couple of rounds. All the while Fili closed in on the other dwarves. 

When Fili arrived, the dwarves were able to make their escape with Fili bringing up the rear. However, he lost two rounds of combat with the pursuing goblin and then failed his Fate roll. With Fili down the other two dwarves were finally able to reach the exit point. 

After the battle Nori recovered a point of might.

Rob

Thorin Enters the Fray

That's A Lot of Goblins

Refought Guard the Crossing which played out in a very similar fashion to the first game, in that the goblins did not want charge Thorin with Orcrist which blocked one walkway and Dwalin and Balin stubbornly held onto the other one. And the goblin king didn’t show up!

It was not without cost as both Balin were down to one wound and no fate or might left. 

Dwarves hung on for most of the game but on turn eight Dwalin took two wounds and had to use both points of fate to survive. Given only the lead two goblins could make off the board by this stage Dwalin and Balin retreated and hoped the goblins would switch to easier targets. 

After the battle both Dwalin and Balin recovered some fate points. 

Rob 

 

Dori's Last Stand

The Dwarves Take A Beating

So, this version of the scenario offers a choice on which extra dwarves to take, with a total of five now available. Nori, Ori and Bombur were all taken because they hadn’t yet played a scenario. Ori is clearly the worst character available, and this is one of the harder scenarios but to keep within the campaign rules it was his turn. This leaves two more spots, after a bit of deliberation on Oin (& his wound healing), I decided on Gloin and Dori who are both superior fighters. Because even with the changes to the scenarios there is still going to be plenty of goblins on the table.

The original version of this scenario just lacked any balance with only three dwarves (one of which is Ori!), the goblins being able to deploy right on top of the dwarves and an endless supply of reinforcements who can be deployed in exactly the right spot meant the dwarves had no real prospect of winning. The changes attempt to address these points in order to get a better balance.

In this amended version, the goblin reinforcements arrive at either the twelve, three, six or nine o’clock points on the table dependant on a dice roll. The goblin player still rolls as normal to see if the reinforcements arrive but has limited control of their arrival points.

Goblin Reinforcement Arrival Points

Roll D6

1: Dwarf player chooses arrival point

2: Twelve o’clock

3: Three o’clock

4: Six o’clock

5: Nine o’clock

6: Goblin player chooses arrival point

The dwarves decided to head for the treasure stack in the northern eastern corner. The goblins responded by surging forward to meet them with more reinforcements on the way. The goblins were able to use their weight in numbers to get into some advantageous combats. The dwarves were able to mostly hold their own until Bombur who was outnumbered three to one. He lost his combat and then the goblins rolled three 6’s to wound and Bombur was struck down.

 

No recovery for Bombur, after the goblins rolled three 6's

The dwarves pulled back to form a better defensive line and the goblins responded by retreating back onto the platform while they waited for more goblins. Left with no choice, the dwarves had to attack the goblins on the platform before more reinforcements arrived. Ori managed to take one down with his slingshot before the others forced their way onto the platform.

In the ensuring melee Ori managed to slip through the goblins and search the pile of baggage to find the missing items. Which was just as well as the dwarves were close to breaking with no Might left and a few wounds taken. From this point it was all about escape for the dwarves, after a couple of rounds of the combat with more goblins bearing down. Nori, Ori and Gloin had a clear escape path.

With Dori a move behind, he couldn’t escape with the others, so blocked the way. If he could just hold out for one more combat, we would be able to escape as well (at this point he had lost a wound and no Might or Fate left) but the four goblins had other ideas and he was struck down close to the exit.

Dori was undoubtably the dwarf of the match, taking down nine goblins and blocking the escape route. Up to this point he has one of the most dependable dwarves in the company. Even with the improvements this was still a tough scenario for the dwarves who are now fleeing back to join the rest of the company with their hard won booty.

Dori's last stand

After the battle only Ori managed to recover one point of fate. Once again the dwarves left encounter with no might or fate left. And with Gloin down to one wound, every combat was tense especially when he lost twice and was only saved by his armour. 

Rob 

Rescue the Baggage (Again)

The Company of Thorin Gets Smaller

This was a tense scenario even with the changes as the dwarves only just escaped (after Bifur’s heroic death). It might seem that the dwarves won easily but they were always just hanging on.  

The main changes to the scenario rules was an extra dwarf and moving the goblins starting positions back. So, both the goblins and the dwarves had to make some tactical choices. I choose Bifur, Bofur (as per the original scenario), Kili made a second appearance (To try and catch-up Fili’s impressive tally from the first game) and Dori was drafted in for his superior combat skills (Three attacks). Not surprisingly Bombur sat this one out as his penalty for jumping was too much of a risk.

The dwarves opted to jump the gap rather than go the long way round with hordes of goblins bearing down on them. Again, the dwarves had to use Might points call heroic moves to maintain the initiative and Bifur had to use his last point of Might to stop himself falling into the chasm. Three of the dwarves managed to grab the baggage before hopping back to the main platform. But not before both Dori and Bifur managed to gang up on Grinnah (again with a bit of Might) to cause three wounds in a single turn and take him down.

It was a tense fight as three of the dwarves managed to jump back but were caught between the drop and the goblins. Both Kili* and Dori won their fights, but Bifur lost. And took double strikes for being pinned. In the end he lost both wounds. After that, the dwarves pushed the goblins back to give Bofur enough space to join them. And dwarves ran for the exit but were caught one last time. Finally, Bofur used the last point of dwarven Might to call a heroic move and escape off the table.

*Kili continued his trend from the last game which was to win fights but not cause many wounds.

The death of Bifur as he is trapped between goblins and the drop. 

After the battle Kili recovered both points of Might and Dori recovered one. 

Rob

Not A Goblin

No Really - Actually It's Dragon Newt

After painting up the goblin horde it was time for something different. The fantastic Dragon Newt from Alternative Armies from their Asgard range. Like the giant frogs, bought during their sale for a very reasonable price. He will join the Slann army as a monstrous host (or something). 

Rob