All Wight on the Night

Having needed to be rescued the overactive flora of the Old Forest, the Quest of the Ringbearer continues with redoubtable hobbits now braving the dangers that lurk in the Fog on the Barrow Downs.

In this scenario, Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin (played by me) would have to cross the Barrow Downs whilst the fearsome Barrow Wights (controlled by that chief lieutenant of Sauron, Matt) stalked through the fog in an attempt to capture and drag the hobbits into their barrows to be sacrifices.

Fortunately, there was a very good chance that Tom Bombadil (and even Goldberry) would come to their aud if they called for his help.

Although this seemed a straightforward scenario, it did turn out to have a number of small issues. Not only the fact that the dearth of scenery makes for some quite dull photos, but also every time I think of the scenario name, Fog on the Barrow Downs, the chorus of Fog on the Tyne by Lindisfarne and Gazza comes into my head.

Come on!

The hobbits began the scenario as far forward as they could, and in the middle of the board, my aim being to stay as far away from the barrows as possible. This would hopefully give Tom Bombadil time to rescue any hobbits before they could be dragged into the barrows.

Drawn by the life force of the hobbits, the fearsome spectres of long dead kings emerged from their ancient tombs.

The hobbits pushed forwards, hoping to cross the downs before trouble could strike. However, Pippin immediately himself lost in the fog and went in completely the wrong direction. Sam went after him so that no hobbit faced the horrors lurking in the fog alone.

The wights closed in on the divided hobbits, but their attempts to paralyse the frightened but courageous Frodo failed.

Spectral forms rushed at the ringbearer, but their ethereal blades failed to hit home. However, Sam found himself paralysed by fear of what stalked towards him and could not be roused by Pippin.

As the wights closed in on Sam, Pippin ran towards the treeline sing the song Tom Bombadil had taught them to summon his aid.

Suddenly, joyful singing could be heard, the fog began to clear and the familiar form of Tom Bombadil, complete with blue coat and yellow boots, came striding out of the forest.

Bombadil arrived just in time, as Pippin, who had returned to help Sam, also succumbed to paralysis as the wights closed in whilst Frodo and Merry rushed to their aid.

It was at this point in proceedings that a couple of things occurred to us:

1. The Blades of the Dead special rule actually makes the hobbits harder to wound (Sam had taken no wounds so far) than they would normally be. Matt began to redirect his efforts towards Courage 4 Merry and Pippin rather than Courage 6 Frodo and Sam.
2. The hobbits actually have a good chance of charging and beating a wight in combat, especially if they gang up and trap them. Much better than their chances against Ringwraiths, at any rate.

In a "Get to the chopper!" moment, I decided to let Bombadil focus on saving Pippin, whilst the other hobbits (Sam having finally shaken off his paralysis) made a break to escape.

Their task was made easier as Tom managed to banish one of the wights pursuing them, allowing the hobbits to gang up on and actually wound the other one. Sam struck the telling blow.

Meanwhile, Tom started a process of charging the wights trying to drag Pippin to his doom, causing them to drop the prone hobbit.

However, Bombadil's store of 15 Will started to run low  after a series of failed attempts to cast Banishment over several turns. The dilemma of whether to risk failure on a single dice, or deplete resources for more certainty began to take hold.

Suffice to say, I made the wrong decision several times before learning my lesson.

With only a wounded wight left to pursue three hobbits, Matt made the decision to return to charging Frodo or Sam, figuring that Merry was the one most likely to fail charges.

I agreed with this assessment, but as Merry was also the most vulnerable to harm, I took the opportunity to have him run for the board edge whilst Ftodo and Sam held up the wight. I trusted that their high Courage, Wounds and Fate would keep them safe enough from the single Attack of the evil spirit.

Despite the repeated charges, Tom's failure to banish either of the wights trying to abscond with Pippin allowed them to slowly slip away with their prey.

Meanwhile, Merry made his escape as Frodo and Sam showed what the Shirefolk were made of as they repeatedly beat the wight in combat.

Things looked bleak for Peregrin Took...

...however, in a sudden turnaround of fortunes totally fitting for the early chapters of The Fellowship of the Ring, Pippin shook of his paralysis, the good side won priority, Tom charged the wight to prevent pursuit, and the plucky halfling made his escape.

The final nail in the coffin (should that be 'stone in the barrow'?) of the wights came when we suddenly remembered that I should have been rolling for Goldberry since Tom arrived.

Having painted Galadriel specifically for this game, I now rolled four times to see if she arrived. I got a six, but placed her some distance from the action in the spirit of at least a little bit of fairness.

Frodo and Sam were now close to escape. However, a second wight had joined the pursuit...

...and they found their way blocked. 

Unable to gang up, the fights were now even and the hobbits, especially Sam, were in danger of succumbing.

But help was at hand.

The arrival of Goldberry to aid Pippin now allowed Bombadil to turn his attentions to the ringbearer. Learning his lesson, Tom used two of his last three Will to banish one of the wights. 

Sam, with a cry of "for the Shire!" managed to inflict the final wound on the last wight that had plagued him all game. Leaving the route off the Barrow Downs free.

As Goldberry closed in on the wight still trying to subdue Pippin, it was clear that the forces of good had won. I actually cheated here and cast Banishment with her, when she only has the Refreshing Song spell, but it really wouldn't have changed the outcome. Not only would three hobbits escape (the victory condition), but her ability to revive Pippin and prevent the wight from moving by charging it meant it had almost no chance of success and so it returned to its tomb.

What had appeared on paper a tough scenario for the hobbits, actually turned out to be extremely challenging for the wights. The hobbits, especially Frodo and Sam, are really hard for them to wound enough to drag off and are also resistant to their spells. Also, with any hobbit that has seen a wight able to call for Tom Bombadil, he is bound to show up too quickly for the wights to be able to get a hobbit back to a barrow. The ability to shake off paralysis further complicated matters.

In terms of the campaign, the hobbits are now at a rest point, and so get their Might, Will, Fate and Wounds restored. It doesn't matter, but the 'Fool of a Took' was obviously Pippin, for whom things went wrong from the first turn. The bravest companion was definitely Sam for managing to inflict two wounding hits on a wight and tanking a lot of attacks, allowing Merry to escape.

The next official scenario sees us trying to escape Bree before four mounted Ringwraiths can get their grubby mits on Frodo. This requires a chunk of painting: buildings, Ringwraiths and two more characters, and so it may be a little while.

In the meantime, we might take a diversion into to pages of an old White Dwarf to discover why Gandalf did not return to the Shire as promised.