They Are Coming...

After fleeing the Watcher in the Water, the Fellowship had to face the long dark of Moria, a harrowing journey through the dark, eerie tunnels of the long abandoned dwarf citadel.

Ultimately, the Fellowship come to the tomb of Balin son of Fundin, Gimli's Cousin, companion of Thorin and Bilbo, and the last Lord of Moria. His brave attempt at reclaiming Moria having failed.

Here, a foolish mistake by Pippin alerts the denizens of the mines and the Fellowship prepare to defend themselves and sell their lives dearly if need be.

And so continues the Quest of the Ringbearer...

Following the events at the gate, the Fellowship were somewhat depleted. After narrowly escaping death, Sam and Merry were out of Fate points, and following two frankly embarrassing displays if incompetence, Gandalf 'the Wise' was still limping by on a single Wound and not enough Will points.

The objective of this scenario was straightforward. The Fellowship (or at least five of them including Frodo) needed to survive 10 turns.

Unfortunately, they were trapped in a small room (so running away wasn't an option) and the horde of 24 Goblins would regenerate and pop up on all sides. They were led by two Captains (meaning Matt had some Might points to play with for once) and...oh, yes...

They have a Cave Troll...

...arriving on turn 4.

You might notice that I'm not using Moria Goblin miniatures. There are two reasons for this:

1. I don't have any. I foolishly traded my original set away years ago and they are such a pain to paint that I haven't bothered getting hold of any more.
2. Tolkien makes no real distinction between Orcs, Goblins, Hobgoblins, etc. The only distinction being that Uruk-Hai are bigger and Saruman's Orcs bear the white hand symbol.

The Orcs I'm using are from a mishmash of sources, but for the sake of this scenario, two handed weapons are being treated as spears.

Turn 1

Boromir bravely rushes forwards to act as a speed bump and to introduce Matt to the joy that is the Horn of Gondor.

Meanwhile, Aragorn and Legolas fire arrows that are much less lethal than in the film, killing only a single Goblin.

Gandalf fails to cast a spell...honestly, why did we bring him?

Turn 2

Boromir continues to hold up as many Goblins as he can (and even killed one of the two Captains) whilst the Fellowship back off, but he can't stop them all and so Aragorn and Gimli (who remembered he had an unlimited supply of throwing axes) move in to block the remainder.

Legolas fires rubber tipped arrows as he retreats and guess what?

Yep. Gandalf fails to cast another spell.

Goblin archers moving round the flanks manage to hit Pippin, but his only Fate point saves him (I have real issues with the fact that Merry and Pippin have only 1 Fate point each given that they survive the ENTIRE SIX BOOKS!).

Things get hairy when Merry is attacked by a Goblin (definitely not an Uruk-Hai, I need to do a few more Orcs) crawling out of the well, but managed to win the combat.

Turn 3

Aragon, Gimli and Boromir continue to tie up as many Goblins as they can, with Boromir moving away from the door to the tomb (as I know what's coming through it next turn).

For their part, the Goblins, not really liking the tune Boromir is playing, turn their attention to swarming Gimli, the one Dwarf who still drew breath in Moria.

On a brighter note for the Fellowship, this is the point in the story (and the first time in three games) when Gandalf becomes effective.

Firstly, he managed to make himself terrifying for the rest of the battle, which would really hamper the Goblins' attempts to get to or around him.

Secondly, he joins the Hobbits in a mass assault on the Goblin from the well and kills it (something the Hobbits struggle with) with Glamdring.

Turn 4

They have a Cave Troll!

With the fight having moved away from the door, it did nothing other than arrive this turn, but it's presence was now a major threat, as it had the power to finish off any member of the Fellowship in a single round.

The Goblins also managed to gain the initiative and locked the heroes in place, swarming Aragorn and Gimli, but only two more Goblins crawling out of the well managed to get to Frodo as Gandalf present too much of a terrifying presence.

Legolas traded arrows with the Goblin archers, but not before one of them had hit Sam, seeing him slump unconscious into the corner. Aragorn and Boromir won their fights (although both began spending Might points) and Gimli managed to wound the second Captain. 

Turn 5

With the evil side getting the initiative again they launched themselves at the Fellowship. Realising the futility of attacking Aragorn, only a single Goblin pinned him in place whilst every Goblin that could charged into combat whilst the Troll lumbered towards Boromir.

Fortunately, no Goblins had successfully managed to charge Gandalf and he was free to unleash a sorcerous blast that reduced the pressure on Frodo and sent two Goblins reeling before charging into a Goblin supporting the attack on the Ringbearer.

Boromir confronted the mighty Cave Troll and called a heroic strike to give him the edge, won the combat and wounded the beast.

Elsewhere, Gandalf and Legolas either won their fights whilst Frodo's mithril shirt proved impervious to Goblin blades.

Aragon, facing only a single Goblin, called a heroic strike and rushed to the aid of Merry and Pippin, who appeared to be the most vulnerable members of the party, however a cry from across the chamber signified that Gimli was in trouble.

A combination of terrible dice and really poor decision making about how best to spend Might points, saw the Goblin Captain and his horde batter through almost all of Gimli's defences in a single round.

Turn 6

Finally getting the initiative back, the Fellowship moved to pin down as many Goblins as they could to keep them away from the Hobbits.

Boromir broke off from the wounded Troll, Aragorn jumped towards the Goblins Gandalf half knocked over, whilst the Wizard collapsed the roof on another group and the beleaguered Gimli leapt back into the fray.

Although successful in keeping Goblins away from the Hobbits, this strategy exposed Gimli to attack from the Troll (which was now wary of Boromir) and the resolute Dwarf succumbed to its might blows.

Two of the Fellowship had fallen, lots of their resources had been used and, for the first time since Weathertop, things were starting to look a bit dicey.

Turn 7

The Goblins (and Troll) surged forwards and with Boromir on the other side of the chsmber Aragorn called a Heroic Move to get the remaining members of the Fellowship into a defensive circle.

Without two of the toughest members of the Fellowship to help, Aragon had to rely on Gandalf's terrifying aura to hold one flank and the Ringbearer's surprisingly tough skin to hold the other, whilst he and Legolas bore the brunt of the fighting.

The plan worked but it would need to hold for another few turns and withstand a Troll.

Turn 8

Knowing that the Troll would tip the balance of the main fight, Boromir sounded his horn and charged heading into combat with the beast for a second time.

Once again using Heroic Strike to ensure victory, Boromir cut the beast down before it could hurt any more of his companions.

Boromir was turning out to be invaluable. It would be a shame if something were to happen to him on this journey...

Boromir's intervention allowed the thin line to hold once again and Aragorn slew the Captain that had orchestrated the fall of Gimli. However, one of the Goblins overcame it's fear and charge Gandalf, allowing another to slip by and bring down Pippin.

Turn 9

Regaining the initiative, the heroes repositioned, with the aim of protecting Merry, relying on the innate skill of the rest of the party to withstand the enemy's attacks.

Although the Fellowship were exhausted (they had spent a lot of Might, Will and Fate points by now) the odds were still with them in most cases.

Their luck held and they managed to thin the horde a little (which at this point in the battle meant those Goblins were out of the fight).

Turn 10

Another round and another testing of the same plan. A Heroic Move from Aragorn once again meant that the closest Goblins could be prevented from getting to where they could cause most harm.

As the dust settled the Goblins withdrew. They had not expected such fierce resilience, but the fight in the Chamber of Mazarbul had been a close run thing. It was one of the closest and most enjoyable scenarios we've fought and the first since Aragorn joined the party that didn't feel heavily skewed in the Fellowship's favour.

Most of the heroes had needed to use up most of the Might points, Gandalf's Will was almost gone and pretty much everyone had taken a wound or used Fate. Surprisingly, only Frodo emerged unscathed, the additions of Sting and the Mithril Shirt making him significantly less vulnerable that previously.

Thanks Bilbo!

Fortunately, winning the scenario meant that Sam, Pippin and Gimli survived, having only been knocked out (much as happens to many of the Fellowship in the film), and some good recovery rolls saw the party in somewhat similar shape to how they entered the battle, although Gandalf's Will is a worry, given that he has a bridge to destroy in two games time.

The Bravest Companion was undoubtedly Boromir. Killing a Goblin Captain before it could use its Might points, holding up much of the horde and defeating the Troll not once but twice in single combat proved crucial.

With Gandalf finally redeeming himself with a few crucial spells and continuously protecting the Hobbits, the Fool of a Took had to be Gimli. Forgetting about his throwing axes and totally fluffing in combat (he killed a single Goblin) his defeat by the Troll was the final (heavily hammered) nail in his coffin.

We now move on to a race across some of the more bizarre architectural features of Moria and the tantalising prospect of potentially tossing a Dwarf off...

...a ledge on to another ledge.