If by my life or death I can save you...

The Uruk-Hai attack at Amon-Hen is one of my favourite scenes in The Lord of the Rings trilogy of films, possibly second only to the arrival of the Rohirrim at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.

It has everything: heroic combat, noble sacrifice, desperate decisions and lasting impact for the characters in the film.

It would be interesting to see if my own clash upon the slopes of Amon Hen at part of the Quest of the Ringbearer would be able to match this level of drama.

We opted to play the single scenario rather than the two separate linked scenarios, which has the Fellowship of the Ring scattered and Uruk-Hai swarming the board in an attempt to "FIND THE HALFLINGS!"

The Fellowship player, me, needed to get Frodo to the boats, whilst the Uruk-Hai player, Saru-Matt, needed to grab him and leave the table. If Frodo escaped but two or more Hobbits had been captured, the game would be a draw.

This felt like a really difficult scenario to win for the Fellowship. Although individually Aragorn, Boromir, Gimli and Legolas outmatched the Uruk-Hai, they would be respawning, meaning that the heroes would eventually get worn down.

On top of this, the Hobbits are always a bit of a liability and can't really contribute without a lot of luck. Also, they are very slow, meaning that the Uruks would always have a chance to regroup if I broke through.

Let's see how this goes...

***

"Go Frodo. Run!"

Aragon leapt into combat with the Uruk-Hai which Frodo put the Ring on and dived out of the encircling servants of Saruman.

Meanwhile, Boromir ordered Merry and Pippin to stay behind him as they backed away from the encroaching hoard of enemies blowing the Horn of Gondor in a call for aid.

Arrows flew out of the trees, dropping Uruks where they stood, as a stout shape spitting curses in Khazalid barreled towards them.

Faced with what seemed to be an unending horde of enemies, despite cutting down many of them, Boromir could not stop the tide of Uruks flowing past him towards Merry and Pippin as their huge and ominous leader strode towards him.

Gimli yelled as he charged into combat, determined to kill more enemies than the pointy-eared Elf, who had already started to rack up a tally of kills. This relieved some of the pressure on Aragorn, who had been making heavy weather of his opponents.

Seeing a gap open up between Gimli and Aragorn, who had now decided to stop playing nice, the ethereal Frodo slipped through towards the boats.

He must go to Mordor, alone if need be.

Meanwhile, alone in the woods, Sam stumbled into a group of Uruk-Hai who quickly took him prisoner.

Boromir, determined to remove the stain on his honour that his attempt to steal the Ring had left, hacked through the Uruk-Hai, but could do nothing to stop them knocking both Merry and Pippin unconscious.

However, an arrow came impossibly snaking through the trees and felled the Uruks carrying Merry, who flopped to the ground whilst another two hauled Pippin off into the undergrowth.

Boromir faced off against the leader of this ambush, a great hulking Uruk-Hai with little in the way of character or emotion, and seemed to exist for only a single purpose: to provide a final boss fight for the first part of a trilogy.

Their blades met, steel range on steel and despite being built up the past three hours, the Uruk chieftain was cut down by Boromir's sharpe sword.

Now that's soldiering!

Things looked precarious as the camera swept across the battlefield. Pippin and Sam had fallen and the enemy were everywhere, but the Fellowship were beginning to link up and work together.

There was still hope.

Gimli helped a stunned Merry to his feet, but the brave Hobbit told him to go and save Frodo, and ran in in the opposite direction, trying to lure as many Uruks as possible to follow him.

Meanwhile, an invisible Frodo was following Aragorn, as the Ranger of the North hacked and slashed his way through his foes.

Seeing the bravery in the little Hobbit's actions, Boromir, Legolas and Gimli rushed off to where they could hear Aragorn fighting on his own, leaving the noble Brandybuck to his fate.

Calling and shouting, Merry drew several Uruks in his direction but was quickly overcome, his sacrifice buying valuable time.

With the Fellowships warriors finally gathered Frodo risked taking the Ring off. Surprised by his appearance, they formed up around him.

Boromir tried to form some form of apology for his actions, but the Hobbit looked at him with only fear in his eyes. The man of Gondor knew that he could accompany the Ringbearer no further.

Another wave of Uruk-Hai crashed through the woods towards them, and the Fellowship spread out to cut down as many as they could.

Legolas looked like he was about to say something to Frodo, but didn't and just gestured to him to follow the Elf towards the boats.

Forced apart by the sheer numbers of their assailants, the Fellowship began to struggle. Gimli was knocked flying by Uruks, which then surged past him without checking if he was dead.

Meanwhile, Legolas was surrounded and pulled down, desperately trying to cut a route free for Frodo.

As they neared to boats, Aragorn and Boromir continued to hack and slash in a desperate attempt to keep Frodo free.

Looking over his shoulder into the eyes of his little friend, Aragorn smiled and said, "there will come a day when the courage of men fails, but it is not this day."

Raising his sword he plunged into the mass of enemies and was listening from sight.

Frodo cried out in distress but was shook out his shock by Boromir.

"Forgive me Frodo, a madness took me. I have failed you. But I will not fail again. I will save the little ones and I will save my city. Go!"

With that he turned, blew the Horn of Gondor one more time and leapt into the thick of combat.

***

Well, that was...brutal.

This was a really tough scenario for the heroes, although I think I got it tactically wrong sending Legolas and Gimli to help Boromir and should have kept them with Aragon and Frodo.

The Hobbits' slow movement is a massive hindrance and although the heroes are individually better than their opponents, their store of Might and Fate points eventually get worn down by the randomness of dice. Aragorn took a while to stop rolling low and so burned through most of his points in the first few turns.

Although the game was technically a draw, it felt like a loss when I rolled for casualties and both Aragorn and Legolas had died.

Boromir was definitely the bravest companion, and I decided that for the sake of the campaign he wouldn't die here and narratively it makes sense for all his future actions in Aragorn's place to be driven by a desire for redemption. Boromir will now travel with Gimli into the War in Rohan scenarios. Legolas can't be replaced at this point, but if Haldir survives Helms Deep, he could step in.

Meanwhile, the Fool of a Took was Sam, who achieved nothing except getting captured at the first opportunity. However, without Sam, Frodo stands zero chance of getting to Mount Doom, so as he wasn't actually killed, we can at least write him back in to where he should be for the next stage of the Quest of the Ringbearer.

***

Frodo scurried to the water's edge and was surprised to see Sam already pushing a boat out into the water.

"Hullo Mr Frodo, I thought we should be off today," said Sam with a weary smile.

Frodo, tears streaming down his face, hugged Sam and clambered into the boat, "how are you here Sam, I thought for sure you must have been taken."

"Ah, well," said Sam as he paddled the boat out into the current, "so did I, but them Orcy fellas clearly don't know a lot about rope. They tied me up, no doubt intending to pick me up later, but their knots were less use than a carrot in a marrow growing contest. When they didn't come back, I was able to slip away my"

Frodo smiled, "I'm glad you're with me Sam. I don't suppose we'll see the others again."

"Yet we may, Mr Frodo, yet we may. But not if our dice-rolling doesn't improve."