The Battle of Azanulbizar
Description
When Azog slew Thrór, it touched off nearly a decade of war between the Dwarves
and Orcs. Dwarf armies sacked Goblin strongholds throughout the Misty Mountains.
The final battle was fought on the plains outside the east gate of Moria between
the surviving Orcs and the largest force of Dwarves ever gathered under arms
since the Elder Days.
This was a huge conflict beyond the scope of most players' budgets, but a scaled
down portion of it focusing on the heroes should be able to give players a taste
of the action.
Participants
On the good side are Thráin II, his son Thorin Oakenshield, Náin, and his young
son Dáin Ironfoot, along with 20 dwarves with bows and 70 dwarves with axes.
Opposing them are 120 Orcs - 30 with bows and the rest with swords or spears,
and 160 Goblins - 40 with bows and the rest with swords or spears. They are lead
by 4 Orc Captains and 4 Goblin Captains.
Points Match
This is a big, but rather straightforward battle suitable for any point values
you really want to use. Each side must include at least one hero. Neither side
may include more than a third (33%) of their models armed with bows.
Layout
The battle takes place in the foothills of the Misty Mountains before the gates
of Moria. The land should slope upward from the east side of the table to the
west side. Along the north end of the battlefield there should be a stream to
represent Kheled-zâram. By the east end of the stream should be a wooded area.
Starting positions
Both armies deploy along the long edges of the table no closer than 24"/ 56 cm
from each other. The Evil forces set up on the west end commanding the slopes.
The Good forces set up on the east side at the bottom of the slope.
Objectives
Smash your enemies. The first side to drive their opponent from the field wins.
Alternately, since this is such a large scenario as written, you could agree to
play for a set number of turns or a convenient length of time, and then compare
the proportions of casualties inflicted to determine the winner.
Special Rules
This is an extremely large scenario as written. It may be useful to have more
than one player per side if you use the listed participants.
This is the battle where Thorin got his nickname, Oakenshield. Thorin begins
this battle armed with an axe (hand weapon) and shield. The first time he is
driven back in a combat, his shield is broken (reduce his Defense value
appropriately). Any time after this, Thorin can cut off an oak branch to act as
a replacement, giving him
the Oaken Shield rules. To do so, Thorin must move next to a tree and spend a
Fight phase unengaged by any enemy models to lop the branch off.
Designer's Note: This scenario owes a lot to Scenario 7 - The Last Alliance as
my basis for putting together a huge battle. It uses such an obscene number of
models I don't really expect anyone to use it as written, and I certainly don't
have the resources to playtest it myself. Still, the ultimate battle of the War
of the Dwarves and
Orcs just cried out for some representation. If anyone ever does fully playtest
this monster, please let me know!
Yes, the Special Rules for Thorin are a bit pointless but hey, a little bit of
pointless character never hurt anyone, right?
-Scenario by Christopher M. Landmark