WD265 LOTR BR Intro 4/17/02 5:27 PM Page 1

Battle reports are a cornerstone of

White Dwarf, chronicling the cut and
thrust of a game along with the
ESCAPE FROM
thoughts of the players. For this
month’s battle report we introduce
the Fellowship as they attempt to
flee Balin’s Tomb in the heart of the
BALIN’S TOMB?
Mines of Moria… An introductory Lord of the Rings battle report
This month’s battle whim of Lady Luck and her fickle Having said that, we have chosen to
report attempts to servants, the dice. play the ‘Escape from Balin’s Tomb’
re-enact one of the scenario and this would be a huge
key scenes in the Whilst the Fellowship win through in the challenge for White Dwarf’s own Matt
Fellowship of the movie (not unscathed mind!) it doesn’t Hutson commanding the forces of evil.
Ring movie. The necessarily follow that the player in Why? Because despite the presence of a
Fellowship are set command of the Fellowship will have hulking Cave Troll and a multitude of
Paul Sawyer upon by the denizens such good fortune! After all, it’d be a Moria Goblins, this has proved a very
of the Mines of pretty dull game if one side always won, tough scenario for the bad guys,
Moria and must fight for their lives wouldn’t it? although it can get perilously close.
against hordes of Moria Goblins and a The focus of this month’s battle report is
huge Cave Troll. So, the pressure was on Rowland Cox to
to guide those of you who have yet to keep up the trend, and in the two
Unlike the Lord of the Rings movies, play the Fellowship of the Ring game practice games played prior to this
which follow a distinct storyline, our through how the system works. “Easy to battle report, the Fellowship had little
games have several elements that keep learn, diffciult to master” is a phrase problem making their escape. Would it
the players on their toes throughout associated with the Fellowship of the be third time lucky for Matt and the
each scenario. Amongst these Ring game. As you will see in the Goblins or would Rowland complete his
imponderables are the players’ own following pages, it is mastery of these hat-trick in style?
experience and strategies along with the elements that will determine whether you
win or lose your battles. Read on and we’ll see…

The Fellowship prepare for the Moria Goblin attack.

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SCENARIO 3 – BALIN’S TOMB

DESCRIPTION three remaining entrances. Each group SPECIAL RULES
As the Fellowship races through Moria comprises one third of the number of In the first turn the Evil side is only
in an attempt to cross beneath the Misty models available to the Evil side. Each allowed to act with one of its groups –
Mountains, they come across the ruin of group must include a Hero. the Evil player can decide which group
a battle fought many years before by to activate. As the Good player gets
Dwarfs and Goblins. To their horror OBJECTIVES priority (standard rule), the Evil player
they discover the tomb of the Dwarf The Good side must attempt to reach will be able to see which way his
Lord Balin surrounded by the broken the entrance on the opposite side and enemies move before activating his
bodies of the last Dwarf defenders of leave the chamber with as many models force. In the second turn the Evil player
his underground kingdom. As if that as possible. The Evil side must try to can activate one of his two remaining
were not bad enough, the current rulers slay as many of their enemies as groups. In the third turn the last group is
of Moria have found them out. activated. Note that because the Evil
possible before they can escape.
Suddenly they are surrounded by forces are divided in this way, this
ferocious Goblins and must fight a The Good side wins if more Good makes an ideal game for an Evil team of
running battle to escape. models escape from the chamber than three players.
are killed. If you are playing with the As this battle takes place before the
actual participants, one of the escapees
PARTICIPANTS Fellowship’s encounter with Galadriel in
must include Frodo. Lothlorien, none of the company can
On the Good side there are Gandalf,
Aragorn, Boromir, Legolas, Gimli, The Evil side wins if more models are have Elven cloaks.
Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin – ie, the killed than escape. If you are playing Note that the low walls and obstacles
complete Fellowship. with the actual participants, then the that litter the chamber are no barrier to
On the Evil side there are 36 Moria Evil side wins immediately if Frodo is the movement of Moria Goblins,
Goblins, 3 Moria Goblin Captains and killed. enabling them to cut corners and leap
a Cave Troll. These are divided into In the event of equal numbers escaping over walls whilst the Good models are
three groups of 12 Goblins led by a weaving about trying to get away. This
and being slain (not possible with nine
Captain with the Cave Troll as part of makes the Moria Goblins seem a great
of course!) the result is a draw.
any group. 12 Goblins have spears, 12 deal faster than you might expect.
have swords and 12 have bows, but The game is played until one side or the
other has either escaped with sufficient For full rules on how to play this
these can be divided into the groups in scenario with different forces turn to
any proportion. models or slain sufficient models to
page 68 of the rules manual.
meet its objective.
LAYOUT
You will need an area that is at least
Entrance 4
48"/112cm square. The whole area
The Good side must exit here to win
represents a vast underground chamber
with four entrances, one per side. If you
don’t have an area quite this wide you
can compensate by adding one or more
turns before the Goblins appear at the
side entrances to the chamber.
Balin’s tomb occupies the centre of the
chamber and is placed on a raised Raised Platform
platform approximately 10"/24cm by
6"/14cm and about 1"/2cm high. The
10"/24cm

floor of the chamber is littered with

Entrance 2 Entrance 3
fallen masonry, rubble and piles of old
Balin’s Tomb
bones, producing a maze of low
obstacles and occasional impassable
barriers. These are set up to make 6"/14cm
pathways and provide cover – see the
map for an example of how you might
do this.

STARTING POSITIONS
The Good side sets up first at one
entrance as shown on the map.
The Good side sets up here
Once the Good side has set up, the Evil Entrance 1
side sets up one group at each of the
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PROTECT THE RING BEARER

Rowland: I would be facing 39 Goblins and attack with numbers then the
and a Cave Troll. The good news was, I Fellowship would suffer badly. In order
had the Fellowship to fight with. I knew to whittle their numbers down I would
from previous experience that numbers advance down one side of Balin’s tomb
really do count, and hand weapon armed and engage the nearest Goblins with
Goblins supported by Goblins with shooting and spells, before finishing
spears could be very nasty indeed. Add them off in hand-to-hand combat. I
to that the Goblin Captains, who could would move as quickly as possible to
add their Might to combat results, and I keep the pressure on Matt. Then it would
could see some tricky moments ahead. come down to what Matt had done to
Oh yes, and the Cave Troll. He’s only block my exit with the rest of his forces.
Strength 6, with a Fight Value of 6 and 3 I was expecting him to hold back as long
Attacks. Ouch. as possible and shoot the Fellowship
I had to ensure the safety of Frodo, so I with his Goblin archers. Typical Goblin
would keep Aragorn near him as a cowardice.
bodyguard, along with his other Hobbit
Using the Fellowship in a characterful
friends. This would leave the rest of the
way would be a great challenge. Cutting
Fellowship to act proactively to any
a swathe through the Goblins would be
threats. My greatest chance of escape
easy enough, but ensuring the safety of
and victory would be to destroy the
Frodo was essential.
Goblin groups one at a time. If the Rowland and Matt discuss the
Goblins managed to regroup at the exit After all, the Ring bearer must live! scenario before the game.

AN EVIL PLAN
Matt: One on one, a Moria Goblin to this plan and tried to escape the trap, I Frodo or Gimli as their Defence values
doesn’t stand a chance against a could simply throw in a few Goblins to are just too high so I would concentrate
character such as Aragorn or Gimli. slow him down. these shots on the Hobbits (because I
Even if it did manage to win a round of thought it would be very entertaining).
For this plan to work I would need to get
combat, I would still need to roll a 6
around the back of the Fellowship. To Combat would be where the game
followed by a 4 just to wound Gimli.
accomplish this I chose bow armed would be won or lost. This is where the
Against ten Goblins, however, the odds
Goblins which I would deploy on the Fellowship really excels as they can
start to look a bit more favourable.
flanks. Hopefully, Rowland wouldn’t see combine all their special skills, high
My plan would be simple. To win the them as too much of a threat and would Fight values and Might making them
game I would have to take full ignore them. All of my really hard stuff, extremely deadly. To beat them I would
advantage of my main strength: such as the Cave Troll, would start have to split them up and surround
numbers. Instead of charging in opposite the Fellowship making it them. You just can’t afford to give them
piecemeal, each of my groups would impossible for Rowland to avoid them. too many attacks because if they roll a 6
hold off and create a ring around the To keep myself amused while I tightened you’ve had it due to their high Fight
Fellowship. Then, as the Fellowship the trap, I planned to pepper the values. Therefore, I would need to take
move across the board I would slowly Fellowship with arrows. There’s not full advantage of my numbers and,
tighten this ring until the opportunity much point shooting at characters like hopefully, what little Might I had would
arose where I could charge in with nullify theirs.
everyone at once. If Rowland wised up

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THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING

PIPPIN LEGOLAS
BOROMIR
MERRY

FRODO
SAM

GANDALF GIMLI ARAGORN

MORIA GOBLIN AMBUSH