Battle Report - Harad vs Easterlings and Nazgul

The last club night was another three way game.  This one was between Jonathan and his brother Chris vs me.  They each came up with a 300 pt list and I fielded 600 pts.  Chris had his Easterlings, led by Amdur the  Unkilling.  (I call him that because he has yet to kill another model in a game.  Not one.  Not ever).  Jonathan had been playing around with low model count armies so he brought the Witch King on Fell Beast and a cave troll.  I was fielding my Harad with the Betrayer switched out for Bob (the budget Nazgul) and a banner.

The battle line is formed.  Lots of heroes hanging out together, heroically, in the back ranks.

Nuradan's army had been ordered to the north.  The Betrayer had left them.  In his place was another of the nine, thought Nuradan didn't know which one it was.  They were on another mission to find something.  Only the Nazgul knew what.  It quickly became clear that a party of Easterlings, led by another wraith, was also searching for the prize, and equally clear that the two Nazgul did not intend to cooperate in the search.  It looked like it was going to be a long day.

Initial Deployment

Nuradan deployed his battle line between some ruins and some trees.  To anchor is left flank he sent Allawhi into the ruins.  The Easterlings were opposite, approaching from behind another set of ruins.  Nuradan had fought the men of Rhun before and knew them for hard and determined enemies.  He had not, however, faced the Witch King of Angmar on a Fell Beast.  Short of the Dark Lord himself, no foe could have dismayed the Haradrim more.

Allawhi "leads" his men into the ruins.

Nuradan ordered his archers to volley towards the enemy position and was rewarded with a cry of rage from the Fell Beast.  Any damage might make it less controllable.  Any hope at all was better than the feeling in Nuradan's heart at that moment.

The Easterlings advanced steadily down the center, but Nuradan also saw a band of them approaching his right flank behind a screen of trees.  The troll was sheltered behind the men, making a shot difficult.  The Witch King, however, charged against Allawhi's men in the ruins.

Allawhi's men, prepared to hold the fort.

The flanking force.

The Witch King charged in, engaging two of the Haradrim.  They were both killed but their sacrifice held up the Fell Beast for precious moments.  Allawhi gathered his courage and charged.  Amazingly, his men followed and they struck back at the beast.

Bob gathered his power and attempted to sap the Witch King's will to maintain his physical form.  This battle continued with Allawhi leading charge after charge and Bob sucking will from his King.  In the end the Witch King couldn't maintain his hold on his physical form.  His soul fled the field with a heart rending shriek.

There's nothing to see here.  There is certainly NOT a witch king on fell beast in the casualty pile!

The line, anchored on the wall on one side and bent back on the other.

In the meantime Nuradan had moved slowly forward with his archers firing steadily into the approaching Easterlings.  They dropped several of the men and killed the troll.  The Easterlings had their pincer well timed, arriving at Nurdan's line very nearly at the same time.  Sadly, for them, they had lost too much before contact was made.  The Haradrim were able to surround them, forcing them back into a smaller and smaller mass.

There are not enough Easterlings to keep all of the Haradrim busy at this point.

Eventually the last two Easterlings were surrounded.  Outnumbered they fought on, forcing their opponents back, time after time until they finally fell under the swords of Nuradan and his chieftans.

The last two Easterlings.  They were able to win several fights but finally fell to sheer numbers, and heroes.

Following the battle Bob located, something.  It was hard to tell but it seemed to Nuradan that Bob was disappointed   That did not bode well for a return to the south and some much needed rest.

This was an interesting game.  Other than the lucky volley hit on the Fell Beast in turn 1, I was unable to touch the Witch King.  On the other hand I was winning priority and Heroic move roll offs every turn so I was able to keep him engaged with one man a turn.  With Bob sapping his will it was only a matter of time before he ran out.  The loss of the troll to shooting was a disappointment as well.  The look on Jonathan's face when I told him, "You have to take a courage test with your troll."  "Why?".  "Your army is at 50%.  You lost your other model".  It was priceless.

Chris fought it out with his Easterlings but my numbers were just too much at that point.  This was a fun game, very different from the norm.