The Battle of Five Armies

The Evil side automatically has the first turn in this battle. In the first Evil turn, the Evil player must place all Wolf Rider and Warg units plus one Goblin Chieftain at the eastern edge of the tabletop along the line marked ‘Evil Cavalry’.

Once positioned, any Evil units can be given orders, move, shoot, and fight combat that turn as usual.

Following the first turn, evil units are deployed according to the roll of a dice. This represents the somewhat uncoordinated advance of the huge Evil horde into the valley. From the second turn onwards, the player rolls a dice at the start of the Evil side’s turn. The player places the number of Goblin units indicated plus any one character that he wishes. These are all positioned at the edge of the tabletop along the line marked ‘Evil Infantry’.

Once positioned, any Evil units can move, shoot and fight combat that turn.

Evil units continue to be placed at the start of each Evil turn until all the units have been committed to battle. If there are any characters remaining to be deployed once the final unit is placed on the table then these must be deployed as well. Note that a dice roll greater than the number of remaining units means that all the units are placed – it is not necessary to roll an exact number.

Bolg, the Goblin commander, has cunningly sent a small group of Goblins to scale the mountainside and drop rocks from the heights onto the Good forces below. These ambushing forces are not represented by models – instead we use a dice roll to determine the effect of the ambush.

The ambush is automatically activated once the entire Goblin army has been deployed. This indicates the the ambushers have scaled the heights and can start to throw rocks onto Good units position on the spurs beneath them. The Evil player resolves the ambush as three shooting attacks during the Shooting phase. Each turn the Evil player selects one Good unit on each spur – any unit that is wholly or partially on a spur can be selected but only one unit per spur. Calculate casualties as you would for three normal shooting attacks. For purposes of working out drive backs, the ambushers are assumed to be at the point on the mountain table edge closest to the target unit.

Note that ambushers are positioned above the Good units – so their targets do not count as defended but as in the open (i.e. 4+ to hit).

Neither the Eagles nor Beorn can attempt to join the battle until all the Evil army has been deployed. Once the entire Evil army has deployed, the Eagles and Beorn and potentially deployed at the start of any Good turn according to the roll of a dice.

At the start of his turn, the Good player rolls a dice. If the Good force has lost any entire units then add +1 to the dice roll for each unit lost. On a 6 (or more) either the Eagles or Beorn can be placed at any point along the western edge of the table marked ‘Eagles/Beorn’ on the map. It will therefore take two successful scores of a 6 to deploy both units and it is possible that one or both fail to arrive before the battle is over. Note that there is no need to deploy the Eagles before Beorn – the player can decide which to deploy first.

Once positioned, the Eagles/Beorn can be given orders, move, shoot and fight combat that turn as usual. Note that Beorn is a monster unit and therefore either requires orders or can move on initiative if visible enemy are within 20cm – this means it is important not to place Beorn too far from the Good characters. The Eagles can home back and can therefore move without orders if necessary – this is useful for moving them into the thick of things.

Thorin’s Gate is a wall constructed by Thorin and his Dwarves in the days before the battle. It completely blocks off the tunnel entrance to the halls beneath the Lonely Mountain. This wall is completely impenetrable to all stands including characters and even flyers (it almost reaches the tunnel’s roof). So long as Thorin is behind the wall he cannot move or issue orders. The wall has been constructed in such a way that by activating well-placed levers the whole wall can be collapsed to allow Thorin to escape. The Good player can do this by issuing a single order from Thorin – effectively by rolling 8 or less on 2D6 in the Command phase. Once the wall is collapsed Thorin can move normally and can issue orders to Good units as noted under the rules for Thorin.

Once the Eagles have been deployed, the Evil ambush ends automatically. It is assumed that other Eagles have peeled away from the main formation to dislodge the Goblins from the heights. Note that this means that the Evil side always gets one turn to drop rocks before the good side makes its first roll to see if the Eagles arrive.

You have to decide if you’re going to hold out on both sides or the river of make a dash across the ford and consolidate your forces. With Gandalf accompanying the Elves, and the units of Dwarves and Men faced by fast-moving enemy cavalry, this is far more likely to succeed by moving the Elves to join their allies. This will usually prove the best option – but you don’t want the enemy to unite his forces against you – the key to victory is to keep the enemy divided.

You have lots of good heroes – use some to issue commands and some to back-up units in combat. Thorin is spectacular – but Dáin and the Elfking can make a significant contribution. Don’t risk Gandalf unless you’re sure of winning, as a dead Gandalf means game over! Other characters are less vital to you – don’t be afraid of throwing them in.

It’s impossible to be sure if the Eagles or Beorn will show up – and sometimes that cry of “…the Eagles are coming!” will ring a little hollow. Remember you can bring Beorn or the Eagles on in any order but it is usually more useful to have the Eagles. These are great for mopping up the odd stands of cavalry that tend to evade and hide.

You have numbers on your side but your foes are well positioned and stubborn. What you do will depend to some extent on how the first few turns go. With luck you can move close enough to the ford to prevent the enemy uniting against your cavalry – so much the better!

The Wolf Riders can do considerable damage by shooting and this is much safer than combat – combined with the ambush, shooting can drive the enemy off the spurs and potentially confuse them.

You only need to destroy four units to win – so pick the softest targets and hammer them. That means avoid those stubborn Dwarves if possible!

Make full use of your Shaman to move units up early in the battle – once combat begins use his Foul Frenzy and Dark Swarm spells to improve your chances. Don’t forget Bolg’s Bodyguard, as that double Bolg bonus is the biggest bonus in the game and makes all the difference.

Don’t worry about getting every rule right – it will take a few games to learn how things work. The scenario is relatively complex – there’s a lot to remember and the tactical constraints presented by the terrain and deployment are significant.

One of the most important things to remember for this game is that infantry cannot pursue cavalry. This limits the ability of the Good side to exploit successful combats against the Wolf Riders and Wargs. Don’t forget also that stationary infantry positioned uphill of their enemy count as defended and are thus 5+ to hit and no charge bonuses count against them – it’s a double whammy.