Has it really been five months since I've done a battle report? I was cranking them out last year at a pretty good pace until September, when things just came to a crashing halt.

Judging from YouTube, it's not just me. I haven't seen a narrative scenario battle report there in quite some time, barring the Top Table Gaming Fantasy Fellowship Campaign.

Well, here's some attempt to get back into the swing, as I continue my eccentrically-ordered run through War in Rohan with Éomer's Return.

http://davetownsend.org/Battles/LotR-20210221/

Glad for the return, these are always enjoyable reads.

It was closer than I thought it would be from the image of the two armies squaring off. I agree there could be something to stop the good side from staying back and shooting, perhaps a turn limit for them to achieve their objective and rescue Theoden in time.

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Enjoyed reading your battle report, this thread has been sparse lately, I hve tried watching youtube battle reports but lose interest quickly. I have a twitch account that works for video games more than watching people role dice and get out their rulers.

I agree with Mr Gimli, it was closer than I thought it would be. Maybe it is the influence of the movie vs playing the scenario.

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Thanks, guys. I'll try to get another one out in less than five months.

The time limit idea is interesting. It seems to me that one of the disadvantages of chopping up the larger actions into scene-by-scene battles is that context gets lost. A time limit would help restore the missing context here: this scenario isn't a meeting engagement between two forces, but a desperate ride to reach Théoden and crew before they are overwhelmed by the hordes of Isengard.

Re: YouTube: web pages and videos both have strengths and weaknesses. I try to enjoy each for what they are.

Videos allow more personality, and there is sometimes enjoyable tension in awaiting an important die roll. Editing is important, though. There's little reason to watch a movement phase for any but the smallest scenarios.

But I like regular web pages, too. I see the main advantage being organization, where it's usually clear what turn you're looking at and progress toward victory. (A few video producers do this, too, and kudos to them for doing so. But it seems unusual.) Also it's easier to skim a web page if you're in a hurry.

Beautiful paint job on Éomer and his horse!

Nice to see/read more battle reports. I do wonder how much playtesting went into these scenarios, if a tactic like staying behind, shooting and letting the Uruk-hai come to the Rohirrim is a valid one, despite being totally against the spirit of the scene it's trying to recreate.

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Full Lord of the Rings campaign: https://aiwendil.net/

Thanks, Voyager360! I used Dead Marsh Spectre's guide from his Patreon. Well worth the $1. I omitted around ten of his 55(!) steps and the results aren't as good as his ... but they're better than average for me!

Re: playtesting: I respect the GW team's efforts to get scenarios out for just about every scene in the movie, often in innovative not-necessarily-SBG ways. But surely GW makes most of its money from figure sales? I'd guess they don't allocate a large budget (money or time) to scenario creation and playtesting.

I'd also guess there's an attitude, probably fair, that the competitive players play, well, competitive games, while us narrative fans are primarily interested in story. So I'm probably in the minority being someone that wants scenarios that are both a great stories and good competitively.

Given the source material, I think the story part is easy, but the competitive part is harder.

But with the above exculpatory information in mind ... yeah, it's a little disappointing when I try out a scenario and it doesn't quite seem to work without some gentle(wo)man's agreements, or is just plain broken.

Thanks for the suggestion, when I get around to painting the new Éomer I'll be sure to check out Dead Marsh Spectre's guide!

Good point about the playtesting and a likely lack of budget. Even then though, I'd imagine each scenario should be playtested at least once and then I'd assume that naturally you'd try to think a bit competitively how you want to achieve your objectives. And something like staying back and shooting your opponents from afar seems to be a good tactic if you have the time to do so.

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Full Lord of the Rings campaign: https://aiwendil.net/