Friend of Foe?

And we're back for the second game of Battle Companies. This week we were joined by a new player who took the Dwarves into battle. As it was still early in the campaign, there wasn't any disadvantages to play through and none of the other companies had gained any upgrades yet. With an even number of players, we set up the board and went to war. For this game we played for treasure markers. 7 counters on the board, each scoring 1 VP if held at the end of the game, additional VPs were awarded for killing enemy Heros and remaining unbroken at the end of the game. The game would randomly end after 2 companies had broken, the winner being whoever had the most VP. Nice and simple for 4 players and pretty brutal as you'll see.

The Alliance advances to grab their first treasure and readies themselves to march on the Goblin lines.

The and Orcs and the Dwarves storm forward to claim some treasure of their own.

The Orcs enter ruins in the center of the field and make for the treasure. Meanwhile, the Orc archer takes up a vantage point, holding the warband's existing loot and waiting to snipe off enemy troops.

Battle is joined as the Goblins and the Alliance clash over treasure. The Goblins were able to claim the contested marker first, but now they had to defend it.

Seeing the loan Orc atop the ruins, a Goblin hero and his underling attempt to rob the Orc of his loot.

The Elves and Men take down several Goblins and force the screaming runts back up the hill. Though the Goblins still hold 2 treasure to the Alliances 1, they are fighting a losing battle.

The Orc Leader is dropped by a Dwarven arrow, but the remaining Orcs take to the following combat with glee. Dwarf armour proves the better as no casualties are inflicted.

The Goblins and the Orcs on the top of the ruins exchange blows, but neither side can break their opponent. This duel would continue for several turns.

Once again, Elven martial prowess shines through and the Goblins are forced to retreat from the Alliance's line, holding onto only 1 of their treasures and losing nearly half their number.

The Goblins flee to the ruins, hoping to scale the walls to safety before the Alliance can catch them. The Orcs break off from fighting the Dwarves, seeing the men and elves as softer targets. the Elves also hold 3 treasure markers, making their deaths even more profitable the Orcs.

A free-for-all brawl breaks out as Dwarves and Orcs scale the ruins to defend their gains. The Alliance forces are caught between the charging Orc and their pursuit of the Goblins who have been backed against the wall, unable to escape.

The Orcs make their strength known to the Alliance and break their force, pushing the game one step closer to it's end. Pinned in, the Goblins fight all the more furiously to survive, dealing out some hurt to the Alliance before their own losses cause them to break. As an Orc pushes a Dwarf hero from the top of the ruins, the battles ends with the screaming profanities of the tumbling Dwarf.

The Orcs hold 3 of the treasure tokens and have slain several enemy heroes for a loss of only one of their own, scoring 7 VP at the end of the game and taking the win. The Dwarves and the Alliance score 3 VP each and the Goblins only scored 1VP from the single treasure they held onto.

After the battle, the Alliances efforts proved beneficial as all 3 of their heroes gained their first advance. The Elf took to the path of sorcery and the Numenorian Sgt. embarked on the path of the warrior, while the Numenorian leader began his journey to becoming a great general. The Orcs also gained some advances. The Uruk Sgt. had carried the battle for the Orcs after the fall of their leader and would now continue as a warrior to be feared. The Orc archer found his calling as a scout and has ambitions to be seen as an assassin before the campaign is over.

Now some of the heroes have gained some skills, and a bit of personality too, I thought it would be cool to get some models built to represent these stand out individuals. I'll post some shots of these as I go later in the week. I just hope I can finish them before we next play.