LotR Dark Side AAR - Game 1 - Concluded

LotR Dark Side AAR - Game 1 - Concluded (Full Version)

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Tufkal2 -> LotR Dark Side AAR - Game 1 - Concluded (4/23/2011 8:36:21 AM)
This is an AAR for the LotR scenario playing from Sauron's side. First here is the map with victory points. Sauron starts with 18 VP distributed over the map and will get 10 from his allies once they join (3 Saruman, 2 Harad, 1 Corsair, 1 Khand, 1 Easterlings, 1 Dunlendings, 1 Moria) and will need 50 as quickly as possible to win. Sauron assumes that all existing victory points will be defended from Free People counterattack so this leaves 22 victory points needed. Sauron will try for the following approach (depending on available cards of course): Take Gondor and Rohan first with full force (15 points) Then march the successfuly army North to take Lond Daer and Tharbad (2 points) Then continue to march North along the road to take the Shire and the Grey Havens and another Elvish location (5 points) All this needs to be done as quickly as possible in order to work. [image]local://upfiles/30920/B97574E6C0C64FD59BC81A674E0F0299.jpg[/image]

Tufkal2 -> RE: LotR Dark Side AAR (4/23/2011 9:02:57 AM)
Prelude to the Ringwar. The first turns are not yet filled with military actions but are the preparations for the Ringwar. Both sides prepare by activating nations, secretly deploying and training troops (yes you can call this an arms race) and by maneuvering for the ring. Most interaction is via card play. Cards are drawn randomly per turn and do not get carried over. This turn we named the Mouth of Sauron as chief of staff (+1 pp per turn), increased our production from 50% to 55%, put some additional siege engines to Minas Morgul, brought some trolls to Fornost and searched a bit for the ring. Recruiting the trolls to Fornost is a bit counter the strategy of going all out against Gondor and Rohan but we in our wisdom thought that we need to bolster Fornost a bit as it is our weakest point vis-a-vis the Elves. [image]local://upfiles/30920/92DBAC3F2DA3478A95770437EBD5AC49.jpg[/image]

Haplo_Patryn -> RE: LotR Dark Side AAR (4/23/2011 11:55:29 AM)
Ver nice. More please [:)]

Tufkal2 -> RE: LotR Dark Side AAR (4/25/2011 12:29:34 AM)
Here is turn 2. The time is January 2980 TA. We are currently playing turns simulating 10 years of time. Historically Frodo and Sam leave Bags End on the 23rd September 3018 so this is still 38 years or 3-4 turns in the future. For Sauron timing is important: If he attacks too soon his army might fail, if he takes too long the pesky hobbits and their sneaky elven friends might do something nasty with our ring... This turn Sauron manages to convince Saruman to an alliance. This is very expensive in form of Nazgul political points (5) and Saruman will ally with Sauron sooner or later in any case. However having Saruman in now already provides important benefits as Saruman can do some more breeding experiments to enhance the Uruk-Hai as well as recruit some troops and his troops gain important experience. Additionally we gear up some more for war, search a bit for the ring and bring in some more trolls (we just love trolls, who doesnt?) to Isengard. [image]local://upfiles/30920/CCFA7584C6F740128C6473FA5A8D0F2E.jpg[/image]

Tufkal2 -> RE: LotR Dark Side AAR (4/28/2011 11:25:30 PM)
Turn 3. Third Age 2990. We open the turn and are greeted with grievous news. The traitors in Gondor have taken up arms and are beginning to actively contest our rule of Middle-Earth. This means that the forces of Gondor will now be able to move into position and train for the war. Gondor has some very nasty knights in Dol Amroth. Maybe our occupation of Minas Morgul has tipped them off somehow...? In any case additionally we got a rather bad draw of cards with no production increase and no Uruk breeding. So we recruit some more troops (Orcs -> Isengard. They are not really a match for the Uruks there but maybe they can absorb some losses? Trolls -> Minas Morgul, we will need all strength there we get). And then we search 6x for the ring bringing our knowledge of the ring to 71 % (100% will start the ringwar). We thought about activating Harad but with Gondor being on the alert already the opportunity for a blitz there are gone so we do not mind if they come into the war a bit later. So far it is all still maneuvering and deploying, we expect the real action to start in maybe 2 rounds ... [image]local://upfiles/30920/55061A9951DC4ED6BD7965782689B260.jpg[/image]

Tufkal2 -> RE: LotR Dark Side AAR (4/29/2011 7:56:12 AM)
Turn 4: Third Age 3000 We are nearing the close of the pre-war phase. The enemy did not activate any more countries and also for us this does not sound worthwhile. We bring in reinforcements to the areas we assume will be most heavily contended in the war to tip the balance in our favour: Trolls and Dragons go to Minas Morgul to prepare for heavy battle against Gondor. Wargriders to Fornost to prepare for a fluid battle in the North where we are likely to be on even terms (at best) but want to strike against the Shire nevertheless. Our friend and ally Wormtongue gets himself a nice position as advisor to King Theoden of Rohan and will make sure Rohan is badly prepared at the onset of war (in this scenario you can choose which unactivated country Wormtongue subverts with the Elves being immune). Lets see what comes out of this. One Nazgul is sent out to gather info on the Ring. We are now almost sure where the ring is located. Almost... In the meantime we have strange nightmares about some strange fuzzy little creatures with hairy feet which we cannot really place... [image]local://upfiles/30920/714446E2F7C5443C8F1D4CFC6F31AD43.jpg[/image]

Tufkal2 -> RE: LotR Dark Side AAR (4/29/2011 1:48:39 PM)
Turn 5: TA 3010 The Elves have also come out of their peaceful comtemplative slumber also want to contest us for world domination. Foolish. We finally found our precious. Some stupid hobbits had stolen our Ring and kept it as some sort of trinket instead of delivering it to us as the rightful owner. We need to collect our precious again and soon. All Nazgul are sent out to bring back the ring and all legions are sent out to conquer Middle-Earth. As of next round the Fellowship turns start and the game turns more into a wargame with units actually moving and fighting. We have devised the following optimistic strategy for world domination: Our two main assaults will be the bulk of Mordor's army vs Minas Tirith and Gondor as well as Isengard vs. Rohan. We hope to win both battles, the one in Gondor with the help of superior numbers and war machines and the second with Wormtongue's treachery. The assault on Gondor will be supported by our Southern allies of Harad and Khand invading South Gondor and the Corsairs doing a naval landing somewhere behind the main lines of defense of Gondor. Also our Northern army at Fornost is charged to take the Shire and occupy it against counterattack until the main host arrives from the South. All further armies are charged to move out in a scouting or feinting move to keep the enemy occupied and confused. However we need to be careful as our subordinate troops there are likely no match for a determined opposition. The Easterlings and the Misty Mountain Orcs are to keep the Wood Elves with their allies at Lake Town and the dwarves of Lonely Mountain and Emyn Engrin occupied. Moria will very carefully feint against Rivendell. The weakly Southern Misty Mountain Orcs and Dol Goldur army move against Lorien but are warned not to enter that accursed forest. The Dunlendings will move a bit against Tharbad and Lond Daer to test the enemy resolve there. Once Gondor and Rohan are ours the remaining armies will move to take whatever targets of opportunity present themself, likely against Grey Havens and friends. While our lidless eye observe the final preparation and recruitment we wonder if the enemy is aware that their struggle is hopeless... [image]local://upfiles/30920/7FDF4400B42445BBBB70AE09377FF6DC.jpg[/image]

Tufkal2 -> RE: LotR Dark Side AAR (4/30/2011 9:03:44 PM)
HOT RINGWAR STARTED!!! Turn 6: TA 3018, 23rd September All armies move forward as planned. We storm Osgiliath as planned with the help of our war machines which opens Pelennor to invasion. We are disturbed by stongly fortified enemy soldies and some nasty eagles however making our progress more costly then necessary. Obviously we are not dealing with just some human lieutenants on the enemy side. We move into position to slowly invade South Gondor, too. Saruman's forces cross the Isen nearly unopposed and with few losses. Good. We need to watch that Saruman guy closely, though. In the very North our Fornost troops move to the border of the Shire. The Nazgul which had surrounded the Shire move to squish all suspicious hobbit movement. (Note: In the game the fellowship faction starts with 3 counters: One is the real fellowship and 2 are decoys. The fellowship created one additional decoy last turn and moved out from Hobbiton in three directions leading to the 4 marked hexes. We concentrated most of the Nazgul on one hex and attacked taking out one decoy unit there.) [image]local://upfiles/30920/CCD373375FCA4482908A8EFCE084E467.jpg[/image] Situation around Hobbiton

Tufkal2 -> RE: LotR Dark Side AAR (4/30/2011 9:04:55 PM)
Main attack from Mordor vs Gondor... [image]local://upfiles/30920/A1BF1154DE6948388B338E9DA50FA98C.jpg[/image]

Tufkal2 -> RE: LotR Dark Side AAR (4/30/2011 9:06:23 PM)
Saruman's main attack over the Isen (sorry for the bad graphics...) [image]local://upfiles/30920/3692A23E2F074E2BB54548A6191CCD5A.jpg[/image]

Tufkal2 -> RE: LotR Dark Side AAR (5/2/2011 7:03:08 PM)
Turn 7: TA 3018, 30th September We continue to push hard on the Shire, Rohan and Gondor front. After declaring war on the Shire we occupy Bree and Weathertop. We hope to slow the Fellowship by occupying the Shire. Our Nazgul take out some more hobbit decoys. However we can ill afford having all Nazgul hunt for the ring as this leaves us without our trusted lieutenants so we start recalling them. We are pretty sure the marked rumour counter is the true Fellowship. [image]local://upfiles/30920/ED0DCDAD3470419FBBD0844B236087FD.jpg[/image]

Tufkal2 -> RE: LotR Dark Side AAR (5/2/2011 7:05:18 PM)
In a hard fought battle we throw back Rohan's forces and isolate Helm's Deep. Nobody there should be able to get out. We lost some orcs about which we do not care much. In the end the Trolls secured victory... [image]local://upfiles/30920/A1CD0E9E4CEC40DE9A1B210C4546ECC6.jpg[/image]

Tufkal2 -> RE: LotR Dark Side AAR (5/2/2011 7:07:07 PM)
We slowly march across the field of Pelennor. Our pikemen set up a defensive perimeter against some cavalry counterattack. Our slow war machines slowly move up to Minas Tirith. Gothmog razes Osgiliath. [image]local://upfiles/30920/1B4449EC7773440384D1E5EC7AA8929A.jpg[/image]

Tufkal2 -> RE: LotR Dark Side AAR (5/3/2011 10:22:00 AM)
Turn 8, 24th October 3018 While we continue our advance we are unhappy with the progress of our armies. They will have to do better and soon or face our wrath. Time is of the essence as the Free People are gaining in strength. The Eastern part of the Shire is under our control. We lack the armies to also capture the Western part (which the Elves have reinforced) and we will put up a defensive position here. Of the two potential Fellowship units the western one is chased by two Nazgul but nearly out of our reach and under Elven protection. The one in the Old Forest is however is closely followed by 6 Nazgul and will be very cornered. From the North we get some reinforecements to defend the area around the old tower of Weathertop. [image]local://upfiles/30920/02B3DFDC097E41349ACD8ABC01460143.jpg[/image]

Tufkal2 -> RE: LotR Dark Side AAR (5/3/2011 10:24:40 AM)
The Rohan army with their knights seems to have withdrawn to Aldburg leaving the way for us to hopefully take Edoras next turn. We start to lay siege to Helms Deep. The army there should not be able to escape but we need our orcs for other things then a frontal assault on Helms Deep. [image]local://upfiles/30920/46D2BCD0888847D08CECEEA6CD11DC38.jpg[/image]

Tufkal2 -> RE: LotR Dark Side AAR (5/3/2011 10:27:54 AM)
And the assault on Gondor is in full swing. Our war machines lay siege to the foundations of Minas Tirith. They will take some time for this however. Meanwhile from the South two Orc armies and the combined might of Harad and Khand with Oliphants and all will soon join up in the fight (in the screenshot you see only the wargrider scouts but there is much force to the South). The corsairs land near Linhir to provide some diversion. [image]local://upfiles/30920/3AD21EBD91D24B16B92B15CF2C76EA62.jpg[/image]

Keunert -> RE: LotR Dark Side AAR (5/3/2011 12:28:45 PM)
thanks for doing this, great read!

Tufkal2 -> RE: LotR Dark Side AAR (5/5/2011 11:03:49 PM)
Thanks for the feedback! I hope everybody who is following is enjoying the game's development Turn 9: 8th November 3018 It seems to us as if the balance is slowly turning in our favour. The long and hard preparations we invested seem to slowly bring us closer to our goal. Even though we need to carefully monitor all our lieutenants constantly. In the North reinforcements begin to arrive for both sides. Our position seems solid however. We begin to get the hobbits in Bree to produce some supplies for us so they finally do something useful. Another Fellowship rumour has crept out of the Old Forest making it 3 Fellowship counters in total. The one in the very west is escorted by a strong elven warband so we keep our distance. One Nazgul observes the rumour going south and 5 Nazgul attack the counter East of Bree. We wounded the counter which is a very good sign. We think we are on to something here... [image]local://upfiles/30920/5E21EA0F6B6542A9AD71C735F2A91A26.jpg[/image]

Tufkal2 -> RE: LotR Dark Side AAR (5/5/2011 11:06:33 PM)
In other parts of Middle-Earth war also rages. In Lorien the Elves have gathered strong forces. We order our troops to make a show of strength to keep the Elves on the defense. A real attack here would be premature because of the might Forest-Witch living there. [image]local://upfiles/30920/0858D441D7D9434BB3E0D605FE24856B.jpg[/image]

Tufkal2 -> RE: LotR Dark Side AAR (5/5/2011 11:09:00 PM)
In Rohan our Uruk-Hai start cheering. The Rohirrim charge us in full force but do not get through our wall of Pikemen. Our counterattack totally breaks the Rohan cavalry and encircles most of them in Edoras. This is a fortunate development. Meat is back on the menu for our Uruks. [image]local://upfiles/30920/093DCE7FFFB645DF813FF31F5701C54F.jpg[/image]

Tufkal2 -> RE: LotR Dark Side AAR (5/5/2011 11:11:24 PM)
Also the invasion of Gondor continues. We try to assaul Minas Tirith frontally but are repulsed with heavy losses in Orcs. Ha! The next wave of volunteers is already moving forward. The strong Southern armies are coming up at exactly the right moment. Also the Corsairs in a surprising move capture Linhir to provide a base of operations in the South. [image]local://upfiles/30920/65C718765DEB4FFB87F524447CA90478.jpg[/image]

Tufkal2 -> RE: LotR Dark Side AAR (5/8/2011 9:11:12 AM)
Turn 10: 22nd November 3018 The war continues across Middle-Earth. In the Shire we take out another group of hobbits (marked hex) but still no ring. Militarily we now have enough forces to contest the Shire for the time being with new reinforcements coming up. We begin to fear that the ring is somewhere completely different. These Nazgul are strong but maybe a bit too easily led astray. If the ring slips out of reach we must quickly increase the speed of our conquest. In Rohan we lay siege to Helms Deep and Edoras. We nearly take Edoras but for Eomer. On the other hand both side take heavy losses there and we can well afford them. War machines are being brought up to Helms Deep. We loose a battle in the North against the Wood-Elves which makes our forces there vulnerable for a counterattack (no pictures will be given here for battles lost). They should have listened to me and stayed out of all the forests. In Gondor there is heavy fighting all around. We do another massed assault on Minas Tirith and are repulsed again. Need again new volunteers. We even loose a Troll there. The enemy seems to be fighting dirty. However we advance from Linhir and our Mumakil cross the Anduin. [image]local://upfiles/30920/05E70BAEAD424883A7876A7A8D3C2C10.jpg[/image]

Tufkal2 -> RE: LotR Dark Side AAR (5/8/2011 9:12:52 AM)
Rohan is nearly ours. [image]local://upfiles/30920/45A17833578D4C0B9F3A9295D18F3E9D.jpg[/image]

Tufkal2 -> RE: LotR Dark Side AAR (5/8/2011 9:13:59 AM)
The invasion of Gondor from three sides is a bit behind schedule but otherwise in full swing. [image]local://upfiles/30920/4DD4170344EC4A1A9F98DEC6234CD907.jpg[/image]

Tufkal2 -> RE: LotR Dark Side AAR (5/12/2011 9:54:58 AM)
Turn 11: 05th December 3018 Our armies are pushing ahead relentlessly and we win some decisive battles this turn bringing us closer to military domination. Good. Soon nobody will be able to contest with us again. However having nearly lost complete trace of the ring is a bad sign. Since the stubborn Elves will need to be taught a lesson before they surrender and sulk away to some unknown shore we will need to also bring the war to them. This is a long road for us, probably as long as the road would be for a hobbit to travel to Mount Doom. Our lidless eye shall see... In the North both sides are staring at each other across the Brandywine river. We lash about a bit at some Fellowship unit but they will soon be beyond our reach in Tharbad. However from there they need to cross Rohan and guess who owns Rohan now? [image]local://upfiles/30920/E6DA765B76094ABDA12BE678BFA8B7C6.jpg[/image]

Tufkal2 -> RE: LotR Dark Side AAR (5/12/2011 9:57:33 AM)
Our invinvible Uruk-Hai storm Edoras against a spirited defense. We kill everybody inside to pacify this town once and for all. Some more siege engines move to assault Helms Deep but this will take a long time to properly siege. However the rest of Rohan is as good as conquered. We then have an army here ready to move North. [image]local://upfiles/30920/3F83D1A0A3544C039AB8E1C642ED1967.jpg[/image]

Tufkal2 -> RE: LotR Dark Side AAR (5/12/2011 10:00:04 AM)
In Gondor the Knights of Dol Amroth mount a successful counterattack in their turn and eliminate one of our units. However they were only some scouts of which we have aplenty. Good for my lieutenants that they withdrew the irreplacable Mumakil to safety and sacrificed some spare troops. [image]local://upfiles/30920/A3EFEA359CB84E7C866EC850FD686BD6.jpg[/image]

Tufkal2 -> RE: LotR Dark Side AAR (5/12/2011 10:03:31 AM)
After our counterattack the situation looks nice again. The corsairs cut off West Gondor from the main part. Our Mumakil charge the enemy cavalry and throw them back inflicting heavy losses and are then again withdrawn to safety. We capture part of the Minas Tirith fortifications. Although it will take some turns to capture all scenic locations in Gondor we think the main enemy army here is pretty much cornered. But we let our lieutenantes know that cornered rats are known to be dangerous... [image]local://upfiles/30920/5FFF8829426E446AB0F8F10DBA556230.jpg[/image]

Tufkal2 -> RE: LotR Dark Side AAR (5/14/2011 7:39:53 AM)
Turn 12: 10th December 3018 Our spies report very heavy battles on most fronts this turn. We like that. Even though the enemy did very heavy damage to our units during his turn. We will contemplate ways to make them pay dearly for their resistance. In the North one of the known two possible Fellowship units is attacked on its way to Tharbad. We fear the ring might be completely elsewhere though. The Fornost commander is comtemplating to assault across the Brandywine against the war plan as the enemy seems weak there. In the end he is enjoying some good pipe-weed from Bree and is waiting for more reinforcements... [image]local://upfiles/30920/369E66CF161B456185E3E717C5E14D4B.jpg[/image]

Tufkal2 -> RE: LotR Dark Side AAR (5/14/2011 7:42:49 AM)
In Rohan we take Aldburg. We have huge superiority in numbers. We need to still kill Theoden though. Eomer was taken out while defending Edoras. Theodred still stubbornly defends Helms Deep. We begin to move forces to the North-East as we fear time is running thin for us... [image]local://upfiles/30920/EE5172A419014F3CB564FEDA7FD1DF9B.jpg[/image]

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