Lord of the Rings - Buckleberry Ferry and Fog on the Barrow Downs

I'm currently playing through the old Games Workshop Fellowship of the Ring Journey book. Its a series of scenarios based on happenings in both book and film. I have pretty much all the models needed for a;ll the scenarios and started thinking about this several years ago. However recently I've been playing LotR games with my friend and his son and so this seemed like an ideal opportunity to play through the book.

As I'm usually concentrating on making sure my young opponent has a good time (and trying not to do any swears) I don't take pictures, apart from a few that go straight onto Twitter or Instagram.

But this time after the game I had the camera out to take pictures of the terrain I made, so thought I'd try and recreate some of the action.

Flight to the Ferry

In this scenario the four hobbits are trying to evade three ringwraiths and get the Ferry across the Merse river to safety. The wraiths are sentries, which we found makes it extremely easy for the hobbits to just walk around them at no real risk.

This is towards the end of the first game - the four hobbits are sneaking off behind the wraith about to make a clean getaway.

Earlier the wraith had pushed up too far and so it was easy to get round behind him and off to the boat. I started the wraith too far forward, then a couple of bad sentry rolls meant he was a long way away from the ferry...

Having escaped easily we reset and swapped sides. I split the hobbits into two groups and N. held the wraith back near the ferry. However the sentry rules meant that apart from one brief moment the hobbits were never in danger of being detected and soon sailed off unmolested.

All a bit unsatisfactory, really. The sentry rules make it extremely unlikely the alarm will be raised so it's all too easy for the good guys to escape.

I've since seen some different versions of this scenario where the wraiths are mounted, which would perhaps even things up a bit - maybe I'll give that a go in the future.

Fog on the Barrow Downs

And so on to a scenario based on something *not* in the films. The hobbits are fleeing across the Barrow Downs when ancient inhabitants of the barrows try and sacrifice them - will anyone heed their cries for help..?

The hobbits move out of the woods, but evil is closing in

Behind you Frodo!

Sneaking up on Samwise

Sam is down and being dragged away!

But hark! A blue clad hero to the rescue

Bombadil!

Unfortunately young Master Gamwise is shoved into a barrow

And brutally dispatched.

Goldberry has also arrived. Frodo and Pippin leg it as fast as their hairy little feet will allow.

Merry is surrounded and paralysed several times but keeps shaking off the effects

And in the end he's able to flee after his "mates" who had left him to his fate.

This was an altogether better game - quite tense and going down to the last few rolls. At one point it looked as if the hobbits would easily get away but only Merry repeatedly getting back up from being paralysed kept the wights from winning.

I have now left my young foe with the task of building Weathertop for the next few games.