The Rescue of Faramir : a Lord of the Rings Tale

In their previous battle Faramir had been unhorsed whilst he valiantly killed a giant cave troll. Having been knocked senseless he staggered about for some days unclear on where he was. Surrounded by hordes of the enemy all he could do was hide and hope for rescue. Having regrouped and gathered his forces Boromir realising that his younger brother was missing and nobody had seen him fall in battle realised a rescue mission must be mounted. His small force heads into the wilderness knowing that all around them the forces of the dark lord are gathering. (You can get an Orc eye view of the engagement on the Hobby Horse blog see side panel.)

Returning to wilderness the horn of Gondor heralds the advance, but a large host of Orcs has gathered determined to oppose the men in their search

As always the household Knights move to the front

Faramir's own elite Rangers immediate start to search the first of six possible hiding places but there is no sign of Faramir their Commander

The enemy has sent forward scouts to deter the advance easy prey for the mounted Knights

Desperate for his younger brother Boromir rushes forward as well to take up the search

He is supported in the rear by archer from the White City

Under a hail of black arrows the Rangers push on to the bog and start the search again

Orc scouts have now climbed the fallen statue, it is not clear if they are searching or simply looking to deface the monument, one thing is certain Faramir can't be found till they can be thrown back, in the distance the few remaining knights can be seen charging off to glory and death

Supported by spearmen Boromir chases them away easily but then spends several turns failing his command roll, eventually he realises that Faramir isn't amongst the rocks

The Rangers are gradually being cut down and only a few remain but they will not give up thier commander that easily despite the arrows they continue to search..................a shout goes up across the field

A slightly dazed and wet Faramir is fished out of the bog, but there is no time for celebration a pack of fast moving Warg riders have suddenly got wind of the situation and are circling around the bog.

After a brief rest the remaining Rangers lead Faramir away but the small group is being closed in on all sides, once and then twice Boromir charges in to protect the escaping party

Almost there the spearmen have managed to hold back the Orcs on the left, but Boromir spent with his efforts and heavily wounded has fallen to the ground knocked out of the battle

............but Boromirs' sacrifice has bought just enough time for the Rangers to get Faramir to safety

Excellent game fun right to the end. I can almost feel the next scenario writing itself. Boromirs prone body carted away by the enemy forces !

For those interested we played Dragon Rampant with I think 32 points each side. It is a standard scenario from the rule book with the chance of finding Faramir increasing as each of the six hiding places is eliminated.