The Quest to Rescue er.... A Middle Earth campaign

The quest to rescue er…..

A MESBG Battle Companies campaign in the Eastemnet of Rohan.

Galastor, Knight of Dol Amroth, had dreamt of Boromir, son of the Steward of Gondor, in great distress and running, desperate, panting, seemingly searching for someone or something. As he woke, he thought he heard on the edge of hearing as it were, maybe in some last remnant of dreaming, a horn blowing loudly.

 Galastor, a distant cousin of Boromir, rode directly to Imrahil to seek his permission to ride to Minas Tirith and seek a meaning for his vision. The Prince directed him to go and not return until he had an answer, Imrahil had known Galastor for too long to doubt that the dream had meaning. Imrahil suspected Boromir was in difficulty and charged Galastor with the quest to rescue him. Galastor set out next day with his faithful friend Estendor as his sole companion.

Arriving at Minas Tirith, Galastor chanced upon Faramir and heard his account of Boromir’s quest to Imladris. Galastor promised to go immediately in search of Boromir. Faramir bade him take some men at arms to help in the quest and summoned Hastor and Ingon of the Orders or the Axe and the Sword respectively to help in the quest.

Travelling without rest and little baggage, the company made good speed. Heading North from Gondor they were crossing the Eastemnet when they were met by two Rohirrim warriors, Garulf and Baldred, who insist that they come with them to explain themselves to their captain. Not wanting to cause an incident Galastor falls in with their wishes.

Garulf tells Galastor of the recent events in Rohan, telling of a great raid of orcs and explains that Eomer, the king’s nephew, is not in favour with the King. Garulf is a king’s man and has sworn to arrest Eomer if he should find him.

Theowulf

Meanwhile, a few miles away,Theowulf, was angry. His captain Eomer has been arrested at Wormtongue’s orders and on hearing this, Theowulf had gathered his small band of warriors together to go to Edoras to petition for his Lords release.

 His good friends Eodan and Baldor were with him and they had brought Dunhere and Dernmund, two very capable hunters, each armed with good Eastemnet elm bows and Grimmund, a doughty warrior, with a supply of throwing spears and his father’s sword had joined them at their last camp. They shared their leader’s mood. The Eastemnet had been attacked, ravaged by roaming bands of orcs, and their captain had been arrested for defending their land. 

They would call upon the king’s mercy and if that failed, rescue him.

Gorluk had led his band of Uruk scouts through defiles and gullies, stream beds and thick undergrowth, hiding in woodland and avoiding open terrain by day. He hated the open rolling grasslands of the Straw heads and longed for the dark cool caves he knew well. 

He was on a mission. Sharku had sent him to find out what had happened to Ugluk and his boys and to find and “rescue” something called a halfling. He was to bring it to directly to Orthanc. Gorluk did not question his orders, he had no curiosity about his quest.

 His warband were good boys, but feeling the tension and inclined to quarrel. Burly Vargan and Uldo the archer were his sergeants, the three of them had been on several raids together and they understood each other ways. With them were Ogzul, Ugbad, Nurbag and Gargul all good scrappers. Find, rescue and return. It could not be over soon enough for him.

Madgash and his band of orcs, did not travel by day. They could not abide the bright sun and so ran all night, hiding in what ever cover they could find. A farmer had been surprised to find them in his barn one morning, his surprise, like him, had been short lived. That had been two days ago and they had eaten little since. 

His warband, quarrelsome at the best of times, had not stopped bickering and there had been several nasty fights. Ugzug, bigger than most, was his deputy and the pair had their work cut out maintaining what orcs pass off as discipline. His other sergeant, Shagrat, was out with the two bow armed snagas, Guzgob and Zugug, looking for supper. The other maggots, Skargob, Brazzag, Guzguff and Gorbash were squabbling over a few bits of dried meat and calling each other names in the manner of orckind. 

They all hated him as they hated all their companions as they hated everything. Their guttural shouts and visceral shrieks rose as the pile of food fell. Yes, they hated each other and would fight and kill each other too when the need arose. But they all stuck together when threatened. 

The only thing that could make orcs work together was the mutual hatred and fear of those that were not orc. They had come into this strange land of horses, at the bidding of their master. They had snuck off into the darkness when the straw heads had attacked and had seen Grishnakh slain. Now all Madgash wanted was to rescue himself, with or without his companions.

The Campaign

Using MESBG BC rules. Each warband will play against each of the others. Then the Good Guys will team up against the Bad Guys for the “final”. The scenario will get rolled for each round of play

Where is Boromir -Men of the West company rating 99

The White Finger-Isengard company rating 106

Justice for Eomer Rohirrim company rating 98

Mordororx Mordor Orcs company rating 99

First round

Where is Boromir v the White Finger

Mordororx v Justice for Eomer

Second Round

Where is Boromir v Mordororx

Justice for Eomer v the White Finger

Third Round

Where is Boromir v Justice for Eomer

Mordororx v the White Finger

Final

Good guys v Bad guys

The Prize!

At the conclusion of the final battle, the warband with the highest rating wins

Each company rolls on the table of prizes, winning company rolls twice

1= a small purse of coins worth 1-3(d6/2) influence

2= Every hero gains a single point of either Might, Will or Fate

3= An ancient bracelet, wrought with strange runes, the wearer of the bracelet causes Terror

4=An ancient sword with a wicked looking ever sharp blade, this sword gives the “Bane of Kings special rule to whomever wields it

5=An ancient Torc, whoever wears this Torc can ignore any wound on a roll of 6

6=An ancient two-handed axe, it is master forged

From the narrative aspect this progression works well. The two good v evil match ups are obvious enough with Theowulf bitterness about Eomer’s captivity being quite enough to initiate a fight with Garulf. As for the Bad Guys well, any excuse for a fight!

It would only be natural for the Good Guys to band together to attack the nasty orcses who in turn would certainly ally together for survival.

Solo! SBG ME BC has a great rule system and rolling for initiative ensures a random element, but is it enough?

Drawing chits for each character might work well, as would drawing cards. I think cards might be the better way. Jokers can be added as wild cards, different coloured jokers for each side maybe. 

Just a few modelling/paint jobs required and then ,let battle commence