I played through the second-smallest War in Rohan scenario, Grishnákh's End.

http://davetownsend.org/Battles/LotR-20200514/

Now with more stop-motion!

Looking at the books, I've always been unhappy when a special rules scenario shows up, like this one. I feel they should be printed in White Dwarf instead. But this one looks like it could be fun, so I might have to put aside my biases.

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"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'nice doggie' until you can find a rock." -Will Rogers

I hope you'll be pleasantly surprised ... and get different results, just to keep it interesting).

Great write-up Dave!

While I applaud Merry's bravery in standing his ground and throwing those stones, it probably wasn't the best idea, but as you say, they're the cards you're dealt sometimes

Looking forward to trying some of these special scenarios myself, as they seem tense, but easy enough and short enough to replay a few times as you mention

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/captainquark38/

Thanks, captainquark!

I know I said about a week ago that I'm not convinced by the playing card minigames, this one went a long way towards selling me on the concept. This game was tense and grim and a great read. I think the stop motion videos you put together really added to the experience but I like the rules for this scenario as well.

I really like the sentiment you expressed about being less married to the SBG part of the game and more focused on the Tolkien narrative. I am the same way and while a tactically interesting game is always appreciated, if the narrative is good and feels like LOTR or The Hobbit then I'll always be glad to play the scenario!

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You can find me at: https://KuribosPainting.com/ and on Instagram @kuribospainting.

Thanks, Kuribo. I think the scenarios should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. For this one, I think the cards are fine because they are just a movement randomization mechanism. I'm less convinced by the scenarios using the cards as a playing surface, because that takes away one of the major selling points of GW's work, namely how great it looks.

That said, the Eowyn/Merry/Witch-King scenario in Gondor at War, where the cards are arranged circularly to set up the characters trying to hit each other, is pretty clever. The Gandalf/Pippin/Witch-King scenario in the same book, where the characters move arbitrary and each position gives an arbitrary advantage, seems less satisfactory. Maybe it plays better than it reads?

Really fun and good looking scenario! Anything with trees and Ents on a grassy tabletop already looks great to me, but it sounds like this one was fun gameplay-wise as well.

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Full Lord of the Rings campaign: https://aiwendil.net/

Thanks, Voyager360. I agree with you about the ents, and look forward to tackling another couple scenarios in Rohan at War where they appear in a bit.