StanleyWheeler

I taught a lesson about Fruit today--that was the title of the talk which was the subject of the discussion. I thought it went swimmingly--but no one got pushed in the pool. I've always thought that was an odd term, "swimmingly" I mean. Some people--moi, for example--find swimming very difficult and exhausting. I presume it's because I'm not doing it correctly. I should say the lesson went splendidly with gobs of appropriate and insightful participation, and no lack of flotation devices.

As for the usual formalities--or informalities as I'm rather informal on this site--the writing continued on schedule. Things have taken a bad turn for most of the heroes--or perhaps the proper description would be that the difficulties have continued--as multiple foes have pummeled, jounced, bumped, jolted, and jerked them about. My best estimate is that we're halfway to the summit. Things will get better, and then worse, and finally the last act in this part of the drama will splash across the remaining pages in vivid color, framed in black and blue.

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For those interested in my skirmish game, I adapted a scenario, which I had created for another game, for play with my rules using some Lord of The Rings miniatures. I had rules for, but had not yet tested them, using armor and shields. This scenario tested those rules. The setup has six soldiers of Rohan with shields and medium armor defending a ruined building against an attack by nine Uruk-Hai who have shields but no armor for the sake of this test. The warriors have three archers; the Uruks ate their own archers the day before.

1. 

Frebored the bowman tries to acts first, but not before a Uruk steals an advance. Frebored shoots twice in rapid succession, his arrows stabbing into the dirt. The other warriors shrug it off as a case of early battle jitters. A second bowman, Thordred, fires and kills the Uruk who had advanced. The others are out of his range. The last bowman, Zared, only gets off a single shot, a near miss which worries the Uruk leader so much that he wets himself and speed away from the battle as fast as his crud-covered legs can carry him. Worst leader ever. One of his Uruks takes the hint and follows the leader off the field. The rest of the orcs curse to themselves about the problem of nepotism in leadership appointments, but otherwise ignore the two cowards. (This event resulted in a rules tweak for near-miss-moral-checks to make such a result even more unlikely).

The Uruk right flank moves in under light and inaccurate archer fire. The Uruk left flank, consisting of only one warrior now (having lost one to an arrow and another who fled with the fraidy-cat leader), also trots toward the objective, and experiences an intimate encounter with one of Thordred's arrows. The orc dies on the spot. The two remaining Uruks in the center rush forward. Frebored, atop the wall, fires a shaft which whispers wounding to the leg of one of the advancing Uruks in the center.

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The Uruks have lost four warriors: two killed, and two fled from the field.

2. 

Rohan's archers continue to hold the orcs at bay. Frebored, over his earlier jitters, sends one Uruk scurrying back to lay low in the grass, and wounds another who retreats a short way with howls of pain. Zared got his good luck charm tangled in his bowstring and couldn't get off a shot.

Fallen number 4 Uruk regains his feet while dodging arrows. Number 3 Uruk charges into contact with the archer Thordred, and Uruk 6 encounters the spearman Hubert* at the crumbling wall. Wounded Uruk 2 rushes the Rohan leader Vilmo at the door or the ruin. Dured throws himself into the action to help Thordred with Uruk 3. Frebored, the archer up on the wall pierces Uruk 4 with a pointed message. The orcs have closed with the warriors of Rohan. The white-skins will feel their wrath.

3.

Dured of Rohan offers to introduce his sword to Uruk 3 in an effort to help Thordred (see bottom left of the picture immediately above). The Uruk is no mean opponent and the two are forced to disengage. Dured leaps back in to attack again. Neither combatant can get an advantage and they remain locked in combat. Dured smells the fetid breath and malodorous sweat of the his grim and dirty foe. Thordred shouts a challenge and also springs upon Uruk 3. Meanwhile, Uruk 4 slips in his own blood, falling to the ground. Uruk 4 scrambles back to his feet while Frebored's poorly aimed arrows fail to hinder him.

Vilmo lunges at Uruk 2 in the doorway, but the orc outmaneuvers him and switches places with Vilmo, throwing Vilmo out of the doorway, but placing Uruk 2 in contact with both Vilmo and Zared. Uruk 4 engages Hubert across the broken wall and receives a painful injection from Hubert's spear as his reward. Dured, driven mad by the stink of Uruk 3, shoves his sword into the Uruk's gut. The orc slips to the ground, still panting fetid breaths but unable to rise. Uruks 4 and 6 are so grieved at the loss of their comrade, and without a leader to strengthen their resolve, they run from the field in search of immediate grief counseling. Uruk 5 had fallen back to see what his comrades would do. When Uruk 4 left the field, 5 discovered a sudden interest in seeking alternative career possibilities, leaving only Uruk 2 to continue the battle. Uruk 2 has been wounded, and has fought his way into the ruin, only to be abandoned by his comrades. In combat with two warriors, he turns his fury on Zared, shoving him away. The Uruk is free to fight Vilmo without interference. He clashes with the axe-wielding Vilmo and they bounce away from each other. 

4. 

Zared wants to finish the matter with a bowshot but that good luck charm about his neck has once more become caught in his bowstring.

Uruk 2, disgusted by Zared's dangling good luck charm, charges into the bowman.

5. 

Uruk 2 goes for the throat of  Zared, but the warrior shoves him back--that charm is working! Vilmo sees an opportunity and moves toward the Uruk with his axe swinging.

6. 

Vilmo knocks the orc away without causing him any damage.

7. 

Vilmo shouts for Dured to help trap the Uruk. Dured moves in to block the Uruk's movement. Hubert brings his spear to bear as Dured kicks the feet from beneath the Uruk. Hubert drives his spear through the Uruk's ribcage, pinning him to the ground. The Uruk cannot continue the fight. Rohan is victorious.

-The red blobs on the bases are wound markers.

*If Hubert sounds like a name for a French character, that's because it is. I transferred some other characters to this scenario and didn't spend much time changing names.