MEK OP Game Night: Semester Finale

Saturday featured the wildest finish yet to War of the Ring, with a 2-vs-1 game that ended in... a military victory for the Free Peoples!

Shadow initially set up for invasions of Gondor and Rohan. The Gondor invasion went relatively well, taking Dol Amroth and Pelargir. But Rohan held firm, and was relieved by substantial reinforcement out of Edoras, eventually enough to break the siege. All of this unraveled slowly, with the game under little time pressure due to some horrific damage inflicted on the Fellowship by hunt rolls; the Ringbearers ended up holing up in Lorien for several turns in a row, having lost both Boromir, Pippin, and Gandalf.

Meanwhile, the North had been left nearly depleted. Elves sallied forth, first from Rivendell, and then from Lorien, to pressure Moria and northern Dunland. The first invasion was thrown back, but the followup from Lorien was sufficient to seize a mostly-depleted Moria. The Shadow retaliated with a counter-siege out of Isengard, but pressure from Rohan made reinforcing the invasion difficult.

"No worries, folks, we got this."

The final blow came from Erebor. Gimli and a reconstituted Pippin commanded a combined force of Elves, Dwarves and Men through Mirkwood to challenge the Witch King and his Dol Guldur army outside of an undefended Lorien. The Witch King attacked, hoping to defeat both the army and then Lorien. Gimli prevailed, slaying the Witch King personally! The remaining garrison of two trolls fell to a Later-than-Last Alliance of 4 dwarves (leader, elite, 2 regular), 3 northmen (2 leader, regular), and 4 wood elves (leader, 2 elite, regular).

All in all, a relief to finally see the Free Peoples win a game for once.