Monday 04 February 2019 – The Fellowship has travelled far from Rivendell and are now stuck at the gates of Moria in the fourth scenario in the DeAgostini campaign, which can be found in issue #19. The Watcher in the Water latched out with one of his tentacles, ensnaring Frodo. And so it begins …
Frodo lost his fight against the tentacle and became abducted. Fortunately for him, his friends came to his aid, killing the tentacle before it could take the Ringbearer to one of the board edges. Legolas stayed behind in order to shoot as much tentacles as possible, while Gandalf the Grey sorcerous blasted some of the tentacles with his free expendable Will point every turn. Combat heavy weights Boromir, Gimli and Aragorn all rushed to fight and kill as many tentacles as possible. The tentacles kept coming however, at one point ensnaring Gandalf and taking him away. Aragorn used Heroic actions to make it to the tentacle holding Gandalf captive, saving the old wizard.
With nearly 20 tentacles killed (the maximum number, after which the Watcher would retreat), Frodo made it safely through the gates of Moria. The rest of the Fellowship followed, causing them to enter Moria without too much hassle.
Post-game thoughts
I really liked this scenario. It was quick and fun. I thought the board was beautiful and unusual, as it’s mostly covered in water. The tentacles were an interesting enemy. I felt Good had the advantage in this scenario, though things could have gone very differently if the tentacles managed to successfully abduct and devour some members of the Fellowship.
Fortunately, luck was on the side of the Fellowship. With this victory the path through Moria is quite clear. The next danger lies in Balin’s Tomb, which will be described in the next scenario …