Wednesday 8 December 2021 – Encouraged by the apparent pact between Lotho and Sharkey and filled by evil intent, the ruffians have begun to enter the Shire in increasing numbers. Paladin Took, Thain and patriarchal head of the Tooks, is unwilling to see his ancestral lands meet the same fate as the rest of the Four Farthings, and so in desperation orders his archers and hastily raised militia to turn them back, whatever the cost.<br><br>This scenario is found in the Scouring of the Shire (2004) supplement, scenario number 2. It is the second of a 6-part campaign covering the events of the Scouring of the Shire.
Participants
Good (5 models) | Evil (10 models) |
2 Hobbit Archers | 5 Ruffians with bow |
3 Hobbit Militia | 5 Ruffians with whip |
Objectives
If six or more Ruffians can move off of the Tookland board edge, the Evil player wins.
If four or five Ruffians move off the Tookland edge, the game is a draw.
In any other situation the Good side wins.
Special rules
Traps – The Good player may deploy four Snare, four Pit, four Tripwire and 12 Blank Trap counters anywhere on the board.
Snare – The Good player rolls a D6. On a 2+ the model triggering the trap is Knocked Prone and may not move further this turn. If the Snare is close to a tree, the model is ensnared and needs to roll equal to or below its Strength value to free himself.
Pit – The Good player rolls a D6. On a 2+ the model triggering the trap has fallen into the trap and may not move further this turn. It loses its control zone and can climb out of the pit as a normal obstacle in subsequent turns. A pit stays on the board as an obstacle.
Tripwire – The Good player rolls a D6. On a 2+ the model triggering the trap is Knocked Prone and may not move further this turn. The model also suffers a S1 hit.
Blank – These traps don’t do anything.
The game
The game is played on a 4′ x 2′ (120×60 cm) board. It should be covered with as many trees and woodlands terrain pieces as possible.
The Good player deploys his models within 6″ of the Took board edge. The Ruffians are placed within 6″ of the Ruffian table edge.
All sides move up in the first turn.
Good Priority, everybody moves up once again. Four traps go off, one Tripwire causes a Ruffian to be knocked to the ground but survives the tumble. The other three traps are blanks.
Turn three, Evil priority. A Ruffian safely passes over a freshly revealed Pit. The other Ruffians simply continue traversing the woods.
Turn four, Evil Priority. A Ruffian falls into a Pit and another Ruffian is ensnared. The rest of them move up without a hitch. The Hobbit bowfire is ineffective.
Fifth turn, Good Priority. The Ruffians are not too impressed by the traps, because most of them are blanks and the ones that do go off only slightly delay the marching Ruffians. The Hobbit bowfire once again fails to do anything.
Turn six, Evil Priority. The only potentially lethal trap (tripwire) doesn’t even go off. One Hobbit loses a Fight and a Ruffian is killed in a fight.
Turn seven, Evil Priority, a Ruffian kills a Hobbit archer in combat.
Turn eight, Good Priority, nothing noteworthy happens.
Evil Priority in the next turn. A Hobbit Militia is slain.
Turn 10, Evil Priority, a Ruffian escapes.
Turn 11, Good Priority. Two Hobbits die, meaning there is only one Hobbit left on the board.
Turn 12, Good Priority. The final Hobbit dies, and Evil easily wins this scenario.
Aftermath
Evil victory – In the Brockenborings scenario, the Evil player may make a free move with D3 Ruffians after deployment is complete, but before the first turn.
Post-game thoughts
Ouch. Good really got stomped here and that was no surprise. The traps hardly do anything and the Hobbits are extremely outnumbered. With no Might on the board very few decisions needed to be made. There is not much point in delaying the Ruffians, except to give more time for shooting. But with just 2 archers, this seems hardly worth it. I’d rate this scenario 1/5 stars and only played it because it’s part of this campaign. A shame, because the traps were fun and it all looked pretty cool! But the scenario definitely needs a major overhaul to make it more balanced and fun.