The Battle of Pelennor Fields - Third Age, 14 March 3019
Introduction
The Battle of the Pelennor Fields was the greatest battle of all of the Third Age, and was fought between Orcs, Evil Men, Trolls, Great war machines, and led by the Lord of the Nazgul against the soldiers of Gondor, Dol Amroth and the Riders of Rohan, led by Gandalf and Aragorn. After some initial battles at the outer wall (Rammas Echor), the defenders retreated inside the main walls of the city. The orcs dug trenches and brought up Great war machines, and began to lay siege to the walls. The war machine Grond was used to break the Great gate and the Witch King tried to enter the city, but was prevented by Gandalf. As this was happening the darkness which had prevailed for the last few days began to break as Saurons power weakened. As the gate was broken, the Riders of Rohan had reached the outer wall in the north. They charged towards the Harad, scattering any orcs in their path. The Lord of the Nazgul turned his attention towards them and slew Theoden, King of Rohan. The Lord of the Nazgûl was in turn slain by Merry and Éowyn.
The Rohirrim then attacked furiously towards the Haradrim and routed their cavalry, but were unable to slain the Mumakil. The reserve from Osgiliath began to arrive and this pressed the soldiers of Minas Tirith back into the city, and the Rohirrim became surrounded. At this point the black ships of the Numenoreans arrived, and the defenders became disheartened. However the banner of the king was unveiled, and Aragorn disembarked with a force from southern Gondor. This broke the spirit of the enemy and turned the tide of the battle towards the defenders who routed the enemy from the field of battle.
This scenario has been adapted for Fantasy Rules! 2 by Chipco.
FR2 version
Special Rules
Riders of Rohan arrive on turn 3
The Reserve from Osgiliarth arrives on turn 4.
Orc but not Uruk-hai, bowfire has a -1 modifier.
After turn 4, all Orc and Troll units count a -1 0 -1 due to the light breaking through as Saurons spell weakens.
Aragon's force arrives on turn 9
Cavalry units from the city garrison may sally out after turn 6.
The Lord of the Nazgul may not enter the Minas Tirith gate unless the defenders morale clock is 4 or less.
Eowyn and Merry may try and assassinate the Lord of Nazgul but they must pass a fear test. They are not placed on the table but when a Rohan units gets within 6 inches, they move into contact and attempt to assassinate the Witch King in the normal turn sequence.
The Lord of the Nazgul may attach to any unit and will operate the same as any general along with its additional attributes (see above). It may be killed in combat normally by an enemy unit that has a character attached with an Exceptional Weapon (EW) or through a challenge.
Gandalf may not go outside the city walls. He causes fear and may only cast Fire Blast at units within the city walls. He may challenge the Witch King if it enters the city walls.
If Gandalf or the Lord of Nazgul is killed, subtract 3 from the morale clock immediately, Aragorn subtract 2.
Riders of Rohan can dismount during the battle. Kn as Elite Spear, HC as Spear, and LC as Skirmishers.
The Hvy artillery will cause fear in any units they hit inside the city walls, in addition to the normal demoralisation result.
Siege Rules
Each wall section (1BB) has is constructed from stone and has a height of 3 and a width of 2
Only units with ladders or Siege Towers can assail the walls.
The Great gate is classed as metal and has a height of 2 and a width of 1 and 2 Damage Markers
Grond counts as a normal Battlewagon until in contact with a wall section. It can then attack the section and hits automatically. Roll on the Artillery damage table and add +3.
Any area inside the wall counts as City BBs. These are constructed from stone and have a defensive CF of 7 and 4 damages markers per BB.
The defenders have 1 Engineer capable of repairing walls and structures.
For additional detail, refer to the Fortifications section of the rulebook.
Terrain
The river is not crossable at any point.
Any breaches in the walls count as difficult terrain. Any units attacking across difficult terrain lose their charge bonus. Defenders do not have to follow up any combat.
For additional detail, refer to the Fortifications section of the rulebook.
There should also be some clear terrain within the walls to simulate boulevards and town squares
This should be played on a 6x4 table for 15mm scale.
Victory conditions
Forces of Mordor
Reduce the Defenders moral clock to zero and have units inside the walls of city.
Defenders of Minas Tirith
Reduce the Forces of Sauron moral clock to zero. Aragorn must survive.
Scenario Notes
You may use more attackers if you have the figures. The estimates are 11,000 for the defenders and 45,000 for the attackers. The Harad, Southron, Easterling and the Reserve from Osgiliath should be larger, but this may stretch your figure collection and may not effect the outcome of the game.
This is based on the later part of the battle and doesn't include the fighting at the outer wall and subsequent retreat. The battle starts when the Riders of Rohan arrive, since any player would know of their imminent arrival, and be ready for it, which didn't happen in the book.
There probably would have being more heroes on the attackers side, but none are named in the book. You may want to add some to give them a bit more flavour but I feel their large forces should remain unwieldy.
This battle could be part of a mini campaign beginning with the Battle of Pelargir and finishing with the Battle of the Black Gate. See the Battle of Pelargir scenario for more details.
The forces and special rules are designed to try and make the game follow the book as closely as possible. You may add, change or remove any special rules if you feel they are not appropriate.
The Movie Version
Remove all troops from Aragorn command and replace with 1500pts of the Shadow host from the list below.
They may ignore any terrain restrictions (same as Major Spirits)
The King of the Dead is compulsory
Aragon's force arrives on turn 9
Armies
| Char/Unit name | Type | Special Abilities | Map Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gandalf | 1 Wizard | Level 2, (+2 0 +2),EW | 2 |
| Rangers of Ithilien | 1 Ranger | Elite + Bowfire | 3 |
| Guards, Men-at-arms | 3 Sp | 4 | |
| City Artillery | 2 Lt Art | Walls of the city | |
| Bowmen of Morthond | 2 CB | 5 | |
| Axemen of Lossarnach | 1 HW | 6 | |
| City Levies | 2 Mobs | + 1 CF | 7 |
| Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth | 1 Hero | (+2 0 +2) | 8 (See note 6) |
| Knights of Dol Amroth | 1 Kn | Elite | 9 (See note 6) |
| Roquen | 2 HC | Elite | 10 (See note 6) |
| Men-at-arms of Dol Amroth | 2 Sp | 11 | |
| City Architects | 1 Hero | Engineer??? | 1 |
Aragorn's force
| Char/Unit name | Type | Special Abilities | Map Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aragorn | 1 General | (+2 0 +2), EW | 13 |
| Dunedain Rangers | 1 Ranger | Elite + Bowfire | 14 |
| South Gondor Spear | 1 Sp | 15 | |
| South Gondor Bow | 1 CB | 16 | |
| Horsemen of Lamedon | 1 LC | 17 | |
| Dromund Crews | 1 Mob | 18 |
The Rohirrim
| Char/Unit name | Type | Special Abilities | Map Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Theoden King of the Mark | 1 General | (+2 0 +2) | 19 |
| Theodens household knights | 1 Kn | Elite | 20 |
| Eomer | 1 Hero | (+1 0 +1) | 21 |
| Eomers household knights | 1 Kn | Elite | 22 |
| Elfhelm | 1 Hero | (+1 0 +1) | 23 |
| Elfhelms household knights | 1 Kn | Elite | 24 |
| Eowyn and Merry | 1 Assasin | EW | 25 |
| Grimbold | 1 Hero | (+1 0 +1) | 26 |
| Horse archers | 2 LC | 27 | |
| Rohan Knights | 2 Kn | 28 | |
| Veteran Eoreds | 2 HC | Elite | 29 |
| Eoreds | 4 HC | 30 |
Shadow Host
| Char/Unit name | Type | Special Abilities | Map Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| King of the Dead | 1 Hero | (+1 0 +1). Fear | 13-18 |
| Cavalry | HC | Fear (+5pts) | 13-18 |
| Swordsmen | HW | Fear (+5pts) | 13-18 |
| Spear | Sp | Fear (+5pts) | 13-18 |
| Bow | CB | Fear (+5pts) | 13-18 |
| Skirmishers | Sk | Fear (+5pts) | 13-18 |
The Beseiging force
| Char/Unit name | Type | Special Abilities | Map Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lord of the Nazgul (Witch King) | 1 Ethereal | Fear, Flying, EW | 31 |
| Siege towers | 2 BW | + Bowfire | 32 |
| Catapults | 4 Hvy Art | 33 | |
| Grond | 1 BW | 1x2 Jug | 34 |
| Great Orc battalions | 5 HW | May have Ladders | 35 |
| Orc battalions | 8 Mobs | +1 CF, May have Ladders | 36 |
| Orc archers | 6 CB | May have Ladders | 37 |
| Uruk-hai from Minas Morgul | 3 HW | Elite, May have Ladders | 38 |
| Uruk-hai Bow | 2 CB | May have Ladders | 39 |
| Warg riders | 2 LC | +1 CF, TW | 40 |
| Uniformed Morgul Cavalry | 1 HC | 41 | |
| Trolls and Half Trolls | 4 Sml Mon | 42 | |
| Variags of Khand | 2 LC | 43 |
The reserve command from Osgiliath
| Char/Unit name | Type | Special Abilities | Map Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gothmog, Lieutenant of Morgul | 1 General | (+2 0 +2), Fear, EW | 44 |
| Mumakil | 3 BW | Fear | 45 |
| Easterling Axemen | 4 HW | 46 | |
| Southron Bow | 3 CB | 47 | |
| Easterling Spear | 4 Sp | 48 | |
| Variags of Khand | 3 LC | 49 | |
| Far Harad Trolls | 3 HW | Elite | 50 |
The Haradrim
| Char/Unit name | Type | Special Abilities | Map Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Chieftain | 1 Hero | (+1 0 +1) | 8 |
| Chieftains Bodyguard | 1 HC | Elite | 8 |
| Cavalry with scimitars | 5 HC | 8 | |
| Champion of Harad | 1 Hero | (+1 0 +1) | 8 |
| Mumakil | 2 BW | Fear | 45 |
| Far Haradrim horsemen | 2 LC | TW | 8 |
| Veteran spearmen | 3 Sp | 8 | |
| Archers | 2 CB | 8 | |
| Harad spearmen | 2 Mobs | 8 | |
| Other Archers | 3 Sk | 8 | |
| Far Haradrim foot | 3 Mobs | 8 |