Early in the morning Gurtz and his war party finally reach the village of Cynewiin. This small settlement that belongs to the sons of Eorl shall provide a great bounty for his brothers.
His original plan was to attack during the night, alas the lesser children of Saruman have delayed the group and prevented them from achieving this. The Orcs have a tough time keeping up with the speed and endurance of the Uruk-hai yet they provide the needed numbers for the warparty to venture into the Gap of Rohan.
Gurtz and his brothers, Lugdush and Skurm approach the village from the westernmost hill so that Udalgurz the killer will find a good shooting position to support the attack with his crossbow. Shirnak leads the lesser children of Saruman through the woods to the north.
It was unfortunate that they could not attack at night, as with the early rays of light the village watch soon detects their approach and the Eorlingas rush into action. Cynewiin is situated at the edge of the Gap of Rohan north of Wulf Cleft and most of the trained soldiers in the village happen to be out patrolling the borders of the kingdom. Still Eadmund, hero of Rohan and a few soldiers will present fierce battle to the orcish raiders, and other villagers quickly take whatever weapons they find to defend their land.
Gurtz is a skillful commander, he knows how to push his enemies into the breaking point. He initiates an open attack from the western hill while pushing a sneak ambush through the woods.
Eadmun quickly falls for the trap, committing his most experienced soldiers into an attack he himself leads to what he believes to be the heart of the enemy force. At first it looks like the day will be theirs when Beorthic rushing to action on his powerful steed loses and arrow that pierces Udalgutz black heart; but the joy is short lived in Eadmun’s eyes. Now he is able to understand what is happening, Shirnak and the orcs are attacking the weaker defenders to the north with much success while he has been reacting to an intentional distraction.
In the woods, Cenhelm the great, falls prey to Zubag’s spear on the initial charge, and while Eadberth manages to fall Zubag with his arrow this is not enough to stop the attackers who are now suddenly supported by the other Uruks. Lugdush, Skurm and Ashbazg the berserker have sneaked towards the center of the village seizing the opportunity resulting from Eadmund’s critical mistake.
One by one the Eorlingas fall to the minions of the enemy, Eadric, Dunstan, Bada; the Uruks are unstoppable. In a final desperate attempt to turn the tide of battle, Eadmund who now has reached the heart of the action, charges at Gurtz, but the Uruk stops his attack with a quick reaction of his shield and it is at this precise moment when from an unseen position Ashbazg rushes forward and steals the life of the great hero of Rohan.
The shock is too great, the sorrow of the Eorlingas runs deep, panic spreads through the defenders of Cynewiin. Beomraed, the seasoned warrior who was closing in to support Eadmund, loses heart and runs, and so do his companions.
All is lost, Cynewiin has fallen to the soldiers of the enemy.
The game
This battle was played with what I consider to be the best rules for squad level gaming out there, Brink of Battle. It is also the engine behind the great Osprey games rules Scrappers.
I also used the expansion for fantasy gaming, Epic Heroes.
You can get the rules in Lulu.com:
Brink of Battle:
BoB PDF
Epic Heroes ( fantasy expansion for Brink of Battle ).
Epic Heroes PDF
And in this pdf you can find the stats for these warparties, with their traits and weapons:
Clash at Cynewiin forces pdf
Impressive!
Great background and storytelling and great figures and terrain!