Capture the Ring!
OGC: Leeds 2nd September 2006
With a call to battle being sounded out across the north of England, OGC key players Mike Brandon
and Andrew ‘Charly’ Townley travelled over the Pennines to the first ever event to be hosted in Leeds
and the first ever Lord of the Rings event in all of OGC: Capture the Ring!
The game, beginning at 4pm, was to run for 4 hours with each combatant controlling 250 points of
models aiming to capture the ring from the centre of the table. Keeping hold of it would prove to be a
different matter.
The players selected their forces: Mike bringing his own Easterling force while Charly borrowed the
spare Rohan force. Tim, as always, picked his Elves and OGC Leeds newcomer Wojtek commanded
the allied forces of Moria Goblins and Fighting Uruk Hai. Simon was left in command of his own
Gondor force.
In true OGC style old grudges shone through and alliances were forged even before a single model was
to be placed on the board. Whether or not these alliances would last would be a different story…
What Happened
In the early stages of the game Mike and Simon waged war on each other,
with Simon coming off worse. However, Mike was the first to claim the ring
as his horseman moved in on turn 2, scoring him a point. Simon’s last act of
vengeance against Mike was to kill the Easterling’s steed with his Archers,
leaving the rider sprawled on the floor. Charly, who had been fighting a losing
battle against Wojtek, capitalised on the opportunity and rushed in with two of
his Riders, finishing off the defenceless troop and scoring himself a point. Tim headed towards the
centre and was in a position to make a strong move for the Ring in the next turn.
Simon withdrew from his conflict with Mike, sending forces towards the
ring and engaging the ring bearer, but failed to bring him down. However,
Tim’s Elves had also made their move and his captain slew the ring bearer
easily, claiming it as his own. Wojtek continued the systematic destruction
of Charly and began to outflank Tim, albeit with Goblins.
The Elf Captain moved away from the main battle that was now being
waged in the centre, selfishly abandoning his comrades to the blades of the
remaining Gondor hordes and the fast approaching Easterlings. Wojtek
eventually broke through the remainder of the Rohan forces and charged his
Goblin Spearmen and their Captain into the Elf host. The Goblins, showing
uncharacteristic ferocity slaughtered Tim’s Elves and moved in to cut off
the retreating Elf Captain. Charly, with his sole surviving Rider, also moved
to engage the Elf Captain as Tim continued to gain point after point.
Simon’s force was slowly whittled down to his Captain standing alone
amidst the Elves, partly due to the indiscriminate fire of Mike shooting into
the combats. Wojtek’s Uruks charged into the centre, picking apart several
Elves, but losing several of their numbers. Tim’s Captain killed the
charging Rohirrim, but was caught by the Goblins and surrounded, losing a
wound before managing to escape into a nearby wood. Mike finally saw fit
to intervene in the central conflict, intent on mopping up any survivors. As
time ran out, Tim’s wounded Elf Captain still held the ring, though his force was mostly destroyed.
Tim had triumphed, winning himself the £10 prize.
An overjoyed Tim collects his prize: £10 worth of GW vouchers
Highlights
Charly’s Rohan force falling prey to a handful of rampaging Uruk Hai.
The Goblins of Moria: one detachment killed 2 riders and 3 archers of Rohan, the second killing 6
Elves and wounding the Elf Captain.
Mike charging 9 Easterlings including a banner into a single Elf swordsman only for the Elf to win the
combat and kill one of his attackers.
OGC:LEEDS SOCIAL
The event was followed by a night out, organised by Abby Ellis.
Written by Simon Gray
Special thanks to Tim Harness and Abby Ellis for their assistance in organising the event