Mustering Your Warband

When you decide to start a Battle Companies campaign, the first, and probably most important, thing to do is to select which of the many different Battle Companies you would like to collect. There are Battle Companies to represent most of the numerous different factions, kingdoms and alliances from all over Middle-earth, so we are confident that you will be able to find one that suits your particular tastes.

STEP 1 — GATHER YOUR FORCE

This book contains 38 different Battle Companies from all parts of Middle-earth. From the White City of Minas Tirith to the arid deserts of Harad, and from the rolling hills of the Shire to the cavernous halls of Moria, you will find Battle Companies to represent almost all of the fighting forces of Middle-earth from page 30 onwards. Each Battle Company has a section of background introducing them, how their companies are formed and what their goals are. Each entry also has its own starting Battle Company, a list of the Advancements available to members of that company, Reinforcements chart(s), and a unique special rule that is only available to the Heroes from that company.

After you have chosen the Battle Company that you are going to use, you can gather all of the models you need for your starting company; detailed on the Battle Company's specific page. You should then write down all of the members of your company, including all of their wargear, on your roster sheet — a copy of this can be found on pages 126-127 and can be printed for your own personal use.

It is a good idea to give each member of your company a name, that way it makes it much easier to record what each of them has accomplished. It also allows the members of your company to develop their own character and personality, and allows you to follow the stories that unfold as your company embarks on adventures and partakes in battles; celebrating their achievements and mourning their losses. Some people also paint the names of their company members on the bases of their models so they can easily identify them at a glance.

Once you have chosen which Battle Company you are going to play, and gathered together all the various models you will need, the next thing to do is to select the Heroes of your company. When you start a Battle Company you will be able to select three of its members to become Heroes; they will each get a single point each of Might, Will and Fate, and will be treated as Hero models for all intents and purposes. Next, you will need to choose one of your Hero models to be the leader of your company; the other two become your leader's Sergeants. If, at any point during a Battle Companies campaign, your leader is slain, choose one of your Sergeants to be promoted to the leader of the Battle Company after the battle. If you ever have less than two Sergeants remaining, another Hero in your company, who is not already a leader or Sergeant, may become a Sergeant. Regardless of the number of Hero models in your Battle Company, you may only ever have a maximum of one leader and two Sergeants.

It is also worth pointing out that the leader and Sergeants of your Battle Company are new Hero models, and as such are only able to use the universal Heroic Actions and not the specialised Heroic Actions — though they may gain access to some of these as they progress.

Throughout your games and adventures in Middle-earth, your Battle Company will have a chance to recruit more members and swell in size. However, your Battle Company may not normally exceed a total of 15 models — though there are a few rare exceptions to this rule. Additionally, only 33% of the total members of your Battle Company can have bows unless otherwise stated. If your Battle Company cannot include any more models armed with bows, and a Reinforcement roll would provide your company with a model armed with a bow, choose a lower result on the same chart that suits your needs.

Some models available to Battle Companies are classed as rare units; this means that a Battle Company can only ever have a certain number of them. When this is the case, it will be presented after the model's name in brackets stating Rare X, where X is the maximum number of that model available. For example, if a model has (Rare 1) after it, a Battle Company would only ever be allowed to have one of them. If a model has (Rare 2) after it, then a Battle Company could have a maximum of two, and so on. If your Battle Company cannot include any more Rare models, and a Reinforcement roll would provide your company with a Rare model, choose a lower result on the same chart that suits your needs.

STEP 2 — PLAY A GAME

Once you have collected your Battle Company together, and given them all suitably Middle-earth sounding names, the next thing to do is find an opponent to play against — a rather vital thing when you are playing a game! Once you and your opponent have both gathered your forces, you will need to decide on which Scenario you are going to play. On pages 70-83 you will find a selection of 18 different Scenarios specially designed for Battle Companies for you to choose from. Some of these will be completely even for each side, with both trying to accomplish the same goals; whilst others will require one force to be the Attacker whilst the other force is the Defender. You can simply choose a Scenario, or choose which of the charts to roll on. Alternatively, if both sides agree that they will happily play any Scenario, you can roll-off to see which of the charts on page 71 to roll on to determine which one to play.

During the game you will need to keep track of how many Wounds each model in your Battle Company inflicts upon the enemy, and which models have been removed from play as casualties. This is essential for working out whether the members of your Battle Company have sustained any Injuries, or if they have gained enough Experience Points to be promoted through the ranks or maybe even become a Hero in their own right!

THE GOLDEN RULE

Games of Battle Companies are fast-paced and intricate skirmishes where the focus should be more on the fun and enjoyment of the game rather than on trying to bend the rules to suit your own needs. If you are not sure whether you can do something based on the rules presented in this book, ask yourself whether it feels right — if the answer is no, then we would suggest not doing it and simply carrying on as before, and of course playing in a generous spirit. Also, remember to check The Most Important Rule on page 14 of the Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game rules manual.

THE BATTLEIS LOST!

Sometimes you may find your Battle Company in a situation where it all just seems hopeless, and victory is all but impossible. In these situations it makes more sense for your Battle Company to fall back and regroup rather than face certain death.

If your Battle Company has been reduced to 25% or less of its starting numbers then your models may choose to automatically fail their Courage test for being Broken. That way they will flee the board and live to fight another day. Of course, it is important to remember that if a model has already been Charged then they do not take a Courage test — they must stand and fight!