The Last Alliance

THE SHORT VERSION

Mat Ward and Pete Haines translate the Second Age war into a map campaign with separately rostered armies, alternating movement, terrain difficulty and a six-scenario battle table. Casualties can become permanent losses, surviving heroes recover resources between games and defeated armies retreat according to the severity of their defeat. Required Good heroes and banners connect the campaign to its historical setting, while counts-as suggestions let Third Age collections represent earlier peoples.

Accumulated victories eventually let a player force the final confrontation with Sauron. The condition of each surviving campaign army supplies reinforcements, making earlier losses matter at the climax. The feature also adds Anárion’s profile and conversion, six independently playable encounter scenarios and the final battle on Mount Doom’s slopes. Some casualty and roster instructions disagree within the source and should be resolved by players before beginning.

Back to the original

Find this article in White Dwarf 307, pp. 98–109.

Printed100 lists four 250-point, three 500-point and one 750-point armies per side, while printed98 describes fourteen starting army markers. The casualty recovery text on101 uses 4+, but the finale on108 refers to 5 or 6 for named heroes. These source inconsistencies are preserved rather than resolved by invention.

This is an original summary. Refer to your magazine for the complete article, rules, images and painting steps.