Spiders! - 1000pts WotR Battle vs Thrydon's Battlehost

Hey Folks,

Here is the Battle Report for the first outing of Druzhag's Spider Swarm. This game was vs Jamie and his filthy dirty Hillman, Thrydons Dunlending Battlehost with Uruk Crossbows.

The Spider army was;

• Druzhag


• 6 Coy Giant Spider


• 6 Coy Giant Spider


• 5 Coy Giant Spider


• Spider Queen


• Spider Queen

The Dunlending host was (IIRC);

• Thrydon + Battlehost


• Allied Tainted


• Allied Dwimmerlaik


• 5-6 Huscarls


• 5-6 Huscarls


• 5-6 Huscarls


• 4 Uruk Crossbow with Captain

We decided to play Shieldwalls and VP's. as usual, so we don't have to think too hard after a long day! I also thought I might try and write this from Druzhag's perspective...

" I, the mighty Druzhag, Lord of Beasts and all I can sees am happily hunting game with a few of my Spider friends when the foul stench of Man-flesh and Uruk-flesh fills my nostrils. From their filthy appearance and shaggy beast like hair I figures these are the Humans from Dunland. Surely the giant ape loping at the heads of the collum of men is the Man known to us as Thrydon. The spider scouts have also spotted the fingers of the Black Hand, two Nazgul march with the man-things and also some Uruks from Isengard. I is trouble buy what servants of the Black Tower and White Hand might be doing together...this cant be good for the poor misunderstood beasts of the Misty Mountains. They will come here and expect us to fights for them in their wars, and we have trouble enough of our own with that scum Durburz form the dwarf-hole Moria. We will not be used by either power, and now my Spider friends and I will teach them a lesson. First we will lurk behind this hill screened by these two small copses, then we shall pounce on them and FEED"

"Damn, the Nazgul must have sensed we are here, the man things are deploying for battle"
"There seem to be more man things then we expected, we shall feed well but will have to be careful how we pounce on them. The Uruk-things have crossbows and these could kill many of my children from afar..."
"I motion my children forward and move towards a flank of the man things, I see two Nazgul before me amongst the foul smelling throng. I use call the winds to push back the closest men and then call the earth to sprout roots and hold them fast. More of my children move to support me as well as one of the Queens"
"The Nazgul attempt to use their dark sorcery to frustrate my attempts, but their will is weak and while they cloak myself and my supporting children in darkness they man things are laggards and fail to close with us. We shall make them pay dearly for their inaction"
"We have the advantage so move to engage the flank of the man-things. I call more of the children and four more spiders scuttle out of the nearby woods and move to flank the men. I infuse my spider children with fury and then shatter the shields of the man things with my will. The Nazgul attempt to stop us but their sorcery is weak and the men can not reach us from where we lurk"
"My poor children behind the hill are surprised by the Uruk-things with Crossbows, who advance to the top of the hill and slay many, and then force them back"
"With a mighty chittering my spider children spring forth upon the man things, with the calming presence of the Queen behind them they fear no Nazgul and we crash upon them in a tide of black stingers and mandibles"
"The fury of my children burns hot and the entire flank of the man-things is slain to the last ape before they can even lift their weapons. Their is a piercing scream as one of the Nazgul is undone to flee back east shapeless and cast down. The children feed well! All does not appear to be going our way though as from the distance I hear the death scream of one of the Queens. In her last mind speech she spoke of facing the large ape Thyrdon and fighting him to a standstill, alas she was then tired from her exertions and was hacked to death by his minions"
"We have turned the flank of the man things but they are still dangerous. There is a wild scream as barely clad savages erupt from hiding out of a copse of trees behind us. The remaining Queen goes to investigate. More spiders come to my call and we attempt to pin the second unit of man-things in place. The remaining Nazgul uses his dark sorcery to save them from certain death though and my spider children are forced back from the melee. Still full from their recent feast the children fail to move fast enough to reach the man-things and it is only the freshly arrived (and hungry) spiders that engage the man things. They slay many but 5 of the children are slain as well. The Queen slays some wildmen but is injured and is unable to charge again into the masses of savages"
"From afar and over the hill I hear the cries of my children as the charge the large ape's warriors only to dash themselves to death on the solid wall of shields"
"Before me I see the savage remnants of the second unit of man-things, with a cold hunger in their eyes my children prepare to finish them"
"With the Uruk's on the hill, and my children around me diminished I feel the battle slipping from my grasp. Quickly I call more spiders and am rewarded for my friendship when six of the children arrive. I then move to join them and urge them to move with all speed around the flank of the Uruks and out of arc of the deadly crossbows. The Children that were with me move to devour the Wild-men while the poor children close to the Uruk-things are savaged to ruin by a hail of barbed bolts. The hungry children over the hill from me devourer the last of the 2nd man thing unit but both my children set to engage the rear of the Uruk-things and the children near the wild-things are tried and unable to gather the strength to pounce. The Queen is made of sterner stuff and devours more wildmen but is grievously wounded"
"The light of the day is brightening and many of my children have been slain. The large ape Thrydon has lead the third cohort of his men and we lack the strength to eat them too. Likewise the Uruk's with crossbows have slain many more children."
"Our queen has devoured more of the wild men but is very badly hurt, so now is the time to return to our lairs and return with more of my children"

So in the end I had lost 17 coy's of spider and a Queen, while I'm pretty sure Jamie's units were 5-coy of Huscarls so he lost maybe 11 coys plus 3 wild men and a Nazgul. I reckon that's a win to Jamie.

A super fun game with a super fun army, the Spiders will hunt again soon.