In the clutches of Shelob - LOTR/Hobbit SBG - AAR

In the clutches of Shelob

Chris and I had a little free time the other night and manage to squeeze in a simple game of LOTR/Hobbit SBG...

With my folks visiting with us, from the UK at the moment, there hasn't been a lot of time for hobby activity or gaming, but we managed a little here.

We decided to give the 'In the clutches of Shelob' scenario a whirl, using the terrain I made for GoblinTown last year - it seemed perfectly suited...

We have played this once before, and its a tough game to win, for the forces of good. Will they fare any better this time around...

The scenario starts with Frodo isolated in the centre of the board. Shelob starts at a board edge in the centre. Sam starts in centre of the board edge, that is to the left of Shelob. Gollum can be placed anywhere on the board, but must be more than 12" from any other model.

Frodo has Sting and the mithril coat. Sam has the phial of Galadriel, which makes him cause Terror!

There are several special rules for the scenario - any hit by Sting automatically causes a wound on Shelob. Sam automatically passes all courage tests. If Frodo is killed, replace him with the casualty marker. If Sam gets into base contact with this he may take Sting for his own use. Shelob cannot use Will points to boost her courage tests, in this scenario.

The Good side wins if they can kill or drive off the evil forces. The Evil forces win if they kill both hobbits...

Good side starts in the first turn.

First Game:

One of the problems for the hobbits are the relative movement rates; the hobbits move 4", wheres Gollum is 6" and Shelob 10" per turn ... so there's little chance to out run the evil forces...

The lair of Shelob, high above the pass of Cirith Ungol

Frodo alone in the 'darkness'

Shelob begins to stalk her prey...

The villain Gollum brought his fish for a snack!

Sam to the rescue - will he arrive in time?

"Coming Mr Frodo!"

Sam comes dashing to the rescue, while Frodo heads off away from both Gollum and Shelob for now, but this is also taking him away from Sam...

Gollum quickly catches Frodo, with Shelob also bearing down on him...

Frodo survives this first fight with Gollum and runs off round the rock face. He then uses a Heroic move next turn to continue this move taking him out of LOS of Shelob for a turn to avoid her charge, but he's still heading away from Sam, who is struggling to catch up...

Frodo is finally cornered and trapped by Gollum and Shelob. He is quickly dispatched!

Frodo is stung and incapacitated

[The Frodo casualty marker I recently completed and it will be going towards my entries for Curt's Painting Challenge - accordingly, for the 'Casualties' bonus round.]

Shelob and Sam now turn their attention to Sam, who is trying to reach Frodo's body to recover Sting. They decide to surround him coming from two sides...

Sam resists Gollum's initial attention,but...

... cannot withstand Shelob...

Sam is defeated.

Game over.

That was a bit of a 'divide and conquer', with the Hobbits easily dealt with in turn...

We decided to try again, this time with Frodo and Sam trying to link up...

Second Game:

Same start positions, this time Frodo and Sam run towards each other...

Gollum stays further away for a turn or two this time but there is little chance keeping away from Shelob for long...

But Frodo survives the initial charge of Shelob and this allows Sam time to catch and start to intervene... Yay for Sam!

The hobbits are fighting for their lives, thrusting back the evil duo...

... and Sams phial of Galadriel is making the evil pair hesitant at times... Gollum fails to pass his courage check, but Shelob bears on down...

... and defeats the hobbits once more...

... the hobbits seem down and out for the count once more...

...but a mithril coat and fate points keep them alive for another round!

Sadly, what seems the inevitable, finally happens, and both hobbits fall, one after the other...

Game over, again.

I am not sure how the hobbits can win this scenario,... the key seems to be trying to charge Shelob, while avoiding Gollum, and not let her charge the hobbits. The hobbits only have one Attack each, as does Shelob but she has Monstrous Pounce, on the turn she charges, doubling her attacks, and then doubling again her chances to wound, on her knocked prone foes! And with the Venom rule, she gets to re-roll failed to-wound rolls!

Gollum also has two Attacks himself so he's a bit of a handful too...

The hobbits really need a bit of luck to try and win the fight and land a blow from Sting, that then automatically triggers Shelob, (due to her Huntress special rule) to have to take a courage test. If she fails this, she flees... but with a courage value of 4, she'll only fail on a roll of 5 or less ( on 2d6)... so even if wounded there's a fair chance she'll stick around...

If she is forced to flee, Gollum could then be dealt with in turn... but it all seems quite a tough ask to manage, for the poor little hobbits...

And as mentioned at the start the hobbits have a slow movement rate so staying away from trouble for long is impossible...

Maybe denser more tightly packed terrain that impedes Shelob's movement may help, but I already had more terrain on the board, than the example set up from the scenario's description...

Anyone have any success in this mission as the Hobbits?

In the Clutches of Shelob

The pass of Cirith Ungol. A way into Mordor, that is guarded by one of its most loathsome denizens. A truely monstrous spider, or perhaps some demon in spider form, a descendant of the brood of Ungoliant; an evil Maiar form the First Age, in alliance with Morgoth?

She feeds on what she can, that try to pass her way. Mostly stray or unlucky orcs, and any other poor unfortunate creatures that stumble upon her lair.

Gollum has come across her in his travels as he searched to find the Ring for himself.

Now that he is the guide of Frodo and Sam, on their way into Mordor, he hatches a cunning plan. Let Shelob deal with the hobbits, and once they are consumed, the Ring will easily be taken from their corpses.

But not everything goes Gollums way. Frodo manages to escape the trap, initially but is later taken by surprise by the foul creature Shelob. Sam manages to follow his master, having been previously dismissed by a confused, misled, and way-worn Frodo, and like a true hero, Sam comes to the rescue, and fights the beast, forcing her to back off. Sadly Sam runs out of time as Orcs from the Tower of Cirith Ungol come to investigate. He takes the sword Sting and the Ring, believing Frodo slain, and the quest now solely left to him to complete...


The model is a metal kit requiring assembly and is accompanied by a model of Frodo bound in web, and Sam holding forth the Phial of Galadriel; "May it be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out".

I haven't got round to painting the webbed Frodo, or Sam models yet, so I show you Shelob as she tries to pounce on Frodo as he is lost in her dark tunnels...

In the game, Shelob is quite a fearsome beast as a single monster in the skirmish game, with pounce attacks and venom. However she is limited by the fact that she is a hunter who is used to surprising her prey. If she gets into a fight and take wounds, she must take a courage test or flee!

In the War of the Ring game, she is an independent monster model, that is a foe terrible to behold!