Morgoth Unleashes His Monsters!

Easterners (lower left), Wargs and Wargriders (lower center), yet more orcs, Balrogs with Troll Guard (right center), and finally, dragons (lower right)! Oh my...

The Elven Captain from Falas still holds out, and smites yet more orcs...

Even after losing two of their remaining archers, Fingon, Hurin and the other heroes are more than holding their own...

Looking northward near the Fens, the remaining orcs are be destroyed...

found just to the east of the Elves from Gondolin, the Sons of Feanor are destroying the treacherous men of Ulfang and his sons...

Glaurung (in black) and its brood smash into the the Eastern Army...

Gothmog, Lord of the Balrogs with its Troll Guard, attack King Fingon (upper right)...

The Dragons are smashing through the Dwarfs, Elves and Men!

Gothmog and a Troll (and one lone crazy orc) take on Fingon and his last surviving Guard. The Second Balrog has finished off another Guard...

And then its just Fingon against Gothmog and his entourage...

Morgoth's Wargs are falling to the Sons of Feanor, while Glaurung's brood is taking some hits...

With the men of Ulfang destroyed, but seeing rising casualties (inc some of Maedros' brothers suffering wounds themselves, the Eastern Army is ordered to retreat...

Glorfindel, Beleg, Gablung, Turgon, and Ecthelion have all reached the Fens, following Fingon's order to retreat...

Huor is killed trying to come to Fingon's aid...

And finally, Fingon himself is brought low by Gothmog and a second Balrog...

Azaghal orders his Naugrim to retire after the Sons of Feanor have left he and his men behind!

And so it has come to its end...Nirnaeth Arnoediad, Battle of Unnumbered Tears. Played, literally over several months of meetings, I want to thank my numerous players for recreating this incredible struggle form the Silmarilion. Til another time...

The Eastern Army Finally Arrive!!

The battle having gone on for quite some time, the Sons of Feanor and their army come up from the south, swarming around the Himring stronghold (my very old brick castle I put together decades ago filling in). The Noldor Elves of Maedros and his bothers in the front ranks, supported by their human allies, Bor and Ulfang, along with Naugrim from Belegost, and a small Elvish contingency from Ossiriand.

Back with Fingon and his allies, the orcs still attempt to crush their enemies...

Further on the south side of the battle, Turgon and his forces are linking up with the Easter Army...

Fingon (top-left of center), Hurin and brother Huor (top-center), backed up by Mablung and Beleg, are just about all that is left of the Western Army! Only a few elves and men stand with them...

 The Eastern Army moves forward to attack the Orcish hordes. At the bottom, are the Naugrim of their King, Azaghal; above them, men of Bor (and perhaps if you look very carefully to the lower-left, you can see some greenish banners. There are actually three Polish Winged Hussars I never used back in the 80s, but they looked to neat not to finally bring out to the table); then the Sons of Feanor...

To return to our friends before the gates of Angband, the wounded Captain of Hithlum, and the Green Elf are still laying their enemies low!

Orcs finally break through to reach Mablung (left of center)...

Treachery!! (Surprise!) The Men of Ulfang now attack the rear ranks of the Eastern Army (from the left edge of the photo)...

The Elvish heroes continue to strike their enemies down...

Fingon and two of his remaining bodyguards (left) with Mablung and Beleg backed up by some bowmen from Falas. Hurin, Huor, Ecthelion, Glorfindel and King Turgon, are holding the right flank...

The Naugrim are outflanking what is left of the orcs at the extreme southern edge of the battlefield...

to be continued...

Turgon and Gondolin arrive!

The view of the battlefield looking south towards the Fen of Serech and the forces of Turgon (upper right)

At the northern edge, the few remaining Elves of Falas and the Green Elves, continue their fight...

The two remaining Green Elves are still standing their ground!

With their backs to the mountains and the gate to their homeland, the Elves and Men of Hithlum and For-lomin fight desperately against the oarfish hordes...

This fight continues southward towards the Fen...

The Elves of Gondolin fight their way on either side of the Fen as their attempt to link up with Turgon's brother Fingon...

And still, the two Green Elves still stand, dropping orcs...

The Elvish/Mannish line is barely holding...

The Elves of Gondolin are making their presence felt...

One of the Elves from Falas goes down as his fellows continue their fight...

The orcs are beginning to flank the Elves as well as piercing the center!

Turgon has just about broken trough to his brother (lower left)...

And still, the surrounded Falas' and Green Elves hold on! This has been an incredible feat (at least in a gaming universe)...

With their lines flanked and split, Fingon's men need the assistance of Turgon, Ecthelion, and Glorfindel arriving from the right...

Men of Gondolin are smashing down those orcs...

A wounded Captain from Hithlum (green cap), two Green Elves, and one from Falas prove to be a very tough nut to crack as they down three more orcs...

Hurin (center) and his brother Huor (to the right), are on their own!

Glorfindel reaches Fingon's men (upper left), while a couple of stubborn orcs are surrounded...

to be continued...

Morgoth Unleashes his Army!!

Suddenly, the Gates to Angband slam shut and Gwindor and his men pass from the Elven Army's view! Thangorodrim belches flame and smoke as countless orcs begin to pour out of numerous holes in the ground on either side of the Gates. Fingon's Army attempts to form a cohesive battle line to oppose the hordes!!

On the right flank (Elven Army), the men of Brethil (slightly left of center) are charged by the orcs, while Hurin and Huor  (center) move forward to support...

On the left, tragedy strikes as Cirdan is shot down by hundreds of orc arrows (and yes I know there is no real note of him being there, but I chose to have him command the Falas contingent in person), while the Elves of Falas and the Green Elves fight desperately...

The orcs continuing to rise from their pits in an attempt to cut Fingon off from his lands to the west (right)...

Three Green Elves are fighting an incredible defense (Lower left of center, standing alone after slaying numerous orcs!). They will show up further in the narration...

King Fingon, Hurin and Huor have withdrawn a small number of their men to the west, while the remainder of the army is locked in deadly combat (inc I might add those three Green Elves)...

One is cut off and surrounded, but he continues his fight!

In the center, Haldir (center) and his men from Brethil fight on with some of the men of Dor-lomin...

On the southern end of the battlefield, hordes of orcs are outflanking Fingon's Army...(oh, ignore the movement trays I use to move so many orcs!)

One of the Green Elves finally goes down after a tremendous stand, but the remaining two (upper right) fight on!

Those two Green Elves (just below center) destroy more orcs while they are being outflanked to the north...

The fighting intensifies on this portion of the field as numerous orcs and elves perish...

As more and more fighters go down, Haldir (top left of photo in red cape) is finally brought low by countless orcs and their own captains...

With Haldir gone along with many of his troops, men from For-lomin and Brethil become surrounded in their final struggle...

The last few Falas Elves (and those two Green Elves) are cut off (lower left) as well as their allies from Brethil and Dor-lomin (upper left). King Fingon, Beleg, Mablung, Hurin, and Huor have retreated with what is left of their army (upper right), pursued by ever more orcs...

Three Elves from Falas, and those two Green Elves, are all that remain on the northern flank...

Only a handful of men still stand...

The Army of Fingon forms what appears to be their final line (top center) in an attempt to protect their homes beyond the mountain pass (top left center)...

to be continued...