THE BATTLE OF HELM'S DEEP is, or could be, a very entertaining little game. It's not too hard to play, nor too easy, and it is short enough to use as an intermission between longer and more complicated games. But the lack of one simple rule unbalances the game hopelessly and makes it impossible for Saruman to win (which is good in the trilogy, but not so good on the game board). Theoden can employ the following defense which will prove to be unbreakable in the 14 turns of the game unless the Orcs consistently get very luck die rolls.

To begin with, the Dike cannot be held. It is far too long for the limited number of Theoden's units to even begin to consider waking a stand there, and unlike the fortress it entails no special 'non-retreat' rules. A defense here will result in the loss of too many valuable units in proportion to the amount of time which could be gained. The breach can be held, but only until Turn 2. Saruman's first move will usually be to block the entrance to the breach with Dunlander 5-4s, backed up by all his archers, and send other units to erect ladders to scale the Dike.

These units will be in the trench on Turn 2, and on the following turn can, if they manage to erect ladders advance into hexes E5 and H6, cutting the defenders off. While the flanking units are moving into the trench, Saruman will generally use his archers in 44 attacks against the defenders with a 1/3 chance of elimination. Any unit which is retreated by these attacks can move back into the breach during Theoden's turn. If the Orcish archers sould pick off one of the 3-4s, a replacement can be in position in the same turn if it begins the game in the Hornberg hex of the road tunnel (F11).

The archer unit at F6 is also an easy target for archery fire, but this cannot be helped. On Turn 1 he should be retreated back to the fortress via the road. Thus two turns of delay are brought by (probably) the loss of only one small unit. When the two 3-4s withdraw, the unit at F5 will only be able to make it as far back as F10, where it is vulnerable to a melee attack at +2. But if a Dr results, the 3-4 can retreat along the bottom of the wall to the west and move up the Deeping Stream culvert on its next turn.

Until the bombs begin to arrive on Turn 8, the Orcs and Dunlanders can only attack either through the culvert or up the wall. Since their attack strength is reduced by 1 in the culvert, and a clear path of retreat is always available to the defending unit, they can make no progress whatsoever there, Theoden can place a 3-4 in the steam hex F12 and promptly forget about that route as a source of danger.

Strangely enough, the walls are the most difficult and dangerous spot to defend in the entire fortress complex.

Essentially Theoden is faced with three choices as to wall defense.

First, he can place units in every hex of the wall-top, so as to defend the wall against enemy Up-Ladder Assaults. Saruman's counter-move will be to bring up his bowmen and annihilate the defenders with archery fire at +2 because they have no retreat routes.

If Theoden places his men in every other hex so as to afford them the protection of the 'non-retreat' rule, then the Orcs will make unopposed Up-Ladder Assaults into the empty hexes and melee the defenders who will again have their retreat routes cut off. Either method results in the quick slaughter of Theoden's units as soon as Saruman's troops get into position.

The third choice, and the only tactically feasible one, is to not defend the walls at all. Initially they should be held with archer units stationed on every other hex. These men should be able to take some toll of the Orcs by attacking them at +4 as they form up for the attack. When the Orcs have moved into position at the foot of the walls, the archers shopld jump down into the interior of the fortress. Together with some sword units, they occupy all hexes adjacent to the walls in order to prevent the Orcs from jumping down themselves.

A 5-4 is placed in the Outer Court. This leaves the Orcs in total possession of the walls, but not the citadels. Note that the fact that they cannot make a successful ULA simply because there is no one to make it against deprives them of 30 victory points, The Orcs will therefore have to either make a breakthrough and exit units, or else totally destroy Theoden's army, in order to win the game.

Getting men onto the walls via ladders will take Saruman a little time. His task is rendered harder by Theoden's archers who switch back and forth along the bottom of the walls in the interior to fire at his troops who have made the ascent. Although the Orcs will usually have a retreat route down a ladder, there is always a 1/3 chance of an X at +4. The archers should fire only at the Dunlander 5-4s and the enemy archers, never at any other target unless the former are unavailable. Once the Orcs have gained the walls, their only route off of them is through the Outer Court.

To break through there they must destroy the two gates, which they can only attack at +4 with a 1/3 chance of destruction. This will probably take them at least two turns, and more if the archery fire from below should radically upset their assault plans by the untimely elimination of a 5-4.

When the gates are down, the Dunlanders will be able to muster a +5 against the 5-4 in the Outer Court. Since E12 and G12 must be occupied by Theoden's units, this gives the Dunlanders a 2/3 chance of eliminating a 5-4. The 4 5-4s available to Theoden should, statistically, hold out for 6 turns. When they are gone, the Outer Court will have to be given up and Theoden's men should retreat to hold the remaining two gates. Since Theoden cannot leave the Hornberg he will be attacked repeatedly at +0 until he is destroyed. But this will only give the Orcs 25 points; a tactical victory for Theoden, so they must press on.

Bombs, while they can be helpful to the Orcs, really arrive too late in the game to be of any decisive use. In most games the Orcs will only have two places to use their first bomb, either on the Hornberg gate or the road tunnel gate. if the former is their target, then Theoden may be destroyed more quickly but the gate to the Outer Court will require another bomb to provide through passage If the road tunnel gate is destroyed, a 3-4 at F11 can defend there until he gets a Dr: (1/6 chance at +2). A Dr1 (to hex F12) or a Dr3 (to hex E13) leaves him an open retreat route, and if he is destroyed, Theoden can either put another man in to replace him or retire behind the second road tunnel gate, which will require another bomb to destroy it.

Once the Orcs have captured the walls, the game becomes a strict battle of attrition. The Dunlanders strive to force the Outer Court while the archers try to pick off Theoden's men at the foot of the walls, at the same time being attacked themselves by Theoden's archers. When Theoden no longer has enough units to prevent the Orcs from jumping down the walls, that is the beginning of the end. Massacre and rout will swiftly follow.

However, let's take a look at the chronology of the battle, The Orcs cannot be on top of the fortress walls before Turn 5. Conceivably they couLd destroy both gates on Turn 5, and then destroy the 4 5-4s defending the Outer Court by Turn 9 (the odds are 1/54). They still have to destroy the other two gates leading from the Outer Court, kill enough of Theoden's units to allow the Orcs to jump down the walls, and then make sure that either five units exit the board or that every one of Theoden's men is wiped out.

Even with the best of luck - successful die rolls every time - they have only 5 turns to do this. It just can't be done, and the result will invariable be either a tactical or decisive victory for Theoden, depending on whether or not the Theoden unit is eliminated.

Solution

The solution to this problem of play balance is the simple addition of an advance after combat rule: When a unit is retreated or eliminated as a result of melee combat, the attacker may advance one of the attacking units into the defeated unit's hex. Advances cannot be made through un-destroyed gates, or up the Deeping Stream culvert unless Saruman rolls the proper die number for movement. Advances can be made from one enemy Zone of Control to another, and must take place before any other combat is rolled for. This one rule changes the game drastically. Theoden's defense remains basically the same, but he can no longer count on holding positions through the simple expedient of replacing the fallen. At the breach, the Ounlanders can quickly force entry by retreating the Westfolder 3-4s with attacks across the bridge at +2.

Saruman's troops can now advance up the road tunnel Deeping Stream culvert at the same time that the battle for the Outer Court is being fought, thus forcing Theoden to commit 5-4s to those two areas. And most importantly, the first 5-4 which is eliminated in the Outer Court allows the Orcs to occupy it, thus opening the way a little wider to their gaining the interior of the walls.

Theoden will have to counter-attack in an attempt to regain the Outer Court, or he will have to concede the Outer Court and attempt to defend the second pair of gates, which are all that stand between him and Saruman's hordes.

With the use of this rule, the game will often hang in the balance until the very last turn. A greater amount of skill is demanded from each player, as he must consider the possiblility of attacking or defending strongpoints together with the tactical. problems that advance-after-combat entails. At the end Theoden's men are generally crowded into the narrow neck of land containing the single citadel at E15, desperatlely trying both to have a single unit survive and to prevent the Orcs from eJting the necessary 5 units. Sometimes they will live to hear the attack of Treebeard and his Ents on Turn 15, thus saving them from massacre; ard sometimes not.