Board Thread:Fun and Games/@comment-26486187-20150807201352/@comment-26149161-20150912225541

Here is how it plays out in my mind.

Rhun: 25,000 Balchoth (light infantry and heavy cavalry), 15,000 Wainriders (chariots), 50,000 Loke-Rim (heavy infantry and cavalry), 50,000 "Men bearing axes" mentioned in Rotk (axe berserkers), and 25,000 Khandians (more allied with Rhun than Harad, Horse archers). Total: 165,000

Harad: 50,000 Haradrim of the Desert (light infantry), 10,000 Umbarim (corsairs and archers), 5,000 Black Numenoreans (nigh undefeatable swordsmen), 30,000 Moredain (light infantry),15,000 Half-Trolls (RARRRGH), 10,000 Mahud (javelineers and camelry), and 100 Mumakil. Total: 120,000+ 100 Mumakil.

Rhun knows they would die by entering the desert. Therefore, Khand raids the northern part of the Desert, distracting Harad. Meanwhile, they assemble a fleet and land at Pertorogwaith. The Half-Trolls fight to the death, inflicting severe (20,000) casualties. The Khandish army ride south unopposed.

''The Haradrim advance, lord. May we stain this foul ground with their blood!''

The army of  Harad, very tired from a forced march, forms up in the savannah. They send in the Mumakil, hoping to break the Rhunic forces and destroy their formation. They are countered by Wainriders, who throw javelins from their chariots. The Mumaks, though shredding many thousand Balchoth like AT-ATs, are defeated. However, they raise so much dust that the Harad army thinks the enemy is defeated. Forty thousand Haradrim tribesmen surge foreward, followed by the whole Moredain army. Rather than finding a disorganised, terrified rable, they are up against Southern Rhunic axemen and Balchoth and Loke-Rim Cataphracts. The Haradrim route, and the Moredain are erased completely. The remaining Haradrim retreat north to the Gardens of Beruthiel, followed by the Rhunic forces. The Haradrim do not know what is coming from the north to fight them..

Current Strength:

Rhun: 10,000 Balchoth, 10,000 Wainriders, 30,000 Loke-Rim, 20,000 "Men bearing axes" mentioned in Rotk, and 25,000 Khandians. Total: 95,000

Harad: 25,000 Near Haradrim, 20,000 Umbarim, 5,000 Black Numenoreans, and 10,000 Mahud. Total: 60,000

''Those Southern scum are well-sheltered, lord. We will need our skill and numbers to win this one. Here comes Khand.''

Harad takes refuge in a fortress near the Gardens. They send the Mahud and some Near Haradrim archers, 15,000 men in all, to act as pickets around the fort. The Rhunic force advances. Out of nowhere, the twenty five thousand Khandish riders attack the pickets. Many Haradrim fall, but they return fire and slay some thousand Khandians. The pickets retreat to the fortress. The fort is too small to hold the full Haradrim army, so the Haradrim and Umbaric infanty form a crecent around the gate while the archers get inside. From there they fire at the Balchoth and Loke-Rim, slaying many. With no choice, the Rhunic army sets up camp and builds ladders.

The next day, right before sunrise, the Loke-Rim spearhead an attack on the gate. They charge into combat against the Haradrim and Umbaric infantry. Meanwhile, the Balchoth scale the walls. The attackers clear the archers away, but the Loke-Rim are pushed back by the Black Numenorean guard. The Balchoth are slain to the last, while the Rhunic axemen lose three fourths. A general breakout begins. The archers stream out of the castle, and, protected by the Numenoreans and Umbar Guard infanty, escape with the light troops. They flee across the river, chased to it's banks by the Khandish mounted archers.

The Rhunic army marches to the crossing of the river. The Khandish cavalry gains on the fleeing Harad infantry and peppers them with arrows. A rearguard of five thousand Mahud are sacrificed to reach a tall ridge in the Fertile Valley.

Current Strength:

Rhun: 10,000 Wainriders, 20,000 Loke-Rim, 5,000 "Men bearing axes" mentioned in Rotk, and 20,000 Khandians. Total: 55,000

Harad: 15,000 Near Haradrim, 10,000 Umbarim, 4,000 Black Numenoreans, and 2,000 Mahud. Total: 31,000

''Curse the Southmen! They take refuge like dogs on a ridge. But we have them surrounded. They will not escape. ''

The remaining Loke-Rim, 20,000 in all, advance up the steepest part of the ridge. The Remaining Haradrim archers shoot at them, but while they are distracted the Wainriders cross the ridge to the east. Coming over the top, they are not spotted until it is too late. They shoot arrows and cut down most of the archers. The Loke-Rim charge as well. The Haradrim and Umbaric infantry countercharge the Loke-Rim and a general melee ensues. The Rhunic axemen join the fray, while the Khandish warriors, Easterling Cataphracts, and Wainriders fight the archers. The Cataphract bodyguard of the Rhunic Lords, assisted by dismounted Loke-Rim, attack the Black Numenorean guard of the Haradrim King. Vicious fighting continues, but the Easterlings gain ground slowly, their numbers paying off. Finally. the Kings of Harad and Umbar, and all their Numenorean guard, fall to dismounted Cataphractoi, and the Haradrim rout. They are persued by the Khandish forces until they are all dead.

Final Strength:

Rhun: 7,000 Wainriders, 10,000 Loke-Rim, 15,000 Khandians. Total: 32,000

Harad: Total: 0

The full Easterling host of 300,000 marches from the east, and the small armies remaining to Harad and Umbar are slain or desert. Umbar and the Fertile Valley falls in a year. The great Sunlending Empire is born, reighning from the Orocarni to the Southern Jungle.

''My lord, our forces rule the whole world. Or most of it... Let us turn our attention to the West. ''

High King Ithilion (Ni celeb ithil)