The Scouring of the Shire

I've stopped counting the number of weeks I've been in lockdown for. Here in the UK we are technically still in lockdown of some kind, but exactly what remains a somewhat confusing proposition. Certainly any stroll along the seafront in Brighton will reveal a population that looks more like they are on a beach holiday than anything else!

But that's not what I'm here to write about. I am brainstorming a game about the Scouring of the Shire, based on the penultimate chapter of JRR Tolkien's Return of the King. I've been reading some interesting reviews of The Hunt For The Ring, which I'm tempted to buy. But it has also got me thinking about the drama in the Shire at the other end of the saga, when the hobbits return home to find their old stamping grounds have been ruined by 'Sharky'.

Many years ago, when I was about 17 or 18, I wrote a wargame about the War of the Jewels, in Tolkien's Silmarillion. I adapted a set of wargames rules for the Hundred Years War to create a map game that would allow me and my brother to wage war in Beleriand in the First Age of Middle-earth. We used pins to keep track of regiments of orcs, elves, dwarves and Edain (men). Our original plan was to wage all the epic campaigns from the book. In the end we only completed the first, Morgoth's initial sally just before the arrival of the Noldor.

It actually went off well: my brother commanded the hosts of Thingol of Menegroth and Denethor of Ossiriand, backed up by the sturdy dwarves of Mount Dolmed. The action again converged on Amon Ereb. I felt I might have over-egged the strength of the dwarf units, as they gutted my orc host, being almost impossible to defeat in open battle (although not numerous). But the outcome was similar to the book, and Morgoth was defeated. We found Karen Wynn Fonstad's Atlas of Middle-earth invaluable, especially the chapter on the Battles of Beleriand.

It showed just how much fun you could have with a sheet of hex paper and some map pins.

I'm now pondering something similar, but this time a mini game involving the four hobbits returning to the Shire. One player takes the hobbits, with the objective of liberating the population from Sharky. The other controls Sharky and his cohorts of half orcs and evil men.

While Frodo and his friends are seasoned warriors and adventurers, there are only four of them. Their success will be determined by where they go and how successful they are in raising the revolt. The hobbit player needs them to start and manage the uprising. 

Sharky, on the other hand, has his more reliable troops, limited magical power, and the less reliable hobbit 'shiriffs'. These latter can help him enforce his rule, but will be less reliable when confronted by Frodo and Sam, or indeed enough hobbits to outnumber them. They may melt away, or even join the fight against Sharky.

The game starts with the four hobbits parting from Gandalf in Bree (Gandalf actually sets off across the Barrow Downs to visit Tom Bombadil). Sharky disposes of his units randomly across the Shire. The game relies on hidden movement and intelligence, which is an important factor in this. The Good player must be able to raise enough rioters to bring down Sharky. Neither player can see what the other is doing and is reliant on rumours and scouts for intelligence.

The Good player starts off with only four hobbits, but builds his army as the game goes on. Time is essentially on his side. He also has four 'leaders' which also have regional bonuses when it comes to raising bands - e.g. Pippin has a bonus in Buckland. Sharky only has one, with Wormtongue possibly of some use as a scout and assassin. Thus the hobbits can out-order him 4:1, which should be more telling as the game goes on.

The hobbit player's objective is to capture Hobbiton, while keeping his total dead to a minimum. Sharky must hold Hobbiton and quell the revolt, ideally by killing all four leader hobbits.

That's really as far as I've got. The precise mechanics are still to be determined. I might raid ICE's Fellowship of the Ring for some of them. The whole thing could form the basis of a wargames campaign using Dragon Rampant, but I simply don't have enough hobbits for that at the moment, although I could probably muster Sharky's forces.

My Alexander the Great campaign will continue next week - it has not been discarded!