First Age Gank Squad vs Helm’s Deep

[Harbinger19]

Under the influence of an especially strong barrel of Longbottom Leaf, Saruman decides to reexamine his campaign against Rohan. He elects to sacrifice his army of Uruk-hai & Dunlendings & the Palantir for a one-time space-time warp.

In exchange he gets the following team.

Feanor & his 7 sons
Fingolfin
Finrod Felagund
Beleg Strongbow
Ecthelion of the Fountain
Mablung of the Heavy Hand

& a couple of Elf-friends

Hurin Thalion
Beren Erchamion
Turin Turambar

Total of 16 First Age warriors.

Equipment: Turin gets Gurthang, Beleg gets Anguirel its twin, along with their usual set-ups. Everyone else gets their standard war gear. They are provided with horses and appropriate supplies.

Scenario: The Gank Squad teleports into Rohan 10 miles from Helm’s Deep. Grima Wormtongue briefs them on the operation. Rohirrim scouts spot them as they ‘port in and start riding back to the Deep to tell what they see. No interference from Treebeard or the Ents. Gandalf can run messenger but isn’t allowed to fight until one side is victorious. Once the squad gets within 1 mile of the fortress a barrier seals everyone inside until battle’s end.

Gank Squad victory is achieved by taking control of the Hornburg & loudly blowing said horn. Rohirrim victory is achieved killing every last member of the squad.

How does this go?

EDIT: If Gank Squad wins they’re told Eru will shower then with their hearts’ desires. This is to make Feanor actually be a team player instead of betraying Saruman or threatening to stab Fingolfin or any of the other things he’d likely do in-character.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Under the influence of an especially strong barrel of Longbottom Leaf, Saruman decides to reexamine his campaign against Rohan. He elects to sacrifice his army of Uruk-hai & Dunlendings & the Palantir for a one-time space-time warp.

In exchange he gets the following team.

Feanor & his 7 sons
Fingolfin
Finrod Felagund
Beleg Strongbow
Ecthelion of the Fountain
Mablung of the Heavy Hand

& a couple of Elf-friends

Hurin Thalion
Beren Erchamion
Turin Turambar

Total of 16 First Age warriors.

Equipment: Turin gets Gurthang, Beleg gets Anguirel its twin, along with their usual set-ups. Everyone else gets their standard war gear. They are provided with horses and appropriate supplies.

Scenario: The Gank Squad teleports into Rohan 10 miles from Helm’s Deep. Grima Wormtongue briefs them on the operation. Rohirrim scouts spot them as they ‘port in and start riding back to the Deep to tell what they see. No interference from Treebeard or the Ents. Gandalf can run messenger but isn’t allowed to fight until one side is victorious. Once the squad gets within 1 mile of the fortress a barrier seals everyone inside until battle’s end.

Gank Squad victory is achieved by taking control of the Hornburg & loudly blowing said horn. Rohirrim victory is achieved killing every last member of the squad.

How does this go?

EDIT: If Gank Squad wins they’re told Eru will shower then with their hearts’ desires. This is to make Feanor actually be a team player instead of betraying Saruman or threatening to stab Fingolfin or any of the other things he’d likely do in-character.

I mean....it is only 16 people vs a fortified position and, IIRC, about 2,000 people.

But at the same time that’s...a lot of Tolkien muscle there.

I mean, a hail of arrows is pretty nice about now. Just kind of glad Eärendil the Mariner and his magical mystical flying Swan of Death isn’t there.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Sharp may need to confirm, but I don't see Helm's Deep surviving this.

[Pendaran]

I mean, a hail of arrows is pretty nice about now.

I feel like if Fingolfin can leap around the exploding impact craters (this is not the exaggeration you think it is) Morgoth was making in the ground during their fight, he's going to be a difficult mofo to manage to target with arrows. Yes, there can be a lot of arrows, but if they're basically landing in places he no longer is, that kinda doesn't matter.

Also as I ponder his punching on the gates of Angband to call Morgoth out and what that did, I kiiiiiinda feel like he might be able to just punch his way inside.

At that point most everyone is dead and or fleeing from terror aura.

[Nik Hasta]

Yeah, the advantage is to the Gank Squad because they are all high level, high power warriors with a lot of composure. Helm's Deep had a big old issue of morale in the original circumstance and being owned by a squad of 16 would make that morale more likely to shift. Once it breaks, it's a bit of academic matter.

I mean, what's Helm's Deep's strategy here? Siege defence strategy hinges on limiting the access points your enemies have and whittling them down as they try and get in. Given that there's 16 people who are, to my knowledge, effectively a death sentence for anyone present who enters their range barring Gimli, Legolas or Aragorn and they have a dude who might just be able to batter down the walls or doors with his fists, this means the normal strategy is very not good.

Yeah, this has the potential to go South for Helm's Deep here, very quickly.

Heck, are there any epic level archers in the Gank Squad? Like, if they sit outside of conventional range just start sniping people off the castle walls with ease, that's going to suck for morale.

[Pendaran]

Oh, I mean Fingolfin actually radiates supernatural terror from his sheer force of personality, not something ludicrous like 'logical conventional issues of morale'.

[Harbinger19]

Heck, are there any epic level archers in the Gank Squad? Like, if they sit outside of conventional range just start sniping people off the castle walls with ease, that's going to suck for morale.

Beleg Strongbow is arguably Legolas on steroids by presentation; he’s explicitly noted to be numero uno in warfare in Doriath, which is like Lothlorien on steroids, Lothlorien being the place that gave Legolas a bow with which he shot down a Nazgul.

Beleg once stealthed his way into the camp of “a great company of Orcs,” which from what I gather is probably like 200ish in number.* He shot all of their wolf-sentinels silently and hauled Turin out undetected.

* I read a company is typically in the 80-250 unit range, so I’m guessing a “great company” is closer to 200 then 80.