(TFT) Jay get's intrested in the "Bridge of Khazad-Dum" scenario by Mr. Miller while worring about the east coast TFT'ers

[Jay Carlisle <maou.tsaou@gmail.com>]

This is for opposed checks where a Figure rolling under the Stat checked
against but higher than opposing Figures who also rolled under their Stat
wins the better result.
Rolling the exact number of the checked Stat gains the best result.
For a 5-second turn check everybody involved chooses their Effort in dice
and then everybody throws all dice at once (1 colour or size per player).
An Effort of 3d6 is a normal exertion at full-speed, additional Effort
dice cost 1 fST per die over the initial 3.
A half-speed Effort of 2d6 allows a gain of +1 fST that turn.
Players spend dice according to the highest adjDX.
A player must initially spend at least 2 dice toward their own Action
Effort.
Additional Effort dice are spent one per round as long as more than one
player has additional dice to spend, elseif a player assigns their extra
Effort dice as they see fit.

{about here I check and find there's no tft.brainiac at all much less
anything else I "know from Joe" soooo to speak}

Additional Effort dice can be used to;
Add a die to the players Action Effort.
Change a die in the players Action Effort.
Change a die in an Opponents Action Effort.

This plays well with hidden Statistics like when encountering a monster for
the first time.

{at this point I'm rechecking and getting a touch verklempt}

I really like the feel of the above but it can require quite a bit of dice
and more problematically it pretty much gets rid of a damage roll
altogether.
This wouldnt bother me so much if it didnt muck with magic like it does.
Consider Mr. Millers Bridge of Khazad-Dum scenario.
The most obvious solution is a Gandalf Lightning Bolt but the whole 24pt
shot only averages 84 points of damage so I go with 4 Trips and maybe an 8
die bolt (avg 28 and knockdown) to finish off.
Thats 4 checks at about 55.5% chance of success for the Rog and a slap at
the end for over a quarter of its ST on average and a sure knockdown on a
VERY narrow bridge.
However, under what I describe above Gandalf should be able to try a check
at greater Effort which would provide a multiplier to his damage
Or are spells more like bullets?
Nope, nevermind all that fST stuff says Spells dont have simple
triggers, its a process like a golf swing or breaking ball, magic items
on the other hand...
Ergo if a wizard is willing to take more risk to gain more effect then Id
have a hard time arguing against it as currently written.
Lightning in relation to more mechanical force is another topic altogether
but Id think that 5pts of damage to clear a wall is only gonna hold in
someplace like a Japanese pagoda.
["Lightning  1d6 dam per ST  5pts of Lightning damage will blast through
one hex of a wall, clearing a hex - "]
By that rule Gandalfs 24pt shot cuts a tunnel across the whole of the map
from east to west on average.
Of course, thats not so far, call it 21 hexes n/s by about 16 hexes e/w so
about 90 feet by almost 69 feet; I keep a 100 foot tape in my equipment
these days so I can give a direct visual on this map.
Still, if Gandalf had a bit more control over the cubic volume rather than
taking 4 foot 4 inch across chuncks of basalt-like hexes outta the rock (?)
walls for each 5pts of damage then .?
None the less, I dont think the trolls bridges have much of a chance here
viewed like this much less the actual bridge.

Also theres this quote; "It stepped forward slowly on to the bridge, and
suddenly it drew itself up to a great height, and its wings were spread from
wall to wall..."
Make the map too big and its hard to pull this off.
Of course, because its a TFT hex scaled to 1.3m (~44) from side to side I
know that theres around 8 square feet of space in a half-hex more or less
depending on how you draw it.
3 normal human Figures can fit into a half-hex, not zero, and even more
obits than that, again depending on how you draw them.
I have an area of about 16 square feet for a hex.
A six foot tall human roughly 2 feet across at the shoulders has roughly 12
feet of surface area front or back.
But a TFT-hex is only about 4 foot 4 inches across, so only about 2/3rds of
the Figure (about 8 square feet or 1 half-hex) would fit in a single hex
without curling up or similar contortions.
So a human falling from a hex-center should end up with about two thirds of
his body in a hex one hex away from the hex it fell from.
So for a Halfling of human proportions standing around 3 feet in height only
about a third of his body would fall into a neighboring hex comprising only
about 1 square foot in area.
But then we have a Balrog with something like a 65ish foot wingspan.
Call it about 15 hexes across, 7 per wing.
Thats pretty big my first two longship models are only 14 (~60 feet)
long, and thats assuming some pretty big trees for stem, stern, and keel.
Full grown White Oak can get to 65 feet tall pretty easily, and are often as
wide as they are tall (15 inches), but often the usable portion of the trunk
extends less than half the total height of the tree, maybe 30 feet (~7 hexes
or 1 wing) of main trunk for this large average example.
How tall should a Balrog be?
Theres this; "Then Glorfindel's left hand sought a dirk, and this he thrust
up that it pierced the Balrog's belly nigh his own face (for that demon was
double his stature)..."
Also; "A great deed was that sally, as the Noldoli sing yet, and many of the
Orcs were borne backward into the fires below; but the Men of Rog leapt even
upon the coils of the serpents and came at those Balrogs and smote them
grievously, for all they had whips of flame and claws of steel, and were in
stature very great. "
So I know they are at least twice the size of a hero and maybe more.
I also know 12 feet tall wont cut it.
How do I know for sure?
We want the Rog to be a multi-hex Figure.
Viewed from the top down a six foot tall human standing at attention fits
into a box about 2 feet by a foot.
Double the height while keeping the proportions (roughly anyway) and a 12
foot tall figure fits into a 2 foot by 4 foot box.
That is technically a half-hex, but the Figure is constrained to standing at
attention.
Still a 12 footer fits a hex pretty well and also that 65 foot wingspan is
almost five and a half times the height.
Crank it up to 18 feet in height, or 3 times human, and you spill over into
2 hexes standing at attention with a wingspan just over three and a half
times its height (still a very high aspect ratio Id suspect but hed likely
dive really well once started kindda like a gull and if theyre not very
fragile wings then he might be able to pull a Night on Bald Mountain move
to wrap-up and defend).
Thats four and a half hexes in standing height at 18 foot tall so over half
of it falls more than two hexes away from its standing hexes.
That has him checking 3 hexes away from a chasm, or pretty much anywhere on
the map except toward the exit if he falls down, is knocked down, or Trips.
So theres that.
Then theres the whole bit about how you draw it again.
In this particular case I have a Star Wars action figure of General Grievous
that stands 4.5 inches, or 18 foot to scale, at its tallest but stands just
over 12 feet, 3 inches, in its most compact stance.
Using its rough proportions to describe a Balrog I note that the Figures
armspan is 4 hexes with its hands and wrists in the hexes on either end.
So if the Balrog is using proper technique Id expect the 20 foot whip (~5
hexes and arguably small for a humanoid Figure three times human hero size)
to actually range 7 hexes because of the Rogs reach making a circle 14 hexes
across.
And thats standing still.
His feet are kind of interesting.
They are roughly 5 feet long, a square over a hex, and about 3 feet wide
with 6 toes (or claws) spaced about a foot apart.
Standing at attention and pidgon-toed the Generals feet make a 3-hex Figure
chit.
He can easily stand in positions that have his feet 3 hexes apart from each
other and his crotch at about 2 inches in height to scale, half an inch
higher up than Joe Hero stands.
That visual tells a bit of a story, not to mention letting the Balrog walk
over the crevice.
And as Balrogs are noted to run swiftly (MA 12) Id expect his Running
stride to cover at least 5 hexes per pace looked at proportionally.
Also, when stepping into something like an attack Action with the whip hes
probably gonna get another hex or two in range.
Suddenly those cramped quarters are seeming useful, slap a 20 foot ceiling
on the joint and go Raising Arizona in the trailer on poor old Rog.
Even worse, vault the ceiling to 20 foot at its max.
Then theres his 5 foot long feet on the five foot wide bridge.
Balancing on that beam ought to be worth another die on a Trip check against
DX wouldnt you think?
I mean its a completely different footing situation for the Rog/General
here than for a human, elf, dwarf, or hobbit.
Give me a five foot wide path to go down and throw tennis balls at me as I
go and my options are quite different from the ones Id have for a one foot
wide path of similar distance.
Not to mention his chances on a auto-knockdown
In classic TFT where the mega-hex grid is fixed to the map before play and
Lightning is a Missile Spell it seems Gandalf would do well to target the
troll bridges using Lightning with distance mods likely offset by the target
size.
Even with the odd first turn where Gandalf cant technically do anything but
move maybe a Reverse Missiles for the 4 bowmen? 2 fST
Lets say that the troll bridges are as far away from the Fellowship as
possible at opposite ends of the crevice when setup at the end of the turn.
6 Mega-hexes away seems about as far away as they can get which is -2 DX, 14
or less on 3d6 at over 90% chance for success w/o taking into account the 4
full hexes in area of the target.
So Gandalf walks forward 1 hex blowing up a bridge (3 ST to make SURE if 5
clears a whole hex) so Gandalf is at 2 +1 +3 = 6 fST adjusting to 19 ST with
one bridge out and a Reverse Missile running.
I assume the other troll moves half its MA then drops its bridge as its
Action.
Next turn (#3) Gandalf steps forward 1 hex, cutting his missile mod down to
-1 and 3 ST zaps the other bridge, adjST = 15 with both bridges out and
Reverse Missiles still running.
Then the Balrog appears.
Next turn I can get Gandalf more than halfway across the bridge with a full
move, adjST 14 though because at best only -1 away from bowmen in
mega-hexes.
The Balrog makes the same hex as Gandalf with one corner of its chit as a
3-hex creature after a full move of 12 hexes.
Even Boromir and Gimli get halfway across the map e/w on the first turn and
Legolas and Aragorn can charge attack the far side of the crevice as an
option on the second turn so theres really nowhere the second bridge can be
thrown that it cant be blocked by a Fellowship Figure it seems and the next
turn the bridge is getting broken so it seems like 4 arrow shots a turn with
two or three hitting each turn for 3 or 4 points a strike which only hurts
Legolas on average.
However, Legolas also averages roughly 11 pts in his 2 attacks per turn at
adjDX 18 so the Orcs most probably get 4 shots, then 3, 2 etc.
Also if any shoot at Gandalf (maybe likely after he takes the first bridge)
then Legolas is likely to need only one shot to knock a Orc bowman out.
In that case Legolas first shot is likely to take one out before he gets a
second shot off.
So in the case of all 4 Orc bowmen shooting Gandalf after he shoots the
first bridge with a lightning bolt is likely to have 3 of them hitting
themselves, say two for 3pts and the other for 4.
Legolas 2 shots knock 2 Orcs out on average leaving a wounded Orc and an
untouched Orc at the end of turn #2.
On turn #3 Legolas first shot goes at the wounded Orc knocking him out and
only leaving 1 bowman to shoot who is wounded himself with legolas second
shot and finished off on turn #4 before getting a shot off.
Meanwhile Gimli, Boromir, and Aragorn surround the end of the second bridge
and Gandalf zaps it before the Balrog shows up.
Turn 4 is all about getting the Rog on the bridge for the players and then 5
is about Gandalf hitting him with a knockdown shot of Lightning.
All the hobbits can be across the bridge of Khazad-Dum in 2 turns before a
troll can Action to drop a bridge across the crevice.
Hummmm
<breaks out dice>
Turn 1
Fellowship moves with hobbits heading for the other side of bridge while the
4 fighting types take full moves to the halfway point as they dont know
where the Orcs will setup.
Gandalf casts Reverse Missiles (adjST 23).
Using the full hexes along the edge the Orcs setup trolls then swordsmen
then bowmen.
Turn 2
Aragorn rolls 3 +1 =4
Orcs roll 5
Troll 1 moves forward 2 hexes to crevice edge and Troll 2 moves around
pillar 4 hexes to crevice edge a hex away from Troll 1.
Swordsmen move around trolls and bowmen move one hex forward.
Boromir, Gimli, and Aragorn move to surround hex where Troll 1 bridge will
end.
Hobbits cross bridge and Legolas and Gandalf move 1.
Actions
Legolas first shot at bowman 1 (11) hits (6 +2 = 8) damage (knockdown).
Gandalf 3 die Lightning at Troll 2 bridge (10) hits (11) damage breaks
bridge (adjST 19).
Orc bowmen fire at Gandalf, (6,10,14) hit, hit, miss (1,2) damage to bowmen
# 2 and 3.
Troll 1 drops bridge.
Legolas fires second shot at bowman #3 (12) hit (1 +2 =3) damage (5 total -2
DX next turn).
Turn 3
Aragorn rolls 3 +1 = 4
Orcs roll 6
Orcs make Fellowship move first.
Gandalf moves one.
Orcs move Troll 1 and 3 swordsmen onto bridge.
Bowman #1 stands up, 2  4 move forward 1.
Actions
Legolas first shot at bowman #2 (14) hit 6 +2 = 8 damage (knockdown) +1
from last turn is knockout.
Gandalf shoots at bridge 2 with 3d6 Lightning (11) hit (16) damage breaks
bridge (adjST 15 dropped Reverse Missile).
At this point Im thinking 4d6 DX checks for the Figures at either end of
the bridge, the Troll and swordsman 3 (14, 11) so the troll falls in while
the swordsman on the far side is safe.
2 bowmen, #2 and 4 fire, #2 at -2 DX at Legolas (12, 9) miss and hit (4 -1
=3) damage.
Legolas second shot at bowman 3 (10) hit (5 +2 =7) damage +5 from last turn
is a kill.
Balrog shows directly across from bridge.
Turn 4
Aragorn rolls 5 +1 =6
Orcs roll 2
Fellowship beats feet for the bridge, lineing up Gandalf, then Aragorn
followed by Gimli, then Boromir a hex away with Legolas shifted away from
the bridge and Boromir and Gimli set to engage.
It seems the Rogs best bet is to charge the bridge and get a shift onto
Boromir w/adjDX 12 (11) success so no fall or additional checks.
Actions
Legolas first shot at bowman 1 (10) hit (6 +2 =8) kill.
Bowman 4 fires at Legolas (5) hit (2 -1 = 1) damage, 4 total.
Legolas second shot at bowman 4 (7) hit (4 +2 = 6) damage -2 DX next turn.
Turn 5
The positioning is a bit odd here for the Balrog but without question Gimli
and Boromir are gonna be able to keep the Balrog engaged at the head of the
bridge, Ill assume the Balrog wont let Boromir get behind him and gets a
shift onto Gimli who is 2 hexes away from Gandalf.
At adjDX 10 (12) fails and he falls (10) not falling into the chasm but
subject to Trample.
Actions
Legolas first shot at bowman 4 (16) miss.
Gandalf shoots 13d6 Lightning at Balrog (13) hit (47) damage knockdown, DX14
check on 4d6 (17) fail, falls into chasm.
Bowman 4 fires at Legolas (8) -2DX hit (2 -1 = 1) damage, 5 total.
Legolas second shot, (17 REALLY?!?) 1 die damage (1) regardless of armor, 6
total.
Turn 6
Gimli stands up.
Blah blah blah
Actions
Legolas first shot at bowman 4 (9) hit (6 +2 = 8) damage (knockdown)
Legolas second shot (12) hit (5 +2 = 7) kill.
Turn 7
Fellowship lines up across crevice from remaining troll and swordsmen.
Actions
Fellowship moons remaining troll and swordsmen across crevice.

By the numbers this approach seems to work to the Fellowships advantage Im
looking now for a strong Orc response to this.
A lot is gonna come down to the Figures that get clustered on the second
bridge assuming the first goes the way of the dodo before being deployed.
How is that best delt with?
The 4d6 save vs. DX seemed to be in the sprit of the thing but even if a
troll gets there with over half a move he has to stand up to adjDX attacks
of 10, 12, and 13 (10, 12, 8) hit, hit, and hit (14 +1, + 11 + 1, + 8 +4 =
38) damage (knockdown).
I guess I didnt quite kill the troll, but he cant pursue next turn and
only has adjST 2 soooo
Long story short, I dig Mr. Millers scenario.
Had Legolas futzed up 2 in a row early on those bowmen could have been more
dangerous.
Im thinking that Gandalfs choice of when to stop Reverse Missile is a
hinge point to this approach too, as a second turn of bowfire at him the
way I describe could really have hurt him with only 1 point of armor.
Say three hit for 10 points, thats a different ballgame I wonder if
Boromir, Gimli, and Aragorn can attack the bridge?

{so somewhere in there I lost track of opposed resolutions and got focused
on the 'Bridge' scenario... no worries from my end but I guess Mr. Miller
may not mind the notes so I didn't edit or whatnot now that you guys are
back}
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