MESBG... GONDOR AND ISENGARD BRAWL FOR CONTROL OF THE DONE INN.

The Done Inn stood dilapidated and derelict, where once it had hustled and bustled, offering good food, good beer and a warm bed to weary travellers. For countless centuries, traders and wandering adventurers had emerged from the forest of Filandan to behold the welcoming façade of the ancient tavern. Now, the inn lay in ruins, ransacked and despoiled by roaming bands of Saruman's evil hordes. On this day, one such warband, lead by the Lord of Isengard’s dependable lieutenant, Lurtz, was about to discover that raiding the lands of Gondor was an enterprise that may not be undertaken with impunity.

The battlefield; the forest to the left and the Done Inn to the right, with farmland lying between the two.

Boromir and Faramir arrive at the Done Inn, ready to defend the ramshackle hostelry with their lives. Damrod and a party of bow armed Minas Tirith warriors are approaching on the far side of the inn and an Avenger Bolt Thrower awaits its crew on the balcony, overlooking the entire battlefield. The majestic banner of Gondor flies proudly before the inn, inspiring Boromir's warriors to feats of courageous valour in defence of this sacred standard.

The Uruk-Hai march through the forest... Warriors on their left, Lurtz in the centre with his Scouts and the Shaman, Sycko, on the right with Berserkers and an armoured troll. The vicious Warg in the background decided not to participate in the battle, preferring to sleep on the sofa for four hours instead.

Lurtz and his Scouts, being Woodland Creatures, burst out of the forest and head rapidly towards the hedged fields between them and the enemy. The Uruk-hai hero was hoping to draw Boromir's forces into the centre of the battlefield, where his archers could cut them down and clear the way for his flanking warbands to envelope the Gondorian line!

Boromir and Faramir lead their warbands forward from the cover of the inn, looking to form a defensive line between the farm buildings.

Meanwhile, Damrod's archers move forward and take up positions to rain down death upon the advancing Uruks. The plucky Pippin Took scurries, hobbit like, to the position of honour, defending the Gondorian banner, a task bestowed upon him personally by Boromir.

The tension mounts as the Uruk Scouts hurl themselves into the fields and advance swiftly towards the foe. However, some find themselves the objects of Lurtz's displeasure, as they flounder like bewildered idiots and fail to find a way through the hedge.

Eventually, having suffered significant casualties from the bolt thrower and the Gondorian bowmen, the Uruks manage to engage with the enemy, having successfully drawn Boromir away from his younger brother to defend the banner and prevent it falling into the evil hands of Saruman's followers.

Lurtz's cunning plan begins to unfold as the Uruk Warriors begin their advance steadily towards the Gondorian right flank. However, Faramir, Captain of Gondor and his valiant rangers, even though they are vastly outnumbered, line the opposite hedgerow and begin to unleash a constant hail of arrows in an attempt to halt the remorseless advance of the enemy.

The Uruk hoard is made to pay for every step of their advance by the withering hail of fire laid down by the bolt thrower and its merciless crew of engineers.

With the Uruk Scouts arriving piecemeal into the action by the Pigsty, it begins to look as though Gondor will gain the upper hand in this most desperate and bloody of struggles... casualties on the evil side begin to mount to dangerous levels and Lurtz's battle plan seems to be unravelling due to the valour, fortitude and deadly missile fire of Gondor.

In warfare, timing is the crucial and deciding factor. It is only now that Lurtz gives the signal for the Shaman, Sycko to begin his attack and the dreaded Berserkers and the lofty troll finally begin their advance on the Gondorian left flank.

Just at this crucial part of the battle, the Uruk warriors on the opposite flank begin to bear down upon Faramir's thin green line defending the final hedge, before they would eventually explode into the open ground beyond.

From behind the screen of swordsmen, the Uruk Scout archers are now in position to send their own hail of death dealing arrows into Boromir's desperately thin defensive line and, more importantly, to target the engineers manning the destructive bolt thrower.

As the Isengard troll pushes further around the Gondorian flank, Boromir and his few remaining warriors are, once more, forced to extend their line to counter the arrival of this gargantuan, fearsome beast...

For the handsome and brave Damrod, the arrival of Sycko and his dreadful Berserkers proves too much and his courageous action to halt the tide of Isengard reaching Pippin and the banner comes to an end in a flurry of maniacal slashing blades.

Time and time again, Boromir overcomes his fear and dread to charge into the immense mass of the troll, but neither could gain the upper hand.

All across the battlefield, outnumbered Gondor warriors bravely face the relentless advancing hordes of darkness...

until, with the defenders either slain or fleeing the field, the banner of Gondor falls into the hands of Lurtz and his Uruk horde.

The battle raged, swinging first one way and then the other, for over four hours, pausing, only fleetingly, while the commanders took a break from the slaughter, to dine on over-cooked pizza. Ultimately, victory came when the Gondorians reached that point where some of their number began to slip silently away from the battlefield and, even the stout and doughty Pippin felt compelled to abandon his position of honour as the evil minions of Sauron bore relentlessly down upon him.

The moment when Pippin begins to consider the prospect of no more second breakfasts.