Dismay fell on the Goblins

[Dunheved]

There seems to be a few occasions when the orc components of an opposing force get to be dismayed (or lose all sense of Hate and act instantly Craven) en masse.

Beorn's impact on the Battle of 5 Armies is to scatter the Bodyguard of Bolg and then to 'crush' Bolg himself. It is at this moment that the Goblin army goes limp at the knees and want to cash in their return tickets back to the Misty Mountains. (presumably travelling by Warg Express?) I just love the phrase

Dismay fell on the Goblins

(When the Chief warg gets a burnt nose all order is lost in the glade. But that is a poor example of this trend)

In Moria the death of the Frodo-spearing Black Uruk captain gives the fellowship a lull in proceedings and the chance to escape.

His followers fled howling

.

And the death of the Witch King halts the attack on Minas Tirith. If there had not been the Easterlings and the Haradrim (plus mumakil) to rally behind I suspect that the orcs of that army would not have hung around either.

The removal of the Will of Sauron leaves the Mordor forces without any will or direction to fight the Captains of the West at Cormallen. (that's when Sauron sees what's happening over at Mount Doom and gets a bit distracted..)

In conclusion, the Forces of Sauron do not have anything like the free will of their enemies to simply take over command in a crisis. Nor do orcs have much of a sense of duty unless compelled or driven.

My point being that I think that taking out the leader of the opposition should have a major impact on a bunch of Orcs and/or Goblins being faced by a fellowship. Reducing all Orc Hate levels to 1 point each perhaps or forcing them into a collective Fear check of their own based on the highest attribute amongst the remaining adversaries?

[Hermes Serpent]

Personally I tend not to fight to the death in the case of NPC's but make logical informed decisions. Creatures don't usually attack unless they (or their off-spring) are threatened or attacked or they are motivated by something with greater intelligence. Orcs tend to need a degree of competent leadership to attack and if the leader goes into combat it's because he see his troops wavering and needs to exert his authority. It may be a personal intervention but it's as likely to be sending in his bodyguard. Once the leadership is dealt with the others run away or are passive.

My last session had the company find some orcs in daylight hiding/sleeping. They identified the chief's location, dealt with his guards out side (under trees) and then finished off the other guards and the chief that emerged from the hide tent in response to a shout from the guard not insta-killed. The rest of the orcs stayed under cover except for a very brave archer who took a parting shot as the company fled down the hillside. Why? because it felt right and sending fifty less able orcs after the company would not advance the plot one iota and fell in with the concept of orcs needing to be motivated to do things.