Uruk-hai/Bio & Battles

The Uruk-hai, or simply Uruk, are described as very large black orcs of great strength, first appeared from Mordor about the year 2475 of the Third Age, when they briefly took Ithilien and the city of Osgiliath.

These original Uruks were of Sauron's breeding, but Saruman bred his own as well. All Uruks were larger and stronger than other breeds of orc and consequently looked down upon and often bully them.

Because of their greater strength when compared to the other orcs, they often wear heavy plate armor whereas the average orc wore only light steel armor or none at all. On the battlefield, the Uruks are often used as pikemen, swordsmen, crossbowmen, sappers, scouts, and berserkers. The berserkers are the most well known of these units. They possess great strength, even by Uruk standards and fill their helmets with human blood so that during battle they are covered in it, allowing them to intimidate their enemies.

Battle vs. Vrykul (by CuchulainSetanta)
In the Howling Fjord, a lone vrykul stands by his harpoon gun watching for intruders, with his proto-dragon resting behind him. Suddenly, he sees an uruk-hai walking on the plain below. The vrykul readies the harpoon gun, aims at the trespasser, and fires. Down below, the uruk-hai hears the harpoon whistling through the air, sees it, and ducks out of the way, with the weapon lodging in a tree behind him. Looking up, he sees the vrykul let out a challenging war cry on the cliff above, before going out of sight.

The vrykul straps on his battle axe, grabs his spear, and mounts his dragon, then flies down to attack the uruk-hai. The uruk has already brought out his crossbow, and fires several bolts at the approaching dragon, but they glance off the thick scales. The proto-dragon responds by spraying a stream of fire at the uruk-hai, who narrowly dodges, although the trees behind him are set alight. The uruk-hai loads his last bolt into his crossbow, and, thinking quickly, shoots the proto-dragon in its eye, killing it. Falling from the sky, the vrykul expertly leaps off his dead mount, spear in hand, and lands near the uruk-hai.

Having got his pike, the uruk charges his giant foe with a roar. The pike is longer and the uruk-hai soon gets the upper hand, stabbing the vrykul in the chest. However, it doesn't go very deep because of the vrykul's size, and the vrykul simply snaps the pike's head off. He throws his spear at the uruk-hai, and draws his axe, with the uruk drawing his square sword. The two warriors clash weapons, but the uruk is caught off guard by the vrykul's strength. Faking out the uruk, the vrykul punches his foe in the head, knocking the uruk's helmet off. Getting an idea, the uruk-hai runs over to the burning trees, grabs a branch, and runs off in the direction he came from. The vrykul grins sadistically and gives chase.

Coming upon his camp, the uruk-hai sees the siege mine he had left there. He runs past it, burning branch in hand, and waits for the vrykul to follow. As soon as the vrykul draws near and passes the mine, the uruk hurls the branch at the mine. The vrykul has no time to get out of the way, and is blown sky high. After the explosion clears, the uruk-hai approaches the vrykul's burned corpse, and lets out a roar which echoes throughout the Fjord.

Winner: Uruk-hai

Expert's Opinion
Despite the vrykul having an obvious size and strength advantage, it was decided that the uruk-hai had better grade weapons and better skills: the vrykul are always looking for battle, but the uruk-hai were actually created for the sole purpose of being warriors.

To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.

Battle vs. Tarkata (by AnnhilationNation)
Tarkatan: x 3 Uruk-Hai:  x 3 After the battle of Weather-top, three Uruk-Hai were retreating from battle, after their crew was defeated by the fellowship. Unknown to them, Shao Kahn had sent a portal for his extermination forces, to take Earth as his next conquest. Three Tarkata warriors were seen in the vicinity, as one carried a gastraphetes, the other a makrigga, and the leader weilds a pernach. Meanwhile, the Uruk-Hai leader had his scimitar, while he was followed by a pikesman and an archer. The leader then stopped, and smelled a disturbance, with his superior orc sense of smell. The archer said to him... "What do you smell?" The leader says to his subordinate "Man-flesh." The small horde moved slowly, as the Tarkata leader said to his crew. "We shall strike from the shadows." He says, as the group moved to a shadowy secion of the forest. As the Uruk-Hai pass, the Tarkatan with the Gastraphetes takes aim. He fired a bolt at the archer, and his hit cuirass, going through, but not enough to be a fatal wound. Noting that there was an attack, the other two Tarkata charge forward. The Uruk-Hai archer taken aim, and fired a bolt at the Tarkatan archer, before he could reload. (2-3) The archer and the leader ran back, looking for a better spot to attack from, as the other Tarkatans ran forth for battle. The Tarkatan weilding the pike was going for a thrust, as the Tarkatan sidestepped, and was ready to knock him down with the shaft of his weapon. The Tarkata knocked the hybrid warrior over, however, the Uruk-Hai rolled out of the way of the makrigga's point. The Uruk-Hai gets up quickly, and runs towards his allies, with his pike in hand, while the Tarkatan puruses. Meanwhile, the Tarkata leader, weilding the Pernach charged in, after the archer. The Uruk-Hai attempted to draw a bow, and blind-fired, however, it went far off to the right, leavign an open shot. The Tarkata leader delivers a firm strike to the archer's skull, turning his brain into mush, and popping out his left eyeball. (2-2) At the same time, the pikesman was running up the hill, and tried to stab the Tarkata leader, however, he defelcted the stab to his face enough, that it only scratched him, leaving a tear along the left side of his face, making him drop his mace. In rage, he unleashed his arm-blades in anger. He rushed him, with lightning fast motions, parrying his polearm, and delivering twin thrusts to the Uruk-Hai's throat. (2-1) The spear-weilding Tarkatan charged in to challenge the Uruk-Hai leader, who had his scimitar. The Tarkatan attempted a thrust, however, the Uruk-Hai leader knocked the spear-head away from him with his sword, and then used both hands, bringing the blade down through the middle of the Tarkatan's skull. (1-1) He kicked the foe off of him, as the Tarkatan leader stared him down, before charging in with his arm-blades out. The Tarkatan goes for fast strikes, as the blades clashed. The Uruk-Hai was struggling to keep up with the speed of the Tarkatan's weapons, as the Uruk-Hai was disarmed. The Tarkatan tried a thrust with one arm, however, the Uruk-Hai ducked, and then shoved the Tarkata back. He grabbe dhis hand axe, and does a firm strike to the side of the Tarkatan's head, severing the left half of it's jaw. The Tarkatan fell to the ground, as the Uruk-haileader raised hsi axe to the sky, and yelled. "GLORY TO MORDOR!!!"

Winner: Uruk-Hai

Expert's Opinion
The Uruk-Hai managed to snag a victory, due to higher intelligence, and a defining edge in longer range fights.

To see the original battle, weapons and votes, click here.

Battle vs. Viking (by Wassboss)
4 Viking Warriors exit there sea vessel, a small wooden boat. They are scouting ahead, ready for the invasion the Viking's are planning of this strange new land. Exiting the Boat the viking scouting party begin to head futher inland, untill they reach a large plain. The Viking Leader spots a group of simularly numbered warriors in the distance, except these ones look different, not human. Drawing his Long Bow he beckons to another viking to do the same and the two of them ready an arrow. At the Leader's cue, they both loosen there grips on the string and the arrows whirl through the air towards the enemy group. However both the arrows fall short, failing to take out any of the opposing warriors, only helping to alert them of the Viking's presence.

One of the Uruk-Hai draws the Bow of Mordor and readies his own arrow. The two viking archers ready for another shot and set loose another pair of arrows. One misses by a long shot but the other strikes the Uruk-Hai archer in the shoulder, going right through the skin and bone and getting wedged there. The Uruk-Hai however is barely fazed by the hit, not even flinching at the blow. He lets loose and arrow of his own and this one hits it's mark, striking the Viking Archer in the neck. He has not time to even let out a yelp of pain as he falls to the floor with a thud. (4-3)

The two Non-Archer Viking's watch in horror as thier fellow warrior is killed, but this horror soon turns into bloodlust and a thrist for revenge. They look at thier leader who nods solomly and the two men draw thier weaponry, one a Long Sword and the other a Spear and charge across the plain, right at the uruk-hai, the head viking staying behind to cover thier backs with a volley of arrows. One of these arrows manages to hit the Uruk-Hai archer in the other shoulder, but like the first this barely effects the Uruk-Hai, although it does throw off his aim, making him miss the viking leader by a few inches. The Leader takes out his final arrow and lets it loose, the wind curving the arrow up and sending it right into the chin of the Uruk-Hai archer, knocking him back with the force and finally killing him. (3-3)

The viking leader discards his bow and draws his great axe and runs to catch up with his fellow warriors, who are almost upon the Uruk-Hai. The spear weidling viking throws his spear at the middle Orc, the projectile going right through the Uruk-Hai's chest. Instead of killing it however the attack sends the Uruk-Hai into a fit of rage and it charges at the spearman, his Hand Axe drawn. He slams into the Viking's ribs, making him roar in pain. He then slams into the viking's left knee cap, making the viking fall to the ground. He then proceeds to repeatedly slam his axe into the body of the downed viking, not stopping even when the viking has died. This gives the other viking the chance to yank the spear out of the Uruk-Hai's chest and plunge it into it's eye.The Uruk-Hai clasps at the spear in it's eye and falls down dead, right ontop of the body of the dead viking. (2-2)

The other viking draws his sword and sidesteps to avoid a pike thrust from one of the other Orcs. He brings the blade down on the shaft of the pike and slices it in half. He then advances on the Uruk-hai who barely has enough time to draw his own blade before the viking is upon him, hacking and slashing away the Orc. After a few moments of dueling the viking gets the upper hand and twists the sword out of the Uruk-Hai's hand. He is about to deliver the final blow when he feels something slam into his back. Looking down he sees the spiked end of a pike protruding out of his chest. Looking back he sees the other Uruk-Hai who had manouvered around and stabbed his pike into the viking warrior. The Scandinavian Maraurder collapses on the floor, the pike still lodged in his chest. (2-1)

The Uruk-Hai are about to let out a victory cry when the Pikesmen orc is lifted into the air by an unknown force. The force is the Viking leader who has arrived at the battle scene and has slammed his axe into the Uruk-Hai's crotch with such power it has actually lifted him off the ground. The Orc hits the ground with a thud and the viking lifts his axe high into the air and brings the axe down on his head, splitting open the Uruk-Hai's skull. (1-1)

Turning his attention to last remaining orc, the viking leader lets out a battle roar and swings his axe at his opponent who ducks underneith. Straitening back up again the Orc swings it's scimiter at the viking, who brings up his axe to block it. The scimiter slices through the handle of the axe, rending it useless. The orc then thrusts forward with the sword, knocking the viking leader over, next to the body of one of his fellow warriors. Spotting the sword still holstered in the dead viking's scabbard he reaches over and pulls it out, scrambling backwards to avoid a downward strike from the scimiter. He swings the sword at the Uruk-Hai's knee caps, slicing one of them open and forcing the orc down to one knee.

The Viking leader gets to his feet and swings his longsword at the Orc, slicing off hsi sword hand and leaving him weaponless. He thrusts his sword into the Uruk-Hai's chest, pushing it in untill the handle is pressed against the chest of the Uruk-Hai. He slowly draws the the sword out, sliding the Uruk-Hai off his sword. (0-1)

The viking sheathes his sword and yells a victory cry before heading back to the boat, ready to inform the viking invasion ships about what he has seen.

Winner: Vikings

Expert's Opinion
The Viking's won before of thier superior weaponry and training. The Uruk-Hai relied too much on thier durabity and how intimidating they were and when he faced a warrior race simular in these areas to them this worked agianst them.

To see the original battle, weapons and votes, click here.

Battle vs. Na'vi Warrior (by Codgod13)
A na'vi warrior is on a guerilla mission in Orc territory during an Uruk-Hai invasion. He is caught by an Uruk guard and the two begin to fight. Each take out their bows and let loose a flurry of arrows, but neither can land a hit because of the dense trees. The Na'vi warrior calls his banshee and rides into the sky, while the Uruk calls a troll. As the banshee swoops in to try and eat the Uruk, the troll breaks it's neck with his hammer. The Na'vi yells and shoots the troll wih multiple arrows, killing it, and draws two dual blades, with the Uruk drawing a pike. The first blood goes to the Uruk, who slashes the Na'vi's arm with the pike. The blue alien counters by grabbing the pike and breaking it over his knee. He is disarmed by the Uruk who now has a scimitar, and takes out a hunting knife. His hand is cut and he drops the knife. The Uruk belives he has won, but the Na'vi takes him by surprise by tackling him, having a lot of effect due to the size difference. The Na'vi beats the Uruk to the ground and goes to retrieve his knife for the final blow. However, when he turns around, the Orc is there, and he beheads the Na'vi and screams a war cry.

Winner: Uruk-Hai

Expert's Opinion
I was surprised by this, I thought the Na'vi's size would get them the win, the but the Uruk's soldier's nature and superior technology led them to victory. Next round will be Tomoe Gozen vs King Cyrus the Great.

To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.

Battle vs. Albion Army (by SPARTAN 119)
A force of one thousand Uruk Hai, with 40 catapults in supported stared down a force of one thousand Albion soldiers, supported by cannon.

The Uruk-Hai general ordered the catapults to launch their projectiles. Stones and gunpowder charges flew towards the Albion soldiers, the stones rolling and bouncing through the ranks, crushing men, as the gunpowder charges impacted, two of them blowing up Albion bombards, while others exploded in the ranks, killing dozens of men and sending their remains flying through the air.

The Albion bombards returned fire with a thunderous roar, the cannon fire mowing dozens on Uruk-Hai as the balls flew lethally through the air, bouncing as they hit the ground and continuing their path of destruction, blowing off limbs and heads and reducing mangonels to splinters. One of cannon's balls found the Uruk-Hai's supply of gunpowder charges, setting them off in a ball of fire that blew apart ten catapults and about 100 Uruk-Hai.

The commanders of both sides ordered their archers to nock their arrows, and on their order, Albion longbowmen and Uruk-Hai armed with crossbows and shortbows loosed their arrows. Arrows and crossbow bolts rained from the air, piercing through helmets and armor, cutting down soldiers on both sides.

At that moment, the Uruk-Hai commander pointed his sword towards the Albion army and ordered his men to charge. About 700 Uruk-Hai charged towards the Albion lines in a wall of swords and pikes.

The Albion Army, however, stood firm, the front ranks opening up to allow the musketeers to aim between them. As the Uruk-Hai horde reached about a hundred meters, hundreds of flintlock muskets blazed as the longbowmen loosed a second volley. Bullets and arrows went through armor and flesh, cutting down the front ranks of Saruman's horde.

Finally, the two armies met, the forces of Albion raising their pikes, impaling the first ranks of charging Uruk-Hai, as the rest of the army drew their longswords.

The Albion pikemen hurriedly dropped their pikes and drew their swords as the orc horde made it way through the wall of spears, colliding with the main formation in a clash of steel.

The black rectangular blades of Uruk-Hai swords met the shining blades of Albion longswords. The orcs swung their blades in wide arcs, clashing against longswords with a shower of sparks, or else cleaving through arms and necks.

The soldiers of Albion retaliated, taking advantages of opening in their guard as the Uruk-Hai wielded their large slashing sword, thrusting the points of their longswords forward, through the Uruk-Hai armor, impaling the orc on their blades.

The Uruk-Hai commander felled two men of Albion as he charged towards the Albion Army commander, making a wide slash, which the commander of the Albion army blocked with his sword, before dodging another slash and countering with a slash to the Uruk's unarmed neck. The blade sliced through the orc's neck, separating his head from his body.

With the fall of the Uruk-Hai commander, the Albion Army counterattacked breaking the Uruk-Hai line, splitting them into small groups and surrounding them. The Uruk-Hai, who felt no fear, fought to the end, fighting to the bitter end.

When the clash of swords fell silent, the battlefield was littered with bodies, the Uruk-Hai had been wiped out, but at the cost of 400 Albion soldiers.

WINNER: Albion Army

Expert's Opinion
The Albion Army won this battle mainly due to their superior technology. Their cannon and longbows would give them the ability to take down the Uruk-Hai at long range, while their muskets could cut down the front ranks of a charge from behind a wall of pikes. In addition, the Albion longswords were more versatile, being capable of slashing thrusting, while the Uruk-Hai swords could only slash, lacking a point. This advantage in weaponry allowed the Albion Army to overcome the superior strength and fearlessness of the Uruk-Hai.

To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.

Battle vs. Night's Watch (by SPARTAN 119)

 * Uruk-Hai: 2000 + 20 Mangonels


 * Nights Watch: 500 + 20 Ballistae

Late night, The Wall'

Lurtz, leader of the Saruman's Uruk-Hai, stood next to his battery of 20 mangonels, which were, along with the rest of his forces, positioned a few hundred meters from the massive Ice Wall before them. This wall stood between them and the kingdoms of men they had been sent to conquer.

As the last mangonel was loaded with one of Saruman's new weapons- charges of gunpowder, Lurtz gave the order: "Light the charges and loose!"

An Uruk armed with a torch lit the fuse the explosive projectiles with a torch, before a second orc pulled the lever on the side of the catapults. With a snapping sound, the arms of the mangonels sprung forward, before slamming into the crossbeam, sending their payloads through the air.

The explosive charges slammed into the Wall and exploded in a flash of flame and smoke, blowing cracks and craters into the Wall, but nowhere near enough to bring down the great structure of ice.

"The charges don't seem to be strong enough, my lord", One of the Uruks manning the nearest catapult.

"Fools!", Lurtz yelled furiously, "Aim for the gate".

Meanwhile, on top of the Wall, Jon Snow stood with about 250 men of the Watch, all armed with longbows or crewing ballistae.

"What was that!?", one of the Watchmen asked as the Uruk's charges exploded, "Wildfire?"

"There's now way the Wildlings would have Wildfire",

"I don't know what it is... and I don't think these are Wildlings", Jon said, "but if that stuff is anything like Wildfire, flaming arrows might be able to set it off"

A moment later, Jon set fire to an arrow for his own bow, before giving the command, "Nock your arrows..."

"Draw...."

As he gave the command, Jon did the same with his own bow, holding it level- the sheer height of the Wall would give it the distance to strike their foes.

"LOOSE!".

At once, 250 archers of the Nights watch and 15 ballistae let loose a swarm of flaming arrows and ballista bolts, which rained down own the Uruk-Hai.

700 feet below the Watchmen, most of the flaming arrows missed, extinguishing themselves in the snow ground at the foot of the Wall. A few of them went through gaps the Uruk-Hai's armor, killing or at least wounding the Uruks. When the ballista bolts hit an Uruk, they impaled the creature, passing through its armor like it wasn't there.

But it was ballista both that hit no one that did the most damage to the Uruk-Hai. One of the flaming ballista bolts impacted a stack of black powder charges. Immediately, the pile of charges exploded in flash of flame that splintered the frames of five Uruk-Hai mangonels, hurled the mangled bodies of Uruk-Hai through the air like ragdolls, and even blew down a few nearby trees.

Seconds later, several flaming arrows impacted another stack of charges with similar results. Between the two explosions, over 100 Uruk-Hai were dead. Cheers erupted up and down the wall as they saw their foe's secret weapons literally go up in flames.

What they men of the Night's Watch did not expect was for the remaining Uruk-Hai catapults to keep firing as, this time sending several gunpowder charges towards the gate to the tunnel in the wall.

Three of the explosives hit their mark, splintering the North gate to the wall. As the smoke cleared, both sides knew what had to come next.

Lurtz stood before his army and raised his rectangular bladed "scimitar" and pointed it forward, yelling "Forward Uruk-Hai, we will feast on the flesh of our enemies!"

The roar of thousands of shouting, charging Uruk-Hai filled the air as the warriors of Saruman charged forth with a thirst for blood, waving swords, axes, and spears in their hands.

As 2000 murderous, bloodthirsty orcs bore down on the Wall, the Nights Watch stood at their stations on the top. Jon Snow made his way up and down the Wall, urging on his men.

"Keep shooting!", Jon yelled, "This Wall has stood for 8000 years, It's not falling tonight!"

As the Uruk-Hai drew close, they were greeted with a storm of arrows. The Watchmen aimed not at any individual Uruk, but at the great black mass that was the orc horde. While some of the arrows landed harmlessly in the ground many an Uruk-Hai was pierced by an arrow, some instantly killing their target, others simply causing them to drop in pain. Those not killed immediately were often trampled by their charging fellows. Occasionally, a ballista bolt would strike home, running an Uruk straight through, and sometimes impaling the man behind him as well.

The Uruk-Hai lost another two hundred or so of their number to the arrow and ballista fire before they reached the gate. At that point, the Watchmen rolled a number of barrels of oil with flaming fuse off a wooden ramp.

700 feet below, the oil barrels exploded into flames, setting dozens of Uruk-Hai in the tightly packed mass alight. Some of the Uruks who were struck by the flames were put out of their misery by arrows or chunks of ice and rock dropped from the top of the wall, but most of them writhed in pain for a few seconds until they succumb to the flames or were trampled by their comrades.

Showing the fearlessness they were bred for, the Uruk-Hai charged straight through the flames, which were quickly stomped out by the charging horde. The Uruks, however, soon learned, that fearlessness was not a trait they had a monopoly on.

Twelve men of the Night's Watch, who were trapped in the tunnel, with the Uruk horde on one side and the portcullis on the other, made one final charge at the wave of Uruk-Hai. Those that had pikes charged first, the points of their spears colliding with the front Uruk ranks, punching through armor and slaying the orc that met the end of their spears.

As the Uruk-Hai moved in past the spearpoints, the Watch men drew longswords, axes, and, in one case, a greatsword. The Watchman with the greatsword cleaved through Uruk necks with his giant blade. Meanwhile, his comrades swung their axes or thrust their blades, bearded axe heads chopping through helmets, as longsword blades punched through weak points in armor and into Uruk flesh.

Several Berserker Uruk-Hai were the next to face the small group of Watchmen who stood defiant even in the face of certain death. Even the Berserkers, the strongest and deadliest close combatants of the Uruks lost three of their number, before they finally overwhelmed and cut down the Night's Watchmen in the tunnel. But each one of the defenders of the tunnel took at least three orcs with him to their deaths.

The sacrifice of the Watchmen in the tunnel was not in vain. For it had bought time for their comrades in Castle Black to gather by the portcullis, armed with bows, crossbows, and pikes. As the horde of Uruk-Hai charged through the tunnel, the Watchmen fired. Arrows and crossbow bolts struck down Uruk after Uruk. Those that were not killed instantly were trampled by their comrades in a mad dash for the Wall.

Eventually, the orc horde made it to the gate, but without seige equipment, they could not break through before they were shot down by bows and crossbows or their armor pierced by pikes thrust through the gaps in the portcullis.

After about 15 minutes of the assault, the orcs had lost hundreds of their soldiers in the choke point of the tunnel. Seeing nothing to be gained, Lurtz ordered a retreat.... but Uruk-Hai do not retreat out of fear. Lurtz had a plan, and he would be back.

For the next few hours, the Uruk-hai would retreat beyond the range of the ballistae on the wall. Lurtz put his soldiers to work reclaiming timbers from the Mangonels destroyed when the flaming arrows set off some of the charges, or else felling trees to provide new materials.

A few hours later, Jon Snow had descended from the Wall, into Castle Black. Expecting his foes to attack from the tunnel again, Jon had a ballista placed in sight of the tunnel entrance again, which was now shored up with a wooden cart, numerous barrels, and any other objects they could find to block the gate.

Jon's inspection of the defenses was cut short when he heard shouting from the other side of the wall. The enemy was back. Jon rushed along the walls of Castle Black, intending to go back up the manual elevator to the top of the wall.

That plan was changed when, suddenly, an explosion rocked the gate, destroying the portcullis and the improvised barricade. Soon after, a sound of wooden wheels could be heard, and out of the tunnel came a mangonel with timbers blocking the front and a wooden roof over the rear, mounted on additional wheels taken from carts or destroyed siege engines.

The "medieval mobile artillery" rolled through the entrance of the tunnel, followed by a number of Uruk-Hai crossbowmen. The Uruk crossbowmen fired their pump-action crossbows, cutting down a couple archers on the wall, but the Watchmen returned fire, hitting several of the archers. However, the Uruks repeating crossbows had a superior volume of fire.

Jon Snow's close friend, Samwell Tarly, peeked out of a window and raised a crossbow and fired a single shot an Uruk-Hai who lit a gunpowder charge on the mangonel. Seconds later, a ballista bolt skewered the catapult operator.

While the bowmen immediately in front of the Uruk crossbowmen were pinned down, the Watchmen in the two towers to either side of the entrance and, indeed, on top of the Wall itself were able to fire their bows and drop rocks and ice chunks on the Uruk-Hai, cutting down the catapult crew and the orc archers before they could act.

Meanwhile, the fuse of the gunpowder charge on the catapult still burned. Suddenly, the seige engine was engulfed in a flash of flames. The explosion hurled wooden fragments of the armored catapult all over the courtyard. The Watchmen were protected by the stone walls of Castle Black, but the Uruks were caught in the open, and lost dozens of soldiers, including all of their archers.

As the smoke cleared, Jon Snow drew Longclaw from its sheath and yelled, "With me, Castle Black's not falling tonight"

Jon led the charge, his direwolf companion, Ghost, not far behind as the Uruks forced their way through the wall. Jon Snow thrust Longclaw forward, the Valyrian blade punching through the armor of the lead Uruk-Hai, a Berserker, and running him through.

John pulled the sword out of the body of his foe and swing it at the exposed neck of an Uruk, severing its head. An Uruk-Hai raised his battle axe, ready to bring it down on Jon's head. Instead, the orc found itself tackled to the ground. The last thing the creature saw was a giant white wolf literally ripping its throat out.

As Jon and Ghost cut and bit through their foes, the rest of the Watchmen to closed ranks with the Uruks, blades clashing on blades as the two masses of black collided. The Uruk-Hai fought fiercely, but against both the counterattacking Watchmen and the archers, which were still firing at their rear ranks, they could not keep up the momentum of their assault. For every Watchman that fell, there were several orcs.

At the head of the assault, Lurtz raised his scimitar, and slashed open the throat of a Watchman, before making a second strike. This strike, however, was parried by the Valyrian blade of Jon Snow. Jon retaliated with a slashing attack. The Valyrian steel blade was strong, but even it could not cut through another sword. Still, it left a deep notch in Lurtz's blade.

Furiously, the Uruk-Hai leader tried to make mighty swing at Jon, but in so doing, left his hands open to attack. Jon made a quick cut with Longclaw, the Valyrian steel blade effortless slicing off both of Lurtz's hands. The Uruk leader died with a look of shock on his face as Jon thrust Longclaw through his chest.

Even with the loss of their leader, the Uruk-Hai kept coming through the tunnel, but without their commander, they quickly devolved into a disorganized rabble, easily cut down by the archers and the Watchmen defending the courtyard.

The last surviving Uruk emerged from the tunnel, only to be struck by a dozen arrows from four different directions. Standing over the remains of hundreds of orcs, the Watch gave a shout of victory, and Ghost let out a loud howl.

After the cheers died down, however, the mood instantly became more serious. "Gather the dead north of the wall and build a pyre. I don't know who they are, but I don't want them coming back to attack us again. Collect and usable weapons, armor, or supplies you can find. We'll need them for Winter is Coming", Jon said to the Watchmen.

WINNER: Night's Watch

Expert's Opinion
The Night's Watch won this battle in spite of their inferior numbers mainly because of their strong defensive position on top of the wall, beyond the range of Uruk-Hai seige engines. Even if the gate to the tunnel was destroyed, the tunnel itself would act as a chokepoint, making the Uruk-Hai easy targets for archers on the other end. That, along with the superior leadership of Jon Snow ensured that the Wall would not fall to the Uruk-Hai.

To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.