So It Begins, Part 5: Retreat to the Hornburg

Good morning gamers,

Editor's Note: we just passed the 6 million page views mark . . . I imagine those AI models are partly to blame, but hopefully that means our articles are helping people. :-) Whoever is reading these articles, it means a lot to us!

We're revisiting a scenario from Fantasy Fellowships in our custom Helm's Deep campaign today. Despite the amazing explosions of the last scenario, the Uruk-Hai have managed to blow a hole in the wall. Can we keep them out while keeping our heroes alive?

Retreat to the Hornburg (War in Rohan, p. 32)

We're using the actual scenario participants in this scenario - and we did remember this time to boost one of the Captains to the Uber-Captain, so this should work out better than last scenario:

• Forces of Good: Mostly The Defenders of Helm's Deep
• Aragorn - Strider with armor
• Legolas Greenleaf with armor
• Gimli, Son of Gloin
• Haldir with Elf bow and heavy armor
• 4 Warriors of Rohan with shields
• 4 Warriors of Rohan with shields and throwing spears
• 4 Warriors of Rohan with bows
• 4 Galadhrim Warriors
• 4 Galadhrim Warriors with shields and spears
• 4 Galadhrim Warriors with Elf bows
• Forces of Evil: The Assault Upon Helm's Deep 
• 4 Uruk-Hai Captains
• 10 Uruk-Hai Warriors with shields
• 10 Uruk-Hai Warriors with pikes
• 8 Uruk-Hai Berserkers

This scenario requires at least 10 Good models to get across the opposite game board - this will involve getting up the stairs on our board, which presents an interesting choke point situation. At least two of those models need to be heroes, so if I lose too many guys or too many heroes, the game will end early.

To help Evil out a bit, Uruk-Hai Warrior models get to come back when they die on the siege ladders - I forgot to ask Centaur to bring his ladders, so he can maneuver them along the wall if he wants. Additionally, all those S4-5 Uruk-Hai get to reroll all failed To Wound rolls . . . this is gonna HURT!

The board is a 12"x24" setup. My units set up on one side and the Uruk-Hai responded:

Turn 1: Priority Good

Aragorn begins by declaring a Heroic March for free, which helps me get a lot of movement up the board (which I really need). Isengard responds by engaging my models where they can - battle is joined on Turn 1!

In the Shoot Phase, Legolas kills the Uruk-Hai Berserker that he's fighting, but no one else - he won't be taking damage this turn at least.

In the Fight Phase, both Aragorn and Gimli declare Heroic Combats (1/3M each) and they both kill their foes and get into other combats.

Gimli manages to win his fight (2/3M) and kills a pikeman. Haldir barely manages to win his fight (2/3M!) and deals 2 wounds to the Besrseker he's fighting, but both wounds were saved! Some other models died with me losing some important Elves on the lower level . . . not good.

Kill Count: Legolas 1, Gimli 2.

Turn 2: Priority Evil

Aragorn declared a Heroic Move and Gimli managed to kill a pikeman with his throwing axe, carving further up and into the enemy ranks. 

The Uruk-Hai responded and as you can see, there are Uruks coming up the ladders, trying to cut us off - I'm hopeful that my Elves can buy enough time for my Rohan models to get through!

In the Shoot Phase, Legolas shot a pikeman - he's really trying to catch up, really he is, but he just can't land more than one kill each turn!

 

This Fight Phase was a bit of a disaster - Legolas beat the Berserker on the ladder (1/3M), but dealt no wounds to the guy and he didn't fall. Gimli kills a guy (doin' his job), but both Aragorn and Haldir whiffed their fights and then promptly to take an ABUNDANCE of wounds and BOTH of them got killed! NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Kill Count: Legolas 2, Gimli 4.

Turn 3: Priority tied, Good

So, I'm in a real pickle and I advance as best I can. I'm trying to tie people down while getting my Rohan boys up the stairs, but I lost my power piece there . . . hopefully Gimli will cut his way down the stairs?

Legolas managed to kill a Berserker in the Shoot Phase, which is a welcome help, but again, I really need him to kill more stuff . . .

The Uber-Captain calls a Heroic Combat (1/2M) and in a stunning turn of events, he dices up the Rohan guy that he fought and proceeded to charge into the last Elf in the lower level.

Gimli wins his fight against the only Uruk-Hai Captain up on the walls (3/3M) and kills him - what a relief! Additionally I beat a Berserker on the wall with three of my Elves, but the got two wounds that got saved - those saves are on fire today! On the ground . . . things are not looking good . . .

Kill Count: Legolas 3, Gimli 5.

Turn 4: Priority Good

We're in dire straights, with me trying to tie down two Captains down below and push my way to the exit. Gimli and Legolas should be able to carve through the four guys in their way, but I don't have enough guys on the wall to trigger the end condition . . . I have to free the stairwell.

Legolas helped a bit by killing a shield guy with his bow, but once again, didn't kill more than that.

There were two Heroic Combats called by the Uber-Captain (2/2M) and the remaining Captain (1/2M) - the Captain wins and kills and moves on, but the Uber-Captain loses, takes a wound, and fails his Fate save (1/1F, 1/3H).

At the end of the Fight Phase, I have lost enough guys (basically lost every fight except Gimli's) that I only have 10 models left - if anyone dies, we lose.

Kill Count: Legolas 4, Gimli 6.

Turn 5: Priority won by Evil and given to Good

Centaur was being kind by giving me some agency here - Gimli hops down the stairs to help clear out some space, while Legolas tries to clear out the last guys protecting the exit. I am left with the difficult dilemma of having to hold down the Captains with a single Warrior of Rohan with bow . . . and if he dies, I lose.

I didn't kill anyone with my shooting and the Captain called another Heroic Combat (2/2M). They win, they kill the guy, and they charge into more people.

And everything went wrong after that - Legolas lost and suffered a wound (which he saved with a Fate point (1/3F, 3/3M), Gimli killed a few guys, I lost more guys, and we lost the game. Victory for Isengard!

Kill Count: Legolas 4, Gimli 8.

Conclusion 

So, losing Aragorn and Haldir was rough, but hey, it's a dice game and this was a game where choke points mattered! It always amazes me just how long Uruk-Hai can hold out if they can just roll decently and stalling me out where I wanted to be and then rolling me from below was definitely a good strategy. Honestly, I probably would have put two Captains at the end of the Uruk-Hai blunting force on the walls because they take the longest to kill and you're more likely to be facing resource-spent heroes by the time they arrive, but Centaur did what he usually does with Uruk-Hai: grind down my forces slowly but steadily. Well played to him!

Hopefully you enjoyed this and are enjoying the series we're doing! We'll be back with another scenario in two weeks, but until then, happy hobbying!

The New Age Is Begun: The Host of the Witch-King Army List

Good morning gamers,

It's October, and as we lead up to Halloween, we'll be covering some of the spookier lists involving Nazgul that we haven't covered to date. Our first list appears to be one of the front-runners for most competitive lists featuring the Witch-King: the Host of the Witch King army list. This list has a strong array of both hero and warrior options and gives you basically everything you could want in an Angmar list (except monsters). Let's see what you can do with this list! As we've been doing, anything tied to the Legacies will be highlighted in red.

The Host of the Witch-King: Changes for 2025

Profile Selection

This list has to take the Witch-King, which comes in his 3A/3M/18W/3F form, but only has the options for horse and Morgul Blade. These are perfectly good options and help to keep the Witch-King's cost down (usually at 170pts after you've taken a horse - not bad for a Hero of Legend). Your Heroes of Valour are the Dwimmerlaik and the Tainted if you're playing with Legacies, as well as the Shadow of Rhudaur and Aldrac, Warlord of Carn Dum. Your Fortitude heroes include generic March Captains (Angmar Orc Captains and Captains of Carn Dum), Fraecht, Nazthak, and Shades. Finally, you can get Angmar Orc Shamans and Barrow-wights as Minor Heroes, which limits how many models you can bring with your Barrow-wights, but they're still terrifying heroes to have to fight.

The warrior list looks pretty lean - and it is - with Angmar Orc Warriors, Angmar Warg Riders, Spectres, Warriors of Carn Dum, and Werewolves. While this isn't a wide array of options, you have basically everything you'd want in a list except cheap fast troops (Wild Wargs for most Angmar lists) and decent archers (Orc Trackers, for example). Still, you have efficient infantry, efficient cavalry, and whatever Werewolves count as (not quite monstrous infantry, but they're close to it). 

Army List Bonuses

Besides needing to take the Witch-King, you aren't allowed to take more than 50% of your army as Carn Dum models . . . I can think of only one or two people in the world who are probably sad about this, but whatever - there's another army that allows you to spam the "moose men" if you want them. Beyond this minor constraint, there are three bonuses that you get for playing this list: first, as Angmar has long had as its defining trait, your Orcs gain Terror while within 3" of a friendly Spirit Hero (so that would be the Witch-King, the other named Ringwraiths, the Shadow of Rhudaur, Shades, and Barrow-wights. 

Second, the Witch-King only loses Will Points if he loses a combat in the Fight Phase (instead of all the time). This rule as written seems to indicate that if the Witch-King calls a Heroic Combat, wins, kills his opponent(s), charges into at least one enemy model, and then loses the follow-up combat, he'll lose 1 Will at the end of the Fight Phase per normal (even though he won his first fight). Finally, to help the Witch-King have a better chance of not losing (some) fights, he gets +1 Fight Value while Engaged in combat with an enemy Man model. In an era where Eowyn has the "Man" keyword (unlike the first few years of the previous edition), this feels like a bit of a missed thematic opportunity, but I digress. If you find yourself fighting "men" a lot, the Witch-King will be a F7 menace who will probably not be losing Will points for fighting if he's running through warriors for 170pts mounted. This is a good list to run the Witch-King in (which is good, since he's required and all).

The New Age Is Begun: the Realms of Men Army List

Good morning gamers,

This is the last Rohan list we need to cover - and honestly, it's a list that I'm keen to take to a tournament (though it won't be a hipster pick - Centaur took it to our GT earlier this year). The Realms of Men isn't your traditional Rohan list, but like the Defenders of the Pelennor, the Men of the West, or the Paths of the Druadan, you have the option to take Rohan models, so it counts. :) Unlike a lot of Rohan lists, this is the kind of "Rohan list" that doesn't mind seeing Wild Men of Dunland on the other side of the board, since it can take a few Rohan guys to supplement a host of not-Rohan guys. I've delayed talking about this list until now because there are SO many things to consider when fielding it and I think we've finally covered enough of the profiles to have a good discussion about what this list is bringing to the table and what it isn't.

The Realms of Men: Changes for 2025

Profile Selection

This list is weird in that it doesn't really have a bounded list of profiles. The only profile that's showcased in the list is the "King of Men" profile, which we've seen earlier in the month in the Fields of Celebrant list. Beyond that, you're allowed to bring any non-unique heroes (Captains of <wherever>, King's Huntsmen, Knights of the White Tower, siege veterans) and basically any warrior so long as you meet the requirements for that hero (e.g. you need the "Leader (X)" keyword to bring "Elite" units) with the exception that a Rohan King of Men cannot lead Rohirrim Traitors from the Usurpers list (check an early FAQ for that one).

The rules are pretty straightforward: 1) you have to take a King of <wherever> to take any other heroes of <wherever>, 2) each hero can only lead warriors from the same faction (Gondor leading Gondor, Arnor leading Arnor, etc.), and 3) whichever realm has the most models - not the most points invested in it - has its King become the General. Pretty simple, right?

With five factions of men to choose from (Gondor, Rohan, Arnor, Numenor, and Dale), we have quite the list of options, though functionally, I think your actual hero options are smaller than the list would imply - more on that later in the Strategies section. There are not that many warrior options that appear to be redundant and overall, you can cover most of your bases really well with 1-2 factions (though mixing in more than that is certainly possible too).

So It Begins, Part 4: The Deeping Wall Is Breached

Good morning gamers,

We're revisiting a scenario from Fantasy Fellowships in our custom Helm's Deep campaign today. Despite the amazing explosions of the last scenario, the Uruk-Hai have managed to blow a hole in the wall. Can we keep them out while keeping our heroes alive?

The Deeping Wall Is Breached (War in Rohan, p. 30)

We're using the actual scenario participants in this scenario - and we forgot to boost one of the Captains to the Uber-Captain, so . . . sorry - it may have changed a few things in the scenario but might not have as well:

• Forces of Good: Mostly The Defenders of Helm's Deep
• Aragorn - Strider with armor
• Legolas Greenleaf with armor
• Gimli, Son of Gloin
• Haldir with Elf bow and heavy armor
• 4 Warriors of Rohan with shields
• 4 Warriors of Rohan with shields and throwing spears
• 4 Warriors of Rohan with bows
• 4 Galadhrim Warriors
• 4 Galadhrim Warriors with shields and spears
• 4 Galadhrim Warriors with Elf bows
• Forces of Evil: The Assault Upon Helm's Deep 
• 3 Uruk-Hai Captains
• 10 Uruk-Hai Warriors with shields
• 10 Uruk-Hai Warriors with pikes
• 8 Uruk-Hai Berserkers

This scenario is cool because we're playing for seven VPs: Good has four named heroes, each of whom is worth 1VP to Good if they're alive and 1 VP for Evil if they're slain. Good gets 2 VPs if they can avoid losing more than 13 of their 28 models (so, don't break) and Evil wins if Good loses more than 14 models (so, breaking the Good army - note that losing exactly 14 models is a draw on this VP category). Finally, if there are more Uruk-Hai outside of the water at the end of ten turns, Evil scores a VP. If there are more Good models than Evil models (not counting anyone on the walls) outside the water, they score a VP.

The New Age Is Begun: the Paths of the Druadan Army List

Good morning gamers,

Rohan has a lot of army lists this edition (citation needed) and one of the oddest ducks in the line-up is the Paths of the Druadan. Released in the Armies of Middle-Earth supplement, this list features the heroes from the Riders of Theoden, your typical mounted Rohan warriors, as well as the tad-expensive-but-loaded-with-rules Wose Warriors led by Ghan-buri-Ghan. This list has an interesting play style, an interesting set of rules, and is a whole lot of fun to use. Let's see what we have to work with in this list!

The Paths of the Druadan: Changes for 2025

Profile Selection

As was said above, this list includes the six named heroes in the Riders of Theoden list (Theoden, Eomer, Eowyn, Deorwine, Elfhelm, and Gamling), Captains of Rohan (obviously), and then Rohan Royal Guards, Rohan Outriders, and Riders of Rohan. The list adds to this line-up Ghan-buri-Ghan and Wose Warriors, who in the last edition could only be taken in Ghan-buri-Ghan's list (or if you ran Rohan allied with the Druadan, you could have leaderless warbands with 10-12 Wose Warriors inside them). This edition, Ghan-buri-Ghan and the Rohan heroes can mix and match the troops they lead, much like you can do with the Men of the West army list. This is a great change in my opinion and a huge change for list building. In an era where you can't take leaderless Wose warbands, this is the only way you can use more than 15 of them - and for a very, very, VERY small segment of the SBG population, that means their collections are still valid. :) Let's see what bonuses we have to encourage us to run this list . . .

Army List Bonuses

Last edition, the Paths of the Druadan Legendary Legion required you to take Theoden, Ghan-Buri-Ghan, and 15 Wose Warriors. This edition, you only have to take 12 Woses (3 slots left over), so that's nice? Riders of Rohan don't count towards your bow limit in this list, which is novel for the lists we've been looking at this month.

The other rules are the same as they were last edition: there's a special rule (Know All Paths) that allow you to win the roll-off for Heroic Moves on a 3-6 (or 1-4) instead of the usual 4-6 (or 1-3). In a list that wants to skirmish, this is a huge bonus. Similarly, the Waypoints special rule allows you to place three tokens after deployment is over that remove difficult terrain penalties for your Rohan models, which is great for making sure that your horses are moving at full speed (and getting Charge bonuses) through woods, rocky ground, or swamps. Finally, the Kill Orc-folk rule allows all friendly models to reroll TO Wound rolls of 1 on their Strikes against Uruk-Hai, Orcs, and Goblins. Paired with Hatred on your Woses, this makes them very reliable at killing Goblin-town Goblins (wounding on 3s and rerolling 1s), pretty reliable at killing most Orcs, Moria Goblins, and some Uruk-Hai (wounding on 4s and rerolling 1s) and decently good at killing the D6 Uruks, Orcs, and Goblins (wounding on 5s and rerolling 1s).