Magic in MESBG, Part III: Isengard

Good morning gamers,

Today we continue our discussion on magic by examining Isengard and the addition of Saruman to Isengard armies. If you’re new to the discussion, check out our discussions on Gandalf the Grey (in Thorin’s Company) and Gandalf the White (in Minas Tirith - though we did a second post on him going in-depth into some of the things you can do with him here) for some background. While Isengard has many good heroes and lots of great warrior choices, deciding whether or not to spend 180 points on Saruman can be difficult. So, to help frame the discussion of today’s post, let’s look at some lists.

Two Lists: With and Without Magic

I’ve taken Isengard to more tournaments here at TMAT than any other civ I own. In part, this is because for a while I was thinking about selling them – and the best way to fall in love with an army is to force yourself to play with them. :-) It wasn’t until I started fielding Saruman that I liked the army – for reasons that we’ll look at in a moment. In nearly nine years of playing the MESBG (and its forerunners), I've seen Isengard lists that included elements from the following list posted by Damian O’Bryne (note that this list is a 600 point list – our second list will be 700 points):

• Lurtz with shield
• Ugluk
• Vrasku
• 7 Uruk-Hai Warriors with shields
• 5 Uruk-Hai Warriors with pikes
• 1 Uruk-Hai Warrior with banner and shield
• 11 Uruk-Hai Warriors with crossbows
• 5 Uruk-Hai Berserkers
• 1 Orc Warrior with shield and spear
• 1 Orc Warrior with spear
• 2 Warg Riders with shields and throwing spears

A similar army was posted by Mik on the same blog – focusing more on Uruk-Hai Scouts/Orcs than on Uruk-Hai Warriors/Beserkers. For me personally, I think both builds are good (though most of the Isengard players in our group have focused on the Warrior/Berserker build). This list includes a hefty number of models (35 – seven models from max-ed out), lots of crossbow shots (if you’re good at wielding them – I get frustrated with them, so I run Uruk-Hai bows instead), some Orcs for head-taking with Ugluk/cheap spearmen (I used to run tons of these guys back when they augmented the guy in front of them - there's still some utility now, but I prefer pikes), some Warg Riders for objective claiming (looking to get a few of these guys), as well as multi-attack models (Berserkers and Warg Riders on the charge – I don’t run Berserkers…ever...maybe that's why I lose).

This list is solid – lots of good options. What happens, though, when we add Saruman to the list (and up the points by a bit)?

• Saruman [Army Leader]
• Grima Wormtongue
• Lurtz with shield
• Ugluk
• Mauhur
• Vrasku
• 12 Uruk-Hai Marauders with Uruk-Hai bows
• 15 7 Uruk-Hai Warriors with shields
• 10 5 Uruk-Hai Warriors with pikes
• 1 Uruk-Hai Warrior with banner and shield
• 11 Uruk-Hai Warriors with crossbows
• 5 Uruk-Hai Berserkers
• 1 Orc Warrior with shield and spear
• 1 Orc Warrior with spear
• 2 Warg Riders with shields and throwing spears

While we’re running 700 points in this list, our army is about the same size (41 models instead of 39). At 700 points, 41 is a decent number (most armies live in the 35-45 range) and with all of them having the Isengard keyword, we’ll need to lose 28 models before any of our models need to be testing for Courage. Here’s what we’re looking at:

• I’ve kept basically the same number of Uruk-Hai Warriors, but I didn’t run any with crossbows. I don’t like crossbows, I find them hard to use, they lag behind the rest of your army, and they’re a pain for even experienced players to get the hang of. Shield-Pike blocks are very easy to learn to use, they’re very forgiving, and as a result, they make up the main-stay of this force (added bonus: you can buy buckets of them on ebay for cheap).
• I’m running 12 Uruk-Hai Marauders with Uruk-Hai bows. These bows got a lot better with the S3 boost in the new rules and while the Marauders can shoot if they have good targets (while moving at 4" each turn), they can also just rush into action as flankers (or to claim an objective). Thought about dropping one and Grima to get a drummer, but I really wanted Grima in this list.
• Speaking of Grima, thanks to taking Saruman, we can use Grima to minimize the likelihood that our opponents call heroic actions (at least while he’s within earshot). Grima is a niche piece (don’t run him too close to enemy wizards as they can damage him with magic even if he hasn’t declared his allegiance yet), providing you as the Isengard player with a way of impacting the way your opponent behaves – and more so than any other piece in the game. Yes, he can be charged/tied down to keep him away from other heroes, but your opponent needs to split his attention between keeping Grima away from his own models as well as advancing on your battle line (where Saruman is waiting). Eventually, the battle lines will engage, the enemy will stop advancing, and Grima will catch up – and when that happens, you want to whip out the Palantir and smash into your foe. With new players using Rohan more and more (and Theoden ALWAYS at their head), Grima is a nice inclusion as a stray movement towards the renowned hero will not only make him incapable of resisting Saruman's magical barrage, but will weaken his Fight value and Attacks value.
• We opted for Saruman instead of Lurtz – Lurtz is very good in combat and is finally the hero we all wanted (though I was a fan of him BEFORE he was cool – read my post if you don’t believe me). Lurtz packs a punch, but Saruman gives us lots of tactical bonuses that Lurtz does not (though his I-deploy-wherever-I-like-whenever-I-like is nice). 
• Taking Saruman over Lurtz also gives us a resiliency option: we can auto-pass Courage tests after our army does break. Saruman is a Hero of Legend, so the first time he is required to test for Courage when our army breaks (28+ casualties, 11-13 models left), he automatically passes. Should we lose 3 more models, the game is over, so one time is just fine. Should that stretch out 2-3 rounds, Saruman is Courage 7 with a free Will point each turn – he can’t fail (unless there are Courage-reducing people nearby)!
• We’ve dropped the various “specialized” units in this list – no Orcs, no Warg Riders, no Berserkers, no banners (though again, you could drop Grima to give one to a shield-carrying Uruk-Hai Warrior). While this certainly weakens the list in many ways, the speed of the Marauders can match that of cavalry, Saruman makes the need for Orcs to fuel Head Taker unnecessary (and keeps your army the same size when you get close to ending the game), and while we don’t have the Courage 7 of Berserkers (or multi-Attacks), our models are cheaper and a good number have retained Defense 6, allowing our unit count to stay high (despite losing the Orcs).

Saruman has to be the Army Leader, which could be bad for us if we play a scenario that requires our Army Leader to kill lots of things. Thanks to his spell array, however, Saruman shouldn’t have problems being able to kill a few things – and thanks to some of his other spells, he can also do a good job of keeping enemy army leaders from killing things if that’s needed too! Let’s look and see how Saruman does this.

How Magic Helps – A Deeper Look

Most of the spells we’re going to look at we’ve covered already in detail with both Gandalf the Grey and Gandalf the White. I’ll make some notes on those ones, but we’re going to focus on the newest addition:

• Terrifying Aura (Static) – Like Gandalf, you want to channel this spell, but unlike Gandalf, you want to only use your free Will point (your reroll should guarantee it goes off and will save you a precious Will point). Saruman is too good of a character (and too expensive of a character) to get mass-mobbed by angry grunts. So make sure you cause Terror and make it harder to charge you (lower two of three dice). If you want to know the value of channeling it, look at our second post on Gandalf the White for the rainbow chart (near the bottom).
• Immobilize/Command (Control) – While we’ve already spoken of the uses of Immobilize/Command (even if they’re not as strong as they used to be), Immobilize/Command for Saruman comes into a whole new regime in two key ways: first, like Gandalf the White, Saruman casts Immobilize on a 2+ and Command on a 3+ - making both reliable spells to cast on your free Will point each turn (especially since you can reroll the die if you don't get what you need). Second, Saruman (like the Dark Lord Sauron) has 18” range on this spell. If you’ve never fought against Saruman casting these spells with this advanced range, it’s annoying – he can make sure that banners, powerful heroes, or even monsters without Will don’t make it into the fight until 2-3 turns AFTER everyone else does. While this is often subject to who gets priority on a given round, resisting spells when you’re 15-18” away from the fight (3-4 turns before the fighting actually starts) is risky, since you could burn through your Will before you’re actually fighting. If the target does get stalled (or forced to walk backwards a bit), does the forward line wait for him? Or do they leave him behind? The questions…
• Sorcerous Blast (Damage) – In previous editions, Saruman the White (50 years younger than Saruman in the Lord of the Rings) cast Sorcerous Blast on a 4+. Saruman the Colorful cast it on a 5+. I wondered why – so I sent a nice write-up to GW asking them to change it…and they did. :-) While I can’t say that they did this for me, getting Sorcerous Blast on a 4+ is huge – with the new reroll rule when casting, Saruman can reliably (enough) cast this spell on your free Will point ALONE (75% chance)! That’s huge. Still, I recommend that you only do that if your opponent doesn’t have any ability to resist the spell and you’re running low on Will (or running against enemy spell casters and have to save your Will for resisting spells). I'll note that you can choose to throw 1 Will in addition to your free Will point at it (or be willing to throw a Might point at it instead), which gives you an 88% probability of success – pretty ridiculous!
• Flameburst (Damage) – The new spell on the block, I think you cast this spell…never. If you want to cast this spell, I highly recommend using 1 Will + your free Will point, as rolling two dice and rerolling the lowest gives you a 70% chance of success (and throwing 2 Will + your free Will point with a reroll only boosts you to an 80% chance of success). 
• Why NOT cast this? Flameburst, like the unchannelled version of Collapse Rocks has the advantage of being a pinpoint-accuracy kind of spell (not bowling people over like Sorcerous Blast does). Channelling it not only does an additional Strength 9 hit to someone (on top of the initial Strength 6 hit), but also does Strength 5 hits each turn until they lie down and roll around (or enter a water feature). Both of these are good – they restrict the target’s movement quite a bit and force your opponent to avoid combat with the model for a turn or two. While Flameburst’s initial hit is stronger than Sorcerous Blast’s (S6 vs. S5), the biggest bone I have to pick with this spell is that it’s cast on a 5+. While you might need 5s to wound with Sorcerous Blast (assuming a D6-7 target), you only need a 4+ to cast it (and THAT roll has a reroll on it). Alternatively, you can wound the target on 4s (assuming he’s D5-6), but before you get that chance, you need to actually cast the spell. Throwing 1 Will + your free Will point at this spell has a lower chance of success than casting Sorcerous Blast with your free Will point alone – in my mind, there’s no comparison.

Saruman is great – he can ensure that none of your units flee the field (if you keep them all in LOS and relatively nearby), he can neutralize enemy heroes/monsters from afar, knock units to the ground to make them easier to kill, and claim priority on a round when you need it (with Grima to discourage timely Heroic Moves). Saruman provides lots of options for fighting your foes. But as great as Saruman is, trying him out will have to wait for a different tournament, because in our next (and probably last) post in this series, we’ll be covering the Lady of Lothlorien herself – Galadriel. Until then, happy hobbying!