Using/Fighting Spellcasters: Combat Mages, Revisited

Good morning gamers,

Today we continue our series of revisiting old posts and updating them for the new rules set. A while back, we did a three-part series on using/fighting spell-casters and we classified some of them as “Combat Mages” (or basically, people who fight really well and ALSO have magic). In that post, we also lumped in Auxiliary mages who do a few niche things to help your army and since there wasn’t that much to say about either of them, we lumped them into the same post. Today, we’ll be talking about the first group only (Combat Mages), though the list will be a little longer (four entries instead of two). We’ll be covering Auxiliary Mages/Ringwraiths/unlimited Will casters in the next few posts of this series. For our purposes, we’re following this taxonomy for casters:

• Multi-Purpose Will Mages: Anyone with the Will of Evil rule (or a similar rule) and has spells (who uses Will to cast magic AND fight AND stay alive…and possibly other things);
• Unlimited Mages: Anyone who gets "free Will," has spells that can be cast, and does not fall in the previous category;
• Combat Mages: Anyone with 2+ Attacks, has spells that can be cast, and does not fall in either of the previous two categories;
• Auxiliary Mages: Catch-all for everyone else, usually limited casting with some kind of immediate/lasting benefit to the army.

Combat Mages: What’s New?

Back when we originally did the post, we only talked about Elrond and Celeborn. While these guys are certainly two of the most powerful and feared combat mages in the game, there are actually only four models who fall in this category. These heroes include:

• Celeborn (available to Lothlorien/the White Council)
• Elrond (available to Rivendell/the White Council)
• Gildor Inglorion (available to Rivendell)
• The Mouth of Sauron (available to Mordor)

While Celeborn and Elrond have retained many of their spells from the olden days, some things have changed even for them. Today, we’ll look at each of these heroes and see what they look like (and how you can reduce their effectiveness, if not beat them).

Celeborn

This is my conversion of Celeborn, taking the head from an unarmored Celeborn and the body of a metal Haldir's Warrior - see this post for more info.

Celeborn has gotten better in this new release: while he was already very good (Fight 6/3 Attacks/3 Might) and the ability to be very good defensively too (up to Defense 7/3 Wounds/3 Fate), Celeborn is a powerful warrior in his own right. With an Elven-made hand-and-a-half sword, the ability to cast Immobilize, and Heroic Strike/Strength, Celeborn has the ability to go toe-to-toe with pretty much anyone, but the addition of two new bonuses (one special rule and one new spell) make him even better than he was before.

Celeborn got the Lord of the West rule, which allows him to reroll one die to duel and one die to wound – this makes him even more likely to win a fight (and more likely to kill something). This rule, shared by such powerful Elven lords as Gil-Galad, Glorfindel, and Elrond (covering him next), turns your expensive Elven hero into a very reliable heavy-hitter, capable of paying for himself pretty easily if he's left alone by enemy mages.

While Celeborn has always had a useful set of spells, Immobilize was really only worth casting if there was something powerful near Celeborn that he wanted to deal with (normally a monster or combat hero, though occasionally it might include a mid-range hero you didn't want to have running away from you). If you’re facing basic warriors, however, Immobilize isn’t that useful. Celeborn, however, got a new spell: Enchanted Blades (which allows you to reroll all failed To Wound dice, also gives a +1 bonus to Wound when channelled). While he could cast this on other figures (ally in Aragorn as a historical ally to reroll failed Anduril wounds, for example), it’s quite good cast on himself.

Celeborn: How To Fight Him?

Celeborn suffers from one thing that really makes him a lower-level mega-hero: he doesn’t have a mount. Unlike Gil-Galad, Glorfindel, and Elrond (who we’re covering next), he received the big boost up for Lord of the West, but doesn’t have a mount to allow him to threaten many parts of the battlefield at once. As a result, you’ll always know where he’s coming – and where he can’t get. Staying out of 6” range of a model is pretty easy, so unless you HAVE to be somewhere, just move away from him. Immobilize can keep you from moving, but it can’t move you – so think one turn ahead and keep vulnerable units out of his range.

While the Lothlorien army bonus makes Celeborn Resistant to Magic, spells that are cast on a 4+/5+ will likely cut into his Will store in order to prevent the damage they cause. Spells like Wrath of Bruinen (which will send Celeborn lying on his face), Sorcerous Blast (which will throw him backwards and end up with him on his face), and Sap Will (which has a tendency to sap some Will just because people resist it) are all very dangerous to a combat caster as they either keep him from fighting or they keep him from casting. While a daring Lothlorien player might rely on the free die alone to resist the spell, it’s more likely that a precious Will point will be used to resist – and that means one less Immobilize/Enchanted Blades action.

While shooting Celeborn is credibly difficult, I will note that Celeborn is likely to be made D6/D7 depending on whether a shield is taken or not (in most cases, D6 is “just fine” – this is how I run him, btw). If Celeborn is D6, then it’s probably not any harder to wound him with archery than any of the grunts to his right or left (assuming he’s leading Galadhrim Warriors). Even at D7, if you’ve got S3/S4 archery (Dwarf bows, Uruk-Hai bows, Elf bows, Esgaroth bows, longbows, crossbows, throwing weapons/spears), it’s still not any more difficult to wound him than to wound those nearby. Of course, in large point games, any wise Lothlorien player has included Galadriel as well, so if she’s nearby, I wouldn’t trust to shooting as the means to take him down.

Like most heroes with Lord of the West, I wouldn’t recommend trying to kill him in combat unless he’s been Immobilized/Transfixed. With effectively 4 dice to win the fight (5 if he’s in range of a banner), there is a higher probability that he gets a 6 on one of his dice than that he gets something lower than a 6 (and if he’s just looking for a 5, there’s an all-but-guaranteed chance that he gets a 5). If you REALLY want to fight him in melee without magic, some civs can do it – most notably those that do impact damage/knock-over (Far Harad/Iron Hills/Erebor Reclaimed), those that have models that can half Fight Value (the Trolls/Moria/Dol Guldur/Denizens of Mirkwood/non-Sauron-Ringbearers), or models that have F7+ and are willing to either counter-Strike (because he will probably Strike) OR who don’t counter-Strike and think they can weather whatever he dishes out. The greatest weakness of Celeborn is that he’s “only” S4 – and if you have a high FV hero who wounds D7 models well (like Azog, Elendil, or a Mordor Trol Chieftain), perhaps you can ignore the first time he calls a Strike, weather the loss, and then beat him up on a later turn when his Might store has dried up.

Elrond

I got Elrond originally for my White Council force...then I built a Rivendell force around him, Arwen, and Glorfindel...and Elendil. :)

Of all the spellcasters in this list, Elrond has probably received the greatest boosts (though Celeborn runs a close second). While Elrond’s stats haven’t changed at all, he’s received a few key bonuses that make him SOOOO much better than he already was. As we’ve mentioned in a recent post we did on the Last Alliance, Elrond added Foresight points to his profile (originally on his unarmored profile only), giving you a greater likelihood of getting priority. In addition to Lord of the West, Elrond now has a sword that does more damage against Spirit models – which may not seem like a big thing, but is absolutely wonderful when your opponent’s big hero is a Ringwraith/Balrog/Sauron OR if you’re facing a spirit army (like the Dead of Dunharrow).

Elrond also got Nature’s Wrath (just knocking enemy models down, channel to do damage) upgraded to Wrath of Bruinen (knocks enemy models down and does damage, channel to up the damage Strength by 1). This, paired with some neat synergies you can run with Arwen (who also has Wrath of Bruinen), Lindir (who gives Elrond a free Will point each turn), or Gandalf (who can Strengthen Will on Elrond) gives you not only the ability to do mass damage against low-Defense models (and even pluck a few models with higher Defense), but it also puts models on the ground, making them vulnerable to charges and keeping your own models more protected from damage should they lose.

While Celeborn’s offensive spell (Immobilize) is more precise than Elrond’s spell, like Celeborn, Elrond also has a very useful support spell: Renew. One of a handful of heroes with this spell, Elrond can grant a Wound back to someone who’s lost it (perfect for making sure that Glorfindel shrugs off a random hit he suffered, keeping a bunker captain alive while he tags an opponent’s power hero, or keeping a vulnerable hero – like Arwen or Cirdan – from getting cleared off the table. While I don’t normally cast this spell (I might if I’ve got Lindir around), the fact that you can do it is great.

Elrond: How To Fight Him

Fighting Elrond is actually done very similarly to how you fight Celeborn if he’s on foot – use spells that keep him from doing anything or shoot him. The difference comes if he’s mounted: a mounted Elrond is likely to be able to close on your caster after one casting attempt (or close with your archers after one or two rounds of shooting). The answer to this scenario is pretty simple: shoot him or cast magic and hope you take out the horse.

Elrond (thankfully) does not have Horselord, so taking out his horse should be “simple.” Elrond also isn’t Resistant to Magic (unless Lindir’s around), so targeting him with any magical spell can cut into his Will store if he’s unwilling to get nerfed. Shooting him is less effective than it is against Celeborn because of the rerollable Fate points, but being Defense 7 won’t be too much worse than what you’d have to face with the rest of the High Elf battle line.

Gildor Inglorion

Gildor's hard to find these days since he's out of production, so this is my proxy.

On paper, Gildor doesn’t look like he’s worth taking: with a single Might point, low Defense, and only 1 Fate point, why would you take him over a generic High Elf Captain (or Erestor)? There are several reasons why I like Gildor and like running him. First and foremost, he has access to Heroic March, just like other Captains. While this will be his only heroic action of the game (unless you’re playing a scenario where he can get Might points back), Gildor will be able to slingshot himself (and any Noldorin Exiles he brings along) a full 11” forward – which basically means you get to move further than normal cavalry do in a single round. If you bring Gildor, some Noldorin Exiles, and some Rivendell Knights (in his warband or Elrond’s warband so they don’t count towards your bow limit), you can get quite a few pieces deployed in advance of your army and taking up strategic positions so that they can weaken your opponent before he closes on your ranks.

While Noldorin Exiles are incredibly light, their extra 2” of movement (and the fact that all of them can take either bows/throwing daggers and so can skirmish well) is a huge boon AND plays heavily to Gildor’s strength as a combat caster. Gildor has 4 Will points and can cast Immobilize on a 3+ - which is a normal difficulty and a very good Will store. Conservative players can cast Immobilize reliably twice in a game (throwing 2 Will each time), allowing you to root an enemy in place anywhere within 20” of Gildor’s starting location. While Immobilize/Transfix are often employed once your opponent is fighting, don’t ignore the benefits of this spell early in the game: if a tactical piece (a Shade, a banner-bearer, a mounted combat hero, or a monster) gets rooted before his army gets to move, the player has the choice of a) letting that hero show up a turn late, b) keeping the rest of his troops where they are – delaying the advance - and weathering the storm of archery that is invariably coming, or c) attempting to resist the spell now and not having Will points to prevent the same spell (or a similar one) later. Watch your opponent puzzle over that one…

Gildor is a one-trick pony when it comes to spells, but Immobilize is a good spell (despite its reduction in potency over the last two releases of the game): it can be used to annoy heroes, it can cripple monsters, and it can keep your army from getting shot up by crossbows/casted against by mages. More reckless players (or those that decide to save their Might point for boosting a casting attempt) might try casting this spell four times – which is a great way for slowing down the effectiveness of a combat piece.

Gildor Inglorion: How to Fight Him

Unlike the previous two heroes, Gildor has an Elven cloak by default: this makes him incredibly hard to cast magic against or shoot at if there’s any kind of terrain on the map. Hiding behind models doesn’t trigger the Elven cloak rule anymore, but it does provide in-the-way opportunites to deflect damage. Gildor’s greatest strength doesn’t lie in standing in the front as a bastion of strength, but rather hanging out on the periphery of the fight, distracting fire/forces from your main Rivendell force. With a highly mobile warband, Gildor is great for clearing objectives – so use that to your advantage when fighting him.

Gildor is “only” Fight 6 and does not have access to Strike – so you can get a higher Fight Value than him. Even if you don’t want to send a Strike-equipped hero against him, a mob of warriors can overwhelm his 2 Attacks and with only Defense 4, 2 Wounds, and 1 Fate, he dies very quickly. I should also note that while Noldorin Exiles can all be shooters, Gildor has no ranged capability himself (just Immobilize), so sending a mob of guys (and no heroes at all – except for maybe a generic captain to call a well-timed Heroic Move) might be more beneficial.

Casting magic against him works alright if you can see him – personally I’m not sure he’s worth casting against unless you have no other targets and get free Will points to cast each turn.

The Mouth of Sauron

I don't own this guy...stock picture for him.

Our final combat mage is the Mouth of Sauron – an evil character at last! While nowhere near as powerful as Elrond/Celeborn and only marginally better in stats (and higher in cost) than Gildor, one might ask, “Why bring this guy when I could bring a Ringwraith?” I don’t disagree with you here – I prefer Ringwraiths myself (the Ringwraith gets Harbinger, +2 Defense, +1 Courage, and +3 Will at the cost of no option to two-hand, -1 Attack, -1 Wound, -3 possible warrior slots, and the Will of Evil expenditure of Will to stay alive after fighting). From a pure stats perspective, it seems like combat (and fielding a few more warriors) is the only thing that the Mouth of Sauron does that a Ringwraith cannot.

In many ways, this is true: the Mouth of Sauron shares three spells with a generic Ringwraith (all at the same difficulty to cast and the same range), and doesn’t have any weird rules that makes him unique. So what does he provide you as a combat mage that a Ringwraith does not?

The answer is in the title: while some Ringwraiths can fight forever (either because their Will store is high OR because they have rules that reduce the Will that they spend when fighting), the Mouth of Sauron can have 3 Attack dice on the charge at Fight 5/Strength 4 (potentially two-handing) and won’t die simply because he’s charged. While Ringwraiths can be “fine” when mounted (I run 90-pt Ringwraiths with a horse, 2M/9W/1F), they won’t be able to get to that level of damage.

An additional boon is that the Mouth of Sauron isn’t a Spirit model – this means he’s immune to the normal banes of Ringwraiths (e.g. Banishment, Elrond’s blade Hadafang) which can carve up a Ringwraith pretty quickly. While this makes him “normal,” it’s a niche benefit against some teams.

While not a “great” reason to take him over a Ringwraith, the Mouth of Sauron is also a better model to bring out when teaching someone the game – he functions like a normal hero without weird rules like the Will of Evil to cloud a new player’s understanding for how to use his Ringwraith (we’ll be covering Ringwraiths in one of our next posts in this series, by the way).

So assuming you’ve chosen to run the Mouth of Sauron, how do you use him effectively? Like Gildor, he has 4 Will points to cast a very limited set of spells: while you could run him like Gildor and just cast Transfix a few times, there are two other spell you have as options (one that I love and one that I recommend you not do).

The first (and better in my opinion) is Drain Courage. This very simple spell is great for keeping enemy captain models (or a mega-hero if you cast it 4 times) from charging you and clearing this Courage 5 model from the board. If you need to keep Orc rabble on the field, this is a great strategy for making sure that a hero doesn’t mess with your Stand Fasts. Alternatively, you can also use this to great effect if you’re leading Black Numenoreans, who themselves cause Terror, or if you’re riding with a troop of Morgul Knights (who also cause Terror). I’ve always been a fan of Ringwraiths casting Drain Courage – you can add yet-another guy to do that with the Mouth of Sauron. Also, as I’ve specified in a previous post, it’s good to channel this spell.

Your other option is to cast Instill Fear – which isn’t that great of a spell if it’s cast on a 5+ (as it will likely cost you 2 dice to cast and it may take up 1-2 Might points as well. While scattering foes is great, the 3” range is not that many models unless your base is huge (which you can get from a Fell Beast, but horse bases just don’t provide that much more reach). All told, I think it’s too much of a gable for most Ringwraiths/the Mouth of Sauron to try (though the Dark Marshal and the Witch-King cast it on a 4+ - and I can say from experience that casting it with one of these guys is worth it).

The Mouth of Sauron: How to Fight Him

Fighting this guy is not hard: like Gildor, he lacks Heroic Strike, so there is a very good case for just running something big into him and crushing him. Since he’s only Fight 5, this could be a captain model, it could be a monster (though Terror might give you some issues), or it could be an elite Warrior (Elves and Khazad Guards work great). If the Mouth of Sauron is smart, he’ll have a retinue of guards to keep that from happening, but if you can cut through the ranks and engage him, he’s not hard to beat.

Shooting him is also pretty easy – at only Defense 6, most archery will wound him on 6s, but unless the Mordor player also brings the Shadow Lord, there isn’t anything that will keep a good archery team from turning the Mouth of Sauron into an armored pincushion. His horse is not bad to target (and dies easily to Strength 3 archery).

The best way to fight him, however, is with magic: he’s not Resistant to Magic, he has no anti-magic buffs, and he can’t call a Heroic Resolve to keep himself strong (and not many Mordor models have Heroic Resolve either). As such, he’ll have to weather whatever torment you throw his way the old fashioned way – by spending his normal Will store and hoping spells don’t go off.

Conclusion

Well, that was fun. Hopefully you learned something new about these models. While you’re unlikely to see too many of these models in a given army, just the presence of a single one of these models can cause huge problems for some of your heroes or negate some of the strongest benefits of your army. Plan carefully (and consider taking one for your army from time to time). In our next post, we’ll be continuing the revisit of the Combat mages post by covering the other half of it – auxiliary mages! In this category of mages, we’ll look at mages with very limited Will points (and often limited Might points) who need to think carefully about what to cast in order to provide the greatest long-term benefits of their casting. While many of the entries will include models with Fury, there are others who might surprise you at how much they can do. It’ll be fun – until then, happy hobbying!