The Fellowship's Tactical Units, Revisited

Good morning gamers,

This post kicks off a new series where we revisit a series we did back in 2012 on the Fellowship of the Ring – and we’ll be covering the Auric heroes of the fellowship first (old post here). Gandalf the Grey has already been covered on this blog (since the new rules were released, I covered him in the context of Thorin’s Company and Rythbryt covered him in his post on the Fellowship of the Ring), so we’ll only be covering his tactical uses briefly. While we covered Gandalf the White last time, he’s no longer part of the list. Whether this was the right call or not, we won’t be covering him (though those who like Gandalf the White should read our posts on him). We’ll be spending a good bit of time covering Bill the Pony and the tactics for using the “tenth” member of the Fellowship of the Ring.

Gandalf the Grey

Of all the wizards in the game (Saruman the White, Radagast the Brown, Saruman, and Gandalf the White), Gandalf the Grey is on the less-expensive side (though very pricey at 170 points) and might be the worst of them (here are three examples):

• All of the other wizards have some kind of offensive spell they can cast on a 2+ (Saruman/Saruman the White/Gandalf the White can cast Immobilize, while Radagast can cast Panic Steed), while Gandalf’s easiest offensive spell is cast on a 3+ (Immobilize);
• All of the other wizards have damage spells that can be cast on a 4+ (Saruman/Saruman the White/Gandalf the White have Sorcerous Blast, while Radagast can channel Nature’s Wrath - though I should note that Gandalf the White can cast Banishment on a 3+), while Gandalf the Grey has 2 damage spells that are both cast on a 5+ (Sorcerous Blast and Collapse Rocks); and
• Many of the other wizards provide some kind of lasting auric ability that helps their teammates in powerful ways that don’t require channeling to be effective (Saruman the White has Aura of Command, Gandalf the White has Fortify Spirit, Radagast the Brown has Terrifying Aura).

While Gandalf the Grey might not be the best wizard in the game, he’s still very good – and to understand that, we need to look at what his magic arsenal gets us that the other wizards (including his whitened future self) don’t provide.

Gandalf the Grey has eight spells in his arsenal: two that are/can be static and last for multiple turns once cast, two that are helpful against magic, two that hinder enemy models, and two that deal damage. That’s quite balanced, don’t you think? Of these eight spells, two of them are unique to Gandalf the Grey (and two others are unique for wizards to one of the two Gandalf profiles). Let’s see how these spells complement his overall arsenal.

Cast to Last: Channelled Blinding Light and Terrifying Aura

Blinding Light has always been a great spell – nice 6” protective bubble against good enemy archers. I mentioned in my post on using Gandalf the Grey in Thorin’s Company that you want to channel this spell with your free die AND a die from your Will store just to make it all-but-impossible that you’ll need to spend a second Might point to make it work (getting a 1 on your free die only is just sad…). Since most of the Fellowship characters have terrible Defense (3 Hobbits + Bill at D3, Legolas at D4-5, Gandalf at D5, Frodo at D3-D6, Aragorn + Boromir at D5-D6, Gimli at D8), anything you can do to make arrows hit you less often is good. This is particularly true if trying to deal with Elf bows/Esgaroth bows/Great bows in the hands of models with a 3+ Shoot value (the reduction in hits is felt almost instantly). While you could try to get by without this spell by buying Elven cloaks, if you’re not guaranteed to have terrain to hide behind (and terrain seems to be the last thing that new players really want to deal with), you’ll want Gandalf around. This spell is unique to one of the two Gandalf profiles as far as wizards go (though Cirdan and both Galadriel versions have it or something like it).

Terrifying Aura is less team-oriented and more self-oriented for Gandalf. While I don’t recommend channeling this spell if you’ve already channeled Blinding Light, it’s a good deterrent on Gandalf’s behalf against low Courage models – and even against high Courage models, it does make it more difficult to charge Gandalf. I recommend casting it second round if you’re not already fighting. All wizards have this – and since most wizards only have 1 Attack, it makes sense to have some way to keep people from charging you.

Together, these two spells (best cast on the first two turns of the game in most cases) deal with two key problems: your army leader getting swamped and your army getting shot. In an all-hero list, any Wounds suffered matter – when heroes start to take damage (or get killed), it means your other heroes need to work harder (and it adds stress to you as a player). Reducing as many threats as possible is a good thing – and both of these spells do that.

Down Boy: Immobilize and Command

Two of the most ubiquitous spells in the game and still solid go-to spells (in my estimation – lots of people disagree with me), Gandalf the Grey has both of these spells and they’re not cast on “bad” levels (unless you compare the difficulties to other wizards). Immobilize on a 3+ can still be cast reliably on a single die (with the knowledge that it may fail – just have a Might point lying around that you’re willing to use to boost it). Command is more risky – I recommend using 2 dice to cast it (which means casting it should only be done if the movement is going to really matter – not willy-nilly).

Whichever spell you choose to cast, you hinder an important model in several key ways (the biggest of which is that they can’t move and they can’t kill anyone if they win their Fight). There are some foes (Azog, Mordor Troll Chieftains, The Three Trolls) that are going to be tough for your team to carve through because they have a Fight Value higher than Fight 6 – and while it’s always fun to burn through Might on Heroic Strikes, Might for most of your heroes is a limited resource. As such, sometimes the best option for you is to just Immobilize the target (Azog might resist it once or twice, but the rest will be hurting) and let that guy win the fight if he wants to (and will be unable to do anything if he does). If you move first, it allows you to root a model you don’t want to deal with in place and you can just avoid it. Perfect!

Give Me A Boost: Protection of the Valar and Strengthen Will

These are Gandalf the Grey’s two most powerful spells (though Blinding Light/Terrifying Aura are also quite good). Protection of the Valar is unique to Gandalf the Grey and as a single spell is probably one of the best spells in the game. I like to run spell-casters and most armies that run spell-caster heroes do so in the hopes that they can look at the biggest, strongest hero on the other team and say “sit this one out” and by crippling him, they cripple the effectiveness of the enemy force. While the Fellowship certainly has multiple threats that might be candidates for enemy magic, Protection of the Valar can make any one of these guys (or several of them if they’re near each other) immune to magic and other weird special rules. If you need to guarantee that you can carve through the center of an enemy formation on a given turn, popping this spell is a great start as you back up the likes of Aragorn, Boromir, and Gimli.

But Gandalf’s best spell (whether you take the Grey variant or the White variant) is Strengthen Will. Why? Because under the new rules, Gandalf can cast this spell on himself. There are some rounds (especially if you’re marching across the field at the enemy) where you’re like “I don’t have anything to do” – and on those turns, you can point your wizardly staff at yourself (or Boromir or Gimli or Legolas . . .) and cast Strengthen Will to store up more Will for later in the battle. I like to cast it on Gandalf since you’ve only got so many turns where you can throw 1-2 dice from your Will store at a spell before you run out of dispensable Will. Using your free die to cast this spell is “risky,” but the die was free and you didn’t have anything else to do, right? Might as well see if you can turn that free Will point for the turn into a permanent Will point. Besides, if you’re going to bring Gandalf the Grey to battle, it’ll be best if he shows up with as much Will as he possibly can.

BOOM: Sorcerous Blast and Collapse Rocks!

Both of these spells are difficult to cast (5+) and I don’t recommend casting them very often (aka, only when it matters – you’ll know when that is). While Aragorn with Anduril usually has no problems wounding things, some of your other heroes will benefit from charging models that have been knocked on the ground. Sorcerous Blast will probably not kill the models it targets, but it can be used to put a few people on the front ranks on the ground – and that makes them easier to kill with Heroic Combats (called by Aragorn, Boromir, or Sam perhaps?) or by models who aren’t great at killing in the first place (Merry, Pippin, Sam, Frodo). Collapse Rocks should really only be cast if channeled (to do an area-of-effect damage on the enemy as they approach . . . while in/near rock terrain . . . and not near any of your guys - read a post from February 2019 for why this is). A really rough spell to get off, but glad it got added because it's in the movies! Doing damage with these spells is great, but their biggest contribution will always be how they tee up later turns.

Bill the Pony

Ah, Bill. The under-appreciated backbone of the Fellowship as they made their way from Rivendell to Moria. The one abandoned to the Watcher in the books. The one everyone took advantage of and few thanked. Bill the indispensable – I still remember when they gave him a profile in the Warband era of the game  . . . and the profile has basically not changed with the new release.

Bill allows Hobbits near him to benefit from banner rules. As any Khazad-Dum Dwarf generals know, when you don’t have spears, you take banners (because if you’re not winning the fight, you want a do-over). Banners are rare in all-hero armies and since Bill barely costs more than a normal banner upgrade, he’s definitely worth it. Sure, he doesn’t give banner rerolls to any of the members of the Fellowship over 3’8”, but for these heroes, he provides a greater benefit: the potential to regain Might, Will, or Fate points that have already been spent via a Second Breakfast.

 As Rythbryt mentioned in his post on the Fellowship, there are two main ways you can use Bill the Pony: up-front supporting the Hobbits as a banner (and lending a large extra control zone) or in the back keeping Legolas fed and sniping. In either configuration (and you can probably change which role you need mid-game if you keep Legolas close), Bill tends to provide benefits to your team just by hanging around. Should he be charged, he’s fairly weak, but he fairly comparable to most of the Hobbit heroes in the force (we’ll be covering them in our next post on the Fellowship).

Where he really comes into a world of his own is when he’s supporting a mounted hero – whether it’s Aragorn, Legolas, Boromir, or Gandalf the Grey (on his cart, perhaps?), you’ve got a mobile Might replenishing machine that can (for the most part) keep up with your heroes as they charge. The trick is getting Bill ALMOST into the control zone of the enemy ranks and then slamming the hero into the front lines and ending his movement touching Bill (so he can grab a bite on the run before fighting). While Gandalf is great at restoring Will, Bill is unmatched in his ability to regain other useful stats (except by Tom and Goldberry of course).

Sample lists: Gandalf the Grey and Bill the Pony

Point Limit	Army List	What’s in this list?
450pts – The Journey to Rivendell	Gandalf the Grey Aragorn – Strider Frodo Baggins Samwise Gamgee Meriadoc Brandybuck Peregrin Took	In a small game, it’s hard for powerful heroes to die – so we’ve opted for numbers and included all four Hobbits and their two escorts on their way to Rivendell: Gandalf the Grey and Strider. If Gandalf had actually been at the Prancing Pony, this would be the party that marched to Rivendell. Gandalf is expensive to have in a small point game, but he’ll be very hard to kill – especially with Aragorn hacking through enemy models, Frodo cutting enemy Fight values in half, and Sam getting free Heroic Combats. If we weren’t going for theme, I would have left Merry and Pippin at home and given out armor and a bow to Aragorn and probably a horse to Gandalf (or Aragorn).
700pts – The Ring Goes South	Gandalf the Grey Aragorn – Strider with bow Frodo Baggins with Sting and the Mithril Coat Samwise Gamgee Meriadoc Brandybuck Peregrin Took Legolas Greenleaf Gimli, Son of Gloin Bill the Pony	This includes the whole Fellowship sans Boromir as they were when they left Rivendell. Bill enters the line-up, alongside Legolas and Gimli, both of whom provide a lot more power and threats to your opponent. The Hobbits are enhanced by the appearance of Bill and Aragorn becomes a bit more lethal by giving him a bow. Personally, I’d preferred to have left Merry or Pippin (or the Mithril Coat?) at home and given Aragorn and Legolas armor, but we’re going for theme here, remember?

Conclusion

The auric heroes of the Fellowship are great because they can protect their friends, neutralize enemies, make enemies more vulnerable, make their friends better in combat, and regain lost Might, Will, or Fate stats. While Gandalf does more of this than Bill, he also costs a lot more. Still, leaving home without these two is a real risk – don’t rule them out from your army creation thoughts as you won’t find these kinds of tricks in any of the other members of the Fellowship.

In our next post, we’ll move on to discussing the five “Hobbit” characters in the list. Some are easily auto-includes, while others require some consideration. This post will revisit a post we did back in 2012. Until then, happy hobbying!