Uruk Heroes: Taxonomy, Revisited

Good morning gamers,

Back in January 2013, I did a post on Uruk-Hai heroes, addressing the various builds for Uruk-Hai heroes that you can do, what categories they fall in (we identified four general categories), and how you could create an Uruk-oriented Isengard army that had elements of all four of these categories. In today’s post, we’ll be revisiting this topic since Uruk-Hai hero profiles have changed a bit since the previous version (not much, but some). I will note that since most of Isengard didn’t change in the newest release, most of Centaur’s thoughts on both Isengard heroes and Isengard warriors also apply, so check those out when you have a chance.

Uruk-Hai Heroes: A Brief Taxonomy

I should note that not all Uruk-Hai are found in Isengard. While Shagrat, Mordor Uruk-Hai Captains, and Black Guard Captains/Drummers are great and all, we’ll just be focusing on Isengard today. I’ve also noted in a previous post that Thyrdan is an excellent choice of Isengard commander (as is Saruman) – but as great as these guys are, we won’t be looking at them (though you should consider bringing them – they’re definitely worth taking).

For Isengard Uruk-Hai captains, you have the following categories (largely unchanged from past releases):

• Rock:
• Uruk-Hai Captain/Scout Captain with shield
• Hatchet:
• Mauhur
• Uruk-Hai Captain/Scout Captain with two-handed weapon
• Main-Stay:
• Ugluk
• Uruk-Hai Shaman with armor
• Uruk-Hai Drummer
• Arrow:
• Vrasku
• Uruk-Hai Captain with crossbow
• Uruk-Hai Scout Captain with Uruk-Hai Bow
• Uruk-Hai Engineering Captain/Siege Veteran with Isengard Assault Ballista
• All-Around:
• Lurtz

We’ll take a look at each group in turn – they still make a nice pattern of increasing the number of models included in each, don’t they?

The Rock: When You Need To Stop Someone

When you buy an Uruk-Hai Captain (named or unnamed), you usually do so because of their offensive stats – Fight 5, Strength 5, 2-3 Attacks, 2-3 Might points. That’s a pretty good deal for costing under 70 points each! Because Isengard lacks access to Heroic Strike on many of their heroes (though Isengard does has 3 Heroic Strike figures – that’s more than some armies can boast), you may find that your Strike-heroes aren’t aligned to deal with a nasty hero who’s crashing through your ranks. As great as Uruk-Hai offensive profiles are, the generic Captains aren’t slouches. So, instead of fighting fire with fire, you grab your nearest “bunker” captain and you place him in the way of the hero who’s causing havoc.

Hero choices:

• Uruk-Hai Captain with shield: 2 Attacks at F5 with 2 Might; 2 Wounds at D7 with 1 Fate
• Uruk-Hai Scout Captain with shield: 2 Attacks at F5 with 2 Might; 2 Wounds at D6 with 1 Fate

At first glance, putting a F5 hero who can’t strike in the way of a Boromir or Glorfindel doesn’t seem like a good idea – they’re going to get killed! Or are they? While Defense 6 on the Uruk-Hai Scout Captain isn’t great (most heroes will wound them on 5s), captains in the “Rock” category are intended to form a speed-bump for enemy heroes – denying them heroic combats that launch them into other models. With shields equipped, these Uruk-Hai heroes can defend themselves by shielding against better characters, giving them 4 dice to win the fight (0.80 probability of getting a 5 as the high die and a 0.50 probability of getting a 6 as the high die).

Their Might should be used in one of three ways: a) boosting a Duel roll in order to make the enemy hero burn through more Might OR to win the fight if they don’t have the Might to get a winning die roll, b) boosting a Fate save to keep them fighting longer, or c) calling a Heroic Move when you don’t have priority to keep the enemy hero from disengaging. This third option is risky, but remember: this hero’s job is to tie someone down for several turns.

My Uruk-Hai "bunker" Captain: shrugging off arrows and shielding against big heroes since 2011. 

Boromir and Glorfindel will wound a D7 Uruk-Hai Captain on 6s – and while they may get a 6 every now and again, getting three of them (if you can pass your Fate roll) is hard in one or two fights. At the end of the day, if one powerful hero gets tied down with a cheaper, generic hero for several turns, the battle’s probably going ill somewhere else on the field (especially when the army is made up of Uruk-Hai). Uruk-Hai Scout Captains die much faster (wounded on 5s), but they can do a similar tie-down against elite warriors who are Strength 3 OR heroes who are Strength 5 (where the D7 would be meaningless). Even if you’re fighting the normal Strength 4 hero, wounding on 5s isn’t a given when you’re only rolling 3 dice, so do your best to avoid being knocked Prone or giving cavalry their charge bonus.

Note: given the Warhammer Community sneak-peak at the War in Rohan Assault of Helm's Deep Legendary Legion, we know that a generic Uruk-Hai Captain with shield could be your army leader in that list and has 3 Attacks and 3 Wounds (no extra Might/Will/Fate). Before the sneak-peak, I called that there would be an "uber-Captain" to lead this army, like there is the "uber-Chieftain" that leads the Black Gate Opens Legendary Legion (in the Gondor at War supplement). This kind of hero takes the "rock" build to a whole new level, as you can shield with 6 dice and require 3 Wounds (with a Fate point) to be dealt to you before you die.

Rock heroes are useful in most armies, but the ones we tend to want to buy for an Isengard list are . . .

The Hatchet: When You Need To Kill Someone Up Close

Let’s face it: Uruk-Hai heroes were born to kill stuff (I mean we see a three-second-old Uruk strangle one of his Orc-nurses, so...). They have above-average Fight and above-average Strength (F5/S5), so they can do a great job of carving through Dwarves (wounding D8-9 on 6s and D6-7 on 5s), men (wounding D6-7 on 5s and D4-5 on 4s), have a decent shot against Elves if you can win the duel (basically the same wounding rolls as men – wounding Wood Elves on 3s), and EXCEL AT KILLING HOBBITS (who they also wound on 3s)! Yes, Isengard heroes are amazing at killing things – but there are a few that do it better than others.

Hero choices:

• Mauhur
• Uruk-Hai Captain with two-handed axe
• Uruk-Hai Scout Captain with two-handed axe

Mauhur: great speed, great Attacks, and pretty average everywhere else (including cost).

If we’re honest, almost every Uruk-Hai hero falls in this category – basically all have 2 Attacks at Fight 5/Strength 5 with 2 Might. Even if their gear drives them more towards shooting, Uruk-Hai units are all good at killing things. Of all the choices available, there are three that seem dedicated to killing things up close more than any other role – and those will be the ones we look at here.

Mauhur is fast – if you haven’t used him before, that extra 2” of movement really helps when you’re racing around battle lines and charging into spearmen. With 3 Attacks (one of two Uruk-Hai heroes who boasts that), Mauhur has a decent shot at getting the high roll – especially against warriors. While often critiqued for not having Heroic Strike, Mauhur’s ceiling of Fight 5 means you need to use him against warriors more than heroes (though a captain who can’t Strike and is Fight 3-4 is a juicy target indeed), which is fine, since Uruk-Hai captains can do incredible jobs of carving up warriors. Mauhur also allows you to increase the movement of Uruk-Hai Scouts in his warband, giving you some incredibly fast troops (archers who can move faster than normal infantry while still shooting if they’re affected by a Heroic March and an Uruk-Hai Drum OR shield-carrying Uruks who can swoop in around a flank or entrench around a far-off objective and shield away any assailants).

I've had this converted model forever - don't use him as much as I should...

Both the Uruk-Hai Captain and the Uruk-Hai Scout Captain can take a two-handed weapon – I’m going to highlight the axe today. While there’s a great case for bashing with a two-handed mace (and you have the choice of what kind of weapon it is – no need to pay for a swap), axes give you flexibility of dealing with even-Defense troops as easily as you deal with odd-Defense troops. Yes, being Strength 5 is great, but some armies (D6 shield walls) will ignore the benefits of your increased Strength – unless you Piercing Strike. The risk that comes with this is that your captains begin at D5/6, so Piercing Strike could make them be wounded on 4s. Your call, but consider that you’ll wound D6 shieldwalls on 3s with Piercing Strike (and D4 Haradhrim battle lines on 2s). Yes, you can kill quite a bit I think…

An important note: remember what I said about that uber-Captain leading the new Assault on Helm's Deep Legendary Legion? I actually think this is the better captain to use, as it not only ups his damage output, but makes it more likely that he rolls a high die value (though it will suffer a -1 penalty if you're attacking two-handed - which you should). The extra Wound is also nice in the event that you fail to win the fight.

Might on these captains (whether used by Mauhur or generic Captains) should be used to March their infantry closer to the enemy (no more than once unless your scenario requires you to get somewhere quickly) and save the other one for boosting a Duel/Fate roll. Wounding is a common temptation for a boost – only do so if it removes an important tactical unit (e.g. an enemy hero, a banner, or an important model on an objective).

Killing things up close and stopping enemy heroes is important, but a good army also needs to have units that augment the rest of their troops (keeps you from being a one-trick show). To this end, we look to . . .

The Main-Stay: When You Need Something To Work

For most armies in MESBG, tactical auric heroes don’t tend to be able to fight well. While some of the units we have here aren’t great fighters, they’ve all got above-average stats, making them decent fighters while providing auric benefits. The boosts they give can also be game-altering, making up for weaknesses that have crippled this Isengard player for years.

Hero choices:

• Ugluk
• Uruk-Hai Shaman with armor
• Uruk-Hai Drummer

Ugluk: one of the cheapest Heroic Strike options in the game.

Ugluk was the kind of hero that Centaur gravitated to immediately and it took a while for me to appreciate and come to love. Ugluk, like most Scout Captain Uruk heroes, has an average Defense (D5) and no way to boost it. Like Mauhur, this can make him fragile – so plan for that and keep him out of the way until you’re ready to brawl. Ugluk is only slightly more expensive than an Uruk-Hai Scout Captain and picks up +1 Might and a special rule that allows you to sacrifice one of your own models near him in order to automatically pass a 12” Stand Fast test that affects both heroes and warriors around him. Personally, I think he should cause Terror on a turn when he does this, but I don’t make the rules…

I don't own a Shaman and we don't photograph them much, so here's an image of one of my beloved Dwarves dying (shaman's at the top-left).

Uruk-Hai Shamans are an Isengard hero I’ve never used, but Centaur’s used a good number of times against me. While the 6+ save from channeled Fury isn’t really a save (see my previous posts on Magic in MESBG, my initial opinions on the new rules, and Auxiliary mages for more on this subject), auto-passing Courage tests is very helpful for Isengard players who aren’t running Berserkers or Warg Riders – and since Uruk-Hai Warriors and Uruk-Hai Scouts are very good models, making sure they can charge terror-causing units (either to tie something down, bring something large down, or charge a terror-causing battle line) is a huge boon. The Uruk-Hai Shaman is one of the heroes who doesn’t fit into the “great at fighting” category, but he’s still got decent stats for a warrior-type model. With a spear in his profile, he can also assist from the second rank – something any Uruk-Hai force will welcome.

New conversion - this pose was made for it!

Uruk-Hai Drummers are glorified warriors and tend to have a short effectiveness in a game. With the exception of scenarios that require you to race across the board, Uruk-Hai Drummers are wonderful in that they can make your units faster for a turn, but they also keep units from charging for a turn. If you find yourself chasing horsemen across the plains of Rohan, an Uruk-Hai Drummer will be good for you. Getting 14” movement on your Uruk-Hai Marauders with Mauhur calling a Heroic March and the Drummer banging away is fun, but eventually, you don’t need to get any further than your normal movement carries you. At which point, you’ve got yet another Uruk-Hai Scout model ready to charge into the fight. Yaye . . . Don’t get me wrong, I like Uruk-Hai Drummers, but they cost the same as Uruk-Hai Warriors with banners and shields (or pikes), so pick which one you think will give you more value.

While Ugluk is the only impressive main-stay hero, we enter now the realm of some of the best heroes available to Isengard – the company of . . .

The Arrow: When You Need To Kill Someone From Afar

Isengard forces are notorious for crushing things in close combat, but if there’s anything Zorro’s Uruk-Hai are known for, it’s riddling armies full of holes with crossbow bolts before they arrive. While crossbows seem to be the most prevalent way for Uruk-Hai to dominate the tables with archery, the new rules have seen the rise of two other kinds of shooters enter the scene (and time will tell which is more effective).

Hero choices:

• Vrasku
• Uruk-Hai Captain with crossbow
• Uruk-Hai Scout Captain with Uruk-Hai Bow
• Uruk-Hai Engineering Captain/Siege Veteran with Isengard Assault Ballista

I don't actually own Vrasku, so here's Centaur's...

Vrasku was first introduced to our gaming group by Centaur. Zorro quickly converted one up and so did I. Since then, every player in our group who has played at a tournament with Isengard (except me) has taken Vrasku – and that seems to continue to be a given. Personally, I find Vrasku (and crossbow Uruks in general) to be a bit clunky – their inability to “scoot-and-shoot” makes them predictable and while it can be hard to avoid getting shot by them, boards with lots of terrain will see crossbow lines hamstrung and constantly shifting to find a good firing lane. Assuming he has a shot, though, Vrasku is deadly – two shots each round hitting on 3s and wounding most models on 4s or 5s means roughly 1 kill each round for Vrasku. Keep his firing lanes open and he’ll pay for himself with interest.

While the range weapon is good, this arrow hero isn't quite the punch you get from Vrasku.

The weaker (and similarly costed) choice for crossbow heroes is the Uruk-Hai Captain with crossbow. While not as effective as the Rock/Hatchet variants we saw above, Uruk-Hai Captains with crossbows have a decent shoot value (4+) and a good ranged weapon (Strength 4, 24” range), so if you’ve already purchased Vrasku, they can provide an added oomph to your army. That said, I’m not sure I’d take this guy give the other options available to me UNLESS I was playing a thematic army (assaulting Helm’s Deep - more on that later).

For a long time, I used this Uruk Scout as Lurtz, but he can stand in as either an Uruk-Hai Scout Captain with Uruk-Hai bow or just a scout...

If you want a ranged hero who’s cheaper than Vrasku (and a bit more flexible in maneuvering), pick up an Uruk-Hai Captain with Uruk-Hai bow. Now that these bows are Strength 3, they’re not the useless hero build I mentioned in my previous post. Against odd-Defense characters, this hero will Wound on exactly the same difficulty as a crossbow (until you get to Defense 9), but you get half-movement-at-reduced-to-hit, which can pay dividends. If you prefer maneuverability (like I do), these guys are excellent support heroes (though again, I’m not sure I’d take him over heroes from other categories – could make for a more shooty list though).

Note: you remember the uber-Captain from the new Legendary Legion? Don't use one of these guys. Moving on . . .

Not my Ballista...

Finally, we have a captain I didn’t give much attention to before (because no one bought them ages ago). Centaur is very, VERY happy when he runs these guys – that’s right, I’m talking about Siege Veterans/Captains with an Isengard Ballista (or as we like to call them, “BALISSSSHHHHHTTTTAAAA!!!!!”). While the Siege Veteran is unimpressive as a hero, he comes with an Uruk-Hai Warrior and an Uruk-Hai Warrior with pike in his warband and can add a few more if you want to protect them in a Maelstrom fight. In exchange, they get the most powerful weapon in Isengard’s arsenal: a Ballista.

Not only can this weapon auto-kill its target, but it also flings the target back and knocks it Prone. This is great for dealing with horsemen and big heroes who have little to no Fate (0 Fate heroes are great, but 1 Fate heroes might be forced to burn through Might in order to boost their Fate roll). Monster warriors are great targets too, as they’re expensive, hard to deal with, nasty when they win a fight, and often lack Fate to save themselves. For 65 points, an Isengard Ballista is a huge bargain!

We’ve looked at the four major categories for heroes – but we have led up to the culmination of our post: the hero who puts it all together . . .

Lurtz: Jack Of All Trades (Master Of All?)

Lurtz: more fragile than most army leaders, but not as fragile as he used to be...

When I first did this post, I talked about how Lurtz was “fine” in three of the four categories. At the time, that was true: he was Fight 5 (like everyone else), Strength 5 (like everyone else), 2 Attacks (like everyone else), 2 Wounds (like everyone else), and had 3 Might/1 Fate (basically like everyone else - made for a good Hatchet hero). He was also similarly costed and the only hero (besides generic captains) who could take a ranged weapon (Arrow) and a shield (Rock). He was “fine” – and despite not being better at things than the other heroes, I liked him.

And then our prayers were answered: the 60-point Uruk-Hai hero got a points hike to 90-points and got some huge boosts: Fight 5 with access to Heroic Strike (which only Ugluk has as far as Uruk-Hai heroes go), Strength 5 (like everyone else), Defense 6 (better than all the named heroes, possible to tie/beat with generic Captains), 3 Attacks (on-par with Mauhur/uber-Captain, better than everyone else), 3 Wounds (on-par with uber-Captain, better than anyone else), 3 Might (on-par with not-Mauhur-named-heroes, better than generic heroes/Mauhur), and 1 Fate (which, like F5, appears to be an Isengard Uruk's lot in life). These little changes, added to his new special rule that allows him to bring his warband on wherever he wants in scenarios where your deployment is uncertain, makes Lurtz better in all four areas we’ve already covered (and this often makes Lurtz an auto-include for Isengard armies):

• Lurtz can be a Rock: while D6 isn’t great (though fine against S3 warriors/heroes), he can shield to get 6 dice to win the fight with 3 Might points (and can Strike);
• Lurtz can be a Hatchet: with Fight 5 (did I mention he can Strike?) and Strength 5 (with an option for Heroic Strength too) and 3 Attacks with 3 Might, Lurtz can carve through most front lines with ease;
• Lurtz can be a Main-Stay: I’ve talked recently about deploying a “Lurtz-ball” behind enemy ranks in Maelstrom games, which has huge tactical benefits. While this is probably the area Lurtz contributes the least to, he still provides tactical benefits to his teammates (mostly in the form of positioning when his arrival would otherwise be unpredictable); and
• Lurtz can be an Arrow: made better by the improvements to his Shoot value and the Strength of his bow, Lurtz is now a decent archer hero who can peg a few people during a game. While he probably won’t out-kill Vrasku, Lurtz will be more flexible in his maneuvering and can employ more Might to boost required To Wound rolls to get the wounds that matter.

Nowadays, everyone likes Lurtz (but I liked him before he was cool).

So, given that info, let’s look at two different Uruk-Hai lists to showcase what you can get with these different categories:

List A: Find the Halflings!

Lurtz with shield (The Rock): 90pts [Army Leader]

15 Uruk-Hai Scouts with Uruk-Hai Bows – 135pts

Vrasku (The Arrow): 65pts

6 Uruk-Hai scouts with shields – 54pts

Ugluk (The Main-Stay): 65pts

5 Uruk-Hai Scouts with shields – 45pts

5 Orc Warriors with shield and spear – 35pts

1 Orc Warrior with shield, spear, and banner – 32pts

Mauhur (The Hatchet): 60pts

11 Uruk-Hai Marauders with shields – 110pts

TOTAL: 700pts, 48 models, 11 Might points

I included 6 Orcs in this list – so it’s not all Uruk-Hai, but know that you could run 4 Uruk-Hai Scouts for the same cost as the Orcs (or two Uruk-Hai Scouts with banners – probably a better deal) if you wanted an all Uruk-Hai force. The Orcs are in Ugluk’s division primarily because Uruk-Hai Scouts don’t get spears – and we want a shieldwall (and so Ugluk can decapitate them to keep your units in line if you need to)! I’ve played a game or two without spear-supporting Uruk-Hai Scouts and it’s very unforgiving.

Speaking of Ugluk, we’ve chosen Ugluk as our Main-Stay option because we brought Orcs – Orcs don’t benefit from Fury (though you can have the Shaman take a Courage Test which he’ll automatically pass to keep them in place), so the best way to keep Orcs in line is to have a good hero who can auto-pass these kinds of tests. Thyrdan might be a better-albeit-more-expensive choice (or for 10 points less than Ugluk, a Dunlending Chieftain), but we’re talking Uruk-Hai heroes today!

Vrasku is the only shooter in his warband – I’ve seen sample lists where Vrasku leads a crossbow gunline and I’ll admit that facing one of those is scary. Running Vrasku with a small hit-squad of melee guys, however, frees Vrasku to take up a position on his own to deny an enemy access to a part of the board, while having your gun line somewhere else. His hit squad can either shield him from Maelstrom’ing forces OR move off to support Ugluk’s squad (which is as killy as an Uruk-Hai Scout force is going to get, but not very resilient).

Speaking of the “other gun line,” we have our Army Leader protected by a complete “Lurtz-Ball” – a warband with 16 Uruk-Hai bows that can arrive on any board edge it wants in Maelstrom fights OR anywhere in its deployment area in other scenarios. This is truly powerful – deploy Lurtz last and place him and his squad where the firing lanes will let them dominate. Once the enemy gets close, look for traps or fade away while your other squads engage from the sides/rear.

Finally, you’ve got a nearly-full squad of Uruk-Hai Marauders (8” move) supporting Mauhur (8” move). While this provides a nice set of scoring pieces in Reconnoitre, don’t underestimate the speed of these models in other scenarios. While I did forego the addition of an Uruk-Hai Drummer, you can get 11” of movement on these guys with a Heroic March (which Mauhur can call twice each game – utilize a Might point on Vrasku if you want early in the game to give them more sustained speed). This can be used to race around an enemy battle line (drawing off troops from your main force) OR capture an objective quickly – whatever helps you play to the scenario better. If they’re attacked by other forces, you have the option to shield with your warriors to buy time for Mauhur to chomp through enemy warriors (though he’s not great against heroes due to having Heroic Strength instead of Heroic Strike – though that is a matter of some debate apparently).

List B: Burn to Ashes!

Uruk-Hai Captain with two-handed axe (The Hatchet): 65pts [Army Leader]

4 Uruk-Hai Berserkers – 60pts

7 Uruk-Hai Warriors with pikes – 70 pts
3 Uruk-Hai Warriors with shields - 30pts

1 Uruk-Hai Warrior with pike and banner – 35pts

Uruk-Hai Captain with shield (The Rock): 65pts

5 Uruk-Hai Warriors with shields – 50pts

5 Uruk-Hai Warriors with pikes – 50pts

1 Uruk-Hai Warrior with pike and banner – 35pts

Uruk-Hai Captain with crossbow (The Arrow): 65pts

10 Uruk-Hai Warriors with crossbows – 110pts

Isengard Assault Ballista (ANOTHER Arrow): 65pts

No additional crew

TOTAL: 700pts, 40 models, 7 Might points

With the new Legendary Legion upon us, here's my take on what you can bring: an uber-Captain (with two-handed weapon) leads a cut-through-everything team of berserkers and Warriors (backed by a banner and some pikes for extra rolls). A hail of crossbow quarrels and a Ballista will force your opponent to come to you (or face being completely RAKED from afar). I could have included a demo team in this list (or a Troll), but it would have eaten up the berserkers (that, and I’m not convinced the timing works for demo teams to be used in points match games – though they are a great deterrent against heroes…).

The warriors in the army include two pike blocks (one with Uruk-Hai Warriors in the front, one with Uruk-Hai Berserkers and Warriors in the front). You could mix/match these, but I’ve kept them separate – one being a proper hatchet warband, while the other is a rock-oriented warband. An important note: the new Lengendary Legion allows these warbands to actually bring 18 models (I've added a few bonus troops but didn't go too crazy because I wanted the ballista), but if you scaled this up to 800 points (or higher), I'd flesh out these warbands before adding any new ones - really see that break limit rise!

One final thing: while I don’t own a Ballista, this list makes me think getting one might be worth it someday – while Centaur swears by them (and has for a LONG time), they cost the same a normal Uruk-Hai Captain. While the Siege Veteran you get isn’t as good as a normal captain, the ranged weapon he wields (and the extra guys he brings – including a pikeman!) makes the group of three units a bargain (you get a pikeman for 10pts, two basic Uruk-Hai Warriors for 18pts, 1 point each of Might/Will/Fate for 15pts, bringing the total cost of the ballista itself to 22pts). In the new Legendary Legion, you also get to reroll the To Hit and Scatter rolls you get on the ballista, which makes it slightly better at hitting the target you actually want (0.75 probability of hitting the target, 0.3 probability of getting a direct hit, total probability of 0.225 vs. the normal probability of 0.085). So, viva la ballista!

Well, that’s about it for Isengard. Our next post in this series on heroes takes a look at the use of Might points – more specifically, my “Top 5 Ways to Waste Might Points.” If you’ve played a few games, you may have found these to be true – or perhaps you still do some of these things (I know I do). Curious? Find out more next time – until then, happy hobbying!