The Bare Necessities, Part XXIII: The Corsairs of Umbar

Good morning gamers,

This is the final post for this volume of our series on list building - and we're ending it with an army that I've wanted to collect from the very beginning (just haven't settled on what I wanted it to look like): the Corsairs of Umbar. Corsairs are great troops - F4/4+ for most of their troops with throwing weapons on their most basic troops (Corsairs of Umbar) and their most basic captains (Corsair Captains and Corsair Bo'suns) AND their most killy captains (Dalamyr, Delgamar, and Hasharin). Throwing weapons are my thing - so naturally, I should own some of these guys. So what's the hold up, you ask?

The Corsairs of Umbar: Do You Need Allies (and how important is Heroic Strike when you have lots of throwing weapons)?

Corsairs have a pretty good army: 

• They've got options for cheap heroes (Captains/Bosuns cost under 60 points);
• They've got 3 Attack heroes (Dalamyr and Hasharin - who are Heroes of Valor in this list);
• They've got heavily-armored heroes (Black Numenorean Marshals - who can also be mounted on horses with lances);
• They've got crossbows/normal bows to supplement their throwing weapons; and
• They've got average-cost troops (8-10 points all-around).

What they don't have is what makes the list challenging:

• Most of their models don't have great Defense, capping out at D4 for warriros and D5 for heroes (if you don't include the Knight of Umbar, Black Numenoreans, Black Numenorean Marshals, and the pavises);
• Their 3 Attack heroes are strapped for Might (Hasharin have 1 Might, Dalamyr has 2 Might);
• Their heavily-armored troops can't take spears, so you're likely to have light troops in your army regardless of how you try to run it;
• Black Numenorean Marshals are the only fast/mounted models in this list;
• Your crossbows are great, but unlike crossbows in other armies, the models who carry them are only D3 when they finally get engaged;
• Their troops might be average cost, but that's because they predominantly have average stats (Strength 3 and Courage 3).

While I think having throwing weapons makes up for a lot of these weaknesses (of course I do, right?), not having fast troops is a big problem. Sure, you can March (Corsair Captains, Black Numenorean Marshals, and Corsair Bosuns can all March), but with as little Might as the Corsairs have in their list, I'm not inclined to rely on Marching. 

The question then becomes: how important is it to have fast troops? If that's important, then you need to look for allies (the Serpent Horde is a Historical Ally and has great cavalry options; Mordor is a Convenient Ally and has good cavalry options too).

But there's another question: since you only have Heroic Strike on two models (Dalamyr and Hasharin), how important is it to be able to call Heroic Strike? Most players use Strike as a means of contesting an enemy mega hero who has a higher Fight Value than you have - but if you can use your throwing daggers to shoot a friendly model that's been charged by a big hero (your Mega-Boromirs, King Aragorns, Gil-Galads, you get the picture), do you really need to have it in your army? I'm not convinced you do. Ergo, here's the list we have for today - it has exactly one specialized Heroic Action (and personally, I think it's the most important Heroic Action of all).

The List

• Corsair Captain with shield [ARMY LEADER]
• 5 Corsairs of Umbar with shields
• 6 Corsairs of Umbar with shields and spears
• Corsair Bo'sun with spear and shield
• 4 Corsairs of Umbar with bows
• 4 Corsairs of Umbar with bows and spears
• 2 Corsairs of Umbar with shields
• 1 Corsair of Umbar with shield and spear
• HISTORICAL ALLY - The Serpent Horde: War Mumak of Harad with Sigils of Defiance and Rappelling Lines
• 6 Haradrim Warriors with bows
• 4 Haradrim Warriors with spears
• 1 Haradrim Warrior with banner

37 models, 14 bows hitting on a 4+ and 24 throwing daggers, 1 D6+ model (the War Mumak), 1 war beast with 11 passengers, 5 Might points

The purchases required to get these units are as follows:

• I will need 1 box of Corsairs of Umbar - most people don't like the bows on these guys, but I'm probably the world's biggest hater of crossbows (you lose so much maneuverability, albeit with a better chance of wounding). Personally, I'll take the throwing weapons and greater mobility of Corsairs with bows over the static nature of crossbows (even though the crossbows have higher Defense when being shot at by enemy models). Have no fear Corsair Arbalester fans, you'll see your beloved crossbowmen at the end.
• Technically, I can convert up one of the spearmen and one of the shield guys into the Corsair heroes. Otherwise, I'll need to get a Corsair Command blister. If you prefer the melee guys to the bowmen, picking up the blister would allow you to swap two bowmen for the melee guys we have left over.
• I need a War Mumak - while expensive, it's actually a more economical option than getting a spam of Haradrim Warriors/Raiders. One of the Haradrim with spear will get a banner.

We've got 3 warbands - let's look at what they do.

Warband #1: The Pirates

Picking your Army Leader is a tricky business in this list, because if you draw Contest of Champions, kills from the Mumak walking on things (and I think in combat as well) don't count - so we're not taking the Mumak as our Army Leader. We don't really want the Bosun being our army leader, so we're left with the Captain. As far as heroes go, he's not bad - throwing daggers for cheeky wounds, F5/S4 with Backstabbers (could have taken a two-handed weapon), and a pretty standard profile for a hero (albeit at D5 - which isn't any worse than a Haradrim hero would be). At 2/3 the price of a Hasharin and roughly 1/2 the cost of Dalamyr, you get a pretty decent profile and this allows you to spend points elsewhere (like, on a Mumak).

Supporting this captain is a squad intended for speed: 11 Corsairs of Umbar who all carry throwing weapons and with a 1:1 pairing of spearmen and non-spearmen. With F4 on these guys (and Backstabbers), you've got a decent chance of killing models on the charge and then later when you finish the charge. Ultimately, your goal is to be running behind the Mumak, so you want to be focused on clearing out whatever tries to dodge around the Mumak. With 6" move and 6" range on your throwing weapons, you've got a great chance of smashing through anything that escapes your trample.

Warband #2: The Other Pirates

The Corsair Bo'sun is a great model - counts as a banner for Corsairs, has throwing weapons, and can take a spear and shield for only 51 points - that's only narrowly more expensive than a normal banner-bearer, but gets the very enviable 2 Wounds/1 Fate point that will make taking him down just a little harder than normal. With 1 Might point, he can also swing a close fight or call a well-timed Heroic Move/March.

With him are 8 bowmen and 3 melee warriors (all of whom have throwing weapons). The use of bows, as I've mentioned before, is because of the immobility of crossbows (which is good in most Corsair builds, but when you've got a Mumak on the board, I don't think you can count on having good firing lanes that last for 2+ turns). Knowing I wanted a Mumak in the list (for reasons that will be identified next), I opted for bows - units I could station on objectives and still do stuff OR chase after the Mumak and relying on their throwing weapons. For 8-9 points, these warriors are quite good (albeit at D3).

Warband #3: The Troop Carrier
There are lots of War Mumak builds - lots of people like Tusk Weapons (+1 S9 Impact Hit), Gnarled Hide is cool (+1 Defense), Foul Temperament is interesting (+1 Attack with a greater chance of failing a Stampede Courage check), and I'm personally a huge fan of Rocks (short-range, high-Strength range attacks by models in the Howdah - really great if they don't have bows). I've opted for the two cheapest upgrades: Sigils of Defiance (6+ save and Resistant to Magic for models in the Howdah) and Rappelling Lines (allows models in the Howdah to dismount on a 2+ and basically die on a 1).

On the Howdah are 6 bowmen (who you probably don't dismount, unless you're passing an objective) and 5 melee warriors (who you should dismount to claim objectives and pull enemy models out of the Mumak's fight). One of the melee warriors has a banner - should be able to keep it safe up in the Howdah, I think.

Scenario Overview

Let’s take a look at each of the available scenarios and see some thoughts/considerations for using this list:

• Domination: Your Mumak does work for you here: not only can you walk towards each objective and your opponent will abandon them, but you can also drop models off at an objective as the game gets closer to the end. I wouldn't drop models off at the beginning, as you'll probably get engaged by whoever fled the objective and Haradrim Warriors aren't great in melee (and can be killed easily by ranged attacks). Your Corsairs can park on an objective you start with and you might be tempted to have the rest of your Corsairs marching in the opposite direction of the Mumak. Personally, I think Corsairs (while dangerous on offense) are too vulnerable on Defense, so I think you just walk behind the Mumak (at a safe distance of course) and clear out anyone who doesn't get stepped on. If your opponent tries to engage them, they'll have to walk near the Mumak (who can turn on the next turn and walk all over them).
• Capture and Control: Similar to Domination, you can run the Mumak at the different objectives, EXCEPT that you have the advantage of knowing exactly where the objectives will be placed. Unlike the last scenario, you can't just leave objectives (or they'll be re-tagged), but your opponent will be split in focus between managing the Mumak and dealing with the throwing weapons of the Corsairs. Your goal will be to have the Corsairs support each other to hold two objectives (your starting objective and one on a side) and then have the Mumak dominate against the other three (though anyone who attacks from the center objective will likely charge towards one of your other objectives).
• Hold Ground: Race to the middle? You've got only one specialized Heroic Action and that's Heroic March. Wherever the Mumak shows up, advance him normally - ideally towards an enemy warband that's shown up nearby (no need to rush for the middle unless your opponent out-paces you). Your Corsairs can show up wherever - you want them to take their time and whittle down an enemy warband or two after they arrive (6" move onto the board with 6" throwing weapons - and it doesn't matter if you show up first or second).
• Seize the Prize: Race to the middle again? Well, since you know where you're going to be, have your Corsair Captain start as close as you can to the front with the Mumak deployed (safely) next to him. Call a March on the first turn and move the Captain 9" straight forward, followed by the Mumak 13" straight forward. You should be at/near the center with that (and even if you don't get priority first, I'm not sure your opponent will try to get to the center first). Your Corsairs might be able to pick up the prize, but you could also just have a Haradrim dismount from the Mumak and dig it up. Once you have it, your Mumak will screen one flank for you (the Corsairs will need to screen the other side).
• To The Death: Kill stuff with the Mumak and throwing weapons. The trick to this scenario is trying to break as late as possible so you can break your opponent around the same time you're broken. Since breaking your force is easy (and breaking your force gives you SO many points), keep your Captain safe and make sure you break your opponent with your Mumak! Beware of the King of the Dead (and any other heroes who can kill your Mumak): you'll need to make sure he gets peeled off by other models in order to keep your Mumak alive as long as possible. Be sure to use your Haradrim bowmen to shoot at enemy banner-bearers (or run them over with the Mumak if they get too close), as your own banner is safely parked in the Howdah (victory points for this could swing the game for you)!
• Lords of Battle: Another killing things scenario - your Mumak can cough up a lot of points, but hopefully you can smash enough models quickly that the game will randomly end before most of your Corsairs/Haradrim are killed. Only send models down from the Howdah to peel models off the Mumak.
• Contest of Champions: Your army has three Heroes of Fortitude: a Corsair Captain, a Corsair Bo'sun, and a Haradrim Chieftain. Any of these heroes could be your army leader - and in scenarios where you want to keep your army leader from being wounded or killed, it would make more sense to have your Haradrim Chieftain be your army leader (since he's "safe" on the Mumak and is Resistant to Magic with a 6+ "save" against wounds with Sigils of Defiance). The problem is that this scenario requires the hero to do the killing in close combat - and the majority of the kills the Mumak will do are probably going to be Impact Hits (resolved in the Move phase). The Main Rulebook Errata makes it very clear that kills by the Mumak (either Impact Hits OR close combat wounds) don't count for Contest of Champions, which means he wouldn't make a good leader here (we'd need to dismount him, have some other buffoon man the driver's seat, and we don't want that). Given the choice between a Corsair Captain and a Bo'sun, I think I'd want the Captain (though since the Bo'sun is just as defensible and has more strategic benefits, I could see running a Bo'sun as the Army Leader instead). This is a very long way to say - do some wounds quickly with the Captain in melee combat (throwing dagger kills don't count). Your army will cough up kills pretty quickly if you're not careful, so be sure to use your throwing daggers to snipe any models that get engaged by your opponent's army leader so he can't get kills in close combat. It's a dirty trick, but you're pirates - the rules of fair play are more like guidelines than actual rules! Also, see if you can run over the enemy army leader with your Mumak.
• Reconnoitre: Well, you don't want to walk a third of your army off the board with the Mumak, but you can March across the board, drop off your melee models (I'd drop off all five) and have them run off the board. Then about-face with the Mumak and lumber back towards the fray. Your Corsairs shouldn't have any problems dying in droves, but they'll need to spread out and use their throwing weapons to ensure enemy models don't slip past them for your board edge.
• Storm the Camp: Well, most of your deployment zone is going to be taken up by the big, honkin' thing we call a Mumak. As possible, get your Corsairs in around it and move the rest on during Turn 1. Your Mumak's strategy is simple: tie things up in the center of the map. What will probably happen is your opponent will be driven to the extremities of the board in order to try to go around it. You can have your Corsairs come up behind the Mumak (keeping some archers in/near your camp to defend it) and even slant them to one side if you want your Mumak to go to the other side. The great thing about this list is because everyone on the ground has throwing daggers with a 4+ shoot value, each model has a 12" threat range (6" move with 6" range), so you can cut backwards to defend your camp very quickly and it's hard to stay out of their range (or the range of the bowmen on the Mumak). If your opponent tries not to engage, make him go as far around as possible with the Mumak and have your Corsairs harass anyone who tries to stay away from the Mumak. Get some Corsairs (or some dismounted Haradrim if required) into the enemy camp and cause some chaos there to seal the win.
• Heirlooms of Ages Past: Like Hold Ground, you don't really care where you arrive. Since the Mumak can't pick up the Heirloom, you'll need to use the Rappelling Lines to get someone into contact with the Heirloom. Because you get 8" move on the Mumak and a 6" move from your rappelling model, you can actually get to an objective that's 14" away from the board edge, so put all of your placed objectives as close to the center of the map as possible. This will make it hard to find on the first turn (when you might find yourself vulnerable to your opponent's deployment position) and force your opponent to deal with the Mumak earlier. If a Corsair gets it, move towards your Mumak (not too close, of course), trying to use the Mumak as a screen. If a Haradrim picks it up, run him alongside the Mumak towards the Corsairs (rappelling a few more models to give him cover). Keep the banner in the Howdah - you get points for that, after all!
• Fog of War: Well, the model you want to protect is simple: the Haradrim Chieftain! Your opponent will probably target your Bo'sun, so keep him protected in a sea of Corsairs. Your Captain is free to do whatever he wants (go crazy with him). Pick any hero you want and direct the Mumak at that model (Marching if you have to - Impact Hits don't count as charging, so you can get +5" of movement even when you engage enemy models). When it comes to a terrain piece, pick something on the periphery that a Corsair or two (or a rappelling Haradrim or two) can hold.
• Clash By Moonlight: Well, you have LOTS of archery. So when you get to charging enemy models, that will be handy. However, this is probably the worst scenario for you. Strength 2/3 archery will wound your warrior models on 4s. Strength 3/4 archery will wound your Mumak on 5s (and your Corsair bowmen on 3s). March is the most important tool in your arsenal - get all of your models (including your bowmen) towards your enemy fast, relying on your throwing daggers to keep you alive (which will wound most models on 4s or 5s). I don't generally recommend calling a Heroic Shoot, but your Captain might have to do that in order to keep you from getting killed.

Modifications

While I’ve already addressed some of this, let’s just recap on the modifications I wouldn’t be surprised to see:

• Run "Spam" Corsairs of Umbar – In a pure Corsair list, your warriors tend to be average cost (8-9 points/model) and your heroes can be pretty cheap too (50-100 points). This means that you can get LOTS of models if you want. If you're going to run a pure Corsair list, you have two major killing units: Dalamyr and Hasharin (who count as Heroes of Valor, instead of Heroes of Fortitude, as they are in the Serpent Horde army list). The following list requires 2 boxes of Corsairs, the Dalamyr/Hasharin blister, and optionally a Corsair command blister - and it includes 51 models, which is MUCH higher than our previous total (though it has no actual banners in it):
• Dalamyr [ARMY LEADER]
• 7 Corsairs of Umbar with shields
• 7 Corsairs of Umbar with shields and spears
• Hasharin
• 6 Corsairs of Umbar with bows
• 2 Corsairs of Umbar with bows and spears
• 2 Corsairs of Umbar with shields
• 2 Corsairs of Umbar with shields and spears
• Hasharin
• 6 Corsairs of Umbar with bows
• 2 Corsairs of Umbar with bows and spears
• 2 Corsairs of Umbar with shields
• 2 Corsairs of Umbar with shields and spears
• Corsair Bo'sun with shield and spear
• 4 Corsair Reavers (convert Corsairs of Umbar with shields)
• 1 Corsair of Umbar with shield
• 4 Corsairs of Umbar with shields and spears
• Run a Serpent Horde Alliance without a War Mumak – The Serpent Horde sports cheap units that include a mix of cavalry and powerful infantry. Haradrim Warriors/Raiders with their army bonus are really good, so this list relies on base units and gets a very healthy 48 models (you could drop a few models to get more elite units - but this list only requires the Dalamyr/Hasharin blister, 1 box of Corsairs of Umbar/Haradrim Warriors/Haradrim Raiders, and optionally 1 Corsair Command blister). The list below was ALMOST the list I showcased today - it's also very good (but still has 5 Might points and most of those are on heroes who need it for Strike/Defense - so you really can't March/Move, meaning that most of your army will show up late and you'll be hard-pressed to Move on a turn when you need it):
• Dalamyr [ARMY LEADER]
• 6 Corsairs of Umbar with shields
• 7 Corsairs of Umbar with shields and spears
• Corsair Bo'sun with shield and spear
• 3 Corsairs of Umbar with bows
• 3 Corsairs of Umbar with bows and spears
• 1 Corsair of Umbar with shield
• HISTORICAL ALLY - Serpent Horde: Hasharin
• 6 Haradrim Raiders with war spears and bows
• 6 Haradrim Warriors with bows
• HISTORICAL ALLY - Serpent Horde: Hasharin
• 5 Haradrim Warriors with spears
• 1 Haradrim Warrior with spear and banner
• 6 Haradrim Warriors with axes - see my post on weapon swaps for why you want to do this
• Run an "armored" Corsair army - While the staple unit for Corsairs is the Corsair of Umbar (who is limited to D3-4), Corsairs do have access to two high-Defense units: Black Numenorean Marshals and Black Numenoreans. The limitation with Black Numenoreans is that they can't take spears and they can't take ranged weapons, so you'll need to supplement with other units. For spears, your only option is a Corsair of Umbar, but for ranged weapons, you can take Corsair Arbalesters (who are D6 against non-melee attacks). The following list showcases a heavily-armored element that meets all of the requirements of a balanced army list (to include 4 mounted Black Numenorean Marshals for the required 4 mounted models, a banner, 40 models, and lots of shooting potential/terror). If you were to buy the actual models for this, the cost would be . . . very high (over $250):
• Black Numenorean Marshal on armored horse with lance [ARMY LEADER]
• 3 Black Numenoreans
• 1 Black Numenorean with banner
• 3 Corsairs of Umbar with spears and shields
• 2 Corsair Arbalesters
• Black Numenorean Marshal on armored horse with lance
• 3 Black Numenoreans
• 3 Corsairs of Umbar with spears and shields
• 3 Corsair Arbalesters
• Black Numenorean Marshal on armored horse with lance
• 3 Black Numenoreans
• 3 Corsairs of Umbar with spears and shields
• 3 Corsair Arbalesters
• Black Numenorean Marshal on armored horse with lance
• 3 Black Numenoreans
• 3 Corsairs of Umbar with spears and shields
• 3 Corsair Arbalesters

Well, that's it for the armies I'm looking at collecting. In our next post, we'll be starting a new volume to this series - the armies I have absolutely no interest (at the moment, anyway) at collecting. As you can go basically anywhere else on the internet right now to hear from people who don't like something or other, I'm tapping into the community and inviting people I know who play these factions to help me shape lists for them and explain how they work.

Our first stop is the land of Mordor during the second age and look at the force of Barad-Dur. Both Rythbryt and I have reviewed this faction before (me in my first-impressions article, him in his Armies of the Lord of the Rings post). Next time, Rythbryt shares some of his insights as a Barad-Dur player (and as usual, the coverage will be exhaustive) in the context of the principles we've been using in this series. It'll be great - until next time, happy hobbying!