Armies of Middle Earth SBG: Re-ranking Jay Clare's Top-10(ish) Evil Combat Heroes, Part I (11th-4th)

Photo Credit: Sangle on Pinterest

Last month, I dug into an excellent and thought-provoking article by SBG-Lord of the West Jay Clare, where he ranked his top-10 combat models for the forces of good. As with any rankings article, there were places where I agreed and disagreed with Jay's take (and where the commenters agreed and disagreed with my re-rankings... and then Tiberius gave his own take that the commenters agreed and disagreed with, and now our children are chiming in... the cycle is endless. But I digress).

I found that exercise particularly helpful to me, since TMAT was conveniently (fortuitously?) about to start its own in-depth series on the top slayers in the game (which we officially kicked-off last weekend). So when Jay dropped his list of top-10 evil combat models just before Christmas, I was very stoked. I don't usually think of myself as a chaotic-evil sort of person (I like to think I'd have stayed a Jedi instead of falling to the dark side), but I've been playing a lot of evil armies lately and I have to say, they generally don't disappoint when it comes to killing things. And while I'm always going to be Team Aragorn, it's hard to deny that when it comes to combat models, evil has some of the coolest.

So today, I'll take my stab at re-ranking Jay's top-10 evil combat models. I won't bother going over my methodology again (it's explored in detail here, if you're curious), but if you haven't had a chance to read Jay's article first, I would encourage you to do that before continuing.

Three pre-rankings disclaimers before we get started. 

First, this is a re-ranking of the ten (well, eleven) models that Jay shouted out in his article. All of these models made my top-50 (which we'll unveil as part of our TMAT Talks podcast series in the coming months), and the order I've ranked them here reflects the order they appear in my top-50, but not necessarily the rank (i.e., the model I ranked 6th here will be ranked lower in my top-50 list than the model I ranked 5th here, but that doesn't mean those models will be ranked 5th and 6th in my final ranking... there may be some mystery models above them, and even between them).

Second, this article is long because there's a lot to discuss. And it was originally going to be much longer... so long, in fact, that Blogger wouldn't let me post the whole thing in one post. So this part only re-ranks my picks for 11th through 4th--the top-three are coming later (gee, I wonder who they could be...).  I'll have a reminder again at the end, but if you skipped this part to see who won, and then got redirected up here, I did try to warn you. ;-)

Third, "rankings" = "subjective," so "disagree" = "comment!"

Rythbryt's totally subjective re-ranking of Jay's Top-10(ish) Evil Slayers

Here's how I'd rank Jay's ten finalists (plus his one honorable mention), based on the seven metrics we're using to evaluate combat models:

Number 11: Shagrat (Jay's #8)

Score Break-down:

• Hero kills (7): Base 6 (F5, 3 Attacks); +1 for Blood and Glory (bonus Heroic Strikes).
• Troop kills (8): Base 6 (F5, 3 Attacks); +1 for the Shield of Cirith Ungol (knock-down option); +1 for Blood and Glory (bonus heroic Combats).
• Toughness (8): Base 7 (4.5 combined Wounds/Fate (3/3)); +1 for Defense 7.
• Mobility (7): Base 5 (6" move); +1 for 3 Will; +1 for Blood and Glory (bonus heroic combats).
• Empowerment (4): Base 4 (potential free Might from Blood and Glory).
• Impact (8): A monster without Heroic Strike probably wants to stay away, because with Strength 5, Shagrat usually only needs 5s or better to wound (defense 7 or less) while also being harder to Rend, and even if you do score wounds, his 3 wounds/fate will take some time to chew through. Six dice to shield is also no slouch. Fight 6 heroes may be skittish as well, if they're low on fate (like Fellowship Boromir) or wounds (like Gloin).
• Cost (8): Like Eomer, Shagrat offers a pretty hard-hitting hero for a pretty sweet points cost. Gothmog and Shagrat do different things in an army, so it's not exactly a fair comparison; but the fact that a fully-loaded Shagrat costs 30 points less than a fully-loaded Gothmog makes Shagrat look like a steal.

Rationale:

If you were surprised (and slightly underwhelmed) to see Shagrat pick up a bunch of 7s and 8s across the board... you're not alone. 

Shagrat has a fantastic (and well-deserved) reputation as a combat model in this game, but for whatever reason, he didn't score particularly well on this metric. Most of it comes down to two shortcomings: his ability to kill heroes (which admittedly sounds weird, but hear me out) and his mobility.

Unfortunately, when it comes to slaying heroes, Shagrat has only one of the stats/buffs that you really want: he has three attacks. Everything else is good-to-great, but not not amazing. 

• He's Strength 5 (great, especially against D7 heroes), but has no +1 to-wound. That's great, but not amazing like Elendil (who costs way more), Dwalin (who costs the same-to-less), or Mahud Kings (who cost way less).
• He's Fight 5, which is good (like Eomer, or the Mouth of Sauron), but not great (like Gloin) or amazing (like Bolg).
• He has no elven-made weapon (no, duh). This isn't the worst thing in the world, except that the lack of this weapon in combination with the Fight 5 means he's at a significant disadvantage against most upper-tier enemy heroes. Not only does he have to exceed their Strike roll (and needs a 5 or 6 to reach Fight 10), but even if he does, the best combat models will have an increased chance of winning the strike-off.

I did give Shagrat a bonus point for Blood and Glory, which is a great rule... if you can kill heroes. He can do that to some heroes (captain-level heroes and shamans who can't strike are his sweet-spot), but against big ones he can really struggle (especially if they're mounted, negating his shield bonus). In other words, he's not Gil-Galad (or even Amdur).

The mobility speaks for itself, I think. He probably should get a bonus for having a small, 25mm base (allowing him to get into tight spots that a mounted hero may not be able to reach), but the 6" move does limit his effectiveness at killing, especially if you're facing any sort of kiting army. You can fix that with a Heroic March and/or a Black Guard drummer, of course (which would be fun), so long as you don't actually need to charge anything more than 6" away (the downside of marches/drums). 

Finally, while his shield gives him an advantage against other infantry models, his lack of a mount makes him susceptible to being knocked down by cavalry heroes (or even troops). And unlike Amdur, he's got no way of keeping his footing if he loses a duel to a charging horse. Defense 7 with three wounds/fate is great... until you're taking eight dice from Elendil (or the business end of a Mahud King's war spear).

I was in the movies more... you just couldn't see me 'cuz I was stalking.

Photo Credit: The World of Arda

Number 10: Buhrdur (Jay's #10)

Score Break-down:

• Hero kills (8): Base 7 (F6, 3 Attacks); +1 for Rend.
• Troop kills (8): Base 7 (F6, 3 Attacks); +1 for Hurl / Rend.
• Toughness (6): Base 6 (3.5 combined Wounds/Fate (3/1); no other bonuses.
• Mobility (5): Base 5 (6" movement); no other bonuses.
• Empowerment (5): Base 4 (banner effect for killing enemy heroes); +1 for 6" range.
• Impact (9): He's a Fight 6 monster who can Strike. Fight 6 heroes aren't exactly lining up to fight him (because he can Rend), and while other striking monsters probably like their odds against a relatively low Strength (6) and Defense (also 6), it's still potentially dangerous for them.
• Cost (10): Again... he's a Fight 6 monster who can Strike, and a 3 Might Hero of Valor in an army (Angmar) that often finds itself short on Might. At just 110 points (that's 5 points less than fully-loaded Shagrat, y'all, and just 10 points more than a generic Mordor Troll), he's an absolute steal. Take him, a full warband of orcs with a weapon upgrade, and that's 200 points well spent.

Rationale:

So this puts me in the weird spot of both agreeing with Jay (Buhrdur at #10) and disagreeing with Jay (Buhrdur ahead of Shagrat). Having said that, I'm quite comfortable with both outcomes.

Spoiler alert: there are a lot of great models at the top of this list, and when compared to most of them (perhaps the next two excepted), Buhrdur has some weaknesses. Like Shagrat, he only moves 6" unless you throw in a march (no drum option for him), so his mobility is going to be low (although at least he has the option to Hurl or Barge if you can get him into combat with something close-ish to what you actually want to attack). I also may have given him too many points for that banner bonus effect, which looks great on paper, and would be great in practice, if it worked during the next turn (when you could plan and play around it) instead of during the instant turn (which, if you lost priority, will affect exactly zero combats unless you kill a hero or monster in a Heroic Combat). And when it comes to killing troops, the lack of a mount/Monstrous Charge does cap his damage output at 3 dice total in most situations (unless you get a trap).

Having said that, I do think Buhrdur's solidly ahead of Shagrat (despite what their tied score of "50" would suggest). The survivability is the eyesore: 3 wounds/1 Fate at Defense 6 ain't 3 wounds/3 Fate at Defense 7, and I get that. But Fight 5/Strength 5 ain't Fight 6/Strength 6 either, especially when one can Rend and the other can't. Shagrat is deservedly a scourge upon the earth, but so is Buhrdur, and the number of heroes who feel good charging Shagrat is, I think, larger than the number of heroes who feel good charging Buhrdur. 

This is especially true if those heroes are mounted. Mounted heroes love charging Shagrat, because they've negated his shield bonus (without incurring any penalty themselves). Mounted heroes do not love charging Buhrdur. They may totally win and slay him, but they're nervous the entire time... especially if they're from Rohan.

Lastly, there's the fact that Buhrdur somehow costs less than Shagrat (with the full-kit, of course), and can take 15 warriors with him (over Shagrat's twelve). It's a small thing, I guess, but it's a thing. So while Shagrat's great, Buhrdur's better. And you can't change my mind. 

(Unless your Shagrat kills my Buhrdur, of course. Then we'll talk.)

Only D6 with 1 Fate, you say?

Photo Credit: Food for Thought on Wordpress

Number 9: The Goblin King (Jay's #9)

Score Break-down:

• Hero kills (9.5): Base 7 (F6, 3 Attacks); +1 for Burly; +1 for Rend; +0.5 if Gollum is in his warband.
• Troop kills (9): Base 7 (F6, 3 Attacks); +1 for Burly; +1 for Rend.
• Toughness (8): Base 6 (3.5 combined Wounds/Fate (3/1); +2 for Blubbery Mass (3+ save on most wounds).
• Mobility (6): Base 5 (6" move); +1 for Relentless Advance.
• Empowerment (3): No bonus effects (unless you count 24 warrior-slots in a horde army).
• Impact (8): Most Fight 6 heroes are leery of him, because the combination of Strike/Rend if he wins, or Blubbery Mass if he loses, makes those combats less than a sure thing. But most striking monsters view him as more of an eyesore because Strength 5 (when you can Rend) and Defense 5 (when you can't or don't want to) isn't exactly what you want when fighting a monster.
• Cost (10): I always think he costs 135 points, and I'm always pleasantly surprised when I rediscover he's 130. He's also how a horde army deals with big things (especially if you pair him with Gollum). As close to an auto-take as Goblin-Town has.

Rationale:

While I do think Buhrdur is a cut ahead of Shagrat, I'm less convinced that the Goblin-King is better than Buhrdur. Both have very similar stat lines (6" move, F6, 3 Attacks, low defense, 3 Wounds/1 Fate), both are very cheap, and both can take a lot of very cheap warriors to bubble-wrap them.

The Goblin-King came out slightly ahead on my metric for three reasons. First, when it comes to killing heroes/troops, he picks up 1.5 bonuses from being Burly with a 2-handed pick (allowing him to get to S7 base, or S8 if you piercing strike, over Buhrdur's cap of S6/S7), and he also has access to the One Ring if Gollum is in tow and Gollum has the ring (which is match-up dependent, but probable). Ring + Goblin-King = higher fight value all the time, which is a pretty reliable way of killing heroes (especially if you have other goblins in the fight for more dice). 

Second, while his Defense 5 is worse than Buhrdur's Defense 6, most of the time the Goblin-King will have the advantage due to his 3+ "Fat Save" (Blubbery Mass). It doesn't work against wounds from magic or elven-made weapons, so again this is going to be match-up dependent. But against shooting in particular (even elf-bows), you're far more tanky than Buhrdur as you trudge across the field. And against certain heroes (like, say, Shagrat or Buhrdur), you've got a good chance of shrugging off blows even if they do manage to beat you in combat (which is no small feat in itself).

Third, while the Goblin-King's move is still limited to 6", he generally has better mobility than both Shagrat and Burhdur due to two factors. For one, the best way to boost a 6" move is with Heroic March, which means you need captains--preferably cheap, disposable captains. And Goblin-Town takes the cake for having cheap, disposable captains. Second (and more relevant to the King himself), he has Relentless Advance. Shagrat's 25mm base fits into tight spots that Buhrdur's can't. But the Goblin-King's 40mm base can fit into tight spots that even Shagrat's can't, as long as you don't mind squishing a couple goblins to do it. And you can even move through your own guys to get to priority targets if you wish (with a less-than-100% chance of killing your grunts). It's not Fly, but once you're locked into close combat, it's pretty close: less elegant, but more destructive.

Blubber this, you maggot!

Photo Credit: Black Nerd Problems

Number 8: Amdur, Lord of Blades (Jay's #6)

Score Break-down:

• Hero kills (10): Base 7 (F6, 3 Attacks); +1 for elven-made weapon; +1 for Blood and Glory (bonus heroic strikes); +1 for Herald of Victory (banner reroll); +1 for Lord of Blades (free Heroic Strike counter-calls).
• Troop kills (10): Base 7 (F6, 3 Attacks); +1 for mount option; +1 for Blood and Glory (bonus heroic combats); +1 for Herald of Victory (banner reroll).
• Toughness (7): Base 6 (3.5 combined Wounds/Fate (3/1); +1 for Unyielding Combat Stance (4+ to avoid being knocked prone).
• Mobility (7): Base 6 (10" move); +1 for 3 Will.
• Empowerment (7): Base 5 (Herald of Victory banner effect + Blood and Glory to regenerate Might); +1 for 6" banner range (potentially).
• Impact (9): Yes, Amdur's 3 Wounds/1 Fate looks squishy to most striking monsters. But the elven-made weapon is the game-changer, because no striking monsters have one and at Fight 6, Amdur has a 50% chance of getting to Fight 10.  
• Cost (6): He's over-costed for a mid-tier hero (which he's not), and undercosted for a top-tier hero (which he's not quite, either). Which I think makes him just about right. If he were a hero of legend, I think that would tip him over for me.

Rationale:

So remember that thing I said about surprises?

As "poorly" as Shagrat seemed to do in this metric, Amdur did phenomenally well. His score of 56/70 was not only substantially higher than any of the models we've looked at so far, it's also higher than several models I have ranked higher than him. As I mentioned in Part I of our TMAT Talks discussion on Slayers, while the category scores are helpful I did reserve the right to deviate from them slightly when they didn't make sense. Amdur is one such deviation.

Having said that, I do think it's worth acknowledging how much of a beatstick Amdur can be. Apart from no +1 to-wound, he has basically everything you'd want in a hero-killer (F6, 3 Attacks, and an elven-made weapon), plus a bunch of other freebies you'd want if you were wish-listing: he gives himself a persistent banner effect like a Lord of the West, that can get up to 6" wide like King Aragorn's; he has Blood and Glory like Shagrat, only he can take a horse; and he gets to counter-call Heroic Strikes for free with Lord of Blades. In fact, he's got so many goodies in this category that if the points weren't capped at 10, he'd score 11 (which is nuts). If you were building a hero-killer in a lab, and the lab spat out Amdur, you'd be very happy--especially since all of this stuff helps kill troops, too (F6 + elven-made for dealing with elves, a mount, rechargeable Might from Blood and Glory, and of course that banner reroll).

There are downsides. Like Burhdur, he's only Defense 6 (unless you Gleaming Horde), and unlike the Goblin-King he's not grotesquely overweight (although he's much better at fighting elves). Having said that, I do think his so-so survivability weirdly works in his favor. He looks just squishy enough that enemy heroes, monsters, and troops in large quantities feel they can take him if they win, so they charge him... only to discover that once he's in combat, he's really difficult to beat. No +1 to-wound means he can struggle to wound high-defense things (D7+), but in a straight-up brawl against Buhrdur or the Goblin-King I like his chances a lot (unless Gollum is skulking about, of course).

You realize we can all do this, right? And see Gollum?

Photo Credit: Kimdolion on tumblr

Number 7: Bolg (Jay's #3)

Score Break-down:

• Hero kills (9.5): Base 8 (F7, 3 Attacks); +1 for Burly; +0.5 for The Bringer of Death (Mighty Hero if you get to 10+ kills).
• Troop kills (10): Base 8 (F7, 3 Attacks); +1 for Burly; +1 for mount option; +0.5 for The Bringer of Death (Mighty Hero if you get to 10+ kills).
• Toughness (7): Base 6 (3.5 combined Wounds/Fate (3/1)); +1 for Defense 7.
• Mobility (8): Base 6 (10" move); +1 for Fell Sight; +1 for 3 Will.
• Empowerment (4.5): Base 4.5 for The Bringer of Death (Mighty Hero if you get to 10+ kills).
• Impact (9): Fight 6 heroes don't like Bolg (he has a whole trick named after him that makes suckers of Fight 6 heroes). Striking monsters have to be careful around him, too--at Fight 7, he's got the base fight of most striking monsters (Dragons, Troll Chieftains, Bill/Bert) and at Strength 5 with Burly he wounds most of them (D7 or less) on 4s. He can't Rend them, so that works in their favor; but if they can't one-shot him, they're likely to lose some blood. 
• Cost (6): Blog is very expensive, but he's way cheaper mounted than Azog is mounted, so I guess that helps. 

Rationale:

Here's pick #2 in what I expect to be the string of most controversial picks of this write-up (#8-5). First off, I did put Bolg ahead of Amdur, despite what the scoring metric says (54 for Bolg vs. 56 for Amdur). The reasons are pretty self-explanatory, I think: F7 > F6, S5 + Burly > S4, D7 > D6, and a Fell Sight Warg is at least as good as an armored horse (at killing things). 

The only advantage Amdur has is the elven-made weapon, which is not nothing. But given that Bolg starts with the higher fight value, he not only has better odds at getting to F10 (50% vs. Amdur's 33%), but he also mitigates Amdur's Lord of Blades special rule (so Amdur has to spend Might to strike, which he can't do forever). With those advantages, I think Bolg beats Amdur in a fight more often than not, which for me is a good reason to rank him higher than Amdur.

Having said that, there are still causes for concern with Bolg, which kept him lower on the list. For one, while he's Defense 7 with 3 Wounds/1 Fate, he's only Defense 7 with 3 Wounds/1 Fate, which means he can be surprisingly fragile if you're fighting something with very high strength and a two-hander. And while he's S5 (which is awesome), he's also not a monster (or S6+), which means if you can kill his warg out from under him (and you most definitely can kill his 1 wound, D4 warg out from under him), he's susceptible to the drawbacks that come from being knocked down by cavalry heroes or troops. He also doesn't like Rend.

Finally, just as I thought Bolg belonged ahead of Amdur because Bolg would win most straight-up fights, I do think Bolg--as great as he is--is going to be the underdog against the models who are coming. Most of them have some way to engage Bolg before he gets into combat (hurls at least, if not outright magic or fire), they're tough enough that his S5 + Burly could be blunted, and some of them can one-shot kill him.

The King of all Men only managed to prick my foot.

Bolg was stabbed in the head by a pirouetting elf. 

Just sayin'.

Photo Credit: One Last Time? Never, on Wordpress

Which leads me to... 

Number 6: Bill the Troll (Jay's #5)

Score Break-down:

• Hero kills (10): Base 8 (F7, 3 Attacks); +2 for Rend / Mince 'em Fine.
• Troop kills (9): Base 8 (F7, 3 Attacks); +1 for Rend.
• Toughness (7): Base 6 (3.5 combined Wounds/Fate (3/1)); +1 for Defense 7.
• Mobility (6): Base 5 (6" move); +1 for 3 Will.
• Empowerment (3): No bonuses.
• Impact (10): With Mince 'em Fine, he's one of a handful of models who can legitimately one-shot 3 Wound/3 Fate heroes (or Sauron, if he rolls well and Sauron rolls poorly). Any hero within arms-reach of him is in peril.
• Cost (7): 150 points for a 3 Might troll with this kind of damage ceiling is phenomenal. If only he could lead troops with those 15 warrior slots...

Rationale:

My third pick in a row where I deliberately threw out the ranking (I told you these would be controversial). Bill did exceedingly poor in this ranking framework (52/70 puts him behind the Goblin King), but I bumped him up all the way to number six because he's Bill--he kills things of all varieties.

His mobility is bad, he's got no empowerment whatever, and his toughness is only so-so (3 wounds at D7 is good-to-great, but 1 Fate point is not). He's also got an imperfect combat profile: F7, S7, 3 Attacks, and access to Rend are all great, but like Bolg he's got no elven-made weapon (heroes) and like Buhrdur he's got no ability to knock-down outside of a Hurl. He's very susceptible to enemy magic. Oh, and he can't lead any troops. So all that hurts him.

But I don't care, because he has Mince 'em Fine, which as Tiberius has said many times makes him a top-tier slayer on its own. A +2 advantage to start over a S5 hero (like Bolg) means if the dice roll even, that hero is suffering two wounds. A +1 advantage on the roll (Bolg rolls a "4," Bill rolls a "5") means 3 wounds on Bolg (so now fickle Fate is involved), and a +2 advantage in Bill's favor means Bolg is just dead. If the dice gods smile on Bill, and frown on his opponent, 3 Wound/3 Fate heroes can go down in one turn--heck, even Sauron could (though that's very unlikely).

Lastly, there's the little thing about putting man-sized models in bags (Keep 'em for Later). There's no roll for this--just stuff Aragorn in a bag, and BOOM--now he's paralyzed. Now Aragorn's a bad example, because he's got renewable Might to get out. But someone like Shagrat or Bolg may have to exhaust their store to break free, in which case they're far less threatening. And if they can't break out for some reason (like, say, they spent might in a Strike-off against Bill, and lost), you'll win a lot of subsequent Mince 'em Fines... 

We hear troll flesh is tasty...

Photo Credit: Ikri on Pinterest

Number 5: Gulavhar (Jay's #4)

Score Break-down:

• Hero kills (10): Base 8 (F7, 4 Attacks); +2 for Strength 8 Rends; +1 for Monstrous Charge; -1 for no Heroic Strike.
• Troop kills (10): Base (7) (F7, 4 Attacks); +2 for Strength 8 Rends; +1 for Monstrous Charge (knock-down).
• Toughness (8): Base 7 (4.0 combined Wounds/Fate (4/0)); +1 for Heroic Defense; +1 for Terror; -1 for Defense 5.
• Mobility (10): Base 7 (12" Fly); +1 for 3 Will; +2 for Resistant to Magic.
• Empowerment (6): Harbinger of Evil; 3" Terror bubble for friendly Angmar Orcs. 
• Impact (9): He can't strike, he's low defense, and he looks as scrawny as a chicken. But he can bowl over a Troll Chieftain or even Gwaihir if he's not paying attention (or has been transfixed or paralyzed by all the other nasty stuff in Angmar's list). Unless you're Smaug or the Balrog, S8 also means he'll never need more than 4s to wound you if he Rends.
• Cost (6): He's quite a bit more expensive than Buhrdur, but if you needs some might and a Paralyze finisher who also creates a 3" Terror bubble for your orcs, he's worth a long look.  

Rationale:

This is (I think) the last of my controversial picks (4-1 are exactly the models you'd expect, though perhaps not in the order you'd expect), and it's a doozy. Let me begin by pointing out that Gulavhar was far and away the best when it came to category points (59/70, vs. Amdur's 56, Bolg's 54, and Bill's 52). So that's reason number 1.

Reason 2 is that, even though he can't Strike (as everyone knows), he's actually a very good hero killer because he's base Fight 7, has 4-5 attacks (with Monstrous Charge), and has an absurdly high Strength 8 with the ability to Rend (with 4-5 dice--the S8 Rend, by the way, earned bonus points from me because it means you can rend annoying high-defense heroes like Dain Ironfoot on 4s, which is just better than 5s). The F7 is high enough that most heroes need Might and the ability to Strike to deal with him--things they eventually run out of (just how fast they run out of it depends on how much magic and which wraiths are accompanying Gulavhar). I also didn't factor in a Paralyze from a friendly barrow-wight, because it seemed unfair to tack that onto Gulavhar's profile. But let's just say that if Gulavhar is attacking a F7+ hero that's Paralyzed (which, if you play it right, is the only circumstance in which he'll be attacking a F7+ hero), his odds of beating that hero in a fight (and then beating that hero into a pulp) are pretty good.

Reason 3 is that when it comes to killing troops, Gulavhar is almost in a tier by himself, because 5 attacks + Monstrous Charge at S8 mauls basically any troops. Throw in a minimum Hurl of 6" if you're throwing a S3 troop, and he'll wreak havoc in a way that few other models can. Oh, and doing so restores any wounds he might have lost from chip damage. Which is a pretty good incentive.

Reason 4 is that he's got Fly, and Resistant to Magic with three Will, and has Terror with Harbinger of Evil. Which is code speak for: he's really hard to lock-down, with anything. And again, that's without accounting for all the other stuff in his list that can lock-down the stuff you'd like to use to lock him down (ringwraiths, spectres, Terror orcs, a Shade, Barrow-Wights, cave trolls, etc.). As a result, you either have to devote a ton of heroic stats and/or bodies to tie him down, or he runs rampant. 

His Toughness is not great. 4 Wounds (that can be regenerated) is fine, but Defense 5 with no fate isn't (especially if you've got a siege weapon across the table). Ranged archery in evil vs. evil match-ups is also a problem, although S3 shooting on evil's side is pretty rare (outside of Uruk Scouts and crossbows, it may be non-existent?). Good you can play around with more, since good can't shoot into combat. Speaking of combat, you've got Heroic Defense, which is a good counter-play if you do find yourself charged by a hero with Heroic Strike (assuming they aren't Transfixed, Paralyzed, knocked prone, in Shade range, etc.). Against F6 opponents who don't get free Might, I'd probably take my chances matching three Strikes against three Defenses, because once the Might runs out, Gully's at a decided advantage.

There--I tried to convince you. If I succeeded, let me know in the comments. ;-)

Riddle me this: What else flies and has monstrous charge, but ISN'T a D5 pansy?

Photo Credit: Chris Asaak on Steam Community

Number 4: Azog (Jay's #2)

Score Break-down:

• Hero kills (10): Base 8 (F7, 3 Attacks); +1 for Master of Battle (free counter-Strikes); +1 for the Stone Flail (D3 wounds + Burly); +2 for I am the Master (3+ to wound all heroes); +1 for Deadly Union (shared M/W/F with the White Warg).
• Troop kills (10): Base 7 (F7, 3 Attacks); +1 for mount option; +1 for Master of Battle (potentially free Heroic Combats); +1 for Deadly Union (shared M/W/F with the White Warg).
• Toughness (7.5): Base 6.5 (3.5 combined Wounds/Fate (3/1), plus one potential Fate from Deadly Union); +1 for Defense 7 (Azog's Legion only).
• Mobility (9): Base 6 (10" move); +1 for Master of Battle (free counter-calls for Heroic Moves, Heroic Combats); +1 for 3 Will; +1 for Fell Sight.
• Empowerment (9): Base 6 (12" Stand Fast and the Signal Tower).
• Impact (10): He generally won't have the attacks to one-shot an Ancient Evil model like Sauron, but thanks to I am the Master, he won't have trouble getting something to land. With 6 Might on the White Warg, enhanced by Master of Battle (Azog's Legion only), he can afford to be more aggressive with his Might points than other heroes can.
• Cost (4): Look... he's almost 250 points mostly-loaded (400 points fully-loaded), and if you can get 4 wounds (or 5 if the warg is still under him) past Defense 7 (or Strength 5, if you Rend), he's toast. He's valuable and dangerous, but let's not pretend he's in Sauron's tier...

Rationale:

I have Azog at fourth in these rankings, because I feel that of the eleven models Jay ranked, Azog is the clear fourth choice. But Jay clearly felt differently, so I feel this explanation needs special justification. Here goes:

First, I do agree with Jay that Azog is better than all the other heroes we've talked about, and in most cases he's significantly better. Here's why:

• F7 + mount bumps him ahead of Shagrat;
• F7 + mount + Burly two-hander/I am the Master bumps him ahead of the Goblin-King and Buhrdur;
• F7 + I am the Master + 6M bumps him above Amdur;
• F7 + mount + I am the Master + 6 Might bumps him above Bill;
• F7 + Strike + 6 Might bumps him above Gulavhar; and
• 6 Might + a sturdier mount bumps him above Bolg. 

There's room to quibble here, of course: maybe the Goblin-King's Blubbery Mass (plus the Ring, maybe?) opens the door. While Azog is better-equipped to kill Bill than most heroes (who don't wound all other heroes on 3s), he's not exactly stoked to take a Mince 'em Fine check. And unless you take the Stone Flail with Azog, his Burly is completely useless (unlike Bolg's), unless you fancy lifting some heavy objects by yourself in-game. There's also the not-insignificant fact that Azog costs 50 more points than Gulavhar fully-loaded, and Gulavhar isn't cheap. And like Bolg, he's still "just" Defense 7 (and a frightening Defense 5 in Azog's Hunters... very scary) with 3 Wounds and 1 Fate.

Ultimately, none of that moves the needle for me, because I still felt that an (upright, non-Paralyzed, D7) Azog probably wins the fight against a Gulavhar or a Bill more often than not, because the Might (plus Master of Battle) means he can do more things longer. But I can see the arguments for the other heroes (yes, even Amdur... for a little while)... and spoiler alert, Azog's not my overall #4 when it comes to all evil's models. In other words, Azog leaves the door cracked open in a way that the remaining three models just don't. So that's why he's here, in spot #4.

(And before you ask, I only gave him "9" points for Empowerment because as good as the signal tower is--and the tower itself is clearly a perfect 10--Azog doesn't take it all the time, right? I thought that should count for something, hence the "downgrade" to "9.")

One of us could absolutely pulverize Azog. And you know it.

Photo Credit: Tolkien Art on Pinterest

The Final Three

Spoiler alert: The last three models are exactly the three you think they are: in alphabetical order, the Balrog, Sauron, and Smaug.

But as I mentioned at the beginning, just before the break, I'm also not going to give you my ranking of them just yet, because I ended up writing so much about why I ordered them the way that I did, that Blogger won't let me post it. So the final reveal will have to wait until next week (pins and needles, I know).

Having said that, I did want to close the book on this batch of combat heroes (and set-up Part II) by giving some general thoughts about why--for me, at least-- Smaug, the Balrog, and Sauron are substantially ahead of Azog... and pretty much anyone else you could throw out there (with maybe two faintly possible exceptions).

• They're all base F8 or above. So no Master of Battle cheating with Azog. Like Amdur fighting against Azog, if Azog wants get a Fight Value advantage on one of these big bads, he's gotta do it the old fashioned way: burning Might.
• They're all very high-Strength monsters. Sauron's the "weakest," at "just" Strength 8 (i.e., Gulavhar's level), which is still enough to Hurl the mighty Azog 4" at worst. The other two are S9. That's 3s to wound Azog with strikes (or Rends, it turns out). In other words, I am the Master isn't an advantage anymore--it just levels the playing field. Especially when you consider...
• They're all waaaaaaaaay more survivable. We're worlds away from 3 Wounds and a single Fate point (or even 3 Wounds/3 Fate at D7). When the Balrog is arguably the "easiest" model to kill (at D9, with 10 Wounds), you're not just in another tier--you're almost in another galaxy.
• Even Azog's signature strength--his 6 Might points--isn't the same problem for these heroes as it is for almost any other, because all three heroes have a way of dealing with him before Might becomes an issue. Sauron, of course, is a top-tier spell-caster, and while Azog does a lot of things well, one thing he doesn't do well is weather a barrage of spells (just 3 Will, no Resistant to Magic). Start Compelling him around the battle-field in the late-game (where he can't Heroic Strike or make strikes if he wins combats), and he's just not effective. The Balrog's fiery lash allows him to pull Azog into combat (while on the warg), and while I don't think you can separate warg from rider by doing that (double-check the latest FAQs and let me know what you think), I can imagine way more productive ways to spend Azog's Might than trying to bore into a 10 wound, F10 Balrog for 4-5 turns (especially when any botched combat could be your last). And while you can spend Might points to do a lot of things, you can't spend them to get fate points... and if Smaug decides to breathe fire at Azog, Azog's 6 Might points will save him exactly once.
• Lastly--and it may sound like a minor thing, but when it comes to games on the table it's really not--there's Azog's eyesore stat (no, not the 1 Fate... the other one). He's Courage 5. And while that's usually good enough, against models with Ancient Evil and Terror (like these top-3 models have), Courage 5 becomes Courage 4, which means Azog will flub (and if Sauron decides to start chucking free dice for a 2+ Drain Courage, as a way to cheat out Azog's Will points early, it means he could flub a lot). The other three models are either Fearless (Smaug and the Balrog) or effectively Fearless (Sauron, at C7 with 6 Will plus a free one each turn). Add the stats he's giving up, and Azog's just going to be on the back-foot if he has to go toe-to-toe with these models. 

So that's the wrap on Azog. Great job! Thanks for playing! It's been fun.

We'll return for a probably-way-too-nuanced deep-dive into the final three heroes next time (I promise). In the meantime, don't forget to tell us what you think in the comments!

Photo bomb! Because I'm AWESOME!

Photo Credit: Beasts of War