The Stuff of Legends: Ugluk's Scouts

Good morning gamers,

Today we'll be continuing our series on Legendary Legions with Centaur's take on Ugluk's Scouts. Now if you dig DEEP into our archives, you'll know that the first tournament we ever ran here at TMAT (Spring 2012) featured Centaur running Vrasku, an Uruk-Hai Captain (proxied by Ugluk - required by how the Legions of Middle-Earth rules worked back then), and a mixture of Uruk-Hai Scouts and Orc Warriors from the two Isengard lists from the Legions of Middle-Earth book. Centaur has been the longest promoter of Ugluk in our community (he was Centaur's first Isengard hero, if I'm not mistaken) (Centaur: he was!) and has been beloved by him ever since (though perhaps not as high on the totem pole now as the Isengard Siege Veteran with BALLIIISSSTTTAAAA!) (Centaur: he probably still wins by a hair, mostly because he doesn't MISS AS OFTEN, :P). Today, Centaur will be sharing his love for this iconic Uruk-Hai hero and his dysfunctional band of followers. 

Quick interjection before we get started: I intentionally placed this review AFTER the Lurtz's Scouts and Cirith Ungol Legendary Legion reviews, because they both stem from this army (one takes the free 8" movement upgrade for Uruk-Hai Scouts and the accompanying Uruk-Hai heroes, while the other takes the race-based warband restrictions and Animosity special rule). Both of these Legions were released AFTER Ugluk's Scouts, but I felt it would be better to cover Ugluk's Scouts third to show how these neat rules can be melded together. Okay, with the housekeeping notes out of the way, take it away, Centaur!

Part 1: What Do You Need?

Legion Tax: 65 points

Centaur: You must take Ugluk, but he's the only required hero for this list. That's a nice bonus, as he's only 65pts, and that means you have hundreds of points left to spend on your army. That being said, you are also effectively required to take Mauhur (to get the standard 8" move bonus to all Uruks), and it's wise to take both Grishnakh and Snaga as they are cheap Might Point caddies for you. I also recommend taking an Uruk Scout Captain with a two-handed weapon if you can, as they make for excellent killers (F5/S5 with a two-handed axe? OH YEAH BABY). But beyond that, you can take whatever you want, though I recommend taking a smattering of both Orcs and Uruks to fill out your ranks so that you can take advantage of your special rule.

Part 2: Why Take This Legion Over "Normal" Allied Forces?

I must confess, this is one of the Legendary Legions that I like the most. You have a different makeup from the standard Isengard in that your unit and hero choices are very limited. You lose access to the power heroes in the Isengard list (Saruman, Lurtz, and Thrydan) as well as the best offensive units in the Isengard faction (Isengard Troll, Uruk-Hai Berserker, and siege equipment). In exchange, though, you get mobility and handy bumps to your killing power for your "spam" troops, allowing you to run a much cheaper (and thus larger) Isengard force than you would otherwise run without sacrificing too much killing power. You'll still have trouble against heavy-hitting heroes, but the loss of some of your elite Isengard units isn't felt as much.

Here are some of the Strengths and Weaknesses of the Legion . . .

Ugluk's Scouts Bonuses

Weakness #1: Average Defense (and Poor Magic Defense)

You are a lightly armored Legion, with all of your troops sitting at D5 or less (well, D6 if you take a captain with a shield, but that's not saying much). You also have poor magic defense, as none of your heroes get above 1 Will point, and you have no access to Resistant to Magic. So keep in mind that if you hit a caster, you're going to be playing by his rules unless you can tag him and take him out of the fight quickly.

Strength #1: Fast, Fast, Fast

Mobility is huge: not only do all of your Uruk-Hai go up to 8" of movement (not your Orcs, more on that later), but you gain Woodland Creature on everyone in the list, so you can move through wooded terrain very easily. Also, Uruk-Hai can benefit from a Drum and everyone can benefit from Marches.

Weakness #2: Limted Archery

You have limited archery as you do have access to Uruk-Hai bows and Orc bows, but that means you are working with an 18" range, which is pretty darn short. Add onto this your 4+ or 5+ Shoot, and your archery is mediocre at best for this force (though it should be noted that with both the standard 8" move, Woodland Creature, and the chance at a Drummer, you can move your archers almost 6" while still shooting through most terrain, which is nothing to sneeze at - see the note on mobility as a strength above).

Strength #2: Mixing It Up Pays Off

You are encouraged and rewarded to run a combined arms force between Uruks (your fast attack troops) and Orcs (your "anvils" for breaking the enemy on), as you add +1 to the To Wound rolls of Orcs and Uruks if they are both in base contact with an opponent. This doesn't help you if you have an Orc spearman supporting an Uruk Scout (which is probably a game balance decision, and I'm good with that), but it does mean that your troops can be effectively S5-6 when dealing Strikes, which is really nice.

Weakness #3: Limited Hero Options

You lack a power hero to deal with heavy-hitting enemies, as your best chance at taking them on is a Heroic Strike on Ugluk, and that won't last long. So keep in mind that if you hit a high-end hero you're going to be in for some trouble.

Strength #3: Cheap-But-Good Units

Your troops are cheap, with your most expensive model being 65pts, so you can field a ton of guys. You also have good inherent offensive stats, with a lot of your troops being F4-5, S4-5, and you have access to two-handed weapons and a lot of heroes with 3 Might.

Tiberius: While this Legion lacks big heroes and good magic defense, these critiques are true of Isengard in general. With Lurtz, Thrydan, and Gorulf being the "big punchy heroes", they're all 1-2 Will with F5/Strike, which makes them pretty good mid-tier heroes, but not GREAT heroes. Gorulf might last longer against big heroes because of free Heroic Defenses, but you're counting on your opponent not getting 2-3 natural 6s to Wound - which a big mounted hero on the charge might very well get in a single turn. Like normal Isengard, your strength lies in having a lot of good mid-level heroes (more heroes than your opponent will be fielding) and solid warriors who will do the ACTUAL killing for your army (one on one, it's hard to beat an Uruk-Hai Scout or Warrior).

Part 3: Legendary Legion Improvements

Centaur: So to start, per his duel with Eomer at the end of their skirmish, Ugluk should be able to take a shield. Just like how Boromir can use a sword, shield, and horn in the same Fight Phase, so also Ugluk should be able to use a sword, shield, and take a head in the same turn. It would also allow your 2 Wound + 1 Fate army leader to get up to D6, which I don't feel is too much to ask.

Second, I'd add a Meat's Back on the Menu rule, which would do the following: if an orc or uruk hero is involved in a fight where a Man, Dwarf, Elf, or Hobbit model is slain, if the model is not engaged in combat and opts not to move during the next turn, they may regain 1 Might, Will, or Fate Point previously spent. It's small, it won't change much, and it takes your best killers out of the fight for a few turns, but hey, it's a way to regain some heroic stats. 

Third, I'd give Grishnahk the Woodland Creature special rule, so that he can track hobbits through Fangorn, or other people through other woods. It's a small thing, but would add a small bit more mobility to an army without cavalry.

Tiberius: To be honest, I'm not sure that the Animosity rule (as implemented) really captures the competition between Uruks and Orcs in this list. Sure, the way it's implemented makes it more competitive, but I feel like the Animosity rule should be tied to which side has killed fewer models (loser gets +1 To Wound). This would require more record-keeping, but given that your heroes don't require a lot of record-keeping and you don't have a lot of special rules on any of your characters, I don't think it would be THAT much of a tax - and it would get rid of the issue of trying to get multiple models into the same combat in order to trigger it (which is VERY hard to do).

Besides changing how Animosity works, I think it would be good if the Legion boosted Ugluk (more than just giving him +2" of movement and Woodland Creature). He's the only beat-stick hero you have and his Head-Taker rule is far more likely to be triggered in this Legion than in a vanilla Isengard list. As a result, I'd allow him to increase the range of the killing part of his Head-Taker rule if he's killing a friendly Orc hero and possibly allow him to trigger it BEFORE your army is broken in order to provide a banner buff or +1 Fight Value (or both) to your Uruk-Hai models akin to the Master of Lake-town's buff (but removing Orcs instead of spending Might points). You'd be breaking yourself faster, but helping your Uruks at your Orcs' expense. THAT seems more appropriate than Animosity, no?

If you don't give Ugluk a boost of some kind, because Ugluk has a whip on his model, he should have a Whip and the Whips of the Masters special rule. The quote from Legolas in the movies (based on the books) "They run as if the very whips of their masters were behind them" does come from a reference to Ugluk and his men, so it would make sense if he had it (at least for this Legion). Potentially free Heroic Moves/Marches? Sure, they'll take that.

Part 4: Army Strategies

Centaur: A lot of the "strategy" with this army is playing to the objective. If you have to count models near a location, you have the advantage of ranking up with cheap troops and the ability to shield. If you have to reach objectives first, you have 8" move on your troops (because you should always take Mauhur) and you can march them with a captain (which you should also always have). If you have to kill models, that F4 S4 combo backed up with cheap spears and assisted with S3 two-handed axes on orcs will do a good job against most armies.

The trick with this army is going to be dealing with power heroes, and for that, honestly the best option is to use your shooting to winnow them down, throw some troops at them to burn through Might Points, and then close with heroes to finish them off. But the thing to remember is that none of your heroes are good at killing heavy hitting heroes (or monsters, for that matter), so evasion, whittling down, and then finishing is the only real way to do this.

Tiberius: Centaur's been running this army for ages - LONG before the Legion was created. As mentioned previously, in the first grand tournament we did here at TMAT, he ran Ugluk (proxying as an Uruk-Hai Captain because it was required in the Legions era), Vrasku, and a host of Uruk-Hai Scouts and Orc Warriors at 500 points (during the Legions era, you could bring as many warriors as you wanted with your heroes). Centaur has most recently run an Isengard variant of this Legion (TMAT GT 2019), running a lot of the models available in this Legion plus his beloved Feral Uruks (they're not Berserkers, but they're cool) and his even more beloved Ballista. Both were/are pretty crazy lists - lots of cheap spears to support high Fight/Strength models, high model count (especially for Isengard), and lots of Might. In this Legion, you have +2" of movement on all of those Uruk-Hai Scouts (warriors and heroes), pretty strong bows, and potentially +1 To Wound if you can get models of different races into base contact with the same opponent.

This army, though, requires a lot more finesse than the Cirith Ungol LL or the Lurtz's Scouts LL (I feel) because of the difference in speed of the Uruks and Orcs. In the Lurtz's Scouts Legion, all of your models move 8", so the only models that might be left behind are your archers (who are probably moving 5.5" while still shooting if there's a Drum beating - or 7" if there's a Drum beating and a March has been called - so they're not THAT far behind you). The Cirith Ungol LL requires some finesse getting their Uruks and Orcs into the same combat in order to benefit from Animosity, but since all of their units move 6", they should arrive at the same time.

For this Legion to get their Animosity to trigger, the Uruks have to move slower than they can OR the Orcs have to show up second to the fight (while the Uruks race ahead and engage OR the Uruks advance quickly and skirmish their way backwards towards the Orcs). You CAN give most of your Uruks Uruk-Hai Bows and advance 4-5.5" while shooting (with March or a Drum) in order to move at the same speed as the Orcs. Beyond that, you're showing up second with the Orcs or not showing up first with your Uruks - your choice.

Part 5: Army Showcase

Centaur: The first list is a bit light on the Orcs, but you still have enough to take advantage of your Animosity special rule a good amount of the time. The Orc spearmen can support your "anvil" units (probably the Scout Captain, Mauhur, and some shield Uruks) while Grishnakh and the two-handers help Ugluk and the other Uruks around the flanks, allowing you to get the Animosity bonus, take advantage of your F4+ Uruks, and get the two-handed weapon bonus to finish off the enemy. 

This is extremely effective against F3/D5 armies (like Rohan or Lake-town), as the Uruk helps you win the fight, and the S3 two-handed weapon from the Orc gets a +2 To Wound, giving you a 3+ To Wound. You can get this same statistical advantage against a F3/D6 army (like Minas Tirith) by using the Piercing Strike option on your troops. And should you ever hit D3 Elves or Shirelings, you're looking at a 2+ To Wound. Which is sweet. And with two banners providing support for our troops, we have ample coverage for rerolls to make up for the -1 penalties on all of our two-handed weapons.

• Ugluk [Army Leader]
• 1 Uruk-Hai Scout with banner and shield
• 3 Uruk-Hai Scouts with shields
• 3 Uruk-Hai Scouts with Uruk-Hai bows
• Mauhur
• 5 Uruk-Hai Scouts with shields
• Grishnakh, Orc Captain with shield
• 1 Orc Warrior with banner and shield
• 4 Orc Warriors with two-handed weapons
• 5 Orc Warriors with spears and shields
• Uruk-Hai Scout Captain with two-handed weapon
• 2 Uruk-Hai Scouts with shields
• 3 Uruk-Hai Scouts with Uruk-Hai bows

The second list (700-points) expands the archer core (note that we are still only using Uruks for archery because there's really no reason not to pay +3 points/model to go up to F4/S4 with +1 To Hit and S3 damage). It also adds more frontline troops and adds a second Orc detachment under Snaga, filling out almost both of the Orc warbands to max. This brings us to 24/52 models being Orcs, which is roughly half (and more than half if the archers are not engaged in the melee). So at this point, you've got three warbands of fast-moving Uruk-Hai with sufficient archery support, a good body of Orcs to join them in battle/spear support them, and we still have the two banners to make sure that we win fights especially against F5+ models. I would totally run this army at a tournament if I had the chance.

• Ugluk [Army Leader]
• 1 Uruk-Hai Scout with banner and shield
• 5 Uruk-Hai Scouts with shields
• 3 Uruk-Hai Scouts with Uruk-Hai bows
• Mauhur
• 5 Uruk-Hai Scouts with shields
• 3 Uruk-Hai Scouts with Uruk-Hai bows
• Grishnakh, Orc Captain with shield
• 1 Orc Warrior with banner and shield
• 2 Orc Warriors with shields
• 4 Orc Warriors with two-handed weapons
• 5 Orc Warriors with spears and shields
• Uruk-Hai Scout Captain with two-handed weapon
• 5 Uruk-Hai Scouts with shields
• 3 Uruk-Hai Scouts with Uruk-Hai bows
• Snaga, Orc Captain
• 4 Orc Warriors with two-handed weapons
• 6 Orc Warriors with spears and shields

Tiberius: Like the Cirith Ungol Legendary Legion we talked about last time, I think the Orcs in this list are important. Unlike the Cirith Ungol Legion, this Legion has no shaman. That's a shame . . . an . . . yeah, that was a stretch, I admit. :) Because you can't auto-pass Courage tests, I think archery is essential in this Legion, so the following 500-point list runs 50% spears (so at least 50% Orcs) and 33% bows (which, as Centaur said, should be on Uruk-Hai). As great as Animosity is, I mentioned how hard it is to trigger in the Cirith Ungol LL post (Centaur talked about it some here), so I'll be okay getting it if I can, but otherwise I'm counting on running a shieldwall. With 32 models in a 500-point game, you should have the numerical advantage in numbers against most armies and you have a very impressive 10 Uruk-Hai bows in that army as well (to deal with Terror). 

• Ugluk [Army Leader]
• 1 Uruk-Hai Scout with banner and Uruk-Hai bow
• 5 Uruk-Hai Scouts with Uruk-Hai bows
• Mauhur
• 2 Uruk-Hai Scouts with shields
• 4 Uruk-Hai Scouts with Uruk-Hai bows
• Snaga, Orc Captain
• 8 Orc Warriors with shields and spears
• Grishnakh, Orc Captain with shield
• 7 Orc Warriors with shields and spears
• 1 Orc Warrior with shield, spear, and banner

As you scale this army up, add 3 Orcs with spears and shields, paired with 1 Uruk-Hai Scout with shield and 2 Uruk-Hai Scouts with Uruk-Hai bows (48 points for +6 warriors). You currently have room for 8 more Orcs and 12 more Uruk-Hai, so you can keep up this ratio for nearly another 100 points before having to buy extra heroes. I would jump for an Uruk-Hai Scout Captain before an Orc Captain, if for no other reason than the Uruk has more damage potential (no matter how you kit him out), while the Orc Captain is basically going to be a Rock hero (and not a very good one for only 15 points less - though you won't mind burning through his Might for March before any of the Uruk-Hai heroes).

I'm not sure when you field a Drummer with this list - the split nature of the list (and the Drum affecting your already-fast-Uruks and not your really-slow-respectively Orcs) makes a Drummer really useful in getting part of your army across the board quickly/helping your Archers keep up, but I couldn't make the space for him in this list.

Personally, I think Drummers are great in the Lurtz's Scout LL where everyone is 8" move with Woodland Creature and can benefit from the drum and are less important here. As was mentioned before, however, a Drum can keep your archers moving at nearly the same speed as the Orcs they accompany, so there might be a place for having a Drummer to keep your archers moving (but it's less necessary for your melee troops).

Army Summary

Thanks Centaur for taking us through that! Our next post features an army that Rythbryt has been working on for a bit: Helm's Guard. If you've already viewed our reviews of the Riders of Theoden, the Riders of Eomer, and Theodred's Guard, this Legion closes off the quadrivium of Rohan Legions that focus on a particular mounted hero (the Defenders of Helm's Deep and the Paths of the Druadan emphasize non-Rohan heroes). Helm in this Legion is one of the strongest Good combat heroes in the game (Centaur isn't convinced, but Rythbryt and I have written on the topic already) - so Rythbryt will look at what makes this Legion great (and how you can build around the limitations of the list when building your army lists). Hope to see you next time - until then, happy hobbying!