The Stuff of Legends: The Army of Dunland

Good morning gamers,

PSYCHE - I know last time I said we'd be covering the Black Gate Opens, but Rythbyrt needed some extra time to write his thoughts down, so today we are jumping ahead to the Army of Dunland.

We've covered a lot of ground in this series and today, we wrap up the last of the Legions from War in Rohan by examining the vicious and furious warriors of Dunland. Finally receiving love from the GW team is a subset of Isengard that has a cult following almost as large as the Easterlings of Rhun. Dunland has exactly one hero from the movies and three named heroes that were machinations of GW - and with a healthy list of warrior profiles and access to pretty much every piece of ordinary gear, Dunland is a powerful army that can be run as a horde or as an elite army. Let's delve in and see what we can build!

Part 1: What Do You Need?

Legion Tax: 85-95pts
Also, Dunland needs better GIFs...

In this list, you NEED to take Thrydan Wolfsbane - and because he's your only mounted hero (and his Mighty Blow rule gets better when he's mounted), you might as well give him the horse. With his horse, he's a pretty affordable 95 points, which makes him an easy inclusion in any army - be it this Legion or an Isengard army.

On his own, however, Thrydan doesn't help his team get better (and he's going to need help dealing with the biggest and baddest models your opponent has in his force). One way you can help him is by taking Gorulf Ironskin, who can either be a 3A model with F5-and-Strike OR a 3A model with a free Heroic Defense and 2 Wounds/1 Fate, so long as you're fighting against an enemy hero. He can also spend his 3 Might to call Heroic Defense against warriors, but usually you want this guy either chomping through grunts OR stalling enemy heroes. Gorulf is good, but honestly for me, he's the fourth hero choice, because there are two other heroes you want to buy first.

The second hero that I think you want to include in any Dunland army is a Dunlending Chieftain. Like most generic heroes, the Dunlending Chieftain has Heroic March - and for an average-Defense army with predominantly infantry models, March is important. Really important. Armed with a two-handed axe and dagger by default (that can be traded for free for a hand axe and shield), this hero can either be kitted out for easy wounding or more resilient purposes. I think both are good - pick one and enjoy it.

Third, you definitely want to include the Wild Man Oathmaker - any models that can get Fearless are definitely worth keeping. Wild Men might not be great troops, but the ability to make Wild Men nearby him Fearless means you can have the benefits of Aura of Command (basically) for only 55 points. Wild Men don't have a lower Fight Value than any other warrior from this list that engages an enemy model and while their Defense is horrible, they're very cheap and are an easy way to boost your model count.

Finally, any list from Dunland should have at least one banner. Since the Legion bonus increases your banner range to 6" instead of 3", you get a lot more out of your banners than other armies do. They're not more expensive, so take advantage of it - plus, because your supporting troops are expensive (Dunlending Huscarls), you need to accept that most of your fights won't have spear-supports. When that happens, you want a banner nearby.

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

Dunland is part of the Isengard faction and the only real reason to take this Legion is because "you want to play with Dunland." To be honest, there are huge advantages to taking the Isengard list to this Legion. For example:

• Uruk-Hai Warriors with pikes are cheaper than Dunlending Huscarls (10pts/model vs. 11pts/model) and are always F4 (instead of situationally F4), have the same base stats in all other categories, and don't have Bodyguard (though their pikes make bodyguard less necessary - especially if you run Berserkers);
• Your only bows in this Legion are on Dunlending Warriors, who are "fine," but are as expensive as Uruk-Hai Scouts, who not only have +1 Fight Value, but have S3 bows with 18" range (instead of S2 bows with 24" range). Comparisons to Uruk-Hai Warriors with crossbows have a similar result: you'd prefer to be shooting with the Uruk-Hai; and
• An argument could be made that Dunlending Horsemen are not as good as Warg Riders, but their default assignment of axes makes them potentially more damaging on the charge (can be S5), though they can't be customized as much as Warg Riders can. 

While I am personally biased towards vanilla Isengard, let's look at some of the strengths and weaknesses of this Legion to see why you might want to take it. . .

Weakness #1: Low-to-Average Defense

Army of Dunland Bonuses

Dunland has exactly one model that can be D6 - a Dunlending Chieftain with a shield (edit: as was pointed out in the comments, it's actually two - Frida Tallspear is also D6). All other models are D3 (Crebain and Wild Men of Dunland), D4 (Dunlendings without shields, all of the mounts in this list, and Wild Man Oathmaker), and D5 (everyone else). Bow-armed models will be able to pick on this list pretty easily - especially if the archery is S3 or above. All of the heroes in this list have 2 Wounds and most of the heroes have 1 Fate, which means having low Defense is a big concern - especially if you're fighting against an army that shoots a lot.

Strength #1: Lots of Dudes

Dunland isn't the kind of army you'd expect to be a horde army - most of their warriors are average cost or slightly above-average cost. Dunlending Warriors and Dunlending Horsemen are average cost for infantry and cavalry, while Dunlending Huscarls and Crebain are more expensive. Wild Men of Dunland are pretty cheap and all of the heroes cost 55-95 points, which means you can grow your numbers simply by buying heroes that are cheaper than other factions and include some warriors that are cheaper than others.

Weakness #2: No Big Heroes
Big heroes are the usual way you beat down enemy armies - either wading through warriors, carving up monsters, or dicing up their heroes (sounds messy, right)? Well, Dunland doesn't really have big heroes. Sure, Thrydan can do lots of damage - and he's a go-to for me when I run Isengard - but without the support of a top-tier caster, he's going to have to spend his Might on Heroic Strike and hope that his boosted F5 is better than whatever he faces (and that's a risk). The supporting cast of heroes aren't bad, but like the normal Isengard faction, these heroes are mid-level heroes - good against troops, not great against heroes/monsters.

Besides their profile limitations, you also only have two heroes with Strike, which means that you can't rely on beating opposing heroes just by getting the higher Fight Value and "rolling the six". Gorulf can choose to rely on Heroic Defense instead (which might be free, if fighting a hero), but Thrydan needs to be more careful than he'd have to be in an Isengard list.

Strength #2: Synergized Buffs

Dunland has lots of buffs - I've heard it referred to as "the Fiefdoms done right." Not knocking on Gondor at all, but let's begin with the awesomeness of a 6" banner buff. 6" banners are rare - usually reserved for expensive heroes - and this Legion can get it on a 33pt model (a Dunlending Warrior with banner and shield or bow). Since our only spear-supporting models are Huscarls (more on them in a moment), having a banner within range of your troops is a big deal (as we've already mentioned).

Dunlending Huscarls also get much better when near Dunlending heroes - not only can they support friendly models to lend F4 to the fight, but they also have Bodyguard, which is a nice way to tag big monsters/heroes that you don't want your heroes fighting. If jumping into the same fight as a friendly hero, they can also two-hand with their halberds, which is a nice way to get some extra damage (even if the hero isn't that great at fighting).

Finally, we can get Fearless Wild Men of Dunland (the models you ACTUALLY want to use to tie down big scary heroes and monsters) if you have the Wild Man Oathmaker. Fearless is a great rule - it means there are all kinds of shenanigans that can't do anything to you. Fearless can help you hold objectives and it can help you charge Terrifying models. Make sure you don't leave home without it - when you need it, you need it.

Weakness #3: Almost No Spears

Dunlending Huscarls are an interesting unit: they have Bodyguard, which means they can be relied on to charge Terrifying models, but they are only F4 if they are supporting someone else. As the most expensive infantry option available to Dunland (except for banner-carriers), getting lots of spears into your army is . . .  difficult. Dunland armies are expensive to collect (this we all know), but these are some of the most expensive models to collect - and if you wanted 50% of your army to be able to spear-support, you'll spend a LOT of money.

Frida Tallspear also has a spear (obviously), but as the least helpful hero on the team, you aren't going to include her in lower points lists (and you may not even include her at higher points levels if you want to horde out).

None of this is to say that not getting spears makes you bad - lots of good armies can't get spears. It does mean that your ability to bring your numbers to bear is much harder - and if your opponent moves second on the turn that battle is first joined, you won't be able to use spears to get more of your models involved in the fight.

Strength #3: Flexible Fast Troops

There are two fast units that Duland has access to (besides mounted Thrydan): Dunlending Cavalry and Crebain. I'm not sure that Dunlending Cavalry are better than Warg Riders, but they have axes in their base profile and they are roughly the same cost as a Warg Rider with a shield. While not able to take ranged weapons, Dunlending Cavalry are just fine at charging into a flank and running models over.

Crebain are not great at crushing enemy flanks, but they can sweep towards objectives - especially objectives that are lightly defended. While shooting down Dunlending Cavalry is pretty easy (D4 mounts with D5 riders), Crebain can only be hit on a 6, so archery is pretty ineffective against them. While they won't take away cavalry charge bonuses and won't do a lot of damage against infantry, they make great objective grabbers (and as flying infantry, they can carry mobile objectives pretty quickly).

Part 3: Legendary Legion Improvements

Dunland has been a subset of Isengard for a long time - and I think most die-hard Dunland players are satisfied with what they've been given. Honestly, there's only one change I would recommend: give Wild Men of Dunland access to spears. In the Two Towers, you see Wild Men of Dunland with long sticks that could very easily be used as spears. Wild Men of Dunland can be used to spam models, but don't really serve a purpose in the army unless you run the Oathmaker (in which case, they have a huge purpose) - they'd be better overall if they could take spears. Just saying . . .

Part 4: Army Strategies

Your strategy needs to begin with Thrydan: while you can be pretty reckless with Thrydan in an Isengard list (and face good match-ups against models that have been Immobilized or Sorcerous Blasted), you cannot be reckless with Thrydan here. Thrydan will be needed to carve through warriors (and possibly heroes - you usually want to engage heroes after they've spent themselves), but like Theoden, you need to shelter his match-ups to make sure he doesn't get out-classed. He is a F5/S5 hero with Mighty Blow, so make sure you get good use out of him (just be careful).

Your next attention turns to the warriors supporting Thrydan: Thrdyan is a fast model (always put him on a horse), so you want at least 2 Dunlending Cavalry to escort him - and it wouldn't hurt to have 2 Crebain in your army as well, in case you need to support your cavalry with fliers. Thrydan would do well to have some infantry in his warband to shield him from enemy counter-attacks, which is probably composed of a line of Dunlending Warriors with shields backed Dunlendings with bows and a few Dunlending Huscarls.

Your next warband should be led by a Dunlending Chieftain - you need the March. As has already been mentioned, you can run this Chieftain with a shield or a two-handed axe - doesn't really matter. This hero should also be supported by Dunlending Warriors with shields and Dunlending Huscarls - models you can push up quickly with March and hold a line. Either this warband or Thrydan's warband should have a banner in it.

Of the three newest Dunlending heroes (Gorulf, Frida, and the Oathmaker), I think the Oathmaker is the most important: he's got the Fearless buff for Wild Men of Dunland (which is great when fighting against Terror armies, holding objectives, etc.) and he's pretty resilient to magical assaults (which is great for keeping your army from getting killed by area-of-effect spells). He's not great in combat, but he's not bad either. Oh, and he's Fearless himself, so he can auto-pass Stand Fasts, which is nice.

Right on his heels is Gorulf, your second attacker (third if you count the Dunlending Chieftain) who can also hold up heroes. While he's good against warriors, a bad roll will see him risk taking damage (and with 2 Wounds/1 Fate, he can't suffer that much damage). Against heroes, you can call a Heroic Defense for free, saving your Might for boosting dueling rolls (or Fate rolls if things go ill). Tackling the worst heroes your opponent has to offer will free up Thrydan to do other things (like pummel Cave Trolls or crack open enemy infantry). Gorulf's warband should have more Huscarls than normal to help his part of the line hold so he doesn't get overrun.

If you have points left, Frida Tallspear is a nice addition to an army - but her warband should be treated like a Shaman's warband. Shamans normally want to float behind the lines, supporting wherever their Fury is needed most. Frida doesn't have Fury, but her ability to remove an enemy cavalry model's charging bonuses is huge - so make sure she's able to float around and support where she's needed! Her warband can really be composed of anything, but a few Dunlending Huscarls wouldn't be a bad inclusion (as they should also float to support where needed).

Final note on strategy: I would include bowmen - 33% of them. Dunlending Warriors aren't great archers, but they're not bad archers and anyone you don't kill with arrows you'll have to kill in melee without the benefit of spears (for most of your models). That means . . . shoot some guys first. :-)

Part 5: Army Showcase

Our first list at 500 points has "a little bit of everything" because pretty much everything in this list is worth taking. I've included my three favorite Dunland heroes (Thrydan, Dunlending Chieftains, and the Oathmaker) and pairs them with a rather impressive horde of 35 models. The only thing I'm disappointed about is that I didn't include Gorulf Ironskin - no free Heroic Defenses. We also don't have Frida Tallspear, which is fine.

While this list is expensive to collect, we're using the models we have pretty effectively (you only need to buy Thrydan, the other named heroes, 1 box of Dunlending Warriors, 1 box of Wild Men of Dunland, 1 box of Crebain, 1 box of Dunlending Horsemen, and 1 box of Dunlending Huscarls). Expensive, yes, but we're not wasting anything:

• Thrydan Wolfsbane on horse [AL]
• 2 Dunlending Horsemen
  
• 2 Dunlending Warriros with bows
• 4 Dunlending Warriors with bows and two-handed axes
• 1 Dunlending Warrior with bow and banner
  
• Dunlending Chieftain
  
• 2 Crebain
• 3 Dunlending Huscarls
  
• 4 Dunlending Warriors with shields
• 2 Dunlending Warriros with bows
  
• The Wild Man Oathmaker
• 7 Wild Men of Dunland
• 5 Wild Men of Dunland with two-handed axes
  

We can take this list and bump it up to 700 points, adding in Gorulf, Frida, a second banner, and a few more warriors. You could choose to drop Frida and get more warriors if you wanted to get close to 50 models (but I've chosen to get 40 models at 700 points to have a better chance of stopping a cavalry hero from doing massive damage to my troops). Frida is kept in an intentionally small warband so you can place her to support the battle line created by Gorulf and the Dunlending Chieftain, with additional flanking power provided by a horde of Wild Men and Thrydan's cavalry contingent. More expensive than the previous list (and only slightly more bows), but a pretty good list I think:

• Thrydan Wolfsbane on horse [AL]
• 2 Dunlending Horsemen
  
• Gorulf Ironskin
• 2 Dunlending Warriors with shields
• 2 Dunlending Warriors with bows
  
• 1 Dunlending Warrior with bow and banner
  
• 4 Dunlending Huscarls
  
• The Wild Man Oathmaker
• 7 Wild Men of Dunland
• 4 Wild Men of Dunland with two-handed axes
  
• Dunlending Chieftain with two-handed axe
• 2 Dunlending Warriors with shields
  
• 3 Dunlending Warirors with bows
• 1 Dunlending Warrior with bow and banner
  
• 3 Dunlending Huscarls
  
• Frida Tallspear
• 2 Dunlending Huscarls
  
• 2 Crebain
  

While both of these lists are fun, we don't see armored Dunlendings in the Two Towers - we see Crebain in both the Fellowship of the Ring and the Two Towers and we see a bunch of enraged Wild Men, but we don't see any Dunlending Warriors. For those interested in theme, I've provided the following list which only has one armored model in it (Thrydan, because we had to) and otherwise just relies on Wild Men and Crebain for its power - big horde (38 models at 500 points is quite a bit), no spears, but if you can wrap around your opponent and trap models, you can kill quite a bit with this list:

• Thrydan Wolfsbane on horse [AL]
• 2 Crebain
• 4 Wild Men of Dunland
• 5 Wild Men of Dunland with two-handed axes
• Gorulf Ironskin
• 2 Crebain
• 5 Wild Men of Dunland
• 5 Wild Men of Dunland with two-handed axes
• The Wild Man Oathmaker
• 2 Crebain
• 5 Wild Men of Dunland
• 5 Wild Men of Dunland with two-handed axes
  

Army Summary

My work here is Dunland. :-) I prefer vanilla Isengard, to be honest (no surprise), but I like what they did with this Legendary Legion - it's really cool (albeit expensive). Rythbyrt will be taking us through the Black Gate Opens LL next time, which can also be expensive, unless you plan on spamming Morannon Orcs from the starter set. See you next time - and until then, happy hobbying!