Fleshing Out the Faction: Fangorn

 Hey Reader!

Welcome back to the blog! I want to start off by saying that I love the Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game, and am ever so pleased with the hard work that the team at GamesWorkshop puts into the game to bring us the best play experience possible. I have been overwhelmingly pleased with the supplements and models we have gotten, and am very grateful for the hard work behind the scenes.

But I also think that with the release of War in Rohan there were a few missed opportunities for both Fangorn and Isengard, and I wanted to cover the former of those in this post.

Fangorn is a great faction: it's full of monsters (which are fun to use), very defensible (Defense 8 and 3 Wounds will take you far), and we even got two new ent heroes in the new lineup! But even with the new additions, there really isn't a lot of variety in the faction, and what makes forests so interesting is their variety. It's what makes a forest look wild, and having some variety in the faction would be fantastic.

Naturally there are many ways to add variety, some of which may dramatically change the way the faction plays, so we will start by looking philosophically at what the faction should be, and then from there discuss a new set of upgrades to the basic Ent warrior, and then move on to three new profiles to further flesh out the faction.

I.  Philosophy: Options and Balance

To start with, the ents are the shepherds of the forest: they look after trees and huorns (awakened trees) and protect them from internal and external threats. They are not great in number (so you should be one of the smallest armies in a tournament - we will not be changing that) but make up for that with tremendous size and fortitude.

The ents dig deep, drinking water and eating earth for centuries as they pursue their calling: to guard what Yavanna made from the children of Aule and the peoples of Middle Earth that would threaten the beauty of the forests. But since they lost the entwives, they are running out of shepherds to patrol everything, and thus some question whether ents are even real, as they are so scarce seen.

(This also means don't get your hopes up for an "Entwife" profile later in this post. Yes, I thought of an idea. No, I didn't add it. Yes, if we do a First Age or Second Age supplement I'll note it there, but that would not be a traditional Fangorn army, so I'm not including it here. Suffice it to say, though, yes, the entwives do have a "Farming" and "Nut and Acorn" special rule that I'm very proud of, :P )

So from a lore perspective, we want to incorporate all of this. From a balance perspective, we also need to keep in mind that the current costs for heroes and warriors in this faction is basically perfect for most standard game sizes (as Jay Clare noted recently online), so we will not be adding point costs to any of the ent warriors. Instead, we will be offering a set of free upgrades to your ents that give both bonuses and penalties to keep the balance between styles of ents while also giving you some customization options to make your Fangorn army more unique and serviceable to meet other needs.

II.  Ent Warrior Upgrades

These are presented as upgrade options, much like equipment upgrade choices on other profiles. An ent may only take one upgrade, and all upgrades are considered free.

Ash: Tolkien describes them as having more fingers than the others and a gray complexion, more capable of grasping beings and holding them fast. The ent reduces its Defense to 7, and may reroll 1s to wound when using the Bludgeon brutal power attack.

Aspen: The tree is thinner and more limber than others, moving quickly and easily across terrain with less mass behind it. The ent reduces its Strength and Defense to 7 (and its Throw Stones Strength to 8), and treats all non-fire difficult terrain as open terrain (structures, of course, are still treated as structures, and thus limit movement for the ent). In addition, ranged attacks against the aspen tree suffer a -1 to their to-hit roll.

Birch: A tree associated in British mythology with new life, initiation, and the spiritual world. The ent reduces its Fight Value to 6, and may select a single target each turn during the Move Phase within 12", exactly as if it was casting a spell: on a 4+ the target gains the effect of one of the following spells: Renew, Strengthen Will, or Blessing of the Valar. On the roll of a 6, this is treated as a channeled spell, granting a maximum of 2 restored points.

Chestnut: Tolkien describes these ents as being stout, dark, and brown (beyond that we know nothing about them). The ent reduces its speed to 5" (instead of 6"), and whenever it suffers a wound roll a D6: on a 6 the ent may ignore the wound as if a point of Fate was expended.

Hazel: A tree associated in British mythology with magic and the faerie world. The ent reduces its Fight Value to 6, and may select a single target each turn during the Move Phase within 12", exactly as if it was casting a spell: on a 4+ the target suffers the effects of one of the following spells: Drain Courage, Sap Will, or Wither. On the roll of a 6, this is treated as a channeled spell, reducing the targeted stat by a maximum of 2 for Drain Courage and Wither, or 4 for Sap Will. The target may resist the spell normally, gaining benefits from Resistant to Magic, Fortify Spirit, etc. normally.

Fir: Tolkien describes them as the tallest of the ents, giving them exceptional height and visibility. The ent reduces its Fight Value to 6 and its Defense to 7. In addition, the ent counts as a banner for all allied models within 6" of the fir ent.

Oak: A strong and hearty tree, the oak is famed across Britain for its strength and resilience, and its slow, steady growth. The ent increases its Defense to 9 and its Wounds to 4, and is treated as a siege target (instead of a battlefield target) when attacked by siege weapons, ignoring the automatically slain property of their primary attack. The ent also reduces its Fight Value to 6, and its Movement to 4".

Pine: A quickly burning wood that is slim and covered in sharp needles. The ent reduces its Strength to 7 (and its Throw Stones Strength to 8), and gains +1 to its wound rolls against targets who are not wearing Heavy Armor (or higher levels of armor, such as Dwarf Armor). Fire attacks (Flameburst, Set Ablaze, flaming ammunition, the Balrog of Moria's flaming sword, etc.) against the ent gain +1 to their wound rolls.

Rowan: A tree tied heavily to the prevention of witchcraft in British mythology, the rowan is a lithe and strong, a good defense against magic and the particular trees guarded by Quickbeam. The ent reduces its Strength to 7 (and its Throw Stones Strength to 8), increases its movement to 8", and all allies within 3" of the ent gain the Resistant to Magic special rule if they do not already have it.

Willow: A durable tree with thin limbs that end in long tendrils, falling like long hair from its head, helping it to blend in with the forest canopy around it. The ent reduces its Strength to 7 and its Fight Value to 6 (and its Throw Stones Strength to 8). The ent gains the Stalk Unseen special rule, and gains a "whip" natural weapon (throwing weapon dealing a Strength 4 hit at up to 6" away).

Yew: A sturdy wood commonly used for hanging trees and making weapons. The ent may treat its Branches as a hand-and-a-half club for the purposes of weapon strikes (but is still a natural weapon, and thus immune to the Shatter spell).

These options give you some variety and support options for your Fangorn force, allowing you to customize your force to meet needs.

We also present to you an additional warrior choice for Fangorn: the huorn, as well as two new heroes: Skinbark and Leaflock, two of the oldest ents in Fangorn.

III.  Additional Profiles

The huorn is an awakened tree, capable of moving and grasping things, but not taught by the elves to speak as the ents were. Ents shepherd huorns and other trees from danger, and sometimes the huorns join the ents in battling those threats.

Huorn (Ent, Infantry, Warrior): 30 Points

Mv     F     S     D     A     W    C    

4"    4/5+   4     6      2      3     5      

Wargear: Roots and Branches

Upgrades: May take the following upgrades:

• Aspen (treats all non-fire difficult terrain as open terrain, and ranged attacks suffer a -1 to their to-hit roll against the huorn): 10pts
• Birch (may select a single target each turn during the Move Phase within 6", exactly as if it was casting a spell: on a 4+ the target gains the effect of one of the following spells: Renew or Strengthen Will): 10pts
• Chestnut (Whenever it suffers a wound roll a D6: on a 6+ the wound is ignored exactly as if a point of Fate was expended, and Move value is increased to 5"): 10pts
• Fir (Counts as a banner for allies within 3" of it, and suffers a -1 to all its duel rolls): 10pts
• Hazel (may select a single target each turn during the Move Phase within 6", exactly as if it was casting a spell: on a 4+ the target gains the effect of one of the following spells: Drain Courage or Sap Will. The spell may be resisted normally by the target, gaining the benefits of ): 10pts
• Oak (increases its Defense to 7): 10pts
• Pine (gains +1 to wound against unarmored and Armor targets, fire-based attacks are +1 to wound against the huorn): 10pts
• Rowan (Move value is increased to 6", and gains the Resistant to Magic special rule): 10pts
• Willow (gains the Stalk Unseen special rule, and gains a Whip throwing weapon (range 6", Strength 4): 10pts
• Yew (increases its Strength to 5 and treats its Roots and Branches as a hand-and-a-half club): 10pts

Special Rules: Woodland Creature

Special Rule: Awakened Tree: Huorns only understand Old Entish and their own language, and thus are not affected by the shouts and cries of men and orcs. Huorns do not suffer penalties to their Courage Value from spell effects or special rules. In addition, huorns may only benefit from Heroic Moves and Heroic Marches called by ent heroes.

In addition, we present this profile for Skinbark, a "birch" ent that fought alongside Treebeard and the rest of the ents in the Siege of Orthanc, among the oldest ents of the Third Age.

Skinbark (Ent, Monster, Infantry, Hero - Hero of Valour): 170 Points

Mv     F     S     D     A     W    C     M/W/F   

6"    7/4+   7     8      3      3     7      3 / 6 / 3

Wargear: Roots and Branches

Heroic Actions: Heroic Channeling, Heroic Defense

Spells: Renew, Strengthen Will, Blessing of the Valar

Special Rules: Terror, Throw Stones (range 18", Strength 10), Woodland Creature, Bludgeon (Brutal Power Attack)

Special Rule: Eat Earth, Drink Water (Passive): At the end of his turn, Skinbark regains 1 Will Point (to a maximum of 6). When casting a channeled spell, Skinbark may also treat a roll of a "1" as a "2" instead.

And finally, we have this profile for Leaflock, among the three oldest ents in Fangorn during the Third Age who was so tired that he would regularly fall asleep during entmoots. While we don't know what kind of tree he is, he is the definition of "not hasty," so we have built him accordingly. That being said, he is an old ent, and thus is very durable and kindly to trees.

Leaflock (Ent, Monster, Infantry, Hero - Hero of Fortitude): 150 Points

Mv     F     S     D     A     W    C     M/W/F   

4"    6/4+   7     8      3      4     7      2 / 2 / 3

Wargear: Roots and Branches

Heroic Actions: Heroic Resolve, Heroic Defense

Special Rules: Terror, Throw Stones (range 18", Strength 10), Woodland Creature, Bludgeon (Brutal Power Attack)

Special Rule: Sleepy (Passive): Leaflock may not spend Might Points to call Heroic Moves. In scenarios where a warband must roll to see when and where it enters the board, Leaflock's warband suffers a -1 to the roll.

Conclusion

I love this faction - monster-centric armies have always been a fascination for me, and I love how much detail (comparatively) we get on the ents considering how peripheral they are to the story at large. The inclusion of Skinbark means you could now lead a convenient or impossible alliance with Fangorn without taking Treebeard, but at the same time, I feel like Treebeard still stands a head and shoulders above all of the other hero choices. Which is how it should be, I think.

Let us know what you think about the ideas here!

Watching the stars,

Centaur

"(Your teacher) is a human...and is therefore blinkered and fettered by the limitations of your kind." ~ Firenze, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix