Top 10 "Bathroom Special Rules" in MESBG

Hey Reader!

Okay - so now that our title has caused you to open the article, I should probably explain what I mean by, "bathroom special rules," so that we can then evaluate the top ten of these special rules in the game. The term stems from a metaphor of my own design, said in reference to a magic spell: 

"[SPELL] is like a bathroom: you don't always need it, but when you do, you want to have it on-hand."

So to be clear, to make this list, it has to be 1) a special rule (so no spells or personal abilities will make this list), and 2) it has to be something that is useful sometimes but not all the time, so Bane of Kings for example is not a "bathroom special rule": it's a go-to special rule that you will always use.

So, with that in mind, let's look at some special rules that are useful to have, but won't necessarily come up in every game (let alone have a substantial impact on the outcome of a game).

#10: Cave Dweller

This special rule says, "A model with this special rule adds 1 to all Jump, Leap and Climb tests. They also suffer no penalties for fighting in the dark."

This is a good special rule - it means that you won't fall into a chasm, drown in deep water if leaping over a river, or fall while climbing something. It also means that 33% of the time you will be able to keep moving after you finish your Jump, Leap, or Climb test. Unfortunately, though, there are a good number of maps where none of these situations will ever occur, and it is even less likely that you will see "fighting in the dark" occur unless you are using the Ill Met by Moonlight scenario. So a great rule, good to have it when you need it, but not going to come up as often as you'd think.

#9: Woodland Creature

This special rule says, "An Infantry model with this special rule may move through woods and forests that are classified as difficult terrain as if they are open ground. Note that this doesn't mean they can automatically climb terrain in those areas, nor move through tree trunks or jump fallen Obstacles."

Very useful special rule, especially for skirmishers who want to move half their movement and shoot, as they can pass through the terrain and whittle away enemies without losing too many men in the process. The issue with this special rule is similar to Cave Dweller and the next one on this list, which is that 1) it is board dependent, so some times this rule may not come up at all, and 2) it is positioning dependent: the battle may not take place in such a way that you are moving through the woodland terrain. So excellent when you have it, but not something you'll rely on in every match.

#8: Mountain Dweller

This special rule says, "Mountain Dwellers may reroll any Jump, Leap and Climb tests. In addition, they may move through rocky areas that are classified as difficult terrain as if they were open ground."

As we mentioned above, great rule, but it's both board dependent and positioning dependent. I put it above Woodland Creature though because even though rocky terrain tends to come up less than woodland terrain, the ability to reroll Jump/Leap/Climb tests applies to all manner of terrain, and thus can be useful in more circumstances. This is a great special rule, but not enough to make the top half.

#7: Fleetfoot

This special rule says, "A model that has this special rule, and the Woodland Creature special rule, will also apply the effects of Woodland Creature to their mount, so the whole model treats woodland terrain as clear terrain for the purposes of movement."

This is a better special rule than those that came before it because it applies a charge bonus (not to mention full mounted movement) to the rider: you can get a lot of value out of that, as it guarantees far more common usage of your cavalry bonuses. It may not come up that much (as how often are you charging in woodland terrain or skirmishing through woodland terrain), but when it comes up you'll want to have it on-hand. And if people face cavalry often, you'll soon see how often they setup this position for you to charge, as they tend to hide in forests to avoid charges.

#6: Swift Movement

This special rule says, "A model with this special rule can climb on any surface, regardless of angle. They can therefore move at full speed over any type of difficult terrain and ignore all obstacles except for water features and gaps such as chasms, ditches and other spaces, which they have to jump as normal. The model must be able to balance safely upon wherever it finishes its movement - no spiders finishing upside down, for example!"

I love this special rule, as it's thematically cool and tactically useful. The issue is that, much like the other special rules in this lower section, it's positioning dependent: if your opponent takes a position that's away from difficult terrain, ruin walls, etc., you'll get little use out of it. You'll get more than you would out of Cave Dweller, Woodland Creature, and Mountain Dweller, but not as much use as the top ones on this list.

#5: Bodyguard

This special rule says, "All Warrior and Hero models from the same army list with this special rule will automatically Bodyguard the Hero from the same army list with the highest Heroic Tier. If there is more than one Hero with the highest Heroic Tier, the controlling player may choose. As long as the bodyguarded model is alive on the battlefield, this model passes all Courage tests. Models that are part of an allied contingent (see Page 133) must select a model from their own army list."

I love this rule - the first models I ever bought in the miniatures line were Warriors of Rohan and dismounted Rohan Royal Guards, and I have always loved the Bodyguard rule for this reason. It doesn't always come up - a good number of armies don't bring Terror, and you might not need to Courage test for breaking depending on how the battle goes - but when it does, it's nice to be able to say, "I pass the Courage test - no need to roll."

It's also a situational rule in that, if your hero dies, you lose the special rule, so it's not as good as, say, Fearless. But it's pretty good nonetheless, at least good enough to get into the top half.

There is a similar rule (Sworn Protector), but I've decided not to put it on this list as it's basically the exact same rule, and I don't feel like doing it twice.

#4: Harbinger of Evil

This special rule says, "An enemy model within 12" of this model suffers a -1 penalty to its Courage. Note, this is not cumulative with other similar penalties such as those provided by Goblin Drums, the Ancient Evil special rule, and so on."

Now there's a similar rule, Ancient Evil, that could also make this list (as it extends it out to 18" but is otherwise the same). I went with this one because 1) Ancient Evil always appears in a list that will use it a lot, and 2) I didn't feel like including the exact same thing twice, so similar to Sworn Protector and Bodyguard above. It's a good special rule: it really finds itself when mixed with a lot of terror, but even if you have a lot of terror in your army you may not find you use it all that much. If an opponent has Fury active from a shaman, Bodyguard or a similar rule, or just has really high Courage, you might not find this special rule to be that helpful that often.

The notable exception to this is the King of the Dead: since he's hopefully getting his army bonus and gaining Harbinger of Evil, he's aiding your Warriors of the Dead in wounding people, so that's a useful benefit. But outside of this situation (and a small handful of Blades of the Dead options in Angmar), it can be relatively easy to work around this special rule for most armies.

#3: Fearless

This special rule says, "This model automatically passes any Courage test it is required to make."

Part of what makes a great special rule great is when it's short and concise. This is one of those, though you may not need to use it in a given match (Dwalin may not need to use it, for example, if his army is never broken and he fights an army that doesn't have any Terror in it). But when Courage tests come up, it's nice to have a, "I pass" response that doesn't require a roll.

We talked about this earlier with Bodyguard, but what makes this really nice is that it's evergreen: you have no way of losing it, as it's a passive ability that's always working for you.

#2: Ancient Enemies

This special rule says, "A model with this special rule rerolls 1s To Wound when fighting in combat against models with the keywords listed in the brackets in its profile. For example, a model that has the Ancient Enemies (Elf) special rule will get to reroll 1s To Wound against all Elf models."

This is a great special rule - it makes the list because there's a good chance you don't get it in a given match purely based on what your opponent takes, but when it does come up, it's really nice. Rerolling 1s to wound means that if your primary damage hero messes up their wounding rolls big time you can fix it, which is a nice boon. Even if they reroll it to a 3, at least it's within the range where you could Might it to a wound if you really needed it.

And at the top...

#1: Hatred

This special rule says, "A model with this special rule adds 1 to their To Wound rolls when fighting in combat against the models with the keyword listed in the brackets in its profile. For example, a model that has the Hatred (Man) special rule will gain +1 to their To Wound rolls against all models with the Man keyword. A model that has the Hatred (Mordor) special rule will get +1 to their To Wound rolls against all models with the Mordor keyword."

Again, a very straightforward rule, but there are two things that give this special rule the edge over Ancient Enemies. First, they tend to be more generally applicable for the models that have hatred - far more armies have the Man and Orc/Goblin/Uruk-Hai keywords than anything else (which are the common versions of this special rule). But second and more than that, a +1 to wound is generally better than rerolling 1s to wound, as you can get that with a Feint/Stab weapon strike. Add onto that the fact that rerolling the 1 only really helps when you are wounding on a 4+ or so, and I think Hatred wins out as the preferred special rule.

Much like Ancient Enemies, though, the weakness of the special rule (and thus why it makes the list) is that if you're not playing against an army with that keyword you're far less effective in combat than when you have it up, and typically you're paying points for the models that have it. So think about the kinds of armies it will affect, and whether or not you're realistically going to fight those armies at a tournament (ruffians getting Hatred (Hobbit) as a legendary legion bonus isn't likely to come up very often, for example).

Conclusion

All of these special rules are helpful in specific situations, and I've definitely been in situations where it would have been nice to see in the dark, or reroll a leaping test, or automatically pass a Courage test (I once lost a match because a Courage 6 Warrior of the Dead failed a Courage test, thus costing me VPs for not being in range of an objective). Were there any other special rules that are only situationally useful that you think should have made this list? Let us know in the comments below!

Watching the stars,

Centaur

"Firenze!  What are you doing?  You have a human on your back!  Have you no shame?  Are you a common mule?" ~ Bane, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone