It Has Come To Me (Again): Thoughts On The One Ring, Revisited

Good morning gamers,

When the new rules dropped back in late 2018, I did a post on the One Ring and how it had changed since the LOTR SBG days (when I first got started playing). Since then, we've had a few FAQ clarifications (a few very needed clarifications) and I've played a LOT with the Breaking of the Fellowship Legendary Legion and those experiences have given me some new perspectives on things you can do to both use the Ring well and fight against Ringbearers. So today, we're going to take a look at what the rules are for the Ring, how these rules have been altered by FAQs and Designer Commentaries, and ways you can use these rules to both use Ringbearers better AND fight against them.

Rules Review (With Errata and Designer Commentaries Notes Added)

There is a whole page of rules dedicated to the One Ring - thankfully it's broken up into sections for us. Let's dig in and see what's interesting in each part of the rules (I've color-coded the relevant Designer Commentary questions to the references from the rules (to include the errata that have been made on it).

Wearing the Ring

[Wearing The Ring] The model with the Ring can put it on at any time during their Move phase. As soon as they do so, they become Invisible. [ERRATA: Whilst invisible, the Ringbearer may move through friendly and enemy models, provided they do not end their move overlapping any part of another model’s base.] If a model who put on the Ring is mounted, their steed will bolt and they must immediately take a Thrown Rider test.

Q: Can a model with the One Ring put it on if they have already been charged that turn? (p.90) A: No.

Q: Do Invisible models ignore enemy Control Zones when they move? (p.90) A: Yes.  

Two things jump out at us from this section: first and foremost, as the Designer Commentary on the main rulebook has clarified, a Ringbearer cannot put on the One Ring if he has been charged already. This will require planning a turn or two ahead, but otherwise isn't a big deal. It can bite new players, though, so if you're just learning how Ringbearers work, you may want to just accept that there's an error or two that might be made when learning the game. This will probably be one of them.

Second, if your Ringbearer can take a mount (Isildur on horse or Bilbo Baggins on a pony), then you'll want to dismount BEFORE you put the Ring on. Because you can put the Ring on at any point in your movement, you can dismount, put the Ring on, and then move without penalty - but the timing does matter.

Invisibility

[Invisible] Whilst they wear the Ring, the Ringbearer cannot be directly targeted by Magical Powers or shooting attacks (and does not count as In The Way). The Ringbearer has no Control Zone while invisible and enemy models may even move 'through' the Ringbearer. If an enemy model wishes to end its movement on the space the Ringbearer is taking up, move the Ringbearer the minimum distance to place them out of the way - this could involve hopping low walls, moving through foes, or being shoved off a cliff! If an enemy wishes to charge the Ringbearer while they wear the Ring, it must pass a Courage test, applying a penalty of -1 to the roll for every 1" the Ringbearer is away from the foe. Models that automatically pass Courage tests still need to make this test, as it represents them being able to see the Ringbearer, not how terrifying the Ringbearer is. During the Fight phase, any enemy model Engaged in combat with an invisible Ringbearer halves its Fight value for the duration of the duel. None of these rules apply to Sauron or Ringwraith models.

Q: If a model fails its Courage test to charge an Invisible model, can it still move as normal including charging a different target? (p.90) A: Yes. Unlike a Courage test to charge a Terrifying model, this Courage test is simply to see if the model can see the Invisible model. As such, if a model fails this Courage test it only means they are unable to locate the Invisible model, and may continue the rest of their turn as normal; though they may not attempt to charge the Invisible model again that turn. 

Q: Can a model finish its movement on top of an Invisible model that is involved in a fight in order to force them out of combat? (p.90) A: No. If an Invisible model is in combat, other models may not finish their movement with their bases overlapping the Invisible model. 

Q: When a model is fighting an enemy wearing the One Ring their Fight value is halved – is this rounded up or down? (p.90) A: Rounded up. 

Invisibility increases the maneuverability of the model wearing the Ring - though since you have to be Infantry, that means you have 4-6" of movement to maneuver your model (with +3" of movement and no ability to charge if affected by Heroic March). You can move through other models and they can move through you (and even end up ON you, unless you're engaged in combat). 

While it's harder for models to charge you, failing the Courage test to charge you doesn't root them in place, so models should try to charge the Ringbearer if they can - you never know if you'll pass and if you don't you can move normally.

This isn't such a bad fight - if you have the Ring on . . .

If you have the Ring on and have charged someone, the charged model's Fight Value is halved, rounding up, which means that models that are F1-2 will be F1, models that are F3-4 will be F2, models that are F5-6 are F3, models that are F7-8 are F4, and models that are F9-10 are F5. Yes, that may seem pedantic, but it's important to note that many of the Ringbearer models are F3 (Frodo and all three versions of Bilbo) and all of these models can have Elven-made weapons (makes tying Fight Values okay). Any models you face that are F6 and below are perfectly fine models to fight - assuming you can get a high roll for the duel. Gollum is F4, so he's okay fighting models that are F6 and below and will have the higher Fight Value (with 2 Attacks at Strength 4). 

Isildur is where the real money is at - unless you're facing something that can half your Fight Value (like Tom the Troll's sneezing fits), you're guaranteed to have the higher Fight Value against anyone (except Sauron, since you won't have the Ring) and will have 3 Attacks at S5 (potentially two-handing). If you charge two warriors, you will not only have the higher Fight Value, but you can reliably Feint too in order to reroll 1s and STILL have the higher Fight Value. Pretty slick . . .

Sauron's Will

[Sauron's Will] If the Ring is already being worn, then the controlling player must test to see if the Ringbearer can overcome Sauron's will. To do so, they must roll a dice immediately before they move the Ringbearer in the Move phase. If the player does not wish to move the Ringbearer, they must still roll a dice - but can do so at any time during their Move phase. The roll is made on behalf of the Ringbearer themself, so we allow the controlling player to use the Ringbearer's Might points to modify this dice roll if they wish to do so. On a 3+, the controlling player moves the Ringbearer as usual. On a 1 or 2, the opposing player moves the Ringbearer instead of the controlling player. Regardless of which side moves the Ringbearer, they are still part of the controlling player's side and all other actions, such as shooting and fighting, remain under the control of the controlling player. This means that when the opposing player moves the Ringbearer, all they can do is move the model, including Charging (in this case, the Ringbearer does not need to take Courage tests to Charge terrifying foes). They cannot perform Heroic Actions and cannot pick up or put down other items. They cannot be forced to perform actions that would cause direct harm to the model (such as jumping down a cliff . . .) or be moved off the table (if the scenario allows). This represents the struggle between the Ringbearer and the will of Sauron.

Q: Can an Invisible model declare Heroic Actions? (p.90) A: Yes. However, as their allies cannot see the Invisible model, the Invisible model cannot call the likes of With Me!, Take Aim! or any other action that would allow friendly models to join in the Heroic Action. An Invisible model may still declare a Heroic Combat, but other friendly models may not move as part of a successful Heroic Combat.

This is probably where most of the changes in the last few months have centered for me: back in June 2019, I mentioned that only Young Bilbo could call heroic actions while wearing the Ring because the section on "not calling heroic actions" was embedded in a paragraph that talked about both players controlling the Ringbearer (Sauron's Will). As it turns out thanks to the most recent FAQ drop, if you retain control of your Ringbearer, you can call heroic actions (Heroic Defense with Frodo, Heroic Strike/Defense with either Young Bilbo profile, or Heroic Combat/Strength with Isildur - you don't need a Heroic Strike unless your Fight Value has been reduced), but the heroic actions only affect the Ringbearer, not other friendly models. That's fine - makes sense.

As I noted in the post linked above, Young Bilbo (Thorin's Company or The Survivors of Lake-town) is the only model who can wear the Ring that ignores this section of the rules - which not only means that you KNOW where he'll be headed, but it also means that you are going to have your Might to do what you want to do (not just promote a Ring test). Putting on the Ring does take a little tact though - it's not helpful all the time (as we'll see in a bit). Isildur is great with the Ring on, but Bilbo is the most reliable Ringbearer hands down.

The Ring and the End of the Game

[My Precious!] During Matched Play and Open Play games, if the Ringbearer is the only model left on the controlling player's side and is wearing the One Ring, they count as a casualty - their mind has been taken over by its power. If the opposing side's objective is to kill the Ringbearer, this is achieved if they are the only model remaining on the table from the controlling player's side and they are wearing the Ring.

The final note we have on the Ring is that if you're the only person left on your side, you die and your force is tabled. This means that you'll want to keep an eye on how many units you have left and if it's getting late in the game, take the Ring off. Some factions (like the Fellowship or the Breaking of the Fellowship LL) can avoid counting as being broken if their Ringbearer is alive - and in a scenario where the game ends when one force is broken on a 1-2, you could reach a situation where your Ringbearer is your only model left. Tough luck if you kept the Ring on to "keep him safe."

Okay, so with the rules fresh in our minds, let's look at what you can do with Ringbearers.

Tactical Thoughts for using Ringbearers

Here at TMAT, we're divided on the utility of Ringbearers (Rythbyrt loves them, Centaur hates them, I think they're okay). But probably the simplest strategy for using a Ringbearer is sneaking behind or through enemy lines to tag banners or auric heroes. Banners are force multipliers, making your troops (or heroes) more likely to "get that 6" in their dueling rolls - and the more 6s you roll, the more fights you win (and the fewer of your models die). Using the rules for Invisible above, you can move through enemy models in order to charge models like banner-bearers or auric heroes (like Cirdan or Shamans) in order to kill them or deny their abilities to your opponent.

Similarly, you can use Ringbearers to effectively charge archers. The Invisible rules make them ineligible targets for shooting attacks, which include missile weapons from traditional bows, as well as shooting attacks from throwing weapons, dragon fire, or spider webs. If you have a 1A Hobbit hero charging a band of 10 Uruk-Hai crossbows, your opponent is probably not worried. If the model charging is Isildur, your opponent is probably concerned (especially now that it's clear that he can call a Heroic Combat on the turn he arrives to clear out 4 of your crossbows in a single bound).

"Hey, Mr. Drummer, I have a pointy piece of shiny metal for you!"

Ringbearers are also a great way to deal with most spell-casters. Invisibility makes the Ringbearer immune to magical powers that are not cast by Ringwraiths (or Sauron, though he'll have the Ring instead of these other chumps if he's on the board). Spells like Sorcerous Blast or even Immobilize can be debilitating for a hero wearing the Ring and while all Ringbearers (except Gollum) have Resistant to Magic (yes, Isildur has it too thanks to the Blood of Numenor special rule and being within 6" of himself), you're not THAT afraid of magic if the casting value is low. In addition, most casters are F5 or below, which means any Ringbearer with the Ring on will tie their Fight Value and probably be rolling the same number of dice (1A on most Ringbearers, 1A on most casters).

Double time!

Charging Ringwraiths is not a great idea though as they can a) target you with magical powers as usual, b) don't half their Fight Value while fighting a Ringbearer, and c) don't spend Will for their Will of Evil special rule when engaged with the Ringbearer. Stay away from these guys - especially if they're mounted on big flappy monsters (though Isildur does a pretty good job of fighting them if he can avoid being Transfixed)!

Got my flanks protected - ready to go!

Another thing you can do is use the "four-man buddy system", which is a simple maneuver for keeping your Ringbearer from being charged from the rear. I don't think you can spear-support the Ringbearer (I assume you can't, based on what you can do with the Invisible rules), but you can place a few models near the rear of the Ringbearer once he's engaged to make sure that other models can't charge him. This will be hard to do with Frodo (since he's probably being run with a pure Fellowship list), but for Isildur, Old Bilbo Baggins in a Rivendell/Shire list, Thorin's Company Bilbo allied into the Army of Lake-town or some other Hobbit-era army, or Survivors of Lake-town Bilbo in a Survivors of Lake-town/allied force you can do this really well. Whether this guarantees that a hero like Isildur is able to carve through enemy warriors in a Heroic Combat without getting charged by someone huge or makes sure that Old Bilbo is able to help Elrond fight something nasty without being dragged off by a random warrior, this strategy hedges your bets and helps the Ringbearer do what you want them to do.

But probably the most surprising thing you can do with a Ringbearer is get some extra movement out of him by stepping on him! Let's say you're running the Breaking of the Fellowship Legendary Legion at 600-points and you're not afraid of being shot by your opponent, but you ARE afraid of being caught by a big flying monster. Aragorn calls a Heroic March for free which will get Frodo 7" of movement if he's within 6" of Aragorn at the start of Aragorn's move and ends within 6" of Aragorn at the end of Aragorn's move. That's not bad, but it can be better. Let's assume that you are arrayed thusly:

Big three in the front, two so-so guys on the wings, two vulnerable chaps behind them, and Frodo "in the pocket"

Aragorn then moves 9" forward with his March:

Frodo then moves 7" forward, following Aragorn:

Frodo ends 5.5" away and puts on the Ring (maybe after failing the "flashlight test" in the new Legion)

I don't feel good about this - so let's have Legolas end his move (4.5" and still able to shoot) so that half of his base is where Frodo's base is! Frodo moves the shortest possible distance to make way for Legolas, getting an extra 0.5" of movement:

Legolas pushes him . . .

We do the same thing with Pippin (7" max move):

"Frodo! Merry - it's Frodo Baggins!"

And Merry (7" max move):

"Hello Frodo!"

And Sam (7" max move):

"Get off him!"

And Gimli (8" max move):

"Baruk Khazad!"

And Boromir (9" max move):

"Frodo . . . Frodo . . . What have I done?"

And voila - our Ringbearer is safe, ready to react on the next turn to whatever our opponent chooses to do (and gaining about 3.5" of movement, thanks to being stepped on)! 

Started 5.5" away from Aragorn and finished 2" away - Ringbearer safe!

You see - it's a great trick! 

UPDATE: it was noted in the comments that the rules-as-written indicate that enemy models (not friendly models) can step on an invisible model, but the FAQ on whether you can step on an invisible model to get that model out of combat is generalized to "all models" - which begs the question whether all models were intended to be able to step on invisible models. I'm going to stand by my brilliant idea and say it's within the spirit of the law, but check with your opponent/TO if you're concerned about its legality.

Okay, so with all that discussion on tricks you can use with your Ringbearers, let's take a moment and look at different ways to fight Ringbearers.

Tactical Thoughts for fighting Ringbearers

We just talked about having friendly models step on the Ringbearer in order to move him closer to somewhere you need to be (getting away from a threat or maybe getting within range of an objective). If you're facing a Ringbearer, you can do something similar - test to charge the Ringbearer and if you fail, you just walk onto his location so that you can edge him in a direction that you want. This not only means you can drive a Ringbearer off on an objective without fighting him, but it also means that you can drive him towards harmful terrain (such as deep water or off a cliff - this is specifically highlighted in the rules!). Suppose we had the following:

Where are my friends?

And instead of testing to charge, the first Uruk just moves next to Frodo:

I heard something over here!

The second steps on him a little - done at the right angle, you can make the shortest possible distance to be next to the river:

Here you said? What was that?!?!?!?

The third cages off his escape:

What are we looking at?

And the fourth steps on him:

This has been a ridiculous chase - oi, what did I just bump into?!?!?!

And Frodo takes a swim:

Oh - THAT was what we were doing!

Be ye careful, Frodo, of putting on the Ring while walking down the steps of the Dwarrowdelf . . .

This way!

If the Ringbearer is in a safe place and you don't need to move him around, you can test to charge him and if you fail the test, you can end your movement within 1" of him (since he has no control zone), which will mean that on the following turn you can test to charge him without a Courage penalty unless he moves away from you before you get to go. You can also do this to force a Ringbearer to keep the Ring on OR be forced to charge those models (or be charged by them). If you're isolating the rest of his models and killing them off, this can be a sneaky way to get the Ringbearer to be removed from the board as a casualty if you can clear the rest of the models.

The Berserker is F2, but the Pikeman is still F4 - this isn't a good match-up for Frodo . . .

Another thing you can do is spear-support whatever model is charged by a Ringbearer with a high-Fight-Value spear-armed model. Ringbearers half the Fight Value of enemy models they are Engaged with, but NOT all enemy models in the Fight. If you have a F5 High Elf Warrior with spear and shield (or pay +1 point to make him a F6 King's Guard) supporting whatever model is charged, you can compare that unmodified Fight Value against the Fight Value of the Ringbearer (and if you have a F6 spear-support in the back rank and an Elven-made weapon in the front rank, even Isildur is a bit concerned). Elves do this better than most people, but even having a F4 spearman (like a Serpent Guard or an Uruk-Hai Warrior with pike) will be good enough to beat the Fight Value of most Ringbearers - and these guys don't have to test to charge the Ringbearer!

A Hurl will hurt Orcs, but we don't care . . .

While most of the asymmetric approaches for dealing with heroes are denied to you (shooting and magic), Brutal Power Attacks like Hurl and Barge can be used to manipulate Ringbearers. Hurl is the most direct AND the more difficult approach to pull off. If you can line up a hurled model in the direction of a Ringbearer or a Ringbearer's fight, you can knock a Ringbearer over and keep him on the ground so he can't move far (2-3" after standing up).

If you can't Hurl into the Ringbearer, but are CLOSE to the Ringbearer, you can use Barge to move enemy models onto the Ringbearer's space, pushing him around if he isn't in combat already (recall that there's a Designer Commentary above that says you can't move him out of combat). If the Ringbearer is in combat, you can use Barge to trap the Ringbearer (and if you can win the fight, it will become that much easier to wound the Ringbearer). And of course, if the Ringbearer has drifted close to hazardous terrain, you can use Barge to shove him off the side. 

Conclusion

So that's it for now - hope you learned something today! If you have stories about your Ringbearers, share them here - I've been using Frodo a lot recently and am looking forward to using other Ringbearers in the near future. Until next time, happy hobbying!