In Defense Of: Denethor

Good morning gamers,

Today we're continuing our examination of models that get slighted in the MESBG community for one reason or another. Last time, we looked at Galadriel (the Lothlorien one, not the White Council one), who is often critiqued as a bad candidate for pure Lothlorien armies because she has to be your army leader. Today we look at a model that receives similar censure: Denethor.

Why NOT To Take Denethor

Unlike Galadriel, Denethor gets critiques on a number of levels: first and foremost, he doesn't have any Might or Fate points. Not having Might is not usually a good thing, but some heroes without Might can make it work (the Balrog gets free Heroic Combats and is F10, Shelob is F7 with Monstrous Charge, Barrow-Wights have Paralyze, and Castellans of Dol Guldur have 12 Will points that can be used as Fate Points). There are other heroes who don't have Might (and some of them don't have Fate either), but most of these guys are not going to be your army leader (maybe the Dwimmerlaik, but certainly not Orc/Uruk-Hai Drummers, a Goblin Scribe, or Grima).

Denethor is different: thanks to his hubris, Denethor has to be your army leader - even if a Hero of Legend is present in your list (overriding the rule that Heroes of Legend become your army leader over Heroes of Valor). Denethor is only Defense 5 (average Defense, but not great for someone who has to be your army leader and often gives up victory points if he takes damage) and has 2 Wounds and (as we've already said) 0 Fate points. Two wounds and he's gone - pretty easy proposition for almost any model in the game.

Denethor also has the potential to be unpredictable, testing for Courage at the start of each turn or risk being controlled by the opposing player. Who wants their army leader to go walking out in the open to be shot at by enemy archers, sniped by magic, or charged by something big (or small, actually)? Seems like a liability, no?

One final critique has less to do with Denethor's profile and more to do with his army list: with heroes like Boromir, Captain of the White Tower or even Faramir in your list (to say nothing of allied heroes you can bring along), there may well be other heroes that you'd rather have being your army leader instead of Denethor - not only because they're more resilient, but because they can kill things better (which you might need if you play Contest of Champions). All in all, it seems like Denethor is a pretty poor choice of hero.

Well, that's why we're doing this series - because I LOVE Denethor and unless I'm allying Minas Tirith with the Dead of Dunharrow or running a Legendary Legion, Denethor is the first hero I grab. Why? Because he's awesome - let's see why.

Why TO Take Denethor

Let's start with the profile: Denethor might not have Might or Fate (and has limited Attacks and Wounds as well), but he's also only 35 points. With F5/S4/2A, Denethor has a pretty decent offensive profile (something many heroes would love to have) and an almost-decent defensive profile with D5/2H/0F. Heroes who are under 50pts often have pretty crappy profiles - here's the short list of heroes who pose a decent comparison to Denethor for approximately the same cost:

There are other people we could have added, but this is a pretty good spread . . .

The red cells are where the stats of the character viewed are worse than Denethor's stats, while the green cells show an improvement over Denethor. Yellow cells denote a piece of wargear/special rule that might be valuable, while the blue cells show a statistic (or rule that boosts a statistic) that could be better than Denethor's but isn't by default.

Let's look at each of the competitors:

• Anborn, Ranger of Ithilien (Minas Tirith/Rangers of Ithilien LL, 35pts): Anborn is a shooter and is probably a good substitute for Denethor if you want more firepower and if you're running Elessar (since Denethor isn't an option). With only 1 Wound and 1 Fate, Denethor is a little more survivable than this guy and is F5/2A without Might vs. F4/1A with 1 Might. The two models do two different things - and actually work really well together. With 9 fewer warrior slots than Denethor has, you probably need to buy another Minor Hero or Hero of Fortitude (25-70pts) to field the same number of guys.
  
• Bain, Son of Bard (Army of Lake-town/Survivors of Lake-town, 40pts): Bain gets a lot of critique from the community as not-worth-taking. When within 12" of his dad (assuming you keep that sweet-sweet army bonus) and 6" of both of his sisters, he changes from being F3/1A to being F5/1A with a banner reroll and a free Heroic Combat. That's not bad, but 1 Attack isn't great. F5 isn't bad, but it's only as-good as Denethor is. He's got 2 Wounds and 2 Fate, but at D3, he's taking a bit more damage than Denethor is. With access to Strike, he might be able to get a higher Fight Value than Denethor can get for one turn, but that's one turn only - and he kind of needs support in order to be any good. Like Anborn, he's a Minor Hero in the Survivors of Lake-town (or an Independent Hero in the Army of Lake-town, which is what's shown in the picture above) and so you'll need to spend more points on another hero to come close to fielding the same number of models as you would fielding Denethor (and if you factor in the cost of his sisters - let alone his dad - this guy has a MAJOR price difference compared to Denethor).
  
• Bandobras "Bullroarer" Took on horse (Shire, 40pts): This guy is really the only competition for Denethor at this points limit - he's got a horse, so he can have 3 Attacks on the charge at F3 with Strike (which he can do twice - so he's probably getting to/above F5 for two rounds). Though he's only S3, the cavalry knock-down bonus will make him do more damage than a S4 infantry model. He's got 2 Wounds/1 Fate at D4, which will often be a bit better than being D5 with 2 Wounds/0 Fate. As a Hero of Valor (one of the few we're looking at in this comparison), he can also lead a lot of guys. For +5 points, I think he's one of only a few models that actually competes with Denethor.
  
• Barliman Butterbur (Wanderers in the Wild, 40pts): Butterbur gets similar critiques as Bain does - with F3/1A, he doesn't look anywhere near as good as other heroes. Unable to lead warriors (though you can lead Bill for 10pts, I guess), he's got some pretty critical limitations. However, he is a healer and has 1 Might with Heroic Defense, which means that unlike Denethor, he's pretty hard to take down (with 2 Wounds/2 Fate and the ability to get Might/Will/Fate back from Bill - plus he treats Bill like a banner). As a throw-in to a Shire team, I think he's really good - but as a comparable hero, he's really lacking compared to Denethor.
  
• Bifur the Dwarf (Thorin's Company, 45pts): Bifur (either version) is a crowd favorite for those who are looking for free Heroic Moves. With F4/S4/2A and 2 Might with Strike, he can at least match Denethor's offensive capabilities, and with D5/2 Wounds/1 Fate, he's pretty comparable on defense as well. Where he "loses" is that he's a Fortitude hero who can't lead troops. Frankly, if you're allying Bifur into a Lake-town list, you can make up for the numbers disparity pretty well with heroes like the Master of Lake-town, Braga, and Alfrid, so this "weakness" of Bifur is well mitigated. Like Bandobras Took, I think this guy is a fair comparison to Denethor.
  
• Castellans of Dol Guldur with Morgul Blade (Dark Powers of Dol Guldur/Rise of the Necromancer LL, 45pts): The only categories these guys score worse on is that they have 1 Wound - but with 12 Will points that can be used as Fate points, they are FAR more survivable than Denethor is. Like Denethor, they have no Might (probably why they're critiqued in the community in general), but with F5/S5/2A and access to Morgul Blades (for 5 POINTS!), these guys are crazy good. Yes, they're only Minor Heroes, but if you run 6-10 of these guys, you can have a battle line that is downright scary to face. These guys are comparable to Denethor, but you will need three of them to field the same number of troops.
  
• Eowyn, Shield Maiden of Rohan is rarely run in Rohan lists after the advent of Dernhelm, but theoretically, you can run her for 50pts with a shield and armor, which makes her pretty close to comparable to Denethor. She's base F5 (good against warriors) and has Strike (good against heroes) with 2 Might points (pretty good compared to other Strike heroes). With only S3, she can stall out where Denethor won't, but a 1-Strength difference doesn't always matter. With Defense 5/2 Wounds/2 Fate, she's marginally more survivable than Denethor. Where the real difference between her and Denethor is (besides, you know, Dernhelm) lies in their heroic tiers - Eowyn is yet-another Minor Hero competing with a Hero of Valor. To field the same number of troops, you'd need to pay 50+ points for a Hero of Fortitude to come along with her - which gives Denethor a clear advantage there. Of course, if you can save points elsewhere, I think she's comparable to Denethor in profile.
• Farmer Maggot with Grip, Fang, and Wolf (Shire/Defenders of the Shire LL, 45pts): I love Maggot and view him as an auto-include for any Shire list you run (Legendary Legion or not). For 45pts, you get him and his 3 dogs (who, having profiles similar to Hobbit Shirriffs, are roughly valued at 5pts each), which makes him comparable in price to Denethor despite having a "high price tag." For it, you get F3/S3/2A, which appears to be worse than Denethor except that you have 1 Might point to boost your dueling rolls (since you don't have access to specialized Heroic Actions) - and thanks to that two-handed Scythe you've got, you can be F3/S4/2A if you Piercing Strike with the ability to boost a 6 back into a 6 if you need to. From experience, this make Maggot great at tearing through troops - especially if there's a banner nearby (or Farmer Tolman Cotton spear-supporting him). On defense, Maggot is only D3 (probably less if you Piercing Strike), but has 2 Wounds and 2 Fate points, making him fairly resilient (in the way guys like Bain are resilient). You don't want this guy getting bogged down with something big, but he's a good troop killer. Frankly, I think the comparison between him and Denethor is pretty close - especially when you consider the three dogs that are present.
  
• Gollum (Goblin-town, 35pts): Gollum is a very cheap F4/S4/2A hero and while he can't Strike, he does have 1 Might that can be used to boost his dueling rolls. With the Ring on, he doesn't really need to Strike, since he will tie Fight Values with anyone who is F7-8, have a lower Fight Value than anyone with F9-10, and beat the Fight Values of any models he's engaged wtih that are F6 and below. Beware those F5+ spear-supporters though, as their Fight Values are unmodified! For the same cost as Denethor, Gollum can't lead anyone, but Goblin-town isn't going to struggle to pump out the numbers (it's kind of their thing). This is yet another hero who compares pretty well to Denethor.
  
• Grinnah (Goblin-town, 40pts): For 5pts more than Gollum, you get . . . a different array of tools. Yes, you're F3 with 3-Might-and-Strike, and yes, you've got S4 and 2 Attacks (comparable to Denethor), and with the army bonus, you can lead 18 models (more than Denethor). But on the resilience train, you're about the same (2 Wounds at D4 with 1 Fate vs. 2 Wounds at D5 with 0 Fate) and you're only C3 with 1 Will point (vs. C6 with the army bonus and 3 Will). This profile compares pretty well to Denethor, but Striking from F3 means that Grinnah is quite likely to beat Denethor's FV, but not likely to beat another Striker's Fight Value.
  
• Haleth, Son of Hama (Rohan/Defenders of Helm's Deep LL, 30pts): Haleth gets a lot better when he's near Aragorn - getting to 2 Attacks at F3/S3, which is sub-par compared to Denethor, but with access to Heroic Defense, his resilience is much better (D4 with 2 Wounds/2 Fate and wounded on natural 6s). You can get to F5 if you're spear-supported by a Rohan Royal Guard with throwing spears in the Defenders of Helm's Deep LL, which gets you most of the way to the same combat profile as Denethor (albeit for 17 points more than Denethor costs). If Gamling with his banner is near Haleth too, Haleth has 2 Attacks with a banner reroll and can regain his Might point to be calling Heroic Defenses each turn - that's pretty good. As an Independent Hero, though, you're added into someone's warband (like Gamling's) instead of bringing 15 troops of your own. Haleth is pretty tough to crack, but if your opponent does get any natural 6s, you could be in some big trouble. Is Haleth comparable to Denethor? Well, if you've got a 165pt Aragorn, a 105pt Gamling, and a 12pt Rohan Royal Guard near him, sure . . . but that doesn't seem like a "yes" to me in the same way that Gollum, Bullroarer, or a Castellan is a "yes".
  
• Hunter Orc Captain (Azog's Hunters/Dark Powers of Dol Guldur/Pits of Dol Guldur LL, 45pts): I hate fighting these guys - they are the cheapest 3A models in the game and with F4/S4/3A with 2 Might to boost rolls, they are crazy good at fighting. With D5 and 2 Wounds/1 Fate, they're a bit more resilient than Denethor and they can lead 12 models (which is close to 15 models). The eye-sore for these guys is their C3 and 1 Will point - they aren't courageous, but they are deadly. Comparable to Denethor? Perhaps, but the lack of F5 does set them back a bit.
  
• Lake-town Militia Captain with shield (Survivors of Lake-town, 45pts): If these guys are within 12" of Bard (not hard), they're F4 with a banner reroll. Paired with S4/2A, these guys are pretty close to Denethor's offensive capabilities, but with the usual 2 Might to boost their rolls - though at least 1 Might will probably be used for a Heroic March - if not both Might points - and the other will probably be used for a Heroic Move. You've got D6/2 Wounds/1 Fate - and with a spear in their profile by default, these guys can spear-support a warrior and so avoid taking damage entirely - this tactic isn't available to most heroes, but works pretty well for these guys. Leading 12 Lake-town Militia isn't far from the 15 guys you can lead with Denethor and for only 10 points more, I think these guys are fairly comparable to Denethor. Their Lake-town Guard Captain equivalents are similarly good (though not pictured in the table above).
  
• Rangers of the North (The Rangers, 30pts): With their army bonus, these guys become F4/S4/2A heroes with 1 Might point - maybe as good as Denethor, but not having F5 is a bit of a pain. On defense, they're D5 with 1 Wound/1 Fate and so suffer from a similar comparison to Anborn (just not that resilient). Bows are nice, but not being able to lead troops and sometimes being able to suffer 2 wounds before dying is just not as good as what Denethor brings to the table.
  
• Sid Briarthorn, Ruffian Chief (Sharkey's Rogues/The Chief's Ruffians LL, 45pts): Sid is a great hero for the Ruffians - he's a banner for nearby Ruffians, he's got 2 Might (he's the only Ruffian hero with more than 1 Might point), and he's got a fairly standard hero profile (F4/S4/2A with 2 Might on offense, D4/2 Wounds/1 Fate on Defense). Neither of these are that good compared to Denethor, though I will note that this is the second Hero of Valor that we're stacking up against Denethor - and like Bullroarer, you can field quite a few chaps with him. Not as good as Denethor, but close.
  
• Smeagol (Fellowship/Rangers of Ithilien LL, 30pts): For 5pts less than Gollum, Smeagol is . . . well, just as good as Gollum except for the "having higher Fight Value" thing. As an Independent hero in the Fellowship (and required now for the Rangers of Ithilien LL), Smeagol doesn't see a lot of playing time and doesn't lead anyone, which probably sets him at a disadvantage compared to Denethor. Still, he's a F4/S4/2A hero with 1 Might and nothing to do with it except win fights - I've seen him do pretty well for me.
  

If any of these heroes were​ surprises to you, I don't blame you - a good number of them will be showing up later in this series because they are, in fact, quite good (and everyone seems to forget they're here). Of the 14 models we looked at here, 8 of them are comparable to Denethor, while the other 6 just aren't as good. This should tell us that Denethor may not be that impressive of a profile, but for his cost, he provides pretty good value. Most of the heroes who are "comparable" to Denethor aren't wildly better than him - I think only Bullroarer is leaving him behind, while Maggot and Gollum are a bit better (maybe Grinnah and Castellans). 

If you want to compare Denethor to more expensive heroes, you need to place both Denethor and the other hero in the context of their armies. With Denethor in your army, you can include 1-2 other Minas Tirith heroes in your army and 40+ models at 500 points. We'll see who to include to get the most out of him in a moment, but you'll generally find that other armies are hard-pressed to get to 30 models at 500pts because they just can't get enough heroes who are Valor/Legend within the points level. Minas Tirtih has access to average-cost, high Defense (and/or high Fight) models - and with Denethor costing a fraction of the cost of a normal Hero of Fortitude (and less than half of most Heroes of Valor), you can get an easy 10-model advantage on most heroes.

Denethor is critiqued for having to Courage test at the start of each turn, but with Courage 6 (with the army bonus) and 3 Will points, he rarely fails the Courage test each round unless there's a caster dedicating their resources to crippling his Courage stat. In general, Denethor will be just fine - and there are, of course, ways you can bolster his Courage (or improve his resistance to magical assaults) in his army list.

The last thing I'll say about Denethor has to do with Contest of Champions. A F5/S4/2A hero is "fine" in combat against warriors - and since Contest of Champions is about kill-count, killing warriors is fine. Galadriel might be F6/S3/1A and unarmed, but Denethor is not. If you have heroes in your army (or even troops in your army) that are designed to slow down the enemy army leader in kills, you can do just fine.

Making It Work

If you want to get started using Denethor, here are a few ways you can build up your list:

• You should probably start with Hurin - for 90pts on a horse, Hurin and Denethor together cost 125 points. If you focus on Minas Tirith's core troops (the big plastic box guys - Warriors of Minas Tirith, Knights of Minas Tirith, and Rangers of Gondor), you can get the following troops for 416 pts - and with the exception of running 3 fast models instead of 4, it actually checks all of the boxes for our 700-point Bare Necessities series (at less than 450pts):
• Denethor, Steward of Gondor
  
• 1 Knight of Minas Tirith with shield
• 7 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields
  
• 3 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields and spears
• 1 Warrior of Minas Tirith with shield, spear, and banner
• 3 Rangers of Gondor with spears
  
• Hurin the Tall, Warden of the Keys on horse
  
• 1 Knight of Minas Tirith with shield
  
• 7 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields
• 7 Rangers of Gondor with spears
• With Hurin in your pocket, you probably want to look at a big hero to bring into the list (or replace Hurin if you don't have enough points to "just add the hero"). In Minas Tirith, this would be either Boromir, Captain of the White Tower (probably with the banner, though the lance is good too) or Gandalf the White on Shadowfax. Both heroes help Denethor with his courage-testing-each-turn problem - while Boromir is alive, Denethor auto-passes the test, while Gandalf has Strengthen Will on a 3+ that can increase his Courage stat (and can cast Fortify Spirit on him to keep enemy casters from targeting Denethor with Drain Courage). If you're playing at 700 points, you can add Boromir to what's shown above and get 69 extra points of models (which is basically 8 core infantry with assorted gear OR you can add 1-2 fewer troops and upgrade some of your units to Guards of the Fountain Court or Citadel Guard with longbows).
• You should also look into a hero with March - Irolas comes in the ForgeWorld blister with Denethor and for 65pts, he's a good model, though you could go for Madril for only 55pts. If you need March in your list, these models could be swapped in for Hurin (and at 600pts, you could swap Hurin for Madril and Boromir).
• Never underestimate the power of allying - whether you bring better cavalry with Rohan or more elite infantry with the Fiefdoms, Denethor can save you the points you need to get 1-2 Rohan heroes or you can get Imrahil. Since Denethor has to be your leader, this will also mean that any heroes you bring into the list can be used as grenades without fear of coughing up VPs in most scenarios.
• Finally, you could use Denethor to bring siege weapons. Rythbyrt loves Bolt Throwers, while Centaur prefers Trebuchets - either way, having a cheap Hero of Valor paired with Madril/Irolas (together they're around 100pts) means you can get 2 siege weapons at virtually any points level. Sure, you have no big heroes of your own, but that's what the siege weapons are for, right? :-)
  

Conclusion

Denethor is surprisingly good for his cost - and I've been impressed with him at a variety of points levels. You can tuck him safely in the back if the mission requires it OR you can have fighting in well-managed parts of the battlefield if you need a slightly better profile than your warriors bring. With 15 men at his back, he's a great hero to include in your Minas Tirith force (and really only prevents you from running Elessar).

In our next post, we turn from heroes who don't appear to be great army leaders to a hero who can't be your army leader and MUST be in your army if you take the Rangers of Ithilien Legendary Legion: Smeagol. As we highlighted in this post, he's not as good as Denethor for his cost, but he's still a surprisingly good hero. Is he as good as 4 Rangers of Gondor? Find out next time how to get more out of this skulking creature - and until then, happy hobbying!