In Defense Of: Ruffians

Good morning gamers,

In our last post, we looked at how to make Harry Goatleaf work better in your forces (that is, in Sharkey's Rogues or the Chief's Ruffians LL). Today, we're continuing our discussion of Sharkey's Rogues by looking at the lowly Ruffian - quite possibly the worst warrior profile in the game (maybe second-worse to Hobbit Militia).

Why NOT To Take Ruffians

Photo Credit: Warhammer Community

Ruffians have . . . nothing to recommend them in their profile. They are F2/5+ (both stats are below-average), S3/D3 (average Strength, below-average Defense), 1 Attack/1 Wound (average), and C2 (below average). When compared to other Evil warriors, you can see that the price difference between a Ruffian and an Orc, Goblin, Uruk, or Man is pretty stark - and the stat differences are pretty stark too:

Evil "Core" Warriors . . . Ruffians are cheap and that's about it . . .

The only model that costs the same as a Ruffian with a piece of gear (6pts) is an Orc Warrior - and the Orc has +1 FV, +1 (or +2) Defense, and has access to Piercing Strike instead of Stun. Orc Warriors are available in a lot of factions (Barad-Dur, Mordor, Isengard, and similar models are available in Angmar - to say nothing of several Mordor-based Legendary Legions) and have access to spears, shields, and banners (all useful pieces of gear which Ruffians do not have).

There are two models that are cheaper than Ruffians (Moria Goblin Warriors and Goblin Warriors from Goblin-town) and both have similar profiles (lower Movement, potentially higher Defense) but have access to spears/supporting rules (which Ruffians don't have). Goblins (either kind) are at least 1pt cheaper than a Ruffian with a piece of gear - and despite those savings, the Ruffians can only gloat over an extra 1" of movement.

Of the more expensive core troops, you see at least +1 Defense (though usually +2 or +3 Defense), at least +1 Fight Value (if not +2 Fight Value), occasionally +1 Strength (or access to Piercing Strike), and usually +1 Courage (though Hunter Orcs are only C2 - but they, of course, have +1 Attack while on foot). For +1-3pts, these models may be a bit expensive, but the expense is generally viewed as worth it.

One other limitation to Ruffians is that they show up in a single list that is Impossible Allies with every other faction. As a result, you can't ally these guys in for added numbers unless the army you're allying them with has large enough numbers of their own (since Impossible Allies break independent of each other - see one of the first erratas on the game for how that works).

So why would you grab a bunch of cheap, rubbish warriors to join your team? Wouldn't you do better to just grab a different ally (Moria perhaps) or stick with a pure force? Well, you certainly could, but Ruffians have something to give to one faction in particular . . . and while this faction is certainly competitive on its own, you can get a LOT of benefit by allying with Sharkey's Rogues. Let's take a look.

Why TO Take Ruffians

If you read our article on Sharkey's Rogues in the Bare Necessities series, you know that one of the niche ways you can run Sharkey's Rogues is allied with Goblin-town. In the image above, we saw that Ruffians and Goblin Warriors are roughly equal in cost and stats - except that the Goblins are cheaper and can spear-support each other (thanks to their Chittering Hordes rule). So what is it about Ruffians that help Goblin-town out? Here's a quick summary:

• Ruffians have access to bows - while a 5+ shoot value isn't great, having a 24" S2 bow isn't a bad thing, and if you can ally in enough of these, you can do something most Goblin-town armies can't do: make the enemy come to you (and harass enemy skirmish cavalry).
• Ruffians also have access to short-range, low-strength throwing weapons - while the throwing weapons aren't particularly strong (2" range at S1), these guys don't have to engage in order to have a chance of killing something. These weapons also allow them to Whirl, which, as we talked about last time, can be used to tie down two models and deny them the kills they might otherwise try to get.
• Ruffians and Ruffian heroes are cheap - while Ruffians aren't good, their stat limitations make them very cheap (even for being an Evil warrior). With these guys you have Sid Briarthorn, who is one of the cheapest Heroes of Valor in the game (among Denethor and several Shire heroes for the cheapest in the game). Though you'll have to buy the Goblin King to ally with Sharkey's Rogues, the Ruffian contingent doesn't have to be expensive in order to be large enough that you're not worried about breaking. Some of this has to do with having heroes who cost less than 50pts - but a good bit of it has to do with the fact that you can get warriors for 4-6pts.
  

So how do we make this work? Let's see a list that relies on the Ruffians to provide the long-range firepower that the Goblins lack.

Making It Work

This 700-point list is one that I'm keen to try - it features Goblin-town Goblins, Ruffians with whips or bows, and Hobbit Militia:

• The Goblin King [ARMY LEADER]
• INDEPENDENT: Gollum
• 17 Goblin Warriors
  
• The Goblin Scribe
• 6 Goblin Warriors
  
• Goblin Captain
• 12 Goblin Warriors
  
• IMPOSSIBLE ALLY: Sid Briarthorn, Ruffian Chief
• 7 Ruffians with whips
• 7 Ruffians with bows
  
• IMPOSSIBLE ALLY: Rowan Thistlewood, Ruffian Enforcer
• 6 Ruffians with whips
• 6 Ruffians with bows
  
• Ted Sandyman
• 11 Hobbit Militia
  

This list has an impressive 79 models (and counting) at 700pts - 39 of which are from Goblin-town (breaks after 20 losses) and 40 from Sharkey's Rogues (breaks after 21 losses). The army is quartered after losing 60 models, which could be twice as many models as your opponent has on the field (depending on how elite his forces are). The Ruffian heroes aren't brave (C3-4), but if you can make sure you're swarming the enemy when you charge, you should be fine.

This list has 13 bows in it along with 12 thrown stones and 14 whips. This shooting-heavy contingent, allied with a bunch of melee-only Goblins, gets the mobility boosts that come from having a) 3 Might points for March, b) Goblins that can randomly arrive on board edges that are advantageous to you, and c) a big hero who can actually kill things (something Ruffians really struggle with). All in all, it's quite valuable.

There are other Ruffian heroes who provide benefits to you - Lotho can help you auto-pass Courage tests with Ruffians (something Goblins would love to have - though they can't spear-support the Ruffians) and Harry Goatleaf (as we talked about last time) would allow you to root enemy infantry models in place. Bill Ferny isn't needed and Sharkey can get you +17 warriors, but I'm not sure adding either of these heroes is as useful as adding more Goblin Captains or Goblin Mercenary Captains.

Conclusion

Ruffians will never be as impressive (or as prevalent) as Orcs and Uruk-Hai, but I think they can bring something to the table that Goblin-town wants. Is an Impossible Alliance between Goblin-town and Sharkey's Rogues better than running pure Goblin-town? I don't know - but against a harass-heavy army, I think there's a good case that it can work. In our next post, Centaur takes a look at a hero that we've hinted at in the last two posts: Sid Briarthorn. Sid is cheap and as a result, he isn't very good. But is a not-great profile worth taking? And what does he bring to you that makes him worth taking? Find out next time - until then, happy hobbying!