Gondor At War Inspired Lists: The Corsairs of Umbar Revisited

Good morning gamers,

We're almost done with this mini-series on how to take your Gondor at War collection and use it in Matched Play and today we look at one of the nastiest, shooty-est armies that Evil has to offer: the Corsairs of Umbar. A mix of light-defense horde models, high-defense shooting models, and throwing weapons on nearly every model (and Backstabbers - don't forget those Backstabbers if you keep your army bonus), this army can be a pain to deal with whether you're running a spam horde or a smaller, elite force. But while Corsair players have access to nearly all the models they'd usually want in their army, the limits on force construction imposed by Gondor at War's two missions that feature Corsairs leaves us with some interesting choices. Here are the models we can take:

• Dalamyr, Fleet Master of Umbar
• Delgamar, Gatemaster of Umbar
• 2 Corsair Captains with no additional gear
• 2 Corsair Bo'suns with no additional gear
• 12 Corsairs of Umbar with shields
• 12 Corsairs of Umbar with spears
• 12 Corsairs of Umbar with bows
• 12 Corsair Arbalesters
• 12 Corsair Reavers

That's a whopping 66 models - though bow limit makes it a still-impressive 61 models. What you're missing from a normal Corsair list is a) Hasharins as pinch-hitter heroes (though as I noted in the what-you-need-for-Gondor-at-War post, you could take the two Hasharins you get with Dalamyr and convert them up into Delgamar and Raza pretty easily if you want to save some money), b) Black Numenoreans for high-Defense Terror models, c) the Knight of Umbar (if you like the guy - I don't), and d) Black Numenorean Marshals (if you like these guys - I do).

We're also TECHNICALLY missing any gear options on the Captains and Bo'suns as listed above, but quite frankly, I'm not going to worry about that. Bo'suns probably don't NEED extra gear if they intend to stand around as banners, but having a spear for 1pt is always a good thing - and having a crossbow on either a Captain or a Bo'sun for 5pts is a really good deal. So . . . I'm going to ignore this constraint as we delve into the list - our first pure list of this series!

The List

Photo Credit: Gondor At War - and take note of this picture, we'll be referencing it again!

Yep, we have plenty of Corsairs to work with and with the exception of the abundance of Reavers, I'm pretty happy with how this list turned out. Sure, we could have allied in Suladan again, but we've already done a Corsairs/Serpent Horde alliance here at TMAT. No, this time we're sticking with the pure list, and it's got over 50 wretched, stinky pirates in it - ARRGGHH!!!

• Dalamyr, Fleetmaster of Umbar
• 4 Corsairs of Umbar with shields
• 5 Corsairs of Umbar with spears
• 4 Corsair Arbalesters
• Delgamar, Gatemasters of Umbar
• 4 Corsairs of Umbar with shields
• 5 Corsairs of Umbar with spears
• 4 Corsair Arbalesters
• Corsair Captain with crossbow
• 4 Corsairs of Umbar with shields
• 2 Corsairs of Umbar with spears
• 2 Corsairs of Umbar with bows and spears
• 4 Corsair Arabalesters
• Corsair Bo'sun with crossbow and spear
• 11 Corsair Reavers

700 points, 53 models, 2 bows hitting on a 4+ AND 14 crossbows hitting on a 4+ AND 26+4 throwing daggers hitting on a 4+, no D6+ models, no cavalry models but 3 Might for Heroic March, 8 Might points

This list has a little bit of everything - one of each hero option (with pretty standard gear choices) and maxed-out/almost-maxed-out options for every warrior option we have (sans 1 Reaver and 10 Corsairs with bows). Yes, I did assign 2 spears to some bowmen - you're free to swap one of those bowmen for the last Reaver and then play 1pt down if you want to be technically correct about the Gondor at War constraints. If you don't want to put spears on these guys, you could also give two random spearmen shields . . . doesn't change the strategy of the list too much.

Of course, if you're willing to play 1pt down, you might as well drop the two crossbows and the spear on our Captain and Bo'sun - I've kept them on the heroes because the Captain and the two Bo'suns in the photo for the Battle for Pelargir have (between the three of them) two crossbows and a spear (see the photo above - there's a spear-armed Bo'sun on the far-left, a crossbow-armed Bo'sun on the far-right, and a Corsair Captain with a crossbow near the middle). But you could drop 11pts of upgrades and pick up 1 more bowman if you want (playing 4pts down instead). See, list choices just for you. :-)

Army Theory

Corsair lists have a pretty simple strategy: shoot as much as you can. We begin with the 12 Arbalesters and the 2 generic heroes wielding crossbows: 14 crossbows that hit on a 4+ (and can't move and shoot in the same turn, so they'll always hit on a 4+ unless there's a modifier at work) and wound on a 5+ (4+ against really light troops/your typical mount, 6+ against Dwarves/your typical combat hero) are going to do a lot of damage from a distance - and while 2 bows on some of your Corsairs may not seem like much, having two guys who can sit on an objective and harass from afar is actually quite useful (for the threat of being able to do something vs. the likelihood of actually being able to do something).

Once the enemy gets close, everyone who isn't a Reaver (or Arbalester) adds a second dimension to the shooting game: throwing weapons. While cavalry might be able to deny your full use of these weapons (as they can charge you from beyond your throwing weapon range), most infantry are going to need to endure at least one round of your lethal barrage (24 shield-armed or spear-armed Corsairs, the 2 named heroes, and potentially the 2 unnamed heroes/bow-armed Corsairs if the throwing weapons give them better options than their longer range weapons). If you're getting 26-30 shots in to supplement your longer-range fire (or instead of if your firing lanes have been clogged), you can expect to do another 2-5 wounds to the enemy - yikes! And when you're starting with over 50 models, that can be a real problem (keep in mind our other Gondor at War lists have been in the 35-40 model range - we have a 10 model advantage from the start!).

While most armies (especially from the Forces of Good) view getting engaged to be the end of their shooting, Corsairs have a different perspective: if a big enemy hero gets locked into combat, the shooting from this army turns from trying to kill enemy models to killing those poor, helpless grunts that got charged by (or that tied down) the big enemy hero. Killing your own guys in the Shoot Phase doesn't make that much tactical sense in real life, as a big hero who finds himself without an adversary would just turn and fight someone near him - but in MESBG, reality doesn't necessarily have to be mirrored perfectly. No, a big hero who isn't fighting someone at the start of the Fight phase can't call a Heroic Combat to go slamming into someone else, so shooting your own guys is a perfectly legitimate strategy to a) deny an important hero kills in scenarios like Contest of Champions, but also b) keep them from Heroic Combatting into more guys.

There is a balancing trade to all this, though: by killing off your own guys, you bring yourself closer to your break point. Yes, you might lose fewer people in a round by doing this, but the hero you would have had to face doesn't have an opportunity to flub a roll and "just lose" to the grunt either. And the more rounds you rely on this strategy to stall out a big hero, the less likely that side of your battle line is going to hold up if they aren't winning fights/killing guys around that hero.

Furthermore, if you DON'T manage to kill your own guy (either because you have limited shots on the target hero, the target hero charged multiple guys and you don't kill them all, or you just don't roll what you need), the enemy hero is going to find it easier (or at least, not at all harder) to kill the guy/guys he's engaged with - and he's probably calling a Heroic Combat to smash into whatever ranged guys you have gunning for him . . . that or clean up the spearmen trying to break up a chunk of his battle line. Yeah, it's a fine trade - and one that most Corsair players will gamble on.

We don't have any fast models, but if we NEED speed, we have 3 Might points across 2 heroes for Heroic March. Normally, Captains/Bo'suns would be wise to save their Might for boosting an important wounding roll with their crossbows, but if you're playing a get-there-now scenario, there's nothing like that little boost of speed to help your throwing daggers get in position (or to just get frantic models closer to an objective). Thanks to having throwing daggers by default, both the Captain and Bo'sun lose some power by Marching (no crossbow shots), but they can still be threatening if unengaged thanks to the 6" range on their throwing daggers (and quite likely, the throwing daggers of those near them).

Delgamar and Dalamyr have very different roles: Delgamar is your Heroic Move caddy and as such wants to be near the center of the action (but not too close - F5/3A with Backstabbers is good, but without Heroic Strike, he can go down to almost any combat hero in a single round). Dalamyr is more of a scalpel, not only because he's pretty fragile (D4 with 2 Wounds/3 Fate), but also because his combat profile is good if he's fighting someone without a lot of resources left (nothing wrong with F5/3A and Strike, but with only 2 Might, you want to sail in AFTER your opponent has burned himself out). Both have good combat stats, but with limited Might across your army, you don't want these guys going toe-to-toe with anything big (refer to the shoot-your-own-guy strategy above for more info).

When it comes to your grunts, Corsairs of Umbar are some of the best value-for-cost units in the game. They are some of the cheapest F4 models you'll find (8pts/model with a shield, spear, or bow) and they're C3 (which isn't bad for being a Forces of Evil unit). Though S3 is a bit of a liability, if you can trap the enemy, the Backstabbers rule that you get from your army bonus makes these guys effectively S5 - and if an engaged Corsair Feints (relying on a spear-supporting Corsair to lend the F4 to the fight), you can deal quite a bit of damage to enemies you face. With throwing weapons on the charge and hopefully messing up your opponents lines a bit with those, a horde of angry pirates can be absolutely deadly.

We also have Arbalesters in the list - and as has already been stated, we want these guys shooting as much as we can (because they're deadly) - but Arbalesters serve a second purpose as well: if your opponent brought a lot of shooting to the table, you can hide your army pretty effectively behind the Arbalesters (who are D6 when not engaged - and this will work against both magical powers and ranged weapons). With S4 shots getting pumped out at the enemy and a high likelihood of being wounded in return on 6s, you can make most shooting armies think twice about sitting back and shooting . . . which is good for the rest of your army, who wants to get locked in as quickly as possible.

Finally, we have the Reavers. I really don't know what to make of these guys, except to say this: the 2 Attacks on these guys make them very tempting pin cushions for enemy archery (and with D3, they can go down very quickly to S3+ ranged weapons), but once they get locked in, they're a TERRIFYING aspect. Consider that they can pair Backstabbers (+1 To Wound against trapped models) with Mindless Killers (which they can choose to auto-fail to get Fearless and +1 To Wound regardless of whether they're facing a trapped model) - suddenly these 9-point S3 models are effectively S5 or S7 - AND FEARLESS!!!! With 2 Attacks each (and hopefully a banner reroll from that Bo'sun), you've got an outlandish amount of dice being rolled - and if you have a Bo'sun or Corsair of Umbar supporting them, they can FEINT without any penalties too!

The Reaver warband only has a Bo'sun and Reavers in it, so if they deploy on their own, you'll want to double-up as much as you can to avoid a 2-dice-vs.-2-dice match-up - these guys are great when they win, but they die very, VERY quickly if the deck isn't stacked against your opponent. Doubling up (and trapping, hopefully) will see these guys dealing loads of punishment and slaughtering enemy warriors (even those with high Defense). Okay, enough about these guys, let's look at our strategies for playing each pool!

Gameplay Strategy

Maelstrom & Object Missions (Pools 1 & 3)

When it comes to Maelstrom, we don't care where we come on - we have crossbows in all of the non-Reaver warbands (and the Reavers would be happy to be surrounded - each can roll 3 dueling dice at F4 if they're circled up around the Bo'sun). In Hold Ground, we want the Captain (our primary March hero) to show up near Dalamyr or Delgamar (ideally both) and March them up towards the center where we can park our crossbows and harass the enemy who straggles towards the center. Our throwing daggers on our Corsairs will allow us to chip away at enemy warbands racing for the center - or even better, tempt models away from the center to "just deal with us" - anything that keeps the center clear for our crossbows is a good thing. If you see that the enemy is converging on one of your warbands, park your crossbows there and shoot for as long as you can, sending your throwing weapon units head-long towards the center and distracting the enemy with your crossbows instead.

For the other two scenarios, fan out and use your crossbows to win the day. In Command the Battlefield, a small squad of crossbows in every corner of the board can be a PAIN to deal with, while a squad of crossbows sitting by a possible Heirloom location in Heirlooms of Ages Past is equally devastating. With lots of throwing dagger troops, you can stay away from non-ranged enemies for a while, weakening their numbers, and then charging in when you have the numerical advantage to secure a position.

If you're playing one of the object scenarios, your strategy changes slightly. Your crossbows should be parked for virtually the entire game no matter which scenario you're playing: level a gun-line at the center in Seize the Prize, hedge around your artifact in Retrieval, and spread out to guard your caches in Destroy the Supplies. Your Reavers, supported by your Corsairs, are going to attempt to punch through the enemy ranks (Marching up to get the Prize, spreading the enemy thin in Destroy the Supplies, and punching right up the center in Retrieval). Thanks to having throwing daggers on virtually everyone, any Corsair of Umbar can race around the flank, chuck a dagger as he passes, and hopefully get a flank advantage on the following turn. You may not be THAT fast, but you don't have to be to be dangerous.

Control Missions (Pools 2 & 5)

Centerline deployment? Check. The first turn is the important one if your opponent deployed on the centerline to match you. Your crossbows can hold back (guarding any rear objectives you have and threatening the side objectives), but the bulk of the army wants to get locked in fast and hard. You're playing Domination, Capture and Control, and Breakthrough exactly the same way - keep your crossbows back to hold ground for you as the rest of your army rolls over the enemy (or gets rolled - that's possible too). This seems to be a common thread for most of the Gondor at War-inspired lists . . .

Where your tactical acumen is really tested is in the get-somewhere missions. Reconnoitre isn't great for all-infantry armies - especially those with only 3 Might for March and no guarantee that they arrive at the start of the game. Thankfully, you have throwing weapon troops that you can use to race for objectives - and like I've said for Dwarf King-led Dwarf Rangers, having a squad of guys racing for an edge that can shoot anyone who can't quite reach them is NASTY. Dalamyr leading some Corsairs of Umbar are likely to attract enemy bowfire instead of pursuit, so use terrain as much as you can and most of all, make sure Dalamyr either makes it off the board or stays protected. Your goal in this mission is to focus on breaking the enemy with your army and using your crossbows to cover the holes that will invariably show up in your lines and shooting down any enemy scoring units.

Storm the Camp is less painful, as you can start with your Captain in the front of your corner and Marching quickly towards the center. As is our usual strategy, the crossbows should come out of the camp, but not stray too far from it - far enough to provide cover fire, but close enough that they can retreat to protect it. The rest of the army swarms forward, breaking off a detachment to threaten the enemy camp (taking it may not be in the cards for you) - but your end-goal is to break the enemy and keep Dalamyr from dying. If you can do that (and ideally keep from being broken yourself), you should win/draw.

Finally, if you draw Divide and Conquer, you can get a March hero in each corner - and it's probably a good idea to March on the first turn for the positioning on your crossbows. Depending on your board set-up, you may benefit from the crossbows NOT being on an objective, but instead looking at the pathway TO the objectives. These guys can eventually waddle to the objectives to fight (or hold them if you've cleared it with your melee troops), but if you wait to shoot with them until you've gotten to the objectives, they may not have shots to take. Your goal is to swarm the center with bodies - so get there fast, use your throwing weapons to get good match-ups, and have a hay-day with it!

Killing Missions (Pools 4 & 6)

Eat, drink, and shoot everywhere - it's a pirate's life for me! The traditional killing missions are mostly played the same way: in Lords of Battle and To The Death, you want to sit back with your Arbalesters and shoot while the rest of your army hides behind them to come out when the enemy gets close (yes, you're going to be "that guy"). Your army can break easily if your opponent packs in bows, so use those Arbalesters as much as you can. The exception to this is your opponent brings siege weapons - if he does, you NEED to go get him (which could mean moving up so you can shoot the siege weapon crews, but more likely means a mad rush with you taking shots wherever you can).

In Contest of Champions, you don't have this luxury - since Dalamyr has to deploy near the center, you'll want everyone up front and just throwing yourself at the enemy first thing. In this scenario, your crossbows give you an interesting option: they and the Reavers can be placed to receive the enemy charge, while your throwing weapon troops hold back to get around the enemy/charge enemy spearmen. This gives you the ability to take advantage of your throwing weapons and might even cause Backstabbers to kick in!

When it comes to the hero-killing missions, you want to use your crossbows to kill your target hero in Fog of War and potentially in Assassination. Your Corsair Captain makes for an ideal Assassin, since he has a crossbow for dealing damage at a distance - and you could choose to keep him out of harm's way in Fog of War too. Since Delgamar and the Bo'sun are likely to be near the action to take advantage of their reroll rules (and aren't any more resilient), he seems the safest bet to me. Your Corsairs will want to pick a terrain piece in Fog of War that's close that you can park guys on (probably not your crossbows, but you can use your crossbows to clear the terrain piece/send the enemy to cover while you charge in with your melee troops).

Finally, we have Clash by Moonlight - and like we said in our discussion of the Mordor/Serpent Horde, you want to be VERY careful about this mission. Yes, you have outlandish amounts of shooting - and the crossbows will be particularly devastating. But since you're predominantly D3-4, even enemy S2 bows will be killing your basic troops on 4s and your crossbows on 5s - that's not good for you! Since most of your shooting comes from throwing weapons anyway, this mission is about gauging when you'll be within 12" of the enemy and then RUSHING in as fast as you can to endure one turn of enemy fire before you go berserk all over them. Your opponent will likely back away from you as much as he can - let him. The longer it takes for your lines to engage, the harder it'll be for him to break you (even with the boosts to shooting). Since breaking the enemy without being broken is worth 5VPs in this mission, you want to delay breaking as long as you can (or avoid it altogether if you can help it).

Conclusion

This is probably the least inspired we'll be with list building in this series - it's pretty similar to what you see Corsair players running anyway (unless they want Hasharins or more shields on their guys), but hopefully you enjoyed it. Next time, we turn to the Vale of Erech where we'll see what ghostly army lies in wait for the lost King of Gondor. Should you just run the Return of the King Legendary Legion if you're collecting Gondor at War? Or does a generic Dunharrow list win the day? Find out next time - until then, happy hobbying!