A Season of Giving: Revamping the Rangers (Part II)

In case you missed it, Monday featured our measured update to the Rangers faction. But if that didn't scratch your itch, no worries! Our gift to you on the day of the Feast of St. Thomas Beckett (or "5 Golden Rings" day if you prefer... which is probably more appropriate for this game) is an unmeasured, full-blown revamp of the Rangers faction!

As some of you may recall, Centaur did a post last year suggesting various ways to revamp the Rangers. Some of his profiles (and a lot of his suggestions) have made their way into this in the form of new profiles or special rules. But there's also expanded wargear options, changes to the alliance matrix, updates to a couple Legendary Legions, and horses... tons and tons and tons of horses.

As a caveat, this version is primarily designed for TMAT's upcoming Arnor campaign, which we'll probably release some time this decade (deadlines aren't my forte). But of course we've done our best to try balancing these for competitive play (though I guess you can let us know how you think we succeeded).

As with Part I, I'll have screenshots as we go, but if you want to follow along you can download the whole thing HERE (and in Greyscale HERE). Spoiler alert: this is more than I've written in a long while. So if you find yourself only partly through and you're exhausted, I did try to warn you (instead of ambushing you like the poor orc shmucks in this awesome picture are about to be ambushed).

Photo Credit: Quora.com

Here we go!

New Generic Profiles

I started Part I's discussion with global changes to the Rangers faction--and don't get me wrong, there are some global changes here (spoiler: we're introducing a completely new third variant to "Arathorn + Rangers" and "Aragorn + Rangers"). But I know you're all here for the new profiles and I like to accommodate the readers (plus this is a blog, so you'll just skip to what you want anyway), so we'll start with those.

First-off, we have four new profiles that are not list-locked (i.e., you can field them in Ranger lists with any army leader). We'll start with the two new independent hero profiles, which add some variety to your mix of Dúnedain and Rangers of the North: Anórian Hunters and Greenway Wardens. 

The Rangers don’t technically have “troops,” but let’s face it: we all think of Dúnedain and Rangers that way. And while their heroic stats allow them to do all sorts of things that conventional troops can’t, they also fulfill many core “troop” functions, like objective grabbing and protecting your core heroes from being surrounded and trapped.

Note: Click for full-sized images throughout

At 20 points, Anórian Hunters cost 5 points less than a Dúnedain. Their stat profile gives up their Might point (a definite loss) for increased movement (8”). Their inclusion in the Rangers Army Bonus (Woodland Creature and +1 attack on foot) means they can still hold their own in a scrap, but they are mostly dedicated objective grabbers / holders with that 8” of speed. And their throwing daggers (combined with a 3+ shoot) means closing on them may prove difficult (or at least painful).

Add an option for a Hunting Dog for 5 points, and you have two fast models who are okay-to-above-average in combat. The dogs themselves are pretty fragile (D3, 1 wound), but models within 8” of them don’t benefit from Stalk Unseen, so if you can get them where you need them they will synergize well with your Dúnedain. 

Because the Rangers are, at their core, a faction of heroes, we made sure Anórian Hunters can't be spammed. You are limited to only taking one for every Minor Hero or greater in your Rangers Contingent--and while that may sound like a lot, minor heroes are pretty rare in this faction. That said, swapping 2-3 Anorian Hunters in for 2-3 Dúnedain (or Rangers of the North on horses) opens up some interesting tactical options.

Our other new independent hero is the Greenway Warden. While our updates to Rangers of the North makes them better equipped to be frontline troops, Centaur proposed that we add a proper heavy infantry option, too. So we did:

These guys come in at 35 points (5 more than a Ranger), with an identical stat-line except that they start at D6. They have the same upgrade options as Rangers of the North (spear, shield, and horse), which means you can get them up to Defense 7 if you like. 

While the possibility of Defense 7 is nice, I'm sure most of you are somewhat skittish about spending that many points for a single-wound, single-fate hero. So to give them some added toughness, we've also given them the ability to spend their single Might point on Heroic Defense. In combination with shielding on foot (four dice to win the fight), these guys can actually become decent roadblocks against much more expensive heroes or monsters (albeit for a single turn), which is something that nothing else in the Rangers list can really do (except Aragorn or Gimli, of course).

That said, while defense is their forte the Greenway Wardens aren't slouches in a scrap. They still have bows, and if you charge them into 2+ models, they also gain a bonus of +1 to their Fight Value (Exultation of Battle). Which means you actually have an option for dealing with the Dragon Emperor's Easterlings. :-P

Next up are two minor heroes that, like Anórian Hunters and Greenway Wardens, can be slotted into all Rangers lists. We spoiled the Dúnedain Captain at the end of Part I's preview, but here he is again in all his glory:

Like our upgraded Arathorn, the Dúnedain Captain has an option of bringing up to six Warriors of Arnor or Rangers of Arnor in his warband (who swap the Arnor keyword for the Dúnedain keyword). Again, this profile was primarily designed for scenarios where we wanted to have bodies on Good's side without spotting them 150 points of Dúnedain (or Defense 6 bodies without spotting them 200+ points of Rangers of the North / Greenway Wardens.

For those of you worried that this is the next iteration of Rangers of Ithilien, we were very mindful of that concern. As a result, we put some precautions in place to prevent that from happening: you can only take one Captain for every Dúnedain Hero of Fortitude or higher in your list. Spoiler alert: unless you have the Aragorn-led variant of this list  (Aragorn + Halbarad), there's only ever going to be one Dúnedain Hero in your force who meets this criteria (your army leader), which means a maximum of one Captain. Additionally, this Dúnedain Captain costs as much or more than Madril (and let's be honest--probably more) with the warband size of Damrod (6). Even assuming you take no upgrades on him (55 points + 54 points for 6 Rangers of Arnor), you're looking at basically a +3 to your model count over taking the same number of Dúnedain / Rangers of the North, which isn't a ton (4 Dúnedain / Rangers at 109 points, vs. a Captain and 6 Rangers of Arnor). Plus, you end up with 2 less Might in the exchange (2 on the Captain vs. 4 on 4 Dúnedain / Rangers). 

In sum, while the option to take a few cheaper models is nice, you really want the Captain because of its upgrade options. The Shield and Horse upgrades are pretty good value on a two-attack hero with 2 Might (Defense 6, and added mobility / damage output). But the real value--especially for non-Halbarad lists--is the Standard of War, which is going to be your only way of getting a banner outside of the Aragorn-Halbarad pairing. Like Halbarad's banner, this one costs 40 points and has a range of 6". Additionally, Dúnedain Heroes with two-handed weapons (which, as you might recall from Part I, is basically all of them) essentially get the Broadsword rule that the Fiefdoms get for Clansmen of Lamedon and Angbor the Fearless: they get to keep the "6s" they roll whilst dueling. That bonus won't always fire, but it's definitely a boost to combat (which is the idea behind the Standard of War) and does give you a reason to potentially field the Standard instead of Halbarad's banner, even in Aragorn-led lists (or both, perhaps, in really large games).

Our final new generic profile is the Dúnedain Champion--and these guys love that new Standard of War. At 65 points, these guys aren't cheap, but they hit like a truck thanks to their Dúnedain Broadsword: a two-handed sword with the Mighty Blow special rule, and the Broadsword effect folded in. When in range of a Standard of War, Dúnedain Champions get both that juicy reroll (on two attacks) and a +1 bonus to their Broadsword effect (meaning they keep both "5s" and "6s" when rolling to win a duel). 

Much like their Minas Tirith counterparts (the Knights of the White Tower), their option to Heroic Strike combined with Fearless and Unyielding Combat Stance give them the tools to threaten pretty scary things (especially infantry monsters) and maybe walk away from the fray. Plus, having the option for a generic striking hero is always great.

So those are the four profiles that can be incorporated into all Rangers lists. The rest of these profiles are gated behind a particular army leader (who comes with some list exclusions). But they're doozies.

New Specialized Profiles

Next up are three profiles that form the backbone of a third way to play Rangers: with no named heroes! Since most of the Rangers' storied history took place before Arathorn, Aragorn, and Halbarad, we wanted to have generic profiles that allowed you to play as prior Chieftains (and their sons) without feeling underpowered.

Let's face it: most lists with no named heroes are pretty trash compared to the versions of the lists that field named heroes. So we took our cue (ironically enough) from some of the evil lists that don’t have any named heroes: Khand and Far Harad. Don’t worry—there aren’t any camels or chariots in these profiles (or war spears, for that matter). But we did want to make sure our profiles (like Mahud Kings and Khandish Kings) included the things you need on an army leader: good combat stats and heroics, decent survivability, and abilities that will buff weaknesses in the rest of your army (so these unnamed heroes really feel like lynchpin centerpieces instead of afterthoughts or models you were “settling for”). Here’s what we came up with.

The lynchpin of this new way to play Rangers is The Dúnedain Chieftain. Like Kings of Men in Minas Tirith or Dwarf Kings in Khazad-Dúm, this profile is meant to be a stand-in for any of the fourteen Chieftains from Aranarth, son of Arvedui, through Arador, father of Arathorn. Unlike Kings of Men and Dwarf Kings, however, The Dúnedain Chieftain is a unique profile (like The Balrog), so you can only ever field one in your list.

Stat-wise, the Dúnedain Chieftain is basically identical to our upgraded Arathorn profile: Fight 5/3+, Strength 4, Defense 5 (with the options for Heavy Armour and Shield to get to Defense 7 if you like), 3 Attacks, 2 Wounds, and Courage 6, with 3/2/2 heroic stats (the extra point of Fate is an improvement over Arathorn). He doesn't have Heroic March, but picks up Heroic Defense (in addition to Resolve, Accuracy, and Strike). And he has two additional wargear options that Arathorn also has access to in this version of the supplement: a Horse, and the Dúnedain Broadsword from the Dúnedain Champion's profile.

Lore-wise, these Chieftains were the relentless defenders of the North against against the Kingdom of Angmar before Fornost was retaken, and then against the remnants of Angmar after the Witch-King fled. To reflect that--and their descent from the broken kingdom of Arnor--the Chieftain has the Hatred (Angmar) special rule, which is one of those rare thematic rules that just so happens to help against a top-tier competitive army. Finally, because the Dúnedain ranged far and wide across the North combatting the agents of Sauron, we've also given the Chieftain Hatred (Orc) and Hatred (Goblin).

All of this makes the Dunedain Chieftain a pretty solid profile, but none of it really amounts to a "centerpiece" model that you can build your force around. And since taking the Chieftain locks you out of taking any named heroes in the list (and a decent number of allies, too), we really wanted him to get to "centerpiece" status. Plus, the whole point of this profile was to substitute for any of a number of Chieftains, who each had their own strengths that they brought to bear in defense of Eriador. So it'd be nice if this profile also had some way to reflect those differences (besides just wargear options). 

To address both needs, the Chieftain also includes the Vengeance of the North Kingdom special rule:

The least-interesting part of the rule (all friendly Dúnedain Heroes gain Hatred (Angmar), Hatred (Orc), and Hatred (Goblin)) may be the most powerful when all is said and done. Yes, they're match-up dependent. But Orcs and Goblins are pretty popular right now (seeing much Assault on Lothlorien in your local meta lately?). And in Good vs. Evil events you'll see them pretty regularly. So I'm noting that.

Okay, now the good stuff: the rest of the rule allows you to choose one of four upgrades for your Chieftain before the game starts (which means yes, in a tournament setting you can change your Chieftain's special rule from game to game). And the four options you get to choose from are all pretty cool (I think): 

• Worried about the survivability of your 2 Wound / 2 Fate army leader? Choose Fated to Wander for an extra Wound (3 Wounds / 2 Fate just sounds better, doesn't it?), plus Stalk Unseen and Resistant to Magic (nice, that). 
• Missing Halbarad but don't want to fork over 100+ points for a Dúnedain Captain with a Standard of War? Inspiring Presence gives you Halbarad's banner buff (6" banner effect and Fearless), minus the "actual banner" part. 
• Want to update your melee damage? Fair and Fell has you covered, boosting your Chieftain's Strength to 5 (nice) and his Fight Value to 6 (sweet), while also granting a +1 Fight Value buff to all friendly Dúnedain Heroes within 6" of the Chieftain (F5 on your Hunters, Dúnedain, Rangers, and Wardens, and F6 on your Captains and Champions).
• Want to up your shooting game? Try Chieftain of the Dúnedain, granting Stalk Unseen to the Chieftain and friendly Dúnedain within 6", who also get to re-roll failed To Hit and In the Way rolls when they don't move.

Pretty cool, yeah? 

(Announcer Voice)

But WAIT, there's MORE! That's right--when you take the Dúnedain Chieftain, you ALSO unlock two more unique profiles that allow you to further customize your Ranger force!

The Dúnedain Seer is the most complex profile we've added. A mix of magic defense and mage (who's also pretty good in a scrap), it's a very cool profile. But it was also by far the hardest profile to balance: 

Let me get the easy stuff out of the way first. This is a unique hero that you can only take with the Dúnedain Chieftain (so pairing him--or her--with Arathorn or Aragorn is a no-go). Stat-wise, the Seer is identical to a generic Dúnedain Captain (F5/3+, S4, D5, 2 Attacks / Wounds, C5) with 2/4/1 heroic stats. It also looks very similar to Muzgur's profile from Mordor (the only differences are a +1 Fight / Shoot boost, and a +1 boost to Courage). That makes him pretty good in a scrap, which is important because he needs to slay enemy models to regain his precious Will points (Skilled in Arms and War, which is identical to Muzgur's Power from Death special rule).

While Muzgur was the template for much of the Seer, they're not the same profile. Muzgur is very much an attack-mage, with Drain Courage and Wither (along with Transfix) to take down enemy heroes. The Seer does have Transfix (more on why that's "Transfix" and not "Command" momentarily), but the rest of his spells are focused on buffing (Enchanted Blades), healing (Blessing of the Valar), and protecting (Strengthen Will) his allies. Combined with Blood of Númenor (Resistant to Magic for all friendly models within 6", which we borrowed from Elendil and Isildúr) and his other core rule (Foresight of the Dúnedain), the Seer is primarily a defense-mage, buying time and space for the rest of your heroes to do their thing.

That leads us to Foresight of the Dúnedain, which almost certainly made you do a double-take when you read it the first time. So before going into what the rule does, let me make absolutely clear how this rule works. 

• First, you trigger this rule at the start of a Move Phase, before any Heroic Actions are declared. That's important because literally nothing has happened except the priority roll, so your opponent has access to every single counter-ability they have in games (such as heroic moves) other than "rolling better for priority").
• Second, the Seer has to spend a point of Will (he has up to 4) to trigger one of the four effects in the rule. That's important because (a) it's not "free," and (b) it can be countered by all the normal ways one normally counters Will-triggered rules (Sap Will, casting spells to reduce Will stores, etc.). 
• Third, each of the four effects in the rule can only be triggered once per game--and again, you trigger them before everything else happens in the round (except the priority roll). That's important because it requires you to foresee (see what I did there? shoutout to Strider for the suggestion) both (a) what you'll need in that particular round, and (b) what you don't want to save for a future round. And if you foresee wrong (or "choose poorly" if you prefer), there's no do-overs: the Will point is lost and you can't invoke that same special rule in a future round.

Okay, so with that settled, here's the four effects your Seer can choose from (which, again, are chosen at the start of the round, before Heroics are declared, at the cost of a Will point, and can only be chosen once per game).

Option 1 is the Loremaster special rule, which is identical to the special rule that Floi Stonehand has (and therefore works exactly the same way, except that it only works once per game instead of once per turn). Situationally very handy for taking out special rules like Fly or Monstrous Charge, saving your Chieftain from Azog's brutality (I am the Master), etc. 

Option 2 is Dreadful Aspect, which gives your Dúnedain Heroes within 6" of the Seer the Terror special rule and allows them to do something really cool with their Will points: cast some magics! Okay, so the "magics" are limited to things we thought Rangers (as non-magical humans) could actually do: root enemies in terror at their fury (which is why we opted for the "Evil" Transfix, 3+ over the "Good" Immobilize, 3+), disappear from sight / jump over enemy models (Shroud of Shadows, 4+), or cause their enemies to flee before their oncoming wrath (Instill Fear, 5+). Note that no Dúnedain Heroes (except the Seer) have Heroic Channel, so these are just the basic versions of these spells (which are definitely disruptive, but aren't doing game-breaking things like altering the Attacks or Fight Value of your opponent's heroes). 

Option 3 is Look to the Skies, which provides a once-per-game Blinding Light effect, only without the light or the blinding. And yes, to save us all another FAQ request, Legolas only needs a 2+ with Deadly Shot to hit a model affected by Look to the Skies (because as we all know--or should--that 2+ to hit cannot be modified by anything :-P ).

The final option is The Blood of Númenor is Not Yet Spent, which is a once-per-game, "break-glass-in-case-of-emergency" special rule that grants the Seer and friendly Dúnedain within 6" the Arkenstone effect: they pass Fate rolls on a 3+, and if they roll a 4+ they keep their Fate point. Yes, I know that sounds broken, so I reiterate: you have to declare this effect at the start of the move phase, before any heroic actions are declared, so your opponent has every opportunity to employ counters (like choosing not to fight you) on the turn in which you declare this. So if they choose to fight you anyway... they kind of deserve what happens next. ;-) 

So yeah, that's the Seer. Two more notes on his points cost (90 points): yes, he's got a lot of utility, and definitely more than your generic shamans like Kardush, Brogir, or Muzgur. That's why he costs substantially more than they do. Also, remember that he's an Independent Hero (so he can't lead warriors, plus he's in a list that generally can't take warriors), and you can only take him if you take the Dunedain Chieftain (which locks you out of taking any named Dunedain heroes). That factors into his points cost, too.

That said, if you're not completely sold on him, I understand. Let us know what you think.

The last new profile in the Chieftain triumvirate is (I hope) less controversial. Remember how the Dúnedain Chieftain profile is meant to represent any of the fourteen Chiefs from Aranarth to Arador? Well, funny thing about those dudes: they all had sons (who ended up being Chieftains in their own right). Now Dúnedain aging is a little strange, but most of these sons weren't orphaned when they were babes, which means a decent number of them grew to manhood while their fathers were still alive and kicking. And since, again, Dúnedain aging is weird, I think it's safe to assume at least some of them were kicking butt together as father and son. 

So to allow you to replicate that in your games (and to create some boss historic scenarios), we've created what is almost my favorite profile in our revamped list: the Dúnedain Heir.

Like the Seer, you need the Chieftain to take the Heir (so no Heir + Arathorn or Heir + Aragorn / Halbarad). He's 10 points cheaper than his dad (75 vs. 85 points), with three stat changes: 2 Attacks (instead of 3), Courage 5 (instead of 6), and 2 Might (instead of 3), plus he drops Resolve and Defense (but picks up Heroic March). His wargear options are the same (Heavy Armour, Shield, Dúnedain Broadsword, and Horse), and he also has the Hatred (Angmar), Hatred (Orc), and Hatred (Goblin) special rules. A perfectly solid, if unspectacular (and probably a bit over-costed) profile.

So what takes this profile over the top? You guessed it--CUSTOMIZATION, BABY!

Like the Dúnedain Chieftain, the Heir gets to choose one of four special rules at the start of each game. None of these rules are identical to the rules you can take on the Chieftain, but there are definitely areas of overlap. If you want to cover more bases, you can pick one option with your Chieftain (say, survivability) and go in another direction with your Heir (more damage). Or you can double-down on your strengths, creating synergies that will buff your royal family--and sometimes your other heroes, too--to new heroic heights.

• First, we have Child of Promise (thematically, think of this as an adolescent heir), which provides two effects. The Heir himself picks up a third Fate point (always useful), but the core of the rule is the buff it provides to the Chieftain, who gets both +1 Fight and Fearless whilst he's within 6" of the Heir. Plus, if the Heir is in combat within 6" of the Chieftain, the Chieftain can declare a Heroic Combat for free. Think Bard and his kiddos, only more awesome. Pair this with Fated to Wander on the Chieftain, and suddenly you have a tough core of heroes (Fight 6 / 3 Wound / 2 Fate Chieftain, and Fight 5 / 2 Wound / 3 Fate Heir). Or you can pair this with Fair and Fell to get a Fight 7, Strength 5 Chieftain who can call a free heroic combat every turn.
• Second is Grown into Manhood (think peak-of-his-powers Heir with lots of vigor). This one's pretty simple: your 2-Attack, 2-Wound, 2-Might Heir becomes a 3-Attack, 3-Wound, 3-Might Heir. Not too shabby, right? Pair with Inspiring Presence on the Chieftain, and your Heir also gets a banner reroll and becomes Fearless. Or pair with Fair and Fell to make your uber-Heir Fight 6 within 6" of his Fight 6 Pops.
• Elendil Reborn is another combat variant: your Heir gets to Fight 6 (that's Fight 7 if paired with Fair and Fell on the Chieftain) with a free Heroic Combat every turn. Think "son eclipsing his father" here.
• Last is Avenger of Arthedain, which like Chieftain of the Dúnedain buffs your Dúnedain Heroes near the Heir (and synergizes very well with that ability). In addition to pick up the Terror special rule, all friendly Dúnedain Heroes within 6" of the Heir get to reroll their To Wound rolls when participating in a Heroic Shoot or Heroic Combat. Yes, you have to trigger Might to get those skills to work; but this is a Ranger army--you were going to declare Heroic Shoots and Combats anyway. Pair with Chieftain of the Dúnedain and your already-potent Ranger shooting (3+ shoot, 24" range, and at least one Might point backing Strength 2 missiles) goes to another level (Stalk Unseen, reroll failed To Hit and In the Way rolls, and reroll failed To Wound rolls during Heroic Shoots). Or pair with Fair and Fell to power up your Heroic Combat snowballs (Fight 5 Hunters, Dunedain, Rangers, and Wardens, and Fight 6 Chieftain, Heir, Seer, Captains, and Champions, all rerolling failed To Wounds during Heroic Combats, and potentially in range of the Captain's Standard of War for duel rerolls and a chance at negating two-handed sword penalties).

So there you have it: a new archetype for playing Rangers. It almost makes you okay with skipping Aragorn, right?

Well THAT's A PROBLEM!

Aragorn is awesome. So we gave him some love, too...

The Grey Company 2.0

Don't get me wrong: I absolutely love these new profiles for the Chieftain and his retinue. But at the end of the day, this is a game about Tolkien's works, and while these other Chieftains were doubtless important, the Rangers in Tolkien are and will always be Aragorn and the loyal members of the Grey Company who joined him on his quest to save Minas Tirith.

Now I know there's a Grey Company Legendary Legion, and it's fine. But let's be real, too: when you run that legion, you're not running it for the Rangers. You're running it for Aragorn (and the free Anduril). Or to pair Aragorn with any (or all) of Legolas, Gimli, Halbarad, and the twins. The Rangers of the North are just Rangers of the North--fine, perfectly serviceable, but decidedly second-tier (if that), and (more importantly) limited and generic. And that's a shame.

So we fixed that with these guys:

Now here's an upgraded uber-Ranger profile worthy of the Heir of Isildur (and capable of scaring the you-know-what out of the Corsairs at Pelargir, or driving the forces of Mordor from the field of Pelennor). They have an upgraded stat-line (Fight 5/3+, S4, D6, 2 Attacks, 2 Wounds, Courage 6, with 2/2/1 heroic stats), Heroic Actions (Resolve and Strike, in addition to Accuracy), and can take a horse (for the 2-Attack hero cost of 10 points). And thematically, they pick up two special rules to reflect their devotion to their Chieftain and prowess in combat: Sworn Protector (Aragorn) and Unyielding Combat Stance (like the Dúnedain Champion). All for 75 points each, which is high for rangers but not exorbitant for mid-tier combat heroes. 

Now if that points cost and stat line looks familiar, it's because I borrowed most of it from another profile: the Nazgul of Dol Guldur. There are some differences (3+ shoot and 2 Will because "Rangers," 2 Wounds and 1 Fate because "not immortal"). But I intentionally designed these profiles this way because I thought the customization you get with the Nazgul of Dol Guldur would translate well to replicating Aragorn's Grey Company. And I left the pricing at 75 because while the customization options for the Rangers are (in my opinion) better than the options the Nazgul get, remember these Rangers are (a) independent heroes, not heroes of Valor who can lead 15 wargs / hunter orcs / Gundabad orcs, (b) are gated behind Aragorn, who's not exactly cheap, and (c) don't come back to life after they're slain on the role of a 2+, 3+, or 4+.

So how exactly can you customize your Grey Company Rangers? Well, there are six unique options (Champion, Warden, Captain, Scout, Guardian, and Minstrel) and two more that you can take twice (Shadows and Hunters), giving you a max of ten Grey Company Rangers (at 750 points base, 850 with horses... plus Aragorn... so yeah, that's not going to happen often). 

You can see the full profiles in the rules supplement, so I'll just hit the high points. Oh, and if you played Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) back in the day (or recently), you might notice some call-backs. ;-) 

• The Grey Company Champion is a melee bruiser. His hallmark feature is the Dúnedain Great Sword (a two-handed sword with the Mighty Blow special rule), which he can wield without penalty thanks to Weapon Master. He also has Blood and Glory, which provides a way to replenish his Might store. Paired with Sworn Protector (Aragorn) (to make him Fearless) and Unyielding Combat Stance (for a chance not to be knocked prone), he's a very dangerous bodyguard when he's flanking Aragorn.
• The Grey Company Warden trades his hand-and-a-half sword for sword and Shield (up to Defense 7). Swift Parry (force an opponent to reroll a single duel die) pairs nicely with Exultation of Battle, which gives him +1 Fight (F6/3+) and +1 Attack (3 Attacks base, 6 when shielding) in Fights where he is outnumbered.
• The Grey Company Captain is a multi-use model that brings a lot to the table. For starters, it's the only variant that has a second wargear option--the Standard of War available to Dúnedain Captains--offering a boost to Aragorn, Halbarad, and your supporting Rangers and allies in combat. Valiant Strike channels the Captain's inner Ori, granting a single friendly Dúnedain Hero a Might, Will, Fate or Wound lost earlier in the battle whenever the Captain rolls a 4+ after dealing a wound. Finally, Shield of the Dúnedain is a once-per-game super-Tank ability that allows the Captain to swap places with another friendly hero within 6" at the start of the Fight Phase, and then makes the Captain Defense 10 and immune to being knocked prone and Brutal Power Attacks for the rest of the Fight Phase (before taking a single Strength 10 hit in the end phase).
• The Grey Company Scout is what you'd get if Mablung could lead Woses. Sentinels of the North grants friendly Dúnedain the Stalk Unseen special rule plus the ability to shoot at models with Stalk Unseen. Meanwhile, Safe Paths allows the Scout to place three 25mm Waypoint Markers anywhere on the Board, and friendly models within 6" of those markers suffer no penalties for moving through difficult terrain. If your force is mostly on foot, this will be hit-and-miss (everything in the Rangers list has Woodland Creature via the Army Bonus), but it's outstanding if your Rangers are on horses (or if you have mounted allies).
• The Grey Company Guardian is a tank's tank. He swaps his hand-and-a-half sword for sword and the Dúnedain Tower Shield which provides a boost to Defense 8 (nice) and the option if he wins the fight whilst shielding of either doing a single Strength 4 strike against a target or a Bash (with +1 added to the results). Pair with Fearless and the ability to call Heroic Defense, and you have a workhorse on the defensive end. Finally, since the best defense is a good offense, To the King allows the Guardian to call Heroic Combats for free if Aragorn is engaged in combat within 12" of the Guardian (think the Dwarf Shieldbearer in Khazad-Dúm or Deorwine in Rohan).
• The Grey Company Minstrel is solid but not spectacular in combat. If you're bringing him, its for the support he offers from Resourceful Bard. The exact buff depends on the instrument you choose to have him play: his Theorbo (a 6" Resistant to Magic bubble), Drum (which combines a War Drum and Snaga's special rule into an advanced version of Heroic March), or Fiddle (the Taskmaster effect for free Heroic Moves, Marches, and Shoots on a 4+). Oh, and Tiberius thought it was really important that you be able to Bash with these weapons in combat, so you can do that, too (and with a +1 to the Bash results if you use the mighty Theorbo!).
• You can field up to two Grey Company Shadows. These are basically Hasharin with two attacks, Bane of Kings, Preternatural Agility, and Stalk Unseen in addition to the Grey Company Ranger default rules (Sworn Protector (Aragorn) and Unyielding Combat Stance). Point them at things, and they kill them. Simple enough.
• Finally, you can include up to two Grey Company Hunters. How do you make heroes who excel at shooting in an army of heroes who excel at shooting? Well, you give them Expert Shot (shoot twice per round), Stalk Unseen (for added protection), Hunters of Fell Things (reroll failed To Hit, In the Way, and To Wound rolls when shooting), and Deadly Aim (D3 wounds against Monsters, and restore Might to max when they kill Monsters or Heroes with their bows). I full admit this one is probably over the top . . . but at least I didn't give them Narzug's rule, too. :-P

And with that, we're finally done with the new profiles. But before we move on to the last few observations (and the rest of this will go quicker, I promise), we have one more update to flag for you:

Notice anything different?

No, it's not that Halbarad is Courage 6 (he was already--look it up). It's also not his ability to call Heroic Resolve or take heavy armor and a shield (he had that in our more measured update to the Rangers faction). Yep, it's the boost to the Banner of Arwen Evenstar, where Aragorn and Halbarad pick up +1 Fight whilst within range of the banner (F7 and F6, respectively). 

To some extent, this was influenced by our introduction of the Standard of War: while that standard is an important edition to the Arathorn and Chieftain versions of this list that can't take Halbarad, we also wanted to give players a reason to take Halbarad and his OG banner instead of the new Standard in Aragorn-led lists. Plus, it gives us a way to address a common complaint about power-creep elsewhere in the game (Aragorn should be on-par with Azog, Bolg, or Shelob when it comes to combat) while also honorign the lore (Halbarad inspires awe in the eyes of the Rohirrim and their leaders when it comes to his physical girth, hardiness, and prowess--which, in a world where generic Royal Guards are Fight 5 on the charge means he's got to be Fight 6 or better). If you don't like it, I respect that. But I suspect most true Rangers fans will like it. ;-)

Other than that, Arathorn got a wargear option for a Dúnedain Broadsword, but that's the only changes from last edition to this one. 

Global Changes

The big structural change (as you can probably tell from the discussion of the profiles) is that now there are three distinct lists within the Ranger list, and all three are keyed around a particular central Chieftain:

• The Arathorn-led version is still the most restrictive, but you have more options to choose from. Like all variants, you have the four core independent heroes (Anorian Hunters for objectives / mobility, Dunedain for ranged firepower, Rangers of the North as shock infantry, and Greenway Wardens to hold the line). Dunedain Captains give you a way to boost your numbers slightly (and this is the only version of the list where you can field twelve warriors with just two heroes--Arathorn and a single captain), while giving you another source of Heroic March and the Standard of War (for a banner and fight buff). Meanwhile, Dunedain Champions give you the option of fielding additional heroes with Heroic Strike to anchor your battle line or intercept threats to Arathorn. Lastly, the addition of the Twins gives you access to more Might, strike, mounted horses, elf bows, and general awesomeness when you need it.
• The Aragorn-led version still has the highest power ceiling, while remaining the most expensive. You can add the customizable Grey Company Rangers to your normal stable of independent heroes (Hunters, Dunedain, Rangers, and Wardens), generic heroes (captain and champion), and the more recognizable heroes (Halbarad, Legolas, Gimli, and the Twins). Lots of choices here, almost certainly more than you can afford at ordinary points levels.
• And finally, there's the Dúnedain Chieftain version, which offers the biggest range of customization. Between your choice of standard profiles (Hunters, Dunedain, Rangers, Wardens, Captains, and Champions), your choice of special rules on the Chieftain and Heir, the overall flexibility you get from the Seer, and the option to take the Twins (hey, they lived a really long time, okay?), this version allows you to build a Rangers list unlike any other.

Legendary Legions

Again, I'm not the biggest fan of Legendary Legions, so I've confined my updates to updating existing legions (the Grey Company and Men of the West) instead of creating more of them. That said, I fully acknowledge that if I wanted to make multiple new legendary legions for a faction, the Rangers have a legitimate claim to doing that. After all, they existed for centuries, doing lots of important stuff in the North when most of the free peoples had abandoned it. Even if you confined yourself just to Aragorn's journey during the War of the Ring, you have at least a few different opportunities for very cool, thematic legions (Aragorn and the Rangers riding with Theoden and Eomer across Rohan, Aragorn and the Rangers with the Dead driving the Corsairs from Pelargir, or fighting with Angbor along the coast).

I ultimately decided not to make a pre-LOTR Dúnedain legion (mostly because I think that version--Chieftain, Heir, and Seer--has enough special rules as-is, and doesn't really need any other buffs). But I thought long and hard about a few legions from Aragorn's journey before finally deciding, You know what? Why make a new legion to do this stuff when we can tweak an existing legion and do it better?

And with that, I present to you the new-look Grey Company Legendary Legion:

Yes, that's right: in addition to the heroes you know and love (Aragorn, Halbarad, Legolas, Gimli, and the Twins) and the heroes you settle for (Rangers of the North), this upgraded version of the Grey Company can also take:

• The uber-stat, customizable Grey Company Rangers who bodyguard Aragorn (bet you didn't see that coming), along with the more defensive-minded Greenway Wardens to supplement your Rangers of the North. Which you choose depends on what you like and what other heroes you want to take. But all three get a +1 buff to their Fight Value within 12" of Aragorn, thanks to The Riders of Rohan look almost as boys beside them.
• Angbor the Fearless, along with Clansmen of Lamedon and Men-at-Arms of Dol Amroth. All the Fiefdoms models are gated behind Angbor, and have to be included in his warband (so you'll only ever have 15 max of them). But Angbor's incredibly good value for his cost in all formats, and he picks up some nice quality-of-life buffs in this legion: +1 Might, +1 Fate, and the Mighty Blow special rule, plus Clansmen and Men-at-Arms treat him as a 6" banner (Defender of the Fords). Don't sleep on the ability to field cheap pikes behind two-attack, Fight 5 Rangers and Wardens, either. Just watch self-traps, or they might end up dead (they don't have Phalanx). 
• Speaking of dead, you can take the King of the Dead, Heralds of the Dead, Warriors of the Dead, and Riders of the Dead in this legion, too. Like the Fiefdoms models, they're gated behind the King of the Dead (which makes sense), and unlike the Return of the King Legendary Legion, only the King or a Herald can lead them (hey, I'm trying to make something thematic and cool with its own breathing space, not to make a completely viable alternate legion obsolete). But if you wanted to include the Twins and Halbarad in an army with your three hunters and dead dudes, now you can do that (and with Fiefdoms guys, to boot)! The King of the Dead picks up Harbinger of Evil, but that's hardly noteworthy (standard in the Dunharrow army bonus and Return of the King legion). What is noteworthy is that I heard the comments all four of you have been making over the years about how in the books the Warriors on foot move at a great speed (as fast as the horsemen, it's implied), while in the game that isn't the case. Well, no longer! Check out Some Riding, Some Walking, All at Great Speed--and consider it my love letter to your perseverance. 

Last, but certainly not least, we introduced four global buffs to the list:

• First, you now no longer need to field the Grey Company as a single warband. This was always unnecessary, and really neutered one of the major advantages that the Rangers faction has: deployment shenanigans that turn into deployment intelligence. Now you can do that (although you still have the option of deploying any of the heroes--including named heroes--in Aragorn's warband if you like).
• Second, because Aragorn is the core of this army, if your army consists only of Heroes (and thus probably has severely reduced numbers), Aragorn gets the Thorin-special and can call a Heroic Combat for free each turn without spending Might. Nothing crazy here (like Stalk Unseen or Fortify Spirit, which I also thought about), just more of what Aragorn was going to do anyway: kill stuff.
• Third, the book makes it clear that Aragorn's strength of will was the only thing that drove the Grey Company onward. To reflect that, all Heroes in this legion pick up Sworn Protector (Aragorn) and the Expert Rider special rule. Wait, Expert Rider? That means...
• Yep, the most predictable change of all time: all the heroes get horses (except the King of the Dead and Heralds of the Dead, because they now move 10 inches). Oh, and "all the heroes" also includes Gimli... well, kinda. You can mount him as a passenger on Legolas's horse, which is almost as good (and you have to admit is also really cool, especially if you have that dope mounted Three Hunters model with Legolas and Gimli on a horse that never sees play).

That final change also carries over to our updated version of the Men of the West Legendary Legion (which now includes options for horses everywhere). Beyond the new equine companions and the inclusions of some new Ranger profiles (the uber-stat Grey Company Rangers, Dúnedain Captain, and Greenway Wardens, all of whom get a +1 Fight buff within 12" of Aragorn), the rest of the legion is unchanged from our original revamp. Is that enough to make this legion viable? I have no idea. But I would definitely think about playing it more than I currently think about playing it. And I consider that a win.

And there we are--we made it through our exhaustive, top-to-bottom revamp of the Rangers faction. Thanks for making it all the way through this supplement, and as always leave us some comments in theWAITWHAT'SGOINGON!

Bonus Items: The Appendix

So technically this isn't a supplement to the Rangers (it's a supplement to Rohan and Minas Tirith, of all factions). But if you thought I was going to do a revamp of the Rangers and not take the opportunity to create a profile for Thorongil, the most notorious Ranger in all of Umbar--well, you got another thing coming. And that 'nother thing is this profile!

Full-disclosure: this is my favorite profile of the bunch (and it's not particularly close). There's just something really cool about the idea of a young Aragorn ranging incognito across Middle-Earth on his way to Mordor, and crossing paths with the future elder statesmen of the War in the Ring when they were children (or youths in Denethor's case) while kicking evil's butt. The lore is also quite clear that Aragorn is both distinguishing himself during these years and trying to lay low at the same time. Trying to find a way to capture that in a profile was definitely a challenge--but an incredibly enjoying challenge. Here's how I tried to do it:

Stat-wise, this is definitely Aragorn - Strider through and through (F6/3+, S4, D6, 3 Attacks / Wounds, Courage 6, with 3*/3/3 stats). He's lost one Heroic Action (Challenge--didn't seemed consistent with a guy trying to stay off Sauron's radar), while picking up some wargear options that would fit with Gondor or Rohan (horse, armored horse, heavy armor, and lance--no shield option, though, because Aragorn is base Defense 5 without armor, and so he'd be Defense 8 with heavy armor and shield... crazy, right?). Plus there's a boat-load of special rules: Expert Rider and Horse Lord reflect his status among the Rohirrim during Thengel's time. Hatred (Orc) and Hatred (Goblin) reflect both his descent from the Dúnedain Chieftains of old, and his status as the last of the Dúnedain Heirs. As for Hatred (Corsair), well... just read the Appendices. 

As for the 3* Might, well... Mighty Hero had to go (otherwise he's just Strider with different / better wargear options). So I replaced it with a modified version of Eorl the Young's rule to reflect that Aragorn is growing into his powers, but isn't quite there yet. A 3+ to not lose a Might point is, of course, awesome. But it is definitely more limited than Mighty Hero (mostly because once you're out of Might, you can still call Heroic Actions if you have Mighty Hero, but not with Eorl's rule).

If this were the whole profile, it'd be fine--maybe even great. But what pushes this from a profile I really like to a profile I absolutely love is the final rule set which involves (you guessed it!) customization:

Like the Dúnedain Chieftain and Heir, Thorongil also has four special rules that he can "flex" to, each of which changes how he plays. But unlike the Chieftain and Heir, Thorongil chooses a new rule at the start of every Move Phase (not every game), offering unrivaled flexibility. And the choices you get are pretty sweet:

• A Great Leader of Men turns Thorongil into Halbarad, conferring a 6" banner effect and Fearless on all friendly models within 6".
• Swift and Keen Eyed is your insurance in case Thorongil runs out of Might, allowing him to still declare a single Heroic Move, March, Shoot, or Accuracy without spending Might.
• A Warrior Fell and Grim is Thorongil's combat buff, pushing him to Fight 7/3+ with a free Heroic Combat (again, another way to get around running out of Might, but on a more limited scale).
• Finally, Wise and Wary is Thorongil's break-glass-in-case-of-emergency skill, granting him Fortify Spirit and Heroic Defense (but for the entire turn, not just the Fight Phase) at the cost of his damage output (his attacks are reduced from 3 to 2). 

It's not quite Aragorn doing Aragorn things infinitely... and there's definitely no Anduril here, either. But there are undoubtedly shades of what's coming.

Obviously, you can't just plop a profile like this into two factions that are already top-tier factions (Rohan and Minas Tirith) without creating problems. So that requires some list-building restrictions. The fixes for Minas Tirith were pretty simple: you can include Thorongil in Minas Tirith if your army is led by a King of Men (which was designed as a stand-in for Gondor's ancient kings or stewards) and contains no named heroes (which is fine for Minas Tirith, which has both generic Captains along with Knights of the White Tower for Heroic Strike). But slotting him into Rohan proved more challenging, because Rohan's only generic heroes are Captains of Rohan and King's Huntsmen--neither of whom is a great fit for someone like Thengel (or have Heroic Strike).

But I'd come so far already, so I figured what the heck? Here's two bonus profiles for Rohan that fix the problem:

Let's be clear: this guy isn't Helm. He's not even Eorl. He may not even be Theoden. But what the King of the Mark is is a corollary to the King of Men in Minas Tirith (Hero of Valor with a solid stat line, good wargear options, and Heroic March / Defense) who buffs your warriors and heroes the way a model has to do to make an army with no named heroes competitive. That's Forth Eorlingas! which takes Theoden's +1 Fight buff to charging, mounted Riders and Royal Guards and applies it (similar to what Helm Hammerhand does) to all charging Rohan Heroes and Warriors within 12" (both on foot and mounted). And if you read closely between the lines (or maybe not that closely), that's a Fight 6 King of the Mark (because he's a friendly Rohan Hero within 12" of himself), and a Fight 7 (or better) Thorongil (who's also a Rohan Hero). Not too shabby.

And last but not least are these boys--the Marshalls of the Mark (and yes, that's Marshalls plural):

This is a generic Heroic Strike hero who scratches the same itch the Knight of the White Tower scratches for generic Gondor, only this one scratches that itch whilst mounted. He has Heroic March, too (in the off-chance you want to take him instead of a Captain of Rohan). Otherwise, he's basically a hero version of a Royal Guard (with Bodyguard, Expert Rider, and Horse Lord who can get to Defense 7). 

Unlike most of the models in this supplement, the Marshall of the Mark was intentionally not gated behind a particular exclusive hero. That's primarily because (a) the idea of a hero Royal guard is cool, (b) having multiple Marshalls in an army is cool, and (c) if you want to run a thematically-accurate Rohan force with King Eomer at its head, you really have limited options, and this would help with that. That said, this profile is primarily intended to run alongside the King of the Riddermark, and to incentivize you to do that / reward you for doing that, To the King! gives the Marshalls a +1 buff to their Attack when within 6" of the King of the Mark (similar to how Riders of Eorl interact with Eorl the Young). If you're keeping score at home, that's 4 Attacks on the charge (To the King!) at Strength 5 (Rohan Army Bonus) and Fight 6 within 12" of the King (Forth Eorlingas!). Not too bad for a "generic" Rohan hero, right?

* * *

And with that, we're really done. Not sure about you, but I'm exhausted (and also kinda psyched to play some games with Rangers). If you made it all the way through, you get a gold star. And if you somehow still have energy to let us know what you think, please do so in the comments!