Armies of Middle-Earth SBG: Countering Angmar, Part 3 -- Weathering Overwhelming Magic

Ooooo... spooky!

Photo Credit: Me

Editor's Note: This article is part of a larger series on dealing with Angmar. Click the links for Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

We left off last time talking about how list-building is only part of the picture when it comes to countering what Angmar can do: there are definitely list-building choices that help (and some that decidedly don't), but at the end of the day this is a game that is (usually) decided on the tabletop, by tactics and movement (and, of course, dice). 

As we transition to dealing with the third of Angmar's core strengths (magic), there will still be important list-building decisions for us to think through. But we'll be talking more and more about those list-building decisions in the context of how they are likely to play out (and even affect what happens) on the tabletop. That's important, because as we'll see (1) not every list has equal list-building counters to magic, and (2) almost no list has a fool-proof answer to magic on the scale to which Angmar can (and usually does) marshal it. 

The raw output of Angmar's magic attack is overwhelming, and its potency is debilitating.

Before delving into the potential solutions, let's have a quick refresher about the way magic works. If you're new to the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game, played under the old rule-set and want a quick summary of what's changed, or if you've been playing for a bit but magic is not common in your area, I recommend that you push "Pause" here and check out Tiberius's primer post on Revisiting Magic. While Tiberius and I don't agree on all aspects of MESBG, he's thought about magic a lot more than I have, and his knowledge of how it works (and, by extension, how to counter it) is, at best, second to only a very few. Plus, your reading his article saves me a lot of typing.

A Few Reminders about the Magic casting process (which, overall, tends to favor the Target over the Caster)

Assuming you've now read Tiberius's article, here's a few quick recaps about the process magical powers have to go through in order to become successful:

• First, a hero with a magical power must be able to attempt a cast. There are several aspects to this attempt: casts can only be attempted in the Move phase, during the hero's move (so if it's missed / skipped, no backsies). The hero must be able to Move (i.e., have not been charged, but for some notable exceptions in the Vanquishers of the Necromancer legendary legion). And the hero must have Will remaining to cast at the time the cast is attempted (so if the hero's had to spend Will earlier in the move phase, that may impact how many dice they can spend on a cast attempt, if they can spend any at all). 
• Next, the caster must have line-of-sight to the target. Again, there are some exceptions to this (such as the Will of Evil's ability to target ringbearers, or Radagast's Master of Birds special rule, which gives him line-of-sight to everywhere on the battlefield), but generally you cannot cast magic on a model you cannot see. Generally this is not a problem as long as you're fighting an army of standard-sized models, or if you are trying to target a larger model (say, a mounted hero, a monster, a monster hero, or even a hero mounted on a monster). But there are occasional exceptions (Durburz hiding behind cave trolls, the Spider Queen hiding behind a Great Beast), and depending on the size and orientation of the caster (is the caster mounted? a short goblin shaman trying to see a target past a wall of half-trolls?), it's possible that the caster may not be able to see the preferred target. Fortunately, magic can be cast at any point during the caster's move phase, so the caster can move around (up to his/her full movement allowance, without penalty) to try to line up an attempt on that preferred target. But there are steps some heroes / models can take to be "unseeable" (in which case, they effectively gain immunity to magical powers).
• The caster must also have range to the target. Every magical power has a range at which it can be cast. Sometimes the range is "self" (Aura of Dismay, for instance), but in Angmar's case the spells you usually have to worry about have a range of 6" (Paralyze) and 12" (Transfix, Compel, Drain Courage, and Black Dart). The 12" range spells are usually pretty easy to work around for Angmar / difficult for Angmar's opponent to play around. But as we'll discuss below, the 6" range on Paralyze in particular can give Angmar's opponent some cover. Even with the longer-range spells, however, the need to move into range may on occasion require the caster to end up in a more exposed position to perform the cast (particularly if there isn't enough movement allowance left to retreat to a previously "safe" spot). And if the caster also provides other "bubble" / "aura" effects to the army (in Angmar's case, this is probably the 3" Terror bubble given to friendly Orcs by any Spirit Heroes), the caster's final position may force Angmar's main battle line to shift (or potentially compromise its integrity).
• The caster must then declare how many Will points are being spent to attempt the cast. Once the caster selects the spell and the target, the caster needs to take a casting test. The first step is choosing the amount of Will to spend to attempt the cast (each Will purchasing one die for the attempt). There are several factors that go into selecting this. Obviously, the degree-of-difficulty for the spell is important, and they vary widely: 2+ for Drain Courage and even 3+ for Transfix can sometimes be attempted with a single die. But for the two major threat spells--Compel and Paralyze, both a 4+ to cast--Tiberius's rule of 70% would strongly recommend at least two dice. A related consideration: the more dice you roll, the higher the probability that you with both pass and also pass higher (i.e., pass on a "6" instead of a "4"). Not to jump too far ahead, but whatever your final test score is sets the bar for what the target of the spell has to do to resist. And if the target is, say, a hero with multiple Will and Might, the caster may want to roll more Will when testing to maximize the chances of a high success score. Also related: while Angmar's wraiths generally have Might (well, okay--the Witch-King and Tainted do), Angmar also has casters who don't (the Dwimmerlaik and Barrow-Wights), which means those casters are dependent on a successful roll to get the spell off in the first place (since they can't fix a botch). This, in turn, may result in them spending more Will to cast. Finally, because Angmar doesn't have any infinite-Will casters (every magic user in Angmar has a set Will store that cannot be replenished, only depleted), in the back of the caster's mind is always a calculation that every Will point spent now is a Will point that can't be spent later, on anything. For Barrow-Wights, the loss of their 5 Will dramatically reduces their threat--they're still a problem because of the Terror aura they give to surrounding Orcs, but they're no longer the check on mid-tier to very big heroes that they are when they're sitting on even a single Will point. Since Wraiths are what Tiberius refers to as Multi-purpose mages (they use Will for more than just casting spells), the Will of Evil amplifies the cost of every Will spent to cast (because every Will spent to cast is potentially one less turn the Wraith can participate in combat, or stay on the table). So yeah--this part sounds simple, but it rarely is in practice.
• Once the cast is made, the caster must determine if the cast is going to be modified, and then lock-in his/her final attempt score. Before the process is turned over to the target, the caster gets one final chance (perhaps) to alter the outcome. If the cast attempt fails, and the caster has Might, it can be used at this point to increase the attempt by +1 for each point of Might spent (which means failures can be turned into successes). By the same token, a success can be promoted (in the same way a duel roll can be promoted) to increase the bar that the target will have to cross to resist the spell. Additionally, an optimized Witch-King (with the Crown of Morgul) can also reroll a cast attempt (which can then be promoted, if he wishes). The key point for us, however, is the sequencing: the caster locks-in to the final success score of the test before the process swings over to the target.

Up til now in the process, all the agency has been on the caster's part. The caster's been deciding who to target (with his/her single cast), had to find LOS/range to that target, had to decide how much of his (limited, in Angmar's case) Will store to spend on the cast, actually made the cast, decided whether to modify the cast, and then settled on a final cast-score (which may or may not have succeeded, depending on the degree of difficulty, quality of the roll, and expenditure of heroic resources).

Now, if the enemy has attempted all of this against a hero with limited-to-no resources, this is admittedly a terrifying ordeal (over which you have basically no say in the outcome). But if the enemy has targeted a hero who has some degree of agency (both because of a mix of good list-building and table-top execution), the way this whole process (over which you have had no control) plays out up to this point actually offers you a number of useful benefits:

• First off, the caster may have gone through all of this process, spent multiple resources, and still failed to get the spell off. Depending on the spell you want to cast (Drain Courage on a 2+ vs. Black Dart on a 5+), the number of dice the caster risks (1 vs. 4), and the quality of the caster (the Dwimmerlaik with no Might vs. the Witch-King with 3 Might and potentially a free reroll from the Crown of Morgul), the chance of a "fail" may be spectacularly low or surprisingly high. Regardless, even the best casters fail to get off even standard spells sometimes--and that's before factoring in spells that have other conditional rolls to follow (like rolling the 3+ to wound most models with Black Dart, or the Terror tests inflicted by Instill Fear). Bottom-line: not every casting attempt results in a success (and even the ones that do result in a success may ultimately fail to accomplish what the caster wanted to accomplish). The result for you when this happens? You have to do nothing (because there's nothing to react to--although I'll fully admit that weathering Black Dart rolls is a sweaty business).
• Second, you make no resource decisions until the caster has fully committed all of his/her resources. If wargames are about possessing information and reacting accordingly, the information advantage when it comes to spell casting fully favors the target of the spell, not the caster. The caster has to make a number of resource-intensive judgments (the probability of rolling a success, fixing a botch, and whether to boost a success further) before the target's controlling player has to make any. In other words, if the caster rolls 4 dice with their Barrow-Wight to cast Paralyze, and only gets it off on a single "4," you don't have to commit to any of your own Will until after you know the result you need to match. Even though they spent 4, you can choose to roll as little as 1 if you like (if you're confident you can get that 4+, or are willing to boost a failure with Might if needed).
• Third--and this is the biggest advantage you have--if the cast and resist scores are tied, the target wins. When you're rolling (mostly) d6s, the chance of ties is pretty high. MESBG has some stats that outright-decide who wins a tie (Fight Value being the most obvious), but barring something like that a tie is resolved one of three ways: a 50-50 roll-off (in theory the "fairest," and also the most frustrating for players if it doesn't go your way), a tie-break in favor of the model that instigated the action (ties in Strength while Bashing, for instance), and a tie-break in favor of the model against whom the action was taken (ties in Strength during a Monstrous Charge, for instance). And in this particular scenario, the rule is that the ties break in favor of the target of the spell. This seems right to me, and I think most players would agree (can you imagine the table rage if we did 50-50 roll-offs? It'd be nuts). And the advantage this brings is that on top of the resource-information advantages discussed above, the target also holds the trump card: as long as they get a "6" (or have enough Might to guarantee a "6"), they're absolutely immune to magic--at least in that moment. This is one of the reasons why I'm skittish on channeling spells when I have a caster (at least if the target has Will to resist)--you might sink a ton of resources into getting the spell off, only for the target to get that lucky "6" and it all be for naught.
• Fourth, while magic defense tools are relatively rare, most of them are either cheaper to add to a list than a top-tier caster, or a better resource trade than what the caster is spending. We'll cover many of these tools in more detail below, but it turns out that most armies have access (either natively, or through an ally) to at least some tools that can make Angmar's casting job more difficult (Resistant to Magic on your important models; a Hero with Heroic Resolve; wargear options and special rules like Elven Cloaks / Stalk Unseen; defensive magic like Fortify Spirit, Shroud of Shadows, or Protection of the Valar; and even the One Ring). There are some exceptions (a dedicated wizard, for instance), but generally the cost to include these kinds of upgrades is less than the cost that Angmar pays for its casters. A decent-stats Witch-King with the Crown (3/15/2 on horse) plus a couple of Barrow-Wights will run Angmar 255 points. That's pretty good value, to be sure (three Terror bubble hubs, solid Courage for Stand Fasts! and somewhere between 15-20 Will to spend on magic casts over the course of the game, with the ability to target up to three distinct models in a single round). But for most lists, you can bring at least some tool to make life harder for those three casters (a portion of your troops with elven cloaks, Resistant to Magic, a cheap hero with Heroic Resolve, upgrading a mid-tier hero without Resolve for a slightly beefier hero who has it, or even a low-budget wizard like Gandalf the Grey or a generic Nazgul) for less than what Angmar is paying. If you go the special rule route (i.e., Resistant to Magic / Stalk Unseen), you also have the added advantage that your answers--once you pay the points for them--are resource-neutral: you don't have to pay any further resources to make them fire each turn (like the casters will need to invest each round to launch their magic attacks). And even the more resource-intensive defensive options available (Heroic Resolve costs a Might and locks the caster in place, for example) tend to be less resource-intensive than what the caster is spending (one Might + the opportunity cost of not moving, vs. 2+ Will to cast, plus potentially Might to fix a botch, plus you may still resist a successfully-cast spell because the target wins ties). And that's assuming that the target can actually cast a spell at the intended target (which Stalk Unseen / elven cloaks may prevent, along with the One Ring depending on whether the caster has The Will of Evil special rule). Finally--and this is the primary reason to bring at least one of these counters--as imperfect as these counters are (only the One Ring (potentially), Shroud of Shadows, and Protection of the Valar (potentially) offer complete immunity to magic), their addition almost always results in the caster spending more resources to cast magical powers. Add this increased cost to the fact that you win ties and that natural "6s" rolled to resist spells are returned to the target, and sometimes the caster will not even attempt it because of the risk of a fail. But even if that doesn't happen and Angmar fires away, since Angmar doesn't have any options for renewable casting Will, every extra Will you can extract on a casting attempt is one fewer Will that Angmar can't spend on a future attempt. In other words, even if you can't ultimately stop Angmar from bringing down its preferred target, it's possible to bleed Angmar dry so that its single preferred target is the only model it can neutralize.
• Finally, even if a spell succeeds, that doesn't mean it's immediately disastrous. Remember that not all spells are created equal. Chill Soul, for example, immediately does a Wound (or D3 wounds, if channeled), while Black Dart requires a subsequent to-wound roll (which fails, like all non-boosted to-wound rolls do, at least 33% of the time, i.e., on a "1" or "2"). In Angmar's case, the key point to remember is that because Barrow-Wights have no Might (and therefore cannot Heroic Channel), Paralyze is not, in itself, an insta-kill spell. Yes, it sucks to have your big, centerpiece hero thrown from his mount and left drooling on the ground. And if you didn't anticipate the Paralyze, and your hero had charged into Buhrdur and a couple ranks of orcs before being rendered helpless, then that Paralyze probably is going to result in your hero's death. But if your hero isn't stranded in a sea of enemy models (say, he's tucked safely behind your line of troops), and you have a couple of friendly models who are in base-contact with him to help wake-him up in the priority phase (or whom you can move into base-contact with him, when the Move Phase switches to you), you may find yourself in a situation where you don't have to resist that particular spell at that particular moment (which, in turn, would allow you to save your all-important Will for another moment in the future where you actually do need it right then). Since very few lists can completely neutralize Angmar's many threats, playing against Angmar is largely an exercise in taking calculated risks. And sometimes, allowing a spell to go through (because you fear another, more dangerous spell, in the future) is an acceptable calculated risk.

And that combination of factors leads us to the big-picture idea for weathering Angmar's magic assault:

To counter Angmar, you want a list that features a combination of multiple threats and at least some impediment to Angmar's magic game. 

Because Angmar has access to so many casters, the best position we can put ourselves in is to (a) build an army that can still function if the magic proves debilitating, then (b) add pieces that can weather / distract those casters for as long as possible, or threaten them as soon as possible, and then finally (c) add pieces that will allow our core pieces (namely, our heroes) to do their thing for as long as possible. 

Easier said than done, right? Well, yes... but perhaps also easier than you'd think at first glance. 

So let's get practical, shall we?

Counter 1: Even Angmar's magic takes time (usually multiple turns) to shut down multiple targets--so build a list that presents multiple targets. 

We discussed the first component in Part 2, so I won't belabor that point here. Basically, target-oversaturation is a problem for most armies, and Angmar is no exception. Because Angmar's casters can only target one target per round (and unless Angmar has exceptionally good casting luck, not every cast each round is successful), the question of neutralization is essentially a math game. While it's theoretically possible for Angmar to accumulate 4-6 spellcasters (1-2 wraiths, 2-4 barrow wights), most competitive Angmar lists also want to have at least one monster (Gulavhar at higher levels, a fell beast at mid-to-high levels, Buhrdur and/or some cave trolls at any level), dead marsh spectres, warg riders, a healthy bevy of troops, and perhaps a shade. So you will generally see three casters at most points levels (the Witch-King and two barrow wights), topping out at 30 Will among them (and if the Witch-King has 20 Will, he's probably also on Fell Beast, or at least a horse, in a combat set-up, which means he's really only spending 10-14 of his Will to cast). 

That's still a lot of Will to throw at spells, but the total number of your models that can be shut-down in a given turn is limited to 3 (and in reality, closer to 2, because one of the two barrow-wights usually fails unless they're burning basically all their Will on a single cast attempt). So if you have more than 3 threats in your army, Angmar can't shut all of them down at once; and if you bring 6-10 threats in your army, Angmar probably can't shut them all down at any point in the game (because it lacks the resources and the turns).

The core basics of what we discussed in Part 2 still apply here: we want a solid core of troops who are F4 (to win ties against Orcs), S3+ (to wound those Orcs on 5s), D6 (so the Orcs have to wound us on 6s while we're wounding them on 5s), with C4+ (so we can get a decent number of charges past Harbinger of Evil) or a Courage-bypass if we can't get to Courage 4+ (although Angmar's Magic attack is particularly devastating against Fury shamans, who need to have at least 1 Will in their store or the Fury spell comes down), preferably with either spears or S3+ throwing axes. 

The theory is that if our core troops fit this profile, our army should be able to function more-or-less at the same level of killing power even if our heroes are shut down by magic. Yes, we may have trouble dealing with the enemy's heroes (hence why this is the foundation, not the end-point), but at least we have tools to hold our own--or maybe even press an advantage--against the Angmar army while our heroes are absorbing an inordinate amount of attention from the enemy's heroes.

I love this warband (though it's wicked expensive)

Photo Credit: Hint--I'm a creature of habit (it's me again)

Counter 2: Even Angmar's magic takes time (usually multiple turns) to shut down its targets--so take at least one tool that makes it take that much longer. 

While the tips we discussed in Part 2 are useful against a lot of different armies (F3/S3/D5 front-lines are pretty common), when you're list-building against Angmar in particular, you also want to add at least some impediment to Angmar's magic game (Heroic Resolve, Resistant to Magic, Stalk Unseen, etc.). 

Notice that I said "some impediment." As a practical matter, most armies probably can't completely shut down Angmar's magic game if directed against a single target (unless the Angmar player did you a solid by only taking the Witch-King with no Barrow-Wights, or only Gulavhar with a single barrow-wight). Yes, it's possible to build an army that's completely focused on shutting down enemy magic. But most of those tend to have invested so much into stopping that one thing that other aspects of the list (like hitting power, model count, etc.) tend to suffer in a way that may not actually make the list more competitive. 

I'm all for list-building freedom and creativity, so if you want to build a list like that you certainly can. But in my experience, some impediment to magic--backed by lots of threats to Angmar's core troops, and several (plural) flexible heroes--is a better way of dealing with Angmar, while also offering solid options against other types of armies, too. Here's some options for doing just that:

• Ally in hobbits (Resistant to Magic + Good Courage): For the forces of good, it's hard to get past the old, reliable Hobbit Militia (or Hobbit Archers and Hobbit Sheriffs. These guys didn't make our write-up in Part 2 mostly because they aren't particularly good at winning fights against Orcs (less than F3 generally) and because their defense isn't anywhere near what you want when it comes to "staying power" (D3). But if you're looking to add in just a single warband (or two) that can help you deal with Angmar specifically, while also giving you some pieces you can use in other scenarios, these guys are a solid add (and usually a cheap one, too). As Convenient allies with all the LOTR-era good forces except Arnor (who can take Hobbit Archers natively in their own list) and Numenor (who don't need more Resistant to Magic because of the Blood of Numenor special rule), adding them into most forces is laughably easy. There are also two exceptional Heroes of Valour in the list who are also great at augmenting things Angmar does well. On the cheaper side, you can bring fifteen hobbits with super-Merry, who has a horn that boosts the Courage of all hobbits by +1, making them both Courage 4 and Resistant to Magic (pretty good that) while also giving you 2 Might, access to Heroic March and Strike, the option to upgrade your Hobbit militia to Strength 3 (potentially Strength 4 if they piercing strike, because they're D3 anyway so what do they care?), all at a bargain cost of 55 points total (on pony, no less, so mobility isn't even an issue). Or, since hobbits are cheap as chips, you could bring fifteen hobbits with Gandalf the Grey (also a Hero of Valour in the Shire list), which gives you both access to a top-tier wizard (with Protection of the Valar, to boot) plus the option to bring 25-point Dunedain as minor heroes (for spot-Might in various spots, more warband drops, and to bring along more hobbits--just remember they don't have the 2-attack army bonus in the Shire list). Either route makes it very easy to ally Resistant to Magic into most lists, and even a single warband brings lots of added value.
• Ally Numenor with your elves (Resistant to Magic + Strength 4): Numenor is a tricky faction to ally into generally, but there are a few scenarios where you don't form a Red alliance (Ents, Eagles, Thranduil's Halls, Lothlorien) and of course if you ally with Rivendell you also don't lose your Army Bonus (+1 Courage globally, which is nice to have, but of course less important if your Numenoreans are allied with C5+ elves, or C6+ monsters). The key thing here is that Blood of Numenor (which grants Resistant to Magic to all Numenorean Captains and Warriors within 6" of Elendil, Isildur, or the forthcoming Anarion) isn't part of the Army bonus, it's on the base profiles of Numenorean Warriors, Numenorean Captains, and Isildur himself (so he's always Resistant to Magic, because he's always within 3" of himself). This allows Numenor to bring Resistant to Magic into Yellow--or even Red--alliances. Yes, the rule is dependent on having a few of your heroes in certain spots (something Angmar can usually muck with), but as any Angmar player will tell you, Elendil (who always has Fortify Spirit up on himself) and Isildur (who may have the One Ring, in which case he's immune to Barrow-Wight magic, but not wraith magic) are on the tougher side to target and control. Meanwhile, Numenor offers some nice tools to its yellow allies in particular that are useful in more than just match-ups with Angmar: cheap S4 spears for elves, and banners / mounted heroes / bodies in general for Ents / Eagles. Elendil's not exactly "cheap" to ally in, but Isildur is very good value at every points level (135 on armored horse), and that's before you factor in the advantages and versatility of having the One Ring (potentially, but probably) on a F6/S5/3 Attack hero.
• Ally with Gondor (cheap Heroic Resolve everywhere, plus good utility pieces): Gondor is a fantastic utility list, so it's no surprise they're featured here. But in addition to all the other great stuff that you can ally into a list through Gondor (cheap heavy cavalry (Knights of Minas Tirith), F4 spearmen who are also excellent archers (Rangers), S3 longbows with Bodyguard (Citadel Guard), several options for D7 (F3 Warriors of Minas Tirith, or F4 Fountain Court Guard), and of course siege weapons (the Bolt Thrower in particular is an absolute menace to everything important that Angmar has, at least until they get into combat)), Minas Tirith also has a lot of heroes with Heroic Resolve, which is a rarer heroic action than you'd think. Gandalf the White is, of course, the gold standard (Hero of Valor, with Resolve, plus Fortify Spirit and Banishment, which are about as anti-Angmar as spells get, plus he even has Will on his mount, Shadowfax). But there are two very affordable heroes of valor that also fit the bill (spoiler alert: Denethor is not one of them): 
• Faramir isn't a top-tier hero by any stretch, but at 110 points max in his full fighting get-up (and you can field him as an anti-Angmar hero for as little as 85--I would always take the bow upgrade), it's very easy to add him and 15 Minas Tirith Warriors to basically any LOTR-era good force. His base stats are very good (up to D7 in armored form, 2 attacks plus a horse and an option for a lance, and of course Courage 6--or 7 if you keep the army bonus or add a war horn), but not so good that you'll feel he's being "wasted" if he stands in the middle of your battle line and calls 2-3 Heroic Resolves in the early going. In exchange, he offers significant magic protection to a pretty large chunk of your army (1 free die to all friendly models within 6" of him, against an infinite number of magic attacks directed against them in that Move phase). With 3 Will in his own profile (to go with 3 Might, 2 Wounds, and 2 Fate), it's unlikely Angmar tries to cast at him on a turn when he calls resolve (the ability to resist with 2 dice, up to three times, and potentially get back any spent Will that rolls a "6," tends to cause Might-less Barrow-Wights to look elsewhere). And as long as you take the Bow he can still partake in shooting (or he can fight, too, if Gandalf the White is able to Command a model into him). 
• For slightly cheaper, you can also take Hurin the Tall. He's not nearly as beefy as Faramir defensively (D6, 1 Will / 1 Fate), and ironically enough you may actually be more bummed out that Hurin isn't moving / charging than if you keep Faramir in place (S4, 2 attacks on a horse, and a Master-forged sword), but if you want a mounted hero for slightly fewer points plus the Line of Command special rule (for manipulating VPs related to leader kills), he's a solid option with 3 Might for both Heroic Strike and Heroic Resolve (useful against Angmar, useful against lots of armies other than Angmar). 
• Finally, there's the budget option: Cirion, Lieutenant of Amon Barad. As a Hero of Fortitude you'll need to bring a hero of valor along, too, to ally him in (Denethor's always lurking at just 35 points if you're really on a budget, but unless you're okay with Denethor being your army leader, I'd opt for either Faramir or Hurin myself). But at just 55 points, his middling combat stats are actually good enough against Angmar's front-line troops (F4/S4/D6/2 Attacks), plus he's Courage 4 base (but counts as C6 when charging Terror models) and has 3 Might for (wait for it) Heroic Strike and Heroic Resolve. So he's always useful as a cheap Move/Strike caddie, and additionally useful against Angmar for the Resolve. Plus you can bring in a few Rangers, D7 shields, and heavy cavalry with him, just for kicks and grins.
• Hobbit-era armies: Unfortunately, none of the options outlined above really help out any Hobbit-era good armies. For some reason, elves actually don't have any troops who are naturally Resistant to Magic (Lothlorien can get it with their army bonus, but they aren't green allies with any Hobbit-era armies except Rivendell, which doesn't really count). Neither, for that matter, do dwarves (although I admit that makes more sense thematically, dwarf-player though I am). So your best bet is going to be trying to ally in some Heroic Resolve. Unfortunately, the options here are pretty limited also.
• Fortunately, Gandalf the Grey is in a decent chunk of Hobbit-era lists (Thorin's Company, Survivors of Lake-Town, White Council), so he remains a viable option for all the reasons he was attractive in the Shire list (and if you take him from Survivors, you can also bring along some cheap troops, though they're not Resistant to Magic and also have horrible Courage). 
• Cost-wise, your cheapest valor hero option is Balin the Dwarf from Thorin's Company (40 points), though if you can afford to splurge a few extra points the defense buff that Champion Balin gets (D5 to D8, for 60 points) is probably worth it. Either one is a Hero of Valor, so there's no need to pay any other ally tax (and if you opt for Champion Balin he can also lead Iron Hills Warriors, Goat Riders, or even add a ballista, though at that point any idea of "cheapness" is out the window). The problem with Balin is that he has only one Might, so that's one Resolve you get with him (maybe more if you have someone like Ori with Chronicler in your force, but at that point the costs really start to balloon). 
• Bofur the Dwarf (Thorin's Company or Erebor Reclaimed) has 2 Might for Resolves (which is better), but is only a hero of fortitude (which is worse). 
• Dain Ironfoot is our first model (other than Gandalf) with 3 Might and Resolve (because Dain literally has all the best heroic actions except Defense--look it up). But if you thought calling a Resolve and not charging was tough for Hurin the Tall, just try it with Dain. 
• The same goes for Bard (Army/Survivors of Lake-Town)... well, okay, it's at least 80% as tough for Bard as it is for Dain. 
• Finally, there are elf heroes who have Heroic Resolve, but apart from Galadriel in Lothlorien (130 points, Hero of Valor, solid caster in her own right, but a horrible leader to have in Contest of Champions), most of them are either very expensive combat heroes (Gil-Galad, Elrond, and Glorfindel, none of whom you would want to have standing around for 2-3 turns calling Resolves) or Heroes of Fortitude with just 1 Might (Cirdan, Gildor Inglorian). So yeah--the Hobbit-era armies just have nowhere near as good a selection of options as the LOTR-era armies have.
• Elven Cloaks: Another upgrade we haven't covered yet is the option for elven cloaks. These are, unsurprisingly, mostly on elves (and your various members of the Fellowship, of course). They also don't offer exactly the same protection against magic that they do against shooting (because the caster can move to a spot where he/she can see the target, then move back). But if you have these on at least some of your models (or perhaps an important hero or two), they can force Angmar to play around something that they normally wouldn't need to play around (which perhaps forces them into a slightly less advantageous position, or forces them to spend more of their movement than they would like, or means that even if they do manage to Paralyze their target, they can't charge it), so it's definitely better than nothing. If you're looking to ally-in, Mirkwood Rangers (Halls of Thranduil), Wood Elf Warriors (Lothlorien, or Rivendell with Gildor Inglorian), and Wood Elf Sentinels (Lothlorien or Halls of Thrandiul) are all solid options that can be allied into any good list, regardless of era. 
• One model not featured on this list (anymore) is Galadriel, Lady of Light, from the White Council. If you can ally her into the list, she's still very good at countering Angmar (Fortify Spirit for magic protection, Banishment to snipe Angmar's many Spirits, and Instill Fear with her -1 Courage debuff). But now that she's just a Hero of Fortitude, the cost to bring her and a Hero of Valor (Celeborn, Elrond, Gandalf, Saruman, Radagast, Glorfindel) when neither can lead troops is too high for most lists. As we've seen throughout this series, that isn't fatal by any stretch to the ability of most lists to counter Angmar. But it does mean that some lists have to get more creative (and that creativity usually manifests itself through smart alliance choices, which I'm all for).

Switching over to evil armies, there's unsurprisingly fewer options. I was surprised at the relative lack of Heroic Resolve (it's basically non-existent except on a few heroes, who thankfully are almost all Heroes of Valor). The LOTR-era vs. Hobbit-era is also still a thing, although everyone's helped by the fact that Moria basically can ally with anyone evil (while the LOTR-armies get The Serpent Horde and the Hobbit-armies can ally with Dol Guldur). All told, nothing's a perfect answer, but at least there are some answers to turn to.

• Mordor: They say turnabout's fair play, and if that's true, you could do a lot worse than a 90-point Witch-King as a chasis (3/10/1). If you're taking him that small, it's largely for the ability to cast some pretty good spells and bring Heroic Resolve. In a heartier guise (Crown of Morgul, at least 5 more Will, at least 1 more Fate, and a mount of some kind), he can of course do a lot more than that. He may be the ultimate "flex" piece in an army that's pretty full of them. A contingent of Morgul Stalkers are both thematic and helpful, with base Courage 3 and Stalk Unseen (plus, at 2 attacks and S4 for only 10 points each, they're pretty good value in a scrap). Plus you can, you know, add on generic wraiths for as little as 55 points each (more realistically 70-80), and give Angmar's magic a run for its money.
• Moria: A surprising faction that offers multiple profiles for threatening Angmar while shrugging off magic. Two things in their favor: first, they're yellow allies with virtually every evil army (only Barad-Dur and Sharkey's Rogues aren't). Second, Durburz offers you a very cheap Hero of Valor (70 points) with Heroic Resolve and some other nice heroic actions, too (Strike and Defense). Most of Moria's big monsters are also Resistant to Magic with pretty hefty Will stores: Dragons (250-350 points, 3 Will) are pretty pricey, though they'll hit like a tank. Cave Drakes (150 points, 3 Will) are quite a bit cheaper, as long as you can protect them from big heroes. The Watcher in the Water is also surprisingly Resistant to Magic, and has a hefty 5 Will to supplement it. But if you really want some cheap threats that you can ally into any force, it's hard to get past the 75-point Dwellers in the Dark, who pair Courage 7 and Resistant to Magic with Fight 7, Strength 5, 3 Attacks, 3 Wounds, and the ability to regenerate wounds (Murderous Power). Plus they cause Terror (because, again, turnabout's fair play).
• Khand: Another surprising faction. It's really only the Khandish Kings that offer true magic protection (Heroic Resolve, probably on a model you'd really prefer to move), but as you might have guessed, Evil's kind of short on heroes with Resolve, and the King's a Hero of Valour, so beggars can't be choosers.
• The Serpent Horde: Now this is more like it. No, really--there's a ton of options in this list (again, not surprising--apart from the lack of defense, Serpent Horde is in many ways the Minas Tirith of evil--something for just about everyone):
• Like most things Serpent Horde, all things start with Suladan, who has 3 Might / Will, Heroic Resolve, and actually can do useful things even if he's not charging / in combat thanks to his very helpful 6" banner (plus he has a 12" Stand Fast! and Heroic March, in addition to Strike--so he covers a lot of bases). Most people prefer to take him on the horse (and rightfully so), but I can attest from personal experience that he's perfectly fine on foot, standing 3-4 inches behind your lines, throwing up Heroic Resolves for a couple of turns to buy time for your Half-Trolls and camels to do their thing. 
• The Golden King of Abrakhan is also a Hero of Valor and also has Resolve (not too bad), plus 6 Will (which he'd rather be using for other things, but if he needs it to keep going, it's there), and he's also got a 6" banner. Yes, he's pricey, and his combat stats leave something to be desired when it comes to dealing with heroes (F4, no Strike), but between his Courage 4 and 6 Will he's pretty good at charging models with Terror, and F4 is plenty good to chew through Angmar's troops (while S4, Burly, and 4 Attacks with 2 Might for boosting is pretty good at cleaning out basic orcs). 
• Hasharin (also in Umbar) are also great at killing orcs (F5, S4, 3 Attacks, and Bane of Kings), and the addition of Stalk Unseen means it may be possible to get them into position to attack without exposing them to a full-fledged Angmar barrage (hopefully--because their single Will point is unlikely to get the job done). 
• A Mumak with the Sigils of Defiance upgrade also picks up Resistant to Magic, which is nice, and of course a Mumak poses all sorts of threats to Angmar (it doesn't charge, so its low Courage generally doesn't come into play; it deals massive impact hits as it moves, and while you can ultimately control it with magic, Paralyze doesn't really do anything other than stop it from moving until the driver can be re-awakened, because it can't be knocked prone). 
• But the real reason why you'd ally with these guys (besides bringing Suladan) is the Watchers of Karna, who I would generally take with twin blades (two attacks). Defense 3 is the eyesore stat, but Fight 4, Strength 3, and 2 Attacks are very good at dealing with orcs, and with Courage 3 (jumps to C5 when charging Terror), Resistant to Magic, and Hatred (Spirit), they're also exceptionally capable of dealing with D7 Barrow Wights (wounding on 5s), especially if they can get a trap and surround. At just 9 points each, it's easy to field 4-6 of them, which gives you a largely magic-resistant strike force that's capable of cutting its way to Barrow Wights and then dealing with them (or hanging around the back of your army to deter Spirit Heroes like Gulavhar in particular from swooping in).
• Finally, there's the evil Hobbit-era armies... which unfortunately offer very slim pickings. With the exception of a Yellow alliance with Moria (Durburz), there's no Heroic Resolve to pass around (not even the Necromancer has it, which surprised me), or Resistant to Magic (outside of Dwellers in the Dark from Moria, or the Pits of Dol Guldur Legendary Legion--which has Resistant on every model in its own list, but of course can't be allied with any other lists). The best the Hobbit-era armies can offer is probably Dol Guldur, as The Necromancer is really the only Hobbit-era evil profile who casts magic of any kind, and he does have a few spells that are useful against Angmar (Chill Soul to deal wounds to important heroes, and Shroud of Shadows to grant invisibility). But the Nazgul of Dol Guldur are probably more versatile against Angmar, because even if Angmar manages to shut them down, killing them actually makes things worse for Angmar because they can simply respawn (in which case they need to be neutralized again). The ability to throw your own Paralyze with Mirkwood Spiders (20 points a pop, shoot webs 8" away on a 5+ without any resource cost, and if the target is hit and doesn't pass a Fate save the model is Paralyzed) is also a pretty good way to discourage models without Fate (Barrow-Wights, Shades, Gulavhar) from staying within 3" of front-line troops, which then makes it difficult for Angmar to keep Terror up. But my favorite counter-Angmar profiles in the list are the Castellans of Dol Guldur, which are tailor-made to charge Angmar (C6, 12 Will that they can use as Fate or to resist spells), and then shred its orc battle line (F5, 2 Attacks, S5). They're useful against most battle-lines (especially if you support them with S4 Gundabad Orc spearmen and a banner reroll), and Angmar's is no exception. Plus the list includes other useful things, too, if you're eyeing other match-ups (Fell Wargs for cheap objective grabbers, F3/S4/D6/C3 Orcs, 2-Attack Hunter Orcs (S4, 8 points each).

Same warband(s), slightly optimized hero suite

Photo Credit: You guessed it!

Counter 3: If you expect a magical barrage, certain types of heroes (plural) just offer you more and better options for weathering the storm. 

We come to it at last--the million dollar question: okay, so I get how having tools like this in my army will help against Angmar--but how do I manage to use my really important heroes against Angmar? Well, the answer is... sometimes you can, and sometimes you can't. 

Part of the issue in facing Angmar is that Angmar can take both a lot of magic (up to three named wraiths, plus Barrow-Wights) and big heroes who will tear through smaller Captain-level heroes (Gulavhar, Buhrdur, any wraith on Fell Beast, or the Wild Warg Chieftain). 

The list-building problem occurs because which strategy you want depends on what route Angmar goes. Against the magic heroes, having more heroes of lesser quality is actually better because of the math game it presents (Angmar can only target so many heroes per turn, plus spells fail sometimes, so presenting more targets maximizes the chance that at least some heroes escape the barrage). But of course, those smaller heroes may not be able to deal with large threats like Gulavhar or Buhrdur (a bigger hero would be better). 

Adding to the problem of list-building: because Angmar can couple cheap orcs with cheap spell-casters (Barrow-Wights, at 50 points each, are a really good value), Angmar can actually afford 1-2 of Buhrdur, Gulavhar, and a Wraith on Fell Beast, at basically any points level north of 600, so you'll usually need both a big hero (or two) and some support heroes to help shrug off the magic. So what do we do?

We'll explore an actual taxonomy of heroes for every faction in later write-ups, but for now, here's some general considerations when it comes to selecting your heroes:

Against Angmar, having more heroes of lesser quality is usually better than having fewer heroes of better quality (and definitely a single hero of exceptional quality, unless it's a hero with other-worldly magic defense). 

The reality is that a properly constructed Angmar force usually packs enough magic tools to neutralize a single priority target, and that's usually the hero you want to play with most / need the most. So if you want to be able to play with that hero, you either need a hero with other-worldly magic defense, or you need to make sure your big combat hero has the support from other heroes that he/she'll need to survive.

Unfortunately, heroes with major magic-defense are pretty rare: we're talking someone like Elendil or Glorfindel (3 Will + Fortify Spirit always active), an Ent Hero with their army bonus active (immune to all magic and special rules that would prevent them from moving, which includes Angmar's three big spells--Transfix, Compel, Paralyze--as well as the Spectres' A Fell Light is In Them), or maybe the Balrog (10 Will + Resistant to Magic, although not having any Might to boost your resist rolls makes every resist test with the Balrog an adventure). A 3 Will pool plus Resistant to Magic will help for a bit, but in the long-run it's probably not enough against Angmar. And a 3 Will pool is almost certainly not good enough unless you're really good at rolling 6s (after all, if you always roll a "6" to resist, you'll never succumb to a spell or run out of Will).

That means most lists are probably going to be shunted towards the second option: instead of investing, say, 240 points in one big hero with suspect magic defense (King Aragorn), you're usually better off against Angmar if you spend those 240 points on 2-3 heroes instead (say, Faramir with heavy armor and shield (90), Hurin the Tall on horse (90), and Cirion, Lieutenant of Aman-Barad (55)). None of those heroes individually are going to be as dangerous as Aragorn--indeed, an Angmar hero like Gulavhar is probably going to be licking his chops when he sees them across the table. But right from the jump, we've made it far more difficult for Angmar to neutralize our "hero" because instead of one hero, we now have three. That means a minimum of three casts with either three different casters or over multiple turns... and it also means we've bought ourselves at least three opportunities for those casts to fail. Plus, these three heroes have additional tricks to help weather the magic barrage and deal with bigger Angmar heroes like Gulavhar, which Aragorn simply can't match on his own.

If you can take a Hero with Heroic Resolve, do it. So Heroic Resolve is a unique heroic action for many reasons. First off, it's the only heroic action that is guaranteed to go off every turn that you call it: because it is resolved instantly, at the start of the Move Phase, before any moving occurs, there's no roll-offs or other opportunities for your opponent to stymie it. Second, while most heroic actions give the hero additional agency (the hero moves first, improves a combat stat, or has a chance to fight more than once), Heroic Resolve actually deprives the hero of agency in the rest of the move phase (the model that calls it cannot move), if not the rest of the round (unless the model has a ranged weapon or magic, they can't do anything else the rest of the turn unless the enemy decides/manages to charge them). For certain models this isn't an issue--but if you call Resolve with a big hero (like, say, King Aragorn), that lack of agency could really blunt your army's effectiveness for the round (and calling Resolve over multiple rounds can actually cost you games).

Most importantly, while the benefit of the heroic action always confers (every model within 6" of the Hero gains 1 free dice to resist spells), you don't actually get to take advantage of the benefit unless your opponent decides to spend resources that turn casting magic. In fact, the opponent could always decide, "nah, I'm good," and just not cast that turn. In which case, most players will tend to think that they "wasted" their Might by calling that heroic action.

But here's the thing: as long as Angmar (a) has magic casters, and (b) is in casting range, there's no such thing as a "wasted" Heroic Resolve against Angmar. Yes, a Resolve only gives a single die to resist (although that die is cumulative with any Will that your model spends, as well as with other special rules like Resistant to Magic or spells like Fortify Spirit, so it can add-up). But you'd be surprised how going from 0 dice to resist (say, on a half-troll or an Uruk-Hai Berserker) to 1 die to resist changes the amount of Will an Angmar player will spend on casting magic. Like we talked about at the start, if resources are equal, the rules for casting magic favor the target over the caster (caster must spend resources first, must hit a certain threshold for success, and the target wins ties). So if the caster actually wants the spell to go off (i.e., it's not a Hail Mary play), he/she will almost always need to spend more resources than the target. So if the target gets 1 die, the caster will almost always spend an extra Will than what he/she was planning to spend originally (3 instead of 2, 4 instead of 3, etc.).

Now for some models (like the wraiths), you won't see immediate dividends from this strategy because their Will pools are pretty sizeable (14 for the Tainted, 16 for the Dwimmerlaik, and up to 20 for the Witch-King). But you will see it pretty quickly against Barrow-Wights, who only have 5 Will to start and no way to regenerate it. Against a 0-Will warrior, it's pretty common for Wights to single-cast Paralyze, hoping to neutralize a target on that juicy 4+. If there are 3 Wights in the Angmar force, that's up to 15 casts, with 7-8 successes on average (resulting in 7-8 paralyzed models over the course of the game--a pretty good return for the resources Angmar spends). But if those same targets get a free die to resist that spell? Suddenly, a single-cast looks like it may not be enough (a "4" is still successful, but also pretty easy to match/succeed). And if a Wight spends 20% of his Will store for only a 50% chance to cast (4+), which will then be shut-down 50% of the time (on a 4+), the odds of actually paralyzing the target fall substantially (25% chance of success, if you're playing the odds before any dice are rolled, instead of the original 50%). 

Faced with this choice, the Wight's controlling player basically has to decide: am I going to risk just the single Will (knowing that there's a 75% chance this will fail, which seems a lot like throwing the Will away)? Am I going to up my chances by doubling (or even tripling) the amount of Will that I spend (knowing that everything could still be for naught if the opponent rolls that 6)? Or am I just not going to cast this turn, and save my Will for a later turn / after the hero runs out of Might to call Resolve? Suddenly, what was once a no-brainer choice (let's throw 1 Will per Wight to try to paralyze as many half-trolls as possible this round) has become a layered tactical decision for the Angmar player, with no clear "right" answer (especially in the early game).

And believe it or not, the analysis actually becomes harder if the Angmar player was planning to target a hero that turn (especially in the early game, when the hero has all his/her stats). Because on top of the free die from Heroic Resolve, the hero probably has at least 1 Will that could be spent to also resist a spell (coupled with 1-3 Might that could be used for boosting). Suddenly, instead of needing to spend 2-3 Will to Paralyze that hero, the Wight may be looking at 4 Will or multiple Wights may need to spend the 2-3 Will that you were originally planning to spend with just one. Or, again, the Wight(s) could just decide that it's not worth it to cast this round, and save their Will for later.

Here's the rub: regardless of what the Angmar player chooses to do, you've already won. If the Angmar caster commits the same number of resources that he originally planned to commit, guess what? Any targeted model within range of the Resolve gets a free chance (or another free chance) to shrug off that spell. It may not work, but a chance is always better than no chance. If the Angmar caster commits more resources to do what he/she was going to do anyway, that's less Will to cast against other targets / cast in other turns, which is also a huge win. And if the Angmar caster decides not to cast a spell that turn? Guess what--that's also a huge win because it means your models aren't going to be stun-locked, paralyzed, pulled forward / pushed backwards, or otherwise placed in harms way and it means you get to actually play with your own models.

In other words, if Angmar's in casting range, there's no such thing as a "wasted" Heroic Resolve against Angmar. It always pays dividends (even if Angmar still ultimately succeeds in getting the cast it wants off).

When choosing your combat heroes, opt for heroes who can do other things over heroes who can't. So in the example I gave above (swapping King Aragorn for Faramir with armor and shield, Hurin the Tall on horse, and Cirion), the primary benefit is that we've swapped one hero for three (which automatically makes it both more difficult and less efficient for Angmar to shut down our heroes). Additionally, having three heroes (probably) increases the number of dice we have in combat (3-4 for Aragorn, vs. 2 + 2 + 2-3 for Faramir/Cirion/Hurin), and definitely increases the number of combats they can participate in during a single round (1-2 for Aragorn depending on if he Heroic Combats, vs. 3 combats base for our three heroes, and potentially as many as 6 if there are heroic combats involved). All of this is great, of course, tut the specific choice of these three heroes also confers some additional benefits.

First off, all three heroes have (a) 3 Might, (b) Heroic Strike, and (c) Heroic Resolve. This means that while none of the heroes are as threatening individually as Aragorn, the three of them collectively are more flexible than Aragorn by himself--and against an Angmar army (which excels at picking something important in your army and stymieing it), flexibility is really important. If Angmar is in casting range, any one of our three heroes can call Heroic Resolve at any point while the other two press the attack within that bubble of magic protection (or, if we're really spread out, more than one can call Resolve if we really need the protection). If Gulavhar is lurking or Buhrdur is charging, we have up to three models who can threaten to strike up in a fight. And if one of our heroes happens to be Paralyzed, we have two others who can help to protect him, wake him at the start of the next round, or take the position he would have had in the ranks.

Additionally, each of these heroes has the potential to bring more to the table than just their prowess in combat. Faramir with the army bonus is an absurd Courage 7 (Stand Fast!), is also probably the army leader in this set-up (so he's triggering Bodyguard for any Citadel Guard or Fountain Court Guard in your force), and has Heroic Defense if you need to stall something big like Gulavhar. Hurin is a beast in combat, but his Line of Command special rule also offers VP denial. And Cirion is excellent as a Might caddie, an anchor for an infantry battle line, or for charging Terror models. Of course, Aragorn can also do most of these things, too--but not all at once, in more than one place at the same time.

Finally, while most factions don't have the same access Minas Tirith does to multiple heroes with Resolve and Strike, there's a decent number of affordable heroes who offer multiple benefits to your army even if they're not in combat. Models like Suladan or the Golden King of Abrakhan are pretty solid in combat, but they can also help your force by standing behind your ranks, calling Resolve, and conferring a 6" banner bonus. Any hero with Resolve and more than 1 Might can offer magic defense one turn, and serve as a Might caddie (for heroic moves) the next. And @@. Sure, in a perfect world we'd like our heroes to be fighting and killing each turn. But the world isn't perfect--and so heroes who still have some usefulness even if they can't fight are always worth having. 

Best of both worlds (though it's even MORE expensive)

Photo Credit: Same old, same old

Counter 4: Push the Tempo and Keep up the Pressure. 

Despite the existence of these countermeasures, it's worth re-emphasizing that no matter how much you list-build against Angmar, a properly-built and wisely-managed Angmar force is still likely to eventually neutralize / assassinate their preferred target before the end of the game if they pour all their magical efforts into doing so... especially if you simply stand back and take the magical barrage, turn after turn.

So don't just stand there and take it--take the fight to them.

Not to beat a dead horse (again), but all these anti-Angmar tactics are cumulative. Yes, having multiple threats in our force (including multiple heroes instead of one big one) helps to disperse Angmar's magical resources, making it more difficult and less efficient for them to shut down all the threats in our army. But the whole reason we have those threats to begin with is to be able to cut our way through Angmar's front ranks (which, I remind you, are typically just standard orcs) so that we can employ the ultimate, fool-proof defense against enemy casters: charge them before they have a chance to cast any magic that turn (and then hopefully kill them so they can't cast no more).

That's why you want multiple heroes instead of just one: because multiple heroes can kill multiple orcs in multiple combats (and potentially call multiple heroic combats to kill even more orcs in multiple combats). That's why you want at least one hero who can call Heroic Resolve: because every turn Angmar decides it's not worth spending Will is a turn where your army gets to cut through orcs unmolested. That's why you want your troops to be equipped to defeat and slay orcs: because it's all about cutting your way to Angmar's Spirit Heroes and cutting them down. That's why you want powerful shooting and throwing weapons: because Wights (plus Gulavhar) have no Fate, and Wraiths have only 1 Wound (plus they lose Will in combat).

In other words, you only need enough magic defense to crack and cut your way to those annoying casters. After that, the best defense really is a good offense.

* * *

Feeling better about your chances now? Well...

Don't get me wrong--as I hope you've seen in this series, there's actually a decent number of tools out there that we can pack into our lists to combat Angmar (most of which will help combat other armies, too). But as I mentioned several times in my write-up on Angmar, building a list to fight Angmar is a very different thing from actually fighting Angmar with that list. The former is largely an academic exercise in theory-crafting. The latter is often a frantic, hectic experience, where nothing goes according to plan and all you-know-what tends to break loose. Plus those dice seem to have a mind of their own sometimes... the "best laid plans" and all that.

So in our final article on countering Angmar, we'll be moving from the world of theory to the battle on the table-top, and discussing some actual tactics you can employ, as well as some common pitfalls to avoid.

Until then, thanks for reading, and let us know what you think in the comments!