Nemesis: How To Fight Gulavhar

Good morning gamers,

Last time, we looked at the Balrog and various approaches you could use to deal with him. Today, we're looking at another feared Evil monster: Gulavhar, the Terror of Arnor. Gulavhar is like the Balrog in many respects - but he's also unlike anything else in MESBG. As a staple unit in a long of competitive Angmar builds, there's a decent chance that you'll see him at a competitive event - so let's see what's up with this guy and how we can build our lists to be able to counter him.

To help me with this venture, I asked for some input from Angmar aficionado and Gulavhar fan-club-member Evan Iverson from the Unexpected Podcast team to add thoughts on the article and provide emphasis on things that needed more help. He also pointed out what wouldn't scare a Gulavhar player, which was even more useful.

What Makes Gulavhar So Hated?

Photo Credit: Warhammer Community 

Like the Balrog, Gulavhar has good offensive stats - he's F7/S8 on offense and has Attacks equal to his remaining wounds (which starts off at 4 - same as the Balrog then). Unlike the Balrog, however, Gulavhar has Monstrous Charge, so not only can he get to 5 Attacks on the charge (more than the Balrog), but he also knocks down models that are S7 and below . . . which is pretty much anything. I'm not sure that most players would do this, but Gulavhar does have access to Heroic Strength, which would allow him to knock down other things that are on the cusp of not-being-knocked over (Treebeard is S8 and will be knocked over regardless of what Gulavhar gets, the Balrog is S9 and will be knocked over on a 3+), but these models are often at/above F7 innately, so doing so is a risk for sure.

Gulavhar's defensive stats aren't great (more on that later), but with 3 Might and access to Heroic Defense instead of Heroic Strike, it's pretty common to see Gulavhar players ask the question, "Do I feel worried about this fight?" If yes, they call Heroic Defense; if no, they don't. Pair this with the ability to regain wounds by killing enemy models (so a scratch here and there are easily cured if you can pounce on a lone warrior or two) and boy does his defensive profile not look nearly as condemning.

Finally, Gulavhar has Fly (for that oh-so-important-positioning), the Terror-Harbinger of Evil combo (have to test for Courage to charge him and he applies a -1 penalty to enemy Courage values within 12" of him), 3 Will and Resistant to Magic to put up some resistance to enemy spells, and the Spirit keyword to give Terror to nearby friendly Orc models if you kept your army bonus and boy is this guy where it's at. He's a monster among monsters and one of the most feared models in the game. But he's also one of the biggest glass cannons in the game - so let's talk about how to beat him.

How Do You Fight Back Against Gulavhar?

Let's start by talking about exploiting Gulavhar's defensive stats. Gulavhar has Defense 5 - which is good enough to make S2 archery need 6s To Wound him (assuming they don't have bonuses To Wound), but isn't good against anything with higher than S2 (be that a ranged weapon or a melee weapon). While most bowmen wield S2 bows, there's quite a bit of archery at the competitive scene (especially at points levels where you're likely to see Gulavhar) that are either S3/S4 or S2 with +1 To Wound. As such, one must assume that most missile weapons on the other side of the board are going to tear through Gulavhar.

The good news is that most of the shooting-heavy lists in the competitive spheres have limited access to Heroic Accuracy (Rangers of Ithilien and Rangers of Mirkwood have both high-volume archery AND plenty of access to Heroic Accuracy, but neither seems to be that prevalent at 700+ points). While Gulavhar USED be able to avoid taking a beating by keeping a large host of Orcs between him and the enemy gunline, a recent FAQ changed what counts as in-the-way for flying models, so Heroic Accuracy isn't a requirement. Furthermore, any Orcs that end up taking the arrow instead have a high risk of dying themselves (since Angmar Orc Warriors are D4-5 depending on whether they have shields or not). Is it better for an Angmar player to lose a bucket of Orcs to save Gulavhar? Potentially. Could it hurt your chances of winning the game? Definitely possible.

Evan pointed out that heroes with ranged weapons (especially of the bow/crossbow variety) are particularly dangerous to Gulavhar, since they know that using Might to boost a wounding roll will translate into a wound (Gulavhar doesn't have any Fate, after all). While Evan would also recommend calling Heroic Accuracy to hit Gulavhar, my opinions on Heroic Accuracy remain unchanged (though I might be tempted to use the exception I made about hitting a low-Defense model because Gulavhar is highly incentivized now to hide behind buildings).

An important subset of shooting weapons is siege weapons - and these pose a distinct threat to Gulavhar. Because Gulavhar has 0 Fate, any model with an insta-kill rule just needs to wound him once. All insta-kill siege engines will wound him on a 3+, so Gulavhar is hoping that the shot isn't on target - otherwise, he's toast! As we talked about last time with the Balrog, there are some melee models with insta-kill rules (Drain Soul and Morgul Blades) which also pose a threat - and most of these guys are going to wound him on 4s! Yep, they're dangerous for sure.

But what if you don't have insta-kill rules (from siege weapons or otherwise) in your list? And what if you also don't have high volumes of archery? Is there no other way to deal with him? There is, actually: Terror. Terror is more common (especially for Evil armies) and preys on the stat that is usually the "dump stat" for most armies: Courage. Gulavhar's Courage is equal to his remaining wounds, which means that while an FAQ indicated that he's immune to magical powers that reduce his Courage rating, special rules like Ancient Evil/Harbinger of Evil are going to reduce his Courage from 4 (or whatever his Wound rating is) to something lower. If there's a -1 penalty out there (or more than one penalty - more on that in a minute) and if he's taken a wound, he's suddenly at C2 and is more likely to FAIL to charge someone who causes Terror than to successfully charge. Now anyone CAN pass a Courage test no matter how bad their Courage value is, so having Terror/Harbinger across your list isn't a guarantee of safety, but it certainly helps. If you spam Terror in your list, this is great. If you don't but have a big hero that you want safe from Gulavhar, this is great. If you don't do Terror at all . . . well, there's hope for you yet, because we have one other method for dealing with Gulavhar.

Our final tactics are far more conventional and should be options for any list that isn't an all-hero list: charge him with one guy who's not in range of a Hurl or reliable Barge OR mob him with lots of guys (especially heroes). Gulavhar is a nasty bit of kit - but like most heroes in the game, he's only got 3 Might points. Using a "suicide Bob" tactic isn't always a sustainable option - but if you can burn through his Might, you can tag him with someone who is not facing towards your battle line, drift away from that fight so a D6" Barge movement isn't that likely to work, and ignore him for the rest of the round.

The other end of the extreme is to pile into him - Gulavhar might have 5 attacks on the charge, but if you can get him to burn his Might trying to win the fight (or to just not die with Heroic Defense), you can similarly pull the teeth from him. If you've got a trap on him and Strike up higher than F7 (not hard even for F5 heroes), you're going to make that guy pay out the nose to keep himself alive - but if he's trapped and loses, you should be able to roll a ton of natural 6s. So do that if you can't fight him in any other way. Evan would advise caution with this approach if Gulavhar has charged, since you could see the losses pile up should Gulavhar win . . .

But this leads us to another point that Evan thought was really important: force Gulavhar to spend his Might. Any monster without Might (especially the flying ones - and particularly Gulavhar) loses value and punch. Gulavhar becomes even more vulnerable to magical powers if he can't boost his rolls, he can't call Heroic Moves/Combats to get the positioning he wants (and is more vulnerable to being pegged by a single model), and if he runs out of Might, his answers to big heroes with Strike slamming into him are limited to "rolling better than them." This theme will come up a lot in this series, but it's particularly true of a low-Defense hero like Gulavhar: get him to spend his Might!

Okay, let's take everything we've said here and look at models you can use to fight Gulavhar.

Tiberius's Top 5 Models To Counter Gulavhar

As we did last time, I have a "Top 5" list, but I also have to make notes of a few other "niche" options for dealing with Gulavhar. Since Gulavhar and the Balrog are both Spirit models who want to be killing stuff, our honorable mention should come as no surprise . . .

Honorable Mention: Tom Bombadil

Yes, I'm going to be that guy and for the second time cite Tom Bombadil as the answer to all your problems. Once again, we have a Spirit model that wants to be hitting people hard - but Tom can a) refresh lost stats on the heroes he wants to jump on (even removing Transfixes cast by the Witch-King, Dwimmerlaik, or the Tainted), b) can deal cheeky wounds with Banishment on a 3+ (or settle for depleting his Will store to make passing Courage tests harder), c) bypass his Terror with his 3" auto-pass Courage test bubble, and d) charge into him to keep him from killing anything. Yes, Bombadil will eventually run out of Will if he tries to do all these things - but he's also going to be taking a very valuable piece out of the action.

Evan noted that Tom's 6" move and short-range casting means he can be avoided by Gulavhar, which is true, and so he sits at the "honorable mention" status only. For a far more competitive (and mean) option, I give you . . .

Dishonorable Mention: The Witch-King and Ringwraiths from the Black Riders Legendary Legion (but really multiple Ringwraiths in general)

Do you remember how I said above that a previous FAQ said that Gulavhar is affected by special rules that reduce his Courage? Do you remember how I said that insta-kill models are particularly dangerous against Gulavhar? Do you remember how I mentioned that he's got a decent ability to resist magical assaults with 3 Will/Resistant to Magic? Well, how do you think he'd fare against an army that can apply -2 Courage or even -3 Courage to enemy models who are within 12" of 4-7 Ringwraiths? Not great, I'll tell you that.

But it's not the Courage debuff that's the danger here: it's the auto-channelled, auto-cast Transfix spell that goes off on a 6 once per game per Ringwraith. Imagine you only have 3 Will points (and a free die every time) and you've got to stop a spell that "just gets a 6" - I mean, you need to get natural 6s of your own in order to have Will to keep resisting. That's really hard to do - and functionally, Gulavhar is quite likely to be locked in place with reduced Fight Value/Attacks (a channelled Transfix halves your FV and Attacks, rounding up - F4/2A in this case), which gives the Ringwraiths an edge when trying to charge him.

If the Witch-King (F5/2A on the charge) has taken a Morgul Blade and successfully charges into Gulavhar after he's been subjected to a channelled Transfix, not only does he have a better than 50% chance of winning the fight (and his chances go WAY up if Gulavhar has burned Might trying to boost Resist attempts), but all he needs is a single 5+ on two dice (assuming Gulavhar isn't trapped) and Gulavhar is dead. Flat. The end. Seems like a cheap move, but you'll find that's pretty common for this army no matter who it's facing. And I didn't even talk about the cheap-shot Black Darts they could be pumping his way if he hides behind his Orcs . . .

It's important to note that Ringwraiths in general can use most of these abilities - while they're usually not fielded en masse, it's not uncommon to see two of them in a Mordor (Witch-King and the Shadow Lord) or Angmar (Witch-King and Tainted/Dwimmerlaik) list. While you won't get the compounding Courage debuff from the Legion, you've still got the Morgul Blade, lots of magic (be it Transfixes or Black Darts), and probably enough speed to get close enough to cast and then get out of charge range. Evan ranks these guys really high, but I've slotted them here as "really, really dirty - but legitimate."

Pick #5: Lots of shooting (especially of the S3 variety)

You saw this coming, right? Gulavhar is D5 with 3 Wounds/0 Fate - shoot the darn guy. Naturally, anyone who's played at least a few games with Gulavhar will expect this and try their hardest to screen Gulavhar off, but the fact still remains: Gulavhar doesn't want to face shooting-heavy armies. The good news is that if you're facing Gulavhar, there's probably only two places where Gulavhar is going to be: behind a wall of Orcs or behind some kind of terrain. Both of these are fine if you have a shooting list.

If Gulavhar is hiding behind a wall and there's a big pack of Orcs nearby (who are no harder to wound than Gulavhar himself, since they're D4-5), just shoot the Orcs. Gulavhar's max C4 can cause him to run from the fight if you can break the enemy and not having a wall of guys to screen him once he's engaged can lead to over-exposure. If Gulavhar is hiding behind terrain, he's probably NOT supporting the Orcs in his army, so decimate them so they can't come and help him out! Either way, decimating Orcs leads to breaking the Angmar army - and if you can do that before Gulavhar can tear you apart, so much the better.

If you're a Forces of Evil player, the shooting approach gets even better, since you can shoot at Gulavhar once he engages in combat. Sure, you might kill one or more of your own guys (depending on how many models he managed to charge), but you might also hit Gulavhar and pluck a wound or two off him. If he's already committed to a fight (especially against a hero), every wound you manage to inflict will make him less effective in the ensuing fight - and he's already committed to it, so there's no backing out!

Any shooting list can take this approach - but don't think this is limited to just the lists that can take 50-100% bows. Even if you only have 33% shooting, so long as your bow count is at the 12-18 level, you stand to have a credible enough shooting threat that Gulavhar will need to be cautious - especially if those bows are S3+. For why I chose 12-18, check out a math post I did earlier in the year.

And this doesn't just have to be bows - throwing weapons/throwing spears on a single turn can be a devastating threat to Gulavhar. Even if they pluck off a wound or two right before he charges in, he goes from being a 5 Attack monstrosity (on the charge) to being a 3-4 Attack monstrosity (which is far more manageable for heroes and even warriors to deal with). And once again, if the throwing weapons involved are from an Evil faction, they can shoot into combat. Maneuvering your throwing weapons takes some skill - but thankfully, this math-head throwing-weapon-enthusiast has already done the work for you. You're welcome.

While this is the most universal solution to Gulavhar, some scenarios will allow Gulavhar to start right in your grill (either through maelstrom deployment rules or centerline deployment rules). When this happens, you may not have the time or opportunity to shoot at him. So for a more reliable threat, I give you . . .

Pick #4: Radagast the Brown without his Eagle (and maybe with Galadriel, Lady of Light)

Do you remember what I said earlier about Terror being a tough ask for Angmar? Evil can create Terror walls backed by Ringwraiths in two kinds of lists: Angmar and a Black Numenorean-heavy Mordor lists (you could spam Half Trolls or Castellans if you don't mind the expense). Most Evil armies don't work this way, though . . .

But what if I told you that you could get it with basically any Good list in the game, so long as you were willing to give up your army bonus? You'd think I'm crazy, right? Well, enter Radagast the Brown into the mix. Radagast is a great caster - and as a Hero of Valour (the minimum tier to ally with any faction) from the White Council (Historical/Convenient allies with basically every faction), getting him into your list is not hard at all. For 155pts, you can get Radagast on foot with Sebastian (his hedgehog ally that adds 1 Attack to his profile - though the die isn't Might-able and is resolved at S1). Sure, you could pay 10pts more for a horse or 45pts more to get a sleigh, but for what you want him for, a foot-only Radagast is just fine.

Radagast has three really great spells for dealing with Gulavhar: first and foremost, he has Aura of Dismay, which he could risk channelling (the only hero who really can) in order to get a 12" Terror radius instead of a 6" one. Any Angmar force is going to be afraid of THAT happening, but particularly one that's sunk 200 points into Gulavhar. Since it's one of two spells Radagast has that's harder to cast than a 3+, it's likely to be one of perhaps two spells that he needs to spend actual Will points to cast reliably - and with 6 Will points in his store (one needed to keep Aura of Dismay going), he can probably burn 2 Will + his free Will point to get it off (70% chance of success without spending extra Might).

The second spell he brings to the game to scare off Gulavhar is Immobilize. With a 12" range and a 3+ casting value, you wouldn't think this would be any more dangerous than other Immobilize/Transfix casters, but when paired with the Master of Birds rule (which gives Radagast line of sight to anywhere on the battlefield), there's no terrain piece that Gulavhar can hide behind once he's within 12" of Radagast to cloak his arrival. Nope, if Gulavhar wants to get close, he's going to need to burn some Will to get his charges off (after passing whatever Courage tests he needs).

But the real kicker is once Gulavhar gets close: if he lands anywhere near Radagast, he can cast Nature's Wrath on a 4+ to knock Gulavhar to the ground! Imagine Gulavhar attempting to fend off those Immobilize spells to actually go where he wants to, getting priority on a turn and passing a Terror test to charge what he wants to charge, only to find that he needs to stop yet another spell that will keep him from wounding things (and will probably see him dead in an instant if he fails to win - Heroic Defense or no). Sheesh, that's awful.

But wait, it gets even better: because Radagast has the One with Nature rule (which gives him Stalk Unseen) and the Master of Birds rule, he can hide behind the world's biggest piece of terrain and STILL do all of these things - and can't be charged if Gulavhar is more than 6" away from him! While solid walls have been erratad to affect who is protected by Blinding Light, other auric spells like Aura of Command and Aura of Dismay have no such limitation, and so Radagast can be behind a massive wall or a rock that covers his foot from Gulavhar's view and be unchargable for that turn AND do all the things Gulavhar doesn't want him to do. All for about the same cost as Gulavhar (or a bit less).

Now I predicated all this on Radagast NOT having the Eagle. The Eagle changes Radagast's usage quite a bit, since it costs him his Staff of Power. Without it, you're probably not casting much beyond Aura of Dismay (which is still useful for those around you - and perhaps even more so if it's channelled since you might not be within 6" of everyone you want to affect), but with 6 Will total and the need to keep 1 in your store, your ability to cast Nature's Wrath and/or Immobilize is greatly reduced. So I don't recommend giving him the Eagle mount if your goal is to fight someone like Gulavhar. It's also harder to hide him, so there's that . . .

One last benefit of running Radagast: if you run him from the White Council, you can also bring along Galadriel, Lady of Light if you have the points - and SHE can really deal a number of Gulavhar. Not only does she have Banishment (like Tom Bombadil, this can be used to pluck a wound off him), but she has Fortify Spirit to make both herself and Radagast (and potentially other heroes) more immune to the worst of Gulavhar's companions. She's nasty (and can also make charging her/Radagast much, MUCH harder thanks to her mini-Harbinger buff).

But if you've used Gulavhar, you know what you fear the most - and while these are pretty restrictive lists, they are still the most terrifying things you can face . . .

Pick #3: Wood Elf Sentinels and Dead Marsh Spectres

Low Courage isn't great - and if there's a sing-song Elf or a woozy spectre who can Fly you out of position/cover just because you failed a Courage test, that's really bad. Evan hates these guys about as much as Ringwraiths - and they are NASTY to deal with. Spectres are also blissfully cheap and Wood Elf Sentinels can be allied from the Halls of Thranduil or Lothlorien with any Good faction in the game! While there are ways for models who can't fly to fight against these kinds of models (just block their retreat), models with Fly are in a bit of a tight spot so long as there's a place within 12" that they can land. Even if the Spectre or Sentinel doesn't actually MOVE Gulavhar, the prohibition on him moving further that turn is enough to neutralize him for a round.

Pick #2: Elendil and Glorfindel

Most heroes don't want to go up against Gulavhar because of the retributive magic that usually gets thrown into Gulavhar's fight. There are some heroes, however, who don't fear magic very much - and at the top of the list are Elendil and Glorfindel. Both of these guys have Fortify Spirit (2 free Resist dice against every cast) innately and can't lose it and are also F7 to at least match Gulavhar's Fight Value - and can beat it with Heroic Strike.

Elendil is pretty alliance restrictive, but Glorfindel can be allied Conveniently with anyone, so if you're playing with the Forces of Good, you can pick up at least Glorfindel, if not Elendil for your list. Other heroes might have variable levels of effectiveness against Gulavhar, but these guys are the gold standard.

Pick #1: Basically Everything from the Assault Upon Helm's Deep or Assault on Lothlorien Legendary Legions

Yeah, these are the lists that are taking the meta by storm. While I could say "power-creep" is a thing, War in Rohan came out years ago and the Assault Upon Helm's Deep list is still a juggernaut despite all the lists that have come out since. Let's break down why these two lists are so dangerous to Gulavhar.

We should probably begin with shooting. You remember how I mentioned earlier in this list that mass shooting can be a danger to Gulavhar (and his Orc minions)? Well, both of these Legions are limited to 33% bows, but with Isengard Assault Ballistas (which give you 2 warriors by default that don't have shooting weapons) in one list and cheap Goblin bowmen in the other, it's not hard for a heap of archery to be pumped out each turn by these lists. Whether it's S4 crossbows with S9 insta-kill ballistas that can reroll their To Hit and Scatter rolls or S2 Orc bows that get +1 To Wound because it's nighttime (though Gulavhar is a creature of the night, so you'd think he'd be fine with it?), these armies tear low-Defense models to shreds - and Gulavhar/his Orc pincushion wall are certainly no exception.

Next, we look at the "other" ways the lists can deal with Gulavhar. The Assault Upon Helm's Deep list has demolition teams in it, which follow the principle of "dealing wounds, not making strikes" - if one of these bombs goes off near Gulavhar, he's quite likely to be dying or being all-but-dead (and good luck surviving one of those titanic explosions - vampires go BOOM!). Yep, he wants to be nowhere near these guys when the Fight Phase begins (and wants to Heroic Combat/Hurl into them if he can to keep those bombs from going off). A demolition team paired with a Shaman isn't what most competitive players are doing these days, but if you want the Berserker to not have to light the bomb and instead want one of the carriers to take an extra torch to light it, you can not only provide a huge deterrent to where Gulavhar strikes, but you can also be resilient against a Black Dart attack from someone like the Witch-King sniping the one guy carrying a torch.

Not to be outdone, the Assault on Lothlorien may not have demolition teams at their command, but they can have Bat Swarms half Gulavhar's Fight Value while fighting a F5 Wild Warg Chieftain or F4 Venom-back Spiders. Sure, Gulavhar might be able to call a Heroic Defense against these guys, but if he gets trapped, he could be in some serious trouble. With Fury from Druzhag to help the Warg, Bat, and Spider models charge terrifying foes automatically (and lots of Will on Druzhag so he can do other things), you're looking at some serious threat if Gulavhar isn't careful on his approach (and unlike Bill the Troll, it's hard to avoid getting charged by 10-12" move models - especially if they become 13-17" move models with a Heroic March).

Finally, both of these lists pack in the bodies and can wound Gulavhar incredibly well if he botches things. Uruk-Hai Warriors are some of the best elite units in the game, featuring F4/S4 on offense and the option of being D6 with a shield or being able to support with two friendly models with a pike (so fewer of your models need to pass Courage tests to charge than normal). If you took any Berserkers, this becomes even worse for Gulavhar, as those guys have 2 Attacks each (though Berserkers aren't in the competitive lists at the moment).

On the flip side, if you can get 2+ models into Gulavhar in an Assault on Lothlorien list, any Orcs/Goblins in that fight get +1 To Wound (unclear if spearmen get this bonus - they don't count towards whether the engaged models outnumber, but it doesn't say they don't get the +1 To Wound bonus). This makes Moria Goblin Prowlers incredibly dangerous, since they can wound on 4s with their throwing daggers and 2s, 3s, or 4s with their axes depending on whether they outnumber or trap Gulavhar. If one of these guys has joined a Wild Warg Chieftain and Bat Swarm, you can bet that Gulavhar is calling a Heroic Defense.

Sample Lists

Our first list is an anti-Gulavhar/anti-Angmar list featuring Radagast the Brown, Galadriel Lady of Light, and the Army of Lake-town - it has a whopping 52 models at 700 points and is pretty much what you'd expect from a Lake-town list now that you need to bring Bard in tow:

• Radagast the Brown with Sebastian
• CONVENIENT ALLY - The Army of Lake-town: The Master of Lake-town [ARMY LEADER]
• 6 Lake-town Guard
• 5 Lake-town Guard with spears and bows
  
• CONVENIENT ALLY - The Army of Lake-town: Alfrid the Councilor
• 6 Lake-town Guard
• 5 Lake-town Guard with spears and bows
  
• CONVENIENT ALLY - Braga, Captain of the Guard
• 6 Lake-town Guard
  
• 5 Lake-town Guard with spears
  
• CONVENIENT ALLY - Bard the Bowman on horse with armor 
• 9 Lake-town Guard
  
• 5 Lake-town Guard with spears and bows
  

700 points, 52 models, 15 bows hitting on a 4+, no D6+ models, 1 cavalry and 5+ Might for Heroic March, 13+ Might

This list has a good amount of shooting (dangerous to both Gulavhar and the Orcs shielding him), a large model count, and two casters who can force Gulavhar to spend Will early and be unable to keep the barrages from neutralizing him late. While I've opted for a 50-model Lake-town list, you could drop Galadriel and a pile of models to change this into various other kinds of lists that sport cheap heroes and 8-10pt warriors (I mocked up a 40-model Denethor-led Minas Tirith list, a 41-model Girion-led Dale list, and a 35-model Dwarf-King-led Khazad-Dum list). Yes, the model counts here aren't as impressive, but the theory is still the same: good auric support hero, lots of guys/archery to fend off Gulavhar/make those Orcs pay.

Our second list is a "no Might Angmar" list, which uses two models that have fallen from grace (the Dwimmerlaik and the Shade) and supports them with other heroes who will never go out of style (Barrow-Wights) and 2 Dead Marsh Spectres (for forcing those Courage tests/spending resources):

• The Dwimmerlaik on Fell Beast [ARMY LEADER]
• 4 Angmar Orc Warriors with shields
• 4 Angmar Orc Warriors with shields and spears
• 2 Dead Marsh Spectres
• 4 Wild Wargs
  
• Shade
  
• 4 Angmar Orc Warriors with shields
  
• 3 Angmar Orc Warriors with shields and spears
• 1 Angmar Orc Warrior with shield, spear, and banner
  
• 1 Angmar Orc Warrior with Orc bow
  
• 1 Angmar Orc Warrior with Orc bow and spear
  
• Barrow-Wight
• 2 Angmar Orc Warriors with shields
  
• 2 Angmar Orc Warriors with shields and spears
• 3 Angmar Orc Warriors with Orc bows
• 3 Angmar Orc Warriors with Orc bows and spears
  
• Barrow-Wight
• 2 Angmar Orc Warriors with shields
  
• 2 Angmar Orc Warriors with shields and spears
• 3 Angmar Orc Warriors with Orc bows
• 3 Angmar Orc Warriors with Orc bows and spears

700 points, 48 models, 14 Orc bows hitting on a 5+ AND Black Dart on a 5+ AND Paralyze hitting on a 4+, 4 D6+ models, 1 cavalry + 4 fast infantry, 0 Might

I think most players wouldn't bother with the Orc bows, but I like having them - this list has 14 Orc bows firing, which isn't quite at the 18 shots level we wanted, but it's very close. The list is huge (48 models) and it will probably be moving second a lot, but with four Terror bubbles, those Orcs are going to be causing Terror. I ran a four-Terror-bubble list at 623pts earlier in the year (four Barrow-Wights) and it wasn't hard to make sure everyone had Terror - this army will be no different.

Our final lists come from the scum of the Earth - the first stop is the Assault Upon Helm's Deep list, which at 700pts I've opted for 2 Captains, a Demo Team, and 2 Ballistas:

• Uruk-Hai Uber-Captain with two-handed axe [ARMY LEADER]
• 3 Uruk-Hai Warriors with shields
• 7 Uruk-Hai Warriors with pikes
• 1 Uruk-Hai Warrior with pike and banner
  
• 4 Uruk-Hai Warriors with crossbows
• 1 Demolition Team
  
• Uruk-Hai Captain with crossbow
  
• 8 Uruk-Hai Warriors with pikes
• 9 Uruk-Hai Warriors with crossbows
  
• Isengard Siege Veteran with Isengard Assault Ballista
  
• 1 Siege Engineer
• 1 Siege Engineer with pike
  
• Isengard Siege Veteran with Isengard Assault Ballista
  
• 1 Siege Engineer
• 1 Siege Engineer with pike

700 points, 43 models, 14 crossbows hitting on a 4+ AND 2 Ballitas hitting on a 4+, 5 D6+ models, no fast units but 4 Might for Heroic March, 6 Might

There are probably players who would argue for more shields and fewer pikes, but if you think Terror is going to be on the other side of the board and you aren't bringing a Shaman, I'd highly recommend having the pikes support the crossbows and force your opponent to run up against your open phalanx. When he finally arrives, of course, you have a bomb to unload. The army leader's warband has enough for an 8-file battle line with four supporting pairs of pikes (one holding the banner), while the other can also make an 8-file battle line with four pairs of pikes to back them up, but will also have 2 crossbows to leave on objectives (or defend a ballista, I guess). This gives you an incredibly good frontage - just don't cut off either of your ballista's' firing lanes!

Our last list comes from the Assault on Lohtlorien Legion and I've gone with a Wild Warg Chieftain build:

• Druzhag
• 6 Moria Goblin Warriors with shields
  
• 6 Moria Goblin Warriors with Orc bows
• 1 Bat Swarm
  
• Muzgur [ARMY LEADER]
  
• 14 Orc Warriors with shields and spears
  
• 1 Orc Warrior with shield, spear, and banner
  
• Orc Captain with shield 
• 6 Orc Trackers
  
• Moria Goblin Shaman
  
• 5 Moria Goblin Warriors with shields
  
• 4 Moria Goblin Warriors with Orc bows
  
• Wild Warg Chieftain
• 5 Wild Wargs
• 1 Bat Swarm
  

700 points, 54 models, 6 Orc bows hitting on a 4+ AND 10 Orc bows hitting on a 5+, no D6+ models, 2 flyers + 6 fast infantry and 2-4 Might for Heroic March, 9 Might

With almost 60 models, just shy of the ideal 18 bows, and a nasty mix of magic, this list has lots of tricks to fend off a Gulavhar - and tear up the rest of his army at the same time! Sure, their ability to charge a Terrifying Angmar army will be limited if our shamans run out of Will, but with the shooting they have (S2 Orc bows with +1 To Wound) and the raw numbers they have, they can probably take whatever is given to them pretty easily.

Conclusion

That's it for Gulavhar - he's a nasty piece of work and in the hands of a skilled player, none of these strategies are going to be easy. However, if you've built your list to handle a model like Gulavhar, you'll at least have the tools you need on the table should he (or someone like him) show up. Next time, we're turning from the Forces of Evil and talking about Gulavhar's greatest corollary on the Forces of Good: Gwaihir the Wind Lord. Yes, he's the big flappy monster for Good - but dealing with him is actually quite different from dealing with Gulavhar. Find out next time as we probe different methods of dealing with one of the most deadly models in the range. Until then, happy hobbying!