Nemesis: How To Fight Against Ringwraiths

Good morning gamers,

So far in this series, we've looked at specific monster models (that usually show up in a single list, maybe two) or specific Legendary Legions that everyone seems to hate fighting. Today, we're turning to a model type that's pretty ubiquitous across the forces of Evil and units that don't look all that dangerous until they're neutralizing your heroes and chewing them up. Yep, it's time to turn to the Witch-King of Angmar and all his Ringwraith friends! I love these models (and have written quite a bit about them), so let's go in-depth today (fair warning, this post is LONG) and look at all the grisly bits about Ringwraiths, shall we?

What Makes Ringwraiths So Hated

Photo Credit: Warhammer Community

Part 1: An Overly Pedantic Study of Ringwraiths

You can't start talking about Ringwraiths without going over a brief taxonomy of the ten Ringwraith profiles that we have and how they're usually fielded. Despite there being nine Ringwraiths in total, the generic "Ringwraith" profile (which you can actually take nine of - you don't have to run the Witch-King!) provides a nice "blank slate" version of a Ringwraith for you to customize to your liking. These guys have decent-not-good combat stats (F5/S4/1A with 0-2 Might) and decent-not-good defense stats (D8/1 Wound/0-2 Fate). As far as Heroes of Fortitude for Evil go, they are great for keeping your army in the field should you break with Courage 6 and with 7-14 Will points, they have the potential to cast magic and/or fight for a long time (but don't think this means they have a lot of Will - read my post on Multi-Purpose Will Casters for more information on this). Though they look fragile, the Terror-Harbinger-of-Evil combo (something we've talked about before) can make charging them particularly difficult.

Besides the Might/Will/Fate on these guys, you can also take mounts for your Ringwraiths in the form of horses (10 points - a good cheap option for increased speed, slightly increased damage when you charge, and an easier time getting the casting direction/look-angle you want on a target), Fell Beasts (50 points - slightly more speed with more maneuverability options, greatly increased damage when you charge, and opportunities to get casting directions/look-angles that are not present when you're on a horse), and Armored Fell Beasts (70 points, which just seems like too much to pay for +1 Defense on your Fell Beast . . .). While you "can" field these guys for 55 points each, I think it would be unwise to leave home without adding 2 Might points, at least 1 Fate point, and a horse (which brings these guys up to 80 points). Personally, I normally throw in 2 extra Will points (9 total) for a tidy 90 points, but 7 Will can be just fine (it just means you're casting for one fewer turns).

When you compare these basic Ringwraiths to the "named" Ringwraiths, there are some differences. First and foremost, each of the named Ringwraiths is a Hero of Valour (or Hero of Legend in the case of the Witch-King in the Mordor/Angmar army lists, as well as in the Black Riders Legendary Legion). While generic Ringwraiths have both Heroic March and Heroic Channelling for their specialized Heroic Actions, most of the named Ringwraiths just have Heroic Channelling. The Witch-King and Khamul are exceptions to this - both have Heroic Strike, and the Witch-King also has Heroic Resolve, Heroic Strength, and Heroic Challenge. For most players . . . yeah, you're probably sticking to Heroic Strike/March and the occasional Channel.

The stats of the Ringwraiths also change slightly - while Ringwraiths are base F5/C6, the Dark Marshal is F6/C6 and the Shadow Lord is F5/C5. A generic Ringwraith maxes out a 2M/14W/2F - and four of the named Ringwraiths have these heroic stats as well, but the Dwimmerlaik has -2M/+2W, Khamul and the Knight of Umbar have -2W (but ways of getting Will back or not spending Will when they fight), and the Undying has +4W/-2F (but has a special rule for using his Will points as Fate points).

There are also war gear differences between the Nazgul: while all Ringwraiths have options for horses and Fell Beasts, only the Tainted, the Dwimmerlaik, Khamul, and the Dark Marshal have options for armored horses (which cost +5pts and get +1 Defense - I don't think it matters too much which horse type you get). Similarly, almost all Ringwraiths have a one-handed sword in their war gear, but the Undying has a Staff (which can be broken by a select set of casters) and the Dwimmerlaik has a two-handed sword (so he can't fight one-handed - even if he's riding on a Fell Beast).

When you look at the magical powers and common special rules, there are very minor differences between the Ringwraiths. Normally, Ringwraiths cast Drain Courage on a 2+, Transfix on a 3+, Compel on a 4+, and Black Dart/Instill Fear/Sap Will on a 5+ (we'll talk about what these spells do a little later). Three of the named Ringwraiths (Khamul, the Knight of Umbar, and the Betrayer) have a +1 increase to the casting difficulty of Drain Courage, Transfix, Compel, and Black Dart. On the opposite extreme, the Dark Marshal actually has a reduced casting difficulty for Instill Fear (casts on a 4+), which is cool. Normally Black Dart has a 12" range, but two of the named Ringwraiths (the Shadow Lord and the Undying) have a 6" range instead. Finally, the Betrayer is the only Ringwraith with an additional common special rule (Bane of Kings).

So why take the named Ringwraiths over the generic guys? Each comes with some kind of "unique rule" that allows them to do more than a normal Ringwraith does. Most of these special rules happen at the start of the Move Phase before Heroics are declared (the Tainted can spend 1 Will to keep all warrior models within 6" of him to benefit from a Stand Fast! or participate in heroic actions, the Shadow Lord can spend 1 Will to make friendly models within 6" only be hit by shooting attacks on a 6, the Undying can spend 1 Will to regain 1 Will point for each successful spell that's cast within 6" of him, and the Betrayer can spend 1 Will to make friendly models increase their Poisoned Weapons rule for rerolling all Failed To Wound rolls) or at the start of the Fight Phase before Heroics are declared (the Tainted rolls a die for each model in base contact with him and can deal a wound to that model if he gets a 6, Khamul can spend 1 Will to increase his Fight/Strength/Attacks by 1, the Dark Marshal can spend 1 Will to make friendly warriors within 6" count as being in range of a banner, and the Knight of Umbar can spend 1 Will to copy the Fight/Strength/Attack stats of a model he's fighting . . . which would be better if this happened after Heroic Actions were resolved, since you won't copy the increase in Fight Value/Strength from a Heroic Strike/Strength because of the timing). The Dwimmerlaik is the exception to this rule, as he can spend 1 Will point to try to make enemy heroes spend more resources whenever they attempt to use a Might/Will/Fate within 6" of him.

The Witch-King is a bit of a different story - he's basically just a normal Ringwraith with a different Heroic Action suite (see above), increased starting Will (10) and maximum amounts of Might/Will/Fate (3/20/3 respectively), an extra spell (Your Staff is Broken!, cast on a 4+), and additional war gear. It's the war gear that really makes the difference though - for 10 points he can take a Morgul Blade (the Black Riders Legendary Legion got erratad to increase the cost of the Morgul Blade there to 10 points as well), which makes any unsaved wounds automatically slay the target of his attack (which is awesome on a Fell Beast) and the Crown of Morgul can be purchased for 25 points to give him 3 Attacks (instead of 1) and the ability to reroll a die when making a casting/resisting roll - perfect for getting the most out of your Will! He also has access to a two-handed flail, which probably has some utility if you think that two-handing is a good option (which I do - when you have lots of Attacks . . . which he can).

Part 2: Ringwraiths in Actual Army Lists

As a general rule, you're going to see Ringwraiths on the tabletop in one of three kinds of lists: first, you might see one Ringwraith, either as a heavy-hitter on a Fell Beast (usually the Witch-King in a Mordor/Angmar list) or as a support character to provide a niche ability to the army (which could take the form of a generic Ringwraith as a March hero who can also cast magic, a named Ringwraith who is providing his signature spend-a-Will special ability to an army, or as an ally to bring in hardier troops than you'd normally get). Usually, this kind of Ringwraith will be mounted so it can do what it wants to do more efficiently (and it hits a little harder) - but sometimes, you might find a low-stat Witch-King as a cheap Hero of Legend/Army Leader tucked away in a corner, so the mount isn't necessarily a given.

Second, you might see 2-3 Ringwraiths in an army, where you've got someone big (like the Witch-King or the Undying), working with a support Ringwraith (like the Shadow Lord/Dark Marshal/Tainted), and a third Ringwraith as a bonus caster (like a cheap generic Ringwraith for March). While certain Angmar builds do run multiple Ringwraiths, this is probably done when you have two Ringwraiths who have rules you want to capitalize on (e.g. a 6" anti-archery bubble from the Shadow Lord and a 6" banner bubble from the Dark Marshal) or when you have a bunch of Ringwraiths who are trying to feed Will to the Undying. This strategy isn't very common because frankly Mordor has a lot of hero options that can out-compete lists with more than one Ringwraith.

Finally, you have the Black Riders Legendary Legion, which has just the Witch-King and generic Ringwraiths. This Legion doesn't require its models to spend Will to fight (which is nice) and even allows each of them to throw a channeled Transfix that counts as being cast on a 6 once per model per game (which is very nice). Depending on how many Ringwraiths you have within 12" of an enemy model, the courage penalty from Harbinger of Evil may go from -1 to -2 or even -3, but this is often driven by a) the scenario you're playing, b) the points level, and c) how long you can keep your Ringwraiths alive. They also get a niche rule for chasing down Ringbearers, which is situationally quite nice.

Okay, with all this in mind, let's get down to brass tacks and talk about the strategies Ringwraiths employ to ruin your day!

Part 3: Why Ringwraiths Are Horrible Opponents

No matter how you run your Ringwraiths, your first stop is to decide if you're taking a mount or not - and generally speaking, I would recommend a mount of some kind if you intend to do any kind of fighting. Horses are cheap and when you charge, they give you 2 Attacks instead of 1 (and the ability to roll 4 wounding dice instead of 1 if you win). In the Black Riders Legendary Legion, you don't have a choice - your models are all mounted on plain-old-horses - but after you've played with or against this Legion a few times, you learn something very important about Ringwraiths: without mounts, they don't really kill things in melee. You can see this also in the Fantasy Fellowship campaign we've been playing through this year - in two of the early scenarios, the Ringwraiths have no horses - and there are other scenarios in Quest of the Ringbearer where they have fell beasts . . . and boy are they more scary in those scenarios! While I'll concede that there is a place for a hide-your-army-leader-Witch-King to not take a mount, generally speaking, it's best to take a mount.

But there are other reasons for taking mounts - not only can a mere horse (if any horse can be described as a "mere" creature) increase your damage output some, but it can also deny cavalry bonuses from enemy models (an enemy mounted hero who would be getting double-dice against an infantry Ringwraith, looking for a single wound to force the Ringwraith to pass Fate saves or die, suddenly needs to use his normal Attack stat only). A Fell Beast adds a bunch of options to include the positioning you get from Fly to line up Hurls/Barges properly, knock enemies off horses with Monstrous Charge (most of the time), or Rend a high-Defense, average-Strength model. Yep, mounts have value - some of which I have been a late-comer to seeing.

When it comes to magic, the bread-and-butter for Ringwraiths tends to be Transfix - cast on a 3+, this spell is reliably cast on a single die. My threshold for casting is 70%, so a single die will almost get you there - I tend to cast this with 1 Will when using the Witch-King with the Crown of Morgul and 2 Will when casting with any other Ringwraith and I HAVE to lock someone down. Other players may have more luck than me and can get away with casting it on a single die, but I seem to always get 2s when I cast this way, so it's spend one of those very-valuable-Might-points or fail to cast . . . so yeah, I burn two. Transfix isn't as powerful as it used to be, but it's easy to get off and it will keep the target from making Strikes and calling heroic actions. While this is best employed right before someone really big slams into said hero, it's also fine for just causing someone to stall out and "not do anything."

Against some opponents, Drain Courage is also a great option - if you have the ability to reduce the Courage of a C4-5 hero so they can't charge a "Terror wall" (read, warriors that you've taken en masse with the Terror special rule), you can get many of the effects of a Transfix with a 2+ casting difficulty instead of a 3+ difficulty. This has added benefits in that if you can break the enemy army, those same heroes are now more likely to flee the field instead of sticking around and fighting (something that Transfix doesn't really do). Of course, if you do happen to root someone on the spot with a failed Terror check, be sure not to charge that guy - he can still call a Heroic Combat and deal strikes as normal.

The other four spells that the Ringwraiths have are, in my opinion, incredibly situational. In the Black Riders Legendary Legion, Black Dart is probably going to be a common spell to cast, since you are probably starting with a huge model count disparity (and Black Dart is a nice way to deal damage from 12" away and still be able to retreat at full speed). For lists that are not the Legion, Black Dart can be a good way to kill a horse out from under a big hero who doesn't have Resistant to Magic, Fortify Spirit, Heroic Resolve, or Will points on their mount, since the rider won't be able to help the mount resist the spell. Beware models with Horse Lord, though, since the rider's Fate can be spent to protect the mount. My frustration with this spell, however, is that it doesn't deal a wound like Banishment or Chill Soul does - it deals a S9 hit (D3 S9 hits if channelled - which you should never do). A S9 hit will often wound on a 3+, but that means that one-in-three successfully cast spells will result in . . . absolutely nothing unless you're willing to boost the roll with Might. With a 5+ difficulty (which is harder than anyone's Banishment difficulty and harder than Sauron's Chill Soul difficulty/tied with the Necromancer's Chill Soul difficulty), this is a really niche spell for me - very useful if you're trying to one-turn kill the enemy army leader/a really strategically important model/mount, but not something you "just cast" (unless you're running the Legion and you don't really have a choice).

Compel is situational based on the target you've picked - it does everything Transfix does on a higher difficulty rating, but you get to move the target model up to half of its movement allowance. Since you have a greater than 70% likelihood of success on the same number of dice as Transfix, if there's a benefit to casting Compel on a model, you should do it - just cast with two dice (or one die and a reroll if you're running the Witch-King). Common benefits to using Compel include moving a model so they can be charged by a Fell Beast/Gulavhar/something-big, moving a model out of the control radius of an objective/keep them from getting somewhere important on the board, or moving a banner/auric hero away from your opponent's main body of troops/strategically valuable position. There are uses for this spell and I use it a lot - but when you have nowhere to move someone, just cast Transfix.

Instill Fear is more niche than the previous four spells, in that it's really useful for clearing out an objective, but it's not that effective when fighting a battle line. Because models scatter directly away from the caster, you have to test for the models further away from you first - otherwise, the models closer to you will just stop when they come into contact with the models who are further away and you won't really do anything. When cast near a battle line, it's very common for one single model to stall out the panicked flight of several other models just because he stood his ground and cuts off their avenue of retreat. It's a pain - but if there's only a few models guarding an objective, putting them to flight could mean a points shift that heavily favors you - and anyone who stays can hopefully be charged and killed.

Finally, we have Sap Will. In a very, VERY old article (one that is still surprisingly timely - even though it was written ten years ago and the gaming system/profiles have changed a lot since then), I talked about the kinds of targets you want to pick with Sap Will. Because Sap Will is now cast on a 5+ (back then it was a disgustingly low 3+), your opponent is likely to throw 2-3 dice to resist Sap Will . . . and for most heroes, this means "he's out of Will." As a result, Sap Will is best employed against models that have 4+ Will points and particularly against models that need their Will for other things (like casting or participating in combats).

This brings up a very important thing that all players who have a Ringwraith in play should do: if your opponent has a Ringwraith as well, you'll want to ask at the beginning of the game if you'd like to use the "gentlemen's rule" of not casting Sap Will against each other. Ringwraiths can be absolutely DEVASTATED by Sap Will - especially the cheap Ringwraiths who probably have 7-9 Will points. Taking away D3 Will could mean you just lose 1 Will point, but you could also lose 2-3 Will, which is at least one turn of casting (and more likely two turns of casting). If your opponent has multiple Ringwraiths, this becomes even worse, as you could have your single Ringwraith evaporate in one turn after getting pummeled by Sap Wills. Your opponent doesn't have to agree - and if he doesn't, you'll want to both cast Sap Will against his Ringwraiths AND try to shield your own as best you can - but offer all the same.

While Ringwraiths are excellent casters, the named ones are also Heroes of Valour/Legend, so allying with other factions from the Armies of the Lord of the Rings is pretty easy. Mordor has access to all of them and is able to ally historically with many of the Battle of the Pelennor Fields forces (and is Convenient with basically every faction in the book), so getting a Terror wall of Black Numenoreans, a Great Beast of Gorgoroth, or Morannon Orcs into an army that could use some extra muscle isn't hard (and you can also bring in anti-archery bonuses or something). While generic Ringwraiths are only Heroes of Fortitude, they're not that expensive relative to most mounted March Captains, so bringing them in as a second caster into an alliance could be very useful.

So with all this talk about Ringwraiths, what can we possibly do to fight against them? Well, I may be a huge advocate for Ringwraiths, but I also know what they fear (and how to fight against them). So let's explore some of those options now.

How Do You Fight Back Against Ringwraiths?

Our first stop happens to be a good starting point if you have a friend who likes to play with the Black Riders Legendary Legion (easily the most oppressive use of Ringwraiths in the game): shooting. Ringwraiths of all stripes lack the Horse Lord special rule, so a single wound against the D4 mounts they have will dismount the rider (outside of the Legion, you might have D5 armored horses or D6 Fell Beasts . . . and academically you could see a D7 Armored Fell Beast). As has already been said, a dismounted Ringwraith will be hard pressed to kill much in combat - especially if you use the 2/4/8 principle I talked about in a math post earlier this year.

Shooting the mount is great for pulling the teeth out of a caster, but don't underestimate the value of hitting the rider as well. D8 is pretty hard for most shooting weapons to punch through (though siege engines don't care that much), but if you can get a 6 To Wound, you've suddenly got the Ringwraith player on pins and needles to see what the second roll is - or if the shooting weapon is S4, you don't even need to get to that second roll! If you're a fan of the Assault on Lothlorien Legion, those pesky Goblins will wound on a 5+/4+ instead of the usual 6/5+  . . . that's pretty nasty.

If you don't have a lot of shooting (or if there's a horde of guys between you and them and you need to shoot something else), it helps to have a lot of models who can automatically pass Courage tests to charge the Ringwraiths. In any list outside of the Legion, a charged Ringwraith (with the exception of the Knight of Umbar if he wins the duel) will have to burn 1 Will point just for fighting - and once that ticker goes down to 0, he's out and gone. This is tricky to do with Fury (since Sap Will can cause a Fury shaman to lose all his Will points) and can be tricky to do with Bodyguard/Sworn Protector if you can't protect the hero that's tied to it, but it's actually available to a lot of factions - and beware those mega heroes who have auto-passing Courage Test auras built into their profiles!

If you can get them, there are some heroes who can either cast Fortify Spirit on themselves and friendly models OR that start with Fortify Spirit already baked into their profiles. Two free dice to resist are not a guarantee of immunity from Nazgul casting, but it's pretty good. If that Transfix is just barely cast on a 3+, the two free dice alone are pretty likely to stop it (maybe with 1 Might being needed to make it work). Is it a harder spell that's cast on a 5+? Well, if you throw one of your Will points into the resist, you've got a 70% chance of blocking the spell. Did a Ringwraith in the Legion cast an auto-cast channeled Transfix on a 6? Well, that's gonna be hard to stop, but two free dice give you a 30% chance on their own of stopping it, so it might work . . . maybe. A similar strategy can be employed if you have Gandalf the Grey, who can target a friendly model (or group of models) and make them immune to casting attempts . . . yikes.

Another way to deal with Ringwraiths is to have spellcasters of your own who have magical powers that they have to resist. Spells that deal wounds to them (like Chill Soul or Banishment) are nasty, spells like Sap Will that kill them by depleting their Will are nasty too, and spells like Sorcerous Blast that will take away their mounts are bad - even if they take no damage from the hit! Sorcerous Blast is particularly nasty against a Ringwraith on a horse, since a lowly friend near the Ringwraith can be Blasted into the Ringwraith and knock the Ringwraith off his mount - this won't work against a Fell Beast, but if he's the target of the spell, that Fell Beast is flapping away . . . big punch to the gut, that.

Finally, don't underestimate the value of magical powers that just keep them from casting - Transfix is the bread and butter of Ringwraiths, but it's also one of their biggest banes. Not being able to cast magic, not being allowed to move, and not being allowed to make Strikes can absolutely ruin their day - especially if there's a big hero gunning for them!

Okay, let's put these principles into action and look at some models that are good at fighting Ringwraiths!

Tiberius's Top 5 Models To Counter Ringwraiths

Ringwraiths do a lot, but there's a surprisingly high number of models that you can use to at least make them work for their utility. Let's look at one of my favorite models to highlight as an honorable mention: that tricky, sneaky, roguish Dwarf, Floi!

Honorable Mention: Floi Stonehand

Yep, he's back. He can't take away magical powers or Legion bonuses, but he can take away those oh-so-valuable special rules that the named Ringwraiths wanted. Don't want the Shadow Lord reducing the impact of your archery? Well, make sure Floi can see him and you're good (oh, and because the Shadow Lord has to activate the rule before Heroics are declared, he'll have burned a Will point for nothing). Want to take away the benefits of the Crown of Morgul? Make sure Floi gets to make a move and you're good. Want to be able to kill the Undying with a single shot? Take away his ability to use Will points as Fate points and you're solid.

Yep, it's cheating. Yep, it's mean. Yep, it might even be a short-term fix - but it can also have far-reaching consequences for your team. So yes, Floi comes in as an honorable mention . . . again.

Dishonorable Mention: Other Ringwraiths

We've already talked about this, but it bears repeating here: Ringwraiths hate fighting other Ringwraiths, unless you agree to not cast Sap Will against each other. Ringwraiths want their Will to be used for a bunch of different things and anyone who can keep them from casting/wounding by targeting them with a Transfix on a 3+ (or take away their Will on a 5+) is bad news. If you have more Ringwraiths than your opponent does, this becomes even worse . . . yeah, dishonorable, right?

Pick #5: Bodyguard units (but especially Rohan Royal Guards on horses, Khazad Guards, and any Goblin near the Balrog)

Terror-Harbinger lists can be miserable to fight if you're relying on a "normal" Courage value of 2-3 - but many lists have the ability to get past even the most oppressive Courage-debuff lists by "cheating" with rules like Bodyguard, Sworn Protector, or Fearless that allows them to automatically pass Courage tests. This was covered in Rythbyrt's first article on how to combat Angmar lists - having units that can automatically pass Courage tests (and keeping any required heroes who are needed for these rules alive) can be killer for Angmar lists . . . many of which rely on at least one Ringwraith to keep it going. As we've said throughout the article, Ringwraiths don't want to be charged - and if you can keep the model that's providing those courage-bypass rules alive, Ringwraiths want to be nowhere near models that can charge them easily.

When I first got started playing SBG, I invested in the Dwarves who are now the Kingdom of Khazad-Dum faction - and one of their most preeminent units is the Khazad Guard. For 11 points/model, you get a F4/S4/D7 model who is C4 with Bodyguard - these guys are a real threat to a Ringwraith (especially one that only has 1 Attack when charged), as they're only marginally less likely to win the resulting duel, but they're going to both wound and be wounded on a 6 and can charge them to death every single turn unless something changes. Despite changes to the meta since I got started, these guys are still a real threat - if their 5" movement can get them in striking range of a Ringwraith.

Against mounted Ringwraiths, mounted Rohan Royal Guards are a nasty prospect, ignoring the bonuses of any mounts a Ringwraith might bring to the fight shy of a Fell Beast, and with F5/S4 on the charge, they're basically Khazad Guards, but with a tied Fight Value against the Ringwraith (though Royal Guards are easier to kill than Khazad Guards). Unlike Khazad Guards, however, these guys can catch Ringwraiths a lot more easily - and with S3 throwing weapons, there's a chance that they might be able to shoot the horse out from under the Ringwraith before the charge happens (or get a cheeky wound on the Ringwraith and knock off a Fate point or two).

Finally, there are some lists that have a hero who can make friendly models within a given radius of them automatically pass Courage tests (like the Balrog or Dain Ironfoot, Lord of the Iron Hills). While these heroes might be targetable by Black Darts, none of them are going to go down quickly (maybe Mahud Kings before they charge). A very select group of units (but they're available in a lot of lists or able to ally into most lists) have magical powers that do this at small radiuses (via Aura of Command or Fury) - and so long as those heroes can stay alive, any friendly model that starts within 6" of them is feeling pretty good at tying down a Ringwraith. If you have a large group of grunts who can automatically bypass the Terror of Ringwraiths and their friends, any Ringwraith player is feeling a bit nervous.

Allying in these kinds of models isn't "hard," but the cost of doing so is often very restrictive (Theoden/Dain/Saruman the White for the Forces of Good, the Balrog/Fury Shamans for Evil - Armies of the Hobbit Evil lists are notoriously underpowered at dealing with Terror . . . unless you're spamming Castellans). If you're looking for a more generic way of dealing with Ringwraiths, I would recommend . . .

Pick #4: Mid-tier hero spam lists

This is a really odd way to fight against Ringwraiths, but here's the thing: most Ringwraiths are counting on picking an enemy hero who's really expensive and very powerful and holding them up for a few turns (or ideally, all game). Well, what happens when you take the "micro-warband" approach where you're fielding warbands of 100-150pts each with a 50-65pt hero leading them? Does Transfixing a 50-65pt hero with your 90+ point Ringwraith feel worth it to you? Yes, you can do the Drain Courage thing to keep them from killing things, but those heroes aren't here to do lots of killing necessarily - they're here to field lots of warriors who are going to crush your army with larger numbers.

While you can certainly do this kind of spam with super cheap heroes in lists like Goblin-town, the Shire, or Lake-town, this is often more effective against Ringwraith lists when the units being spammed are elite. Whether it's 10 Uruk-Hai being accompanied by an Uruk-Hai Captain/Uruk-Hai Scout Captain/named Uruk-Hai Captain, Captains of Erebor leading a squad of Grim Hammers or Warriors of Erebor, or even a named 3-Might Rohan/Orc hero with a large squad of infantry (or a smaller group of cavalry) to back them up, a Ringwraith might be able to hold up that hero for a few turns, but those warriors (if they can charge the lines) are going to come crushing in.

This strategy mitigates the effectiveness of a Ringwraith not only by reducing the points-mass of the targets presented, but also limits the time the Ringwraith can "sit back and cast" by carving up his retinue of warriors. All by himself, a Ringwraith that isn't on a Fell Beast is going to feel very exposed. Now if you want to deal with Ringwraiths without a horde of guys, the obvious choice is to get . . .

Pick #3: Any model with access to Fortify Spirit (and Bofur the Dwarf)

Fortify Spirit is one of the most niche spells in the game - if the people in your gaming group like to play with Dwarves or Goblin-town, chances are good that magic is probably a rare sight. When this is the case, having a hero with the Fortify Spirit magical power or a hero with the equivalent of the Fortify Spirit magical power in their profile probably doesn't seem all that necessary. If, however, your gaming group likes to play with Angmar or Mordor, you're quite likely to run into some kind of magic - and quite probably some magic of the Ringwraith variety (sustained magic for 4+ turns). When this is the case, Fortify Spirit is a real bonus.

For the heroes who can cast Fortify Spirit on themselves and others (Gandalf the White on a 3+ and Galadriel, Lady of Light on a 2+), it's often a good idea against Ringwraiths to cast the spell on themselves before casting it on others (mostly so they don't get stun-locked before they're protected) - but having two free dice to resist a spell gives you a 56% likelihood of getting a 5+ on your roll without the use of your own Will. That's huge - not just for the caster to be safe, but for other power heroes to remain safe if you have turns to cast on them. It's awesome and it's great - and these heroes can spell certain doom for Ringwraiths who are counting on shutting heroes down over a handful of turns.

For the heroes who have Fortify Spirit baked into their profiles (Elendil, Glorfindel, and all the heroes in the Breaking of the Fellowship Legendary Legion), these guys have two free dice to resist magic from the get-go and can reliably carve through the enemy ranks without having to worry about a Ringwraith stopping them. Bofur also slots into this group, though he doesn't have Fortify Spirit. Instead of having free dice to resist the spell, he can roll a die and on a 2+, he ignores the effects of the spell . . . which is a huge mental deterrent against casting magic!

Since Glorfindel is available to all Forces of Good armies as a Convenient Ally (if not a historical ally) AND can bring up to 15 troops with him, he's a pretty great add to any list. Unfortunately, this strategy of bringing models with Fortify Spirit only works if you're a Forces of Good army - and not a Legion (well, one Legion). Furthermore, unless all the heroes in your list have Fortify Spirit innately (which is why allying Elendil and Glorfindel historically is so popular) or unless you have time to cast on everyone (without casting other spells), you will always have some heroes exposed to the enemy magical assaults (and may prompt them to hurry up and slam that guy while he's vulnerable). As such, I think this is a great strategy, but I can only put it at #3. For a more universal threat, I give you . . .

Pick #2: Legolas (particularly the Halls of Thranduil version) and the Watcher in the Water

Legolas is a pain - if his bow isn't being finicky, he can chew through warriors, shoot mounts out from under big heroes, and most importantly for this discussion, force Ringwraiths to burn their Might/Fate to save wounds from afar. If he's also been given an Elven cloak, he may be immune to retributive magical attacks. Oh, and if he's using his single shot from Deadly Shot, he can ignore the need to roll a 6 for Pall of Darkness, he can sneak a wound past a Fell Beast, and can even hit the Ringwraith if it tries to get into combat! Cheeky fellow, that.

Now his bow is only a S3 Elf bow, so he'll wound Ringwraiths on a 6/4+ (<9% likelihood of success), which doesn't SEEM reliable. However, if Legolas's primary job is to snipe Ringwraiths, a single Might point can raise that to a 5+/3+ (which is ~22% overall, but you're only going to burn the Might point if you get a 5+ to begin with, so if you're in a boosting situation, it's really a 67% likelihood that you succeed since you'll just need the second roll to work). Yes, there will be times when he can't get higher than a 2 or 3 To Wound (though in a desperate pinch, you could get a 3 to work if you burned all your Might - and the second roll would work automatically if you do).

But what's so great about Legolas is that when fielded from either the Fellowship or the Halls of Thranduil, he's a Hero of Valour - perfect for allying with any Forces of Good list at least Conveniently (especially if he's fielded from the Halls of Thranduil, where he's cheaper anyway and can lead troops) or can be fielded in one of six Legendary Legions (The Breaking of the Fellowship, The Defenders of Helm's Deep, The Grey Company, The Men of the West, The Rangers of Mirkwood, and The Return of the King). So . . . unless you run one of the eleven other Good Legendary Legions (which is possible), you can field Legolas. And unlike the Fortify Spirit magical power, he has utility against virtually any army you run up against.

But he's available only to Good - Evil really doesn't have a shooting model equivalent (no matter how good Narzug or Vrasku may be, they are NOT Legolas). Evil's best alternative is, actually, the Watcher in the Water, since he can arrive near a Ringwraith, use his "shooting attacks" to draw the Ringwraith into combat, and if the Ringwraith isn't one of the three Ringwraiths who can be F6+, he'll have the higher Fight Value and can Rend with 6 attacks and wound on 3s . . . that's a death sentence for any wraith! As I've said in an older post, Moria is also the closest thing that Evil has to an Elven faction (they can ally conveniently with everyone except Barad-Dur and Sharkey's Rogues), so bringing the Watcher and Durburz is ALWAYS an option for you - and gives you a very fun monster to play with!

Now if shooting isn't your thing and you want someone who's going to really make a Ringwraith sweat, you should look into . . .

Pick #1: Any model with Banishment or Chill Soul (but especially Gandalf the White and the Necromancer of Dol Guldur in the Rise of the Necromancer Legendary Legion)

Ringwraiths really don't like other Ringwraiths - we know that already. But do you know what they hate even more? Models that can target them with magical powers that deal wounds to them (not hits - WOUNDS). Yes, a Flameburst or Black Dart isn't fun, but they can also fail To Wound - not so with Banishment (which can generally speaking only target Spirit models - which Ringwraiths are) or Chill Soul (which is more indiscriminate on who it can target).

Banishment is a rare spell - only three Forces of Good models have it. Gandalf the White casts it on a 4+ and Galadriel, Lady of Light casts it on a 3+ - both of these characters ALSO have Fortify Spirit, which makes them particularly difficult models for Ringwraiths to topple. While Galadriel might be avoided by a mounted Ringwraith thanks to her 6" movement, Shadowfax will make avoiding Gandalf the White particularly hard - and with 12" movement and 12" range on Banishment, it's pretty hard to NOT get slammed with a wound by him.

But our third wielder of Banishment is really nasty for Ringwraiths to have to fight: Tom Bombadil. Not only is he immune to magical powers that target him (friendly or hostile), but he also has a heap of Will points and access to Banishment for close-range (6" range) Spirit damage on a 3+, but he also has closer-range (3" range) stat restoration for friendly heroes - and the ability to wipe clean their static debuffs (like, oh, I don't know, Drain Courage) or a temporary debuff (like, oh, I don't know, Transfix). While Tom Bombadil might be avoidable for mounted Ringwraiths, anyone they target will need to be far from Tom's aid or their long-term plans can be thwarted on a 2+. Yikes.

Throwing spells that will deal wounds to a Ringwraith is a tricky business for the Ringwraith's controlling player, since he has Will points dedicated to do specific things - and the pool he least wants to have to populate is the pool for resisting spells for several reasons. First and foremost, resisting spells is risky - you're committing to rolling a certain number of Will points without knowing whether they'll succeed. If you need to get a 4-high, do you roll one die and have a 50/50 chance of success? Or do you roll two dice and have a 75/25 chance of success? Are you willing to burn Might to make the resist work?

The second complication for the Ringwraith's player is that Will spent to resist a spell is probably Will that's lost to him (unless he gets natural 6s on all his resist rolls) - and Will that's spent to resist a spell would have been Will that was used for something else. If you're running the Witch-King, Khamul, the Knight of Umbar, or the Dark Marshal, chances are good you want to be fighting at least a little - but if you have to burn 2 Will points to resist a spell, you could be fighting two turns less than you want to. If you want to keep fighting, then you probably need to tap into your casting reserve and cast less - or use your unique special rule less. Maybe you're okay with that . . . but maybe you aren't. And that's the pain.

The final complication for the Ringwraith player is even more fundamental: by resisting a magical power, your opponent's caster has successfully brought you closer to death regardless of whether the spell takes effect. Ringwraiths die if they run out of Will, so by forcing them to lose Will points, you've attacked one of the ways they stay alive. True, if you roll a single die and can get a natural 6 to resist on it, you won't lose any resources, but barring this one scenario, you're probably losing one of your life force stats. And if you fail the resist roll, you've lost Will points AND Fate points. Or you died . . . there's always that chance.

Banishment, like Fortify Spirit, is only available to the Forces of Good, but you can achieve the same effect against a broader audience with Chill Soul, which is limited to The Dark Lord Sauron (cast on a 4+ with an 18" range) and The Necromancer of Dol Guldur (cast on a 5+ with a 12" range). I mentioned in the title of this particular point that my preference is for the Necromancer, particularly in his Legion. While there's nothing wrong with running Sauron, my experience has been that dealing with multiple wraiths with him will be hard - particularly since they can wear out his Will store quickly and reduce him to only his free Will point each turn very fast (that and his Resistant to Magic die, which has utility if the casting difficulty is low and the final casting value is just sufficient). While it will probably take two dedicated casters (maybe three) to get Sauron tapped out, it's not hard after that to keep him from casting much, especially if Sauron has to move second.

But the Necromancer of Dol Guldur has an advantage in his Legion over Sauron: he can cast twice each turn. While he can't target the same model twice and he can't cast the same spell twice, he CAN target one model (call it a Ringwraith) with Chill Soul and he can target another model (call it a Ringwraith) with Sap Will. Both of these spells are cast on a 5+, but since he gets a free die to cast if he spends a die, he can do two one-die casts (which become two two-dice casts) and if either succeeds, it's going to be cast on a 5- or a 6-high - that's gonna require some resources to block! In his Legion, he will probably have Castellans and Nazgul of Dol Guldur with bonuses to wound (or movement shenanigans) advancing towards the guards of the Ringwraiths, which means the Ringwraiths will have to decide whether to burn through the resources of the Necromancer (while staying away from his elite guards) or deal with the heroes coming to chop up their troops. Not a great situation to be in, honestly.

So there you have it - a bunch of ways to deal with Ringwraiths. I know this post has been long, but let's end with two lists that demonstrate what we've talked about here.

Sample Lists

You can check off the top three boxes by just having Gandalf the White with Legolas, Prince of Mirkwood. As far as Convenient Alliances go, this is a solid one - 46 models at 800 points with good archery, good archery/magic protection, and lots of D6:

• Denethor, Steward of Gondor [AL]
• 7 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields
• 7 Rangers of Gondor with spears
• 1 Knight of Minas Tirith with shield
  
• Gandalf the White on Shadowfax
• 8 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields
  
• 2 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields and spears
• 1 Warrior of Minas Tirith with shield, spear, and banner
• 3 Rangers of Gondor with spears
  
• 1 Knight of Minas Tirith with shield
  
• CONVENIENT ALLY - The Halls of Thranduil: Legolas, Prince of Mirkwood with Elven cloak
• 8 Mirkwood Elves with shields
• 5 Mirkwood Elves with Elf bows
  

800 points, 46 models, 10 bows hitting on a 3+ AND 6-8 Elf bows hitting on a 3+, 29 D6+ models, 3 cavalry, 6 Might

For Evil, I decided to go with a double-caster list - and particularly, one that isn't "just two casters," but two casters who are going to threaten the Ringwraiths and their friends (ironically, they're Ringwraiths themselves). As such, I've gone with a 50-man list at 800 points, featuring a historical alliance between Mordor and the Serpent Horde - bringing Ringwraiths that will help our copious amounts of bows deal more damage AND protect us from retaliatory archery should the Ringwraiths be packing any:

• Suladan the Serpent Lord on armored horse [AL]
• 4 Watchers of Karna with Twin Blades
• 4 Haradrim Warriors with spears
• 6 Haradrim Warriors with bows
• 3 Haradrim Warriors with bows and spears
• 1 Haradrim Raider with war spear and bow
  
• The Betrayer on horse
• 4 Watchers of Karna with Twin Blades
• 4 Haradrim Warriors with spears
• 4 Haradrim Warriors with bows
• 2 Haradrim Warriors with bows and spears
• 1 Haradrim Raider with war spear and bow
  
• HISTORICAL ALLY - The Shadow Lord on Fell Beast
• 9 Black Numenoreans
• 5 Morannon Orcs with shields
  

800 points, 50 models, 17 poison/venom bows hitting on a 4+, 16 D6+ models, 5 cavalry, 7 Might

Conclusion

So that's Ringwraiths - they're a pain to deal with, but there are methods of dealing with them. I didn't cover "shooting them" in this post since most archery doesn't deal with them particularly well, but you can check out other ways of dealing with them (and their lists) in a recent series from Rythbyrt on how to fight Angmar (where a lot of Ringwraiths show up). Next time, we're turning to the Elf, the myth, the legend that is Legolas. He showed up today - and if he shows up on the other side of the table, you could be in trouble. To find out what to do if you're up against the most lethal archer in the game, check back in next week and until then, happy hobbying!