Hey Reader!
New day, new Top 10 post for you! Today we're going super niche, looking at the orc thief we know as Nazthak for Angmar, and what the best options are for items for him to loot. While finding points for this guy in your list can be a bit tricky (between the required Witch-King or Gulhavar, then probably 45pts for a March Captain, then probably 50pts for a Barrow Wight, and possibly 75pts for a Shade at the bare minimum),
As a quick reminder before we begin, I'll post his rule so that you can see what the parameters are for things he can take:
So off the bat we notice a few things: 1) he can't take The One Ring (which is sad, because that was a prime contender for #1 on the list), 2) he can't take anything monster sized (so no mace from Sauron, either), 3) he can't take any armor (so no Dwarf Heavy Armor, which is also sad), and 4) he can't take a mount or living creature (so Sebastian and a Mumak are out). I'm also assuming that slaying someone "in combat" also requires you to be in base contact with them, so spear supporting doesn't count (and thus some excellent spear options have not been included). But beyond that, pretty much anything goes!
Also keep in mind that he needs to be able to slay the model, so...just keep in mind that an item might place high on this list, but getting Nazthak to actually get it might be a bit tricky (without a lot of Paralyze well-placed in the list). So with that, let's take a look at some equipment!
Honorable Mention: Any Old 3" Banner (Held By: Lots of Warriors)
On the one hand, a 3" banner that you otherwise didn't have is really nice, so it ran the chance of making this list. The biggest issue is that 1) you don't have issues getting banners of your own, and 2) and more than that, once you pick up this banner you're inflicting a -1 to your own duel rolls, making it harder for you to win more fights, get in more wounds, and take more stuff. So while yes, you can technically take one of these, I don't think it helps you get other scavenged equipment, and if that's all you do for the game, I don't think he's worth the investment. So an honorable mention - it does help you, and I like banners - but I'm not sure it's a good option to take.
Honorable Mention: Any Old Shield (Held By: Even More People)
Technically I don't think a shield counts as "armor" for the purposes of wargear, so I think he can take this: literally any shield will bring his Defence up to 6 (which is useful), and it gives him access to the Shielding special rule, which might just save his life. It doesn't do much to help him get new scavenged equipment, but it does help him survive a bit longer, which I think is worth it. Not as great as things that made the list, but hey, in case you're having issues tearing through a line, just grab a shield!
#10: Ring of Barahir (Held By: Aragorn)
On the plus side, this is free Resistant to Magic on Nazthak, which will keep him doing what you need him to do, which is good! It's pretty niche, especially since most casters don't actually have spells that he hates all that much, but hey: an extra dice to resist magic isn't nothing.
Personally I don't think it's worth the risk of trying to use Nazthak to kill Aragorn to get this, but if you're looking for useful equipment, there aren't many ways to get access to magic defense, and if you are fighting Aragorn there's a non-zero chance you're also fighting Gandalf, so it could be useful. If you fancy a slightly easier opponent, perhaps the Dragon Emperor's crown might be a better target (depending on what changes we see in the new edition to the crown).
#9: Palantir (Held By: Saruman)
Now this one ranks a bit lower for two reasons: 1) it's a one-time use item, so you can't maximize it as much as other options, but also 2) I'm not sure whether you can use it after Saruman has used it, since Nazthak counts as the model that bore it for the purposes of special rules, so you might just be stealing a rock. I don't know how that works; I look forward to seeing the FAQ on this, :P
But if it does work (either because Saruman hadn't used it yet, or because you do get to use it once per game as well), this is super useful: just seize priority on a turn of your choice. It's a simple bonus, it's easy to remember, and it's really good. The only thing that keeps it from going up is that it's once per game, and you might not even get the benefit of it.
#8: An Elven Ring (Held By: Gandalf, Galadriel, Elrond)
Elven rings all do the same thing: you can reroll failed Fate Point saves. Now while Nazthak doesn't have a lot of Fate, he does have two, and having those be rerollable makes him far more survivable than your average orc captain. Now ideally you get this off of Galadriel (because slaing Gandalf or Elrond is going to be HARD), but technically there are quite a few lists that have access to one of these three heroes, which is nice.
#7: The Horn of Gondor (Held By: Boromir)
This is situationally useful, but you can 1) do it every turn, and 2) it could be a great way to get an item that you need. When a combat involving the bearer starts, you can blow on the horn: the enemy in the fight with the highest Courage performs a Courage Test, and if they fail, the fight is automatically won by Nazthak, and he can perform strikes.
Now there are two issues: first, you have to be fighting 2+ models, which means if you fail to win the fight you...could be gone, :P It also means there are ways to evade your use of the horn by simply being charged by one guy instead of two. But on the whole this is pretty reliable, and when combined with guaranteed access to Harbinger of Evil, you can make this even more reliable than Boromir can.
#6: Sting (or Glamdring - same benefit) (Held By: Frodo Baggins, Bilbo Baggins, or Gandalf)
Sting (or Glamdring; they both have the same benefit, but it's way easier to slay Frodo, so we're going with Sting for this one) has a simple rule: it is an elven-made weapon that adds +1 to your Strength when wielding it. So in this case, if Nazthak scavenges it, he's sitting on Strength 5, which is pretty good!
Now, in practical terms, there's a lot of cases where this doesn't actually change anything, which is why it rates in the bottom half. If you're fighting an odd-numbered Defence target then it helps, but if you're fighting an even-numbered Defence target (of which there are a lot of D4 and D6 models that you'd feel comfortable fighting, mind you), then this doesn't change anything beyond giving you an elven-made weapon (which is nothing to sneeze at).
#5: The Crown of Morgul (Held By: The Witch-King of Angmar) - EDITED
That's right: if you're fighting an enemy Witch-King of Angmar, and you're willing to throw Nazthak against him, and you sneak in a single wound, you could take the Crown of Morgul from his head! With the changes to the Crown, taking the Crown of Morgul from the Witch-King would force enemy models within 6" of Nazthack to pass Courage tests for sticking around after being broken or to charge Nazthack/other Terror models without the use of special rules (assuming Nazthack has Terror by being near a friendly Spirit model).
Assuming the Witch-King hasn't used the Crown's one-time ability before you off him, Nazthack would be able to Set Ablaze any model he wounds on a single turn. This might make getting another piece of war gear possible - or it could just clear a stubborn piece off the board.
#4: Narsil (Held By: Elendil, High King of Numenor)
Now of course, this target assumes that you can remove Elendil, and that's going to be a hard ask any which way you cut it. But assuming you can get Narsil, you get access to a master-crafted two-handed weapon, so that's effectively a free +1 to wound on your damage rolls without suffering a penalty to the dueling roll. That's really good!
More than that, you gain the ability to declare Heroic Combats for free each turn; how useful this will be is up for debate, but if you're just cleaving through grunts to get in position for a future attack, being able to Heroic Combat against F3 or lower troops, and then wound them with effective S6, that's not horrible. At the least, he's likely to provide good value for you that game, which is not bad.
#3: The Oakenshield (Held By: Thorin Oakenshield)
The Oakenshield is a shield (so once again: does it count as armor? I don't think it does, and I want to include more unique equipment from The Hobbit side of the house, so I'm including it here, but it's a question), and when you use the Shielding special rule, you get to perform a single S4 hit against an enemy. So now, effectively, you can turn Nazthak into a 4-Attack model (by shielding), and if you win you still get a chance to remove a model, thus giving you a chance to scavenge after defending yourself! Really cool idea, really useful not being as easy to defeat, all of this is good. You have to slay Thorin, but there it is.
#2: Anduril, Flame of the West (Held By: Aragorn/Strider, King Elessar)
Let's be real: defeating Aragorn with Nazthak is not easy to do, but if you do...there's a gem come the end! Anduril, Flame of the West, would allow Nazthak to wound anything in the game on a 4+, and could be used two-handed, so you could wound anything in the game on a 3+. This makes it much easier to wound things, and since it counts as an elven-made weapon, he can win ties more easily (assuming you're fighting a F4 model).
This would effectively guarantee him a free wound each turn he wins (assuming he's still at 2 Attacks), which is really good. But believe it or not, I contend that this is not the best bonus for our thief...
#1: The Banner of Arwen Evenstar
This covers oh so many bases for Angmar: it's a 6" banner, which is very useful for a predominately F3 army (and a F4 thief), helps things like werewolves who are already sitting on F5 and you don't want them rolling low, but also it grants Fearless to models within its radius, which is HUGE for Angmar. Courage is one of the big banes of this army, and being able to turn the orcs around him into steadfast chargers and non-runners when you're camping objectives is really, really useful.
And what is more, since the banner is held by someone who is only 2 Attacks, D5, with 2 Wounds and 1 Fate (Halbarad), this kind of target is actually someone that Nazthak can reliably slay. So not only is it a good piece of equipment for him, it's possible to actually attain it, which is awesome!
Conclusion
Even after looking at all the juicy things you can steal with Nazthak, I'm not sure about his place in the list. On the one hand, he's a way to add some much-needed utility to your list, and could provide great value over a game. But when you think about it, it's not like he's stealing the item from the enemy camp before the fight (aka, you start with the item): you have to 1) slay the model, 2) you have to use Nazthak (so he has to get to the right place on the battlefield in time to slay the model, and 3) then you have however much of the game left to try to maximize the benefit of the item you take. So realistically how much of the game will you get to play with the Crown of Morgul, the Banner of the Evenstar, etc.?
I'm probably still in the camp of, "Take another barrow wight, if you're going to take another hero," as they are generally easier to use, Paralyze is now off on a 3+, and they're providing that Terror bonus to orcs in the same list, all of which is useful.
Is there something that I missed? Any items that you think should be looted? I did consider the Rohan weapons like Guthwine and Herugrim (just didn't seem as reliable/useful as some of the others), and if the effects of the Ring of Barahir did more I would have included that as well, but it was an interesting thought exercise, and a good way for me to visualize what you could actually get from the hero. If you have thoughts, let us know down below!
Watching the stars,
Centaur
"Centaurs are concerned with what has been foretold! It is not our business to run around like donkeys after stray humans in our forest!" ~ Bane, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
