First Impressions: Harad and Umbar, Part I

Good morning gamers,

Today we're combining the factions of Umbar and Harad from the Armies of the Lord of the Rings supplement. When the Armies of Middle-Earth supplement arrives, we should have a lot more to talk about, but right now, we've got four profiles for each faction . . . that didn't seem like enough to justify two posts. As a result, we're lumping the "evil men who aren't Easterlings or Dunlendings or have big mouths" into one post today - but expect Parts 2 and 3 to come out when the new book hits the market.

Umbar Profiles: How Have They "Changed?"

We're starting off with Umbar which . . . really need some updating. :) In a way, the Corsairs can still play the game they've always been able to play - spam a bunch of cheapish F4 guys. Each Corsair unit isn't "cheap" exactly, but when you factor in the sub-60pt cost for their Heroes of Fortitude, you can get a full warband of guys for just 158-163pts. Copy/paste that a few times and you've got a horde list (52 models at 650pts).

The Corsairs of Umbar are only available in one list - the Corsair Fleets - which I assume is because they never actually made it to the Pelennor. We'll see if they're integrated into the new "Army of the Red Eye" list from the Armies of Middle-Earth, but I'm only a little optimistic. Their faction also got paired down in this supplement to four models which are . . . possibly still competent.

We'll start off with the Corsair Captain, who has basically not changed. For 55pts (same as the last edition if you gave them a piece of wargear), you get a F5/S4/2A hero (like you used to) with 3 Wounds/D4/1 Fate (like you used to if you foresook the shield for a crossbow). He lost the options for a bow and shield (he starts with a two-handed weapon now, which can be swapped for a crossbow at no extra cost), but you probably want a crossbow all the time, now that these guys have a 3+ Shoot Value instead of a 4+ Shoot Value. His "jacket" is now "light armor," so he'll be D5 against shooting attacks, which is nice to have but may not matter. These guys still only have Heroic March as a specialized heroic action, which is "fine". They also have throwing daggers like before, which wasn't retained by everyone in this list . . .

In the Corsair Fleets army list, your first Captain is the "Corsair Uber Captain", who gets an extra Attack/Wound (like the Uruk-Hai Uber Captain gets in the Assault Upon Helm's Deep list) and gets the Fearless/Sharpshooter special rules (like the Uber-Troll Chieftain gets Fearless in the Black Gate list). I don't know that these boosts are enough to make up for the fact that Dalamyr isn't in the list, but considering that Dalamyr was F5/S4/3A with 2 Might in the last edition (same as the Uber Captain now) and 2 Wounds/D4/3 Fate (instead of 3 Wounds/D4/1 Fate for the Uber Captain), I think getting reduced special rules but not significantly worse stats/heroic resources is a pretty good deal for two-thirds of Dalamyr's price. Also, always take the crossbow with this guy - getting to use Sharpshooter to pick out enemy horses with a 3+ Shoot Value and a S4 weapon is great.

Corsair Bo'suns changed a little - they start with a spear that can be swapped for free for a crossbow (you probably want to do that) and if you factor in the extra cost of the crossbow, these guys also didn't go up in cost. They also got the upgrade to light armor (D5 against ranged attacks) and have a 3+ Shoot Value, but otherwise still have the same old stats and heroic actions they did before. Friendly Corsairs still treat them as a banner, but that banner won't count for end-game VPs. All in all, not a terrible profile - also, always take the crossbow.

What has hurt the list the most is that Corsairs of Umbar - the bread and butter of this list - are now 8pts base and 9pts when you kit them out with a required upgrade. They have all the same stats they did before - F4, Shoot 4+, S3, D3 (with Light Armor now), 1 Attack/Wound, nee C3 (now C7+). They picked up Light Armor, but lost throwing weapons by default - which was HUGE for their strategy - and it's arguable that the presence of light armor penalizes them even more than it helps them. Why? Because the strategy with this army used to be throwing one guy into a fight with a big hero and then shooting your own guy to death (maybe getting in a glancing hit on the big hero) so that hero wouldn't be fighting anyone in the next round. You used to be able to kill the target model on 4s with either throwing daggers or crossbows - now your heroes are going to have to do that job for you, or your 1/3 throwing weapons or 1/3 bows will need to do it on 5s (and we don't have Arbalesters in this list - we'll see how the new list in the Armies of Middle-Earth supplement changes this decision matrix). There is a way to wound your poor chap on 3s, but let's assume you would prefer to hit the hero with that option, shall we?

Everyone in the army list gets Backstabbers (like they did before), but the Corsairs of Umbar got penalized three times by a) needing to take an upgrade instead of being run as cheap 7pt F4 models, b) going up 1pt without any improvements, and c) not being able to be the filthy bilge rats they were before by stabbing their friends in the back. Still, they can horde pretty well and one-third of them can have throwing daggers (and optionally shield if they want to). Are they better than Hillmen? I'm not sure.

New to the Corsairs list is the Corsair Ballista, which is a 70pt siege weapon that has one siege veteran and two crew and deals a S8 Piercing Shot hit like an Isengard Ballista, but it also rerolls To Wound rolls of 1, which is pretty good into enemy heroes - and that's good, because you'll need it son (there's no other plan in the list besides plug them up with guys). In the army list, you do get a free shot at the start of the game with one of these, so I think taking at least one is a good idea if for no other reason than you get to get a shot in before the game starts (unless you're playing Recon/Hold Ground and no one else is on the board . . . there is that).

All in all, I think Corsair players are going to be happy when the next book arrives - we'll see how Umbar fares when they get access to Black Numenoreans again, as well as Arbalesters and their two named heroes. While the cost of Black Numenoreans will probably go up, they're unlikely to be more than 1-2pts more expensive than Corsairs with light shields and throwing daggers, which could mean the Corsairs shift overnight from being a skirmish army to a high-defense shieldwall list (at least in the front rank), but hey, it might breathe life into this list. Will Corsair Reavers be missed in events that aren't using the hitherto-unreleased-but-eagerly-awaited Legacies document? I expect so - but we'll see if these guys finally get cavalry (high-Defense Terror cavalry might make up for not having light berserker infantry). I have concerns that the Corsairs of Umbar might fold a little too quickly still, but we'll see.

At the same time, I think Corsair players can have a decent chance at things if they rethink their previous strategies. The nerf-bat came down hard on throwing-weapon-spam lists (of which Corsairs were near the front of the pack), but their heroes are pretty cheap and you can field a lot of guys at points levels at/below 700pts (53 models with 3 Captains/1 Bosun/1 Ballista at 700pts, 52 models with 3 Captains/1 Bosun at 650pts). If your bows are supported by spears so that your buckler-and-throwing-dagger guys can charge into two models on the flanks (potentially killing someone on the way in) and shielding to tie up more guys so you can force your way through the enemy ranks (and maybe get some traps in along the way), I think you'll do alright. Also, while having bows/crossbows is good, not having Arbalesters and having lots of Captains means you can March your army into combat pretty quickly. Pray you don't hit Dwarves though . . . not sure how that's gonna go if you don't bring your numbers to bear fast!

Now on to better new . . .

Harad Profiles: How Have They "Changed?"

Like the Corsairs, there are currently four profiles for the Haradrim - the Mumak War Leader, War Mumaks of Harad (and the attached Haradrim Commander), Haradrim Chieftains, and Haradrim Warriors. Unlike the Corsairs, you can get these guys in more than one list: one that gives you bonuses for running Mumaks and a 50% bow limit and one that allows you to bring in Mordor/Easterling units and has an army-wide 33% bow limit. Let's look at the non-Mumaks first, since these guys have always been go-tos for Haradrim players.

Haradrim Chieftains are still 50pts base and can only take a bow for 5pts (no horse anymore). Thier profile is exactly the same except that their war spear is now just a spear . . . which is a distinction without a difference if you can't take a horse. They picked up the Poisoned Attacks (Bow) special rule, which is also a distinction without a difference from the previous edition, but if taken in the Harad army list instead of the Legions of Mordor list, they can trade their Poisoned Attacks (Bow) rule for "Poisoned Attacks", which gives them poison on all of their weapons. If this guy leads a warband of 11 Haradrim Warriors with spears (6pts each) and 1 Haradrim Warrior with banner (31pts, more on this unit next), you can get a full warband of melee guys for 163pts (if you took a bow on the Haradrim Chieftain). This is pretty cheap and it's possible for you to get up to 51 models for 597 points:

• Haradrim Chieftain with bow [G]
• 5 Haradrim Warriors with spears
• 1 Haradrim Warrior with banner
• 6 Haradrim Warriors with bows
• Haradrim Chieftain with bow
• 5 Haradrim Warriors with spears
• 1 Haradrim Warrior with war horn
• 6 Haradrim Warriors with bows
• Haradrim Chieftain with bow
• 6 Haradrim Warriors with spears
• 6 Haradrim Warriors with bows
• Haradrim Chieftain with bow
• 6 Haradrim Warriors with spears
• 6 Haradrim Warriors with bows

This is a pretty good horde - especially since Haradrim Warriors are still pretty efficient units. True, the heroes aren't very survivable - but there's also not much reason for them to get involved - and getting 28 poison shots to soften up the enemy before they arrive and all of your weapons have poison . . . I mean, that's pretty decent. Haradrim Warriors haven't changed at all since we started playing LOTR SBG back in 2010 (I think they went up a point from 5pts base to 6pts during the warband book days, but they haven't changed in this edition). 

The main thing that's different is that you can't take them without extra gear (something I enjoyed doing to squeeze an extra guy or an extra Mumak upgrade into my list in the previous edition) and you can't take them with two pieces of gear (like a spear and bow - or a spear and banner/bow and banner). This is all fine - yes, having a spear on a banner-carrier would be nice, but you mostly want your banner tucked away safely so you're scoring points (and your war horn sitting somewhere within 24" of your troops and on an objective if that matters), so not having a spear is perfectly fine.

Getting both of the old Serpent Horde special rules that gives the list 50% bow limit and poisoned everything is solid in the Harad list, whether you're running a horde of Haradrim Warriors or not. If you aren't and you've got Mumaks in the list (more on them later), you probably want to have a division of infantry on the ground while your bowmen are up high (making in-the-ways quite difficult to get) OR you want to have ways to get your infantry out of the howdah.

While the Harad list plays into all of the strengths of the Haradrim, I will say that fielding these guys in a Legions of Mordor list isn't bad either - you get access to S4 (possibly F4) troops that are not that much more expensive than your Haradrim with spears in Morannon Orcs and F4 infantry who are also not that much more expensive than your Haradrim with spears in Easterling Warriors (see the previous two articles on Mordor for more on those two options). While you don't get a 50% bow limit in that list, the bow limit is measured by the army as a whole, so you can have 33% of your list being Easterling Warriors in a pike block, 33% of your list as a Morannon Orc Shieldwall/a Mordor Troll for hammering, and 33% of your list being Haradrim Warriors with bows - and both the Haradrim and the Easterlings could be led by cheap heroes to allow you to spend more on the impressive heroes/monsters Mordor brings to the fight. While not exactly a 100% bow limit, the best units in Harad are still the humble Haradrim Warriors - and the most cost-effective way to field them is with a Haradrim Chieftain.

Cost-effective considerations aside, there are two other hero options available to Harad - the biggest of them is the Mumak War Leader. He's still 400pts like he was since the release of Gondor at War and he's still got a Mumak who has F5, D8, 4 S9 trample hits, and Sigils of Defiance. His profile is unchanged from the last edition (including heroic actions), but his special rules have fluctuated a lot. He picked up Dominant (10), Large Target, and the Awesome Presence special rule got upgraded so that friendly models treat the Mumak as a banner with a range of 6" (this is an upgrade from a 3" reroll to your dueling roll, but will NOT stack with a banner like it used to) . He lost his High King of the Mahud special rule which not only allows models to deploy outside of the howdah (I assume that's a mistake), but also limits his Stand Fast! to the normal range of 6" instead of 12". He can still cancel the first enemy Heroic Move of the turn on a 4+ (super sweet - and this is explicitly said to be measured from the Mumak's base, which makes me think the Awesome Presence rule isn't measured from the Mumak's base).

While this guy provides impressive stats, I do feel like this guy loses a bit in the Harad list and shines more in the Legions of Mordor list - in the Harad list, all Mumaks gain the ability to declare a free Heroic Combat once per game and in the old Grand Army of the South list, the Mumak War Leader was the one who could declare a free Heroic Combat or Strike when fighting the enemy army leader. While this is worse than it used to be in that you can only declare a Combat and you only get it once, it's also better because every big burly mammoth can call it - and they can all call it on the same turn! All Mumaks also get a 12" Harbinger of Evil buff in the Harad list - and you don't have to pay the premium for the War Leader to have that. For 150pts less than the War Leader (really 60-85pts if you match his upgrades), normal Mumaks are going to give you a lot of what this guy does - and potentially with their whole howdah filled for the same price!

Photo Credit: Tumblr

And that leads us nicely into a discussion of the model I'm most pleased with in this list. War Mumaks of Harad got the 6" banner from the Awesome Presence rule, Large Target, and Dominant (10) - which as I said in my discussion of the Balrog a few weeks ago is a huge boon to getting them back into a competitive zone. They got a little cheaper (250pts instead of 275pts) and they can still take Rappelling Lines for 10pts (dropping out your melee units to pull units off the Mumak), they still have Tusk Weapons for 20pts (getting that extra hit can do wonders for keeping you trampling), and Sigils of Defiance are also still 20pts. For an even 300pts, you can get a 6+ save/Resistant to Magic on the Mumak and anyone in the howdah (Sigils of Defiance), 4 S9 trample hits (Tusk Weapons), and the ability to dump the models in the howdah last-minute onto objectives when that matters (Rappelling Lines). This does it for me - I don't need the Mumak War Leader if I have 300pts invested in these upgrades.

One of these guys lumbering towards a board edge in Reconnoitre counts as 25 models if he's got 12 warriors and the army general in the howdah (26 if one of the warriors has a war horn) and they don't have to get out to count as escaping. Can you quarter yourself after that? Probably not - but if the other Mumak in your army (and yes, I think this list VERY much encourages you to run two of them) is running over guys/shooting people escaping, there's a good chance that your opponent has no chance of getting 23-25 models of his own off the board and you can win.

Now Harad, like the Corsairs, did lose a lot to the Armies of Middle-Earth supplement (most notably Suladan, but also Haradrim Taskmasters, Hasharin, Serpent Riders, Serpent Guard, and Haradrim Raiders) but they also lot a lot to the Legacies supplement (everything that wasn't the Mumak War Leader from the Far Harad list, the Betrayer, Haradrim Kings, the Golden King of Abrakhan, Abrakhan Guards, and Watchers of Karna). It'll be interesting to see how the Harad units in that book look in comparison to the ones in the Armies of the Lord of the Rings - and if Suladan keeps his old cost or if he goes up a little. Without Haradrim Kings to edge out Haradrim Chieftains - and with nothing replacing what a Mumak brings to the table - it'll be very interesting indeed to see how the Serpent Guard and the cavalry options change Harad's game.

Conclusion

I think Harad is in a pretty good place - Corsairs are still in the decision tree though. If you have thoughts on the models in these lists, let us know in the comments below! Next time we're swinging over to the Hobbit supplement to delve into thirteen Dwarves and their various alter-egos. Until next time, happy hobbying!