Good morning gamers,
Back in 2021, I ran a four-part series where I took four classic fighting scenes from the Lord of the Rings/Hobbit films (I added a fifth one in 2022) and looked at how you might bring that scene to life on the tabletop with MESBG. The first of those posts looked at an Uruk-Hai pike block formation (what I've since called a "loose phalanx") and how/why you might best use your pikes in games of MESBG.
The army list (Legendary Legion, really) that was most inclined to use that strategy was the Assault Upon Helm's Deep list - and with the various changes that I think have made that army list worse in this edition, I figured it would be good to review different formations you can run in order to get the most out of the classic Uruk-Hai assault force. For context, we'll be using the following 600-point force:
We'll begin with the most basic of the formation elements: the loose phalanx.
Formation #1: The Loose Phalanx
Like we said in the article back in 2021, the value of this formation is that we're spreading out our formation to provide a larger frontage and we're going to have models in the front-rank this time that either have 2 Attacks base (Berserkers) or can have 2 Attacks if they defend by shielding (Uruk-Hai Warriors with shields). There's a new cause for concern in this set-up, however: Uruk-Hai Warriors with shields can now benefit from Shieldwall. While there was definitely a case before for alternating shield-Berserker-shield-
two six-file phalanxes, banner/3 captains nearby
I have intentionally made three choices with the disposition of these phalanxes: first, as mentioned above, I've created one beater phalanx with six Uruk-Hai Berserkers in it, backed by six pikes. This formation will have no problem charging Terror-causing units but is only D5, so you'll want to be careful with its engagement. Whatever Berserker isn't supported in each file will have 2 Attacks at F5 (pretty good) and the supported Berserker can two-hand with 2 pikes backing him up. This seems like a solid fighting force to me and could certainly benefit from the banner, but I don't think it needs it.
The second choice that I made is to put the banner with the shield guys. This phalanx also has a six-man frontage, but most of the units in the front rank will be D7 and the exterior guys will be D6. This makes this formation much more resilient to most archery assaults, making it a much safer place for your banner to be. As a result, I've put the banner here.
My final choice is to not put the Captains into the phalanxes by default. I've done this for several reasons, namely because they're only slightly better than the Uruk-Hai Warriors with shields (F5/S5/A2 on offense and D8 in shieldwall) and I don't think you want them locked into a particular position from the get-go. These loose phalanxes might be "loose," but they're not very "flexible" when it comes to getting guys from the front rank out of harm's way. As a result, I think your heroes CAN be put into the phalanx (sometimes that will be the safest place for them), but I don't think they NEED to be in your phalanx. I'd also be very careful about embedding your General where he can't be extracted easily - he's not THAT much better than a lot of other mid-tier heroes and I think operating between these two phalanxes is probably where he'll shine the most.
Formation #2: Skirmish Triangles
Supporting our two pike bricks are three crossbow "skirmish triangles." This harkens to another older formations post I did back in 2022, where we looked at how to get 360 degree visibility out of your shooting units to avoid getting caught with friendly in-the-ways. A "skirmish triangle" is just three shooting models that are all in base contact, which allows them to do the "look over your friend's shoulder" thing to ignore them as in-the-way.
three skirmish triangles
Nine crossbows that can sit on objectives or anchor the ends of your phalanx can be really helpful - and while they probably won't win a shooting war with a dedicated enemy shooting army, they are certainly going to be dominant against any army that took "a few honesty bows."
I will say that while I like this formation, it will perform less well than a "straight line" if you've got a wall or some other piece of low, horizontal terrain that gives you cover and that allows you to look down a good firing lane at a place your opponent has to go. This has always been and will always be the ideal position for a crossbow team - so if you find one of those that you can use, use it and abandon this formation. Lacking good terrain that helps you get to a clear objective, this more flexible approach is really good - though don't get caught in melee in it or you'll likely be trapping yourself!
Formation #3: The Pac-Man formation
The previous two formations - loose phalanxes and skirmish triangles - may have to get somewhere in certain missions. For those missions, I recommend using the Pac-Man formation, which comes to us from yet (April 2021), which covered two formations that can be used to move your army more efficiently when you call a Heroic March. The Pac-Man formation has you deploy your March Captain a little further back from your forward deployment line and leave a "wedge" for him to advance with everyone else deploying beyond-but-near the wedge so they can benefit from the March but not encumber the March hero's direction of travel:
Pac-Man formation - two phalanxes out front, crossbows behind, Captains in the rear
There's a related formation that allows you to use the space even more efficiently, but heavily reduces your direction of movement: the Millenium Falcon formation. This can be found in the article linked above, but it basically leaves a single line path for the March Captain to walk down, but you can pack more models into your March zone - use this one if you prefer it, but I like the flexibility of the former one.
Millenium Falcon formation
For you over-achievers who want to be able to March in lateral directions, there's actually a third formation that you can use (the Bow-tie formation) - you're welcome . . . and who says our older stuff isn't worth reading?
Where Are The Siege Engines?
In the last edition, the siege weapons of the Assault Upon Helm's Deep list were really good - and as you might notice, they're missing from this article. "Where are the ballistas and the bombs," you ask? Well, we'll get into this when we get to the Assault Upon Helm's Deep army list review (eventually), but suffice it to say that at this juncture, I'm not sure that those tools are priced properly to do what they were meant to do - at least not at 600pts. The Assault Upon Helm's Deep list has lost a key rule that allowed you to take 2-3 ballistas (and maybe a bomb or two) at high points levels: the rule that gave them +6 models in their warbands. This means that in order to field 36 warriors now, you don't have to pay for 2 heroes - you have to pay for 3. That third hero is going to cost you (wait for it) one ballista or bomb team. So, if you previously had a list with 3 Captains and 3 Ballistas and 36 warriors (no bombs and only 2 full warbands), you now have to get to 800pts to get 3 Captains, 3 Ballistas, and 34 warriors - and with 47 total models, that MIGHT be enough, but only once you're at 800pts.
At 550, you can get to 32 models with 2 Captains, 2 Ballistas, and 24 warriors, but with 6 of your 32 models stuck with the Ballistas, your phalanxes get small and your crossbow formations will be minimal:
This is not bad at 550, but it only has an eight-file loose phalanx (not including the two Captains), so I don't know that it will survive. worth a try though. To get a bomb into the list, we basically have to pick 3 warriors that we don't want and add 50pts - which means we could take our 550 list and make it a 600 list without increasing our model count at all:
This might be fine too - especially since we maxed out our warbands at 550 and didn't have anywhere else to go in making our army bigger without swapping a ballista for a Captain. But this begs the question: which is better at 600 - a list with 2 ballistas/1 bomb or our 800-point list from above without the 3 ballistas and upgrading five Uruk-Hai Warriors to Berserkers/crossbows:
Perhaps I'm wrong, but I think having the infantry swarm and leaving the siege weapons at home is just the better play at lower points levels - maybe taking a bomb team for its psychological impact is better, but without the ability to take brands on the carriers or a Shaman to make the carriers reliable . . . I don't know that it's worth taking anymore (which makes me sad).
Conclusion
And that's a few old formations that you can use in the new edition to get more use out of all those Uruk-Hai you own. :) Hopefully something in this was new - and if there are other formations that you've been using for your Uruk-Hai (in the Assault army list or in the Muster of Isengard), let us know in the comments below! Until next time, be safe out there and happy hobbying!
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