The New Age Is Begun: the Lurtz's Scouts Army List

Good morning gamers,

A few years ago, we did a draft of the Good and Evil Legendary Legions for the TMAT Talks podcast. One of my mid-round picks was the Lurtz's Scouts Legendary Legion. I always loved playing with that list - it was fast, it got pretty good numbers at most points levels, and it was filled with cool-looking Uruk-Hai (who are themselves very good at chopping through things).

This army couldn't charge a Terror wall or stick around after the fight for anything (despite being told that they do not know pain and they do not know fear, but they were nevertheless very fun to play. Today, we're diving into their current army list in the new edition - and I think they're better in this edition, but there's one change I wish was made that would really help them out. Let's see what these guys have to offer!

Lurtz's Scouts: Changes for 2025

Profile Selection

The list of models you have in this army list hasn't changed from the previous edition if you play with the Legacy models. It's still just Lurtz and Ugluk for the named heroes (and Mauhur with Legacies), Scout Captains and Drummers for the unnamed heroes, and Uruk-Hai Scouts for your warriors. Like the Assault Upon Helm's Deep list that we looked at last time, you're trading a greatly reduced profile list for a hero you can't get anywhere else (Lurtz) and a bunch of special rules. Is it enough? Depends on what you like, I guess . . .

Army List Bonuses

The army list bonuses are mostly the same as the Legendary Legion bonuses from yesteryear - Woodland Creature on everyone, 8" movement on everyone (not tied to Mauhur anymore), and Lurtz's shield throw rule has been rolled into his profile. If you used to play this list before, all of the previous stuff is yours.

There are two new additions, however: first off, you don't break until you get to 66%, which is fantastic because, as I said in my review of the Legendary Legion, Saruman said the famous line "You do not know pain, you do not know fear" to these guys but they definitely felt pain and they definitely felt fear. Now, they will still know pain, but they won't know fear . . . until 5-10 more models die. :-) Additionally, Lurtz has General Hunter (if you can use it, great) and a free Heroic Combat each turn (FABULOUS). All in all, some modest but good improvements on the former list.

Profile Adjustments

There have been a lot of small changes since the last edition and one profile that got some big changes:

• Lurtz, Uruk-Hai Scout Captain went up by 10pts to an even 100pts, but picked up F6 (excellent), got a Courage boost to 4+ (nee C6), got the Sharpshooter special rule, got the Oblivious to Pain special rule (6+ saves may not be saves for everyone, but every little bit helps!), and picked up the Shield Throw special rule that he had in the Lurtz's Scouts Legendary Legion (except now he gets to reroll failed To Hit rolls with it). In this army list, he also gains General Hunter (nice to have, but might be a trap), a free Heroic Combat each turn (AWESOME!), and 8" move with Woodland Creature (like he used to have in the old LL). All in all . . . he's pretty good value - and that's good, because in this list, you need him to be good value. :)
• Ugluk, Uruk-Hai Scout Captain got a whip (which he was always crafted with and . . . might . . . make a difference in your games) and got a new special rule that is SUPER good in the Ugluk's Scouts army list and cannot be used in this army list (BOOOO!!!) and went up by 10pts. All in all . . . I mean, you probably still take this guy for the extra Might point and access to Heroic Strike, but I think there's also a very strong argument that you save the 20pts and get two extra guys (and extra pieces of gear) if you have the slots for it.
• If you're playing with Legacy models, you have access to Mauhur, who got more expensive and isn't necessary to increase the speed of your models. For 10pts more than an Uruk-Hai Scout Captain, he's got +1 Attack and a niche special rule that allows him to suffer a -1 penalty to his dueling rolls (6s will be affected), but gets to reroll failed To Wound rolls when making Strikes . . . honestly, I don't know if you would ever use this rule, unless you had a VERY strong edge in the fight (you'll want to have more dice than your opponent and the higher Fight Value). Still, getting +1 Attack for 10pts is not bad and this list is REALLY short of profiles.
• Uruk-Hai Scout Captains went down by 5pts but only have a two-handed weapon now (instead of a sword and two-handed weapon). Two-handed weapons are more reliable and less penalizing this edition, but boy do I miss being able to take shields or Uruk-Hai bows on these guys! A while ago, I wrote a post on the different types of Uruk-Hai heroes you could take - we're basically just given "hatchet" captains now, which is not terrible, but does limit your options for dealing with big enemy heroes ("rock" captains) and being able to lend extra damage at a distance ("arrow" captains).
• Uruk-Hai Drummers can't give you a 12" walk anymore, but free Heroic Marches are definitely useful - while I don't really like these guys in the Muster of Isengard list (where you already get free Heroic Marches on Turn 1), I think these guys are absolutely essential in this list.
• Uruk-Hai Scouts haven't changed and are your only warrior options in this list. As an all-hero list, I think this list will struggle, so chances are good you're leaning into these guys hard - and I think at least one of them should have a banner, one-third of them should have Uruk-Hai bows, and as many as possible should have shields (but you can afford to have a few that don't - keep them with Ugluk so you can take off their heads late in the game or leave them at objectives that you needed to race to quickly).

And that's it - I kind of wish Ferals got added to the list, since that would give them a list where there wasn't much competing with them and could give some interesting list builds that you could try. Whatever - let's see what's good and what's a potential weakness in this list . . .

Lurtz's Scouts: Strengths and Weaknesses

This list is all about speed - which is both a strength and a potential weakness. On the one hand, being 2" faster per model (and getting 3" inches with Heroic March if you don't need to chatge anyone) means that you can get to important locations faster than normal, move farther while shooting, and wrap around enemies more easily than normal troops. On the other hand, increased speed can make you want to move full speed ahead into an enemy shieldwall, run into the open to be shot to death, and dance around objectives instead of actually getting on them. For this reason, this list rewards learning to play well, using the board to shield your troops, fighting parts of the enemy army instead of hitting it head on, and ultimately trying to outmaneuver your opponent while still playing the scenario.

The primary weakness of this list is, of course, its limited profile selection and special rules. Ugluk's Scouts doesn't have many more profiles on paper, but having access to Orc and Uruk-Hai heroes/warriors, getting access to wargear like spears and two-handed weapons on the Orcs (to say nothing of banners and shields), and having access to special rules like Ugluk's new "meat-menu" rule and Animosity give you options you don't have in this list. With limited rules and profiles, it does feel like you're losing something here . . .

On the positive side, the profiles you have access to are all elite and they're reasonably costed because they don't have above-average Defense. Uruk-Hai have long been my favorite choice for tanking or crushing enemy heroes - and while pikemen certainly help with that, being F4 is good enough against most armies and great against others, S4 is good enough against most armies and great against others, and being D4-5 isn't great but isn't terrible. For 8-9pts, these guys are great and the additional speed they have is a real help to bringing their strong offensive profile to bear.

This list is surprisingly good at shooting, despite not getting rules that incentivize shooting (like 50% bow limit or models that don't count towards the bow limit). Because you can get a Scout Captain and 12 warriors with shields or Uruk-Hai bows for just over 160pts, you can pile in the bodies into most points levels (and Lurtz's warband will cost around 300pts, so even at 450pts, you can get nearly 30 models with 10 Uruk-Hai bows). Furthermore, these are S3 weapons on models that can move an extra 2.5" while still shooting - this makes up for their 18" range, but also makes them better than infantry archers and most cavalry archers at moving to important places while still threatening your opponent with archery. I will give a cautionary note about Lurtz using his bow - he's good with it and it's fine to shoot if you don't have to race into killing things, but like Faramir, Lurtz is a melee piece that can shoot (don't get stuck in the back of the board shooting).

Finally, Heroic Combats are great for getting extra value out of those elite profiles and extra movement. Traps win games and heroes who springboard into the enemy backlines can get you traps your opponent doesn't expect and can limit reprisals on the next round. Combats can also slingshot you towards objectives or board edges that you need to reach, so that's another reason to use them. Figure out what you need and focus on that.

Lurtz's Scouts: Strategies for the Tabletop

Our first stop is to talk about maneuvering your archers. Centaur's age-old principle that "archers are swordsmen" is definitely true today. While you can definitely get good archery volume out of this list, it's unlikely that you can win a shooting war with this list - D4 archers that cost 9pts each are pretty easy for any ranged weapons to kill and you don't have the advantage of Elven Cloaks/Stalk Unseen or Blinding Light/similar rules that can protect you from reprisals. Use terrain as best you can and maneuver your archers so that they can move their full distance (11" maximum speed with Heroic March = 5.5" movement while still shooting), which should allow you to get to objectives while and ultimately into melee with weakened groups of people. As a result, use your archery to whittle down specific areas of the enemy army, softening up their line before you hit it with the rest of your army.

While other generals may disagree, I recommend using skirmisher triangles with this list - you don't have traditional battle lines because you don't have spears and having three models touching each other base-to-base allows you to flexibly move while still keeping 360-degree visibility. As you get closer to your opponent, split up into individual models to avoid being trapped against each other, but keep your skirmisher triangles maneuvering so you can get good charges in to wrap the enemy, but also to force enemy shieldwalls to spread out when trying to engage you (shieldwalls are TERRIBLE when they're spread out).

Your melee units will want to form flexible blocks as well - they'll want to be within 6" of heroes (and your drum) so they can benefit from heroic actions (especially March - though I think this is far more important to keep your archers moving quickly than your melee units), but spreading out forces your opponent to make smaller pockets of guys, which is ideal for wrapping and trapping. If your opponent stays in one big block, stay spread out and drifting towards the flanks so you can attack a part of the enemy on a turn in which you move second (avoiding reprisals from your opponent). This charging-while-moving-second is a lot easier this edition with the changes to who gets priority, so unless you are always losing the roll for priority, you should be able to set up your charge when you want it unless your opponent is purposefully trying to avoid an engagement.

You also want to pay special attention to getting Lurtz into combat. He's an incredibly good hero for his cost - great Fight Value, good Strength, 3 Attacks/Might, free Heroic Combats with access to Strike if you need it. He's awesome at smashing through warriors and can even knock a big hero off his horse with his shield-throw, though defending by shielding is a quite useful skill at saving his bacon in a bad match-up, so don't be hasty when using it. Heroic Combats from Lurtz and any of the Captains that you have can crush a line quickly - but make sure Lurtz's Combats don't leave him vulnerable on the following turn (3 Wounds/1 Fate with D6 isn't great against a lot of things).

This plays into the most important strategy of all: be patient and play the objectives of the scenario. More than traditional forces, this army needs to be constantly checking on how it wins the game - small changes here and there can change your strategy for how to win. Are you close to being broken and are you close to breaking your opponent? Do you have to be on the objectives you originally planned to take or have other objectives that your opponent considers "safe" now a better place to take the fight? Do you have a chance to breakaway to a valuable place or are you biding your time? Is it a good time to smash an enemy flank - and which flank do you crash? Patience - patience, my love.

Sample Lists

I'm going to say upfront that the lists below don't include Ugluk or Mauhur - if you want to modify the lists below to feature these guys, be my guest. I wanted to get 1-2 more models in each list (or an extra banner), but if that's not your cup of tea, make changes by all means. Our first stop is a 500pt list that his 30 models - a very high model count for a pretty low points level:

Back in the last edition, I thought 600pts was the best points level for the Lurtz's Scouts Legendary Legion. I think this is very much still true - one could argue that 650 is a bit better, but the following list has 4 extra warrior slots, two banners, and everyone has gear (we could have gotten +1 model if we had dropped 7 shields . . . your choice as to whether or not that's a better idea than this - I could be convinced either way):

At 600pts, you're running almost 40 models and that might give you a model count advantage over your opponent! The army lists that rival you are likely to have some chaff troops in the mix and are more than likely vulnerable to S3 bows - if you play carefully, wrap-and-trap, and focus on pressing hard with Lurtz into the enemy warriors to deepen the model count disparity, I think you're in for a good ride.

If you play at 700pts, things get a bit awkward for points - a 100-point increase over the previous list requires us to spend 55pts (at least) on a fourth hero and then you're adding 5 warriors . . . yaye? When we get up to 750pts, however, we're good to go with a very impressive 50 models, four nearly-full warbands, and double-banners to help all of those spear-less F4/S4 warriors do their thing. I could be convinced that a third banner is good in this list - if you don't mind going down to 47 models, do that:

Conclusion

That's Lurtz's Scouts - it's a fun ride and I think they're a pretty good list that hasn't been tapped into much in the new edition. If you have experience with the list, let us know in the comments below - it's always great to hear how people are doing with lists like these!

Next time, we're kicking off a month of Rohan lists, starting with the non-cavalry one: the Defenders of Helm's Deep. I really liked this list in the last edition of the game and I still like it in the new edition. Find out how things have changed (and your new hierarchy of heroes) next time - and until then, happy hobbying!