Back to Basics, Revisited: The Fight Phase

Good morning gamers,

Well, today is our fourth post in this how-to-play-MESBG series and we're covering the Fight phase. We've already talked about building an army, the Priority and Move phases, and the Shoot phase. While maneuvering your troops is an important part of the game, most of the action (and removing of models) happens in the Fight phase - so for most armies, it's kind of important to know how it works (and often times, you're maneuvering your army to either get a better combat match-up - or trying to avoid combat entirely). Let's get stuck in!

How does it work?

Like the Move/Shoot phases, heroes begin by calling Heroic Actions - while we'll cover what all of these are later, the important thing to know is that Heroic Combats (which all heroes can call) are resolved before "normal combats," in the same way that Heroic Moves are resolved before normal movements and Heroic Shoots are resolved before normal shooting (both of these actions can be called by all heroes as well).

Once the Heroic Combats have been resolved, the player with priority chooses the order in which fights are resolved. Where possible, fights are paired off to be one-on-one, so if you have two models engaged (which is the technical term in this game for being "in base contact") with two enemy models, they will break off into two one-on-one fights.

Once fights are paired off, the players compare their Attack values for the models engaged in the fight and add 1 extra die for each supporting model (usually with a spear or pike, with a max of 1 spear backing up a model or 2 pikes that are touching each other backing up a model) they have in the fight. Heroes should roll their dice separately from warrior models, since they can use Might points to boost their rolls (so you have to know which dice are theirs).

Once all of the dice are rolled, players may use any rerolls they wish (usually from a banner or a special rule, though you can't reroll a reroll). After all of the rerolls have been used, players apply any penalties they suffer to their dueling rolls. The most common penalties are for models wielding two-handed weapons (which we'll cover in a second), models that are unarmed (which we talked about in our first post), and models carrying banners - all of these models suffer a -1 penalty to their Dueling rolls (so a 5 becomes a 4, a 4 becomes a 3, etc. - though in this edition of the game, two-handed weapons keep any natural 6s they get). After all of these penalties are applied, heroes may use Might (if they have any) to boost their die rolls (but not the dice of their colleagues). 

Whoever has the highest die roll at the end of all of that wins the fight. If the highest number for each side is a tie, the side with the highest Fight Value in the fight wins. If the Fight Values and highest die rolls are tied, a die is rolled by the player with priority - on a 1-3 the Evil force wins the fight (or "more Evil if two Good forces are fighting - determined at the beginning of the game), while the Good force wins on a 4-6. Some models have "Elven-made" on their wargear - if a model in the fight was using an "Elven-made" weapon in the duel, then their side wins on a 3-6 (or a 1-4) instead of the normal 4-6 (or 1-3). For our participants today, Theoden's sword, Herugrim, lets him automatically win a roll-off when Fight Values and highest dice are tied, which is super slick!

The losing side backs their models up 1" - if this not possible, the model is considered to be "trapped." The winning side grabs 1 die for each Attack in the fight and rolls "to wound," using the same chart that was used in the Shoot phase (reprinted here for convenience with the grey rows being adjusted to highlight common melee Strengths):

If a wounding roll is directed against a model that is trapped, the model doubles the dice they roll (so 1 Attack would become 2 dice). These are directed against one model, so if there are 3 models that you're fighting, you can only kill one of them with each attack (even if you get two successful wounds with your doubled dice).

The Warrior of Rohan loses to the Uruk-Hai and backs up 1" (with his buddy"making way" for him)

Quick note: we talked in our first post about spears - spears allow the model that isn't engaged to lend 1 Attack (or 1 extra die) to the model that's engaged with the enemy. This not only makes the supported model more likely to get a higher number (because more dice are being rolled), but the model supporting with the spear cannot be wounded. The Uruk-Hai who won the fight can attempt to wound the front Warrior of Rohan, but they can't kill the spearman.

If any wounds are dealt, the wounded models may make any "saving" attempts they have (generally speaking, this is using Fate points, but some models have special rules that grants a save). Any models that suffer wounds equal to or greater than their Wounds stat are removed from play and are counted as "casualties."

Heroic Actions

The Heroic Actions available to models in the Fight Phase include three of the most popular heroic actions and two of the least popular heroic actions. Let's see what they do:

• Heroic Combat: all heroes have access to this heroic action and it allows the hero (and any friendly models in his fight) to resolve their fight before the player with priority begins picking the order of fights. When multiple heroes call Heroic Combats, all of their Combats are resolved before the priority player's choice (and if heroes from both sides call Heroic Combats, there's a roll to determine who resolves one of their Combats first). If all of the enemy models engaged with the hero (and any friendly models also in the fight) are killed, then the hero (and any friendly model engaged in the fight) is able to perform a move, charging into other fights if they wish.
• NOTE: if two heroes in the same combat call Heroic Combats, if the first hero to resolve its Heroic Combat is killed, the second hero will still count as having successfully triggered his Heroic Combat and can move as if his Heroic Combat was resolved first (this is a change from the previous edition of the game).
• FURTHER NOTE: I don't know if this was in play in previous editions, but if you have a hero who declares a Heroic Combat and there is a friendly War Beast or Chariot in the same fight, the War Beast/Chariot cannot move as part of the Heroic Combat.
• Heroic Strike: this has definitely been a crowd favorite heroic action, probably because we've all lost a fight after both sides rolled 6s and "our Fight Value wasn't high enough." That bites - but some heroes can raise their Fight Value by D3 at the low-low cost of 1 Might point. There are LOTS of articles we've written over the past edition on Heroic Strike (not least of which is my review of Heroic Strike in our Heroic Heroes series, my article on the Top 5 Ways to Waste Might Points, and Rythbyrt's five-part series on Heroic Strike), but please understand that the math is very different now that it's a D3 improvement instead of a D6 improvement (and spoiler alert: even if you Strike, you still have to get a high roll on your dueling roll, so your victory is not guaranteed).
• NOTE: there's a comment at the end of this heroic action that the D3 bonus to your Fight Value "is always applied after any other effects that would affect a model's Fight Value", which I believe would include things like the Invisible special rule, Bat Swarm reductions, Tom the Troll's Sneezes, etc. - this is a change from the last edition of the game! 
• Heroic Strength: Heroic Strength allows the hero who calls it to double his Strength when dealing Strikes, which means that it often results in wounding enemy models 2 pips better than you previously had. You still max out at Strength 10, but it's generally a better investment than boosting wounding rolls. Now that this heroic action only helps you with Strikes, you can't use it to turn off Monstrous Charge . . . which is probably how it was always meant to be . . .
• Heroic Defense: probably one of the most beloved heroic actions in the game when you're fighting something like the Balrog, Azog, Aragorn, or Smaug, Heroic Defense requires enemy models to wound you on a natural 6 (or a natural 6/4+, 6/5+, or 6/6+ if they would normally wound you on that). While this means some heroes (like unarmored Galadriel) will be wounded on a 6 instead of a 4+ (or better), other heroes might call this so that the benefits of two-handed weapons, lances, and special rules that help you wound models more easily won't come into effect. This is a heroic action that you have to pay to use before you actually use it - and it's the only one where you're backing yourself to lose instead of saving the Might to boost a dueling roll).
• Heroic Challenge: deemed one of the most useless heroic actions in the last edition, Heroic Challenge has changed a lot this edition. A model may issue a Challenge to a hero within 6" (not just a hero the declaring hero is Engaged with, like last edition) with of the same/higher Heroic Tier (so a Hero of Valor could declare a Heroic Challenge against an enemy Hero of Valor/Legend, but not to a Hero of Fortitude, Minor Hero, or Independent Hero). The challenged hero can choose to either accept or decline. Regardless of whether the challenge is accepted or declined, the declaring hero gets +1 Attack and +1 To Wound against the target (which, of course, stacks with other bonuses) AND will regain a previously-spent Might point if the challenged hero is killed by the declaring hero. If the challenged hero accepts the Challenge, both models will get the aforementioned bonuses and neither hero can declare additional Heroic Challenges until the other hero in the challenge is dead. Both heroes must charge each other when they activate if they can. If the Challenge is declined, the challenged hero doesn't get the bonus Attack/To Wound or the ability to regain a Might point AND that hero cannot later declare a Heroic Challenge against the declaring hero.
• NOTE: there is no prohibition on other models "helping" with the fight . . . so spear-support away (and get those traps in)!

Okay, so your heroes may have some choices for heroic actions to call in the Fight phase (hopefully) - let's see what wargear will help them in this phase (since it can change a LOT about the match-ups they have).

How Wargear Affects The Fight Phase: Spears, Cavalry, Shielding, Two-handed weapons, and Special Strikes

We've already talked a bit about spears, but it bears repeating here: spears can get you more dice in your fights, which makes you more likely to roll 6s, which makes you more likely to get a higher roll than your opponent, which makes you more likely to win fights, which makes it harder to kill your guys and much more likely that your opponent's guys die. While this isn't always a victory condition, most games give you at least some victory points for killing half of your opponent's force ("breaking" the force). Besides that, spears don't do anything special (no bonuses against horses, no bonuses for standing in a hedge and your opponent rushing you - nothing). Pikes, on the other hand, allow you to support with two models (one touching the other, so no "Mouse ears" supports) and get a bonus of +1 To Wound the mounts of charging cavalry models - which is cool, but also situationally useful.

One of the still-cost-effective pieces of gear you can get for a model is a horse - not everyone can get it (most heroes can and about half of the factions you can play have access to at least one mounted warrior model). When cavalry models charge infantry models, they get two bonuses: first and foremost, cavalry get +1 Attack, which increases the number of dice they roll to win the duel AND increases the number of dice they roll to wound. Second, cavalry knock Prone any Infantry models that are S5 and below, which means when they roll to wound, they will double their wounding dice (so those 2 Attacks on the charge become two sets of 2 dice to wound, for four dice total). Yep, cavalry want the charge - they can be DEVASTATING if they win duels when charging!

Some cavalry have lances or war spears, both of which give a +1 To Wound bonus when you charge (so if you needed 5s to wound, you now need 4s to wound). This is very helpful in making sure you kill whatever you're charging, but it does mean you have to win your fight, so be picky with those matchups!

If you have a shield, you can defend by shielding. The Warriors of Rohan only have 1 Attack each, so if they find themselves without spear supporters, they might decide to "defend by shielding," which allows them to double their dice to win the fight (rolling 2 dice instead of 1 die) but forego the wounding roll they would have made if they won the fight. This is a great way to give models that are trying to hold a position a better chance of not dying, but won't actually make their situation any better unless they get help.

You could also use a two-handed weapon: we don't have anyone in our example lists who has a two-handed or a hand-and-a-half weapon in their profile, but these kinds of weapons must/can (respectively) be wielded "two-handed," which gives the wielder a -1 penalty to his dueling roll (unlike all previous editions of the game, any natural 6s rolled are preserved, but if you get a 2-5 on any dice, they go down by 1) and in trade, you get +1 to any wounding rolls he makes if he wins the fight. If we had Uruk-Hai Berserkers in our game, we might choose to use their hand-and-a-half weapons two-handed because they each roll two dice (being 2A models), they have a higher Fight Value than any of the Rohan Warrior units (F5), and they might have 1-2 dice from a banner to help them out. A S4 Berserker normally wounds a Warrior/Rider of Rohan on 5s, but if he elects to two-hand, he would now wound on 4s if he can win the fight.

Well, let's see how the Fight phase went in our example - the crossbows inflicted a few casualties and Theoden led a great charge into the Uruk-Hai. He killed the Uruk-Hai general (spending almost all his Might), but lost a lot of men in the process:

The first rule of fighting Uruk-Hai is that people are gonna die . . . hopefully you cut the head off the snake quickly . . .

Dueling Penalties and Dealing With Them

One of the most common things you'll find when you start playing is dueling penalties. Dueling penalties are a thing - and sometimes they come with high rewards (like two-handing or bringing a banner) and sometimes it's just a penalty. So when you find yourself with that dueling penalty, what can you do?

First off, you can throw more dice in the fight (ideally with models who don't have dueling penalties). Whether it's a lowly Moria Goblin Warrior with a spear backing up your Moria Goblin Prowler or a Wood Elf Warrior with a Wood Elf spear backing up Galadriel, you stand a better chance of rolling a high number JUST by adding another die to the fight. Spear-supporting models (and pike-supporting models) are probably the most common ways, but trying to get multiple models engaged with the enemy might be an option too, as is buying models with multiple Attacks (like Uruk-Hai Berserkers, who can go two-handed and do just fine because they're rolling two dice - and might be backed up by a pike or two).

Second, you can also make sure your models are within range of a banner - even if you have a -1 penalty to your roll, having the ability to reroll a die in the same fight is invaluable. Your opponent won't always roll 6s (or at least, he'd better not be always rolling 6s), so getting a 6 that turns into a 5 (or even a 5 that turns into a 4) is just fine. Banners maximize the effectiveness of the units around them - have one around!

Third, sometimes you just need to make sure your Defense value is high. Models like Khazad Guards are D7 and have two-handed weapons. If you're against S3/4 models, Khazad Guards can risk going two-handed since they'll only be wounded on a 6 if they lose. Yes, they may get that - but they also might not. And if a S4 model goes two-handed, chances are they only need a 3+ or a 4+ to wound their opponents - and THAT is really good.

Finally, you can risk dueling penalties fairly reliably with heroes who have Might in their store - especially if they roll lots of dice. Heroes like Aragorn with hand-and-a-half weapons can reliably win fights while fighting two-handed if they're mounted, on the charge, and in range of a banner. With 4 dice and a reroll with a -1 penalty that doesn't apply to 6s, you have a very strong chance of getting a high roll. If you get a 5 that turns into a 4 and you only need a 5, you can use Might to boost the 4 back into a 5. If you win the duel, you'll get +1 To Wound on your EIGHT dice to wound for the low-low risk of spending a Might point to boost up your dueling roll. Yes, there are a million things you can use Might for - but sometimes, boosting a dueling roll is one of them.

Okay, so if you take any of the advice on mitigating dueling penalties above (or if you have any thoughts of your own), drop them in the comments below! Now let's move on to our last topic for the Fight phase: getting the most out of your heroes.

Who Do You Target With Your Heroes?

When it comes to "combat heroes," there are basically two kinds: "mid-tier" heroes and "top-tier" heroes. Mid-tier heroes tend to be heroes with 2 Attacks (and might or might not have access to mounts) and have a fairly low Fight Value (usually F5 and below and only some will have access to Strike). These kinds of heroes can be good, but can also stall out - especially against heroes. Generally speaking, you want mid-tier heroes to focus on warriors - models that they're likely to have a Fight Value advantage against OR have a Fight Value tie against and little risk of being wounded.

Top-tier heroes tend to have 3+ Attacks and often have mounts to augment their damage (or are monsters and have ridiculous stats). Because they're overqualified to beat troops (and many of them cost a lot, so it'll take forever to "pay for the hero" just by killing troops), you want top-tier heroes focusing on the biggest, baddest models in your opponent's army. Models like Gil-Galad might even have bonuses for fighting heroes/monsters (getting Might back, perhaps) - and others (like Azog or Aragorn) can ignore high Defense when they wound (which is usually how monsters and big heroes stay alive).

These two maxims (mid-tier heroes focus on warriors while top-tier heroes focus on heroes/monsters) are guidelines though - sometimes heroes will have rules that encourage you to do the opposite. There are a lot of heroes who get free Heroic Combats when they charge or just because - which is wasted if you have to call a Heroic Strike against a big monster, but is perfect if you want to smash through 2-4 grunts in a turn. Heroes like Olwyn, on the other hand, are clearly mid-tier heroes (F5/S4 with 3A), but get a pseudo-Heroic-Defense if she's outnumbered, so charging a big hero and his friend looks good. Understanding what your heroes do can direct you towards how to use them well (even if seems like they would do better in a different role based on their stats).

Finally, if you want to get the most out of your heroes, consider running 3-4 of them and call "cascading Heroic Combats," which involves a bunch of heroes charging into warriors and calling Heroic Combats on a single turn. Watch the concern sweep over your opponent's face as you have a pack of heroes slay 2-4 troops each and radically alter the board because they're avoiding the enemy heroes and bringing the numbers came closer together. All-hero factions like the Fellowship/Breaking of the Fellowship LL, hero-heavy Erebor Reclaimed armies, or the White Council do this really well - lots of F6+/3A heroes, occasionally mounts, and LOTS of Might on the board. Other armies (like Rohan/the Riders of Theoden or Minas Tirith) can do this effectively too because they can get good mid-tier or top-tier heroes for 100-points or less. The cheaper a hero is, the easier it is to include more of them.

Conclusion

Well, that was a lot to cover in one post - but we're done for now with the basics of the game. If we come up with more topics (either because we noticed we missed something or because someone recommends something in the comments), we'll revisit the series. 

Next week we're picking up the Bare Necessities series and reviewing a faction that we didn't do in our last round: the Fiefdoms. Often viewed as "Dunland done wrong," the Fiefdoms has a ton of elite troops (with average Defense) and some of the most powerful synergistic buffs in the game. With five very good hero choices, who do you jump for? What does your troops make-up look like? And how competitive are they with or without allies? Tune in next time to find out - until then, happy hobbying!