Nemesis: How to Fight Against Mordor Troll Chieftains

Good morning gamers,

Earlier this year, we were asked if we could write Nemesis articles for the Witch-King of Angmar and Mordor Troll Chieftains. A few weeks ago, we covered the Witch-King (as an extended discussion of Ringwraiths, who have already shown up generally in this series). Today, we're tackling Mordor Troll Chieftains who . . . get a bit of a bad wrap in competitive circles.

Back when I started playing MESBG (back when it was LOTR SBG and Heroic Strike wasn't a thing), Mordor Troll Chieftains were scary - they were generic heroes who had base F7, giving them an edge over basically any hero in the game. After the rise of Heroic Strike (and its proliferation on a ton of units), having a base F7 stat doesn't usually matter until those "Strike heroes" are out of Might. F7 just isn't what it used to be . . .

. . . but Troll Chieftains are still F7/S7 monsters and if you find yourself across the table from one, you could be in for it. As a result, we're going to discuss today how to beat these guys - and while we're at it, we're going to look at an interesting corollary set of units you can beat with similar strategies: most Dwarf Infantry heroes.

What Makes Mordor Troll Chieftains So Hated?

Photo Credit: Warhammer Community (and a really great article, despite its age)

While Mordor Troll Chieftains receive some censure from competitive players, a LOT of Dwarf heroes are touted as being excellent profile-for-cost units and while you may not see these guys crushing all of the top tables, a solid Dwarf list is a good gatekeeper list that will separate the "bad" lists from the "good" lists. A lot of that is tied to how points efficient their heroes (and most of their warriors) are - and if we understand what makes Dwarf heroes so good (and what they lack), we'll learn a lot about what makes Mordor Troll Chieftains good as well.

Regardless of the Dwarf list you're fielding (except Thorin's Company), it's not hard to find at least one named hero profile and at least one generic hero profile that's F5-6, effectively S6 with/without a dueling penalty (and if that's from the Khazad-Dum/Moria army list, you probably have access to Piercing Strike as well), D8-9, 2-3 Attacks, 2-3 Wounds, and either 2-Might-and-Strike or 3-Might-and-Strike (generic heroes from the Hobbit have 2-Might-and-March, but the Master of Battle (5+) on Iron Hills Captains means they CAN call Heroic Strike for free if an enemy hero nearby calls a Heroic Strike). If you went looking for this in other factions (we'll look at "the big four" of Minas Tirith, Rohan, Mordor, and Isengard), you'd be hard-pressed to find any models that meet this description at the 65-120 price point of most Dwarf heroes - even if you drop the D8 requirement that basically no one outside of Dwarves/monsters can reach (Knights of the White Tower check most of those boxes at 60pts each and add Mighty Blow to the mix - but they are quite a bit squishier than Dwarf heroes).

Nemesis: How to Fight Against the Witch-King of Angmar

Good morning gamers,

I wasn't planning on writing this article this year, but a reader asked if we could do an article on the Witch-King of Angmar. Instead of waiting until next year to do that, I decided to write this one early and delay some content I had planned instead - so if you have questions or thoughts on articles we should write, take this as your cue to tell us in the comments. :)

Photo Credit: Warhammer Community

The Witch-King of Angmar is a really powerful piece - and he's probably the most flexible hero you can take in the game with lots of options for his mount, war gear, and his heroic resources (Might, Will, and Fate). With several builds that have been deemed competitive options over the years and an ever-emerging meta surrounding this guy, it makes sense that we'd want to talk about how to beat him. So join in as we pile on my favorite Ringwraith and learn how to fight this fearsome foe!

What Makes The Witch-King of Angmar So Hated?

I have to start off by pointing out that we had an in-depth article on how to beat Ringwraiths at a high level already in this series - many of the principles we talked about at length in that article apply to the Witch-King, but since releasing the article, we've had some FAQs that directly affect him and some build styles that used to be very common have gone out of vogue. As a result . . . go read the previous article if you haven't already, then come back to this one . . . I'll wait.

Dum, dum, carn-dum-dum-dum . . . bam-bam . . . ba-da-bam-bam . . . random screech . . . flappity-flap-flappy-flap . . . crownity-crown-crown . . . dramatic pause​​​ . . . KNIFE! . . . another dramatic pause​ . . . Oh, you're back? Great - let's talk about the Witch-King. :)

Nemesis: How to Fight Against Castellans of Dol Guldur

Good morning gamers,

This is our last post in this series (for now) and while we've focused on the main players in the Last Alliance over the past six weeks (and the world's scariest Ruffian hero), we're turning our attention to units I have come to HATE fighting: Castellans of Dol Guldur. My use of these units is limited to the Rise of the Necromancer LL, but Rythbyrt really likes to use these guys in Dark Powers of Dol Guldur lists - and my oh my are these guys a pain to deal with! Many people don't like these guys, but they're a hidden gem and if you see them on the other side of the table, you'll want to know how to deal with them. So let's take a look and see what these guys bring to the table and then how we can beat them . . .

What Makes Castellans of Dol Guldur So Hated?

Castellans are one of the most underrated heroes in MESBG (hence why they showed up in our In Defense Of series). To start with, they've got all the stats you want in a generic hero, including F5, S5, and 2 Attacks. This is better than most generic heroes, but certainly LOOKS sub-par when compared to your average beater hero (though S5 is hard to top without a +1 To Wound). As Rythbyrt pointed out in his article defending Castellans, these guys are basically higher-Courage Half-Trolls, who really need to be fielded in large numbers in order to be effective - and they're most effective when they all have Morgul Blades, since any 1 Fate hero is going to be leery of engaging if he's not confident he can win the fight.

Photo Credit: Warhammer Community

They're also cheap - at 40-45pts (depending on whether they have the Morgul Blade or not), they're about the same cost as your average unnamed Orc hero but punch a LOT harder than Orc heroes do (very few can get to S5 and none get to F5). They're Minor heroes instead of Fortitude heroes, so they can't lead as many troops as other units can, but they rarely need to lead anyone (and a small hit-squad of guys is perfectly fine escorts for them).

Nemesis: How to Fight Against the Dark Lord Sauron

Good morning gamers,

We're back with a how-to-counter-tough-models post today and since we covered the "big four" heroes of the Last Alliance, it seemed fitting that we'd also cover Sauron in the discussion - especially since he showed up on most of their countering lists. If you make a short list of models that are a) great in combat, b) hard to kill, and c) great at casting magic, Sauron is probably very, VERY high on the list. He's expensive, but he also does it all. So if you see him on the other side of the table, what on Middle-Earth are you supposed to do? Well, let's dig into what makes this guy good - and then we'll look at how to beat him.

What Makes The Dark Lord Sauron So Hated?

Any discussion about Sauron has to begin with his profile - he's got a beastly combat profile with F9, S8, 4 Attacks, and 3 Might with the option to call Heroic Strike (though when you start from F9, there's a real risk against F5-6 heroes that you don't need it). If his offense was great and his defense was poor (like Gulavhar), he probably wouldn't be worth his cost, but with Defense 10 (the only hero in the game with a Defense rating that high), 5 Wounds, and a 2+ mightable save against the final wound he suffers thanks to his modified One Ring rules, wounding Sauron is hard - and killing Sauron is all but impossible. 

Photo Credit: Warhammer Community

If you'd like to see a rather hilarious science experiment about how hard it is to kill Sauron, you should check out the Conquest Creations video that Jacob Lucas did earlier in the year - if you don't mind spoilers, Sauron managed to kill 532 Hobbit Militia over 157 turns and died after making 17 One Ring saves . . . no game is going to last that long, of course - and it's very rare that you'll see over 500 Hobbits on the board . . . or that all you'll be facing are Hobbit Militia with axes. :)

He's also got a great spell array - arguably the greatest in the game (I certainly think so). Most of his spells have an 18" range (6" longer than most other casters), and he can cast Drain Courage/Transfix on a 2+, Compel on a 3+, and Chill Soul/Sap Will on a 4+, giving him the ability to neutralize low-Will heroes while they're a long way off to slow their advance, weaken Ringwraiths with either of his 4+ spells from beyond a Fly-able charge range, and he can pluck wounds off army leaders or banner-bearers far before they get into combat with him. Oh, and he casts Instill Fear on a 3+, which can be great for clearing out objectives (especially when paired with his Ancient Evil special rule).

Nemesis: How to Fight Against Isildur

Good morning gamers,

This year in this series, we've looked at Gil-Galad, Elendil, and Elrond as the major heroes from the Last Alliance (well, and Bill Ferny) - today, we're wrapping up the quadrivium of heroes by covering the cheapest and potentially most difficult to deal with of the lot: Isildur. This guy can be crazy good - and he can also let you know (or at least, mine has let me down a time or twelve). Isildur is a bit of an odd choice for this series, since he's the first model that I'm not only covering here in Nemesis (as a model that you can hate fighting on the other side of the table) AND a model we've previously covered in our In Defense Of series (as a model that gets critique for not being good enough by some players). Isildur is a bit of a polarizing piece, either shredding your army and best heroes to bits or underperforming and seeming inferior to his dad (and sometimes multiple captains).

Recently, Evan Iverson has had some international success with Isildur (allied with some friends that aren't Rivendell to help maximize his benefits) and so we're going to look today at what you can do to help fight against Isildur and make him pay if he shows up on the other side of the board. Let's see what all the fuss is about this guy first . . .

What Makes Isildur So Hated?

For starters, Isildur is usually fielded without Elendil so that he has the One Ring. Isildur is the only Ringbearer who follows the rules for the One Ring and has innate F6, which will give him a higher FV than most other models who can engage him (more on this later). Since he's the second model in the hierarchy for getting the Ring (only behind Sauron) and since you have full control over whether you have Elendil (and eventually Anarion) in your list, you are very likely to have the Ring if you take Isildur - and as I've discussed before (several times, actually, to include an article in our Back to Basics series), there are some really powerful things you can do with the One Ring.

Photo Credit: The Armies of the Lord of the Rings

Before he puts the Ring on, Isildur is still a powerhouse hero with F6/S5/3A, access to a horse, and 3-Might-and-Strike. By any hero's reckoning, this is a great offensive profile - and while there are heroes who can have more Might than Isildur, the presence of the Ring often means that he needs to spend his Might less for calling heroic actions and can use it more for passing the two things that actually matter: dueling rolls and Ring tests.

Nemesis: How to Fight Against Elrond

Good morning gamers,

This is our third week in our Last Alliance-focused thread of our Nemesis series (after stepping away from the series for a few weeks) and we're looking at one of the greatest Elven heroes in the game: Elrond. When Centaur and I got started playing MESBG, Centaur jumped feet-first into both Rohan and Isengard . . . and he bought Elrond. Why? Because Centaur LOVES Elrond. I mean, he really, REALLY loves Elrond. I mean, if you asked him who the top three spell casters for the Forces of Good are, Elrond makes the list. He . . . REALLY . . . likes Elrond.

His Elrond has been epic in many a game against me. My Elrond has been hot and cold - and while he's killed many things, he has never gotten me more than two Foresight points in a tournament game before (while Centaur's seems to always roll 5s or 6s . . . not that I'm bitter or anything). Yes, Elrond is good - and if you're not ready for him, he can really make things look unwinnable. So how does one prepare to fight this guy? If you think it's with the same tools you'd use against Gil-Galad, you'd be kind of right . . . let's see where the overlap is by understanding what Elrond is bringing to the table.

What Makes Elrond So Hated?

Like Gil-Galad and Elendil (though certainly not to their extent), Elrond has a really solid combat profile - he's F6 with 3-Might-and-Strike on an Elven-made weapon, he's got 3 Attacks, access to a mount, and Lord of the West for effectively 4-5 attacks when he's dueling and 3-8 wounding dice with an unconditional reroll, depending on whether his cavalry bonuses are all active. His sword, Hadhafang, is also a hand-and-a-half sword, so if you're okay with two-handing (which you generally should be - give it a try sometime), he can also get +1 To Wound, which is a great way to make sure he's not blunted by most units. Furthermore, Hadhafang gives him +1 To Wound against Spirit models, which means he'll wound those pesky Warriors of the Dead on a 5+ WITHOUT two-handing (4+ if he is) and can even get some crazy-low wounding difficulties against the likes of the Balrog.

Photo Credit: Warhammer Community

I actually didn't mention Elrond in my discussion on how to counter the Balrog (though if you go ALL the way to the bottom of the comments, you'll see a discussion of it in brief), so I'll just go over the highlights now: Elrond (base S4) begins by wounding the Balrog on a 6/4+, which is pretty good all things considered (lots of heroes start - and stop - here). This means Elrond is expected to deal maybe one wound/turn if he can manage to trap the Balrog. Thanks to the Balrog being a Spirit model, this gets improved to a 5/3+, which puts him quite close to 1 wound/turn without a trap (and close to 2 wounds/turn with a trap). If he two-hands as well, he can improve his wounding difficulty to a 4/2+, which is going to put him on 2-3 wounds against an untrapped Balrog and 3-5 wounds against a trapped Balrog - which is INSANE. 

If Elrond is also able to reroll all failed To Wound rolls with Enchanted Blades (say, from Cirdan), he's likely to be wounding the Balrog very, very well and actually stands a better chance of killing him than any other Rivendell or Numenor hero. And this assumes that Cirdan used his Might point to channel Blinding Light, instead of channelling his Enchanted Blades to give Elrond yet another +1 To Wound (3/1+ with rerolls on all failed To Wound rolls). I think in most worlds, Cirdan isn't going to be channelling this spell . . . but Celeborn has 3 Might for channelling it and is historical allies with Elrond . . . so that might happen. If you're a D8 or lower Spirit model (as basically every other Spirit in the game is), Elrond is basically wounding with everything without the Enchanted Blades . . . chew on that for a bit . . .

Nemesis: How to Fight Against Bill Ferny

Good morning gamers,

After a few weeks off, we're back in the Nemesis series and I wanted to talk about one of the most ANNOYING characters you'll ever face in MESBG: Bill Ferny. This guys is a cheap hero in a faction that has a bunch of cheap warriors, so that alone will complicate your day - but when you stack onto the mega-horde-with-bows-and-whips annoyance an absolutely game-shattering rule (I don't know HOW this hasn't been errata'd yet), you get just a filthy character. No honorable person would ever run this guy - and yet, there are some people who do. Should you ever run into one of those people, this article will help you beat them. Let's dig in and see what all the fuss is about Bill Ferny and then look at how to beat him.

What Makes Bill Ferny So Hated?

Bill Ferny only costs 40 points (Goblin-level Captain costs) and for that you get a very points-efficient profile. F3/4+ doesn't look great, but compared to Goblins, that's better than you'd think - and since he has a dagger and a whip (2" S1 throwing weapon), the 4+ shoot value actually matters (and will hit on a 3+ or a 4+ depending on whether he's charging or moving-and-shooting if he's taken from the Chief's Ruffians Legendary Legion, which you should always do).

Photo Credit: Warhammer.com

S3/D3 doesn't look great - and 1 Attack/Courage 3 doesn't look great either, but to get the really awesome rules he has, something has to give. As it is, since increasing your Strength and Defense doesn't always help you, these stats are perfectly fine for fighting certain foes who have invested in extra Strength (S4 models won't wound him any better than S3 models) or Defense (D5 models won't be any harder to wound than D4 models - and being D7 is similarly not any better than being D6). Many of his other stats are perfectly normal with 2 Wounds, 1 Will, 1 Fate - look at how efficient this guy is!

Nemesis: How to Fight Against Elendil

Good morning gamers,

Last time, we looked at Gil-Galad and ways (with specific units/army building emphases) you can counter him with. Today, we're tackling the biggest hitter from Numenor: Elendil. While some of what we're going to talk about is copy-paste from Gil-Galad, there are a few rules that Elendil picks up (and a few that he drops) that makes his use (and his countering) different from Gil-Galad. Let's see what's so great about the greatest hero of men . . .

What Makes Elendil So Hated?

Elendil has a beastly combat profile - with F7, S5, and 3A with the option for a mount (if you're willing to do some conversion work, since Games Workshop never made a model for this guy), Elendil is about as punch as man-sized heroes come. While F7 isn't the F9 that we see on Gil-Galad, it's higher than any man-sized warrior is going to get and it's also higher than most heroes. Additionally, he carries Narsil, which is a Master-forged hand-and-a-half sword (so he can two-hand without suffering the To Wound penalty) that allows him to declare a free Heroic Combat each turn - if F7 wasn't enough to make you want to hit warriors with this guy, Narsil certainly incentivises it!

Photo Credit: Warhammer Community

On Defense, Elendil is no slouch, with D8 if you give him a shield (and aren't two-handing - otherwise he's D7) and has 3 Wounds/1 Fate, which is "fine" and expected for someone who died in the story. Elendil is the quintessential "a good offense is a good defense" character (well, him and Gulavhar, I guess), which means that once he gets into combat, it's very hard to pluck a wound off of him - especially if he's backed by a banner (for a reroll on one of those 4 dice he gets on the charge).

If this wasn't enough, he has the Unbending Resolve special rule, which grants him two free dice when resisting magical powers - even if he runs out of Will. This makes targeting him with magic (especially spells that just barely go off on a low difficulty) very difficult to cast on him. With 3 Will in his store (that he can regain on a natural 6) and 3 Might that don't have to be used if he's just declaring Heroic Combats, it's not hard for him to shrug off the worst magic in the game (well, almost - more on this later).

Nemesis: How to Fight Against Gil-Galad

Good morning gamers,

We're back in our Nemesis series for the next few months and we're going to be focusing on the heroes who fought for or against the Last Alliance for most of the next few posts. Our journey begins with one of the nastiest Elven heroes in the game: Gil-Galad. Back when Heroic Strike wasn't a thing, having a F9 hero was pretty sweet, but even in an age where Strike exists, having a F9 hero is guaranteed to make your opponent cough up some Might (and being guaranteed to get to the all-desired F10 is a nice option). So what makes this guy so hard to deal with? And what tools can you use to fight against him? Let's dig in and find out!

What Makes Gil-Galad So Hated?

Like most combat heroes, we need to start by looking at Gil-Galad's offensive profile. He's one of four heroes who is innately F9-10 (and by far the cheapest - his rivals are the Balrog and the Dark Lord Sauron) and with 3 Attacks, a reroll to his dueling and wounding rolls with the Lord of the West special rule, Aiglos (a spear that confers +1 To Wound without any penalties), and a mount (your stock-standard horse for 10pts), it's not hard to get a lot of damage out of this guy.

Photo Credit: Warhammer Community

The pairing of Fight 9 and the Blood and Glory special rule make him particularly dangerous against heroes, most of whom will have to declare a Heroic Strike (if they even have that option) to tie or beat his Fight Value and if he manages to kill the hero (not hard if he can knock the model prone while on the charge or if he's got some help in trapping the target), he gets a Might point back. Striking from F9 can be unnecessary, but if you're going to get the Might point back, it's probably worth doing anyway.

If Gil-Galad was all that was potent or dangerous in his list, he'd probably be okay - but the Rivendell list is loaded with options to make Gil-Galad work at basically any points level. There are some Rivendell heroes that confer no penalties at all to your army building - Elrond and Glorfindel are pricey heroes, but they make excellent wing-men for Gil-Galad (especially Elrond, since he might be able to help you win you priority on a close roll with his Foresight points or knock foes near Gil-Galad prone with Wrath of Bruinen). If you're looking for more budget-restricted killing power, a mounted High Elf Captain or Erestor are excellent choices for 85-100pts. Most players who face Rivendell fear Cirdan with Gil-Galad, since shooting Gil-Galad and charging all those Elves they brought gets harder. Oh, and any Terror you invested in is a lot harder to preserve unless you have Sap Will in your army.

Nemesis: How to Fight Against the Goblin King

Good morning gamers,

Today is our last post (for now) in this series on how-to-fight-against-those-models-that-are-not-fun-to-fight-against. Our contestant today is a model that I have never used, but have had to face many, many1 times: the Goblin King. Yes, it's the dreaded monster from Goblin-town and all his lovely entourage! While this post will be focusing primarily on the Goblin King himself, there will also be thoughts on the other models that are in his list, since their presence make him MUCH more difficult to deal with. Let's get into the discussion of one of the nastiest profiles around!

What Makes the Goblin King So Hated?

There's a lot to unpack with this guy, but it's probably best to start off with his combat profile. The Goblin King has a pretty mediocre stat line compared to most monsters, but it's a lot of the numbers you want - Fight 6 with Strength 5/3 Attacks is incredibly good for most heroes in the game, and with 3-Might-and-Strike, you're at least on-par with other heroes. This is made even better by his two-handed pick and the Burly special rule, which allows him to be S5-6 with +1 To Wound - at effectively S7-8, he's doing as well or better than most monsters in the game!

Photo Credit: Warhammer Community

Many of the monsters who rival him (The Balrog, Smaug, Dragons, the Watcher in the Water, Cave Drakes) have really big bases, but the Goblin King has a 40mm base (on par with Buhrdur, Sauron, and Cave Trolls - the Troll guys are envious of this guy's profile and Sauron is . . . really expensive in comparison). This gives him incredible mobility, especially since he's got the Relentless Advance rule, that allows him to move through his own models and squish/potentially squish them to get where he wants.

The greatest critique of the Goblin King can be based on his defensive stats, but even here, he cheats: he's "only D5" with 3 Wounds/1 Fate, but thanks to his Blubbery Mass rule, any wound he takes that isn't caused by a magical power or an Elven-made weapon can be saved on a 3+ BEFORE he has to spend his Fate point. While there are models out there with 6+ saves (the Bears in their Legion, Durin, Fury/Oblivious to Pain) and even one model who can give out a 5+ save (Malbeth the Seer), getting a 3+ save is not only BETTER than having infinite Fate points, but is only comparable to Thror with the Arkenstone (which will save once on a 3+ and can save multiple times on a 4+) and Goroth's "Look Out, Sir!" rule that allows him to bounce a wound onto a friendly model nearby . . . which is good for Goroth, but not great from his friends. Yep, when it comes to shrugging off punishment, there's no one who does it better than the Goblin King.

Nemesis: How to Fight Against Mumakil

Good morning gamers,

One of the great things about collecting the models I need for the Quest of the Ringbearer sourcebook is that I "need" to buy not one but TWO Mumaks. After having gotten a second-hand Mumak from Centaur (a kingly gift, indeed), I decided to play around with them this year. Our gaming group has actually had a Mumak or two in the mix for a while, but they rarely show up on the table - and the fear of them showing up is often enough to get into the heads of even the most veteran players. So what can you do against such beasts if you see them (especially if there's more than one of them on the table)? Well, these things might not be viewed as competitive options, but they certainly do pose problems to unprepared players - so join us today as we walk through why these things can be deadly (and how to beat them). Let's dig in!

What Makes Mumaks So Hated?

For a refresher on what Mumaks do, you should check out our article from earlier this year on how War Beasts work - it was informative for me to write and hopefully will be informative for you to read. It's no secret - the most dangerous thing about a Mumak is that it Tramples. The Trample rule for Mumaks in particular is nasty - at least three Strength 9 hits to everyone it comes into contact with! If you pay 20pts for the Tusk Weapon upgrade (or have the Mumak War Leader, who begins with the Tusk Weapons upgrade), you increase this to four Strength 9 hits - which may seem like overkill, but it's surprising just how many times not getting that elusive 3+ crops up. 

Photo Credit: Warhammer Community

Since both the rider and the mount take these hits if it's a cavalry model, it's not hard for most heroes in the game to be killed or very much crippled after a Mumak runs into them. There are some monsters who are less worried about being outright killed (like Sauron, the Balrog, or Smaug), but even THESE guys don't want to be battered by a Mumak over multiple turns - and if it's the Mumak War Leader doing the trampling in the Grand Army of the South Legion, he's quite likely against these specific monsters to be able to call a free Heroic Strike . . . that may not be a guarantee of tying/beating their Fight Values, but it's certainly possible for that Mumak to be higher than F5.

The second complicating factor of Mumaks is that the Mumak itself and its howdah are listed as Siege Targets. Great Beasts of Gorgoroth have been clarified to be battlefield targets, so any siege weapon that can get a direct hit on them and scores a single wound will kill it in one go - OUCH! Mumaks . . . not so much. A 10-wound Mumak will require 10 wounds in order for it to die (for most siege engines this is an expected 22.5-60 turns, depending on the siege weapon being used - the Minas Tirith Bolt Thrower is the only one that can do it in less than 10 turns, but it also has the shortest possible range) - most siege engines aren't going to have that kind of time on their hands. While siege targets aren't harder for normal bows to wound, any D7-8 target (depending on whether the Mumak has the Tough Hide upgrade or not) is going to be hard to bring down with shooting - and if it's good shooting, you can't target the darn thing once it's Engaged with a friendly unit.

Nemesis: How to Fight Against Legolas

Good morning gamers,

We're back to the Forces of Good and this time, we're looking at one of the first heroes I used in the game (and a hero who remains one of my favorites to put on the board): Legolas Greenleaf. Legolas has two profiles in the game (one for the Fellowship and a "slightly better" profile in the Halls of Thranduil - more on this later) and appears in SIX Legendary Legions (the Grey Company, the Return of the King, the Men of the West, the Breaking of the Fellowship, the Defenders of Helm's Deep, and the Rangers of Mirkwood) - and with the Halls of Thranduil being Historical or Convenient allies with basically everything in the game (a Halls of Thranduil list without Thranduil will be Impossible Allies with Grimbeorn and his squad of Beornings . . . why?!?!?!?!), it's not hard to see Legolas at an event or on the other side of the table, regardless of your points level.

The famed archer who was epic in the Lord of the Rings films and defied all natural laws in the Hobbit films is easily the best archer in the game (though I ranked the Bolt Thrower higher when we did our Sniper podcast) and knowing how to beat him is something every general should know. What makes this guy such a powerful piece, such a great leader for an allied contingent, and so annoying in certain scenarios? Well, let's take a look at this Elf among Elves and find out . . .

What Makes Legolas So Hated?

Photo Credit: Warhammer Community 

It should come as no surprise that Legolas is most dangerous when he's shooting. Shooting has been critiqued by various crowds in MESBG as contributing to a negative play experience, mostly because your opponent has no say about it once he's done moving his models. There's no opposed dueling roll, there's no resist test, and there's no armor save (for most units - some units grant saves of various kinds and heroes might have Fate points) - once you're done moving models, the other guy gets to shoot at you . . . and you have to take it. Legolas does this better than any other model, since his Deadly Shot special rule allows him to either perform three shots hitting on his normal Shoot Value (3+ if he hasn't moved, 4+ if he's moved up to half his max movement) OR perform a single shot that hits on a 2+ and ignores all modifiers (to include the move-and-shoot penalty, negative modifiers like Blinding Light, in-the-way rolls, and even the rule that prevents a Good model from shooting into a friendly combat). Yes, Legolas can do the shooting thing all the time.

While getting 3 shots each turn would appear to be his most deadly quality (and I've killed 2-3 models in a single turn plenty of times with him), it's the second part of his Deadly Shot rule that gives most competitive players pause. Usually, if you have an important support piece that you don't want to lose (a Goblin Scribe, a Dead Marsh Spectre, or a low-Defense/low-Wound army leader), you just tuck them behind 3-4 guys or a wall/rock and you're feeling pretty good about them not getting hit from enemy archers. But if Legolas can see the model, he can hit the model on a 2+ - even if he's moved that turn! Furthermore, if Legolas wants to hit the MOUNT of a big hero, he can choose which part of the model to target with the 2+ To Hit and if he's willing to spend Might to make it work, there are very few mounts in the game that can survive for long when Legolas is on the other side of the board. This is particularly true for any of the multitude of heroes who lacks Horse Lord and has no way to prevent wounds on their mounts. Oh, and Blinding Light won't make that mount any more safe . . . it's annoying.

Nemesis: How To Fight Against Ringwraiths

Good morning gamers,

So far in this series, we've looked at specific monster models (that usually show up in a single list, maybe two) or specific Legendary Legions that everyone seems to hate fighting. Today, we're turning to a model type that's pretty ubiquitous across the forces of Evil and units that don't look all that dangerous until they're neutralizing your heroes and chewing them up. Yep, it's time to turn to the Witch-King of Angmar and all his Ringwraith friends! I love these models (and have written quite a bit about them), so let's go in-depth today (fair warning, this post is LONG) and look at all the grisly bits about Ringwraiths, shall we?

What Makes Ringwraiths So Hated

Photo Credit: Warhammer Community

Part 1: An Overly Pedantic Study of Ringwraiths

You can't start talking about Ringwraiths without going over a brief taxonomy of the ten Ringwraith profiles that we have and how they're usually fielded. Despite there being nine Ringwraiths in total, the generic "Ringwraith" profile (which you can actually take nine of - you don't have to run the Witch-King!) provides a nice "blank slate" version of a Ringwraith for you to customize to your liking. These guys have decent-not-good combat stats (F5/S4/1A with 0-2 Might) and decent-not-good defense stats (D8/1 Wound/0-2 Fate). As far as Heroes of Fortitude for Evil go, they are great for keeping your army in the field should you break with Courage 6 and with 7-14 Will points, they have the potential to cast magic and/or fight for a long time (but don't think this means they have a lot of Will - read my post on Multi-Purpose Will Casters for more information on this). Though they look fragile, the Terror-Harbinger-of-Evil combo (something we've talked about before) can make charging them particularly difficult.

Besides the Might/Will/Fate on these guys, you can also take mounts for your Ringwraiths in the form of horses (10 points - a good cheap option for increased speed, slightly increased damage when you charge, and an easier time getting the casting direction/look-angle you want on a target), Fell Beasts (50 points - slightly more speed with more maneuverability options, greatly increased damage when you charge, and opportunities to get casting directions/look-angles that are not present when you're on a horse), and Armored Fell Beasts (70 points, which just seems like too much to pay for +1 Defense on your Fell Beast . . .). While you "can" field these guys for 55 points each, I think it would be unwise to leave home without adding 2 Might points, at least 1 Fate point, and a horse (which brings these guys up to 80 points). Personally, I normally throw in 2 extra Will points (9 total) for a tidy 90 points, but 7 Will can be just fine (it just means you're casting for one fewer turns).

When you compare these basic Ringwraiths to the "named" Ringwraiths, there are some differences. First and foremost, each of the named Ringwraiths is a Hero of Valour (or Hero of Legend in the case of the Witch-King in the Mordor/Angmar army lists, as well as in the Black Riders Legendary Legion). While generic Ringwraiths have both Heroic March and Heroic Channelling for their specialized Heroic Actions, most of the named Ringwraiths just have Heroic Channelling. The Witch-King and Khamul are exceptions to this - both have Heroic Strike, and the Witch-King also has Heroic Resolve, Heroic Strength, and Heroic Challenge. For most players . . . yeah, you're probably sticking to Heroic Strike/March and the occasional Channel.

Nemesis: How to Fight the Assault on Lothlorien Legendary Legion

Good morning gamers,

Last time, we looked at the much-feared Assault Upon Helm's Deep Legendary Legion and some strategies you can employ to fight it. Today, we turn to the other "Assault" legion (the Assault on Lothlorien) to see what the hype is about this list . . . and some things you can employ to fight against it. Yes, it shoots things - and yes, it has crazy shenanigans that the Helm's Deep list doesn't quite have - but it also plays very differently and can be beaten with some other methods of attack. Let's dig in and see what all the fuss is about (especially now that they've changed a bit).

What Makes The Assault on Lothlorien Legion So Hated?

Photo Credit: Warhammer Community 

The first thing that annoys players about fighting this Legion is that it's a horde list - this critique isn't unique to the Legion, but any time you can get a large number of models at basically any points level, someone is going to gripe. Sometimes bringing a horde to the board (I'm a poet, I know) is fine - no one seems to complain that much when there's a Denethor-led Minas Tirith spam list on the board - and there are plenty of lists that run "just a lot of Orcs or Goblins" that no one things is oppressive. It's not like this list is spawning new models from behind your lines like Goblin-town or has +10 or +15 models on you at the start of a game (though it might).

What makes this list annoying is that it's a horde list with other stuff. The list has access to Moria Goblins (5-7 points depending on what gear you give the Moria Goblin Warriors and your opinion of Moria Goblin Prowlers), Orc Warriors and Trackers (5-10 points depending on the gear you give them, potentially more if you invest in a banner), and Wild Wargs (which all heroes can lead and are very cheap fast infantry). If you spend 250-300 points on these things, you can easily field 40 warriors at most points levels, so long as you have the heroes to lead them.

Enter the shamans in this list: on the named front, you've got Druzhag and Ashrak (at least one of them is required), who come in at 50-90 points, but fielding both is certainly possible at 500+ points. You also have Muzgur (who is required along with one of these Goblin guys - and now has to be your army leader), who at 70 points is one of the cheapest Heroes of Valour in the game (normally he's Fortitude, but in this list he's Valour). Pick up all three of these guys (or two of these guys and one other hero) and you can horde out pretty easily.

On the generic hero front, you have both Moria Goblin Shamans and Orc Shamans (45 or 50 points, respectively) who are able to lead 12 warriors in their warbands, thanks to the promotion to Fortitude status in the Legion. Which one you prefer used to depend very much on your view of Orcs - are they just a handful of spearmen behind the Goblins or are they a proper shieldwall (half shield, half spear-and-shield). Now that you have to have fewer Goblins than Orcs, it'll be hard for any player to have exclusively Goblins in their shieldwalls, but I have always liked the picks that can help the Orcs reach S4 (which you can get with Moria Goblin Prowlers who have to fight two-handed, but not Moria Goblin Warriors) and the flexibility of not having to have these guys arrive near the Goblin lines. I used to be in the minority opinion on this - time will tell how the new meta for this list will shake out.

Nemesis: How to Fight the Assault Upon Helm's Deep Legendary Legion

Good morning gamers,

The Assault Upon Helm's Deep Legendary Legion has been rocking the meta (or should I say piercing the meta? Bombing the meta?) since its release in War in Rohan. It's a Legion that isn't constructed around a top-tier hero (it's got no named heroes at all), but instead gives greater reliability to its siege engines and allows you to run more Uruk-Hai than you usually would be able to with Heroes of Fortitude/Minor Heroes.

Many competitive players have identified this as a list that's unfun to play against - stand back and shoot at the horde of Uruk-Hai and you get torn up by crossbows and ballista. Try to close with the ranged units? You get blow up with a bomb team (and have to face a pike block with whatever's left). When you as a player feel caught between a rock and a hard place, it's hard to have fun (unless you like a good challenge and don't mind losing . . . like I do . . . most of the time).

I've fielded this list a few times (though I don't run more than 2 ballistas/1 demo team on principle) and one of our resident Isengard enthusiasts here (Red Jacket) has run it at several of our events with different configurations. Having had to play Red Jacket's Assault Upon Helm's Deep list at 623 points at the TMAT 2023 Grand Tournament earlier this year, I have to say the two ballistas backed by nine crossbows was nasty and awful (and naturally, I had to play against it in Lords of Battle where my Orcs and Barrow-Wights needed to close in fast . . . and he killed more with his ballistae once I got within 12" of him than from farther away).

But there's got to be a way to crack the code - how does one beat up a list like this? I mean, the list has been out for ages - surely, there's a proven method for beating them? Well, there are several strategies you can use - but before we get into them, let's break down what about this Legion makes it feared.

What Makes The Assault Upon Helm's Deep Legion So Hated?

Photo Credit: Warhammer Community

The first thing you'll hear people gripe about are the long-range threats in this list. The list begins with Isengard Assault Ballistas, which are probably too cheap for what they do. When compared to other siege engines, you get a comparable crew size, a comparable Strength/Defense, the Large Siege Engine requirement (which makes you a siege target - very handy when fighting other siege engines, but does place a requirement of 2+ unengaged crew to fire it), and good rules (Accurate/Piercing Shot, 6" minimum range) - for a discount bargain price of 65 points. You can see the full comparison below:

If the ballistae weren't enough to make you gag, each ballista comes with 1 siege veteran (Minor Hero) and 2 crew who don't have shooting weapons, so you can take +1 Uruk-Hai Warrior with crossbow for every ballista you take - that's 76 points for a S9 ballista and a S4 crossbow. Sheesh, that's rough. Add into this that you can field 13 Uruk-Hai Warriors - 8 with pikes/shields, 5 with crossbows - for 135 points, and it's not hard to see why the pairing of crossbows with ballistae would drive people nuts. Sure, you have to field 1 Uruk-Hai Captain (who can lead 18 Uruk-Hai) for every ballista you want to take, but that's not a high tax.

Nemesis: How to Fight Beorn and Grimbeorn

Good morning gamers,

This is our fourth article in this series on how to fight "bad" or "mean" models and today we're tackling Beorn and Grimbeorn, two of the toughest monsters in the game right now. With a new Legendary Legion released in the Defence of the North supplement giving new life to Beorn (and a profile to Grimbeorn - at long last), the bears are a real danger you could see on the tabletop. But how bad are these guys - and what can you do to fight against them? Let's dig in and see what all the hullabaloo is about . . . did you catch the "Baloo" reference there?

What Makes "The Bears" So Hated?

Photo Credit: Warhammer Community 

Since the rules update in 2018, Beorn has had one of the strongest profiles for the Forces of Good (and to be honest, he has one of the toughest profiles in the game period). Despite having incredibly good stats while in bear form (F8/S8/D8 with 3 Attacks/Wounds/Might/Will/Fate and C6 with Fearless), Beorn wasn't nearly as prolific on the tabletop as other Good monsters like Gwaihir or Treebeard. Armies of all-Eagles and all-Ents have been seen throughout the world at tournaments (for the Ents, this was particularly true after the release of War in Rohan), but Beorn only made an appearance here or there.

If I had to guess, this is probably due to two reasons: first and foremost, he's a 200-point hero who couldn't lead troops cheaper than 100 points (Great Eagles) - and most players aren't going to dump 200 points into a hero who can't lead troops unless they've already got a heap of models (and why do that when you could run Gwaihir or Treebeard or just more guys?). Second, Beorn isn't as fast as Gwaihir (8" move isn't bad, but it isn't a 12" Fly), doesn't give you three models towards your army size like Treebeard (for the same cost as Beorn), and doesn't have the alliance options you get with either of these other two monsters. Third, there were the occasional games where Beorn would just not want to change from a man into a bear (getting a 4+ can sometimes be elusive). To be fair, Beorn in man form is no slouch - he's really good - but he's not nearly as resilient as he is in bear form - and he doesn't have Brutal Power Attacks (most particularly Crushing Strength). Yep, there are ample reasons to take someone other than Beorn in your army.

Nemesis: How To Fight Gwaihir

Good morning gamers,

As we continue our series of examining good models that can really wreck your day, we're turning to one of the most feared Good models in the game right now: Gwaihir. This is a monster that has incredible agility thanks to Fly, a very impressive combat profile (with only one caveat), and is incredibly survivable. But like most models in the game, there are options available to you when you see this guy on the other side of the board - none of them will be easy, but we'll review some of the tools you can use to counter him. Let's dig into why this guy is so good!

What Makes Gwaihir So Hated?

Photo Credit: Warhammer Community 

To understand why Gwaihir is such a threat, we need to begin with his alliance matrix (or two, actually). Gwaihir appears in two lists - he's a Hero of Legend in the Misty Mountains and a Hero of Valour in Radagast's Alliance. When fielded in Radagast's Alliance, he has no historical allies (since their only historical ally is the Misty Mountains - and since Gwaihir is the only hero in that list, you can't run it), but has a few Convenient Allies (all of the armies in the Armies of the Hobbit book, as well as Lothlorien, Fangorn, and the Rangers, oddly enough). If you're running one of these lists and want Gwaihir to be your grenade hero instead of your army leader, you can certainly take him from this list.

Most competitive players will field him from The Misty Mountains, however. In that list, he's a Hero of Legend (almost certainly your army leader) and he's at least Convenient Allies with every faction (and he's Historical Allies with the Fellowship, Thorin's Company, and Radagast's Alliance as was mentioned above). While the Fellowship and Thorin's Company can certainly benefit from adding Gwaihir to their ranks, most of the time you're going to see Gwaihir appear either in a pure Misty Mountain list (where you're counting on lots of flying monsters to trash enemy warriors), a monster-mash army where Gwaihir and some Eagles ally with either Ents or Bears (or both), or as a one-model drop into a more conventional force that wants a hard-hitting slayer for the low-low price of 150 points. This last one is the usual way you see Gwaihir in competitive play.

Since he can ally with everyone, what is it about this guy that makes him an attractive option (especially when compared to Elven heroes who can also ally with everyone)? For starters (as was just mentioned), Gwaihir is "only" 150 points - which is admittedly a lot to pay for a hero who probably isn't bringing any warriors to the table, but relative to the cost of other heroes, it's a steal. As the cheapest of the eight members of the F8+ club (which features Treebeard/Beechbone from the Fangorn list, Gil-Galad from the Rivendell list, Beorn in bear form from Radagast's Alliance/the Beornings LL, Smaug from the Desolator of the North list, The Dark Lord Sauron from the Barad-Dur list, and the Balrog from Moria/The Depths of Moria LL), Gwaihir is likely to have a higher Fight Value than most opposing models once everyone's out of Might. But his offensive firepower isn't just limited to a great Fight Value: with S6 (S7 on the charge if he's got either of his army bonuses - which he usually doesn't) and 2 Attacks + Monstrous Charge, it's quite likely that he's wounding troops on 4s if not 3s - and that's a lot of dead troops if he's charged into them.

Nemesis: How To Fight Gulavhar

Good morning gamers,

Last time, we looked at the Balrog and various approaches you could use to deal with him. Today, we're looking at another feared Evil monster: Gulavhar, the Terror of Arnor. Gulavhar is like the Balrog in many respects - but he's also unlike anything else in MESBG. As a staple unit in a long of competitive Angmar builds, there's a decent chance that you'll see him at a competitive event - so let's see what's up with this guy and how we can build our lists to be able to counter him.

To help me with this venture, I asked for some input from Angmar aficionado and Gulavhar fan-club-member Evan Iverson from the Unexpected Podcast team to add thoughts on the article and provide emphasis on things that needed more help. He also pointed out what wouldn't scare a Gulavhar player, which was even more useful.

What Makes Gulavhar So Hated?

Photo Credit: Warhammer Community 

Like the Balrog, Gulavhar has good offensive stats - he's F7/S8 on offense and has Attacks equal to his remaining wounds (which starts off at 4 - same as the Balrog then). Unlike the Balrog, however, Gulavhar has Monstrous Charge, so not only can he get to 5 Attacks on the charge (more than the Balrog), but he also knocks down models that are S7 and below . . . which is pretty much anything. I'm not sure that most players would do this, but Gulavhar does have access to Heroic Strength, which would allow him to knock down other things that are on the cusp of not-being-knocked over (Treebeard is S8 and will be knocked over regardless of what Gulavhar gets, the Balrog is S9 and will be knocked over on a 3+), but these models are often at/above F7 innately, so doing so is a risk for sure.

Gulavhar's defensive stats aren't great (more on that later), but with 3 Might and access to Heroic Defense instead of Heroic Strike, it's pretty common to see Gulavhar players ask the question, "Do I feel worried about this fight?" If yes, they call Heroic Defense; if no, they don't. Pair this with the ability to regain wounds by killing enemy models (so a scratch here and there are easily cured if you can pounce on a lone warrior or two) and boy does his defensive profile not look nearly as condemning.

Finally, Gulavhar has Fly (for that oh-so-important-positioning), the Terror-Harbinger of Evil combo (have to test for Courage to charge him and he applies a -1 penalty to enemy Courage values within 12" of him), 3 Will and Resistant to Magic to put up some resistance to enemy spells, and the Spirit keyword to give Terror to nearby friendly Orc models if you kept your army bonus and boy is this guy where it's at. He's a monster among monsters and one of the most feared models in the game. But he's also one of the biggest glass cannons in the game - so let's talk about how to beat him.