Fog of War, Part 8: Angmar

FOG OF WAR

Part 8: Angmar

Having visited some of the game’s most popular armies, it is time now for something more unusual. Angmar is a faction that has not seen major tournament play in the past, but one that with the new rules may just become a mainstay on the top tables. This time I am joined by the winner of the 2017 UK Grand Tournament and the mastermind behind the organisation of the European Team Championships (ETC), Dave Nolan.

Dave: Angmar has always fascinated me because historically, gaming wise, it has struggled to achieve top table placement. It embodies the core of all spirit evil of Middle-earth in my mind and coming from a Warhammer fantasy background my favourite Army was The Undead. The large amount of heroes backed by hordes or orcs always seemed slightly unbalanced as I struggled to find a competitive list. The core piece of most Angmar armies, the Shade, seemed to me to be the major weakness in its composition as it “bubbled” the army too much.

Under the new rules set and awesome 3”radius Terror army bonus, new exciting and tactical lists crept from dark places and enveloped my mind.

Witch king.

His hidden powers are slowly coming to the fore in this army. As magic is changing between the last and the new edition, he is becoming more powerful in my estimation. The Crown of Morgul and a Fell beast along with his wealth of Heroic Actions makes him a combat fiend. Moving from a Hero of Valour to a hero of Legend allows that inclusion of horde which is a key strength of Angmar and one that should not readily be dismissed.

The Tainted.

A very rare inclusion in any lists of the last rules set, the Tainted now gets great attention in larger point armies. I include him here as he is pivotable in my army composition over the last remaining wraith the Dwimmerlaik due to his might allowance. His Seeping Decay is like a cheeky arrow shot finding its mark on a 6 but in combat. Pray to the dice gods because when it happens it can be an annoyance to any opponent. His Miasmatic Presence is potentially a late game finisher or has potential at key moments if predicted at the right time.

Barrow Wight.

The captains of my army lists. A combination of Special Rules and Magic. These are not the usual Might pools of a normal Captain but their symbiotic relationship to their troops and Wraith leaders generate the most important component of the army - Covering a 3" radius Terror bubble per Wight, a number of Wights can potentially affect a vast area on the table. 

Other Heroes

Many great and powerful heroes are available but potentially change the dynamic and strength of my lists. You may be keen to see the exclusion of the Shade and as some tournaments encourage playing more Good vs Evil, the ability of the humble Spectre is retreating.

====

Mik: Angmar is something that I've been interested in for years, but never got round to using. Gulavhar is one of my favourite Monsters in the game, not just because of how cool he is, but his Special Rules of life regeneration are very unique and pose a challenge to the opposition. Sadly Gulavhar was quite underpowered in the previous edition of the rules, but having gained the Monstrous Charge rule, we should be able to see him played more often. That and the decrease in the number of Heroes with Heroic Strike should allow him to quickly and easily pick off valuable targets in enemy armies. Hero of Valour status also means we can now afford to spend the points and still have access to 15 Warriors.

The other addition in the new rules is the update to The Tainted's profile. In my humble opinion, he may just be the single most powerful model in the game right now and only time will tell whether he will dominate top tables or not, as regardless of how good any model is, they require the right army to support them. His Miasmatic Presence rule is powerful beyond anything I've ever seen in this game. For 1 point of Will you can virtually cancel Heroic Moves and Stand Fast! of your opponent if and when you need to, so keeping The Tainted in the right position will often be backbreaking for whoever you are facing. 

The Shade is always worth giving a special mention to, as his ability effectively turns your lowly Orcs into Fight 11 Warriors (whereas we would normally lose on a Duel draw against higher Fight enemies, our opponent receives -1 to their roll, letting us win, effectively turning our Fight Value to infinite or their to 0. In the rare circumstances when our Fight is higher, like when facing Hobbits or Goblins, the Shade's forces should rarely ever lose combats). In the past his rule would work forever, whereas now there is a limited store of Will for his ability, making him more balanced in my opinion, but also potentially allowing him to stay around longer after the army breaks. Sap Will poses a potential problem, but that's a Spell generally cast on 5+ and only drains an average of 2 points of Will per successful casting, so it's not a major deal. Naturally Banishment is an issue however, but unless Channelled, it will take at least 3 turns to remove the Shade and it can already pay itself off by that time.

Dave's Lists

List 1: 600 Points:

Warband 1
Witch King on Fell Beast with 3 Might, 18 Will, 3 fate
7 Orcs with Shields
1 Orc with Spear

Warband 2
Barrow Wight
1 Orc with Shield and a Banner
7 Orcs with Shields
3 Orcs with Spears
1 Orc with Shield and Spear

Warband 3
Barrow Wight
7 Orcs with Shields
3 Orcs with Spears

Warband 4
Barrow Wight
6 Orcs with Shields
3 Orcs with Spears

Total: 599 Points, 43 Models, 3 Might. 

I understand and play low Might armies so 3 Might is fine, especially when used efficiently. The line of Orcs, all causing Terror and supported with Harbinger of Evil from the Withc King are a difficult large force to charge, allowing me to hopefully counter charge and surround those fool hardy enough to  pass their courage. 3 Barrow wights hold back those powerful enemy heroes least they succumb to Paralysing effects. Finally the greatest power of the Witch King comes to the forefront as he drains the courage of those who cause his army most problems.

List 2: 800 Points

Warband 1
Witch King on Fell beast, with Crown of Morgul and 3 Might, 20 Will, 3 Fate
7 Orcs with Shields
3 Orcs with Spears

Warband 2
The Tainted (Horse)
5 Orcs with Shields
2 Orcs with Spears

Warband 3
Barrow Wight
1 Orc with a Banner
6 Orcs with Shields
2 Orcs with Spears

Warband 4
Barrow Wight
6 Orcs with Shields
4 Orcs with Spears

Warband 5
Barrow Wight
6 Orcs with Shields
2 Orcs with Spears

Total: 799 Points, 49 Models, 5 Might

The spear supported front line of Terror with 3 Paralysing Barrow Wights, Harbinger of Evil potentially covering over 50+ inches and 2 Courage drainers helps this list to select its fights. With some scenarios containing multiple objectives the model count of 49 makes it difficult to contain in one place.

The move away from Shade inclusion allows this army to separate into multiple Terror bubbles with show stopping Magic. Orcs at Strength 3 and potential Defence 5 are a match for any army especially when the number of models they can bring against heroic individuals can dice for dice win the day.

The lack of Might at (Total 5) is countered by tapping into your enemy's Heroes Might reserves forcing them to potentially use Heroic Resolve to protect key models along with the Tainted special rule which can take away Heroic Move benefits from the rank and file.

All in all the move away from the Shade bubble by creating smaller individual ones allows Angmar to have a greater board coverage and any isolated loses on one flank can be easily absorbed by the sheer number of models on the table.

Mik's Lists

List 3: 500 Points

Warband 1
Buhrdur, Troll Chieftain
7 Orcs with Shields
7 Orcs with Spears
1 Orc with a Spear and a Banner

Warband 2
Wild Warg Chieftain
2 Wild Wargs
3 Orcs with Shields
3 Orcs with Spears

Warband 3
Wild Warg Chieftain
2 Wild Wargs
4 Orcs with Shields
4 Orcs with Spears

Total: 497 Points, 36 Models, 3 (+4 Special) Might. 

Wild Warg Chieftains have been given quite a decent profile in the new edition. 2 Might and 3 Attacks alongside Strength 6 and Movement 10 are something that surprised me when I first read their rules, but it's a positive surprise. Fortitude Heroic Tier allows them to still bring quite a few models and I think a combination of Buhrdur and 2 Chieftains is something that should worry a lot of opponents, especially in conjunction with so many Warriors. I would be tempted to go with Cave Trolls, but that would require us to bring other Heroes and they would in turn drastically diminish our numbers.

36 Models are also quite a horde at 500 points, although the biggest weakness of this army is that if it breaks, it will very quickly collapse, as Buhrdur is the only model that grants Stand Fast to everybody, whilst also being the Army Leader and the strongest piece. The key to success of this army is going to be in good use of Buhrdur and the Chieftains, whilst overwhelming your opponents with numbers and hopefully securing a victory before you break! I admit it may not be too competitive though, but other than swapping 1 WWC for a Witch King for 80 or so points, there aren't many options with reliable Courage that will keep the army together after it breaks.

List 4: 800 Points

Warband 1
Witch King on an Armoured Horse with 3 Might, 12 Will, 2 Fate
9 Orcs with Shields
9 Orcs with Spears

Warband 2
The Tainted on an Armoured Horse
8 Orcs with Shields
7 Orcs with Spears

Warband 3
The Shade
6 Orcs with Shields
5 Orcs with Spears
1 Orc with a Spear and a Banner

Warband 4
Wild Warg Chieftain
10 Wild Wargs
Total: 799 Points, 59 models, 3 Terror Bubbles

This is the non-Monster, Shade alternative list. The Shade’s Special Rule works best when you can bring as many models into combat as possible, hence this force focuses on dropping the Fell Beast/Gulavhars and instead pushes the model limit to the maximum (59!). You have 2 Wizards to prevent major Heroes from causing major damage. You have The Tainted to stop Heroic Moves and turn off Stand Fasts!, whilst providing the -1 Harbinger of Evil modifier. Finally, you have the Wild Warg Chieftain with some Wargs to quickly grab objectives, threaten running off the table in Reconnoitre, surround isolated enemies and use Strength 6 when needed to kill off important targets. 

Although the Witch King is the Leader, I haven’t given him the Crown of Morgul or a Fell Beasts in order to really be able to pack as many Warriors as I can. A Crown or a Fell Beast would not only cost extra points, but also require more Will points investment as he’d be expected to fight. In Contest of Champions hopefully his and the Tainted’s Magic combined with the Shade will prevent the enemy Leader from beating us. Same thing goes for The Tainted, as a Fell Beast over an Armoured Horse is 6 extra Orcs and the more models we have, the more effective the Shade becomes. In addition we can freely spend more Will on stopping enemy Heroes from causing damage and using The Tainted's Special Rule and not have to worry that he will die because of being charged by a random Fool That Can Kill Him. 

I wouldn't mind finding space for a couple of Spectres in this list, as they always come in handy.

An even extreme version of this list could include something like:

The Tainted, Shade, 3 Barrow Wights, Banner and over 60 Orcs and Wargs! Heroes would struggle and we'd be outnumbering pretty much everybody.

Bonus List 5: 800 Points

Warband 1:
Gulavhar
7 Orcs with Shields
7 Orcs with Spears
1 Spectre

Warband 2:
Wild Warg Chieftain
5 Orcs with Shields
4 Orcs with Spears
2 Wild Wargs
1 Spectre

Warband 3:
Wild Warg Chieftain
5 Orcs with Shields
4 Orcs with Spears
1 Orc with Spear & Banner
2 Wild Warg

Warband 4:
Wild Warg Chieftain
5 Orcs with Shields
5 Orcs with Spears
2 Wild Warg

Total 795 Points, 55 Models

This list is basically the 800 points upgrade on my 500 points list. At this points level this seems like more of a fun idea rather than something competitive, as again the lack of models who can provide Stand Fast! means that you’ll be dead when you break and with all the big Heroes running around, chances are you'll break pretty fast. However, Gulavhar and 3 Wild Warg Chieftains can provide enough killing power to win the game before that happens. From a competitive standpoint, I would go with something resembling list 4 or Dave's List 2. From a non-competitive one, I’d play this all day. I'm a dog person...

Allies

Dave: Want none, have none, take none.

The loss of the army bonus would change the dynamics of the Angmar list completely. The availability of the Desolator of the North would soak up too many points. The inclusion of Moria is potentially good for Moria only as their access to Shade, Wraiths and Barrow Wights along with other Heroes could strengthen their forces but the reverse would harm Angmar in the long game.

Mik: The major weakness of Angmar is its Defence 5 of Orcs. An army causing Terror may be strong, but with multiple Army Bonuses providing Courage boosts, Fury, Aura of Command and Bodyguards, I'm not entirely sure whether the bonus will always be worth having and if it wouldn't be a good idea to find some allies. Sadly Angmar has no access to Historic Allies and only 2 Convenient allies in Smaug and Moria. However, I think it may be worth looking for individual models that don't harm our army through allying, or whose benefit is greater than the loss of the Army Bonus - Shadow Lord may be the obvious choice for that to eliminate the long range weakness. Then again, we generally have such large numbers, that losing a few models to bows shouldn't be a major issue.

Summary

Thanks to the number of Monsters and cheap Warriors available to Angmar, I think the army now has the potential to claim its spot on the top tables, as long as players are able to figure out the best build and the best combination of Ringwraiths / Spirits / Monsters / Warriors. Despite causing Terror all around, the army also lacks a way to overcome opponent’s Terror causing enemies, as the Angmar Shaman does not have Fury. Although Angmar only has 2 Convenient and 0 Historical Allies, it can very likely stand on its own with the array of Magic, beasts and Spirits. The likes of Gandalf the White and Galadriel may be cause for concern with their Banishment Spell, but hopefully they can be dealt with by the Ringwraiths, especially with the thematic Your Staff Is Broken! spell of the Witch King. 

Good Luck!
BlackMist & Dave