Fog of War, Part 9: The Rangers

FOG OF WAR

Part 9: The Rangers

Few armies have changed between the Hobbit and the Middle-earth editions of the rules as much as The Rangers (or formerly The Grey Company). For this reason, I think it’s a good idea to look at them from scratch as an army sort-of-new and sort-of-old. This time I am joined by my first guest from over The Pond – the Captain of Team USA, winner of 2 Adepticon tournaments, this year’s Ardacon 5th place finisher and the TO behind the NOVA Open in DC, Devin Moreno. 

Devin: Having been rightfully separated from Arnor and turned into their own faction, the Rangers of the North have received a major boost in power in this new era of Middle-earth SBG. From a first glance, a player might actually feel they got worse: The Rangers of the North cost 5 points more, lost a point of courage, lost access to Heroic Strike, and their mounts are now 10 points instead of 6.  It’s not like anyone thought they were under-costed before; so why do I think they got better? It’s because the Army Bonus turns this army into the elite rangers they were always supposed to be! 

Two attacks, the option to deploy together, being able to Stand Fast! through major characters, and gaining Woodland Creature have turned this faction into an absolute powerhouse. Add in the Banner of Arwen Evenstar and spears, and now you get four dice to win the fight and three dice at strength 4 to kill the enemy. Combine this with proper use of Heroic Combats to chain-link fights (remember that models can’t move again after the second Heroic Combat they participate in but they can still help their friends move), and you can destroy a large portion of an opposing army in a single round of Combat. Use Aragorn to manage all your other necessary Heroics and now you can keep the Might on your Rangers for exactly what you need it for. And don’t forget that the new game of SBG is heavily focused around iconic characters to boost their armies, so take advantage of all the Might you have to assassinate them at a distance, ensuring you never need more than a 5 to wound. Easy way to remove a bonus from the enemy army. 

Mik: Rangers or Grey Company has always been a funny force for me. What first started with 40+ bowmen at 700 points some 10 years ago during the Legions of Middle-earth era, then turned into 25-35 bows in the Hobbit era and now drops to under 20 bows and far better fighting skills in the Middle-earth edition. I think it’s a change for good and just like Devin, I think there is a lot the new force has going for it, but it requires a distinctly different playstyle than the forces a lot of players may be used to. 

I have to admit, when I first looked at The Rangers, I thought the GW team have made a big mistake and made it unplayable, but the more I think about this army, the more I think that it isn't necessarily either better or worse than the old one, it's simply different and this is a good change. As mentioned above, the 2 Attacks in combination with spears and the Banner of Arwen Evenstar make them incredibly powerful as a fighting force. 2 Attacks + Spear + Banner at Fight Value 4 and Strength 4 is effectively stronger than an Uruk-Hai Phalanx, especially with all the Might and Woodland Creature. The numbers are the weak side of the army, but with a lot of shooting and a single correctly executed chain of Heroic Combats, they can be very deadly.

Devin’s Lists

List 1: 600 Points

Warband 1:

Arathorn

5 Dunedain with Spears

1 Ranger of the North with spear: 31pts

Warband 2:

Halbarad on horse with Banner of Arwen Evenstar: 120pts

5 Dunedain with spears: 130pts

1 Ranger of the North with spear: 31pts

Warband 3:

1 Ranger of the North on Horse with spear: 41pts

Warband 4:

1 Ranger of the North on Horse: 41pts

Total: 599 Points, 20 Might, 16 Models, 16 Bows

Due to the cost of the Rangers, I decided to drop Aragorn to ensure that I have the numbers I need to play the scenarios. Though I must admit that this can be also fixed by allying, but I’ll get into that in a bit. Having only 16 models at 600 points may seem daunting but remember that this army can dismantle a flank of an opponent very quickly. I kept Halbarad in because I feel the Banner is essential. Not only is losing fights potentially disastrous for you (which his Banner helps prevent), but being Fearless is critical to making the army work against all opponents. Arathorn was added for more access to Heroic Strike. I used Dunedain instead of the armoured Rangers to save the 50pts combined that the armour would cost. This makes them weak to strength 2 bows, but I felt the numbers were necessary.  I selected two mounted Rangers by themselves which allows me to out-deploy my opponent in most missions. Also despite losing the bonus Attacks while mounted, I still feel that having a few mounted Rangers is essential for missions like Reconnoitre, Capture and Control, Storm the Camp, etc. 

List 2: 800 Points

Warband 1:

Aragorn on Horse with Armour and Bow: 180pts

8 Rangers of the North with spear: 248pts

Warband 2:

Halbarad with Banner of Arwen Evenstar: 110pts

5 Rangers of the North with Spear: 155pts

1 Dunedain with spear: 26pts

Warband 3:

1 Ranger of the North on Horse with spear: 41pts

Warband 4:

1 Ranger of the North on Horse: 40pts

Total: 800 Points, 18 Models, 18 Bows, 22* Might.

This is another pure Rangers of the North list without using allies to boost some key weaknesses. I chose not to mount Halbarad and not to take Anduril in favour of adding more rangers. I also upgraded to Rangers of the North from Dunedain since Strength 2 bows and Strength 4 Warriors will be in abundance at this point level. This list relies heavily on Aragorn to shift the army and make sure that they hit the enemy only where I choose. With all the Heroic Actions in the game at your disposal, you can assassinate leaders at a distance, move faster in missions that require speed, constantly challenge Cavalry armies for the charge, and regularly re-position your small force to attack only portions of the enemy. This part about re-positioning is key because you will certainly be one of the smaller armies out there at 800 points. Attacking only portions of the opponent’s army with your entire army is going to be the best way to take down a large army with minimal losses. 

Mik’s Lists

List 3: 500 Points

Warband 1

Halbarad with Banner of Arwen Evenstar

12 Dunedain with Spears

Warband 2:

1 Dunedain with Spear

Warband 3:

1 Dunedain with Spear

Warband 4:

1 Dunedain with Spear

Total: 498 Points, 18 Might, 16 Models, 16 Bows

At 500 Points I am expecting to face armies between 2 and 3 warbands in size, so between 25 and 35 models on average. In fact, looking back at the previous 8 articles, that’s been roughly what the 500 points lists have had. Given that we have 16 bows and a very strong fighting line, I wouldn’t be too worried using this in competitive matches. By the time combat starts we will hopefully have shot down several enemies and we are very strong in combat against everything except Elves, as their high Fight Value causes a problem. Having 4 Warbands means we can drop 3 of them by the time our opponent deploys their entire army, so we’re always in a good position at the start of the game. 

List 4: 800 Points

Warband 1:

Aragorn with Armour, Anduril and a Bow

10 Dunedain with Spears

Warband 2:

King of the Dead

13 Warriors of the Dead

2 Riders of the Dead

Total: 800 Points, 27 Models, 14* Might, 11 Bows. 

I’m not convinced Anduril is necessary, but thematically it makes sense to have it. It’s not an army I would traditionally consider to be very competitive, but 27 models are not terrible at 800 points, especially when all of them either cause Terror or have Might and 2 or more Attacks. King of the Dead is a decent fighter in the Middle-earth edition of the rules and is now capable of posing serious threat to a lot of enemy heroes. Dunedain can either support the Dead, or fight by themselves in a formation 5x2 formation that has 3 Attacks at the front and 2 Might each to support it, in addition to Aragorn. A lot of the game will depend on how well you’re able to execute your Heroics and how you’re able to position yourself into most advantageous situations. Naturally, the weaknesses are obvious – you’ll always be outnumbered and hopefully you won’t have to face Blinding Light or Pall of Night, as they will really make your Archers unable to do the necessary damage at long range. It’s definitely a challenging list to play, but I think if played well, it could be strong. 

Allies

Devin: The Ranger of the North army bonus is way too crucial to ever risk giving it up. Without it, the Rangers are overpriced and only the Dunedain would be useful for a few casual one-drops for deployment. Therefore in my mind, only the Shire and the Dead of Dunharrow would be viable allies for this list as they are Historical Allies. 

The Shire is a great ally since they can easily boost the numbers of your army with minimal cost. Only 34pts gets you Fatty Bolger and 6 Hobbits which brings your break limit up by 3.5. Adding in larger groups of hobbits allows you to get more bow shots and gives the rangers some flank support so that they can deal with sections of an army for longer periods of time. The only problem here is that the Hobbits will anchor you with a 4” speed; so Aragorn will be essential to help speed them up. Alternatively you can have them do what hobbits do best and hide them the entire game if you only have a handful to raise your break limit. A final thought on the Shire is that it also gives access to Gandalf the Grey, whom might be an interesting replacement for one of your larger heroes. Blinding Light and other magical spells can prove quite useful; and if you drop Halbarad you can always just take a Hobbit Horn to boost the courage of your Rangers. 

The Dead of Dunharrow are a tricky ally since they will compete with your army for the precious points you need for the Rangers. Allying will require The King of the Dead to be chosen, whom is already expensive as is. Not to mention the Men of the Dead aren’t cheap either. Adding too many would almost feel like a Dunharrow list with Rangers allied in. However if you do have the points for larger games, then a small Warband of the King of the Dead and 7 Men of the Dead with shields will replace 7 Rangers of the North quite nicely, which will provide a protective wall for your rangers with Defense 8 and Terror with Harbinger of Evil. You can even replace the Mounted Rangers with some Riders of the Dead in that warband to keep the mobility you need. And with Aragorn in the list, you may hardly notice the drop in Might. 

Mik: I posted an 800 points list with allied Army of the Dead, but I’m not convinced whether this is an entirely feasible alliance even at that points level. Perhaps 1000 would be more appropriate, as we’d be able to get another 14 or 15 extra models to really make it look like an army. 

The Shire is definitely something worth looking into as well, but as The Shire already has access to Dunedain, I feel like we’d only be adding some Rangers of the North on horses or Halbarad for his banner. I think The Shire alliance would make the list into something entirely different than The Rangers set out to be in the first place, as we’d probably want to make it into a horde sort of army. In conclusion I think The Rangers are best left to wander on their own, like the dangerous folk they are. 

Summary

The new Rangers/Grey Company list leaves me with one thought on my mind: This is definitely not a ‘no-brainer, stand back and roll dice’ sort of army that some of the Grey Company lists have been in the past. The force has definitive strengths in the increased number of attacks, all the Might and all the bows, but at the same time it has very obvious weaknesses in the low numbers, Blinding Light/Pall of Night and certain scenarios where it will struggle against certain armies. It will require unconventional tactics, which once learned, will give you as a player even greater advantage in the game than if you were to be using a conventional force, because most of your opponents will not be used to playing against The Rangers. It's kind of like playing against All-Hero or The Flying Circus - the person using them is used to playing against all-comers, but most players don't spend their practice time playing against All-Hero and Flying Circus, so you have a natural advantage through their lack of practice. 

I would define The Rangers as a ‘high variance’ army – you will either do very well under the right circumstances, or you will do very very badly under wrong circumstances. Either way, the games will be very interesting and challenging for both sides, and I think that’s ultimately what all of us want!

Good Luck!

BlackMist & Devin