8/31/2023 - Vrasku, Uruk-Hai Captain, Uruk-Hai Shaman, Uruk-Hai Drummers.
Today we are going to be talking about Vrasku and some generic Uruk-Hai heroes for Isengard
Vrasku is a strong ranged Hero of Fortitude for Isengard, coming in at 65 points. His cost is 5 points higher than a scout captain, but that comes with some bonuses. As a named scout captain, he shares most of his stats of Fight 5, Strength 5, Defense 5, 2 Attacks, 2 Wounds, Courage 4, but gets an upgraded shoot of 3+, and 1 additional might, sitting at 3 might, 1 will, 1 fate. He comes with a sword and crossbow, and access to both heroic march and heroic accuracy. He just seems like an Uruk-Hai captain with a crossbow, firing a crossbow every turn, just hitting more often. Oh look, he rolled a 2 and missed his shot, nothing to worry about...
Thud
Hello everyone, I am Scottt, Scott forgot that Vrasku is an Expert Shot, allowing him two shots a turn with his crossbow and got clipped in the head. I am sure he will be fine.
Vrasku is in a weird spot for Isengard. While he is a scout captain, he is not usable in either scout legion, for good reason in my opinion, since a crossbow that cannot shoot and move fights heavily against the highly mobile scouts. He is a popular hero to pair with Saruman, providing ranged support to try and equal up the numbers, and I have found him very good as an assassin in my open Isengard lists recently. He has also gotten dramatically stronger with the recent errata relating to In The Ways on flying monsters, as he can now hit them much more reliably, even with models obscuring his line of sight, and with his 3 might can definitely get some wounds. He is the bane of Wraiths on Wings!
Uruk-Hai captains are more heavily armored than their Scout Captain brothers, paying an extra 5 points for that jump, and having an alternate ranged equipment option. Besides their armor, they are the same stat line as Scout Captains, Fight 5, Shoot 4+, Strength 5, 2 Attacks, 2 Wounds, Courage 4, 2 Might, 1 Will, 1 Fate, and their heavy armor brings them up to Defense 6. They also have access to heroic march.
For equipment, they can pay 5 points for a shield, 5 points for a 2-handed weapon and rather than 5 points for an uruk-hai bow, they can pay 5 points for a crossbow.
All in all, these captains are tough as nails, and hit very hard. Unfortunately, with all the legendary legions and good named heroes, they don't see much play outside the Assault Upon Helms Deep Legendary Legion, where you can only take unnamed fighting Uruk-Hai heroes
For spells, Shamans can cast Fury (Isengard Uruk-Hai) on a 3+ with the standard 6" range, and Transfix on a 5+ at 12". Not a bad set of spells, however almost always, you will be using Fury with 2 of their will, and more often than not, channeling it to gain access to a 6+ wound save on nearby Isengard Uruk-Hai.
Basically the only time you see a Shaman is in the Assault Upon Helms Deep Legendary Legion, since Fury is not too useful when you have fearless Wild Men or Huscarls, and because open Isengard tends to be mixed with non Uruk-Hai, a Shaman's impact is minimal.
The Uruk-Hai Drummer. Spectacular model. Drummers are independent heroes at 35 points, with a standard Uruk-Hai stat line, with some notable hero upgrades. Fight 4, Strength 4, Defense 5, 1 Attack, 1 Wound, Courage 4, and no heroic stats. It has a War Drum for Isengard Uruk-Hai, and can be taken in either of the scout legions, letting you boost those marauders up to 11" of movement, or 14" with a Heroic March combo. I definitely enjoy taking 1 with Mauher and marauders outside legions as well, although notably, Mauher cannot upgrade a drummer to be 8" movement outside the legions, so it can be outpaced quickly. I tend to use it as a far back support piece, allowing me to reposition models quick without needing to march, or fall back to objectives and reform the line during the fight.
A quick one today, next week I will be going over the orcs of Isengard!
-Scottt
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