5/1/2024 - Ugluk's Scouts
Hey Everyone!
It's time to put meat back on the menu with Chef Ugluk and his Scouts!
Ugluk's Scouts represents the Uruk-Hai forces that survived the Ambush at Amon Hen, now led by Ugluk, and the force of Mordor Orcs dispatched to bring the Hobbits back to Mordor, at stark contrast to Ugluk's orders from Saruman to return to Isengard.
The Legendary Legion can field the following profiles: Ugluk, Mauhur, Uruk-Hai Scout Captains, Uruk-Hai Drummers, Grishnakh, Orc Captain, Snaga, Orc Captain, Orc Captains, Uruk-Hai scouts and Mauhur. Similarly to Lurtz's Scouts, Ugluk must be the leader.
Before we get into the army rules and bonuses, lets cover Grishnakh's profile, as he was not covered previously due to being normally not a part of Isengard.
What about their legs?
Grishnakh is essentially an Orc Captain, at Fight 4, Strength 4, Defense 5, 2 Wounds, 2 Attacks and Courage 3, but has 3 Might rather than 2. He may also purchase a shield for 5 points. Grishnakh comes with Heroic Strike and the Backstabbers special rule, giving him +1 To Wound when striking a trapped model. He is one of the better named Orc Heroes, though most comparisons will be to Mordor heroes, who we will cover at a later date. He comes in at only 50 points, making him pretty cost effective.
It is important that Ugluk's Scouts has a good named Orc Hero, because the legion rules dictate that only Orc Hero models may lead Orc Warrior models, and only Uruk-Hai Hero models may lead Uruk-Hai Warrior models. This means that you have to plan out your warbands in order to try and not make everything too lopsided, or embrace the lopsidedness as most do.
Their Pace has Quickened: Identical to Lurtz's Scouts, Their Pace has Quickened states that if you include Mauhur, all Uruk-Hai Scouts are upgraded to Marauders for free, even outside his warband, and your heroes all increase their Move Value to 8".
This rule is important, allowing your Scouts heavy mobility. Unlike Lurtz's Scouts however, your entire army does not benefit from this. Orcs are still movement 6, so you often have to plan ahead so that your forces do not get split, and you lose out on your Orc Spears for your Marauders. Once common tactic is to use a drum in order to still move 5.5" with your bow marauders and shoot, while your orc stay in lines behind them.
Make Haste to Isengard: This gives all friendly models the Woodland Creature special rule. This rule includes your orcs, so makes it easier to keep your forces in line when moving through woodland terrain.
Animosity: Friendly Orc models gain +1 to Wound in the Fight phase if they are involved in the same fight as a friendly Uruk-Hai model, and vice versa.
This is the big rule of Ugluk's Scouts. In melee, so not counting spear supports for triggering or benefiting, Orcs and Uruk-Hai boost each other's To Wound roll, allowing for them to take down foes much easier than normal. For Uruk-Hai, this means you are wounding D5/D6 models on 4s, or dwarves on 5s, and Orcs wounding most things on 5s, or matching Uruk-Hai if they pierce. Unfortunately you do not benefit or trigger when supporting, so you have to get some Orcs into melee. I've found that the best tactic is to filter them in later on once lines start clashing, especially since I tend to build my armies with Orcs only as backline Spears in a 1:1 with Uruks as much as I can. With the pairing errata from Feb 2024, it is not much easier to trigger animosity, since you have to worry less about fitting models in, and get to trigger it by dictating pairings as priority.
Army Composition: Ugluk's Scouts has a bit more nuance to it's building that the straightforward Lurtz's Scouts. You start with Ugluk by default, but you are immedietly presented with a tough choice at lower points. Do you take Mauhur to benefit from the Marauder upgrades, or Grishnakh to take Animosity, and to get a second striker. I've played both, and I've found that you want to take the Orcs. Animosity is such a strong ability, and having a ton of bodies at lower points is very strong. Unlike Lurtz's the Drummer is harder to fit, since it impacts only half your models, but it isnt bad once you hit up near the 650 range, as you will start having some warband slot issues. I prefer to do my lines as frontline Uruk Marauders w/ Shields or Bows, and all backline Orc Spears.
Example Lists:
300: At 300, you can fit most of an Ugluk and Grishnakh warband, with 7 bows, a good quantity, and even include a banner!
500: At 500, you really start pumping numbers, up to 12 bows and 39 models, though you end up with a 2:1 ratio of Uruks to Orcs, so Animosity is a bit harder to trigger consistently.
600: At 600, your numbers are nearly unparalleled from other armies, having a full 4 warbands, 16 bows, and 10 might.
650: 650 is where I put in a drummer, as unless you take another captain, you are out of warband slots. You also gain a second banner, getting a lot of good coverage.
Past 650, things get tricky, similarly to Lurtz's Scouts. All you add are bodies, with no new tech or tricks. You also start running into terrain issues, even with having a 1:1 frontline to backline.
Similar to Lurtz's Scouts, you need to watch out for Magic, fight 5/6 3 attack heroes (though you have an easier time killing them if they whiff, due to Animosity) and terror. You'll notice that none of the lists include Snaga! He is absolutely terrible! I will field no questions! Just kidding. I dislike his special rule, as I do not see it as particularly useful, and heroic challenge just is outright bad. Anyone he would challenge would one shot him. An Orc Captain for Heroic March is just so much better.
Unlike Lurtz's you have just enough shooting to start contesting heavy shoot lists, as you can always throw cheap orc fodder in front to protect from it for minimal cost in trades. You still benefit from fast movement, though with a lesser portion of your army, allowing you to grab objectives or sprint forward when it counts.
Both of the Scout Legions fill a similar space, one more geared towards mobility, the other towards line fighting, but both can be exceptionally strong in the hands of a good pilot.
Unlike Lurtz's Scouts, I have run Ugluk's in a tourney, going 2-1 at the MESBG Texas Championships, taking place at Milleniumcon in November 2022 (I believe I placed 5th or 6th.), in Round Rock, TX. It was able to munch some dwarves, beating out Thror in Contest of Champions, getting mercilessly tabled by Corsairs, the one army with more models, in Retrieval, and tabling an Arathorn rangers, though I cannot remember the scenario. I was running something similar to the above 600 point list and felt it did ok and as expected. A bit more points and/or a drum would have been nice in retrospect, but I think that was more the match-ups than the list itself.
That brings our breakdown to a close, and a close for the scouts of Isengard. Next time we will leave none alive, as we bring our Assault upon Helm's Deep! There shall be no dawn for man...
-Scott
Comments
Post a Comment