5/7/2024 - Assault Upon Helms Deep

 

Hey everyone!

Today we continue our amassing of Uruks as we go over the Assault upon Helms Deep Legendary Legion!

Assault upon Helms Deep represents the forces of Isengard sent by Saruman to destroy the world of men. As this legion is based on the films, it lacks the additional forces of Dunland and Orcs present in the books.

The Legendary Legion can field the following profiles: Uruk-Hai Captains, Uruk-Hai Shamans, Uruk-Hai Warriors, Isengard Trolls, Uruk-Hai Berserkers, Uruk-Hai Demolition Teams and Isengard Assault Ballistae.

You'll notice very quickly that this list has no named models, taking only (mostly) Uruk-Hai. Don't ask me why they have Trolls, there were none in the Movies or Books as part of Isengard. Note that the Legion was errataed to correct that the Isengard Troll Drum costs 30 points, like normal, and is not in fact free, although that would certainly have made them more usable. This legion must have an Uruk-Hai Captain as it's leader.

"You do not know Pain, you do not know Fear!": Mimics the Isengard army bonus, meaning that friendly Isengard models do not start to take Courage tests for being Broken until at least 66% of the force's models have been removed as casualties.

This means that this army holds on a little longer than most, similar to normal Isengard, but even more important here, as without any named heroes with special stand-fasts to help out, it means when you start running, things go south real fast. Luckily you can take Shamans to help with Fury, but they tend to be difficult to slot into most lists.

Commander of the Uruk-Hai: Upgrades the leader Uruk-Hai Captain to have 3 Attacks and Wounds.

Pretty simple. Big leader Uruk is big. As you have no named heroes, having a 3 Attack, 3 Wound hero is pretty nice. Most tend to call this one diet Lurtz, as you hit basically just as hard, albeit without Heroic Strike, but being able to get to Defense 7 with a shield.

The Isengard Hordes: Upgrades Hero models to be able to take 6 additional models per warband.

This is the big centerpiece of Assault. Since you don't have named things to spend points on and might will never come easy, you get to double down on bodies, being able to fit 18 Uruk-Hai in a Captain's warband, or 12 in a Shaman's. This also helps fit Demolition teams in more places, as they require 3 slots a piece.

Break the Walls: Isengard Ballistae get to reroll To Hit and Scatter rolls during the shoot phase, and Demolition charges roll two dice rather than one, picking which result you want when detonating.

The mighty siege, which are pretty cost efficient, get a big buff from these. Unfortunately there are a few changes from the base written due to errata. As of August 2023, Isengard Ballistae only reroll 1s To Hit or Scatter, rather than any result, decreasing their chance to hit from 75%, to 58%. Scatter is not as important, as what's most important is just not rolling a 1. Go check out the Siege of Isengard article I wrote for the non-legion specific errata for the siege weaponry. The detonation one is pretty nice, as it increases the chance of a 6, making your explosion super powerful.

Army Composition: Uruk. Basically it. Assault does not have any super tricks to building. You just have a ton of Uruks, some crossbows and berserkers, and siege to taste. Harder choices are when to take a Shaman. I have found as long as I can manage ~6 Berserkers, I feel better not taking a Shaman at most point levels. Having a ton of Pikes can offset the need to charge, as you can support more often with less contact necessarily needed.

Examples Lists:

300: Nice and simple. A bunch of Uruks, a banner, some crossbows. Solid bodies, without having to get a second hero.

500: Siege enters the fray. I tend to prefer having my crossbows in their own warband with Assault, as you do not have much might to spend to begin with, so id rather have them together and spend the might to come on near the ballista from one captain, instead of multiple. Your numbers start creeping up, and you now have siege.

800: Most of the pieces are in place, now you can afford to take both types of siege. Especially with the two Ballista nerfs in play, Demo squads are a little more necessary. At this point level, you do trade some numbers in order to get these tools though, so you have to make the most of them. A choice at this level is to replace the second Shield Captain with a Shaman, to save a few points and activate Fury, though it reduces your might further.

Past 800, Assault just brings in more bodies and/or siege. You'll notice no trolls in the above, as it is hard to fit them well. You could use one at a lower point game where you may not face big heroes or magic, but once they show up, the troll tends to fall off hard. I have a love-hate relationship with Assault, just because while it is funny to shoot a Gil-Galad and take all his might off the board as he tries to survive a direct hit from a ballista bolt, the chances that you just miss too often and get swarmed and cut down is too high. I tend to rotate it in when I am feeling more chaotic, not caring much if I win.

I was going to take the following list to Adepticon, but I was not feeling like it would do what I wanted it to, and based on the results of my Saruman list, I think I made the right choice:

I opted for a heavier berserker line, capitalizing on double ballista to try and weaken my opponent before swarming with weight of dice. The Shaman was not quite there for fury, but mostly as a third warband for cheaper than a captain, and an occasional key transfix.

Assault's strengths: Bodies are easily spamable. If you drop siege, you fit a TON of Uruk bodies, but you do give up some tricks in doing so. Fearless tech with fury and berserkers are good, and being able to take a ton of crossbows and ballistae can melt a bunch of armies. Opposing magic do not have good targets to choose, as not much is worth anything as long as you do not take a troll. The list benefits from using pikes to weigh fights, being able to get behind a berserker for 4 dice plus banner rerolls.

As usual for Isengard, it is weak to big consistent heroes, as unless you nuke them with siege, they will walk through your uruks. You do not have any magic, and rely heavily on your dice being consistent with pike backed berserkers, or crossbows rolling well. Ballistae are less consistent after the nerf, so it is possible that the list functions better as melee spam with bombs, though I have yet to test it. Mobility is an issue, as you have no access to Cavalry, and a drum is tied up in taking a troll. Might can be used for March but you do not have much to begin with, so every expenditure has to be big to get value.

That wraps up Assault upon Helms Deep. It smells a bit like dog in here, probably because next time we will cover the Wolves of Isengard Legendary Legion.

See you!

-Scott