Battle Report: Vanquishers of the Necromancer v Pits of Dol Guldur

The first battle with a new Legion is always so exciting

With all the excitement of the new Legendary Legions being released, I though I’d test out my two favourites in battle against each other. In the interests of an objective comparison I played both sides, on the assumption that I was about equally good with either army. Also, I was desperate to play and couldn't find anyone last minute! The battle was a 650-point one, as that seemed like a level at which both Legions could pull together solid lists without running out of efficient purchases. Read on to hear how they went!

Vanquishers of the Necromancer Legendary Legion

Let's smite some Orc

Warband 1

Saruman the White (Army Leader)

Galadriel, Lady of Light

Radagast the Brown

Elrond, Master of Rivendell with heavy armour

 

4 models, 12 Might, no fast models, no bows.

This Legion seems to basically build itself at points above 500, with a clear worst hero (Gandalf) and very limited options. At 650 I could afford 4 models but no sleigh, so in went everyone except the Grey Pilgrim (he’s obviously unconscious by this point) to kick some Dol Guldur butt. It’s a deceptive looking list, with a surprising amount of combat punch and resilience to complement its vast magical arsenal. It definitely feels like the underdog against the sheer muscle of its opponent though.

 

Pits of Dol Guldur Legendary Legion

Which of these looks like the scarier army? Definitely the muscled up Orcs on the left

Warband 1

Azog on White Warg (Army Leader)

5 Gundabad Orcs with spear and shield

Gundabad Orc with spear, shield and banner

5 Hunter Orcs (2 bows)

Fell Warg

 

Warband 2

Keeper of the Dungeons

4 Gundabad Orcs with spear and shield

5 Hunter Orcs (2 bows)

Fell Warg

 

Warband 1

Hunter Orc Captain (represented here by Narzug)

3 Gundabad Orcs with spear and shield

4 Hunter Orcs (3 bows)

Fell Warg

 

36 models, 11 Might, 4 fast models, 7 bows.

This list looks a lot more conventional, and is certainly more well-rounded. It’s got a big core of S4 infantry, some with two Attacks and some with D6 and spears. Supporting that are a handful of Fell Wargs to capture objectives, and two decent fighters in the Keeper and Hunter Orc Captain. Heading it all up is Azog, who brings an enormous amount of combat power that can keep rolling every turn with free Heroic Combats. The Legion also brings Resistant to Magic, which could be clutch here, as well as the ability to automatically move first on one critical turn. That could be game winning if timed right, but the Vanquishers’ capacity to cast after being charged could see it backfire. Still, this Legion has the numbers to grind out a long game, and the brutal strength of Azog to make it a very short one if he wins a few combats.

 

Scenario

Pool 6 is probably a good pool for the Vanquishers

As is standard Down Under, I chose scenarios using a veto system. A dice roll told me I was using Pool 6, which contains Fog of War, Clash by Moonlight and Assassination. Evil immediately vetoed Assassination, because Galadriel could basically auto-snipe a hero with her super-Banishment to win that mission turn one. Good then picked Fog of War, reasoning it would incentivise them using magic to kill Evil’s minor heroes (already the plan) and Clash by Moonlight would only benefit those 7 bows Evil had along.

 

Deployment and Secret Objectives

While I forgot to take any pictures of this, the two sides basically deployed on either side of a hill with a Rohan hamlet on top. Evil opted to target Galadriel, seeing as she was the most fragile member and the one most likely to exhaust herself with magic, while keeping back the Hunter Orc Captain to protect. Finally, they picked a patch of long grass way in the NW corner as their terrain piece to claim.

Good decided to target the Keeper, reasoning that his Strike would likely see him thrown into combat at some point, while protecting Elrond because the Elf is one of the toughest heroes to kill in the whole game. Finally, they picked an overhung bit of building in the centre, hoping to hold it and keep back the tides of Orcs.

 

Turns 1-3: A Nearly-Panicked Steed

Both sides moved up slowly towards the middle, neither in any great hurry to come into the other’s threat range. On turn 1, Radagast and Saruman both cast Channelled Terrifying Aura to try and mitigate the Evil warrior models, although Radagast failed to cast (with a reroll!) and had to spend a point of Might to lock it in. What a great start.

Perfect. Just perfect

Things picked up from there, as Azog had chosen to hide himself behind the central building to threaten an unexpected charge. However, Radagast’s ability to target models he can’t see allowed him to cast Panic Steed on turn 1 and 2, rolling high both times on two dice with a reroll and forcing Azog to expend a massive 4 Might and two Will to retain his steed, even with Resistant to Magic! In hindsight, Azog maybe should have just accepted the White Warg’s loss, but I was particularly leery of Panic Steed as it would cause the White Warg (quite a powerful combat model and one that automatically passed Courage tests) to disappear from the battlefield. And once it left I would be losing its 3 Might anyway, so I was really only spending one Might extra to prevent that. Otherwise on turn two and three the Vanquishers stayed out of charge range, picking off a Hunter Orc with Sorcerous Blast. Two Banishments and another Blast were shrugged off by the Orcs thanks to Resistant to Magic, which was already proving its value. Finally, in Evil turn 3 Azog raced around the corner and close to the White Council, hoping to smash into them next turn. His minions spilled around behind him, or outflanked the Council from either side of the central hamlet, while the Keeper and Captain kept their distance on either flank.

 

Turns 4-5: The Pale Orc Falls

Azog narrowly survives his first encounter with the Council

On the next turn, both sides were well and truly in charge distance, but Azog opted not to call a Surprise Attack to guarantee moving first. With the Terror of the Vanquishers and their capacity to cast after being charged, moving first seemed no guarantee of good matchups. Good then managed to win Priority, charging Saruman, Galadriel and Elrond into combat with Azog, while Radagast attempted to cover their left flank to prevent Saruman or Elrond being peeled off. On the way in they unleashed a devastating magical barrage, with Radagast forcing Azog to spend another Will and Might to Resist Panic Steed, while Saruman managed to roll a ‘6’ on Sorcerous Blast. Maxing out at a 5 on his Resist rolls, Azog then had to choose between retaining his last Might point to Strike, but being dismounted and maybe Wounded, or burning Might to at least not be prone. In the end he went with the latter, staying mounted but out of Might. Finally, Galadriel managed to smite him with Banishment, forcing him to burn both Fate points to stave it off. In return, a brave pair of Hunter Orcs managed to pass their Terror tests to peel off Radagast and Saruman, but the Orcs on the other side froze in Terror at the sight of Galadriel’s War Aspect. However, this meant little in the end, as while Good won the fight by burning Might on a Duel roll (8 dice with no sixes!), they managed to utterly botch the Wound rolls and bounced off the unarmoured Orc (7 dice with no fives!). Elsewhere, Radagast smashed down a Hunter Orc with ease, relishing his newfound 3 Attacks.

Things suddenly aren't looking great for Azog   

Turn 5, and Azog again opted not to call a Surprise Attack. Being able to peel off foes after they’d moved and cast was the only thing that kept him alive last round, and he wanted the option again this time. So Good piled everyone except Galadriel into him, again unleashing a terrifying volley of spells. Radagast at last dismounted Azog with Panic Steed, the White Warg disappearing into the fields, while Saruman used Command to draw the Hunter Orc Captain into range before smashing it back again with a Sorcerous Blast and spending a Might to lock in the Wound. Elrond attempted to cast a Wrath of Bruinen but failed the roll, and Galadriel’s Banishment was Resisted by Azog. In the Evil Move Phase (it certainly took a long time to do the Good Move Phase, despite only having four models!) the Orcs swung into combat, peeling off Radagast and Saruman with some lucky Courage tests. However, I abruptly realised that in doing so, I’d made a big mistake, in that I couldn’t peel off Elrond anymore to stop him calling a Heroic Strike. I flung in a Hunter Orc with spear support anyway, but the Elf was determined not to make last turn’s mistake again. Hitting F10 with his Strike, he easily won the combat before executing the Pale Orc, spending a Might point to inflict the third Wound and secure the kill. Elsewhere, Radagast, Saruman and Galadriel all killed their foes, cementing an awful turn for Evil.

Elrond avenges Thror and Thrain

Turns 6-8: Wrath of the Council

Radagast demonstrates the power of nature

The following turn went little better, with Good winning Priority again thanks to Elrond’s Foresight before devastating the Evil lines with Nature’s Wrath. Galadriel managed to work her way through a gap in control zones to Banish the Keeper, Wounding him once after he botched his Resist rolls (on three dice!). Saruman continued to bombard the Hunter Orc Captain with spells, but the Orc’s Resist rolls were everything the Keeper’s weren’t and he was able to move out of range of Sorcerous Blast. Evil poured in Orcs in their Move Phase, but Terror and Nature's Wrath hamstrung them, and by the end of the turn another pile of Evil models had been removed. On the plus side, the Feral Wargs had at least managed to secure several different terrain features in the Good half, keeping the Vanquishers guessing as to which one was the objective.

Not-zug refusing to fall for Saruman's 'Come closer so I can Blast you' trick again

Good burned yet more Foresight points (they’d started with a lucky ‘6’) to retain Priority in turn 7, and Galadriel was able to poke her head just far enough around the building to Banish the Keeper. A calamitous failure to roll above a ‘2’ saw the Orc slain, with three Might yet unspent! 

Just like in the movies!

Elsewhere Radagast and Elrond failed to knock down the Orcs and were swamped in turn, with the Elf needing to spend Might to win his fight and slay two Hunter Orcs. Saruman managed to Command the Hunter Orc Captain closer again, but lacked the range to Sorcerous Blast him into oblivion. Realising the desperate nature of their situation, the Orcs charged in almost solely against Galadriel, aiming to drag down at least one Council member for some VPs. However, she easily rolled a ‘6’ on her 4 dice, killing a Hunter Orc to clear a path between the two buildings towards Good’s objective. Elsewhere Saruman and Radagast continued to cleave their way through the Orcs, with Evil getting scarily close to Breaking and Good’s heroes still unharmed.

Galadriel didn't feel like cinematically falling over to be rescued this time

Turn 8 saw Evil finally win Priority, swarming the Good heroes. Terror continued to hold them back, however, and all of the Good heroes ended up in some quite achievable combats. Things got much more achievable, of course, once Radagast unleashed a massive Nature’s Wrath to knockdown most of the Evil army, and the resultant slaughter saw Evil reduced to 18 models, one off Breaking. The one bright point was that the Hunter Orc Captain was at last more than 18” from Saruman, and the White Wizard failed his casting roll to Sorcerous Blast some poor Hunter Orcs instead.

Radagast was really showing off at this point

Turns 9-10: Endgame

On turn 10 Evil won Priority again, but as their numbers began to dwindle so too did their ability to take enough Terror tests to get models into combat. Thankfully Good had an off turn with spellcasting, with the only successes being Galadriel Banishing a Fell Warg that had gotten too close and Saruman Blasting a Hunter Orc to Break the Evil force. Evil at least managed to win a combat against Elrond, but the resilient Elf was able to shelter behind his armour to survive the hail of blows. Elsewhere Radagast continued to hunt the Orc Banner, killing its fourth carrier in close combat before watching as another Orc picked it up.

The Orc casualty pile. Good has yet to take a single Wound!

Turn 11 proved to be the final turn, with Good winning Priority and racing Galadriel and Radagast onto their objective terrain piece while Saruman and Elrond prepared to fend off the Orc attack. They needn’t have bothered, as the Orcs fled in droves from the victorious Vanquishers, and those Orcs who did pass Break tests failed their Terror checks. Off on the Evil objective, the Hunter Orc Captain burned his last Might to stick around, but it was by far too little, too late.

The last handful of Orcs in the centre, too scared to charge the White Council again

Evil was quartered and the game ended, scoring 1 point for protecting the Captain from (too much) harm, and 3 more for securing their secret objective. 

Ouch

However, Good had achieved a mighty 12 points for killing the Keeper, keeping Elrond unhurt, claiming their own objective and Breaking the Evil force, for a decisive 12:4 victory for the Vanquishers of the Necromancer!

Ouch!

 

Strategy Review

This game had a few key mistakes in it. Evil forgetting about Radagast’s ability to ignore line of sight (I genuinely did forget until it was Radagast’s turn to move) meant Azog took a turn more of magical bombardment than he needed to. More fundamentally, Azog should probably have just dismounted off the White Warg on turn 1. It would have reduced his potential hitting power, but he was never realistically going to keep his mount once the spells started flying, and at least then it wouldn’t have automatically fled. It would have also meant he could have laughed off Radagast’s spells, as he wouldn’t have needed to protect his mount. The choice not to call a Surprise Attack on turns 4 or 5 was also a mistake in hindsight, but the strategy of peeling off Good models with Orcs was a good one, and it would have worked a lot less well going first. The bigger error was peeling off Saruman in turn 5, as it let Elrond get into Azog and decapitate him. Really though, it was only luck that saw him survive 7 Strikes from Galadriel and Elrond in the previous round, and it was probably a matter of time once he was dismounted. For Good, things obviously went quite well, aside from a few fumbles as the casters got in each other’s way. I can’t be too harsh on them though, given that the White Council ended the game completely unharmed!

Not the stats you expect from the underdog!

Legendary Legion Review

Honestly, both Legions showed their worth here. The Pits might have gotten absolutely eviscerated, but that would have happened even faster without Resistant to Magic. Azog would have appreciated Master of Battle in this matchup, as free Heroic Combats only really served to prevent Good using Heroic Combats to pile into his fight. But without Resistant to Magic, the Pale Orc would have been helpless against Good’s magical barrage. The rest of the army was solid, but did show the Legion’s obvious weakpoint in that they struggled to crack the tough Good models once Azog was down.

Speaking of Azog going down, wow. That Vanquishers spam of sorcerous powers was terrifying, and it only took them two turns to totally burn through the resources of a 6 Might, 4 Will hero with Resistant to Magic. Really, all I can say is wow. Once Azog was down, these guys were free to rampage absolutely unchecked, with Terror holding back most enemies, 3 Attacks and a banner reroll on everyone slaughtering those who did get in, and that relentless rain of spells hammering down any big threats. They clearly have little to fear from chip damage, especially with Radagast being able to heal multiple models a turn. The struggle with facing these guys (at least when you can’t just swarm the objectives) will be getting your heroes into position to ride down the more fragile models like Galadriel without losing them to the rain of spells. I could see a potential weakness here to Elven lists with lots of F5/6 and Elven-made weapons, as they could at least win a lot of combats. But how one translates those combats into dead heroes without Radagast or Elrond healing them back up seems a real struggle. They’ve still only got four models for objectives, but as was shown here, four models is plenty enough to claim an objective if you slaughter everything that was standing on it first.

In summary, watch out for these guys, because they feel very, very strong.

 

Next time: the Vanquishers get confused and take on some slightly different Spirit models

I hope you enjoyed this battle report filled with the very cutting edge of list design. Let me know your experiences with these Legions below, or which ones you’re excited to try first!

Until next time, may your Resistant to Magic die always roll sixes!