Your Witch King needs a friend: the benefits of running a second caster

The Witch King and Mouth of Sauron combine to devastate enemy heroes

Spellcasters are great, and do a lot to reshape a matchup. They can reach behind enemy lines to snipe out or neutralise key targets, influence objectives, or cripple battlelines. Most of all though, they shut down enemy heroes. And it is in this role– which is the primary one for most spellcasters– that they get a huge amount of value out of having a second caster to back them up.

This article will start by breaking down spellcasters by how much they care about having magical support, then work through an example of this impact, before diving into what’s going on behind the scenes to create that difference. And at the end of it, we’ll be left with the overall conclusion that…

Your Witch King needs a friend.

 

Which spellcasters?

Spells can be broken down into three categories, depending largely on how often your opponent will be making a Resist roll against them. This distinction matters because overwhelming your opponent’s capacity to Resist spells is why we want a second caster.

Irresistible spells are our first category, and these are ones that affect your own models or the caster themselves, like Aura of Dismay, Renew, or Fury. These spells never directly target an enemy model, and so the enemy doesn’t get to roll to Resist them. As such, spellcasters relying on these spells don’t really need a spellcasting buddy to go with them. Círdan doesn’t rely on Gandalf Blasting enemy heroes in order to cast his 4 buffing spells, after all. These spellcasters do still appreciate a second caster in order to help out in magical duels, but there isn’t much direct synergy there.

This guy is just happy doing his thing, regardless of whether he's got supporting spellcasters

Flexible spells are those which can be cast on enemy heroes (and sometimes want to be), but which can be effective when targeting troops as well. A classic example is Nature’s Wrath. If your opponent has heaps of Will to Resist , then you might deliberately cast in a spot where you’re affecting enemy warriors but not their heroes. However, if you did have another caster whittling down enemy Will stores, then you could be more aggressive about it to try and bowl down the enemy heroes too.

Other examples of flexible spells include Sorcerous Blast or Black Dart, which are great at dismounting heroes without directly targeting them (either by Blasting someone into them or by just targeting the mount), but gain added flexibility if the enemy heroes are out of Will and can be targeted directly. Compel is a borderline example, with a myriad of good uses against enemy warriors but even more uses against enemy heroes.

Finally, Resistible spells are the ones that really do have to target enemy heroes or monsters to get their full value. There are heaps of these, from Transfix to Paralyse, Wither to Shatter, Drain Courage to Sap Will. These spells almost always need to be aimed at enemy combat pieces to be effective, so your opponent will generally have Will and Might to Resist with. As such, it’s spellcasters relying on these spells that want a spellcasting buddy backing them up. And it’s these spellcasters that we’ll be focussing on today, such that it’s probably safe to assume that most references to casters are in fact references to casters relying on resistible spells.

Two hypothetical examples: Elessar v the Witch King

The Witch King and Mouth end up shutting down Elessar pretty hard here

In these two examples, we’re lining up the King of Gondor himself against the Witch King of Angmar. Elessar is smashing into the Mordor lines (as he does) and the Witch King is trying to Transfix him (as he does). I’ve played this matchup a surprising number of times, and in my experience it often goes something like this:

Turn 1: Elessar charges in, and Resists the Witch King’s Transfix on two dice, getting a natural six to get one back. Elessar then kills 3-4 models.

Turn 2: The Witch King casts on Elessar and rolls fairly low, and Elessar Resists on 1 die, before killing 3-4 warriors.

 Turn 3: The Witch King casts on Elessar and he burns his last Will and a couple Might to Resist, before killing 3-4 warriors.

Turn 4: Elessar is now out of Will, and will be Transfixed every turn from here on out. However, he has killed 9-12 Mordor warriors, and Gondor may be able to clean up from here without him.

Obviously this is just a hypothetical, and any number of factors about this situation could be adjusted. But I think experienced players will agree that it’s broadly reflective of what happens when a ‘standard’ 3 Will combat hero comes up against a single enemy caster with lots of Will. They get in 2-4 turns of combat before the Will stocks run dry and they are taken out of action.

Now, let’s change it up. Elessar is now facing the Witch King and the Mouth, both of which will be trying to Transfix him every turn. We’re assuming similar dice rolls to last time, just with the second caster added in.

Elessar basically doesn't move from this spot all game, as he gets Transfixed every time

Turn 1: Elessar charges in, and Resists the Witch King’s Transfix on two dice, getting a natural six to get one back. The Mouth then casts on Elessar and rolls fairly low, and Elessar Resists on 1 die. Elessar then kills 3-4 models.

Turn 2: The Witch King casts on Elessar and he rolls his last Will, and again would need to burn some Might to Resist. However, he now knows that the Mouth is lurking, and if he burns Might to Resist the Witch King he’ll still get Transfixed by the Mouth. As such, he probably saves the Might and is Transfixed.

Turn 3: Elessar is now out of Will, and will be Transfixed every turn from here on out. He has killed only 3-4 warriors, and it is unlikely that his troops will be able to make up for the missing hitting power.

Now, as discussed above, this is only a hypothetical, and real experiences would differ from this in both directions. But again, I think this is broadly reflective of how this matchup and ones like it tend to go. Facing a second caster, the hero’s Will stores get rapidly overwhelmed and they are taken out of the game after one big turn. For an example of exactly this, see game 2 of this recent tournament report.

This shows what tends to happen with fairly ‘average’ dice in this matchup, and the impact of the second caster here is devastating. Aragorn goes from 3 turns of combat down to 1, and the matchup swings from ‘competitive’ to ‘skewed’. Noticeably, the two casters were effectively 3 times as impactful as a single caster, rather than twice as impactful (as we might have expected). And that’s despite the fact that in this example the Mouth only cast a single spell.

So what lead to this dramatic improvement in effectiveness, and why were the two casters combined so much more than the sum of their parts? It’s an important question, with a few different answers.

Why is the second spellcaster so good?

Helm spikes on his Resist rolls against my casters this game, but falls in combat regardless

Firstly, having a second spellcaster increases the tempo of the magical battle. When a spellcaster with lots of Will is casting on a hero with limited Will (and no Resistant to Magic or Fortify Spirit), the magical duel ends up as an exchange of resources. The caster is attempting to exchange their Will points  for those of the targetat a more-or-less efficient rate, in order to get to the glorious endgame where the target is out of Will and can be Transfixed/Paralysed/Compelled on cue. With one spellcaster, the rate at which you can trade your resources for theirs is capped by the fact that you can only cast once per turn. With two spellcasters you not only have more Will to burn, but you can make that trade twice as fast. In effect, having a second spellcaster means you get to the ‘mercilessly picking on the Will-depleted hero’ stage at least twice as fast. In our example above, Aragorn had to Resist twice as many spells on the first turn once the Mouth got involved, setting him up for failure on the second.

Secondly, the threat of the second caster impacts how your opponent responds to the first caster. In our second case study, Aragorn couldn't justify burning Might to resist against the Witch King on Turn 2, because he might be Transfixed anyway by the Mouth. This can affect him from Turn 1 if he flubs his rolls against the Witch King’s first cast, and means he may well end up burning critical resources for nothing (either because he spends Might to Resist the first cast and then gets Transfixed anyway, or because he doesn’t spend Might to Resist the first cast and thus ends up wasting the Will he burned on it). This works even better when the second caster has something terrifying to cast like Paralyse. Elessar might not even try to resist the WK's casting because he’s so scared of the Barrow Wight, allowing the Witch King to to skip all the way to the 'mercilessly pick on Aragorn' stage right from Turn 1.

Elessar is depleted by the Witch King and then Paralysed by a lurking Barrow Wight

And thirdly, having a second spellcaster allows you more efficiency with your casting once your opponent’s combat hero is out of Will. If you just have the Witch King casting on Elessar, then even once he’s out of Will (and even with a reroll to cast) you may end up casting on two dice in order to guarantee that he’s Transfixed. After all, a failed cast at this stage can still translate into 3-4 more dead Black Numénóreans or Morannons, so it’s very worthwhile avoiding. However, if you have the Mouth as well then you’re much more comfortable casting on a single die, because you know you get a second bite at the cherry afterwards if you do mess it up. Alternatively, you could cast with the Mouth first, hoping that he'll Transfix Aragorn and free up the Witch King to do something more interesting (like Black Darting the enemy banner).

The combination of these factors means that the second caster is dramatically more effective than one caster alone, even when that second caster isn’t of the same calibre as the first (as is clearly the case with the Witch King/Mouth pairing; I love the Mouth, but he's nowhere near the Witch King's level).

This is all most relevant for casters heavy on ‘resistible’ spells, but as we discussed earlier, the flexible ones certainly benefit too. Black Dart is generally a great tool for killing helpless enemy targets like horses or banner bearers, but if a hero is out of Will then it’s also useful for getting a cheeky Army Leader VP or finishing them off after they survive an assassination run. Compel, similarly, is excellent against troops but incredible against heroes. And Nature’s Wrath is good value when you’re bowling over battlelines but even better when enemy heroes are depleted and ready to be knocked down as well. Casters focussing on these spells also get a lot of value out of having a buddy to help them burn down enemy Will pools.

Thranduil doesn't get a chance to get his spells off here, but a well-timed Nature's Wrath could have been devastating

What about a third spellcaster?

If two spellcasters are more than twice as good as one spellcaster, then should a third spellcaster be even more efficient? And if so, what about a fourth?

To an extent, this is true. Having a third caster makes your magic even more lethal and reliable, and means that ‘standard’ 3 Will combat heroes are often shut down on the very first turn. Anyone who’s played against the Vanquishers or Black Riders knows how impossible it is to weather that storm of magic without having your heroes taken out of the game. These are obviously extreme examples, but Angmar and Mordor can each run triple-caster lists easily enough. As Angmar I’ve actually had a lot of fun with quadruple-caster lists (as has Tiberius over at TMAT), although these days I’ve shifted away from these variants towards those focussed on Gûlavhar.

Opportunity cost is real when you've got the chance to field Gûlavhar instead

This illustrates the first reason why one might not want to take more than two casters: opportunity cost. Most lists beneath 750 points are only fielding 3 heroes, and if you take 3 spellcasters then you can end up without any combat heroes of your own to back them up. Transfixing a hero is all well and good, but where it gets truly spicy is when you can then send in your own beatstick to tear them limb from limb. Lists can backfill this to a certain extent by taking casters like the Witch King and the Mouth, both of which can wade into combat as well as casting from afar. But in general, by taking triple casters you are likely giving up some combat power, and that may not be a good trade.

Secondly, going harder on casting tends to ‘skew’ your list into excelling against certain matchups at the cost of others. If you have triple-casters and end up facing a list with Elessar and Boromir of Gondor, then your opponent is likely going to have a very bad day. On the other hand, if they have Glorfindel and Elendil (two heroes with inbuilt Fortify Spirit) then you might find yourself unable to stop the two beatsticks without reliable magic to fall back on. Or on the third hand (don’t question it), if you face a list without any big heroes then your casters may find themselves superfluous, and without any good tools to stop the enemy horde overwhelming your battleline.

Elendil chops his way through my lines, ignoring my casting the whole time

And thirdly, casters (like most things) suffer from the law of diminishing returns. One caster cuts Elessar’s combat turns from ‘rampaging all game’ to ‘three turns of combat’. A second caster reduces that to a single turn of combat. The third caster may well deny Aragorn any good turns of combat at all, but if he’s the only worthwhile target for that caster then you’re unlikely to be getting much value from them.

As such, the best lists for triple or quadruple casters (aside from the two Legendary Legions that have nothing but casters available to them) are those with access to very cheap and/or versatile casters. Mordor could easily field a Witch King backed by the Mouth and Muzgur, all of which are capable of providing hitting power in a pinch while not breaking the bank. You could swap out one or more of those casters with cheap generic Ringwraiths, the Shadow Lord or Dark Marshal (which provide other noticeable benefits outside of their magic), or Kardush if you had lots of Orcs to benefit from his Fury. Similarly, Angmar doesn’t lose too much by taking multiple Barrow Wights, as they’re providing valuable warband slots and Terror bubbles for cheap on top of their terrifying casting.

A collection of Mordor's excellent support-caster options

In contrast, Good lists really struggle to access cheap spellcasters. This impacts their choice of second casters and makes fitting in a third caster nearly impossible, as Gildor is the only caster below 130 points with resistible spells, and he frankly isn't very good. He’s the same points as the Mouth of Sauron, but with worse casting, less durability, less Might, less warband slots, and no mount option. F6 and Move 8 are nice, but he’s definitely an inferior option. And aside from him, your only options for double-casting require investing nearly/more than 300 points in two casters.  Given that those two models won't have much combat punch between them, it’s much harder to make this work. For Good, the Vanquishers are therefore about the only way you can make triple casters work.

 

Wrap up: your Witch King needs a friend

The above title is probably overselling the point, because having a second caster isn’t necessary to justify the first one. I’ve gone undefeated at three tournaments while taking a single caster, and there are certainly a lot of unsupported Galadriels topping tournaments.

This list is pretty scary, even with only a single caster

However, what having a single caster means is that you can’t reliably get through a 3 Will hero’s resources in time to reliably neutralise them. Sometimes it will work and you’ll devastate them, sometimes it won’t. Galadriel by herself will probably drain Aragorn’s resources and stop him doing as much as he otherwise could, but won’t reliably neutralise him until the game is already in its later stages. As such, if you’re planning to take a single caster then it’s worthwhile thinking about what non-resistible spells are available to you, and planning to focus on them in a lot of matchups. Black Darting out horses or Compelling/Commanding warriors out of position is always awesome, and Galadriel’s Blinding Light can win some games without her ever needing to cast another spell.

But if you want your caster to really neutralise enemy heroes, then what they need is a friend.

Let me know your thoughts on casters in the comments. Have you tried out multi-caster lists for Good? Am I underrating Gildor? Am I overrating a second caster? I'd love to hear from you, below or on the socials.

Until next time, may your casters never feel lonely!