Rise of Angmar fact-checking

 

My book is finally here! Exciting!

Since review videos and articles for the Rise of Angmar first started circulating a few weeks back, there have been a number of small discrepancies between different sources. Claims of 3-Attack Dúnedain or F3 Nazthák have been all over the place, along with some smaller ones where people just weren't sure on exact wording of some rules.This has produced a bit of confusion, so I’m putting out this little article to clear it all up with my brand new book in hand!

I’ll try to list everything that I’d heard different versions of online, but if you have any questions then feel free to reach out and ask. I’ll also be giving my thoughts on any impacts these clarifications have on the book at the end, so stick around for those hot (or not) takes.

Before then though, let’s dive right into our clarifications…

Clarifications

Model/Legendary Legion	Clarification
Aranarth	As far as I can tell, there is no possible way to field this guy alongside A2 Dúnedain or Rangers of the North.
Eärnur	Eärnur only costs you your Army Bonus if you field him in pure Minas Tirith alongside another named hero (although he does make everyone else Impossible Allies).
Angmar	Angmar can’t field Cave Trolls anymore.
Nazthák	Nazthák is F4 not F3! Still C3 though.
The Shadow of Rhudaur	The Shadow is F5 not F3, and he does indeed only have Heroic Challenge (not Heroic Channelling as I’d assumed it must be). His casting values are Drain Courage on a 3+, Course and Wither on a 4+, and Sap Will on a 5+. No word on whether his -1 Courage affect stacks with Harbinger though.
Hill Troll	Their Pathfinder special rule doesn’t allow Wild Wargs to ignore the terrain piece, because it stipulates Angmar models.
Werewolves	Werewolves are C5 not C3!
The Shade	The Shade is in fact A2, and is C5 (not C6 like most Spirit models). Its boost to the Courage of friendly Angmar Orcs is 12”, and its -2 to shooting functions when enemies are within 12” of it, regardless of whether they are targeting models within 6” of the Shade.
Battle of Fornost LL	Eärnur will go up to F7 on the charge in this LL. There is no way for Dúnedain or Rangers of the North to get A2 in this LL.
Army of Arnor LL	Only Arnor heroes get the 4+ Malbeth save. Phew. There is no way for Dúnedain or Rangers of the North to get A2 in this LL.
Host of the Witch King LL	Angmar’s Terror bubble for Orcs is 6” in this LL, not the 3” of the generic army.
Army of Carn Dûm LL	Carn Dûm hero models get +1F in the following turn after killing any enemy model (not hero) in combat, and this only lasts for one turn and doesn’t stack. Banners carried by Orcs are also 6” range. Yeah, that's really it.
Wolf Pack of Angmar LL	The army leader Warg Chieftain becomes a Hero of Valour
Arathorn’s Stand LL	Rangers of the North and Dúnedain gain A2 while on foot; they don’t gain +2 Attacks! Halbarad can’t take his banner. Everyone gains Mountain Dweller as well as Woodland Creature.
Buhrdûr’s Horde	Buhrdûr’s warband can arrive within 1” of a terrain feature, not wholly inside like for Goblin Mercenaries or the Hobbit Ambush rule.

And that’s it! Of these, there are only 4 that are really of significance (because I think most people were already playing the others correctly).

Meta impacts

I'm liking this guy even more now!

First, Nazthrák is not quite as bad as he looked when we thought he was F3. At F4 he’s much more respectable, although I expect people will still leave him behind in favour of a basic Orc Captain on Warg.

Second, the Shadow of Rhudaur is F5. This makes him a much more competent melee threat, and gives a lot more versatility to the profile than people had been assuming. He may still lose out to the Barrow Wight and Orc Captain combo, but he is a much more capable combatant than the Orc Captain now. A very respectable second or third hero for Host of the Witch King builds. 

Third, Werewolves are Courage 5. This makes them way better, for a number of reasons. First of all, in generic Angmar they’re now excellent objective grabbers. They can reliably clear 2-3 models off a point and then sit on it after you’ve Broken, which is a totally unique capability in the faction. That’s a really big deal right off the bat, but it’s obviously even more exciting for Wolf Pack. My first playtest of Wolf Pack was against Host of the Witch King, and the Courage shenanigans were utterly devastating (Wolf Pack killed only three models and got nearly tabled). Getting to field a bunch of C5, punchy troops won’t make Wolf Pack good, but it will definitely make it a lot more playable.

Dropping 1-2 of these into generic Angmar sounds amazing now!

And fourthly, Host of the Witch King does get 6” Terror bubbles. That’s legitimately really big, because it allows you way more flexibility with movement. This is a massive deal for a list so focussed on enveloping enemies to kill them with basic Orcs, and it makes this LL even stronger at low points. At 500-600 I think the list is really scary, and if I hadn’t already submitted my list to Masters I might well be running it instead.

On balance then, the initial reviews were much harsher on Angmar than it deserved, and things are looking up for my spooky boys!

In any case, feel free to reach out for any follow-up questions, or to share your thoughts on the new profiles. Has C5 finally been enough to get you hyped for Werewolves? Am I too high on Host of the Witch King? I'd particularly like to hear your experiences with the new models and LLs so far.

Until next time, may your favourite models always be better than the reviews implied!