Back in June, with the release of Legacies once again shafting our beloved Rangers, the internet erupted in calls for GW to buff the basic Rangers of the North, at the very least to bring them in line with what feels like profile disparity elsewhere across the range. It is not the first time this call has gone out, and it will possibly not be the last as Dunedain enjoyers everywhere want better representation for the shadowy patrollers of northern Eriador.
A lot of the focus has gone into the Ranger's profile itself, and I wrote about it here also, which makes sense, but perhaps there's another way.
Before I move on though, the Tell Me A Tale guys did a wonderful two-parter (Part 1 and Part 2) on a Ranger Revamp back in 2022 that was fantastic. I very much recommend giving it a read, and all the rest of their articles for that matter.
Revamping the Rangers Indirectly
Some of my favourite characters to use in MESBG are those that provide buffs to warriors in their warband. The likes of Grimbold, Frealaf, Erkenbrand (so many Rohan heroes), Durin, Gildor and Mablung all come to mind, each different, but each offering ways to slightly switch up the abilities of basic warriors. It can be as little as a single stat point or new ability, but it really adds some flavour to a list and increases your tactical options without being overpowering.
My thought here then is that this is what could be done to improve the various Ranger lists in some small way, increasing tactical flexibility and survivability at low cost. That last point is key, as the Rangers are already an elite list with low model count, particularly in the War of the Ring lists where Aragorn and the likes of Legolas and the King of the Dead already want to eat up much of your points cost.
The one issue is, outside of Aragorn, Arathorn and Halbarad, the only named Rangers we get from Tolkien are the line of Chieftains starting with Aranarth. You can't really build a list with multiple Chieftains, it wouldn't make sense, so we need another option. We could of course just make up some characters and call it a day, they can join the likes of Brorgir in GW originals.
The second option is to steal characters from LotRO, which I'll do here, though I'd be shocked if ol' GeeDubs could ever do that. As a note, I've not actually played LotRO, so this is based on a Wiki-dive, but the main purpose is to get inspiration and names and the Wiki is more than enough for that purpose.
For the first character, I'm essentially lifting Mablung wholesale:
Wargear - Armour, Hand Weapon and Bow
Heroic Actions - Heroic Accuracy
Special Rules - Woodland Creature, Stalk Unseen, Master of Stealth
Faeron can be included as a Minor Hero within the following lists:
- The Grey Company
- Defenders of the Pelennor
Faeron is met during a quest named Master of Stealth, and later acts as a class trainer for Burglars. This makes him a great template for imparting Stalk Unseen on Rangers, fantastic for improving their survivability. Unlike Mablung, I've made this a purchasable ability rather than an auric bonus, as this represents training for Rangers under his command, rather than the active use of birdcalls.
Orthonn, Ranger of the North (Minor Hero) - 50pts
Wargear - Armour, Hand Weapon, Bow
Heroic Actions - Heroic Accuracy
Special Rules - Woodland Creature
Army Lists
Orthonn can be included as a Minor Hero in the following lists:
- Arathorn's Stand
The second ability-lift, and this one from Madril, perhaps one of the most auto-include heroes in Gondor lists. Orthonn
is a loremaster and cartographer, so he becomes a great candidate for a
Master of Reserves rule. This gives the Rangers an advantage I'm
surprised they didn't already have as wanderers of the wilderness. Whilst they
do have the ability to spam single-model warbands, having some control
over this will mitigate the weakness inherent in having lone warriors
spread out all over the board.
I've also given him higher Intelligence, and an extra point of Will to represent his loremaster side.
Daervunn, Ranger of the North (Minor Hero) - 45pts
Wargear - Armour, Hand Weapon, Bow and Warhorn
Heroic Actions - Heroic Accuracy, Heroic Resolve
Special Rules - Woodland Creature
Daervunn can be included as a Minor Hero in the following lists:
- Arathorn's Stand
Daervunn
is listed as being Halbarad's right-hand man. Naturally, since Halbarad
is our resident banner bearer, Daervunn should carry the other
"command" item, the warhorn. The Rangers aren't necessarily in need of
extra courage, but it still improves their reliability against Terror
and keeps them on the field much easier when their relatively low
numbers reach the breaking point. It's also a little moot should Halbarad be wielding his banner, but will help against Blades of the Dead still.
He gets above-average (for Rangers) Courage and Intelligence, plus extra Might and Will and the Heroic Resolve action to represent him being a rallying point, calling attention to Halbarad and the other Ranger Captains.
Halros, Ranger of the North (Minor Hero) - 40pts
Wargear - Armour, Hand Weapon and Bow
Heroic Actions - Heroic Accuracy
Special Rules - Woodland Creature, Hunter of the Big Folk
Army Lists
Halros can be included as a Minor Hero in the following lists:
- Arathorn's Stand
Halros is noted as being trusted by the hobbits of The Shire, protecting it's borders from threats from the North. This makes him the perfect character to add a bit of variety to the Arathorn's Stand list, and a good way of getting a minor boost to its numbers. Very much like the Hobbit Archer's in the Battle of Fornost list. Halros is an optional member of the Grey Company in LotRO, but there he could not use Hunter of the Big Folk so it's easier to confine him to the single list.
I do believe the Hobbits will be subject to the bow limits, but it works out nicely that 4 Militia and 4 Archers is 26 points, the same as a Ranger with a spear. A decent trade if I do say so myself.
Idhrien, Ranger of the North (Minor Hero) - 40pts
Wargear - Armour, Hand Weapon, Bow and Healing Herbs
Heroic Actions - Heroic Accuracy
Special Rules - Woodland Creature, Herbal Healer
Idhrien can be included as an Independant Hero in the following lists:
- Arathorn's Stand
Idhrien is a healer as a well as a Ranger, and is noted for using her time in the wilds to gather herbs and supplies to aid her craft. This feels like a good way to get an extra save and another minor boost in survivability, albeit one with a limited range. The rule is essentially Malbeth's ability with lower chances and range, nothing crazy, but something that may save one or two wounds per game if you're lucky. When your lists will typically have less that 20 models, that is extremely valuable!
Golodir, Ranger Captain (Minor Hero) - 65pts
Wargear - Armour, Dúnachar - Avenger of the West, Bow
Heroic Actions - Heroic Accuracy, Heroic Resolve
Special Rules - Woodland Creature, Hatred (Angmar)
Whispers from Angmar - Any Rangers of the North included within his warband may be upgraded to have the Hatred (Angmar) ability for +1 point per model.
Golodir can be included as a Minor Hero in the following lists:
- Arathorn's Stand
Golodir is met when you rescue you him from Carn Dum. He led a company there in defiance of Aragorn's orders, having heard rumours of Angmar being reinhabited. After his rescue, you retrieve his equipment and Elrond's smiths reforge his family sword. Hatred (Angmar) is a situational rule, but a flavourful one, and between that and his sword, there's plenty of character to make Golodir's profile worth making.
As a Ranger Captain, he deserves a boosted profile, and is just short of Halbarad's level.
So, that's six profiles. Some have better stats, some are just Rangers with an extra special rule, but I hope what I've done here is great a number of small buffs that improve the army's options and survivability without making them overpowered. 1-7 Rangers with Stalk Unseen, a 3" 6+ save, +1 Courage, 1-7 Rangers with Hatred (Angmar), 6 Hobbits and the more control over deployment feels like a lot potentially, but running all them of in the Arathorn's list will set you back between 411pts (Arathorn, plus the six profiles and six Hobbits) and 723pts (max warbands for Faeron and Golodir). That latter option can be 27 models at 750pts, but 6 are Hobbits and most of the characters are in solo warbands.
750 points | 27 models
Arathorn's Stand
Arathorn, Chieftain of the Dunedain: (80)
2x Ranger of the North: Spear (52)
Faeron: (40)
6x Ranger of the North: Stalk Unseen (156)
Golodir, Ranger Captain: (65)
6x Ranger of the North: Hatred (Angmar) (156)
Halros: (40)
4x Hobbit Militia (16)
2x Hobbit Archers (10)
Orthonn, Ranger of the North (50)
Idhrien, Ranger of the North (40)
Daervunn, Ranger of the North (45)
It feels like more of a solid force, though Arathorn is perhaps a little vulnerable with only two bodyguards should deployment shenanigans happen, but with Orthonn around this shouldn't be too much of a problem.
In other lists like the Grey Company, you have to be much choosier, there is already a nice suite of heroes in that list, and you'll likely seen Aragorn, Legolas and Halbarad with his banner before any of the Ranger characters get a look in. Orthonn and Idhrien seem like the most likely candidates to make it into a Grey Company list however:
700 points | 13 models
The Grey Company
Aragorn (Strider): Anduril, Flame of the West (160)
1x Ranger of the North: Armour (30)
1x Ranger of the North: Armour (30)
Legolas Greenleaf: Elven Cloak, Armour (110)
Halbarad: Banner of Arwen Evenstar (110)
Orthonn, Ranger of the North (50)
Idhrien, Ranger of the North (40)
Faeron: (40)
5x Ranger of the North: Stalk Unseen (130)
The model count takes a huge drop but you can deploy as one big warband, and you've got the powerhouse that is Aragorn backed up by one of the strongest profiles in the game that is Legolas. The elf, plus 6 bows hiding with Stalk Unseen/Elven Cloak, and 5 without, is going to be able to do some damage and force the opponent to come in close and engage. Any fight with Aragorn, 12 2-Attack models, a 6" banner and 6+ save will become a slog, even if they heavily outnumber you. Care will be needed to ensure Legolas is targetting those key pieces before the lines clash however.
Theory-crafting about lists aside, this was a fun exercise. Reading through the LotRO wiki pages for the various Ranger characters and thier quest-chains was good fun and I'm sure I could throw together more MESBG profiles using them. Several are found near stables for mounted characters, are focused on specific enemies, or guard key locations that could give them interesting special rules.
Will I ever get chance to play any of them? Perhaps not outside a Battle Companies campaign, or something like Seven Stones that encourages some level of custom profiling.
What do you think of the profiles I've presented here? Would you use any of them, or do you have ideas for your own Ranger characters. Let me know, until next time!