The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game/Tactics/Sharkey's Rogues

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Why Play Sharkey's Rogues?

You have never forgiven Peter Jackson for cutting out the Scouring of the Shire, or you have a friend who plays Hobbits and you want to give him something he can fight.

Army Bonus

• "You do what Sharkey says!": Sharkey's Stand Fast! affects the entire battlefield. Additionally a force (or allied contingent) that contains models solely from the Sharky's Rogues list may include warbands of 10-12 Ruffians without the need for a Hero to lead them.

In these warbands, nominate a single Warrior model within the warband as the captain for the purposes of deployment, etc.

• Stand Fast! from Sharkey affecting everyone is good, but be aware that this makes him a massive target. If there are bows in your opponent's force, you need to keep him hidden and/or behind Ruffians at all times so as to benefit from In the Way rolls.
• Note that all allies are Impossible Allies, so you can never use an allied contingent of Sharkey's Rogues in regular games that has this Army Bonus (unlike what it suggests) and will always need a Hero leading them if you use them that way at all.

Unit Analysis

Let's make one thing real clear real quickly: this is a force meant to take on Hobbits. If you're not up against Hobbits then you're going to struggle in all but the smallest point games. Keep this in mind if you want to play anything more than 300 points.

Heroes

• Saruman Sharkey and Worm: Let's not pretend these two are optional, you will always be bringing them. Without them your force falls apart as only one of your other Heroes has Courage higher than 3, and as soon as they run you'll be testing on Courage 2. As far as their rules go, we'll cover Sharkey first; he's a very mediocre Wizard who still has some utility, his Courage is okay and he has one more Will point than an Orc Shaman, but his spells are lacking. Immobilise is useful for preventing enemy models from killing one of your Heroes if they lose a Duel, though you should save it for heavier hitters in the enemy's force, and Terrifying Aura is generally the first spell you cast. Make sure to channel it, as otherwise it's unlikely to help you out, and keep at least one Will Point on Sharkey no matter what unless your force is Broken, which usually means you're about to lose. Sharkey also shouldn't be involved in combats, keep him back and keep him safe so that his Stand Fast! continues to affect the entire battlefield. He's more useful as an anchor than a fighter, despite his higher Strength and two-handed staff. To protect Sharkey, make sure that he's always behind Ruffians; if he's not then he'll be very vulnerable to ranged weapons since he's only Defence 4, and all bows will wound him on 5+. This means it'll only take a few shots for him to use his Fate and die, or have Worm turn on him.
  • As for Worm, it's genuinely hard to use him. He has low stats (he and Harry share the dubious honour of being the only male Man Hero models with a base Defence of 3), his Courage is garbage so he'll be running the second you hit your break point, and he'll turn on Sharkey if he's ever injured and uses his Fate point. That being said, it is still possible to use him decently, but you have to keep him hidden no matter what. Get him to guard some Ruffians that are on objectives and keep him out sight until the enemy gets closer. Eventually you can have him pop out to engage lone models, and don't ever try to fight alongside groups. He's only as strong as a Ruffian, and luckily your opponent might ignore him, if they hope to take advantage of his Broken Loyalties rule. It's also recommended that you keep him in sight of at least two Ruffians at all times since if Worm becomes an enemy model, he can still attack Ruffians so long as they're between him and Sharkey. If they're engaged in a lone Duel then he'll gain his huge stat buff and probably kill one or a couple Ruffians in his path to Sharkey so long as your opponent is smart about it.
  • Note that as Worm is technically a Hero, he still gets Stand Fast! to use on your Ruffians. Don't forget it, as while Worm has the same Courage as your Ruffians, if he passes then Ruffians who are within 6" of him won't have to test themselves, which could save you quite a few casaulties so always test with him first.
  • Never forget that Sharkey's Stand Fast! Does not affect other Hero models. When your Break Point is hit they will be testing on Courage 3 (except for Sid, who tests on Courage 4) and aren't likely to stick around for long.

• Sid Briarthorn, Ruffian Chief: Also called the "Ruffian Leader" in the army composition because Forge World has the best proofreaders. Sid is another mandatory hero; not only does he have the best stats in your army, but he's the only banner-style effect available to you. Always take him, and keep Ruffians between him and the enemy so you benefit from In the Way rolls. Even Hobbits wound him on 5+ and with only one Fate point Sid can't take many hits, especially if they're using bows.
  • Like all Ruffians, Sid can put Hobbits in chains, though you should only do this if you're fighting a Hobbit Hero such as Sam, Merry, Pippin or the like. If you're not, then just kill them, Sid should not have any problem doing that given his Strength, and with Heroic Strength, Sid can typically wound Frodo on a 4+, quickly taking away the opposing force's ability to buff their models.
  • If you don't absolutely have to kill somebody like Frodo, consider using Sid's Might on Heroic Moves so that you can encircle your opponent with Ruffians and trap them. Trapping is one of the very few ways in which your Ruffians can be even slightly effective, and with 2 Might Sid is one of the very few in your army who can help in that endeavour.

• Rowan Thistlewood, Ruffian Enforcer: Rowan is like a smaller Sid, and that means you're going to want him in your army. Not only is he a must against Hobbits and with decent stats (for your army anyway) but he provides a much needed Will Point in case Sharkey is killed, and his Burn it Down! rule can affect an entire enemy warband if your opponent is careless. He's easily one of the best models to set a trap with, since if an opponent enters a terrain feature he can set it on fire and potentially set everyone inside ablaze, and even if they run away that means they're not likely to try moving through that terrain feature again.
  • Rowan has a nice little combo with Sharkey: if they're both in range of a model you really want to set on fire, you can set them ablaze by lighting terrain they're in on fire, and then using Immobilise to keep them there for a turn, which will likely cause them to burst into flame. You can also do this with models that brave the blaze, the longer they're in the burning woods/building, the higher a chance they'd catch fire.
  • Rowan does not have to use Burn it Down! offensively, he can also use it defensively if you want; set up an objective right behind a wood for example, and you can light the wood on fire to cut off that route for all but the most dedicated of models. Similarly you
  • Always talk with your opponent about Burn it Down! before the game begins. It'll stop unnecessary arguments and rules-lawyering later since Rowan's rule is one of the least defined in the game by far.
  • Like all Ruffians, Rowan can put Hobbits in chains, though you should only do this if you're fighting a Hobbit Hero such as Sam, Merry, Pippin or the like. If you're not, then just kill them, Sid should not have any problem doing that given his Strength, and with Heroic Strength, Sid can typically wound Frodo on a 4+, quickly taking away the opposing force's ability to buff their models.
  • Unlike the other Heroes in your force, save Rowan's Might for himself. Nothing's worse for him than needing to light something on fire and rolling a 2 after he used his Might.

• Bill Ferny: Sharing the same name as the pony that kicked him in the ass, Bill is a very situational model. His stats are poor, he costs nearly the same as Rowan and Sid, and even his Hatred of Hobbits isn't enough to make up for this. Yeah he wounds them on 3+, but so do Sid and Rowan, and neither of them need a special rule to get it (so they're not terrible if they aren't fighting Hobbits). That being said he does still have one useful rule, you get to select an enemy warband in Scenarios that use Reinforcements, and that warband suffers a -1 penalty to their roll. This is the main reason you'd ever take him, and otherwise you should just avoid him altogether, get any of the other Heroes first, or some extra Ruffians.
  • Like all Ruffians, Bill can put Hobbits in chains, though you should only do this if you're fighting a Hobbit Hero such as Sam, Merry, Pippin or the like. If you're not, then just kill them, Sid should not have any problem doing that given his Strength, and with Heroic Strength, Sid can typically wound Frodo on a 4+, quickly taking away the opposing force's ability to buff their models.
  • Bill Ferny has no special Heroic Actions, he only gets access to the basic three, so consider using Bill's Might on a Heroic Move so that you can encircle your opponent with Ruffians and trap them. Trapping is one of the very few ways in which your Ruffians can be even slightly effective, so anything that helps you accomplish this is a good thing.

• Ted Sandyman: A cheap Hero who lets your take even cheaper Warriors, Ted Sandyman is only really useful for getting a number of Hobbit bodies on the table to hold far back objectives, or to make it take longer for you to reach your Break Point, or to pelt the enemy with stones. Against Hobbits this is actually quite useful since stones wound them on 5+, however against other armies you might as well take Ruffians instead, at least some of them can take Bows. Make sure to keep some of either Warrior between Ted and the enemy, when you hit your Break Point you'll be glad for those In the Way rolls since Ted has an average Courage of 3 and a Will Point to help your Ruffians stay on the field if Sharkey dies or runs away.
  • If Ted wins a fight, consider using Bash to knock down an opponent instead of wounding them. Against most good armies he'll be rolling against Strength 3, and he has a better chance of knocking them over for your Ruffians than he does of actually wounding his opponents, even with the Strength handicap. The same goes for any Hobbit Militia he brings, give them hammers, and go for bashes so your Ruffians have an easier time with them.
  • Also note that if one of Ted's Hobbits (or Ted himself) is in a fight with a Ruffian, that Ruffian becomes Fight 3 even if they're on the same side. This can help your Ruffians tie with your enemies instead of outright lose against them, but it's not the kind of thing you'll be able to build a gameplan around since Ted's warband is the only one that gets Hobbit Militia.

• Lotho Sackville-Baggins: Short, wealthy, and supposedly delicious (judging by what Worm did to him), Lotho is one of those Heroes who messes with enemy movement and keeps your Ruffians around if Sharkey dies, which makes him one of the most useful models by far. You can usually spare the points for him, and then hide him in the back somewhere as insurance in case Sharkey dies. Always make sure to keep Ruffians around him, Lotho only has one Wound and everything, including stones thrown by Hobbits, can wound him on a 5+. To that end, consider spending his might point on a Heroic Shoot for the Ruffians around him. If you can take out some of the ranged threats on the board you have less of a chance of one of them seeing him and passing their In the Way test.
  • Note that even if you don't use Considerable Wealth at all, Lotho can use his store of 4 Will Points on himself to pass his break tests, which isn't a bad idea since Lotho's ability to make Ruffians stay does not apply to himself and only has half the range of Stand Fast!

• Harry Goatleaf: The old man that gets run over by the Nazgûl. His stats are lame (he's one of only two non-Hobbit male Heroes in the game to have a base defense of 3) and his two rules are... bizarre. Somehow he can yell at infantry characters to stop, and they actually listen on a 3+, being unable to move. Not only does this prevent certain important models from charging or supporting, but it also prevents key targets from running away. Interestingly, he would also be able to use this to stop really dickish plays, since he can use it on Gríma even while Gríma can't be attacked by your army (so you can stop some asshole from placing Gríma in the middle of a doorway), so long as Gríma is on foot anyway. Normally the rule itself isn't really worth the 40 points you need to pay for him, however Sharkey's Rogues lack so many tools that you're going to need every advantage you can take, especially in fights. Keep pulling your troops back, make the enemy come to you with bow fire, and use Harry to freeze anyone you don't want coming near. Use Harry to keep banners out of range of their troops, because with your lack of banners and pathetic Fight values, you aren't going to want to deal with enemy re-rolls.
  • Harry's other rule is funnier... the lamp he holds illuminates an area of 12", which is a really bright ass lamp apparently, as that's the same distance Théoden's voice reaches when he's screaming (and Gandalf's Blinding Light), and it shines through all terrain. However this rule backfires more often than not; yes you can see enemies clearly when they're within 12", but they can also see him anywhere on the board, and so they can usually afford to shoot him, especially since his defense sucks. This doesn't mean you can't use him effectively in those scenarios, just make sure to march him behind somebody else so he's partially protected by In the Way rolls, or hide him around terrain since somehow his lamp's light isn't blocked by a solid wall.

Warriors

• Ruffians: Your only Warrior unless you're using Ted Sandyman (who gets Hobbits) so you may as well learn to love tolerate them. Ruffians are weak and they're practically guaranteed to die to everything, be it bows, swords, or stones thrown by Hobbits. Fortunately you can get a lot of them, so make sure to flood the board with them and make sure you max out your bow limit. Ruffians are terrible in Duels so bows are one of the few ways they can actually cause harm, even though they only hit on a 5+. For those who are going to be in Duels, get a few with whips and make sure to use Whirl. Going down to Fight 1 isn't much of a hindrance for Ruffians since it's not like you're losing anything worthwhile, and getting more than one attack if you win (and fighting multiple opponents) is worthwhile. Their ability to Paralyse Hobbits is also only really useful if you're up against Hobbit Heroes and likely can't kill them even if you do wound them.
  • While Ruffians do not have spears, you can buy some whips to serve in a similar role. You won't be able to get them supporting Duel rolls, however having a second row of Ruffians with whips will allow you to get a few extra wounds in, which will be handy since you cannot rely on your Ruffians to win many fights against non-Hobbits.
  • With your named Heroes, you should consider saving some of their Might Points for Heroic moves. The reason why is because trapping enemy models is one of the very few ways in which you can improve the fighting ability of Ruffians, and you don't want your opponent to endlessly back away to avoid being trapped when you start swarming them.
  • Note that if you buy Hobbit Militia with Ted Sandyman and get them in a fight that also has a Ruffian in it, then the Ruffian will become Fight 3 instead of Fight 2. This isn't worth building a gameplan around since you can only get 12 Hobbit Militia max (and they might get shot off the field if your opponent notices what you're doing), but it might end up saving you in one or two Duels since it allows you to tie many enemy Warriors rather than lose against nearly all of them in Duels.
  • Also note that if you're fighting a force using Hobbits and you're behind on points (perhaps your opponent is sitting on objectives and they're about to lose enough models for the game to end), and you want the game to keep going instead of ending, then instead of killing Hobbits, you can choose to bind them in chains, keeping your opponent above the 75% casualty limit while you catch up.

Allies

Impossible Allies

Angmar

The Serpent Horde

Far Harad

Corsairs of Umbar

Isengard

Sharkey's Rogues

Variags of Khand

Mordor

Moria

The Eastern Kingdoms

The Nazgul of Dol Guldur

Azog's Hunters

Azog's Legion

Goblin Town

The Trolls

Smaug