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They're Really Fast, and They've Got Fangs...and Stuff!

by Geoffrey Snider
Decipher Playtester

Wargs are the fastest, strong...wait! What the heck is a Warg? Well, if you've seen The Two Towers movie, you've seen a warg – it's a massive dog-thing that roughly looks like someone crossed a giant boar and an even larger wolf. It's got huge, jutting fangs, squinty, evil eyes, and usually has an Orc riding on its back. Why not just ride on horses? I guess horses weren't quite Saruman's style. His Orcs preferred to ride wargs into battle. These beasts are fast, ferocious, yadda yadda yadda...whatever. The bottom line is this: The Orcs are small minions. The wargs they ride are possessions that aren't much bigger. However, when you stick them together, you get some pretty huge monsters.

Sharku, Warg-captain is one of the meatiest minions to ever have a deck type revolve around him. Sharku brings an unusual quality to his culture of Orcs; he allows them to damage the fellowship during the Shadow phase by causing some exertions to critical companions. So what if he makes a companion exert? You'll just exert Frodo, Merry, or Pippin, right? Wrong! Sharku doesn't bother sending his Warg-riders after some silly little Hobbits. He sends them after large, potentially lethal targets like Elves, Men, and Dwarves. Not only is this really cool in game play terms, but if you look at it from a storyline perspective, it's top-notch! These wargs are so fast and agile, and Sharku can command his troops to strike without warning. Their ability to affect the fellowship as they enter play gives them a very speedy feel; it's like a deadly charge of cavalry attacking an army's weak flank. Your enemy is just there and you can't do a thing about it!

Even if Sharku is a great Orc commander and may ride any different kind of warg, he needs something a bit more special than the other Warg-riders – something to give him that little 'oomph' that makes him that much more special. Sharku's Warg is that little extra 'something,' but it's not really very little at all! As far as mounts go, he's the one that weighs ten tons, has the 200,000 mile guarantee, four-wheel drive, and a cell-phone built into the steering wheel. Okay, so I just described a Mack truck with a sauna in the back of the cab, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Sharku's Warg gives Sharku an amazing quality: He can win skirmishes...unlike many little Orcs that came before him, and he can do it twice...at damage +1 no less. Along with great strength comes great vitality. Sharku gets pretty buff while riding his invulnerable mount, topping out at 12 strength and 5 vitality. But wait! There's more! This remarkable mount can play on any Warg-rider, making it invaluable for its versatility. So where does a 12-strength, 5-vitality, Fierce, Damage +1 Orc sit when he goes to the movies? Anywhere he wants...uhm...right, never mind. Some would say that he sits right in front of Lurtz and right behind the Balrog.

The Wizard Saruman has, since being seduced by the treachery of Sauron and The One Ring, become embittered towards the plight of all Middle Earth. He's vowed to destroy all men, making way for Sauron's pillaging hordes of Orcs and other fell beasts. The Orcs of Isengard, whether they are extremely large (like those from Realms of the Elf-lords) or speedy and vicious (like the Warg-riders) can all benefit from Saruman's penchant for industry. The furnaces of Isengard devour the forests of Fangorn, fueling the Orcs in their continual march towards the defeat of the Free Peoples. Saruman, Master of Foul Folk is a great addition to any Isengard Orc deck. Combine him with 'Realms' Orcs, and your opponent will fear a normally convenient double-move. Add him to a Warg-rider deck and he'll not only help them with their finances after controlling a few sites, but also provide the occasionally mount-less rider with a warg.

February 26, 2003