Hi everyone,

Just a quick question or food for thought.
In Saruman's profile in The Fallen Realms his sorcerous blast is 5,
however in the Free peoples it's a 4+. So which would people use if using the evil version, seems strange that the same spell is worse off ?

Cheers
Silver

Now you mention it, there is something odd going on there. For +20 points, the FR Saruman actually loses 1 pip of Sorcerous Blast and the ability to have his Stand Fast affect other heroes, and gains the Palantir for a guaranteed turn of priority... Is that worth the points? I'm not actually sure. You could think of it as a free army-wide Heroic Move, which frankly sounds a lot better, but it can still be cancelled by enemy HMs, and you can bet they will if going first is integral to the plan you're trying to thwart or your own. Obviously they can't be everywhere, and it'll certainly burn some might, but I'm not sure it's worth what you trade for it over the FP version and the extra cost...

That said, I wouldn't fret. He's still a very competent leader in an Isengard force, all his spells and abilities are handy, and with his large Might and Will scores, if you really need that Sorcerous Blast to go off, you have the resources to make it happen!

Obviously this last bit will depend on how easy going your group is, but I'd have no problem with someone using any of the Saruman profiles in an Isengard army, so long as they pay the points!

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I also think that some of the extra cost may be to do with the fact that he can lead troops in the Isengard list, but not the White Council.

It's just a difference in the two profiles, not a mistake or anything, (bear in mind his other spells are better too), if you want to use Evil Saruman you're stuck with a 5+ Sorcerous Blast. Don't worry too much about this though, Immobilise is his most powerful spell and his Evil version still casts that on a 2+.

His Good version is definitely better value (although his new BOFA profile is the best of the lot) but don't underestimate The Palantir, it can be an absolute game winner. If you know what you're doing then it can't be cancelled by Heroic Moves as you only use it when your opponent is out of Might (otherwise there's no point). Generally this is when they're broken, you move first, tag the enemy Heroes and get the important charges, the rest of their army runs etc. That one little rule has won me more games than I care to remember

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Like Dr. Grant said theyre just different profiles. Keep in mind you forget that the Free Peoples on is independent and the Isengard one can lead warbands! Very important and easily worth 10 points in my opinion.

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BLACKHAWK 2010 2013 2015 DYNASTY

Interesting points here, to me it seems strange to make his spell worse by one in different profiles. I suppose it separates the two profiles from each other.

Question, if I wanted to field saruman on the good side would I be able to just ally him in ? Any help guys ?

You can include either the Free Peoples, AUJ or BotFA version in any Good list, simply by including him as an allied Warband from the relevant Army List. Remember, he can't lead troops for force selection purposes, but other than that functions as per any other model in the army.

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Well the way I see it his magic wasn't nearly as good when he became evil as he was concerned with other things.
And yes you can ally him into anything as a single guy.

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BLACKHAWK 2010 2013 2015 DYNASTY