Who better to start such a series than the ultimate undervalued LOTR character? A character so disappointing they were sent to battle insurmountable odds by their own father, were straight up told that they should have died instead of their golden boy brother and who was deemed to be more useful as firewood: Faramir!
In the films, and the books, Faramir remains a favourite character of mine. He is the proof that not all men succumb to evil. His men are unswervingly loyal to him and he gives his all for his country. However, aside from the Rangers of Ithilien LL, he remains a periphery hero in MESBG. Let's look at what he does well, where he needs some help and how his profile can be altered to push him up the congested Minas Tirith hero list.
The Good
Faramir's profile is not without its positives. FV5 and S4 gives him a solid start, allowing him to hold his own against most enemy heroes. His defence is initially a concern but adding heavy armour and a shield means he becomes a tricky hero to budge. Faramir's courage of 6 is very good, even better when combined with the army bonus, and goes some way to highlight his character. The final strength of his stat-line is the fact he sports 3 Will and 2 Fate, along with the always useful 3 Might. The extra Will and Fate points help to protect Faramir from enemy spellcasters and from succumbing to a cheeky wound.
His suite of Heroic Actions, the standouts being Strike and Defence, give him great versatility as does his wide array of wargear options. Faramir is a bit of a Swiss army knife, allowing you to kit him out in his pyjamas as he leads your lightly armoured skirmishers or covering him head to toe in the finest Gondorian shining armour as he leads Gondor's knights (hopefully not whilst accompanied by Pippin's melancholic singing and the hail of Orcish arrows like in the film!).
The Bad
Look at Faramir's stats and you'll struggle to find any glaring issues. There may be an argument that 2 attacks is disappointing but even the most ardent Faramir fan would struggle to justify a 3rd attack given that it pushes him into Aragorn and Boromir territory. So if there are no major problems, why do I feel like Fazza needs a leg up? Well, when you look at him as part of the Minas Tirith roster, and not in a lonely vacuum, he struggles to stand up to his peers.
Want someone to lead your archers? Bring Madril. He is significantly cheaper, gives you a huge benefit in Maelstrom missions and also bring 3 Might to the table, all for less points. Want to bring a mobile troop blender? Take Hurin. Rocking the same FV and number of attacks, but with the crucial addition of a master-forged hand and a half sword, he easily outperforms little Faramir, even when Fazza brings a lance to the table. Then you have to consider Hurin is both cheaper and has a great VP denying rule. Want a defensive stalwart to hold your battle line? Ingold is your man. He benefits from shield wall, has Heroic Defence and a nifty little rule which means your front line doesn't back away. Not to mention he is again quite a lot cheaper.
In short, Faramir might well be a Swiss army knife hero as mentioned before but that also means he is good at most battlefield roles but master of none of them. Particularly with the release of Gondor at War, he is eclipsed by at least one other named Gondorian hero in every role. And to make things worse, he is more expensive than them all!
To make matters worse for Gondor's unfavoured son, the unique rule he has is more of a liability than a help. It's a lovely fluffy rule which perfectly sums up the unique father/son relationship between Denethor and Not Boromir but it doesn't earn Faramir any brownie points on the tabletop.
So how can Faramir, Captain of Gondor, 'show his quality'?
Now we've already looked at his stat line and that seems pretty well-balanced. In fact, I don't think any changes in that area are required in order to see Faramir escape from the doom and gloom of the hobby case.
What he misses is a USP, a unique selling point. A rule which helps him stand apart from the huge roster of shiny men of Minas Tirith. I'm not suggesting all of the following at once, but any one of the rules below would help Faramir become more competitive in lists outside of his LL and add extra fluff to his profile:
- Resistant to magic - Faramir is one of only a handful of men who can withstand the power of The One Ring. Resistant to magic is the easiest way to represent this. Further, I don't feel as though any of his men would be swayed by malign influences in the presence of their beloved captain so why not give Gondor warriors within 6" of Faramir resistant to magic too?
- "He was a captain that men would follow, that he [Pippin] would follow, even under the shadow of the black wings.” - The Return of the King. Tolkien makes it clear that Faramir is adored by his men. To represent this in game, I have two options. First, allow all rangers, the core group of Faramir's friends and followers, the opportunity to use Faramir's courage whilst he is alive on the battlefield. This represents his ability to instill belief in his men. Alternatively, allow rangers to use Faramir's stand fast from anywhere on the battlefield. The rangers are used to being deployed in small groups, away from one another, but all of them will follow Faramir's instructions to a fault.
- An ambush mechanic. With the introduction of goblin mercenaries and the Defenders of the Shire LL, the game has now got a couple of ambush mechanics in place. Allowing models to appear from terrain pieces, this fits perfectly with Faramir and his rangers. Think of the iconic scene where the Mumakil are ambushed or when the rangers appear out of nowhere to restrain Frodo and Sam. I want that in the game! Now first thoughts were Faramir's warband could have the rule, but the thought of 16 models popping up from a terrain piece was a concern so here's my thoughts: If Faramir does not have heavy armour or a shield, up to 6 rangers from his warband may deploy in a terrain piece, or appear in one at the start of one of your move phases. I love the thought of specialist assignments Faramir has given to his boys and it also adds a great tactical dilemma for both players.
- Finally, and this one is more obvious from the perspective of the books, if Faramir and Eowyn are both in combat, and within 12" of each other, one of them may call a free heroic combat. If they are successful, they must end as close as possible to the other. Nice and fluff-friendly, but, given how useful Heroic Action advantage is, a potentially strong addition. It also helps Eowyn appear more often without being in the guise of Dernhelm.
So there you have it. My thoughts on Faramir and how to push him up the tier list of Gondorian heroes. He is such a great character and I feel he is left in the shadows too often. Let me know your thoughts. Maybe he already offers value I am yet to see or are there other characters in need of the chance to 'show their quality'?
Thanks for reading,
Kieran
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