A song of Ice and Fire the miniature game is back in my gaming group with a vengeance and while I had planned a What Makes It Tick series on the game for quite a while, I have not pulled the trigger until now. Today we start the series that will take a deep dive into the Targaryen faction (my faction) in hopes of expanding the series to eventually go through the entire army. Enjoy!

We begin the series with Jorah Mormont a Commander, An Attachment and a Solo Unit in the Targaryen army. Now before I begin, let me just say that sometimes in miniature games there is a phenomenon known as “One Good Wayism”, which is similar to the concept of “competitive meta”, except unlike in the competitive meta which is what players do more based on tested reality, “One Good Wayism” is when players do something on pure perception.

In ASOIAF the miniature game, while there definitely is a competitive meta and this drives how people play the game, how they build list and pick factions, the truth about the ASOIAF community is that a lot of how the community operates is simply based on perceptions rather than the meta realities. I bring this up because Jorah Mormont is definitely a really strong case for how true this really is.

Commander Jorah Mormont – Westerosi Tactician Cavalry

Jorah Mormont is a cavalry commander that fits neatly into the Targaryen theme as a fast-moving, hard-hitting, flanking army. With the 2021 update, Jorah Mormont however has not fared particularly well in competitive play sitting in the 34th spot out 88 commanders overall on ASOIAF stats but in second to last place in the Targaryen faction.

Certainly, the competitive meta is not something to be ignored entirely, there is usually a good reason for a commander’s position in the rankings, but it’s my opinion that Jorah is actually one of the most underrated commanders in the Targaryen faction, perhaps even the game. I think his position among Targaryen commanders is directly linked to the fact that Jorah Mormont – The Wandering Knight (solo) is perceived as so good, that most players favor using Jorah as a solo rather than a commander or anything else for that matter. In fact, this would probably be how I personally favor using Jorah best as well, so I think the stats reflect this, but I think this definitely falls into the category of “One True Wayism”.

This perception of how to use Jorah (as a solo) is so strong that this commander unit is practically ignored entirely and it’s a real shame.

As a commander, Jorah is actually pretty fantastic, without question one of the strongest commanders in the faction. His Ambush ability is pretty amazing as weakened protects the unit during counter-attack and panic helps to increase the chances your opponent will fail their panic test, a great combo. Given your already charging from the flank or rear as a strategy in general, you are also likely making a pretty strong attack with any one of the Targaryen Cavalry units.

This ability is made ridiculously lethal and potentially game-changing thanks to the potential of combining it with one of Jorah’s fantastic tactic cards, Feinting Maneuver. This is arguably one of Jorah’s best tactic cards, perhaps even one of the best Targaryen tactic cards as a whole.

It cannot be understated what a massive difference there is between charging someone from the rear instead of a flank or a flank instead of the front and the fact that you can do this with a card is just absolutely devastating. One well-timed play of this card can and often will be a total game-changer.

Stubborn Tenacity is just a sort of sugar on top kind of ability for Jorah, great to have but nothing to get too excited. Most important thing is to remember to use it.

Marshal to me however is one of the most universally useful cards in Jorah’s tactic deck because while Feinting Maneuver is amazing on the offensive, one thing about running Cavalry as the Targaryens is that you really need them to be attacking at full ranks, this is so key to the game and to the Targaryen Cavalry strategy. One of the simplest way to declaw the Targaryen Cavalry lists is to simply take the money bags away from a Targ opponent to prevent the 3 wounds heal. This secret in the sauce is often ignored by less experienced players who are eager to steal the horse NCU spot, but the truth is if you really want to hurt the Targ. Cavalry, prevent them from healing 3 wounds.

This is why Mopatis is an auto-add for any Cavalry list, but Marshal not only doubles down on this by giving you a second out it does so as part of the activation. You have to remember that Targaryen Cavalry loses a lot of steam when they lose a rank and Marshal allows you to heal and still act. With cards like Swift Reposition and Sudden Retreat, you have alternative options for additional movement to your free maneuver anyway, so losing it is not the end of the world and these cards can combine to create some real surprises for your opponent.

Betrayal is also a truly amazing late-game card that can turn a game your opponent thinks is going to end the next round into something you win this round. Those end game situations which come up often where the score is tight and you are sitting on 7-9 points and you’re just trying to squeeze out those end game points to end things early, this card is perfect for. Don’t ever discard this one, once you draw it you want to keep it! This, just like the first two cards we talked about is a game-winning card.

You don’t want to pull the trigger on this one too early however, there is no way out of the Betrayal card once it’s on you.

Opportunist is one of the weaker cards in Jorah’s deck, though notably still among the strong general commander cards in the game. This is the chink in the armor, yet is still pretty strong. Certainly gaining Precision or Vicious on any attack is always a bonus but truth is that with a typical Calvary list you are trying to stall quite a bit, its always best to attack later in the round rather than early in the round to avoid potential counter-charges and extra retaliatory strikes against your units. Hence this card kind of works opposite to your standard strategy.

I find in general, just like the Cutthroat’s ability Ruthless Aggression ability, attacking someone before they have activated is never ideal and I just don’t think precision carries that much weight statistically so you are likely going to choose vicious for most occasions. It’s a very useful card, but I personally use it the round I draw it or toss it if I don’t, just about any other card draw in your deck will get you more mileage.

Jorah as a commander is clearly tailor-made for a Cavalry list, remember that Marshel only works with Cavalry units and if you are going to eat a Betrayal card you will want it on something that can get the hell out of dodge (aka a fast-moving cavalry).

Arguably both Opportunist and Feinting Maneuver are useful on infantry units, in particular, something like Unsullied Swordmasters combined with a Feinting Maneuver are absolutely devastating. Generally, though I think Jorah and a heavy-handed cavalry force is the most bang for your buck.

As a commander, I would personally rank him much higher than where he sits in ASOIAF stats, especially in the Targaryen faction, but I’m not at all surprised to see him as low as he is and the reason for that as mentioned is Jorah’s solo variant and this perception that the solo is so good, that you favor it over taking Jorah as a commander.

Jorah Mormont – The Wandering Knight (solo)

There is no doubt in my mind that Jorah Mormont (solo) is one of the most versatile and useful units in the Targaryen faction. The 3-point cost alone is worth the extra activation for a Calvary unit with a move of 6 that can control objectives. The fact that Jorah has a great moral score means simply Crowning him to death is unlikely so as long as you keep him out of harm’s way even without Scout Openings he is a worthwhile investment.

Scout Openings however takes this unit over the top in particular in a calvary heavy force that is reliant on charging but can and often does get stuck in unwanted melee brawls. Precision is a nice bonus but it’s the re-rolls you want and that ability means Jorah far exceeds his cost in value. The potential of a well-timed attack with Scout Openings leading the way can be devastating.

Use him to hold objectives, use him for Scout Openings, and use him as a blocker during those final end game moments.

It’s true he might die unexpectedly and this will happen. Your opponents are going to be highly motivated to kill him, it’s a pretty easy victory point and activation reduction for them if they can trap him, but if you use Jorah well and extra cautiously, he is amazing and is worth keeping alive just for the activation and objective control.

One of my favorite things to do with Jorah in the early or late game is to use him as bait. It never ceases to amaze me what risks and foolish plays players will make to try to kill Jorah and at 3 points he is worth trading up for just about any unit in the game.

Jorah Mormont – The Exiled Knight (Attachment)

At 2 points I find the Jorah Mormont – The Exiled Knight attachment to be extremely circumstantial and a bit difficult to use. The keyword for this unit is “Start of an enemy turn“. If it was any turn, then this would be a force to be reckoned with but doing it on an enemy turn makes this a defensive play typically or potentially a setup for a charge on your turn. Personally, I have found this one to be quite awkward to set up and use, in particular with attentive opponents.

I also find it’s a kinda dirty attachment with its timing, one of those things your opponents might forget and you try to surprise them with it “aha, I shift 3 inches”, but the timing is important here. You have to do it before they choose a unit to activate, so what is more likely to happen is that you forget to use this one rather than the other way around and your opponent forgets you have it.

I think there is potential for this attachment but I think it falls into that expert player area where you really need to know what you are doing to leverage it. I have never had much luck with it, but don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s bad, It’s just tricky to use I think.

Jorah Mormont – The Andal (Attachement)

The other 2 point attachment (infantry) of Jorah is a bit more straightforward. Both abilities are extremely useful and pretty easy to use.

Martial Training is just straight up awesome on, well pretty much anything that doesn’t already have re-rolls as a unit. The combination of re-rolling and Vulnerable is just straight-up beast mode. Typically I think this attachment is best on scrappy units that want to stay and fight like Unsullied Pikemen, but strictly speaking, all infantry units become considerably more dangerous when they can re-roll dice and hand out vulnerable when they are engaged in a fight.

Stand Your Ground! on the other hand, while really good on paper gets less use than you might think. It’s great when it goes off, but infantry units rarely just stand around and fight without being attacked by something else, there is always a catalyst of charges and counter-charges in fights. It’s a great ability, but this card is worth 2 points just for Martial Training to be frank, Stand your Ground is just extra value and it’s very welcome.

Jorah Mormont – Penitent Betrayer

What I like to call “The Forgotten Attachment”, Penitent Betrayer can only be used when it’s added to a unit with Daenerys Targaryen. This is a one-shot, one-point attachment that I can only describe as circumstantial at best. Under the right conditions, it can be extraordinarily useful, other times it’s just kind of meh.

It’s nothing you can plan around, favorable conditions to use him will either come up or they won’t, but given that typically using Daenery’s means dragons, odds are that whatever list you are building is going to be tight on points anyway so even for 1 point it can be a tough sell.

Conclusion

Personally, I think Jorah Mormont is a highly underrated commander and very underutilized outside of his Solo variant for one very, hard to argue reason. That solo is amazing and it’s really hard to pass on a 3 point activation that can do so much for so little. We have currently no cheap alternatives for activation outside of the very peculiar Freed Men which I don’t think can hold even a dim candle to our mounted friend.

The fact that we have a really great alternative cavalry commander in Khal Drogo, makes this decision point that much easier. In a sense with Khal Drogo and Jorah Mormont (Solo) you can have your cake and eat it too and I think that is both the best way to utilize Jorah and simultaneously why his popularity as a commander is so low in the ASOIAF stats.

I don’t see that changing anytime in the near future, the entire Jorah package’s fate was sealed by the Jorah solo unit, it’s just too damn good!