Fog of War, Part 11: The Shire

FOG OF WAR

Part 11: The Shire

We're back! It's been just over a week since The Scouring of Stirlingshire in Scotland and we now venture to the place where it all begun - The Shire. This time I am joined by the 2018 ETC Team Wales player, winner of 2 GBHL 100pt Tournaments and a hobbit extraordinaire, David Farmer.

David: The Shire as an army has certainly felt the changes of the new edition as much as any other. Every army has felt the changes to the rules for constructing a force but almost none as much as The Shire: a previously highly competitive force that relied on shooting dominance, alliances, and abusing piercing strike arguably more than any other army (4pts for a potentially strength 6 hobbit? Yikes). It is not just army construction changes that have hurt the hobbits however, there have been several nerfs across the board to many aspects of their play. All 3 Hobbit troop choices have increased by a point, the Hobbit Archers have had their range reduced, the previously ubiquitous Battlin' Brandybuck upgrade is now limited to only Merry's warband, and the fact that ponies no longer confer cavalry charge bonuses (a fact that I think is a bigger nerf than many realised to the shire specifically). 

Having said that I don't think these changes are unjustifiable or particularly unfair - a certain amount of power has been trimmed from some of the most egregious examples from the previous edition of the rules.

Steering away from negatives now we can ask: what got better? Well for a start the army bonus is nice - Woodland Creature doesn't seem like much but for an army with a base movement of 4" an area of woodland can be a complete roadblock that takes many turns to effectively navigate: this change allows the hobbits to potentially gain a movement advantage in a certain situation, which was entirely unheard of in the previous edition! 

Merry and Pippin are both now Heroes of Valour with a second point of Might apiece, allowing them to lead 15 hobbits each which is very nice in a horde - it allows you to get more models into your army and therefore more bows (crucial for hobbits). Several independent heroes from the previous edition have been upgraded to Minor Heroes, so expect to see ever present Fatty and Lobelia leading small warbands - not to mention Farmer Maggot who has not only had a stat improvement, he's jumped right up to a Hero of Fortitude (although 3 warband slots need to be taken up by his dogs). In my opinion the most interesting change is to Frodo who simply had his banner effect increased to 6", but this combined with his 40mm pony base allows him to cover large areas of the battlefield with rerolls - a very important effect given that the hobbit army comes with almost no spears available. In terms of troops, yes they have all increased by a point but in the case of Hobbit Sheriffs it is justified: they now come equipped with hand-and-a-half weapons which can add a small amount of much-needed killing power. 

The final big change to the base Shire list (and probably the one I change my mind on the most) is the addition of Gandalf the Grey and Dunedain as a Hero of Valour and Minor Heroes respectively. While this might seem like a straight buff the caveat for taking Gandalf is you become unable to field Merry, Pippin, Frodo or Sam in the army - a fact that denies you access to 3 of the army's most important utilities: Merry, Pippin and Frodo. While there are definitely situations where I would want to take Gandalf, I think the whole paradigm of the list shifts when fielding him and that will definitely take some getting used to.

Mik: The Shire. The doom and gloom. The army that has caused me more pain than any other and one that has given me my greatest defeat, which I remember to this day. Back in 2007, at my first UKGT I was playing on Table 1 in Round 7, facing a then-3-time-GT-Champion, the legendary Vesa Nenye. The tournament structure was 700 points Good vs Evil. Number of players was over 120. It was the largest SBG tournament held to date. With 2 rounds to go I was 2nd and with a chance of moving into 1st if I win this game. The scenario was “Pitched Battle” – 12” setup from the board edge with a single objective: Reduce your opponent to 25% of starting numbers before he/she does that to you. No other objectives (there were no VPs, no Oaths, nothing else, just a win or a loss, on a scale of Major/Minor in the event of the winner getting broken during the game). My Good Force was a pure Minas Tirith army led by Boromir and Faramir, with enough bows to wreck any Evil force at the time. I was confident in beating Vesa’s Moria led by 3 Spider Queens in this scenario. My Evil Force was an Easterling & Harad alliance led by Suladan and Khamul on Fell Beast – to this moment undefeated in the tournament. His Good Force… The Shire led by Gandalf. Not just any Shire… Gandalf, 12 Dunedain and as many Hobbits as points would allow – ie. About 60 of them. The only limitations on army building at the time was a maximum of 75 models, up to 33% of Warriors with bows and 700 points. There was also an alliance chart not dissimilar to the one in the newest edition. 

The dice gods pitched my mid-30 model Easterling/Haradrim Force to play against a Hobbit Horde with some 30 bow shots per turn. I was thrashed so badly, I considered quitting and never playing again (I was 17 years old, so it was quite a dramatic loss for me back then...)! I remember that a young teenager I would later meet named Tom Moore was sitting next to Vesa on table 2 and his face expression really made it clear that even he felt my pain. 3 years later he won the GT, a year after that, I did. The Shire taught me for the first time what it meant to hit the rock bottom (they quite literally threw rocks at me!) and I don’t remember EVER being defeated to such extent. I believe I killed approximately 3 hobbits and lost my entire army. I wish I could say I made a mistake by not taking The Shadow Lord… but The Shadow Lord didn’t get released for another year, and even with SL on every table, The Shire proceeded to win the next year's GT anyway! :D 

Anyway, it’s now been nearly 12 years since that happened and here, I am considering playing The Shire as one of my next armies – possibly even at the 1000 points Throne of Skulls in December if I manage to paint it on time. The army has experienced some drastic changes from the last edition. Dunedain are back as Heroes of the Shire, albeit Minor ones - they were an essential part of the Shire army between 2007 and 2011, up until The Hobbit edition of the rules removed them from that list. They’re something that I felt the army really needed to regain its former glory, as Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin never really felt like much of an elite fighting force - although they have been boosted in this edition. Gandalf being able to lead 15 Hobbits is also a welcome addition. Those changes have come at a cost however, as the Hobbits have risen in points by 33% for Militia and 25% for Archers and Sheriffs. This sounds fair to me. 

It's quite clear that there are two ways to build Hobbit armies now – the Frodo force and the Gandalf force. Sadly the new rules do not allow the Hobbit Boys to be present in an army with Gandalf, so by default we have to pick who we like more and what we want to achieve out of the Hobbit list. As you'll see, David and I have differing opinions on this, so I think it's worth considering both options before dismissing either - perhaps the larger numbers of the Frodo list are your preferred style, or perhaps you like a Wizard to lead your force instead. Both types naturally become better or worse in certain scenarios, but the main idea behind the army is the same - outnumber, outshoot and hopefully outfight. 

The Army Bonus is cool for small points, but as you'll see for anything larger than 500 I'd be keen to look for allies, and so I think it's not the sort of bonus we should really be bothered about losing. 

David’s Lists:

LIST 1: 500 Points of The Shire

Warband 1:
Merry on a Pony, with a Shield - LEADER
15 Battlin Brandybucks

Warband 2:
Pippin on a Pony, with a Shield
9 Hobbit Militia
6 Hobbit Shirriffs

Warband 3:
Frodo on a Pony
5 Hobbit Militia
7 Hobbit Archers

Warband 4:
Paladin
7 Hobbit Archers
5 Hobbit Shirriffs

Warband 5:
Fatty Bolger
6 Hobbit Archers

Total: 500 points, 6 might, 65 models, 20 bows

When using a pure Shire army in smaller points it's important to make sure you outnumber your opponent by a large margin. 65 models and 20 short bow shots is nothing to sniff at in any case, let alone at 500 points when most armies are fielding close to half that number. Using Frodo's pony to increase the size of his Banner bubble is crucial here to give the army its best chance in combat, ideally after a few rounds of bow shots and thrown stones to thin out the enemy ranks a little.

Against blinding light armies or superior shooting forces you have to play the objectives with your numbers as many armies will outrange your short bows! Essentially you want to force your opponent to come to you rather than be able to sit back and shoot at you comfortably. This army is very weak in certain scenarios (think contest of champions) but that's a trade-off that will come to any pure Shire army - strong advantages in some scenarios and crippling disadvantages in others.

LIST 2:

Warband 1: 750 Points of The Shire
Gandalf on Gandalf's Cart - LEADER
15 Hobbit Shirriffs

Warband 2:
Bandobras Took
15 Hobbit Shirriffs

Warband 3:
Dunedain with a Spear
3 Hobbit Archers
1 Hobbit Archer/War horn
2 Hobbit Shirriffs

Warband 4:
Dunedain with a Spear
6 Hobbit Archers

Warband 5:
Dunedain with a Spear
6 Hobbit Archers

Warband 6:
Dunedain with a Spear
6 Hobbit Archers

Warband 7:
Dunedain with a Spear
6 Hobbit Shirriffs

Warband 8:
Dunedain
6 Hobbit Shirriffs

Total: 750 points, 11 might, 74 models, 28 bows

This second, larger list makes use of the 'other side' of Shire armies: No Merry, Pippin or Frodo. Instead using Bandobras (since he makes your army lose its army bonus, but only if used with named Hobbit heroes), Gandalf the Grey, and the Dunedain that are given minor hero status in the army list. 

This army packs a large amount of Might due to the 6 Dunedain and has the Heroic Accuracies to back up its impressive 22 short bow and 6 bow shots - as well as Blinding Light in the form of Gandalf. I would expect this army to win almost any shooting war because of this, and I would prioritise ridding yourself of any pesky horses any scary opposing Heroes might be packing as accomplishing this will greatly reduce the number of hobbits per turn the Glorfindels and Boromirs of this world can kill. 

Taking Gandalf on cart increases the number of models he can guard with his Blinding Light, while still providing the mobility he needs to flexibly perform his duties as a caster. Either Gandalf or Bandobras can be the leader is this army, but I thought that since the requirement of keeping your general safe is a feature in many scenarios, Gandalf made the most sense as he will typically be surrounded by dozens of angry hobbits! 

Realistically I don't recommend taking pure shire at the larger point levels as pure numbers advantage begins to wane in power when you really push the points up and lacking any real punch in their Heroes holds the Shire back significantly - It certainly is an interesting concept, however.

Mik’s Lists:

LIST 3: 500 Points of The Shire

Warband 1:

Gandalf the Gray on a Horse

5 Hobbit Sheriffs

5 Hobbit Archers

5 Hobbit Militia

Warband 2:

1 Dunedain with a Spear

2 Hobbit Sheriffs

2 Hobbit Archers

2 Hobbit Militia

Warband 3:

1 Dunedain with a Spear

2 Hobbit Sheriffs

2 Hobbit Archers

2 Hobbit Militia

Warband 4:

1 Dunedain with a Spear

2 Hobbit Sheriffs

2 Hobbit Archers

2 Hobbit Militia

Warband 5:

1 Dunedain with a Spear

3 Hobbit Militia

1 Hobbit Sheriff

2 Hobbit Archers

Warband 6:

1 Dunedain with a Spear

1 Hobbit Militia

1 Hobbit Archer

Or in other words…

Gandalf on Horse 

5 Dunedain with Spears 

15 Militia

12 Sheriffs

14 Archers

All split into whatever warbands you like to split them into!

Total: 47 models, 8 Might, 19 Bows, 1 Wizard

The strengths of this army are obvious – shoot-em/surround-em/smash-em. 8 Might is a lot and although the army is very slow and quite weak in combat, the numbers and the One-and-a-half-handed weapons of the Sheriffs can be put into very good use. 19 Bows and Blinding Light ensure that we'll be winning every shooting war and we should be outnumbering most of our opponents (with the exception of Moria and the likes) by about 15-20 models - or 20-30 by the time the combat starts in scenarios that allow us to spend a lot of time shooting. Any scenarios that do not start the game within charging range on turn 1 will be difficult for opponents to win. Any scenarios that do, will require a good idea of how to bring together all the numbers into combat, as skilled opponents can exploit the low defence of this army with ease if our combat movement is messed up. 

A correctly played Wizard can go a long way, especially at low points, where it is difficult to shut the Wizard down. With Sorcerous Blast being nerfed in this edition however, Gandalf's role has diminished, but he is still capable of easily stopping enemy heroes from shredding our lines and can take out banners and other valuable targets with ease (especially when backed by all the Heroic Accuracies of the 19 bows). 

List 4 – 800 Points

Well… there’s no list here...

I haven’t figured it out yet and I don’t think I’m even close to it, so I won’t post a list, instead I’ll share my thinking and let you figure it out. The 500 points list above had 47 models, which is more than most 800 points lists have, so the question really is how many more do we want, or if we want any more at all and if we go with some funky allies instead. The options are many and the Army Bonus is not brilliant, so here’s some food for thought:

Option 1: Immovable Object

You could add 300 points worth of Dunedain (with Bandobras) and Hobbits. Counting at as 26 for a Dunedain and 24 for a mix of Militia/Sheriff/Archers, you’re looking at about 80 models in 800 points and around 35 bow shots with insane Might store. The only problem is that you’ll never be able to move all those models in a timely manner and will end up losing games due to running out of time or failing to get to the objective on time – sad! :D You might crush your friend at home in a 5h battle, but you'll struggle to do much at a tournament with 2h per game. 

Option 2: Big Heroes

You could bring Aragorn and Boromir, or perhaps Twins and Glorfindel. If you were to add these to the force, you’d end up with about 50 models, 15+ Might, 2 or 3 very strong killers, a very good hero-stopper and a large number of bows. Another option here could be playing with Eagles, though whether they are better than the above is questionable due to lack of Might. Either way you are creating a force that is a sort of a merger between an all-hero army and a horde. A hybrid that in theory can be extremely effective if played correctly. 

Option 3: Cavalry, Spears & Elites

You could also ally in the likes of Rohan, Elven or Gondorian cavalry, or perhaps bring a contingent of 20 Guards of the Fountain Court, making your army not only huge, but also quite durable. You still have Gandalf and a lot of Might. You could also go with something like Ghan-Buri-Ghan and 15 Woses (total 200 points for an extra amount of range weapons, some wounding bonuses and a lot of Spears).

I think there’s a lot to think about in a Hobbit force at larger points. 

David’s Thoughts on Allies:

(Mik's are above)

David: As I mentioned earlier the Shire used to be an army that relied almost entirely on allies to be competitive, and while that may still be true they did get access to one historic alliance: The Rangers. Depending on the points level I would consider adding some men to my army to add killing power in combat. In a 500-600 point list for example I think taking Halbarad with the Banner of Arwen evenstar to give your hobbit horde a 6" bubble of Fearless and Banner rerolls would be a smart choice, and I think once you get to 700+ points adding in Strider on a horse would be a great choice - not only do you get a big combat Hero in there, but you also get access to great utility from Mighty Hero Special Rule. Whether marching every turn to get your slow hobbits to where they need to be, or by calling free Heroic Combats to thin out enemy numbers, or by charging scary monster and calling Heroic Strike - the possibilities are endless when you have access to every Heroic Action! 

Of course, the hobbit army bonus isn't so fantastic that taking a convenient alliance would break the army, hobbits have been allying successfully with elves for a long time and there's no reason to think that choice is somehow less viable now. Allying with Lothlorien or Rivendell is potentially very powerful: giving your shooting a strength 3 edge from Elf bows and your combat a big edge with Fight 5 spear supports - it is an alliance that makes sense no matter which way you look at it and losing out on woodland creature on your hobbits would be worth the price for that flexibility in my opinion.

Summary

Although the generic Hobbits have gone up in points, the army has now returned to its original form where it no longer has a limit of models it can take based on the number of heroes that can lead Warbands. To my big surprise, the Scouring of Stirlingshire tournament at 800 points featured 0 Shire armies, but the upcoming WAR tournament in Reading at 500 points is set to feature 5 forces of The Shire. I’d be keen to see how they perform and whether the once-mighty-horde is able to take on the new metagame and be crowned kings, as they were a decade ago. 

Good Luck!
BlackMist & David