Fog of War, Part 15: Iron Hills & Erebor Reclaimed

FOG OF WAR

Part 15: Iron Hills & Erebor Reclaimed

Welcome to the last chapter covering Dwarves in this series. Today I am joined by the 2018 GBHL Best Newcomer and the 2019 ETC Team England 2 player Kalman Steels-Wright to talk about the mighty Iron Hills Dwarves and the army of Erebor after the death of Smaug.

Kalman: Ever since I started playing SBG and after seeing Fellowship of the Ring in the cinema when I was 8, I have always been drawn to the Dwarves of Middle-earth. After reading the book, one dwarf stood out, Dain Ironfoot II, he is unparalleled in combat, a fierce leader and that stubborn, he makes normal dwarves look like pushovers. He took the head off Azog in revenge for his father and showed a messenger of Sauron where the door was when questioned about Bilbo. I instantly started my first Dwarven army, which would nowadays be known as Durin’s Folk, and never looked back. Then came the Battle of the Five Armies movie and with it, the Iron Hills and a revamp of Dain himself, there was no possible way I wasn’t collecting them!

Now Dwarves had always lacked in a few areas of the game, they lacked spear support and getting outmanoeuvred. That was until the Iron Hill Dwarves joined the fray. With their shield wall backed up by a line of spears, a single warband of them can hold off the majority of an army and their new little toy, the mighty ballista, means they can’t just be shot before lines even meet. Finally there is the Lord of the Iron Hills. Mounted on his War Boar he becomes terrifying, he can mow down any troops and most heroes that fall in front of him. Not only is he unstoppable, he has the Lord of the Iron Hills Special Rule, one of, if not the most important rule of the army. This makes all Iron Hill Dwarves, Goat Riders and Captains within 12” pass all courage tests and means your opponent will have to think where they place their terror causing units. 

Mik: I’ve decided to put together Iron Hills and Erebor Reclaimed into one article, since the two are very similar, with the only differences being their Army Bonuses, Hero options and the Ballista (only accessible to Iron Hills). As you’ll see below, Kalman has done an amazing job at describing every single detail of Iron Hills by himself, and seeing that he’s an expert with the army I think there is very little I could add from my side, so my part of this article focuses on Erebor, thus I believe completing all Dwarves in the series (Part 10 was Khazad-Dum, Part 14 Army of Thror and Part 15 Iron Hills and Erebor Reclaimed). 

I’ve said before Dwarves have never been my favourite faction, but I do appreciate a tough opponent and Iron Hills Dwarves, with their high survivability and high strength have proven time and time again to be one of those armies that players will struggle to defeat if their general plays well, due to their incredible resistance to blows. As the troops choices in Erebor Reclaimed are similar, the same principles apply to a lot of the game play with the two and as you’ll be able to see, the two can ally and work together quite well. 

ARMY LISTS:

List 1: Kalman’s 500 points of Iron Hills

Warband 1: 

Dain Ironfoot, Lord of the Iron Hills on War boar

17 Iron Hill Dwarves, all with spear and shield. 

1 Banner

1 Iron Hills Goat rider

Warband 2:

Iron Hills Ballista

Total: 23 Models, 4 Might

List 2: Kalman’s 600 points of Iron Hills

Warband 1:

Dain Ironfoot, Lord of the Iron Hills on War Boar

18 Iron Hill Dwarves, all but one with spear and shield. 

1 Banner

Warband 2:

Iron Hills Captain on Goat

1 Iron Hills Goat rider

Warband 3:

Iron Hills Ballista

Total: 25 Models, 6 Might

First things first, these lists at low points are hard to play. They are relatively low numbers, low Might and if it’s a mission that requires manoeuvrability then they’re at a large disadvantage. With that being said, the little troops they do have are defence 7, going up to 8 in the shield wall and the ballista can massively help against shooting and thinning out the enemy. Even games that require manoeuvrability can be won, I managed to come third at the GBHL masters with that 500 point list and out of the 3 games I won, 2 of them were Recon and Seize the Prize, so it can be done.

Let’s start with the heroes. The first thing to remember is there is no such thing as 140 point Dain, he does not walk. On a boar his damage output is amplified, his reach is further and he is just simply more terrifying for your opponent. At 500 points there are few heroes you will come across that can take him on, and if your opponent does have one of the rare few that can, they likely have a tiny force. His Master of Battle (4+) rule makes up for the low Might in the army and he has Heroic March, which is crucial for those missions that require movement. As mentioned earlier, his Lord of the Iron Hills rule is, in Tina Turner’s words, simply the best! It combines nicely with his Fearless rule so you only ever have to worry about Courage if your troops are over 12” away, which is rare for Iron Hills as normally you are castling. Finally it goes without saying about his combat prowess, strength 5, Burly, two handed hammer, Fight value 6, 3 attacks and mounted, and just for fun, if a hero Heroic Strikes against him there is a 50/50 chance of him doing it for free due to Master of Battle. If your opponent puts models in his way, wish them luck. 

At 600 points you have two choices, your first warband with Dain is capped out so can’t add more troops. Do you take Thorin and have two big heroes with small warbands or throw in a Captain? Personally I think 600 is just a little too low to take Thorin (though I have taken him at 650) and prefer to have an Iron Hills captain on a goat. He will have his own little Master of Battle (5+) rule, add 2 more Might to the army and while on a goat be quite the damage giver with his war spear. If his goat is killed he can join the shield wall to become Defence 9. 

Now the troops of your army are truly your backbone and can be amazing if positioned right. With their Shield Wall special rule, Fight value of 4 and all with spears they can sit where they want and your opponent will struggle to move them. They also have the added bonus of being Strength 4, so when those Defence 6 enemies come running, your dwarves won’t flinch at all and God help any model that is Defence 4 in front of that shield wall. Trying not to sound like a broken record but I’m going to have to, Dain’s Lord of the Iron Hills rule just adds even more stubbornness to them. Terror causing models? Nope! Spectres, Sentinels? Nope! Courage for being broken? Nope! Nope! Nope! Once your shield wall sets up camp, your opponent will have to physically move them off.  

Goat riders are a brilliant little tool. I’ve had a few people ask me how many I’d take and granted, a charging battle line of many goats is truly beautiful but far from practical. They will demolish a battle line on the charge but as soon as they lose the move off, they are only 1 Attack and Defence 6. They will not last long like your shield wall and at 20 points a model, it’s a large chunk of your army. I tend to only ever take 1 or 2, only once have I ever taken 3+ and that was for Throne of Skulls at 1000 points. They are there to solely react to what your opponent does or play the mission. If it’s Recon or another mission that requires manoeuvrability then they are very important. I mainly keep them behind my shield wall for when my opponent will try to flank it, which as I’m usually outnumbered, will happen often. I’ll charge into vulnerable areas, do damage, run away and repeat. One last thing is the Devastating Charge rule, mainly used for a bit of fluffy fun but can be overlooked and quite game changing. As said earlier there are not many heroes that can stand against Dain but there are some that can, Aragorn, Azog etc. In a normal scenario, I would be leaving these alone and deal with the army, as one on one, Dain could die. But sometimes an opportunity will show itself where if you charge in a goat, knock the enemy hero down, you can then think of putting a few resources and Dain into them as even if you lose the fight, you won’t lose any models and if you don’t knock them down, then at most you lose a Goat rider. Can even be used if their hero charges you first and you need to slow them down. 

Finally is the mighty, the one, the only, Iron Hills Ballista! If you have played with or against it, it needs no introduction. Its 90 points, can negate enemy shooting, only scatters 3”, has a 2” area effect and comes with 4, yes 4 crew members, which are still Iron Hill Dwarves at the end of the day. The chances of your opponent wanting to thin your ranks with shooting before lines reach is highly likely and most of the time, as dwarves, you have to fight on your opponent’s terms and where they want. The Ballista stops all that and makes your opponent come to you because if they sit back, you will out shoot them to oblivion. Most of the time, your opponent will spread his troops out to avoid the area effect but that’s fine, as they will hit your shield wall in drips and drabs and bounce straight off. Cavalry will lose their mount, I’m sure I don’t need to say how good that can be (sorry Rohan players) and finally it will auto kill any model that gets hit dead on, no matter the amount of wounds. A trick I found out early on and to be honest, a ridiculously important trick, is shooting into combat. Should the battle go ill and your shield wall be swamped, fire that bad boy into the heart of that combat. With the new rules, it now means you can fire at models near yours even though you risk hitting your own guys. The area effect is a Strength 4 hit and if you’re getting swamped, chances are your enemy is a lot lower defence and will get blasted away and even if you do hit your own guys. You’re dwarves, you can take the hit, your opponent can’t. 

List 3: Kalman's 700 points of Iron Hills & Erebor Reclaimed 

Warband 1: 

Dain Ironfoot, Lord of the Iron Hills on War boar

12 Iron Hill Dwarves, all with spear and shield. 

1 Banner

Warband 2: 

Thorin, King under the Mountain with Orcrist and Goat

12 Iron Hill Dwarves, all with spear and shield. 

Warband 3:

Iron Hills Ballista

Total: 30 Models, 7 Might

List 4: Kalman's 800 points of Iron Hills & Erebor Reclaimed

Warband 1:

Dain Ironfoot, Lord of the Iron Hills on War boar

8 Iron Hill Dwarves, all with spear and shield. 

1 Banner

Warband 2:

Thorin, King under the Mountain with Orcrist and Goat

7 Iron Hill Dwarves, all with spear and shield. 

Warband 3: 

Dwalin, Champion of Erebor on Goat

7 Iron Hill Dwarves, all with spear and shield. 

Warband 4:

Iron Hills Ballista

Total: 29 Models, 10 Might

As you can see at larger points there is quite a difference in structure and naturally a difference in play style. Away goes the defensive play and out comes the aggressive, in your face, scary, hairy. Wave goodbye to that army bonus and say hello to the big heroes. Why drop an amazing bonus? Quadruple threat! Who will your opponent go for? If they put too much effort into one of them, the other three will tear a hole in their army. Dain, Thorin and Dwalin all charging in makes it very hard for your opponent to choose because very few army lists can deal with two big heroes, let alone three and then the ballista is just doing what it does best. 

Thorin Oakenshield. We all know who he is, what he can do. He needs no introduction. Mounted with Orcrist glowing in his hands, very few evil armies can stop him. Out of the three heroes he is the only one that doesn’t get +1 to Wound and Strength 5 but makes up in other areas. The main one being that free Heroic Combat. He can comfortably kill 4 models a turn and not break a sweat and if an Orc, Goblin or Uruk hero get in his way, he can turn them inside out with Orcrist. Combine that free Heroic with Dain or Dwalin and suddenly they have 16” movement, a movement that will leave your opponent in need of counselling. Even after all that, Orcrist is an Elven Blade, which is something that can be crucial against the higher Fight value heroes out there. A dwarf with an Elven Blade? No wonder the Goblin King was scared! 

Dwalin. Oh Dwalin. He’s a power house. A nice and cheap power house. 3 Might, strength 5, burly, two handed hammer, fight value 6, 3 attacks and mounted all for 125 points. Bargain! Going to be honest, not many hard tactics with Dwalin, just smash. Oh and he can lead Iron Hills Dwarves (as an ally in Erebor Reclaimed), because Du Bekar! 

As I’ve said these two extra heroes added with Dain makes the armies damage output tremendous. I’ve played a game where early on, I’ve lost my ballista and almost all my warriors to an Uruk horde, only for those three to go on and table my opponent (sorry Mr Clubley!).

In short, it’s the multitude of threats that make these lists. Most armies can deal with one big hero, some can deal with two but it’s very hard to deal with three. Even if your opponent has a spell caster, they still can only target one a turn and sometimes even fail at that.

One last thing. You may have noticed not once have I mentioned Mattocks or Crossbows. Mattocks, albeit they are cool, I don’t believe work in the army lists above. I said before the back bone is the shield wall and they simply don’t contribute to that. Defence 6 makes them too squishy for dwarves and now that piercing strike is just +1 strength, I’d personally prefer more shields and more spears. Crossbows are good but very situational. If you’re not taking a ballista then sure thing but if you are, you’re going to be wanting that to hit and if it does, then your crossbows can’t shoot either. Granted they could shoot at different directions or angles but as I said, very situational. 

List 5: Mik’s 500 Points of Erebor Reclaimed

Warband 1:

1 Thorin with Orcrist on a War Goat

4 Iron Hills Dwarves with Spears

3 Iron Hills Dwarves

3 Iron Hills Dwarves with Crossbows & Spears

Warband 2:

1 Dwalin, Champion of Erebor on a War Goat

4 Iron Hills Dwarves with Spears

3 Iron Hills Dwarves

3 Iron Hills Dwarves with Crossbows & Spears

Total: 22 Models, 6 Might, 6 (x)bows

This list is somewhat similar to lists I posted in my Numenor article, featuring Elendil and Isildur mounted, leading a bunch of Warriors. The idea behind an army such as this is simple. The 14 Dwarves with Defence 8 act as an unbreakable anvil with the mission of surviving for as long as is possible, whilst dashing out some amount of damage. The 6 Crossbows, whilst not many, will sometimes cause some long-range damage and against some opponents they can ensure the battle is fought in our terms in the position which we like the most. 14 of the 22 models being armed with Spears adds to the versatility and allows us to spread our line, use Shielding in the parts of the line where we need to survive and add attacks in the parts where we must kill. Then, the most important thing, the duet of Thorin and Dwalin mounted on War Goats is one of those things which at 500 points is almost unstoppable. Dwalin’s special rule allows him either 5 Strength 5 Attacks on charge, or 4 Strength 5 Burly attacks. Not only that, if he’s near Throrin, he re-rolls one dice, so in effect has 6xS5 or 5xS5 Burly Attacks! Ouch! Add that to Thorin’s free Heroic Combats (and his own re-rolls for being within 6” of himself) every turn and you could be killing 8 models per turn with just these two models, while your opponents struggle to kill any of your high defence infantry troops. Both Thorin and Dwalin having Heroic Strike and Fight 6 ensures that very few enemies will stand in their way at this points level.

List 6: Mik’s 800 Points of Erebor Reclaimed & Rivendell

Warband 1:

1 Thorin with Orcrist on a War Goat

4 Iron Hills Dwarves with Spears

3 Iron Hills Dwarves

3 Iron Hills Dwarves with Crossbows & Spears

Warband 2:

1 Dwalin, Champion of Erebor on a War Goat

4 Iron Hills Dwarves with Spears

3 Iron Hills Dwarves

3 Iron Hills Dwarves with Crossbows & Spears

Warband 3:

2 Elladan & Elrohir on Horses in H. Armours with Bows

6 High Elf Warriors with Shields & Spears

4 High Elf Warriors with Spears & Bows

Total: 34 Models, 13 Might, 12 Bows.

I first wanted to make an 800-points pure Erebor list, but quickly realised that without another 3-Attack Goat-mounted hero available, the list simply won’t be strong enough, so decided to look into alliances. The major downside hero comes up from the other side, Elladan or Elrohir will fall easily. 

Just like in the 500 points list, the idea here is simple: make sure your troops hold and make sure your heroes wreck havoc. As a long time all-hero player, I’ve always tried making lists that can bring the qualities of all-hero lists to a more versatile, all-round setup. The obvious disadvantage of this vs all-hero lists such as Aragorn / Thranduil / Glorfindel / Elrond and the like is that Thorin, Dwalin and the Twins are obviously nowhere near as strong as the models you’d use in those all-hero lists. In a way these guys are 2nd-tier Heroes whose primary goal is in thinning out your opponent’s troops, whilst avoiding their biggest threats. 32 models is an ok number, albeit on the lower side at 800 points. The loss of the Erebor Reclaimed Army Bonus is a slight hindrance, as both Thorin and Dwalin lose 1 attack, but the gain of 2 extra heroes of similar statute means you’re gaining more than you’re losing.  

The theory behind all-hero lists has always been to kill 4 models per hero in the first turn of combat, this usually being 16 at 800 points. If you can pull of 16 casualties here with this list, your opponent not only has 4 mounted heroes now to deal with, but also ends up fighting a large wall of F5/D8 infantry. 

List 7: Mik’s 800 Points of Erebor Reclaimed & Survivors of Lake Town

Warband 1:

1 Thorin with Orcrist on a War Goat

4 Iron Hills Dwarves with Spears

3 Iron Hills Dwarves

3 Iron Hills Dwarves with Crossbows & Spears

Warband 2:

1 Dwalin, Champion of Erebor on a War Goat

4 Iron Hills Dwarves with Spears

3 Iron Hills Dwarves

3 Iron Hills Dwarves with Crossbows & Spears

Warband 3:

1 Bard the Bowman on a Horse with Armour

2 Sigrid & Tilda 

1 Alfrid the Councillor

5 Lake-Town Militia with Shields

5 Lake-Town Militia with Spears

5 Lake-Town Militia with Bows & Spears

Total: 41 Models, 9 Might (plus Alfrid), 12 bows

List similar to the one above, but with higher model count and with a second Hero that constantly benefits from free Heroic Combats. Just like the 500 points version of Erebor Reclaimed, the idea here is to hold on for as long as possible whilst the big three do their thing. 

800 Points is a level where you will see a large portion of models that can deal with Thorin and Dwalin, whilst also having a large model count and their own threats. This list sacrifices having 4 heroes and Fight Value 5 for your Dwarves in order to gain several models extra and a hero with up to 6 Might and free Heroic Combats.  

ALLIES

Kalman: As you can see from my list choices, the main ally for me Erebor Reclaimed but only at appropriate point levels. They are unfortunately convenient allies but I believe what Thorin and Dwalin add the army outweighs any army bonus. Thorin’s free heroic combat and Orcrist make him a must and Dwalin’s shear killing power is something to behold. Granted you lose the reinforcement rule and master of battle but gain two incredible heroes. Heroes, that without, I would not have won Best Newcomer. I have to admit I’ve never used other allies with my Iron Hills, not competitively anyway. If I had to choose an ally other than Erebor Reclaimed, I would choose Thranduil’s Halls. Thranduil himself is a nice little death star but more importantly you can get Elven Glaives. These supporting models can help with the higher fight values you may face but are also Elven made, meaning you get the nifty bonus on those combat roll offs and now benefit from +1 to wound if near Thranduil. 

Mik: Having gone primarily into Erebor Reclaimed in this article I think that the list is strong by itself, but ultimately requires allies at higher points levels in order to stay valid competitively. There are only two heroes in it with access to cavalry charge who have 3 Attacks, so in situations like this I tend to try to see if other factions can add something more - like another hero or two, more bows, more numbers, generally more tools that we'll need to win games against the more numerous opponents, often sporting a wizard or heroes even bigger than ours. 

Allying in a Ballista is a useful thing. Allying in Fight Value 5 is a useful thing. Allying in more models is a useful thing. All of these have very distinct uses however and which is the best will often depend on the meta that we are expecting to likely be facing. Regardless of meta though, Defence 8 is always good. 

SUMMARY

The fact that Iron Hills Dwarves are very expensive points-wise means that we'll always be the army that's outnumbered and we will always be striving to get into spots where we can use the quality of our troops and heroes without having the problems of getting surrounded. Our strategy should always be in prioritising the killing potential of our force and using the terrain, as well as shielding and generally playing on a 'survival-mode'. Long term Defence 8 beats most things in the game, so our goal is to get to that long term and get there in good shape. 

Good Luck!

BlackMist & Kalman

Fog of War, Part 14: Army of Thror

FOG OF WAR

Part 14: Army of Thror

Welcome back to part 14 of the Fog of War series. We're back again venturing into the people who live deep underground, searching for their shiny rocks. This time I'm joined by ETC Team England 2019 member, former Team Wales Captain and the current GBHL League Coordinator Alastair King, for a review of his recently favourite force - The Army of Thror.

Alastair: From day 1 in this hobby I have always liked dwarves. The stubborn, grudge bearing, amour encased dwarves are the largest part of my SBG collection since I started way back in the early 00’s (at last count over 350 dwarves, including 8 Balins!). Dwarves always had a great array of troops and some of the best elites in the game. One thing they always lacked however was spear support for their standard troops. That was until the Army of Thror…

Army of Thror had some major issues in the previous edition. Too many overpriced, ineffective characters and a general sense that Grim Hammers lacked anything to imply they would be "grim" for anyone apart from yourself by taking them. This has changed now, with all the named characters being solid choices for their points cost and Grim hammers becoming D7. Army of Thror now arguably has one of the toughest and strongest battle lines in the game.

There still are however many issues with the Army of Thror you need to consider when playing them. 1st drawback is movement of 5” across the board and the 2nd drawback is no ranged firepower beyond 6” throwing weapons. One of these on its own will hurt you, both combined will significantly impede you when you are playing many scenarios. Your troop choice has become more limited as well now with the loss of Dale from the force leaving you with only 2 troop choice in the list now. This all means to use Army of Thror well, making sure you plan and manage your resources well will be key. 

Also on a non-gaming aspect army of Thror has some of the nicest models around, probably the nicest plastic kits of any army in the game for me so painting them was an enjoyable experience.

Mik: I never really looked into Army of Thror properly until watching the final game of the 2019 UK GT, where Alastair used it against Dave Nolan’s Angmar. It’s worth sharing a link to it here in fact, since it involves some of the most miraculous dice rolls I’ve seen in a long time and one very bad decision that probably cost Dave winning his second GT. For those interested, follow the  link below (you’ll need a subscription to Warhammer TV Twitch channel, but if you don’t have it, I’d recommend using the free subscription you get with Amazon Prime… and if you don’t have either of the two, I’d recommend getting both :D ). 

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/393417036

I’ll be honest… I never liked Dwarves. Back when I started, one of my first regular opponents was a familiar face on the GBHL circuit, Loui Joe, who always used Dwarves and always crushed me. For the first year or two of playing, I made it my ultimate goal to beat him. Dwarves just never die, which is something that can be highly frustrating when you generally play armies filled with low defence and low strength. Probably because of my initial experience, they are the only army I never really played competitively (and I even nearly won a GT with Easterlings… which should tell you a lot about how lowly I used to think of Dwarves!), with the exception of sometimes using a warband of Khazad Guards led by Floi in high points games (around 1000) in order to nullify otherwise difficult to beat threats. Despite all that, for a long time I considered the Khazad Guard to be the most powerful infantry units in the game. It took a long time for Dwarf armies to finally find a competitive base, first with Iron Hills and now also with Thror. This variety is good for the game, so I’m looking forward to testing and eventually trying some Dwarves out on the tables. 

Army lists:

List 1: Alastair's 500 Points of Army of Thror

Warband 1:

Thror

12 Guardians of the King

Warband 2:

Captain with a Shield

12 Warriors of Erebor with Shields and Spears 

When it comes to making Army of Thror lists these days the first name on the sheet will nearly always be Thror. A literal tank with D9 and the Arkenstone. You will be unlucky to concede general points with him around (he has yet to take a wound in 10 tournament games). However, the main reasons for Thror being top of the list is unlocking the Strength 4 on the Grim Hammers (I call them Grimmer Hammers personally) and his 6” Banner effect from the Army Bonus. This effectively gives you 3 dice at Fight 4 to win combat across your entire battle line. It also frees up the Grim Hammers to go 2-handed for extra punch (4’s to wound most of the time or 3s against Defence 5 if you also Piercing Strike) as you still have 2 unmodified dice to win the combat. The Ring of Durin is also handy allowing you another shot at getting (or losing) priority when might is low across the board.

The Captain is in the list over the other dwarf heroes for the simple reason he has Heroic March. To help get around those situations where move 5” becomes a massive hindrance or to suddenly redirect your troops into a better position, heroic march is essential. A Dwarf Captain also has a nice stat line for an unnamed hero with F5 and D7/8, he is a match for most things at this points level.

This list’s main strength is not just in its heroes however but its troops. As mentioned, you already have a very solid battle line, having 26 models that are D7 or higher is a scary prospect to break. When most heroes are only killing your dwarves on 6’s the humble dwarves can stop and hold up enemy many times its points for a long time. Grim Hammer throwing weapons are great at making your opponent think twice about waiting just out of 5” but within their own charge range as well, and taking down that extra model when you charge can make a big difference in a game.

An added benefit of the army is that every model can opt not to kill its opponent either by bashing or shielding, meaning those games when you don’t want your enemy to break or drop to 25% just yet are still in your control.

List 2: Alastair's 800 Points of Army of Thror

Warband 1:

Thror

18 Guardians of the King

Warband 2:

Captain, shield

12 Warriors of Erebor with Shields and Spears

Warband 3:

Thrain

12 Warriors of Erebor with Shields and Spears

1 Warrior of Erebor with a Shield and a War Horn

This list builds on the previous list and is an expansion of the army I took to the GT (which has gone undefeated so far). The 2 main additions to the list from the above one consists of Thrain and the War Horn. Thrain gets the nod over Young Thorin as he is a hero with 3’s in all the right places and a master crafted 2-hand weapon to boot, making him a major threat and yet is pretty disposable with Thror as the general. Also, he has a neat board wide Stand Fast! which can help as well keep those dwarves staying where you want them. 

As for the War Horn, I have become a big fan of these recently. With the number of armies now available to good and evil that can cause Terror through various means (often with a -1 courage) having your dwarves that little extra bit more reliable to charge is more useful than you would have thought for a dwarf. With the army bonus, points I would normally spend on a banner are better spent here.

The army comes in with a healthy 46 models, meaning you will match or beat most armies’ model count unless you are facing a horde. Key to the success of the army is making sure that you ensure that you can cut down enemy numbers early on. Thror, Thrain and the captain may not have the benefit of a mount to make heroic combats reliable, but they can still reliably take down 4+ guys between them. Players tend to be apprehensive about using might to kill a basic troop but making sure they do means that your own troops won’t get surrounded and can inflict serious damage themselves. You can also then afforded to send squads of dwarves on objective achieving missions without buckling your own battle line far sooner.

List 3: Mik's 600 Points of Army of Thror

Warband 1:

Thror

15 Guardians of the King

Warband 2:

Young Thorin with Oakenshield

5 Warriors of Erebor with Spears 

1 Warrior of Erebor with Spear & Shield

Warband 3:

Young Dwalin

5 Warriors of Erebor with Spears 

1 Warrior of Erebor with Spear & Shield

Total: 30 Models, 8 Might

Heroes are a vital part of the game and especially heroes with 3 attacks each are considerably stronger than those with only 2 Attacks. As such, whenever I build armies, my first inclination is to look out for those characters that can chew through infantry troops with ease - These normally include the likes of Suladan, Boromir, Gwaihir, Theoden, Wraiths on Fell Beasts, etc - the more of these I can have, the better I feel about the army. Luckily, Army of Thror has an abundance of those between Thror, Thrain, Thorin and Dwalin. When most of your army is very reliable at surviving in combat, thanks to high Defence, your opponent is left with a difficult choice – do they concentrate on trying to surround and pick off your basic troops, or do they instead go for the heroes? In this situation, going for the Heroes can prove rather difficult, because there are few things at 600 points that can deal with three A3, F5/6/6 high Defence heroes in a short period of time. 

The downside here naturally is a lack of any bowfire, but the Grim Hammers’ throwing weapons in such high numbers are nothing to be scoffed at. Finally, the list lacks a Captain with Heroic March, so may require longer term planning than if one was present. 

List 4: Mik's 700 Points alliance of Army of Thror with Iron Hills

Warband 1:

Thror

9 Guardians of the King

9 Warriors of Erebor with Spears and Shields

Warband 2:

Iron Hills Captain on a War Goat

6 Goat Riders

6 Iron Hills Dwarves with Spears

Warband 3:

Iron Hills Ballista with 1 extra Crew Member

Total: 37 Models, 5 Might

When it comes to competitive play, one must always ask themselves “is this the best I can do, or is there an alternative that is better?”. Iron Hills and Army of Thror are similar enough, that one could run comparisons between pure lists of each of them and make a decision which to use based on which they feel is stronger. At the end of the day, they’re all Dwarves, but with slightly different perks. Where Iron Hills have the Ballista, Army of Thror can have larger numbers and more A3 Heroes, plus Guardians of the King are better at chewing through enemies than their cousins from the Phalanx by going 2-handed with spear support and banner re-rolls (but also die quicker). In some scenarios Ballista can be backbreaking for your opponents, in others, it can be the other way around. In some scenarios a few cavalry models can outright win you the game, but in others they’re a waste of points. This list is a bit of a hybrid and by creating it I keep asking myself “is it actually better than a pure Thror or IH list? Should I even bother?”… you tell me… :D

Although I don’t think the IH Ballista is overpowered in any way, since high defence troops generally don’t care about bowfire anyway, in this example list the alternatives aren’t many – likely either Thorin or a captain with a handful of warriors. 

The advantage of Thror over Dain and going purely into Iron Hills is that he’s significantly cheaper, just about as good in combat and you’re actually able to control him in tricky spots, whereas Dain is forced to stick to fighting through his Fiery Temper Special Rule. 

Essentially what I’ve done here is to patch up the weaknesses of a pure Thror’s list by adding 7 cavalry models and a ballista, but dropped from potentially 3x A3 heroes into 1 and a Captain. Whether this is better than an alternative with Thror, Thrain, Thorin and 3 stacked warbands of Guardians and Warriors, I can’t say for sure. 

Allies

Alastair: When it comes to allies for the Army of Thror you have 2 green allies in Dale and the Iron Hills. I first looked at Dale as potential to be in the army as they seemed a natural fit and could provide some good shooting (they used to be part of the same list in fact). The issue is though with the limit to 33% bows applying to each force as opposed to the army what you find is you will only get 4/5 bow shots and a vastly inferior back line who drop from D7 to D5 and only get you 1 extra model for the exchange, not worth it in my opinion. Girion on the other hand is a solid hero with his Great bow and multi-shots with Might can be useful, I am yet to find a points level where I would put him in but doesn’t mean there isn’t one.

The other Green alliance available are the Iron Hills, these guys have much better potential as an alliance than Dale do. While again you lack the ability to take more than 4/5 crossbows realistically, your back line becomes arguable better with S4 and D7/8. The army also does give you the option of the much-feared Iron Hills Ballista, which can ruin many an opponent’s plans, and mounted options with the Iron Hills Goat Riders. These guys help overcome many of the limitations to army of Thror and have considered allying them in a few times (not having the models has held me back on trying it). I think the higher points level is when I would. 

Other options to consider if you look at convenient allies is if you wanted could be Gwahir and some Eagles, giving you models to cover the board at speed and monsters in combat. The White Council can provide some nifty casters as well with Radagast being my pick from the bunch. A popular choice for many players is to ally in a back rank of elven support as well for F5, no self-respecting dwarf would rely on the help from these pointy eared fools though so I usually would give this one a pass (the combo is good though in game).   

One thing to note on when you take allies though is Thror’s banner only effect his dwarves not any of the allies and obviously you lose that when you take convenient allies. The balance then is working out if losing the 6” banner effect is worth what you are bringing to the table instead.

Mik: Normally when taking such elite and high-point forces, I have the inclination to look for alliances that can significantly buff up the numbers and improve the chances of winning in scenarios that require us to split into different places to cover objectives or pass through enemy lines. The problem here is that the only Convenient or Historical allies (with the exception of Dale, which I think is basically a more expensive Lake Town) for Army of Thror are either elves, eagles, ents or even more expensive heroes. So what we're left with is the question of how to buff our fighting formation or how to patch up its weaknesses.

I tried the latter with the Iron Hills alliance at 700 points above, however I still feel that allying elves (I am, after all, not a self-respecting dwarf ;) ) with their F5 could be a major boost to the combat prowess. The lack of bows in Thror's list means that even if we ally somebody in, we're not going to get any significant firepower, with the exception of a Ballista, so that's not something we should be looking for. A lot of players opt for Cirdan these days, but with a meta shifting into more Terror-resistant forces and us having very high Defence, neither Blinding Light, nor Aura of Dismay surve much of a purpose. In alliances I would look for a handful of cavalry models with a cheap leader for them, or heroes that are better than Thrain and Throrin - if you can't find either of those two options, I would probably stick to playing a pure force and ensure I get the Army Bonus.

Summary

Overall, the Army of Thror is a highly forgiving force due to its very high survivability and an abundance of 3 Attack heroes. Lack of bowfire forces you to be the more proactive player, which may be a bit of an issue with a force that moves at such slow speed, but once combat begins, you should be able to cut through most enemies at ease, so it is vital that you have a plan in place from the start of the game and stick to it. 

Good Luck!

BlackMist & Alastair

Fog of War, Part 13: Lake-Town

FOG OF WAR

Part 13: Lake Town

For part 13 of this series we are dipping our toes in the lake... No... let's start again...

For part 13 of this series we are for the first time entering Armies of the Hobbit, this time with the Ardacon Team Germany Captain, HTL World Host and one of the best players in his country, Tim Jütersonke. After playing Tim’s army at 2018 Ardacon I was quite impressed by his style, as well as the strength of Gandalf, Bard, his children and a force of villagers, so here come the people that killed a mighty dragon… and I don't mean the White Walkers.

Tim: The first Lake Town model I took to a tournament was Alfrid. I did this filthy thing where you could give his bad advice to Dain or Gwaihir and make them really big threats having lots of might [in the oldest version of Alfrid’s rules he was insane and an auto-include in every Good army in the game – Mik]. But sooner than later I stumbled upon Jay Clare’s enormous successes playing pure Lake Town and as I have been a fan of Bard for a long time (I love how he looks more like Orlando Bloom in the film than Orlando Bloom himself), I started this beautiful army as well. It was a time when the standard troops were packed into finecast blisters of three, and basically that was it. There was a Bard model, but no Bain, no daughters, no Percy. My first Bain was a Mordor orc with Frodo's head – it looked awful, but it served its purpose. I always loved how the heroes and troops have lots of synergies with their special rules – something that felt really unique when Lake Town was released.

With the new edition, a few things have changed for Lake Town. Bard’s phenomenal special rule with the 12” Banner and Fight bonus was nerfed to an Army Bonus, and the omnipresent Gandalf (who blinded and blasted all game with whooping six points of might from Alfrid) is not an auto-include anymore. But on the other hand, Lake Town now has three Historical allies and lots of potential when it comes to shooting-horde lists fielding smaller heroes and buffed troops.

Mik: Historically, the holy grail of tournament lists up to 800 points has always been the trifecta of Big Hero + Anti-Hero (Wizard) + Horde of troops. For years (even before the last edition came in) players struggled to make armies that would include all three. As the metas shifted and time progressed, it became apparent that Wizard + Horde was the preferred way of competitive play for the Good side, since Wizards were able to not only stop big heroes and blast holes in enemy lines, but also to take out Winged Nazgul. When Lake Town first came out, that changed. It became the first army that was able to field a Wizard (Gandalf), a Gigantic Hero (Bard with 4-6 Might - essentially a cheaper Boromir) and a Horde of troops at virtually no expense, since both Bard and Gandalf were able to lead troops and their other Heroes were incredibly cheap. To no surprise, Lake Town became arguably one of the strongest armies in the game, but despite that, the low defence and the multi-hurling ability of Fell Beasts held it mostly in check, unless the Lake Town player was able to extract the full potential of Gandalf and Bard at dealing with those nasty creatures. 

Anyway, too much history. Lake Town have some of the coolest and most unique rules, including Bard protecting his kids who give him superhuman abilities and turn him into a raging monkey if one of them dies, variety of shooting or combat boosts from Percy and Hilda, as well as a strangely positive impact on the army that the scumbag Alfrid provides. 

ARMY LISTS:

List 1: Tim’s 500 points of Survivors of Lake-Town

Warband 1:

Bard with armour on horse

Sigrid & Tilda

Alfrid

8 Militia of Lake Town with shield

7 Militia of Lake Town with spear

Warband 2:

Percy

3 Militia of Lake Town with bow

8 Militia of Lake Town with bow and spear

Warband 3:

Captain of Lake Town with shield

6 Militia of Lake Town with shield

Total: 500 points, 38 models, 13-15 shots

If you plan on taking the Survivors of Lake Town army list, Bard is an auto-include. Not only does he bring Might, shooting and close combat power on the table, but also, he makes your Fight 2 militia to somewhat decent fighters with his 12” Banner, a better Fight Value and a bonus to their Courage.

Bard on his own is good, but he can be buffed with the help of his daughters. With Fight 6 and free Heroic Combats he is a real beast. Alfrid helps him to compensate for bad rolls with some extra points of Might. I usually take these three heroes in Bard’s warband so they won’t get lost in Maelstrom deployment games (Mik really taught me a lesson in our last game…).

With Bard, I like to aim at the bigger mounted heroes. Strength 4 means he wounds horses on 4+ and even those scary Nazgul on 6s – which is ok if you have 6 points of Might in your store.

Percy is like a better Captain and his Special Rule improves the shooting abilities of your troops. I usually put all of my bow men in his warband and place these troops in my second rank when playing lower points. Then I can have Defence 5 troops in the front and bow men with spears in the second.

The Captain helps a bit with the poor mobility Lake Town offers. He brings Heroic March to this list, something that might get handy when it comes to Seize the Prize or Heirlooms of Ages Past. You could swap him for Bain or Hilda and bring a few more troops, but then you would limit yourself to a stand-and-shoot army. 

The army bonus in combination with the six heroes makes this list kind of immune to Courage tests when Broken. Just pass Bard’s test and see how your other heroes will automatically pass their tests – even if they get charged, they will pass some kind of Stand Fast to warriors in 3”.

Of course, this army has a few down sides as well: If Bard is taken out by magic or another big hero, this list sucks. If Bard has to charge that specific bow man who shot one of the daughters, this list sucks. So keep the daughters out of sight, and learn how to use Bard the right way. He is a good fighter and his free Heroic Combats are pretty good for killing troops, but sometimes he has to face the bigger heroes to win you the game.

List 2: Tim's 750 points of Survivors of Lake-Town

This point size is a tricky one. Normally I would field Bard, Gandalf, the kids and whatever number of troops I could afford. But with the nerf to Sorcerous Blast and magic in general, I don’t know if Gandalf is worth it anymore. Yes, he brings you Blinding Light which is important for gaining the upper hand in shooting and yes, with Transfix and Compel he hinders enemy heroes from smashing through your troops. He can bring up to 15 warriors, which is pretty good, but is all this worth whooping 180 points? I can’t say for sure – but I think the mighty Grey-beard is still worth a try:

Warband 1:

Bard with armour on horse

Sigrid & Tilda

Alfrid

8 Militia of Lake Town with shield

7 Militia of Lake Town with spear

Warband 2:

Gandalf on horse

3 Militia of Lake Town with shield

3 Militia of Lake Town with spear

Warband 3:

Percy

12 Militia of Lake Town with bow

Warband 4:

Captain of Lake Town with shield

6 Militia of Lake Town with shield

3 Militia of Lake Town with spear

3 Militia of Lake Town with bow

Total: 750 points, 52 models, all the shots

If you look closely you will notice that this looks like the army list from above, adjusted to the higher points value. In fact, I added Gandalf and a few troops to stay somehow competitive. If you leave Gandalf out, you could go for Hilda and Bain and around 18 more militia – but again, this would be a very boring army with less tactical options than most lists. Gandalf brings you magic, protection against shooting and endless Might when refreshing Alfrid's will store.If you can afford to stand back and shoot with your army, you could use Strengthen Will on Alfrid to get even more might on your two big heroes. Also, if you can, leave Gandalf out of combat. If you have to bring him into combat, pair him with a Lake Town militia and attack one of the flanks. Bard’s banner will affect the militia, you have a good fight value and with Strength 5 and 3 attacks on the charge (2 from Gandalf plus one militia) you can easily bring normal troops and even captains down with ease.

If you don’t want to spend your points on Gandalf, have a thought about bringing Bilbo. He might not look strong on first glance, but he brings 3 points of might and the one ring. It might get tricky to benefit from it, but if you can bring him and Bard in combat with an enemy hero those two surely can bring him down.

ALLIES

Tim: When it comes to allies, I think you should focus on the historical ones. The Army Bonus Lake Town offers is really good and should not be abandoned too thoughtlessly. I like the idea of bringing Thorin and a few Iron Hills warriors or Goat Riders as you then have two big heroes with free Heroic Combats each turn. I have seen people ally Lake Town with Thranduil's Halls to get access to Fight 5 and even better bows – but you will lose the horde aspect of your army. Having Legolas and Bard in one army could work for a really funny shooting competition, though! 

Radagast might be an ally to consider, even if you would lose your army bonus. Just imagine the joy of your militia when they get to fight an all prone enemy army without any risk!

Mik: I decided to focus my part of the article on allies instead. I think there is a limited way of making a pure Lake Town army and I didn’t want to add examples that would look similar to Tim's. I think the horde aspect of the Lake Town army is its biggest benefit in the current state of the rules, but we can do better with little additions like Cirdan, Radagast or Legolas in order to make the army that tiny bit more versatile and powerful.

List 3a: Mik's 500 Points of Army of Lake Town and Halls of Thranduil

Warband 1:

1 Master of Lake Town

10 Lake-Town Guard with Spears

4 Lake Town Guard with Bows

Warband 2:

1 Alfrid the Councillor

4 Lake-Town Guard with Spears

4 Lake Town Guard with Bows

2 Lake Town Guard with Bows and Spears

Warband 3:

1 Braga, Captain of the Guard

6 Lake-Town Guard with Spears

Warband 4:

1 Legolas, Prince of Mirkwood on a Horse

5 Mirkwood Elves with Glaives and Shields

4 Mirkwood Elves with Bows and Glaives

1 Mirkwood Elf with a Banner and a Shield

Total 44 Models, 8 Might (+ Alfrid), 14 Bows (+ Legolas)

This army is inspired by the list used by James Braund at the 2019 GBHL Masters tournament, where he defeated me in the first game of the event. Master of Lake Town is a safe leader capable of getting a few kills in Contest of Champions and also capable of surviving in tricky spots thanks to his Heroic Defence. Legolas and the Mirkwood Elves give the army badly needed Fight Value 5, which combined with a banner can get us through a lot of fights without losing anything. 44 Models is a horde that you’ll rarely see at this points limit. Legolas is naturally very good at sniping annoying threats and also is a highly capable killer in combat, especially when mounted.

List 3b: As above, but with Radagast

Warband 1:

1 Master of Lake Town

8 Lake-Town Guard with Spears

5 Lake Town Guard with Bows

Warband 2:

1 Alfrid the Councillor

8 Lake-Town Guard with Spears

3 Lake Town Guard with Bows

1 Lake Town Guard with Bows and Spears

Warband 3:

1 Braga, Captain of the Guard

8 Lake-Town Guard with Spears

2 Lake Town Guard with Bows

2 Lake Town Guard with Bows and Spears

Warband 4:

1 Lake-Town Captain

Warband 5:

1 Radagast on Horse with Sebastian

Total 42 Models, 9 Might (+ Alfrid), 13 bows

This is an alternative to the above using Radagast instead of Legolas. The army lacks a banner and a strong hero, but Radagast’s infinite Nature’s Wrath is something that at 500 points level is very difficult to regularly defeat over time. Most Heroes will run out of Will quite quickly trying to resist the Wraths and eventually your opponent should be permanently on the ground and trapped in most combats. The fact that you outnumber everybody by 10-15 models also means you’ll find it easy to protect Radagast. 

The lone Captain is is in there due to having 40 points spare and little else to pick from. Heroic March and a couple of extra points of Might could be useful. 

List 4, 800 Points of Lake-Town / Radagast / Rivendell

Warband 1:

1 Master of Lake Town

8 Lake-Town Guard with Spears

5 Lake Town Guard with Bows

Warband 2:

1 Alfrid the Councillor

8 Lake-Town Guard with Spears

2 Lake Town Guard with Bows

2 Lake Town Guard with Bows and Spears

Warband 3:

1 Braga, Captain of the Guard

8 Lake-Town Guard with Spears

2 Lake Town Guard with Bows

2 Lake Town Guard with Bows and Spears

Warband 4:

1 Radagast on Horse with Sebastian

Warband 5:

1 Cirdan 

2 Rivendell Knights with Shields

6 High Elf Warriors with Shields and Spears

Warband 6:

1 Arwen on Asfaloth

1 High Elf with a Banner, Spear and Shield

3 High Elf Warriors with Shields and Spears

Total 55 Models, 15 bows, 10 Might (+Alfrid), 3 casters.

This list has the numbers to outnumber pretty much everybody other than Moria/GT/Shire. It has:

- Cirdan to win bow fights, cause Terror and pass Courage

- Radagast to keep opponents on the ground, with Arwen to double up on that if they refuse

- 11 FV5 spear supporters and a banner to improve the odds of winning fights when it matters

- 4 Mounted models to grab objectives, 2 of which can nuke Wraths in key spots

- Enough bows to force opponents to us and enough numbers to survive a 2h long game]

It’s far from perfect, it needs tweaking and fine-tuning in exact equipment (I’d give Axes to some Guards instead of Spears, but that’s something that will need to be figured out with playtests) and it needs some practice, but I’d be happy to take that to a tournament tomorrow. It’s also possible the Survivors of Lake-Town should be used instead of Army of Lake-Town, but Alfrid’s Fortitude vs Independent status in the two lists has swayed me towards the ALT.

SUMMARY:

As you can see, Lake-Town can either play as a stand-alone horde, or it can ally into some very powerful combinations, thanks to the fact that their heroes and troops are incredibly cheap. The sheer number of heroes they can bring to the table also means they will usually have someone to provide Stand Fast! after breaking. Whatever you do, always remember what the goal of your army is and keep your eyes on the objectives. Always try to figure out what your army might struggle with and see if you can fix it.

Good Luck!

BlackMist & Tim

Fog of War, Part 12: Mordor & Barad-Dur

FOG OF WAR

Part 12: Mordor & Barad-Dur

After a bit of a break due to some personal and work-related reasons, I am back with part 12. This time with my guests, we'll be covering the largest and most versatile faction in the game. Because of Mordor's popularity there have been many players who have achieved significant success with its armies, so instead of getting one expert, I decided to ask the Competitive Community Facebook Page to send me their favourite lists. Out of the submissions, I picked my favourite ones and so today I am joined by one of the best players of Poland: Adam Sokol; one of the best players of Germany: Pascal Wibbe; and one of the best players of England: CJ Millar. Additionally featuring a couple of other tournament-winning lists from the new edition... plus my own ramblings! Hope you enjoy it and learn a thing or two. 

Mordor's Main Strengths & Weaknesses

The Witch King of Angmar - The leader of the 9 used to be rarely used in competitive play, but in the new edition he brings 3 key things that make him one of the best Heroes in the game. Firstly, he is a Hero of Legend when taken in a Mordor list. At just 70 points basic, or 90 points in my favourite 3/10/1 configuration (I'll go into detail later on why these stats), he is one of only 5 model in the game under 100 points that can bring 18 troops with them, ensuring that Mordor always has the numbers it needs. Secondly he has access to Heroic Strike, so can be freely thrown into combat when needed. Thirdly at higher points he can use the Crown of Morgul, ensuring he almost never runs out of Will when casting spells. His main strength however is also his weakness - unless we have another Hero of Legend, the Witch King can be quite a vulnerable leader and whether we should mount him on a Fell Beast (which is what most Wraiths want to be doing) is debatable, since its offensive combat prowess is likely to bring doom to our Leader and often lose us the game. 

The Versatility - Between Morannons, Numenoreans, Orcs, Warg Riders, Morgul Knights, Trackers, Catapults and countless Heroes, we have a ton to choose from. This can be good and bad, because we can end up with a very good well-rounded list, but less experienced players may often run into a problem of lack of consistency and lack of a plan of how the army is supposed to play, synergize, and what it wants to achieve in the game. This reminds me of one of my favourite Zen quotes by the Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki, "In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities. In the expert's there are few". Despite the million choices one could make with this (or many other armies), only a few are actually highly competitive. That's not to say you should make competitive choices, as it's your hobby and you can do whatever you want, but there's a reason many great lists bear similarities to each other. 

The Dark Lord Himself - The Barad-Dur list features the most unique Army Bonus and the most unique play style in the game, relying more on the Army Leader than any other force and often winning or losing games depending how well the player uses Sauron. Naturally, this model is only accessible at high points, making it even harder for new players to learn to play him, as with higher points come more varied enemies and difficult situations throughout the game that we have to deal with, meaning that the entry level for the Barad-Dur forces is somewhat higher than most other armies.

ARMY LISTS

CJ's 500 Points of (Cirith Ungol-themed) Mordor:

Warband 1:

Shagrat with Heavy armour and a Shield

6 Mordor Uruks with Shields

5 Morannon Orcs with Shields and Spears

1 Morannon Orc with a Shield, Spear and a Banner

Warband 2:

Gorbag with a Shield

6 Morannon Orcs with Shields

6 Morannon Orcs with Shields and Spears

Warband 3:

Shelob

Total: 27 Models, 6 Might.

CJ: For those fluffy tournaments this can be a fun hard hitting force. Its main weakness is Courage, which might be a hindrance if someone is packing the army of the dead. 

I absolutely love using Shelob. She is a silent assassin who gets underestimated due to only having the one Attack. She gets Monstrous Charge which can add up to 3 Attacks to win in proximity of a Banner, and thanks to her impressive statline she can overpower most things. Fight Value 7 in an era with rarer Strikes than in the previous edition of the game is valuable, and with her Venom she re-rolls all failed wounds. When she has knocked your opponent down and is throwing 4 Strength 7 Strikes with re-rolls she can comfortably chew through two warriors a turn or, far better, flatten a lesser Hero. For the latter, I like using Barge when she wins a 1v1 fight with a normal soldier who’s just tried to pin her in place, then she can charge and cause more damage with the Cavalry bonuses. It also just feels very thematic to have the giant spider barge in order to ambush the Eomer who didn’t Heroic Strike this turn.

Don’t forget that she can also keep a Wraith on FB (worth twice her points!) in check due to having higher Strength and Monstrous Charge. Even if she gets charged she can still Hurl it. Even when she loses a fight she’s a surprisingly high Defence 7, has 6 Wounds, and despite Hunting Instinct she’s got Courage 4 and 6 Will so it’s odds on she’ll be killed before fleeing.

Her final trick in the new edition is Caught in a Web. Basically, if she gets charged by a multi-wound model and therefore only has one Attack if she wins, you might as well go for this. They get Paralysed if they take a Wound- it’s what you’d be doing anyway but with a scary bonus. This just adds to her role as a deterrent.  

Gorbag’s new rule is very thematic and helps him to chew through opposing troops, whereas Shagrat can bully enemy Heroes all day. He is the lowest tiered Hero with Heroic Challenge which allows him to shut down Heroes of Fortitude upwards. Spending the Might on these Challenges isn’t a big issue as with Blood and Glory he gets it back, and then on top of that he gets D3 Might for killing his prey. Fight 5 (with the option to Heroic Strike), Strength 5, 3s in the right places and knock down on the charge - he’s a low-mid range Hero butcher. Even if he loses the odd combat, he’s Defence 7, with 3 Wounds and 3 Fate. 

=======================

Adam's 650 Points List which won the Polish Doubles Championships:

Warband 1:

Witch King 3/12/3

7 Morannon Orcs with Shields

6 Morannon Orcs with Shields and Spears

1 Orc Warrior with a Banner, Shield and Spear

1 Orc Tracker on a Warg

Warband 2:

The Tainted on a Horse

5 Morannon Orcs with Shields

4 Orc Warriors with Shields and Spears

1 Orc Warrior with a Spear

1 Orc Tracker on a Warg

Warband 3:

1 Khandish Chieftain on a Chariot

Warband 4:

1 Khandish Chieftain on a Chariot

Total: 30 Models, 9 Might

Adam: The Witch King is a strong, sustainable leader with access to Magic and useful Heroic Actions. The Tainted is the 2nd caster with a Special Rule that both quickly diminish opponent's forces after break, as well as block Heroic Moves for non-Heroes. The infantry is made up of a solid block of Morannon Orcs and a couple of Trackers as objective grabbers and key pieces in Reconnoitre. 

The most important aspect of this list are two Chariots driven by the Chieftains. Combined with The Tainted's Special Rule we get 2 models that almost guarantee to get their Trample when they want to, as the Heroic Moves only affect Heroes, so they are unlikely to ever be charged and locked down before trampling, unless there is a hero in the front rank - who risks getting Transfixed by the Wraiths. 

Overall it's a small list, but very interesting and unique in its play style. 

=======================

Pascal's 700 Points of Mordor:

Warband 1:

Witch King 3/17/2 on Fell Beast with a Crown of Morgul

6 Black Numenoreans 

6 Morannon Orcs with Shields and Spears

4 Orc Trackers

Warband 2:

Mouth of Sauron on an Armoured Horse

2 Morgul Knights

5 Black Numenoreans

5 Morannon Orcs with Shields and Spears

Warband 3:

Gorbag with a Shield

3 Black Numenoreans

3 Morannon Orcs with Shields

5 Morannon Orcs with Shields and Spears

Total: 42 Models

Pascal: For my first tournament with the new edition I was looking for a new concept to make my Evil/Mordor army work. I've always been a fan of Ringwraiths/Fell Beasts and with the changes to the Witch King, the Leader of my army was a clear choice. With the access to several Heroic Actions, (especially Heroic Strike) he brings a lot of flexibility to the table and with 4 attacks on the charge he is able to kill most key targets in one combat. 

One of the Heroes on the Good side that was improved the most is Cirdan. He provides Aura of Dismay and is available to most Good armies as a Convenient (Yellow) ally so I thought an army that wants to be successful, must have a way to deal with Terror. Shamans are not that great anymore, and even though Kardush would be a better solution, I'd rather take a hero with more Might Points and use Black Numenorians as my front line. They are Courage 4, with the Mordor Army Bonus in play Courage 5 and cause Terror themselves. With Fight 4 they can keep up with most good armies (except Elves)  and a Defence 6 line of Black Numenorians/Morannon Orcs is though to crack. 

In the new edition of the game Transfix no longer reduces Fight Value on a non-Channelled level. This makes it really hard to deal with all those amazing heroes with all the 3's in the right places like Aragorn, Boromir, Glorfindel, etc. 

They are devestating in combat - but what if they don't reach combat? In an army that mostly causes Terror, Drain Courage is a great spell. It is easy to cast (on a 2+) and gives the opponent a tough trade off between a point of Will or Courage. With the nerfs to Sap Will this is a really useful way to drain Will points. That is the main job for The Mouth of Sauron, 4 will for 4 times Drain Courage and 2 Might with the ability to use Heroic March at relatively low points. Add to that Fight 5 on an Armoured Horse and you have a really solid all-rounder.

The Orc Trackers just add cheap bodies to my model count, which helps with Break Point and Army Bonus. 4 bows cheeky shooting into combat and trying to kill Heroes' horses is also a nice option to have.

In my opinion this is just a well rounded force that makes use of all the flexibility Mordor provides and features all the important key aspects and army should have: strong hero, monster, magic, numbers, might and "bows".

You don't really need allies for Mordor as they feature everything you'd wish for (except Spectres 😥). I might try to get in an Angmar warband consisting of a Barrow Wight and 3 spectres at 800 points in the future 😉 

Another great addition would be the Tainted, I might write an article about this very interesting hero in the future 🙂

That's all from me for now, I hope you enjoyed my thoughts and might have found an idea or two to feature in your next tournament army 🙂

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Mik's 500 Points List for GBHL Masters Tournament 2019

Warband 1:

Suladan, The Serpent Lord on an Armoured Horse

9 Haradrim Warriors with Spears

9 Haradrim Warriors with Spears & Bows

Warband 2:

Witch King 3/10/1

1 Orc with Spear

17 Black Numenoreans

Total: 38 Models

Mik: Although this list is 200 points smaller than Pascal's and so should feature above his in points order, I decided to put it here, as essentially it has been inspired by my conversation with him on this subject. The GBHL Masters Tournament (inviting the 16 best players of GBHL 2018 season) was played at only 500 points, which meant that there would not be very many Shamans and the only high-courage enemies I'd be likely to face would be Elves, so I liked the idea of having good long range firepower to force my opponents to play on my terms and then 17 Terror-causing models with the Witch King's Harbinger of Evil to ensure that once opponent is close, combat becomes difficult for them. The Witch King's Legend status was the primary reason for taking him, as it allowed me numbers far greater than what other heroes would have been able to provide and 1 Fate Point proved to be enough. The list did relatively well at 2-2 in the most fiercely competitive field ever assembled in GBHL, although I had hopes for more!

The 3/10/1 configuration of the Witch King is something a lot of players have asked me about. The natural tendency for a 1-Wound character would be to go with 2 or even 3 Fate, but to me this comes down to your experience and point-efficiency. That plus I'm just greedy. I tend to play my Wizards quite conservatively, so WK is rarely in harm's way, unless I require him to use Heroic Strike, at which point I'll weigh the odds of him dying vs the Strike being potentially game-winning. 1 Fate means that should Legolas decide to snipe him down, I guarantee to save him once (3 Might) and the likelihood of 2 wounds by the time he has used most of his Will is unlikely. Every Might point you have is important, so 3 Might and 1 Fate is better than 2 Might and 2 Fate. In this list making sure I have maximum number of models meant cutting everything down to minimum. He also wasn't my leader here, so I didn't need the extra protection. 

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Jay Clare's 800 Points Barad-Dur list that won the Scouring of Stirlingshire (Good vs Evil) 2018 Tournament

Warband 1:

The Dark Lord Sauron

11 Orc Warriors with Shield

11 Orc Warriors with Spear

1 Orc Drummer

1 Orc Warrior with a Banner

Warband 2:

Orc Captain with a Shield

5 Orc Warriors with Shields

5 Orc Warriors with Spears

Warband 3:

Orc Shaman

4 Warg Riders with Shields

1 Orc Tracker

Total: 42 Models, 6 Might. 

Mik: Mr Clare was happy for me to feature this list and discuss it. Ever since starting to play SBG in 2004, Sauron has been one of those things that I ALWAYS wanted to use in a competitive list, but NEVER did. Every edition of the game I tried figuring out lists with Sauron in them, but always ended up with results along the lines of 'if I take Sauron, the rest of my army will fold to literally everything'. Finally, the special rule allowing Sauron to bring a Warband of 24, plus his smaller cost, plus the incredibly powerful Army Bonus of Barad-Dur means that the Dark Lord is playable. He still requires us to play in a points limit of 800+ however. At 500, the army would still fold to everything, at 600 and 700 it would struggle, so 800 is in my opinion the bare minimum where Sauron begins to compete and 1000 points is where he shines, as we're able to bring a critical mass of models and have the best centre-piece of an army in the entire game. Seeing this list win a 100pt GBHL Tournament made me quite happy and it isn't a surprise, since the numbers are high and the leader is strong, but also the player is of a rather fine quality himself.

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But What About The Flying Circus?!

As many of my readers and long-time players know, the Flying Circus (army made up of purely Ringwraiths on Fell Beasts or sometimes also accompanied by Shelob) used to be an extremely powerful force in the hands of a select few (most notably Ed Ball) extremely good players. Sadly this is no longer the case, as the Monster rules have been changed in this edition not to allow double-hurls during Heroic Combats, Wraiths lost access to Heroic Strike and Magic has had significantly diminished effects, leading to less armies using Fell Beasts in general in my experience - in fact at the 1000 point Throne of Skulls I faced 0 Fell Beasts and saw only a handful, in a field of about 100 players!

The first GBHL tournament of the new edition was still won by the all-Fell Beast army however, consisting of:

Undying on Fell Beast

Khamul on Fell Beast

Ringwraith* (2/14/2) on Fell Beast

Total: 3 Models, 6 Might

*The reason for including a Ringwraith over The Witch King was due to Legend status of the WK, which would have prevented Undying from being the Army Leader.

Personally I am curious to see whether the Flying Circus can still be used to consistently win major competitions, or if it is now gone for good from the top tables. 

Allies, Legendary Legions and all that new stuff...

Mordor has mostly everything it needs, but it can still benefit from allies. Its Army Bonus is very strong, so personally I wouldn't sacrifice it unless I'd be getting something even stronger - perhaps a lone Shade. Because of that, I think Harad is the best ally for Mordor, as the two armies together get to keep their bonuses and Harad provides cheap long range firepower that Mordor lacks. Even if we split the two forces 50/50, we're able to get 25% of all models in the army to be armed with poisoned bows, which will often be good enough to force opponents to play on our terms - something that Mordor cannot often do, as it's generally inclined to charge into combat at the earliest convenience.

An interesting list that I saw used with good results before even the last edition (ie. around 2009/2010) was one featuring the Mordor War Catapult in a Harad army, ensuring one had a big siege weapon for very long range, then a mass of bows for mid-range and a mass of numbers plus a Troll for close combat. Just some food for thought. 

The new Legendary Legions provide a range of new possibilities, but as there hasn't been enough time to figure these out on competitive level, I decided to leave them out from this article for now and hopefully in a few months I'll update this section with more info. 

Good luck at the tables!

BlackMist