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
