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
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