Battle on the Plains of Lisburn Podium Review

Saturday saw 12 generals take to the battlefield to contest the Plains of Lisburn and see who would emerge victorious. As is fast becoming the custom, let's take a look at the three armies that took the top spots.

3rd place
Patrick McCormick
Return of the King

Warband 1:
Aragorn with cloak (Leader)
6 Warriors with shield
3 Warriors with Spear and shield
Rider of dead
Warband 2:
King of the dead
4 Warriors with shield
3 Warriors with Spear
Rider of Dead
Warband 3:
Herald with shield
3 Warriors with shield
1 warrior no upgrade
Warband 4:
Legolas with armour and cloak

The Return of the King Legion is a powerful army at this points level and returns to the IHL podium following another 3rd place finish at Gaelcon last year. Aragorn is one of the top heroes in the game and therefore makes an excellent Leader for the army. Legolas brings a shooting threat to an army with no other ranged weaponry, allowing you to snipe out key targets before the lines clash. Meanwhile the King of the Dead is a danger to any multi-wound model, especially when buffed by the Herald. Looking at the warriors options, Warriors of the Dead are incredibly solid troops choices, with the option to get D8, Terror and wounding against Courage and Riders of the Dead provide a bit of extra mobility and the potential for knock downs in key combats. Overall, the army synergizes well together to make a very strong force.

2nd place
Michael Bradford
Last Alliance

Warband 1
Elendil on horse with shield (Leader)
10  warriors of Numenor with spear and shield
Warband 2
Gil Galad on horse with shield
1 Kings Guard with banner and spear
15 Kings guard (9 with shield, 6 with bow and spear)
Warband 3
Cirdan
2 elf warriors with spear and shield

Both the top 2 armies finished the day with 3 wins out of 3. They were also both included a large Elven contingent.

Just being pipped to the post was a Last Alliance army led by the High King's Elendil and Gil Galad. Both these heroes are powerhouses in their own right, combined they are frighteningly powerful. They both have +1 to wound, Elendil has S5 and free heroic combats while Gil Galad has F9, Blood and Glory and Lord of the West. Between them these two could take on most armies. However, here they have the support of a block of infantry comprised of a F6 front rank that outmatches most heroes and a S4 rear rank to increase the killing potential. Cirdan offers versatile magical support for a budget price, allowing the 6 elven archers the chance to win a shooting battle due to Blinding Light, ensuring passed courage tests, making the troops cause Terror or even improving the already impressive killing power with Blade Wrath.

Of all the armies at this event, this was the one I most wanted to avoid.

1st place
Micheal Bunting
Elven Alliance

Warband 1:
Elrond Master of Rivendell with Heavy Armour and Horse (Leader)
4 Warriors Shield
2 Warriors Shield and Spear
6 Warriors with spear and bow
Warband 2:
Gil Galad high king of the elves with shield and horse
4 Warriors Shield
6 Kings Guard with Shield and Spear
1 Warriors with spear and Bow
1 Warrior with spear and bow and banner
Warband 3:
Galadriel Lady of Light

And in 1st place, taking home the prize was this elven impossible alliance of Elrond, Gil Galad and Galadriel. Much the same as the previous one this army is built around two big heroes, this time Elrond and Gil Galad with support from Rivendell warriors, King's Guard and Galadriel Lady of Light. Elrond has the powerful spell Wrath of Bruinen at his disposal, causing knockdowns around him as well as 3 attacks at F6 making him a solid combat model. Gil Galad and the warriors I already looked at above and have all the same advantages here.

The Lady of Light is the left field choice in this army. She makes the army a red alliance, although because she's the only model from a different faction some of the disadvantages are mitigated. The advantages that she brings are that she carries around a Blinding Light effect, negating enemy shooting and she causes a -1 courage debuff to nearby enemies, making it harder to charge the Terror causing heroes. She also has access to several spells, Fortify Spirit and Banishment can be situational but Instill Fear works well the courage effect noted above. Add the fact that she's another 3 attack hero at F6 and she certainly earns her place in this list.

So there's the top 3 armies.

A special note should also be made to congratulate Stephen Devlin for winning a hotly contested painting contest with his beautiful Harad army and to Jim Latimer for winning the Best Themed contest with a fully converted Harondor Fiefdoms army.