Battle of Bangor results

Last weekend the Irish Hobbit League held their largest ever tournament at the 850 point Battle of Bangor. Having a total of 21 players I have decided to analyze the top 5 armies instead of the usual top 3.

5th Place
Gerard Bunting
Moria

Warband 1
Balrog
18 Moria Goblins with shield (9 also with spear)
Warband 2
Durburz
15 Moria Goblins with shield (4 also with spear and 4 also with spear + bow)
Warband 3
Groblog
8 Moria Goblins with shield
(4 with also spear)
Cave Troll with with hand and a half hammer and a Troll Chain
1 Bat Swarm
1 Warg Marauder

Recently the IHL held a community poll to find out what profiles people thought were the best and the Balrog finished in joint 1st place in the Evil Hero category. 4 attacks at F10 and S9 and free Heroic Combats mean that he can put out a serious amount of damage. Meanwhile, 10 wounds and D9 make him difficult to take down.

Here the Balrog is supported by a large amount of Goblins who can hold the enemy in place and capture objectives. Individually a Goblin is not a formidable threat, but with enough of them they can prove challenging to deal with, especially when there's also a Balrog rampaging around. The Bat Swarm is also really useful for tackling enemy heroes by reducing their fight value and making it harder for them to fight back.

4th place
Michael Bradford
Azog's Legion, Azog's Hunters and Dol Guldur

Warband 1
Azog on the White Warg with heavy armour + stone flail
1 War Bat.
Warband 2
Bolg on Fell Warg with Orc bow and Morgul arrows
Warband 3
The Necromancer
Abyssal Knight
Warband 4
Abyssal Knight

In 4th we have this (nearly) all hero evil list from the Hobbit. Azog and Bolg are two incredibly powerful heroes capable of chopping through a lot of enemy models. They are both mounted, which increases that hitting power more thanks to the bonus attack and knock downs on the charge as well as giving them the mobility to get them where they need to be. Master of Battle also helps to either preserve Might points by getting free Heroic actions or discouraging the opponent from calling heroics.

The rest of the list is comprised of the Necromancer and a pair of Abyssal Knights. The Necromancer is a good offensive magic user and brings Ancient Evil to reduce the enemies courage. He also improves the Nazgul's regeneration rolls to only requiring a 2+, which makes it harder to break this army, despite it's small numbers.

3rd Place
Dave Murphy
Barad Dur

Warband 1
Sauron
7 Black Numenoreans,
1 Black Numenorean with banner
7 Orc Warriors with spear + shield
Warband 2
Orc Captain on Warg with shield
5 Black Numenoreans
5 Orc Warriors with spear + shield
2 Orc Trackers (1 on Warg).
Warband 3
Orc Captain on Warg with shield
5 Black Numenoreans
5 Orc Warriors with spear + shield,
2 Orc Trackers (1 on Warg)

Barad Dur Is becoming a regular feature on the podium of IHL tournaments of late. The success of this army is largely down to the big man himself, Sauron, who boasts both impressive combat and magical power. The large range on his spells and the fact that the Army Bonus means that you have to wound him to break the Barad Dur army mean that he is not a foe that you can try to avoid while dealing with the rest of the army or capturing objectives. Quite simply, he demands attention.

The rest of the army is really there to support Sauron, stopping him being bogged down and capturing objectives. In these roles the Black Numenorians are useful thanks to their Terror special rule (buffed thanks to Ancient Evil) and orcs provide cheap spear support. Trackers on Wargs are also handy for movement based scenarios.

2nd Place
Ian Hutchinson
Thranduil's Halls and Survivors of Laketown

Warband One
Thranduil with heavy armour + extra Elven-made sword.
1 Mirkwood Elf with banner
8 Mirkwood Elves with shield
8 Palace Guards with spear + shield
Warband Two
Legolas with Elven cloak
4 Mirkwood Cavalry with shield
4 Mirkwood Elves with Elf bow
Warband Three
Gandalf the Grey on horse
5 Laketown Militia with bow + spear
7 Laketown Militia with shield
2 Laketown Militia with shield + spear

Elves have been proving to be a popular choice recently among the IHL tournament attendees. In general their high Fight value, decent Defence and good shooting allow them to be a solid flexible force. On top of that, this army uses Thranduil who is a really strong hero with F7, 3 attacks (plus extras when engaged by multiple models), the ability to auto-cast some powerful magical powers as well as buffing nearby troops, putting Palace Guard to F6 and increasing the killing power of the elven warriors.

Also in this army is a Laketown warband led by Gandalf. What this provides is some really good magic from the Grey Wizard and a boost to the numbers for an otherwise low model count army in the form of 14 Laketown Militia.

1st Place
Ivan Sheehan
Thranduil's Halls

Warband 1
Thranduil with bow, additional Elven-made sword, heavy armour, circlet of King + horse
6 Mirkwood Elves with shield
1 Mirkwood Elf with glaive + banner
1 Mirkwood Cavalry with shield.
7 Palace Guard, shield, spear
3 Mirkwood Sentinels
Warband 2
Tauriel with bow
6 Mirkwood Elves with shield
6 Mirkwood Elves with glaive + Elf bow
Warband 3
Legolas on horse
3 Mirkwood Cavalry with shield

Another Thranduil's Halls army also took 1st place, although this time without allies. All the same points apply as above regarding Thranduil and the Elven warriors. Legolas (who also featured in the 2nd place army, but I needed to save some discussion for here) is a very useful mid-range hero and is particularly handy for the new Assassination scenario due to his Deadly Shot rule which makes it much easier to at least score a wound on your target hero. The 3rd hero here is Tauriel, who has the potential to be combat beast thanks to Blade Mistress. These heroes in combination with a decent amount of armoured elves and a few cavalry for mobility make for a good, well rounded army.

So there's your top 5 armies from the Battle in Bangor.