Breakthrough of Bangor Army Lists

 

This weekend sees the return of the IHL with the Breakthrough of Bangor one day tournament on Saturday. This is a 4 game escalation event with 2 games at 450 points and 2 games at 650 points. Unfortunately, circumstances meant that I had to pull out of the event but 14 players are ready and eager to compete for the title.

Unfortunately, due to a late drop out and replacement the 14th list is unconfirmed at this point.

Looking at an overview of the armies being used we can see that pure armies and Legendary Legions make up the bulk of the forces, with only one army being Convenient or Impossible. We can also see that the previous bias towards Good armies has been reversed, with most players opting for Evil this time around.

And into the lists. To save repetition I have shown the 650 point lists and marked the warbands or models that are not in the 450 point variant inside square brackets.

Patrick McCormick
Riders of Theoden

Warband 1 (Leader)
Theoden King of Rohan
6x Rohan Royal Guard
[3x Rohan Royal Guard]
Warband 2
Deorwine, Chief of the King's Knights
4 Riders of Rohan
Warband 3
Dernhelm
3 Riders of Rohan
Warband 4
[Gamling, Captain of Rohan with Royal Standard
3x Riders of Rohan]

First up we have the Riders of Theoden. As results previously have shown this is a very strong army that has been performing well. I was quite surprised to not see Gamling included in the 450 point variant due to his ability but this could still be a powerful contender.

Dave Murphy
Azog's Legion/Azog's Hunters Alliance

Warband 1 (Leader)
[Bolg on Fell Warg]
Warband 2
Narzug on Fell Warg
1x Fell Warg
8x Hunter Orcs with Bow
Warband 3
Fimbul on Fell Warg
1x Fell Warg
9x Hunter Orcs (1 with Warhorn and [1 with banner])
Warband 4
Yazneg on Fell Warg with lance
1x Fell Warg
9x Hunter Orcs

Bolg makes for a formidable leader in this army. He's backed up by a decent amount of 2 attack Hunter Orcs and 3 other Heroes making for a force with plenty of damage output potential.

Andrew Bailey
Army of Gothmog

Warband 1 (Leader)
Gothmog with shield [and Warg]
6x Morannons with shields (1 with banner)
5x Morannons with shields and spear
[4x Orc Warriors (2 with shield and 2 with spear)]
[1x Orc Drummer]
Warband 2
Guritz, Master of Reserves
3x Morannons with shields
3x Morannons with shields and spears
Warband 3
Orc Shaman
2x Orc Warriors with shield
2x Orc Warriors with spear
2x Orc Warriors with bow
Warband 4
[Goroth, Captain of the Morannon
2x Morannons with shield
2x Morannons with shield and spear
1x Orc with shield
1x Orc with spear]

I haven't yet seen much of the Army of Gothmog but this looks to have plenty of Strength 4 troops to form the battle lines. The Shaman mitigates the Orcs low Courage and the Drummer provides good mobility while Gothmog's Master of Battle helps with Heroic Actions.

Mike Wilson
Misty Mountains

Warband 1 (Leader)
Gwaihir
3 Great Eagles
[2 Great Eagles]

I love this army. It's probably not the most competitive here, but it's very themed and should be good fun to play. I feel that it's success will be match up and scenario dependent.

Stephen Tennyson
Minas Tirith

Warband 1 (Leader)
Boromir with Banner, shield [and horse]
6x Warriors with shield
3x Knights with shield [2 extra]
3x Rangers with spear
1x Citadel Guard
Warband 2
Madril
7x Warriors with shield
4x Rangers with spear
Warband 3
[Hurin on Horse
5x Warriors with shield
1x Knight with shield
2x Rangers with spear]

Boromir is awesome. Fight 7 (thanks to the Banner) with 3 Attacks and 6 Might make him a great leader and the buff he provides to the warriors in the list make a Minas Tirith shieldwall tough to crack.

Jack Scrope
Assault on Helm's Deep

Warband 1 (Leader)
Uruk-hai Captain with Shield
1x Warrior with banner
11x Warriors with shield [3 extra]
[6x Warriors with pike ]
Warband 2
Captain with crossbow
6x Warriors with crossbow [1 extra]
3x Warriors with pike
6x Warriors with shield [2 extra]
2x Berserkers [1 extra]
Warband 3
1x Assaut Ballista
Warband 4
[1x Assault Ballista]

Uruk Hai are very good models and here there are a lot of them. 2 Ballistas and a group of crossbows will force the enemy to engage and a solid block of Uruk Hai should grind down the enemy.

Michael Bradford
Thranduil's Halls

Warband 1
[Thranduil on horse with sword, heavy arm and circlet
2x Mirkwood Rangers]
Warband 2
Legolas on Horse with Elven Cloak
3 x Mirkwood Rangers
Warband 3
Tauriel with bow
10x Mirkwood Rangers
1x Wood Elf Sentinel
1x Mirkwood Elf with shield and banner

Thranduil's Halls had been a popular choicebefore the break but here we have an alternate take on the army with a Mirkwood Ranger based list. This army has plenty of shooting ability and some quality Heroes in Thranduil, Legolas and Tauriel but a lowdefence and small numbers could leave it vulnerable.

Martin Metcalfe
Ugluks Scouts

Warband 1 (Leader)
Ugluk
8x Marauders with shield [2 extra]
3x Marauders with bow
Warband 2
Mauhur
8x Marauders with shield [2 extra]
3x Marauders with bow
Warband 3
Grishnakh with shield
3x Orcs with shield [1 extra]
3x Orcs with two-handed [1 extra]
2x Orc with spear [1 extra]
Warband 4
Orc Captain with shield
3x Orcs with shield [1 extra]
3x Orcs with two-handed [1 extra]
2x Orc with spear [1 extra]
Warband 5
[Uruk-hai Scout Captain with shield
1x Marauder
5x Marauders with shield]

This Ugluk's Scouts army has plenty of mobility provided by the Marauders and the bonuses to wound from the Legion rules will be beneficial. However, the lack of any top level Heroes may hinder the army, particularly at the higher points level.

Matt Hamill
Angmar

Warband 1 (Leader)
[Witch King on Horse with Crown (3/17/3)
4x Wild Wargs]
Warband 2
Barrow-wight
1x Dead Marsh Spectre
4x Orcs with shield
5x Orcs with spear
2x Orcs with two handed weapons
Warband 3
Barrow-wight
1x Dead Marsh Spectre
4x Orcs with shield
5x Orcs with spear
2x Orcs with two handed weapons
Warband 4
Barrow-wight
1x Dead Marsh Spectre
4x Orcs with shield
3x Orcs with spear
1x Orc with Banner and shield
Warband 5
Barrow-wight

4 Barrow Wights! This is really going to scare enemy heroes who will be hard pressed to avoid being paralyzed. A very low Might count might prove problematic though.It

Michael Bunting
Goblin Town and Angmar

Warband 1 (Leader)
The Goblin King
15x Goblin Warriors
Gollum
Warband 2
Grinnah
12x Goblin Warriors
Warband 3
The Goblin Scribe
3x Goblin Warriors
Warband 4
Goblin Captain
10x Goblin Warriors
Warband 5
[Gulavhar]

A horde of Goblins here will seek to overwhelm the enemy with weight of numbers with the Scribe providing a steady stream of reinforcements. Meanwhile, Gulavhar and the Goblin King over some high powered threat to the list.

Ivan Sheehan
Angmar

Warband 1 (Leader)
Tainted on Horse
6x Orcs with shield
6x Orcs with spear
1x Orc Banner
1x Dead Marsh Spectre
1x Warg Rider with shield
Warband 2
Barrow-wight
3x Orcs with shield
3x Orcs with spear
4x Orcs with two-handed weapons
Warband 3
Warg Chieftain
Warband 4
[Barrow-wight
4x Orcs with shield
4x Orcs with spear
1x Cave Troll with H&H Hammer
1x Dead Marsh Spectre
1x Warg Rider]

This is a really solid Angmar army that covers all bases. Several magic users back up a decent quantity of warriors and a couple of hard hitters bring some punch to the list.

Gary Doyle
Azog's Legion/Azog's Hunters Alliance

Warband 1 (Leader)
[Bolg on Warg
1x Gundabad Berserker
1x Warrior with spear and shield]
Warband 2
Narzug
12x Hunter Orcs with bow
Warband 3
Yazneg on warg with lance
1 Fell Warg

2x Hunter Orcs 

3x Hunter Orcs with bow
Warband 4
Fimbul on warg
11x Hunter Orcs (1 with banner)
1x Fell Warg

Another Azog's Hunters and Azog's Legion alliance built upon the same foundation as the previous one.

Stephen Devlin
The Shire

Warband 1 (Leader)
Merry with shield and pony
8x Battlin Brandybucks
[4x Battlin Brandybucks]
Warband 2
Peregrin and shield
5x Tookish Hunters
[3x Tookish Hunters]
Warband 3
Frodo of the nine fingers on pony
3x Hobbit Shirrifs
Warband 4
Samwise the Brave
6x Hobbit Shirrifs
Warband 5
Farmer Maggot
2x Hobbit Shirrifs
Warband 6
Baldo Tulpenny
4x Hobbit Shirrifs
Warband 7
Rosie Cotton
Warband 8
[Falco Boffin]
Warband 9
[Holfoot Bracegirdle
3x Hobbit Shirrifs]
Warband 10
[Hamfast Gamgee]
Warband 11
[Bandobras Took
3x Hobbit Shirrifs]

Look at all those Hobbits. The largest army (in numbers if not stature), any enemy trying to engage will have a volley of thrown stones to endure before being swamped by halflings.

So there's the armies that will be battling it out. Best of luck to all competitors.