Desolation of the North - Army Lists

 

Once again the IHL is going to war in Exploding Dice in Bangor. This time it's a 850 point Good vs Evil event which is again at the Covid restricted maximum attendance limit of 14 players. That means we have 28 army lists to get through so let's get cracking.

Looking at the breakdown of the armies we can see that Pure armies make up over half of the forces attending this weekend. One interesting point is the low amount of Legendary Legions, just one, when historically they have made up nearly a quarter of armies. Could this be the Gamling nerf showing an early impact by reducing the popularity of the Riders of Theoden?

David Murphy

Good – Erebor Reclaimed & Iron Hills: *Historical Alliance*

Warband One (Leader):
Thorin, King Under the Mountain on War Goat with Orcrist.
1 Iron Hills Goat Rider.
10 Iron Hills Dwarves: 3 with crossbow + spear and 7 with spear + shield.
Warband Two:
Dain Ironfoot on War Pig.
11 Iron Hills Dwarves: 4 with crossbow + spear, 6 with spear + shield and 1 with banner, shield + spear.
Warband Three:
Dwalin, Champion of Erebor on War Goat.
10 Iron Hills Dwarves: 3 with crossbow + spear and 7 with spear + shield.

Evil – Azog’s Legion & Azog’s Hunters

Warband One (Leader):
Azog on the White Warg with heavy armour + Stone Flail.
16 Gundabad Orc Warriors: 1 with banner, shield + spear, 8 with shield and 7 with spear + shield.
Warband Two:
Bolg on Fell Warg.
14 Gundabad Orc Warriors: 7 with shield and 7 with spear + shield.
Warband Three:
Fimbul on Fell Warg.
Warband Four:
Yazneg on Fell Warg with lance.

First up we have a pair of armies built around multiple big heroes. Thorin and Dain lead the shieldwall of Iron Hills Dwarves which will prove to be a tough one to break through. Meanwhile, their thematic opponents are the forces of Azog led by the Pale Orc himself and supported by his number 2 Bolg, who are certainly capable of doing a lot of killing between them.

Luke O’Reilly

Good – The Rangers

Warband One (Leader):
Aragorn, Strider on horse with armour, bow, Elven cloak and Anduril.
8 Dunedain; 3 with spears.
Warband Two:

Halbarad on horse with Banner of Arwen Evenstar.
8 Dunedain; 2 with spears.
Warband Three:
Dunedain.
Warband Four:
Dunedain.
Warband Five:
Dunedain.
Warband Six:
Dunedain.

Evil – Angmar: 

Warband One (Leader):
The Witch-King on horse, with Morgul Crown, 3 Might, 3 Fate & 20 Will.
2 Angmar Warg Riders with shield.
8 Angmar Orc Warriors; 2 with two-handed weapons, 3 with shields and 3 with spears.
Warband Two:
The Tainted on horse.
8 Angmar Orc Warriors; 2 with two-handed weapons, 3 with shields and 3 with spears.
Warband Three:
Burdhur.
9 Angmar Orc Warriors; 1 with banner + shield, 2 with two-handed weapons, 3 with shields and 3 with spears.
Warband Four:
Barrow Wight.
1 Spectre.
8 Angmar Orc Warriors; 2 with two-handed weapons, 3 with shields and 3 with spears.
Warband Five:
Barrow Wight.
1 Spectre.
8 Angmar Orc Warriors; 2 with two-handed weapons, 3 with shields and 3 with spears.

Both the Rangers and Angmar have proven to be tournament winning factions over the last couple of seasons of the IHL. The Rangers have bucket loads of Might and an excellent leader in Aragorn. This Angmar army runs double Wraiths and double Barrow Wights, so enemy heroes will be rightly nervous against it.

Paddy McCormick

Good – Fiefdoms & Minas Tirith:

Warband One (Leader):
•Denethor.
•6 Fountain Court Guards: 3 with spears.
Warband Two:
•Imrahil on armoured horse with lance.
•2 Knights of Dol Amroth on armoured horses with lances.
•16 Dol Amroth Men at Arms.
Warband Three:
•Angbor the Fearless.
•9 Clansmen of Lamedon.
Warband Four:
•Duinhir.
•15 Blackroot Vale Archers: 5 with spears.
Warband Five:
•Forlong the Fat on horse.

Evil – Mordor:

Warband One (Leader):
•The Witch-King on armoured Fellbeast with 3 Might, 3 Fate, 19 Will, Morgul Crown and Morgul Blade.
Warband Two:
•Khamul the Easterling on Fellbeast.
Warband Three:
•The Undying on Fellbeast.
Warband Four:
•The Knight of Umbar on Fellbeast.
Warband Five:
•Shelob.

Continuing with the thematic pairings next there is a combined Gondor army and their historical enemies in Mordor. The overlapping buffs provided by the numerous Fiefdoms heroes make even the basic warriors a threat. And the Evil side sees the return of the Nazgul Flying Circus that proved highly competitive in the previous edition of the game, will it do so again?

Michael Bunting

Good – Rivendell & White Council:

Warband One (Leader):
•Elrond on horse with heavy armour.
•9 High Elf Warriors: 8 with shield and 1 with spear + Elf bow.
Warband Two:
•Gil-galad on horse with shield.
•2 Rivendell Knights.
•15 King’s Guards: 8 with shield + spear, 1 with banner, shield + spear and 6 with Elf bow + spear.
Warband Three:
•Galadriel, Lady of Light.

Evil – Barad-Dur:

Warband One (Leader):
•Dark Lord Sauron.
•9 Black Numenoreans: 1 with banner.
•9 Orc Warriors: 6 with spear + shield and 3 with bow, spear + shield.
•1 Orc Tracker on Warg.
Warband Two:
•Mordor Troll Chieftain.
•4 Black Numenoreans.
•4 Orc Warriors with spear + shield.
•1 Orc Tracker on Warg.
Warband Three:
•Mordor Siege Bow.

Again, two armies that have shown previous event winning potential. Micheal won the Battle on the Plains of Lisburn with a list very similar to with his Good force here comprising some of the toughest Elf Heroes around and Barad Dur has previously won at Good vs Evil events at Gaelcon and Cork.

Gerard Bunting

Good – Minas Tirith & Fiefdoms:

Warband One (Leader):
•Aragorn, King Elessar on armoured horse.
•18 Minas Tirith Warriors: 9 with shield and 9 with spear + shield.
Warband Two:
•Hurin on horse.
•12 Minas Tirith Warriors: 6 with shield and 6 with spear + shield.
Warband Three:
•Prince Imrahil on armoured horse with lance.
Warband Four:
•Avenger Bolt Thrower.
Warband Five:
•Avenger Bolt Thrower.

Evil – Moria & Dark Denizens of Mirkwood:

Warband One (Leader):
•Balrog.
•18 Moria Goblins: 9 with shield and 9 with spear + shield.
Warband Two:
•Druzhag.
•10 Moria Goblins: 5 with shield and 5 with spear + shield.
•1 Giant Bat Swarm.
Warband Three:
•Ashrak.
•9 Moria Goblins: 3 with shield and 6 with spear + shield.
Warband Four:
•Spider Queen.

With two Bolt Throwers then this Gondor force's opponent is going to want to close the distance quickly, only trouble is when they get there they'll be faced with some of Gondor's finest heroes in Elessar and Imrahil. Meanwhile, on the evil side, we find a Balrog backed up with a horde of Goblins and a Spider Queen who can be buffed up by the list's two Shamen.

Colleen McConnell

Good – Fangorn:

Warband One (Leader):
•Treebeard.
•1 Ent.
Warband Two:
•Beechbone.
•1 Ent.
Warband Three:
•Quickbeam.
•1 Ent.

Evil – Desolator of the North:
Warband One (Leader):
•Smaug.

I don't really know what to say about either other than to remind everyone to ' Never laugh at live dragons'.

Matt Hamill

Good – Radghast’s Alliance and Misty Mountains

Warband One (Leader):
•Radaghast on Great Eagle.
•2 Great Eagles.
Warband Two:
•Gwaihir.
•3 Great Eagles.

Evil – Angmar:

Warband One (Leader):
•The Witch-King of Angmar on horse with Morgul Crown, 3 Might, 3 Fate & 17 Will.
•2 Cave Trolls with hand and a half hammers.
•15 Angmar Orc Warriors: 7 with shields, 7 with spears and 1 with banner + shield.
Warband Two:
•Barrow Wight.
•1 Dead Marsh Spectre.
•1 Cave Troll with hand and a half hammer.
•10 Angmar Orc Warriors: 5 with shields and 5 with spears.
Warband Three:
•Barrow Wight.
•1 Dead Marsh Spectre.
•11 Angmar Orc Warriors: 6 with shields and 5 with spears.

Warband Four:

•Barrow Wight.

•3 Angmar Orc Warriors with Orc bows.

After his victory at the latest event Matt returns again with an Angmar army with multiple Barrow Wights. As I said previously, Paralyze is a great spell that challenges even the most powerful of Heroes. On the Good side we have an all Eagle force that should offer plenty of mobility and hitting power in combat.

Marty Metcalfe

Good – Rivendell: 

•Elrond on horse with heavy armour.

•16 High Elf Warriors: 1 with banner, 7 with Elf bows and 3 with spears + shields.

Warband Two:

•Glorfindel on Asfaloth with the Armour of Gondolin.

•5 Rivendell Knights with shields.

•5 High Elf Warriors: 2 with spears + shields.

Warband Three:

•Cirdan.

•6 High Elf Warriors: 1 with Elf bow and 3 with spears + shields.

Evil – Isengard: Single Faction

Warband One (Leader):

•Saruman on horse.

•12 Uruk-Hai Scouts: 1 with banner + shield, 5 with Uruk-Hai bows and 6 with shields.

•Grima Wormtongue on horse.

Warband Two:

•Lurtz with shield

•8 Uruk-Hai Scouts: 5 with shields and 3 Uruk-Hai bows.

Warband Three:

•Mauhur.

•8 Mauhur’s Marauders with shields.

Warband Four:

•Ugluk.

•6 Uruk-Hai Scouts: 2 with shields and 2 with Uruk-Hai bows.

Warband Five:

•Gorulf Ironskin.

Another Rivendell army led by a pair of the great Elf Lords who really provide plenty of punch in combat. This is paired with an Isengard army led by Saruman to offer magical support and a mass of Uruk Hai Scouts to provide combat punch.

Dave Coleman

Good – Rohan & Lothlorien:

Warband One (Leader): 

•Galadriel with the Mirror of Galadriel.

•Mirkwood Sentinel.

Warband Two: 

•Theoden on armoured horse with heavy armour and shield.

•8 Rohan Royal Guards on horse with throwing spears.

•2 Rohan Outriders on horse.

•2 Warriors of Rohan: 1 with bow.

Warband Three:

•Eomer on armoured horse with shield.

Warband Four:

•Gamling on horse with Rohan Royal Standard.

Warband Five:

•Dernhelm.

Warband Six:

•Deorwine on horse.

Evil – Barad-Dur: 

Warband One (Leader):

•Sauron.

•20 Orc Warriors: 10 with shields, 9 with spear and 1 with spear + banner.

•2 Orc Trackers

Warband Two:

•Witch-King of Angmar on Fellbeast with Morgul Crown, 3 Might, 3 Fate & 16 Will.

Warband Three:

•Shelob.

Dave has shown previously that both his Rohan and Bard Dur armies can thrive in a Good vs Evil environment after victories at Gaelcon and Cork. This time, however, Gamling's effectiveness has taken a hit from the latest FAQ and Galadriel has been added to the forces of the Horse Lord's. Will these changes make the difference or will Dave continue his good form?

Dave Chambers

Good – Minas Tirith & Fiefdoms: 

Warband One (Leader):

•Forlong the Fat on horse.

•5 Knights of Dol Amroth on armoured horse with lance.

Warband Two:

•Boromir, Captain of the White Tower on horse with shield + Banner of Minas Tirith.

•2 Guards of the Fountain Court with shield.

•7 Osgiliath Veterans: 1 with shield and 6 with spear + shield.

Warband Three:

•Madril.

•2 Guards of the Fountain Court with shield.

•9 Rangers of Gondor with spears.

Warband Four:

•Hurin on horse.

•4 Knights of Minas Tirith with shield.

Warband Five:

•Avenger Bolt Thrower.

Evil – Isengard: 

Warband One (Leader):

•Saruman on horse.

•Grima Wormtongue.

•1 Uruk-Hai Scout with shield.

Warband Two:

•Lurtz with shield.

•1 Uruk-Hai Scout with banner.

•14 Uruk-Hai Scouts with shields.

Warband Three:

•Vrasku.

•12 Uruk-Hai Warriors with crossbows

Warband Four:

•Mauhur.

•12 Mauhur’s Marauders with shields.

Another Isengard army with a similar composition to the previous one, having Saruman and Uruk Hai Scouts. And another combined Gondorian army although this time with Boromir carrying the Banner to boost the fight value of his Swan Knights, Osgiliath Veterans and Fountain Guard to F5, giving them an edge against most Evil troops.

Stephen Devlin

Good – Kingdom of Moria: 

Warband One (Leader):

•Balin, King of Moria.

•5 Iron Guards.

•8 Khazad Guards.

•5 Dwarf Warriors: 3 with shield and 2 with two-handed weapon.

Warband Two:

•King’s Champion.

•5 Iron Guards.

•5 Khazad Guards.

Warband Three:

•Floi.

•9 Dwarf Warriors: 2 with shield and 7 with Dwarf bow.

•1 Iron Guard.

•2 Khazad Guards.

Warband Four:

•Dwarf Ballista with 1 extra crew.

Evil – The Serpent Horde & Mordor:

Warband One (Leader):

•The Witch-King on horse with Morgul Crown, 2 Might, 2 Fate & 13 Will.

Warband Two:

•Suludan on armoured horse.

•7 Serpent Riders.

•2 Watchers of Karna with twin blades.

•2 Abrakhan Merchant Guards.

Warband Three:

•The Betrayer on Fellbeast.

•12 Harad Warriors with spears + bows with poisoned arrows.

Warband Four:

•Raza, Fang of the Serpent.

•5 Watchers of Karna with twin blades.

•5 Abrakhan Merchant Guards.

•1 Harad Warrior with war horn.

The traditional Lord of the Rings era Dwarves have not tended to be hugely common in the IHL events recently so seeing them represented here is great. This Moria list has a plentiful supply of elite infantry and a couple of solid Heroes. The Evil army here is a predominantly Harad force led by the Witchking from Mordor, providing a double magic threat.

Mike Bradford

Good – Rivendell, Numenor, White Council & Thranduil's Halls

Warband One (Leader):

•Gil-galad on horse with shield.

•1 Rivendell Knight with shield + banner.

•1 High Elf Warrior with banner + shield.

•12 King’s Guards: 6 with shield, 4 with spear + shield and 2 with spear, shield + Elf bow.

Warband Two:

•Isildur on horse with shield and the One Ring.

Warband Three:

•Galadriel, Lady of Light.

Warband Four:

•Thranduil on horse with heavy armour, extra Elven made sword and Circlet of Kings.

Evil – Azog’s Legion, Azog’s Hunters & Dol Guldur: 

Warband One (Leader):

•Azog on the White Warg with heavy armour + the stone flail.

•1 War Bat.

Warband Two:

•The Necromancer.

•Abysmal Knight.

Warband Three:

•Abysmal Knight.

Warband Four:

•Bolg on Fell Warg with Orc bow with Morgul arrows.

Here we have 2 armies bringing some big Heroes to the field. On the Good side there's the great Elven Lord's (and Lady) backed up by F6 Warriors while on the Evil side there's Azog and Bolg providing the punch. Low numbers could be an issue for both these armies but their big heroes will hopefully cause some damage to the enemy.

Dan Ahern

Good – Return of the King: 

Warband One (Leader): 

•Aragorn, Strider with Anduril and Elven cloak.

•1 Rider of the Dead.

•11 Warriors of the Dead: 3 with shield and 8 with spear + shield.

Warband Two:

•King of the Dead.

•2 Riders of the Dead.

•13 Warriors of the Dead: 1 with banner, shield + spear, 2 with shield and 10 with spear + shield.

Warband Three:

•Legolas with armour and Elven cloak.

Evil – Angmar: 

Warband One (Leader):

•The Witch-King of Angmar on Fellbeast with Morgul Crown, Morgul blade, 3 Might, 3 Fate and 20 Will.

•1 Cave Troll with hand and a half hammer.

•1 Dead Marsh Spectre.

•2 Angmar Warg Riders with shield.

•10 Angmar Orc Warriors: 1 with banner, 4 with shield, 3 with spear and 2 with two-handed weapon.

•1 Wild Warg.

Warband Two:

•The Tainted on horse.

•1 Dead Marsh Spectre.

•1 Wild Warg.

•12 Angmar Orc Warriors: 5 with shield, 5 with spear and 2 with two-handed weapon.

Warband Three:

•Barrow Wight.

•1 Dead Marsh Spectre.

•6 Angmar Orc Warriors: 3 with shield and 3 with spear.

Warband Four:

•Barrow Wight

•5 Angmar Orc Warriors: 3 with shield and 2 with spear.

The penultimate pair of lists sees the only Legendary Legion in Return of the King and another Angmar army. Aragorn makes an excellent leader thanks to Mighty Hero and Anduril while the Dead provide some of the toughest Warriors in the game. And as has been seen already, Angmar is experiencing a surge of popularity at the moment with several armies here.

Ivan Sheehan

Good – The Rangers & the Shire:

Warband One (Leader):
•Aragorn, Strider on horse with armour + Anduril.
•8 Dunedain.
Warband Two:
•Halbarad on horse with Banner of Arwen Evenstar.
•6 Dunedain.
Warband Three:
•1 Dunedain.
Warband Four:
•1 Dunedain.
Warband Five:
•Farmer Maggot.
Warband Six:
•Lobelia Sackville-Baggins.
Warband Seven:
•Bilbo Baggins with Mithril Shirt.

Evil – Serpent Horde:

Warband One (Leader):
•Suludan on armoured horse.
•18 Haradrim Warriors with spears.
Warband Two:
•The Betrayer on Fellbeast.
•15 Watchers of Karna with bows with poisoned arrows.
Warband Three:
•Harad Taskmaster.
•3 Haradrim Warriors with spears.
•3 Watchers of Karna with bows with poisoned arrows.
•2 Serpent Riders.
Warband Four:
•Raza.
•3 Haradrim Warriors with spears.
•9 Watchers of Karna with bows with poisoned arrows.

And finally we have the current IHL champion, who is bringing back the army he's probably best known for with the Rangers. These bring tons of Might while his Hobbit allies each add unique special abilities. And on the Evil side there's a Harad force with loads of poisoned bowshots, which will be buffed by the Betrayer.

So there's all the lists, we'll see who stands victorious on Sunday evening.

Boardwalk Basing Tutorial

 

Recently I showcased my completed Thorin's Company force and received several compliments on the wooden walkway bases that I had added to them, so I thought I would show my readers exactly how I went about creating them.

1.  Materials required

Standard Games Workshop bases for the required models.
Coffee stirrers (you could use lollypop sticks bit I found that coffee stirrers fit the scale of the models better)
Wood glue
Super Glue

Tools required
Snips
Craft knife

Paints required
Primer (I used grey but any colour will be fine)
Mournfang Brown
Agrax Earthshade
Gorthor Brown
Usabti Bone

2. Cut stirrers to length.

First you want to cut the stirrers to match the size of the bases using the snips. I found 4 pieces fits a 25mm base. This wants to look uneven so don't worry too much about being neat about this.

3. Score a more defined grain into one side of the coffee stirrers

Although they already have a wood grain in them I found that once they are primed and painted this doesn't show through so using the back of a craft knife I scored lines down the length of the stirrers to create more definition.

4. Rough up the edges.

Here the goal is to make the planks look worn and damaged by cutting chunks out of the straight ends or edges with the craft knife. Again this is meant to look uneven so try to avoid making the cuts too similar on different planks.

5. Glue to the base.

Simply cover the top of the base with wood glue and place your planks down. Leave the glue to dry before continuing further.

6. Painting

Once the glue has set then prime the bases as normal. For painting I used a base coat of Mournfang Brown followed by a heavy wash with Agrax Earthshade. Then dry brushed them with Gorthor Brown and Usabti Bone to give them a worn look.

7. Attach the model

Now all that remains is to attach the model to the base using Super Glue. I was initially worried that this wouldn't be a strong enough bond and that I'd need to pin the feet but I accidentally dropped a model from 6 feet and it survived so it should be strong enough.

Breakthrough of Bangor Podium Review

 

Last Saturday saw 14 generals gather to reignite the 2020 Irish Hobbit League at the Breakthrough of Bangor. I previously provided a rundown of most of the armies competing at this event (see here) but now let's take a closer look at which of those prevailed over all the rest. As before models or warbands within square brackets were only part of the 650 point army, not the 450 point version.

3rd Place
Micheal 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

Generally speaking I am not a fan of Elves, falling more on the Dwarven side of the debate (Never trust an Elf). However, of all the possibilities within elven armies the one that interests me the most is the Mirkwood Rangers. The 100% bow limit provided by the army bonus means that nearly every model has a bow giving this army a potent ranged threat despite it's low numbers. Despite this leaning towards bow fire, these Elves are also highly competent fighters thanks to their F5 and ability to gain extra attacks when fighting multiple foes. The three Heroes are also no slouches in combat and are well able to mix it up with the best of them at these points levels. The armies primary weakness is it's low Defence but if you can mitigate this it has proven here that it is a capable force.

2nd Place
Paddy 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]

Riders of Theoden has been a regular feature of the top tables of the IHL since I began these podium reviews. The combination of tons of Might, highly mobile cavalry and the ability to deal plenty of damage made it one of the more popular armies on the scene here. A large part of that potency was built around the multiple free Might points that Gamling could spread around the Rohan Heroes. That ability has now been curtailed by the latest Errata and it should be noted that this change was not in effect for this event. Will this rule change knock the Riders of Theoden out of the top spots they've come to enjoy? Will this be Gamling's last hoorah? Or will we continue to hear the cries of Death! from the horselords upon the IHL's top tables? Only time will tell.

1st Place
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

Paralyze is one of the most powerful spells in the game, able to bring even the top class Heroes to their knees by preventing them from moving, making them automatically lose fights if they're without backup and causing them to be trapped when they inevitably suffer strikes. Luckily, few models have access to this powerful ability. This army however maximizes the potential for Paralyze by taking 4 Barrow Wights, which should enable them to stop any Hero in their tracks. Even just the Paralyze potential will be enough to frighten enemy heroes into playing very cautiously and hence not to their full ability.

So there's the podium winners, congratulations to all 3 players as well as to Stephen Devlin for winning best painted with his stunning Shire army.

Thank you to both Patrick McCormick for organizing this and to all the players for attending in these strange times. I'll leave you with some photos of the action on Saturday.

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.

IHL Interviews: Micheal Bunting

Rob: The next installment of my series of interviews sees us chatting with IHL regular, Micheal Bunting.

Welcome to the Over the Edge of the Wild blog. Would you like to take this opportunity to introduce yourself to the readers?

Micheal: Of course my name is Michael and I’ve been playing SBG for about 4 years now. I really love the creative side of the hobby, making terrain, alternative paint schemes, and building unique armies. We have a great gaming community in Ireland and I’m proud to be part of it.

Can you give us a little background your history within the ME:SBG hobby? Are there any particular highlights that stand out for you?

So when I started out with the hobby I had no affiliation with any hobby groups or anyone else that played SBG. I started out by purchasing one of the old sourcebooks and I’ve really built my collection around the scenarios and campaigns that I would have played with my close friends. I would say for me the highlights would be meeting the amazing SBG community here in Ireland and overseas. I have been to Ardacon twice now and I always love the friendly atmosphere at SBG tournaments.

You mentioned that you enjoy the creative side of the hobby, so what models are currently working on painting?

Well I have a bit of a random system to work through the backlog of models that I have. I literally roll a dice, pick out that box and that's what I'm working on. For terrain I have recently made the walls of Minas Tirith and some seige towers. For models my next batch involves Thranduils halls and eagles. I'm also waiting on a certain dragon that might skip the queue to the painting table!

Before the suspension of the League in March due to the ongoing pandemic you had been performing well at tournaments. What sort of armies were you using to achieve this success?

Elves. While I prefer playing scenarios and themed games I like to bring competitive armies to competitive events. I personally believe that this edition of the game is all about fight value and when you have fight six infantry with elven blades, they do a lot of the work for you.

You've become known for your displeasure about the restrictions imposed by the Alliance Charts. Could you please explain a bit more about why that is?

Haha, and here I thought I had ranted enough. So for me, the hobby is about creativity and fun. I would love to go to an event and see every army as a unique take on middle earth. Restricting what you can and can’t take reduces creativity as well, in my opinion. The idea of a predetermined list with clearly laid out rules is great for many people, just not my preference. I understand that it’s a hard thing to balance game play and promote creativity at the same time. This edition does it better than the last but we see a lot of very similar lists now.  I guess that’s a good thing to a lot of people.

Do you think we'll be seeing more Impossible Alliances from you as League activities resume post Covid?

It has become something of a running joke now that I will take an impossible alliance just for the sake of it. I’ll continue doing what I’ve always done. I’ll take the models that I want to take in my army and if it’s an impossible alliance then so be it. That is not something that would ever deter me from playing what I wanted to play.

Finally, before you go, what's one piece of advice would you give to someone just starting out with the hobby?

So I could say about collecting the models you like, finding your local gaming community or something like that. However, my personal message to new players (and old for that matter) is to try out scenario play. The game was designed to recreate scenes from middle earth and while it has been adapted wonderfully for competitive play, I would highly recommend scenario play if it is at all possible. Removing the pressure of having to win and recreating the incredible moments we all love in middle earth is my favourite thing about the hobby. I have had some great competitive games and won some events but my favourite memories of the hobby are things like Helm’s Deep, Balin’s Tomb and other iconic moments we can recreate in this game.

 Vast Legions of Uruk Hai prepare to assault the fortress of Helm's Deep

 The men of Rohan ready to defend their Kingdom

The Pale Orc Azog attempts to end the line of Durin at the Battle of Azanulbizar

Thank you Micheal for taking the time to provide this interview. I look forward to seeing your next big narrative scenarios, maybe we'll see those Minas Tirith walls in action.

Faction Focus: Thorin's Company - Part 1

'We are met to discuss our plans, our ways, means, policy and devices. We shall soon before the break of day start on our long journey, a journey from which some of us, or perhaps all of us (except our friend and counsellor, the ingenious wizard Gandalf) may never return....'

Recently I showcased my completed Laketown themed Thorin's Company and following the positive feedback I decided to do a follow-up by taking a deeper look at the Company in game.

Because everyone in this list offers very different things to the army I'll start off by taking a look at each member in turn with a brief overview of what they bring to the table.

Thorin

The leader of the Company and honestly my first pick every time I use the Company. Boasting the best stats of any company member, his F6, 3A, Heroic Strike ability and option to bring Orcrist make him a formidable fighter and the option to get D8 with the Oakenshield combined with 3 wounds and 3 Fate make him the most durable Dwarf available. The bonuses to wound to nearby models granted by the army bonus is also very handy to have to help cut down your enemies.

Fili and Kili

I was planning to cover each Dwarf individually, but these 2 brothers are very much alike, so I felt like I'd just be repeating myself. Two average fighters with possibly the least useful special rule in the army list, their main saving graces are access to Heroic Strike and the ability to provide some ranged fire. Thorin's Company isn't going to win any fire fight, but being able to extend their threat range with Kili's bow or Fili's throwing axes is a useful tool for your armoury.

Balin

I'll be honest, Balin is not among my top picks for the Company. As the elder statesman of the group he is not a particularly powerful warrior with only 1 Attack. His special rule is situational and in my experience is hard to pull off unless both players rolled low. If you need to move first in a turn then in general a Heroic Move will often be as good an option (and potentially costing nothing) and in especially important positions will be required anyway if the enemy can call one himself. The only times I can see this being really useful is if the opponent also rolled low and has no heroes in range to call a Heroic Move or if you want to lose priority to see where the enemies will be moving, both fairly corner case scenarios.

Dwalin

Dwalin is a beast in combat thanks to F6, S5, 3 Attacks, his two handed hammer and burly. This is the guy that you want to be targeting your opponents big tough bulwarks. However, he isn't the most durable so can easily become a target himself because your opponent knows what damage he is capable of and can focus attention on knocking him out before he can start smashing heads with that hammer.

Bifur

The most improved member of the Company in this edition, Bifur has gone from a Dwarf I wouldn't really have considered to being one of the top picks. He has the only spear available in the list, although that's situational at best as he'll probably be getting stuck into the front lines quickly due to being out numbered in most encounters. He can also help with range by throwing stones, but with short range and low strength don't expect much here.

Instead it's his Embedded Axe Blade special rule that makes him one of the best options in the list. The ability to get free Heroic Moves is incredible allowing you to maintain the initiative by moving first and hence avoiding becoming surrounded and overwhelmed while also preserving your Might stores for Heroic Combats or Strikes or for winning key fights is just too good to pass up. Main tactic with Bifur is to get into combat early and headbutt with his embedded axe blade to trigger this rule as early as possible, even spending Might on the wound roll to ensure that it works early.

Bofur

From one of the top choices to one of the bottom ones. Unfortunately (despite him being one of my favourite Dwarves in the films) Bofur just doesn't cut it in the game. His main problem is that his only weapon is a 2-handed mattock. With only 2 Attacks at F4 and no option to avoid the -1 for a 2-handed weapon he just isn't going to win enough fights to be effective. His special rule is decent against magic, but an opponent can easily avoid casting spells that could be impacted by it by not targeting him directly and ensuring that Bofur is outside of any areas of effect, so is unlikely to have any effect.

Bombur

3 wounds and the ability to call Heroic Defense make Bombur one of the more durable members of the Company, although only having 2 Attacks limits his damage output to about average for the list. His ability to restore Will points to friendly models synergizes very well with other Company members like Balin, Oin and Gandalf who want to use Will to activate special rules or cast magical powers, or can be useful for helping others stopping enemy spell casters by providing additional Will for resist rolls.

Ori

Despite having the worst stats of all the Dwarves Ori really is the superstar of the Company. As I said his stats are poor but that's not why you take him. Number 1; the Chronicler special rule allows nearby models to regain Might, which is really useful because Thorin's Company tends to burn through Might quite quickly in my experience. And Number 2; Slingshot. Quite frankly the most powerful weapon in Middle Earth, in my opinion. Ori's slingshot is capable of doing doing untold damage to your enemies (as some of my past opponents will attest to) just don't expect people to be overly happy about it.

Nori

Nori is essentially a mini Dwalin, getting the same bonuses for his 2-handed mace without the draw backs associated with 2-handed weapons. F5 with Heroic Strike can certainly help to ensure that his blows will land, but only having 2 Attacks and S4 make him slightly less reliable than Dwalin. Overall though Nori is the best fighter of all the non-3 Attack Dwarves, so definitely worth including.

Dori

Dori is actually surprisingly a very solid fighter for the Company thanks to his 3 Attacks at F5. Other than that his other stats are average and his special rule allowing Bilbo to use his heroic stats is handicapped by Dori's low amount of these stats. His combat ability merits inclusion, in a small elite army like Thorin's Company the number of dice in a duel roll is key to ensure that you can win combats and hence both kill your enemies and avoid your own models being killed.

Oin

Oin is a tricky one to use, in my experience. His abilities are really useful, being able to heal lost wounds is handy in an all hero force and he is the only source of banner rerolls without resorting to allies. As I said above, getting more dice to win a fight is great for this army. But, Oin is a purely support character, which means that you really don't want him getting into combat or he can be taken out relatively easily (especially when compared to some of the other members of the Company). However, his rules require him to be close to the action to have an effect and in such a low model count army it's difficult to screen him off from harm so he can readily become an easy target for your opponent. Careful positioning is key to getting the most out of Oin without putting him at too much risk.

Gloin

The final Dwarven member of the Company, Gloin is one of the top fighters available. While not quite as dangerous as Dwalin an extra point of Defense makes him slightly more sturdy and a throwing axe extends his threat range above Dwalin's. He is also less dependant on staying close to Thorin as he naturally gets to reroll 1s to wound instead of only getting it when close to Thorin, meaning he can be a little more flexible in his positioning without impacting his output.

Bilbo

The famous Hobbit. In general Bilbo's stats are fairly ordinary, not the best fighter which is what you'd expect from a Hobbit. Bilbo's main benefits come from the option to take the One Ring. Considering this costs zero points there is really no reason not to especially as Bilbo ignores the main negative aspect of wearing the Ring. Wearing the Ring has a couple of benefits; it makes it harder for your enemy to charge you and it halves the Fight Value of anyone in combat with Bilbo. Your aim should be to get Bilbo and one of your damage dealing Dwarves (Dwalin springs to mind) into combat with enemy heroes where Bilbo can really help the Dwarf win the combat without relying on Heroic Strikes and hence knock out the enemy Hero.

Gandalf

I'll admit, I don't often use magic so am probably not the best for advice on Gandalf. He has a mixture of defensive spells (Blinding Light, Protection of the Valor etc), control spells (Immobile, Command) and more aggressive ones (Sorceress Blast, Collapse Rocks etc). This makes him very versatile and able to offer something useful no matter the circumstances and therefore a very useful choice for the Company.

So that's covered my views on all the members of Thorin's Company. I'll be back soon with some thoughts on general tactics, allies and list building.