Herald Highlight: The End Times are Coming!

No, that isn't the Storm of Chaos campaign comign back. Time for the good guys of middle earth to take back the Battlefleet

A month or two ago, I did a Highlight on something called http://battlefleetchaotic.blogspot.com/2009/04/herald-highlight-darkness-of-war.html. This article was quite decent, but I have one eeny question... How hard is it for the Free Peoples to defeat the darkness of Sauron and the rings?

The forces of evil are numerous, and well equipped for the era, but at the same time they are ALL (yes, I mean ALL) Horde Armies. The endless tide of common troops (i.e: Easterlings, Orc Warriors, Uruk-Hai, Giant Spiders, Goblins, Haradrim...) is a BIG archetype in the Evil army, mostly due to the fact that if you're going to need a load of cheap core... then why not have hordes of cheap core? Face it, that 15 point unit of Moria Goblins will allow you to have One Balrog of Morgoth... so why not use the whole box on it, and have either 1 unit of 3 companies, or 3 units of 1 company? Remembering that infantry trump ALL in Objective Games, it not only allows you to get a dead killy unit (the Balrog, or even a Cave Drake for cheapiness) but you get a unit that WILL have a chance of surviving the onslaught between it and the objective (instead of 4 casualties to finish it, you need 20 casualties. Even with Goblins, thats a lot)

But how does that affect the Good army. You are the opposite. You have 3 horde choices. Yes, just 3. That means that you need to look away from the idea of completely decimating your foe under a mountain of bodies... especially since two of those horde choices are HOBBIT ARMIES. Hobbits will not build a good foundation for the horde, however you look at it, but they do have the options you need for the dead hard Shoobit Army (Hobbits... So many Hobbit Bowmen...)

You do enjoy a vastly superior selection of troops, such as the basic Minas Tirith Warrior or the Galadrim Warrior... Sure, a company of Minas Tirith is 35 points, but it has better armour, better weaponry, better courage, better choices of hero to lead... and they are more per box! Unlike a box of Orkies, you come with 8 Sword/Shield, 8 Spears, and 8 Bows (the Orcs will come with 8 Sword/Shield, 8 Spear, 4 2H Sword, and 4 Bows). This means that the Minas Tirith is not only a good starter set, but it's also a brilliant solid choice anyway... think of them as the Space Marine of WotR

But moving on... what is Good's other advantage? We're not cheap, but we have the best set of Legendary Formations ever. We outnumber them COMPLETELY in legendaries, although these are mainly in the major pointed areas, and most heroes cross between them all. Saruman, the White Wizard and not the White Hand, is in the Council of Wizardry (500pts), the White Council (500pts), and his own Epic Hero version (200pts). Then, you have Gandalf the Grey who is in The Fellowship of the Ring (500pts), Council of Wizardry (500pts), the White Council (500pts), and his Epic Hero form (175pts), as well as the Gandalf the White upgrade Epic Hero (225pts). Overlapping is the only disadvantage for this, as they will kick the s**t out of any formation that isn't The Nine Abroad (damn scary those guys) or The Dark Lord Sauron (see previous brackets)

But anyway, the topic is getting a bit too large, so i'll begin the summary. First, the best standard Core Choices for each army (i've got 5 here. FIVE):

1. Gondor and Arnor: Stick with the Minas Tirith Warrior, or a variant. Want an all rounder? Warrior of Minas Tirith, with good courage, orc Fight Value, and good defence. Want a Armoured Fighter? Warrior of Arnor, with bad courage, good Fight Value, and good defence. Want a Steadfast Fighter? Warrior of Numenor, with good courage, good Fight Value, and bad armour. ALL of these are 35pts per company, and then there's the variant Bowmen (in the pre-mentioned modes, who only lose the Shields for a Bow)
2. Elven Kingdoms: This is the more difficult choice, being that the choice is based entirely upon box sets rather than box value. High Elves are hampered by the Warriors of the Last Alliance box set (which is the only set they come in - 8 Warriors of Numenor, 8 Sword/Shield Elves, 8 Elf Bows), while the Wood Elves are only good as a flanking force. However, I believe it's obvious who wins - the Galadrim not only have a brilliant box set, but they also happen to be so good at their job, that there is NO shifting them!
3. Dwarven Holds: This is another difficult choice, since Dwarves are pathetic againse Elves. I'm going to go with a bit of a dead cert - Dwarven Rangers will rip many other Ranger forces to shreds. Decent defence, decent options (2h weapons, bows, or sword/shield) which means that they are a firm favorite with me. They also happen to be an example of a Core unit that can be made into a Legendary with just one model - thats not very common with the Good armies
4. Kingdom of Rohan: Awful. So many choices in Rohan are Core, that it becomes hard to select a winner. Royal Knights, Riders Eored, Outriders, and Sons of Eorl... ALL are beautiful cavalry units. Then there are the Oathsworn, though, and these are what Rohan should be about. Rohan does Cavalry, but can you afford to get an army full of them? I don't think so - Oathsworn are cheap, in points and models, and a good 'Hold the Line' force. If you want Cavalry, then go and get the Cavalry
5. Forgotten Kingdoms: Kingdoms cannot have an independent list, but they contain ALL of the Legendary Formations that mean anything (e.g: Fellowship of the Ring). However, there are 3 cores that are brilliant - Hobbit Militia, Hobbit Bowmen, and Ents. Ents are hard, and one of the only Monsters the Good Army can get. Hobbits are 10 (15 for Bowmen) per company, for a Shoot Value rivalling elves. They are pathetic though - the Ent gets my vote, for being a cheap versatile model

Thats the Top 5 lists as well, by the way. Gondor and Arnor is a brilliant cheap list, followed by the bruising Elven Kingdoms, next of all being the Dwarven Holds which are a great Objective army, and then Rohan with the Cavalry horde... with Forgotten Kingdoms holding them all up, with their countless Legendary Formations

But there's one last question I ask... What are the Best Army Choices ever? Even more candidates for this one... for a future poll. There's 3 categories for this: Core, Rare, and Legend/Hero. These each take 2 options from each list in the Good Army

• Core, G/A: Minas Tirith Warriors
• Core, G/A: Rangers of Gondor
• Core, EK: Galadrim Warriors
• Core, EK: Wood Elf Warriors
• Core, DH: Dwarven Rangers
• Core, DH: Dwarven Warriors
• Core, KoR: Riders of Rohan Eored
• Core, KoR: Oathsworn Militia
• Core, FK: Ents
• Core, FK: Hobbit Militia
• Special, G/A: Knights of Minas Tirith
• Special, G/A: Knights of Dol Amroth
• Special, EK: Elven Cohort
• Special, EK: Galadrim Knights
• Special, DH: Vault Wardens
• Special, DH: IRON GUAAAARD!!!
• Special, KoR: Sons of Eorl
• Special, KoR: ???
• Special, FK: ???
• Special, FK: ???
• Legend/Hero, G/A: Boromir of Gondor
• Legend/Hero, G/A: Warden of the Keys
• Legend/Hero, EK: Galadriel (Either Form)
• Legend/Hero, EK: Rivendell Guard
• Legend/Hero, DH: Drar's Hunters
• Legend/Hero, DH: Gimli, Son of Gloin
• Legend/Hero, KoR: The King's Guard
• Legend/Hero, KoR: Theodred, Prince of Rohan
• Legend/Hero, FK: The Fellowship of the Ring
• Legend/Hero, FK: The Council of Wizardry

Well, that ends our look at War of the Ring in general. Time to actually get a themed article in...