The New Age Is Begun: the Thorin's Company Army List

Good morning gamers,

This is our last post of all-Dwarves in "Dwarf month" and we're looking at what is mostly an all-hero list: Thorin's Company. I played this list some last edition (never in a tournament) and I've got to say, it's got a lot of rules to keep track of (even more now), but it's FUN to play! The models work together better now and I kinda feel like our recommendation to fix Thorin's Company was heard by GW - but let's see what this list has to offer and what you have to think about when bringing it to the table.

Thorin's Company: Changes for 2025

Profile Selection

This list has the fifteen members of Thorin's Company, as you'd expect. For about $60 (less on eBay), you can get that whole list of models - and now that they can't take ponies (sadness), that's a good 1000-points worth of this list for an insanely small amount of money (relative to what 1000pts requires in most other lists). These units are all infantry and carry the bulk of the rules - and if you choose to just play with these guys, you'll have a jolly time for sure.

That said, the list now includes Radagast the Brown (with access to his sleigh, but it isn't required) and Gwaihir (who can bring Great Eagles, but not Fledgling Eagles). Bringing Gwaihir requires you to also bring Gandalf, which makes the investment kind of hefty - but one could argue that Gwaihir is worth it. Interestingly enough, Radagast has the Thorin's Company faction keyword, so anything that's said below about "Thorin's Company" models can affect him too . . . we'll talk about that a bit in the strategy section below.

Army List Bonuses

This list has a few restrictions in it - but they're not hard to remember. You have to take Thorin and he has to be your General. If you want to take any of the Dwarves, Wizards, or Biblo, they have to be in Thorin's warband (which is great in maelstrom missions, but also gives up a lot of deployment advantages to your opponent in virtually all other scenarios). If you want to take Gwaihir in your list, you have to have Gandalf in your list (fair enough). If you want to take Great Eagles, you have to bring them with Gwaihir. Simple, right? Everyone who isn't a bird with Thorin, get birds by taking Gandalf.

The New Age Is Begun: the Army of Erebor Army List

Good morning gamers,

This is our third list in our cruise through lists that feature the Iron Hills Dwarf Warrior profile and while we've looked at Erebor Reclaimed (where the heroes were necessary to get the warriors where they wanted to go on the quick side) and the Defenders of Erebor (where we got a mix of light and heavy warriors to support some budget heroes), this list features all-Dwarves but with a more limited array of them compared to Erebor Reclaimed . . . but with some very interesting hitting power. Let's see if this list is any good - and what the potential traps are in it!

The Army of Erebor: Changes for 2025

Profile Selection

This list has very similar participants to our last list (the Defenders of Erebor), but we've traded the three Dale heroes (Brand, Bard, and a Captain) for Gimli and Dwarf Kings - which I kind of feel is a trade up! Additionally, we've lost access to the Dale warriors, but haven't lost Goat Riders (so we just have to make up for the spear-carrying, banner-carrying, and bow-carrying Dale guys with Iron Hills Warriors . . . done). 

As with the Defenders of Erebor list we looked at last time, everyone in this list gains the Erebor keyword (I assume as a replacement for the Iron Hills keyword? Or do they have both?), which is good because it means more people can be affected by Bofur's Steadfast rule. All in all, we've still got lots of Champs with solid profiles, we still have good warrior profiles, and we have some new kids on the block to shake things up. Thanks to losing the Dale guys, our numbers will be smaller . . . but we'll also be more durable, so that may end up being fine in the end.

Back to Basics Revisited: All the Tests

Good morning gamers,

We're continuing our how-to-play series and we're covering seven different tests that you may need to make in a game of MESBG. We've recently looked at how to build lists and the general flow of the game, but these are oddities that everyone should know before they have to make tactical decisions in the game - and since these rules have changed from previous editions, veterans of the game would do well to brush up on these as well (as retraining old habits can be hard).

Movement-Related Tests: Jump, Leap, and Climb Tests

There have been three types of movement-related tests in the game for ages: jump, leap, and climb tests. Depending on the era of the game, these tests would allow you to charge people or not allow you to charge people, depending on the value of the roll you got. Each test effectively works the same way: you roll a single D6 and you consult a table - a 1 is bad, a 6 is good, and a 2-5 is fine.

The New Age Is Begun: The Defenders of Erebor Army List

Good morning gamers,

Last edition, one of my favorite Legendary Legions that I never took to an event was the Defenders of Erebor - I played a LOT of practice games with them, but never actually locked in with them as my list for any of the events I attended. I plan to rectify this in the coming months (maybe a year) because I think there's a lot that you can do with this particular list. The heroes are great, the warriors are great, and the rules are tricky - let's see how this Dwarf-plus-Men list squares up in the new edition!

The Defenders of Erebor: Changes for 2025

Profile Selection

Our available profiles haven't changed since last edition - you can still get the four royals (Dain, Thorin III, Brand, and Bard II), the six mobile members of Thorin's Company who were still at Erebor during the War of the Ring (Dwalin, Dori, Nori, Bifur, Bofur, and Gloin when he got back from Rivendell - Bombur was too fat, still think there was a missed opportunity to put him in, though!), your stock-standard generic captains, and two warrior profiles for each side (Iron Hills Dwarf Warriors/Goat Riders and Warriors/Knights of Dale). 

All in all, this both is and isn't a deep bench - it's deep because it has twelve hero choices and four warrior choices and between them all, you get a nice spread of possibilities. However, you're unlikely to be able to afford more than four of them in any given game, not only because of the relative expense of the heroes we have (many are in the 70-100pt range), but also because the warriors we have (unless we REALLY focus on the Dale contingent) are pricey. All that being true, this list doesn't have a problem getting to a healthy model count and it will do it with solid Dale archery, the occasional Dale melee guy, and lots of doughty Dwarves.

There are some list constraints, but nothing that's weird for these kinds of lists. Your Dwarf Warrior models can only be led by Dwarf Heroes and your Man Warrior models can only be led by your Man Heroes. As a result, the more you want Dwarves, the more you'll need Dwarf Heroes in the mix. Additionally, any unit with the Iron Hills keyword (Iron Hills Captains/Dwarf Warriors/Goat Riders) pick up the Erebor keyword, which is really nice.

Announcing the TMAT GT 2026!

Good morning gamers,

It's that time of year - The TMAT GT is upon us! The tournament will be held in Purcellville, VA on May 23, 2026. Without further ado, here are (in my typical style) the Ten Commandments of the Tournament (Rules):

1) Thou Shalt Understand The Canon

The ruleset we will be using is from the most recent Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game Rules Manual (the Fellowship walking one). The supplements for the Armies of the Lord of the Rings, the Armies of the Hobbit, the Armies of Middle-Earth, and the Legacies of Middle-Earth will govern the profiles and army lists being used. Any GW errata for these books will take precedent over the printed text of these documents.

2) Thou Shalt Honor Thy Alliance

This tournament follows the alliance "restrictions" provided in the main rulebook - players will pick one army list from one of the GW-issued supplements for this edition and follow all requirements for that army list.