Armies of Middle-Earth SBG: The Variags of Khand in the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game

Our Pelennor Fields army write-ups are really starting to take shape now, after Centaur's review of the Dead of Dunharrow. Today, we resume our look at the evil armies of Pelennor with an army that got an even shorter-shrift in the films than the Easterlings (who at least got a cameo, albeit in the dark): the mysterious Variags of Khand.

Almost nothing is known of this mysterious troop in the lore (apart from the fact that they were, in fact, there at Pelennor), but in the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game, Khand has taken the form of axe-wielding horse archers and charioteers, which gives them a unique place in the Middle Earth we inhabit. Khand received a number of buffs in the new edition (most notably to their chariots, which are surprisingly-inexpensive death carts if they get moving). They also seem tailor-made to take out enemy cavalry models, between their chariots (which do two Strength 4 impact hits to both horse and rider, plus have Monstrous Charge) and their generic horsemen (which are Fight 4 with bows and hand-and-a-half axes, for a laughably cheap points cost).

Full disclosure: this is not an army I've tried (though MinutemanKirk has run them with Easterlings, so I'll defer to him where he disagrees ;-) ), although I have watched them run down Uruk-Hai. It was rather brutal to watch. Given that Uruk-Hai always mess up my armies, I had mixed-feelings about that...

Photo Credit: LOTR Fandom

Army Quick(ish) Hits

• Strength: CHAAAAAARIOOOOOOTSSSSSSSSS! There are three things that make Khand, Khand: chariots, chariots, and chariots (okay, okay; huge axes and horse archers probably make the list, too). There are four key advantages from a chariot. First, it makes Khand one of the few factions that can inflict damage in the Move Phase, and while two Strength 4 hits isn't huge, there's also nothing your opponent can do to stop it (besides moving first). Second, if you swap your charioteers' axes for bows, you suddenly have up to 34" range on your bows (since a charioteer can move a full 10" and still shoot thanks to Stable Platform). Third, you get Monstrous Charge in combat (in addition to dealing two Strength 4 hits on the way in) at Fight 4, which makes you devastatingly effective against lightly-armored infantry and cavalry (cav models take two Strength 4 hits on both the rider and the mount, then can be knocked prone if you win the Fight with Monstrous Charge). Fourth, even though the charioteers themselves are relatively fragile (Defense 4), they have a 5+ in-the-way test for their chariot against both ranged and melee damage, and the chariot itself is Defense 7 with 3 wounds. That's a 67% chance that your opponent will have to chew through a Mordor Troll's defensive stats before they can strike your juicy charioteer. Talk about frustrating...
• Strength: Mobility... lots of it. Chariots are fast but not particularly mobile (once you factor in their weird movement mechanics), although if you take enough of them and form a steamroller they don't have to be particularly mobile to mess with your opponent's battle line. If you prefer conventional movement, however, Khand has access to traditional horsemen, too. Neither the horse nor the rider has much in the way of armor (Defense 4 all around), but considering you get a Fight 4 rider with a hand-and-a-half axe and a 24" bow, they're extremely economical (and, in a pure/historic alliance, they don't count towards your force's bow limit).
• Strength: High-Damage. Strength 3 and no lances isn't usually a recipe for high damage output, but Khand's horsemen (plus infantry and charioteers, unless you take them with bows) come with hand-and-a-half axes, which means you can get to Strength 4 if you Piercing Strike, effective Strength 5 if you two-hand with normal strikes, and effective Strength 6 if you two-handed Piercing Strike, which gives you a lot of options for taking out a lot of troop types with varying defense values. Plus, if you're ganging up on infantry with your horsemen or chariots, you're rolling up to 4 dice to-wound at up to Strength 6 (again, for dirt, dirt cheap).
• Strength/Weakness: Prolonged shooting wars. Some of this depends on how you take your archers. On foot, they'll do quite well if the enemy has little-to-no shooting, but if they're up against, say, a large contingent of elves with Strength 3 bows (or Uruks with crossbows), they'll be in a tight spot. At Defense 4, they'll wither quickly under sustained archery fire (even conventional Strength 2 bows will wound them on 5s), and their own Strength 2 bows will have trouble if the enemy's front rank has any sort of armor (6+ to wound against Defense 5 or above, and 6/4 to wound against Defense 7).
• Weakness: Grinding infantry combat. Khand is a damage-dealing force (Fight 4, Defense 4, hand-and-a-half-handed axes at Strength 3), but lacks the major tools for "grinding" out infantry combat: shields and spears. They'll have higher Fight than most non-elite armies (goblins, orcs, non-elite men, hobbits), but will have trouble in a straight-up brawl with anything Fight4 / Strength 4 / Defense 6 (Uruk-Hai, dwarves), and Fight 5 / Defense 6 elves pose a problem, too (especially if the elves decide to match your two-handed weapon use with their own). Most factions can get along fine with a solo-infantry force (or a mostly-infantry force with a handful of cav thrown in), but this one probably wants a sizeable cavalry contingent all the time. 
• Weakness: Limited Hero Selection. You have two generic hero options: the Khandish King and the Khandish Chieftain. If you have the points to spend, get the King for an extra Attack (that's 4 attacks on the charge), access to Heroic Strike and Resolve (in addition to Heroic March), and a 6" banner effect for Khandish models (the only banner Khand has access to). If all you need is Might, you can go with the Chieftains. They're a surprisingly good Fight 5 (but no Heroic Strike), so they'll hold their own against mid-tier heroes, and can do some damage in a chariot (two Strength 4 hits, followed by 3 attacks on the charge with Monstrous Charge). Unfortunately, all the hero options cap out at 2 Might each (no 3 Might heroes here), and they lack heroes with the special-rule utility that you find in Mordor, Isengard, or the Serpent Horde.
• Strength: Allies. Khand has just one historic ally (the Easterlings), notwithstanding the fact they were at Pelennor (as was Far Harad, obviously… we'll let that go for now, though). Easterlings cover a lot of weaknesses that you find in Khand: they have heavy infantry with shields, pikes, and banners, so you can get your conventional "anvil" of Easterling pikemen to compliment your "hammer" of Khandish cav/chariots. If you're going all-cav, Easterlings also have access to very heavy cavalry (D7/6 riders/mounts when The Gleaming Horde is up) that don't have particularly high Fight, damage output, or kiting ability (the three things Khandish horsemen bring in spades). Throw a couple Khandish Kings on Chariots in with Amdur on horse, a couple of dragon knights on horse, and an Easterling War Priest, and suddenly you have a lot of dangerous targets (any of whom can get Bladewrath from the War Priest) roaming around the battlefield. If you're willing to give up the army bonus (chariots and horsemen don't count toward your bow limit), you can work in a number of convenient allies, too. If you're running primarily chariots, that a less painful choice to make, since a charioteer has to swap his hand-and-a-half axe to take a bow (and hand-and-a-half axes on Fight 4 charioteers is pretty good). It's harder if you have a lot of horsemen, since they come with bows and axes standard (though they have to choose only one to keep if they get dismounted), so a convenient force will need additional chariots or infantry with axes to balance out those bows. If you do go the convenient route, all of the War of the Ring evil forces are available, with any of the Pelennor armies (Mordor, Serpent Horde, Far Harad) making for good thematic choices. The Mordor and Serpent Horde factions in particular are deep lists, with lots of intriguing combos for Khand (and both could benefit from Khand's standard Fight 4). 
• Weakness: Cost (in dollars). Khand is available through GW, but it's one of the more expensive armies to collect. A box of 10 foot warriors (in metal) runs for about the same cost as 20-24 of the plastic warriors from other factions, the horsemen are available in single blisters at the same price range as Rohan Royal Guards or Mahud Raiders, and the chariots (both regular and the Khandish King variant) are the costs of most hero packs. If you run a solo Khand force, you'll have to invest quite a bit in it. If you run them as an ally (with, say, Easterlings), it's quite a bit more affordable.

Photo Credit: Elias Luukkanen

(PS: The song is pretty ominous, too)

Hero Profiles

• Khandish King. A Hero of Valor, and the only source of Heroic Strike in a pure Khand force, to go along with Fight 5, Strength 4, Defense 6, 3 Attacks, 2 Wounds, and Courage 5 (with 2 / 2 / 1 heroic stats). The 3 Attacks is where the ball-game is, as he has the option for both a horse or Chariot (either of which will boost him to 4 attacks on the charge). Along with Heroic Strike, he also has Heroic March and Heroic Resolve, giving him a very nice toolbox of abilities to assist your army. He comes with a hand-and-a-half axe and a bow as well (bows with Might are always nice), although he doesn't have a dagger (so if his axe is shattered, he'll be unarmed). He's significantly more expensive than a Khandish Chieftain, but you're getting several stat boosts for the cost (+1 Attack, Defense, and Will), plus Heroic Strike and Resolve (in addition to March), plus a 6" banner effect for all Khandish models, so you get the points back (and more) with his upgrades. You probably want at least one in every force, as Khand has no other option for banners (and, with Fight 4, cav/chariots, and hand-and-a-half axes, you probably want as many rerolls as you can get).
• Khandish Chieftain. A generic captain with a fairly standard captain profile, apart from his above-average Fight 5 (to go with Strength 4, Defense 5, 2 Attacks, 2 Wounds, Courage 4, 2 Might, and Heroic March). He comes with a hand-and-a-half axe, dagger, and bow (and doesn't have to choose between his axe and bow, which is great), with an option for a horse or a chariot. The horse is by far the cheaper option, while the Chariot boosts his damage output (two Strength 4 impact hits, plus 3 attacks on the charge with Monstrous Charge) and his survivability (he gains a 67% chance of melee/ranged hits striking his Defense 7, 3 Wound chariot instead of himself). Once you've taken a Khandish King or two (for the Heroic Strike, Resolve, and banner effect), they're a solid choice for getting some more warrior slots.

Warrior Profiles

• Khandish Warrior. They're decent shooters (4+ shoot, 24" Strength 2 bows), although unfortunately the infantry versions count towards your bow limit. They're susceptible to enemy archer fire, too (Defense 4, 6" move), so you may want to consider screening them with Defense 7 chariots while they March into position. Once they're in combat, they're squishy if they can be beaten in duels, but with Fight 4 (and ideally a Khandish King nearby for rerolls) they can win a lot of fights against non-elite troops. Once they win duels, their axes pack a whallop. As mentioned above, they don't have options for spears or shields, so they're best used as shock troops supporting heavily-armored allies (Easterlings) or 
• Khandish Horseman. They didn't make my off-the-cuff list of the top-tier horsemen in the comments section on the Fiefdoms, but they should probably be in there if for no other reason than that they're one of only a few Fight 4+ cavalry models available for under 14 points. Add to that their axes and 24" bows, and they're essentially Riders of Rohan with lower defense and higher Fight + damage potential (in melee, of course; a Rider with a throwing spear has more overall combat potential, but for quite a bit more points).
• Khandish Charioteer. A surprisingly resilient battle wagon, with its 5+ in-the-way against shooting and melee attacks, and Defense 7/3 wounds. The impact hits (two Strength 4 hits) are where the magic happens. They do have clunky movement mechanics (they can pivot 45 degrees for every full 3" they move, or forego all their movement to pivot in any direction), and of course they're susceptible to magic (a compel into your own horsemen, for example), so be sure to bring a Khandish King along for a timely Heroic Resolve. With Monstrous Charge, they're especially dangerous to enemy cavalry units, and even a big-time enemy hero may find themselves unhorsed if a chariot bangs into them first (with a 5-of-6 chance of being unable to make strikes, if they roll a 1-5 on their thrown rider test--particularly nasty!).

Concluding Thoughts

Thanks for checking out our thoughts on the Variags of Khand. As you'll see below, this faction hasn't gotten much attention on the interwebs, though we did manage to cobble together some recommended resources for you. So if you play Khand, and want to share what you've learned, please do: your knowledge is in short supply!

More from the TMAT Team:

• The Bare Necessities, Part XXVII: Khand (July 2020)
• New Rules - Part V: The Fallen Realms, Part II (November 2018)

Support your hobby:

• Variags of Khand Range [Games Workshop]

Recommended Resources:

• PODCAST: Episode 73: Variags of Khand [The Green Dragon Podcast]
• VIDEO: Review of The Middle-Earth SBG Armies of the Lord of the Rings - Part 23, The Variags of Khand [STF Wargaming Studio]
• VIDEO: SBG Army Review - Khand (Arda Scholar)
• VIDEO: Player Interview - Khandish Chariots and Fellbeasts - Jay Clare [GBHL Podcast]
• VIDEO: Army showcase - Marius Ruud Khand Army [STF Wargaming Studio]
• BATTLE REPORT: Galadhrim v. Khand [HTL World]
• BATTLE REPORT: Durins Folk and Arnor vs Khand and Harad 750pts Fog of War [LOTR SBG Team, *Pre-MESBG]
• BATTLE REPORT: The defence of the ruins of Cair Andros (August 2014)
• BATTLE REPORT: Fallen Realms special - Isengard v. Khand and Easterling [GBHL Podcast, *Pre-MESBG]
• BATTLE COMPANIES: Khand vs Moria Expedition [Failed Charge Games]
• UNBOXING: Khand - Unboxing [Gamid Magomedov]