Sizing Up Dwarves: Thorin's Company vs. Erebor Reclaimed

Good morning gamers!

For those who have been following our blog for a while, my last post showed how I re-did some models I converted for Thorin’s Company. Recently, I acquired all of the new Thorin's Company models (the Dwarves at any rate) and began to re-convert my Thorin's Company rangers to match the color scheme of the army. It was a great project to make my Dwarves look like those in the movies, but I really like the new models (plus, my son was reading the Hobbit at the time, so maybe that kept them on my mind)!

I do like that thanks to the errata, their army bonus gives all of them Heroic March – something they REALLY NEEDED when the rules were originally released. While there are many great things that make this army fun to use, we’ll be using this post not only to showcase how they look now, but also contrasting the Thorin’s Company version of each hero with his counterpart version in the Erebor Reclaimed list (which Rythbryt did a write-up on earlier in 2019). For the purposes of this post, we will only be comparing the profiles of the heroes themselves. I say this because the heroes from the Erebor Reclaimed list can lead Iron Hills Warriors and Iron Hills Goat Riders - both of which are amazing warrior units, as Rythbryt writes about here and here - but the comparisons get really muddy if we include the ability to take warriors vs. having to run as part of a single warband. With that said, let the pictures begin!

The Auto-Includes: Thorin Oakenshield, Dwalin, and Gloin

If you're looking for power from a Thorin's Company list, you should really start with these three guys...

There are three heroes that should show up in any Thorin’s Company army (and probably any Erebor Reclaimed army, unless you require all your models to be mounted): Thorin, Dwalin, and Gloin. Not only are these three the only models in a Thorin’s Company army that are above Defense 5, but they all have access to Heroic Strike and together provide 7 Might points for your army to use at less than 300 points. While I’m going to highlight which of these heroes (if any) are better in Thorin’s Company than in their Erebor Reclaimed versions, let it be known that none of these heroes are bad – they’re actually quite good and better than many other heroes that come in at their cost. With that, let’s look at them…

Thorin

As I mentioned in my army reviews of the Dwarves, Thorin is an auto-include if you’re going to keep your army bonus. Even if you give it up, there aren’t that many D7-8 Heroes of Legend who have 3 Attacks/Wounds, 3 Might/Will/Fate, F6 with access to Heroic Strike, and the ability to wield an Elven-made hand-and-a-half-sword (which, I will note, does D3 Wounds and causes Terror against certain races). Thorin is a beast and at 120 points fully kitted out (pony, Oakenshield, Orcrist), he’s a bargain.

Better Thorin: In my humble opinion, while Thorin Oakenshield, King Under the Mountain gets a free Heroic Combat each turn (which has untold benefits against grunt troops, to be sure), you get far more resilience out of Thorin Oakenshield from Thorin’s Company. A 115-point TC-verison has the exact same statline as the 125-point ER-version EXCEPT that he can shield with the Oakenshield (which gives him a chance of doing damage) AND he has +2 Fate (which is really good if he’s your army leader). Besides that, ER-Thorin fights Azog better and gets to call free Heroic Combats…good benefits, but I don’t think it makes him better.

Dwalin

There are few heroes as beastly as Dwalin (in either form). While Dwalin the Dwarf from TC brings you a two-handed hammer, two axes, a dagger, and fists (never treated as unarmed), it’s important to note that unlike Gimli/ER-version Dwalin, you don’t get an Attacks boost for using your two hand axes. I assume that with several chances to reprint the rules, this isn’t an error – but it also means that your two-handed hammer is the go-to for Dwalin. With Fight 6, Strength 5 + Burly, 3 Attacks, and 2 Might, Dwalin is a real bargain for less than 100 points. His vulnerability is on Defense (“only” Defense 6, 2 Wounds, and 2 Fate), but he’s generally pretty tough to beat in melee, so just find a way to protect him from archery/magic and he’s golden (where has that wizard gone off to?).

Worse Dwalin: Dwalin is just better in the Erebor Reclaimed version – while the ability to bash someone if you’re not trying to end a scenario/dismounting a power hero is great with the TC-version, for 20 points more, the ER-version gets higher Defense, +1 Might, the ability to wield two hand axes to get +1 Attack, and treating Thorin as a banner (assuming you keep your army bonus), and Sworn Protector are really good upgrades. Plus, you can mount him on a goat…

Gloin

Gloin has always been my favorite member of Thorin’s Company – he’s basically a mini version of Gimli (my favorite hero in the Legions/Warbands era). With good combat stats (Fight 6, Strength 4, 3 Attacks, 2 Might, rerolling 1s to Wound), he can do some damage on the charge/at range as well as cleave through warriors (and potentially monsters/heroes) with relative ease. At Defense 7, he’s reasonably resilient and one of the best pieces in your army to be caught alone. Thanks to having an innate reroll 1s rule, he doesn’t need to be close to Thorin if you keep your army bonus, so he can ride off on a pony in a completely opposite direction of the rest of the group and be just fine.

Worse Gloin: While the ER-version of Gloin doesn’t have throwing weapons, he costs only 5 points more and gets +1 Defense, +1 Might, Sworn Protector, counts as in range of a banner if near Thorin (assuming you keep the army bonus), and swaps out his two hand axes for a weapon-mastered two-handed axe (so no penalty to winning the fight and never counting as unarmed). That’s a LOT of bonus for only +5 points. While the TC-version can be mounted on a pony and make use of his throwing axes, I think the play easily goes to the ER version.

The Ranged Presence: Kili, Fili, and Ori

In an army that is limited on models and doesn't have great defense, some shooting is very, VERY welcome...

Let me begin by saying this: there are more than three characters who can shoot (specifically Gloin’s throwing axes or Bilbo’s/Bifur’s thrown stones). The fact that you can have six people in your squad of 9-11 being able to shoot (and get some magic from Gandalf to boot) means that for an all-hero army, you can actually get a lot of archery. And if Erebor Reclaimed weren’t able to take Iron Hills Warriors with crossbows, you’d have a definite range advantage over the Champion of Erebor variants (not that your archery would do much to most of them). Still, focusing on the three best archers (3+ shoot while mobile) brings us only three people to consider: the brothers Kili and Fili and the wimpy Ori.

Kili

Kili is a great hero: Dwarf bows have been some of my favorite weapons since I started collecting Dwarves back in 2010 and Kili combines the enviable 3+ shoot value that you find on Dwarf Rangers with the stronger (though shorter-range) bows of Dwarf Warriors. Every archery-oriented Dwarf commander’s dream. The TC-version pairs this good archery ability with this is a very impressive Fight 5, though the rest of his stats are fairly average (2 Attacks, 2 Wounds, 2M/1W/1F).

Worse Kili: If you compare Kili, Champion of Erebor with a Dwarf bow on foot (you want him on a goat, but goats and ponies don’t compare well), the ER-version of Kili is better. For a whopping 30 points more, you get +3 Defense, +1 Might, Du Bekar (banner rule if you keep him near Thorin), and Sworn Protector, though you do lose the ability to call a Heroic March. While this might seem like a decent trade between them, the addition of the +3 Defense goes a long way to making Kili more survivable (at D5, he’s really squishy if caught in a bad jam. What makes him even better, however, is access to the goat (which not only allows you to bowl people over on the charge, but also ups him to the needed 3 Attacks that “good” heroes have). While Kili is an auto-include (for me) in any Thorin’s Company list, it’s clear that the Erebor Reclaimed one has some good boosts put in.

Fili

Fili is a more accurate, less killy, but still very dangerous, version of Gloin. With throwing axes (that hit more accurately) and innumerable swords (take THAT Blackshield shamans!), he’s fantastic. While Kili will probably be slower because of his bow, Fili has the ability to race around the board, throwing axes at vulnerable targets (or using them to break a hole in the line before a Dwarf charge). The ER-version doesn’t keep the throwing axes, but you can take a Dwarf bow (or a goat).

Worse Fili: Fili’s TC-profile is worse for the same reasons Kili’s is worse – the lower Defense and less Might. I’ll admit, I personally like the throwing weapons better than the Dwarf bow (and having throwing axes on a goat would be AWESOME), so maybe there’s an argument for Fili’s TC-version being better. None of this outweighs the differences between D5 and D8 though…

Ori

If you’ve played 10+ games of MESBG, you’ve probably had a game where there was some cheeky little archer who just plucked wounds off your big heroes just to be spiteful. I still remember one of my first games with my Dwarves, I fought Centaur’s growing Rohan army and one of his archers (afterwards known as Hawk-Eye) who shot and wounded Dain (his S2 bow wounded my D9 Dain on 6/6 - and yes, back before the Hobbit movies came out, Dain was D9) and Dain proceeded to fail both Fate rolls on 1s (funny, I decided not to promote them with all. my. Might.). Yeah, certain archers are annoying. In Thorin’s Company (and perhaps the game in general), there is no more annoying archer than Ori the Dwarf.

Ori has a slingshot, which means short-range (12”) and low-Strength (S1) BUT if you can stand still when you fire, you get to fire twice (kinda like having a low-powered, conditional Expert Shot rule). Alternatively you can use it like a bow and move half your distance and shoot once (which is not as good, but does increase your potency from 12” to 14.5” if moving normally and 16” if you March). What makes Ori such a good archer in Thorin’s Company is that if he hits on a natural 6 (that is, getting a 6 without using Might to promote it), he automatically passes in-the-way rolls and wounds the target – perfect for sniping charging warrior models who only have 1 Wound OR plucking a wound off a model that’s really hard to wound (like the Balrog or Sauron). No erratas have come out clarifying that you can’t use this on models that S1 weapons normally can’t wound (like the Balrog or Sauron), so I have to assume that the only way you can wound them is by rolling a natural 6 to hit. But you can.

Ori also provides a way for you to regain Might points, since any Thorin’s Company hero nearby him can regain a Might point each time they kill a hero/monster – which means any of the auto-includes we mentioned above (Thorin, Dwalin, Gloin) can focus on taking on heroes/monsters with the anticipation of being able to regain some of what they spend as they do so.

Better Ori: Ori in Erebor Reclaimed is very different: neither of them have “great” profiles, though ER-Ori does get +1FV, +3 Defense, +1 Attack, a hand-and-a-half axe instead of a slingshot and dagger, Du Bekar for banner rerolls if he’s near Thorin, Sworn Protector for auto-passing Courage tests, and Heroic Defense instead of Heroic Accuracy/March. That’s a lot of stuff for only +15 points! But his ROLE in the team is drastically different: while Ori gains a lot of stats, this doesn’t make him a great melee warrior (and he has to be a melee warrior now since he lost his slingshot): F4 S3 A2 with 1 Might point is only slightly better than a normal warrior (and only because of the extra Attack), while his defense stats (D7 H2 F1) is also only slightly better than what you’d see on Dwarf warriors. ER-version Ori either is an expensive Might-generating machine (far more expensive than Bill the Pony who is half his cost and admittedly not as good at fighting/resisting archery) OR he’s an overcosted average soldier. Either way, it's hard for him to make up his cost. TC-version Ori, however, can make up his cost pretty well, especially if your opponent is running D4/D5 warriors OR has a few high-cost low-Health models (like Ringwraiths). Put him on a pony to help him keep up and get the vantage points you need to hit vulnerable models (though it will make him more of a target for enemy archery – which you counter with Gandalf).

The Supporting Fighters: Bilbo, Nori, and Dori

The Supporting fighters are good in combat but much cheaper than the auto-includes - and by the way, Bilbo has the Ring on (more on that in a bit). :P

While Thorin/Dwalin/Gloin are great fighters (and Kili and Fili are decent fighters), you're going to need more than three (or five) heroes in order to keep the hoards of the enemy at bay. If you're in this situation, having a few more combat units around is handy - and for that, we look to the good combat specialists (though not as great as Thorin/Dwalin/Gloin), Nori and Dori, as well as the pinch-hitter for the team, Bilbo Baggins.

Bilbo
When I first saw the Thorin’s Company list, I said, “Bilbo Baggins is the absolute biggest waste of money on the whole team – why would I pay more money for Bilbo than I would for Nori, Dori, Kili, Fili, Oin, Bombur, or Ori?” So I bought my Dwarves used from a guy in the UK and decided not to get Bilbo. And then I learned about the changes to the One Ring in the new edition and I took it all back (and am working on getting one).

Bilbo is awesome – not only because with the Ring on, his measly F3 with Sting means he’ll have advantage when rolling off against F5/6 models AND automatically win ties against F1-4 models. Against F7+ models, Bilbo can call Heroic Strike because he ignores the “Sauron’s Will” section of the Ring’s rules, so since he only needs to get +2 FV on his D6 roll in order to have advantage AND he only needs to get +3 FV on his D6 roll to win ties AND because he can use Dori’s Might as his own if Dori is nearby, a wise Bilbo player will run Dori nearby (ideally in the same fight so you get a 3-Attack model in there) and let Bilbo borrow Might to call Heroic Strike (something Dori sorely lacks). With 2 Might of his own and 2 Might in Dori’s store, you can call Heroic Strike FOUR times with Bilbo and rely on Dori to win your fights and kill the model you’re facing (and if Dori is within range of Ori, he can get Might back…just saying).

Better Bilbo: There is no Bilbo Baggins in Erebor Reclaimed, though he does show up in the Survivors of Lake-town (historical allies with Erebor Reclaimed). The profiles themselves aren’t very different, except for the presence of the Mithril Coat on Bilbo (which adds a whopping 25 points to his total if both have Sting – which they always should) and +1 Might. This minor difference doesn’t make him as good in my opinion because while you’re getting +3 Defense, you’re only getting +1 Might as well. Unlike the Dwarves we’re looking at in this post, Bilbo doesn’t get Sworn Protector or Du Bekar – two great rules that basically come as free boosts to Dwarves, while the TC-version does get access to Heroic March and gets to reroll 1s to Wound if he’s near Thorin. So yes, not even close – choose the cheaper Bilbo.

Dori

Speaking of Dori, Dori is a great supporting hero. With Fight 5, 3 Attacks and an average amount of Might (2M), he’s a “good” hero – not great like Dwalin/Gloin, but good. Without access to Heroic Strike, he’s best employed against warriors (preferably of the F1-F4 variety), where his 3 Attacks can not only give him an edge in his fights, but also have a better chance of clearing out models (instead of putting a wound or two on a hero). The ER-version boosts Dori up quite a bit by giving him a two-handed mace instead of a single-handed sword and single-handed flail, as well as giving him Weapon Master so he can wield the mace without penalty (and never counts as unarmed should it be Shattered).

Worse Dori: Yeah, for only 20 points more, getting +3 Defense and a better offensive weapon (while maintaining access to Heroic Strength) is huge. This, stacked with the (are you tired of hearing about this?) Sworn Protector/Du Bekar rules makes him pretty beastly if Thorin is nearby. TC-version Dori is also unlikely to use his special strikes very effectively, since a three-attack model rarely needs to Whirl (unless he’s engaged with 4+ models?!?!?!?!) and Feint is less effective when you’re F5 (though you’ll still be guaranteed at least a roll-off against F2 models). The Mace, on the other hand, allows Dori to bash with a +1 modifier, which is great for dismounting heroes or bowling over shieldwall guys (though I think you’d have to have a REALLY good reason to pass up 3 attacks at S4 with +1 to Wound in favor of bashing).

Nori

Besides Ori (who we’ve already covered), Nori is the Dwarf that changes the most when moving from Thorin’s Company to Erebor Reclaimed: instead of being a mini-Dwalin (with Weapon Master and a two-handed mace), he moves to being a “sword-and-board” (really, mace-and-board) tank with more Attacks, no +1 to Wound, but the equivalent of Lord of the West (rerolling 1 die in both Duel rolls and Wounding rolls). This not only makes him the cheapest Lord of the West character in the game (by at least 50 points), but also makes him stellar as a killing machine regardless of which list you choose to use.

Worse Nori: As great as 2 Attacks with Heroic Strike and +1 to Wound without penalty (that can alternatively choose to Bash) is, you’ve got some incredible options with 3 Attacks + Du Bekar + Weapon Synergy (Lord of the West). This will effectively give you 5 dice to win the fight, making Nori a superb choice for hunting both heroes and warriors. Like the other Dwarves, you pay only 25 points to get +3 Defense, +1 Attack, and a host of new rules. Perhaps what’s best of all is that despite not having a two-handed weapon, the ER-version retains Weapon Master (so you’re still immune to Shatter, though you won’t be able to Bash anymore with your one-handed mace…because you were totally going to do that anyway…).

The Auric Supports: Gandalf, Oin, and Bombur

When you need a helping hand, call one of these guys...

While having good range and melee specialists are good, you need some members on the team who are going to provide group benefits to shore up weaknesses (and provide contingencies against certain problems). While the heroes above are good, most have a single Will point, which makes them vulnerable to magical powers (and Terror armies that make you take too many Courage tests). Since there are no banners in this list either, what you roll is what you get (unless you boost a roll with Might, of course). To meet these needs, you can take Gandalf the Grey, Bombur, or Oin.

Gandalf the Grey

I got started in this hobby with the Mines of Moria starter set and I had Gandalf allied in with Legolas and a bunch of Wood Elves to protect them from archery. I know all too well how useful Gandalf can be. When I first started looking at Thorin’s Company, I was like “Yep, I’m running just the Dwarves – don’t need Hobbits, don’t need wizards – both are two expensive and they don’t bring enough to the party.” Then I started putting Gandalf in the list and he solved so. many. problems. In fact, he did such a good job at shoring up weaknesses, that I did a post on everything he does for the army.

Better Gandalf? There’s very little difference between Gandalf the Grey in Thorin’s Company and Gandalf the Grey in the Survivors of Lake-town EXCEPT that Gandalf the Grey in the Survivors of Lake-town is a Hero of Valor and can lead 15 warriors, while Gandalf the Grey in Thorin’s Company is a Hero of Legend, allowing him to be your army leader. Both of these have merits, but only if you intend to have Lake-town Militia supplementing your Erebor Reclaimed heroes/Iron Hills warriors, so I’m inclined to think that having Gandalf as your army leader (allowing Thorin to be more reckless) has more benefit. I also think that you’re more likely to have the point space to include Gandalf in Thorin’s Company than you are to have the points available in an Erebor Reclaimed list (and you need him less in that list, so I think that makes your likelihood of including him even lower in his Survivors of Lake-town version).

Oin

Oin is a great hero – I actually converted a Dwarf King model I had lying around into him so I could run him with my Kingdom of Moria army. Whether you run him with Thorin’s Company or Erebor Reclaimed, he’s a great way to not only get a banner reroll when you need it, but recover a lost Wound or two as well. If you’re fighting magic casters, Oin is also a cheap source of Heroic Resolve (though for the same points, you can get it more often by taking Bofur – more on him in a bit - OR for 5 points less, you could get it by taking Balin – more on him in a bit too). There are few support heroes in the game as helpful (and as cheap) as Oin the Dwarf.

Worse Oin: The ER-version of Oin is only 20 points more than the TC-version (for a jaw-dropping 65 points total). The 20 points are immediately paid for by the +4 Defense he gets for putting on awesome armor and swapping his hand-and-a-half staff for a sword-and-board. Beyond this change, the profiles are exactly the same (besides the two extra rules that Erebor Reclaimed gets). While Heroic March is always nice, being able to shield (2 Attacks instead of 1) with a banner reroll (3 dice effectively to win the fight) makes you more likely to be able to hold an enemy swarm off of a hero you’re trying to heal. The promote from D4 to D8 is also huge – S3 foes go from wounding you on 5s to 6/4+, while S4 foes go from wounding you on 4s to 6s. This healer is tough, don’t you know…

Bombur

Bombur is an interesting kind of support hero: he provides extra Will points (which is great for Oin) and he’s a decent fighter (he’s got 2 Attacks at F4/S4 with 2 Might points). Neither Gandalf nor Oin are great in combat, but Bombur comes in with a “normal” captain’s profile. Where Bombur really shines, however, is on defense and his flexibility on offense (which is ironic considering he’s probably the least flexible physically of the entire company).

Bombur is great on Defense: while his D4/D7 would seem to contradict, Bombur is a very cheap 3 Wound hero – those are very rare. With 3 Wounds, 1 Fate point, and the ability to call Heroic Defense, Bombur is a reliable hero to tie down a mid-range hero (who probably dwarfs him in cost – see what I did there?) and keep that hero from slaying him for several turns. While mid-range heroes will have problems because Bombur may just beat them in combat, heroes who like to kill things will also have problems (getting 3 or 4 natural 6s is really hard to do – and if you need to do that over two turns, that’s even worse). While Bombur ties up someone important, your other heroes (Thorin, Dwalin, Gloin, Kili, Fili, Dori, Nori, maybe Gandalf) are slaying people left and right (or positioning themselves to take Bombur’s place should he fall).

But Bombur is great on offense too, not because of his Attacks/Strength (which are fine), but because of his special strikes. Bombur always has access to Bash because he’s Beefy: if he’s in the same fight as someone who also has a mace/hammer (like Nori or Dwalin), you can try Bashing with Bombur to knock them to the ground, freeing up your other hero to Wound instead. The TC-version has a cleaver for Feint/Stab, which is good if a bigger hero is also in the fight, since you can rely on his Fight value instead of your own to allow you to Feint (or if you have Bilbo with the Ring on in the fight). The ER-version on the other hand has a flail, which is really cool, but unless you’re facing 3+ foes, you’re unlikely to Whirl due to having 2 Attacks already in your profile.

Worse Bombur: The ER-version of Bombur costs 15 points more and gets +3 Defense and two great special rules. While I think the TC-version of Bombur is very good (because he’s a cheap anti-big-hero model), the ER-version is only slightly more expensive and can do the same job better. While you have the ability to call Heroic Defense, any S4 heroes who you tie down (let’s say Elrond or Glorfindel) will already wound you on 6s without you having to call Heroic Defense (while they’d be wounding the TC-version on 4s). This allows you to save your Might points and instead boost your rolls to win the fight or to save a wound with Fate. There is, of course, a difference between requiring a 6 To Wound and requiring a “natural 6” To Wound (as you get with Heroic Defense), as you can’t Rend the target, benefit from To Wound boosts from such things as two-handed weapons/lances/special rules, and you can’t boost your roll with Might. While I wouldn’t mind having a dagger on ER-Bombur (Stabbing is a lot less risky when your D7+), we can still bash if we win, which will make sure the hero fighting Bombur doesn’t kill anyone for another round (where we will charge him, of course). The other good thing about having a flail is that if you’re ganged up on by an enemy hero, you are free to Whirl, since you’re probably fighting at a lower Fight Value anyway – so if he brings any of his goons, Whirl away, keep Thorin nearby so Bombur gets his banner reroll, and use your Might to win that fight (or make him pay dearly to win it himself).

The Others: Balin, Bifur, and Bofur

And we've saved the . . . least descript for last . . .

I’ve saved the “best” for last – and by “best” I mean “the ones I just don’t ever plan on running no matter which list you’re using.” This isn’t to say that they don’t have usefulness – they’re useful, to be sure. Rather, unless you’re playing a really big game (certainly over 700 points, probably over 900 points), I don’t think you bring them. Ever. Assuming you take the heroes below in a Thorin’s Company list, you’re already at 870 points – who do you drop to add any of these guys?

• Gandalf the Grey (170)
• Thorin Oakenshield with Orcrist and Oakenshield (115)
• Dwalin (95)
• Gloin (85)
• Kili and Fili (100)
• Dori and Nori (110)
• Bilbo Baggins with Sting (65)
• Oin (45)
• Bombur (45)

If you’re running Erebor Reclaimed, the calculus (without Gandalf and Bilbo) becomes even worse – the list below is 900 points (and by the way, I’m not including any Iron Hills Warriors/Goat Riders):

• Thorin with Orcist and War Goat (135)
• Dwalin with War Goat (125)
• Gloin (90)
• Kili and Fili with War Goats (170)
• Dori and Nori (155)
• Oin (65)
• Dain Ironfoot on War Boar (160)

Perhaps you think you can rationalize taking out some of these models to run something else (and I’d definitely run some Iron Hills Warriors/Goats in the ER list provided above). But just in case you think any of these three blokes we’re about to cover is worth throwing in, let’s see why I’m not convinced.

Balin

While Gandalf gains fame for occurring in more army lists than any other model in the game, Balin gains fame for having more individual profiles than any other models in the game (narrowly edging out such heroes as Merry and Pippin). While I am a huge fan of the Balin, Lord of Moria profile from the Kingdoms of Khazad-Dum (Moria, really) list, neither the TC-version of Balin or the ER-version of Balin are all that exciting to me. This is not just because he is a S3 hero and he has a normal Fight value of 4, but because he’s only got 1 Attack and 1 Might point. While Balin’s Defense is fine/good (D5/D8) and while he’s got 2 Fate points to keep him alive and 3 Will points that allow you to reroll priority, he’s not really supportive in any other way (and only 5 points less expensive than heroes like Bombur and Oin who provide better benefits for the team).

Better Balin: That said, I think the TC-version of Balin is better: while the ER-version of Balin gets up to 2 Attacks and Defense 8 for only 20 points more, he wields a two-handed mace that isn’t that good at bashing because a) he does suffer the -1 penalty for wielding it (with no alternate weapon) and b) he’s only S3 so he’s really only good at Bashing warrior models (unless you can find another S3 hero to hit…like Eowyn or another Balin, for example). The TC-version of Balin also has the option to Bash, but he does so with a one-handed sword-mace, which is worse for Bashing but better for staying alive. While Might will certainly help the ER-version stay alive longer (as will the 2 Attacks and Defense 8), with everything else you need to buy in an Erebor Reclaimed list, I don’t see you buying him (even above 800 points). The TC version is blissfully cheap, so if you do have 40 points lying around, you might take Balin for his reroll of Priority (again, in a game over 800 points).

Bofur

When I first saw the rules for Thorin’s Company, I was actually thrilled with Bofur – he had Heroic Resolve and a personal shrug-off-the-effects-of-magic rule. Thanks to the most recent errata, we’re told that Bofur’s Steadfast rule will actually cancel a magical power that would affect other models besides Bofur (like Wrath of Bruinen, Nature’s Wrath, or Tremor). If you’re playing against a lot of Elrond/Arwen Rivendell armies, he might be worth including just for that. I started trying to include him into lists, but ultimately he just doesn’t make the cut. While Heroic Resolve (and Heroic March) is nice (and F4/S4/A2/2Might isn’t great but isn’t bad either), it’s just not on-par with the other options we have (Oin/Bombur would be easy swaps for points, Kili/Fili go well together but could be swapped for Bofur, could drop a piece of gear and leave Ori at home).

Worse Bofur: Bofur, like so many other Dwarves we’ve talked about, gains better Defense, a banner bonus (which is good since he has to wield his weapon two-handed), auto-passing Courage tests, AND access to Heroic Strike (like Bifur). The only real advantage that TC Bofur has of ER Bofur is the flexibility to do Piercing Strike with his mattock – which isn’t enough to outweigh the other benefits.

Bifur

Bifur is, of the three people we’ll be talking about in this section, the most useful in my assessment (unless you’re playing against an Elrond/Arwen Rivendell team - then you want Bofur). Though he’s only Fight 4, he’s got access to an axe (to make him Strength 5 if you need it) with 2 Attacks and 2 Might points. On Defense, he’s normal for these Dwarves (D5/D8) with 2 Wounds and 1 Fate point. What he provides that’s unique to the team is the ability to call free Heroic Moves after you get the axe head out of his head and the ability to throw stones (giving you an additional shooting attack – and he has a 3+ Shoot value, so it’s like having another Hobbit around . . . which we all know is "so good"). I will note that while I've chosen to focus on the axe-elements of Bifur, his weapon can also be used as a spear (great for helping him contribute to a fight involving a Terror character or if he just barely can't get into the fight). While all this is good (or fine or almost fine), he’s nowhere near the caliber of the other members of the team (except for Balin and Bofur).

Worse Bifur: Bifur is just better in the Erebor Reclaimed list – there’s nothing different about their profiles except for the boost in Defense, the two bonus rules, and the loss of Heroic March. The banner reroll from Thorin is huge, though, since it will give Bifur effectively 3 dice to win the fight (and while I think you want to single-hand your axe until you get the axe head out, you have the option of two-handing after that to make yourself much, MUCH stronger). While not a great hero on his own, he’s a good supporting hero, capable of doing damage and holding down a flank against a few warriors. The D8 also makes him a lot more durable than his TC counterpart.

What’s Next?

While you may think that there’s nothing else to do with the army (besides getting Bilbo, obviously), I’m actually acquiring some pony models to bring in and use with this list. Not entirely sure how I’m going to do it yet (whether I buy more models to put on them or if I get a second set of Thorin’s Company), but ponies are happening! While ponies don’t give you “true” cavalry bonuses, they do one very important thing for your list: they give you +3” of movement for +5 points/model. That additional movement can augment throwing weapon range (Fili and Gloin), augment your March distance (from 8” to 13” because they count as cavalry) and help you charge more models (8” charge range after passing a Courage test, which this list doesn't normally struggle with), and help you trap models better (or hold a choke point better) thanks to having larger bases.

Our next post in this series on heroes turns to Isengard. We'll be revisiting a post I did in January 2013 on Uruk-Hai heroes and seeing how the heroes stack up against previous assessments (and how you can make themed lists based on the different kinds of heroes you can bring). So prepare your white hand paint, dust off your favorite leather running shoes, and as always, happy hobbying!