Armies of Middle-Earth SBG: Lothlorien in the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game

Photo Credit: LOTR Wiki-Fandom

Across the misty mountains, in the golden wood, lies the mysterious realm of an Elf Witch and her mysterious folk. In the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game, Galadriel and her Lorien elves have a different aesthetic and game-play options from their cousins in Rivendell: they can skirmish, they can ride through the woods unimpeded, and they're inherently resistant to magic. They may not have as many big heroes as their high-elf cousins, but underestimate them at your own peril... especially if you are far away. You may not see them coming...

Army Quick(ish) Hits

• Strength: Dependable troops that will win a lot of fights. Like their cousins from Rivendell, Lorien elves are surprisingly good at winning fights, especially if properly supported. Fight 5 across the board, plus army-wide elven-made weapons, can present a real challenge to generic captains who can't Heroic Strike (and may even force heroes who can Heroic Strike to burn Might in order to clear out your generic troops). If you win most of your fights, you tend to win games--your models don't die, you don't cede important ground or objectives, and your models actually get wherever you want on the board (or off it). Pair their duel advantages with the rest of their profile (3+ shoot value, Strength 3, Defense 3-6, 1 Attack, 1 Wound, and Courage 5), and you have an army that can hold its own against a lot of challengers. With your high Fight (and Defense if you have Galadhrim Warriors), you're hard to eliminate even when outnumbered, your hand-and-a-half weapons mean you always have the option to get a +1 to-wound in combat, and Courage 5 will make opponents think twice about trying to move you with spectres (and makes you able to charge Terror-causing armies fairly consistently). Oh, and you have Woodland Creature, too, to move through woods faster than other conventional armies can. That's a great place to start an army. And that's before you start leveraging your 3+ shoot value (which you can use for one-third elf-bows, or full-army throwing weapons) and army-wide Resistant to Magic if you keep your army bonus. 
• Strength: Mobile cavalry. Galahdrim Knights aren't Rivendell Knights, mostly because they don't have the option for +1 to-wound (no lances, and weirdly, no hand-and-a-half weapons). But they do come on armored horses (a plus) with Fleetfoot, plus Expert Rider and the option for elf-bows and shields, which means you can have sneaky-fast horse archers who can charge (or skirmish) in woods. That's a 29" threat range if you move-and-scoot (more if there's a Heroic March thrown in), which is nothing to sneeze at. They are slightly cheaper than Rivendell Knights but only slightly, so be sure to protect them as they close if your opponent has any serious shooting threats (the armored horses should help against most enemy archers, though).
• Strength: Courage. Courage 5 (6 with a War Horn) is usually good enough, but in those rare circumstances when it's not, both Celeborn and Galdriel have the option to boost the courage of your elves by another 1 for 1 point. Courage 7 on a basic troop is absurdly highly, and can pose a real problem to Strength 3 enemies with Blades of the Dead (like the Dead of Dunharrow), who suddenly need 6s to wound you, even if Harbinger of Evil is active. 
• Strength: Good hero selection. This isn't quite Rivendell's hero suite, but you still have access to a top-tier caster (Galadriel), a top-tier combat elf (Celeborn), a mid-tier combat hero (Rumil), a mid-tier archer / melee hero (Haldir), a couple of cheap captains (Galadhrim and Wood Elf Captains), and a control-caster (Wood Elf Stormcaller), all of whom can fill different niches in your force. The inclusion of Rumil and Haldir (plus Galadriel and Celeborn, who also have 3M each) means you can have a pretty hefty Might Store on the relative cheap. Galadriel, Celeborn, and Rumil also have access to heroic defense which gives them surprising staying power. If you really want to up their staying power, Galdriel's Blessing of the Valar or her mirror (or both) can become all-levels of annoying for your opponent. And again, if you keep your army bonus active, all your Lorien heroes also gain Resistant to Magic.
• Strength: Troop choices. Lothlorien has an advantage over Rivendell when it comes to troop choices: in addition to the armored Galadhrim Warriors (essentially High-Elf Warriors) and Galadhrim Knights (about 85% of Rivendell Knights), Lothlorien has three more options. Wood Elves offer a surprisingly cheap basic troop (Fight 5, Courage 5, and elven-made hand-and-a-half-weapons with elven cloaks for just 8 points) that you can load with more expensive upgrades if you wish (though at just Defense 3, you may not want to go too overboard). Wood Elf Sentinels add a second attack and some pseudo-magical songs that can make individual models Fearless, pull an individual model around the board if it fails a courage test, or even cast Terror on your sentinel. And then there are the Guards of the Galadhrim Court: base Fight-6 models who can use the rules for shielding with their pikes, who are extremely cheap roadblocks for your opponent's more expensive heroes.
• Strength: Alliances. Lothlorien, like Rivendell, has a ton of yellow alliance options, which you can pair with three green alliance choices. Rivendell is your high-power option, as pairing a top-tier caster like Galadriel with a heavy-hitter like Glorfindel or a control boss like Elrond opens up some intriguing game-play opportunities. Rohan is another intriguing option, and shores up a key weakness of Lorien (you have no mounted heroes, and your mounted warriors are on the expensive side for what they do). Last is the Fellowship, which allows you to import a ton of heavy combat heroes (Aragorn, Boromir, Gimli, Legolas) plus yet another top-tier wizard (Gandalf the Grey) who can engage in all sorts of crazy shenanigans in a tag-team with Galadriel. 

Named Hero Profiles

Photo Credit: moddb

• Galadriel. Lothlorien's only Hero of Legend (for now), Galadriel is in many ways the lynchpin of what makes the faction unique. Like many of her warriors she is lightly armored (Defense 3), but makes up for it with a high Fight Value and buffs against shooting (Blinding Light 2+) and damage (Blessing of the Valar 3+, Nenya, and Heroic Defense). Terror and Woodland Creature also give her some protection against being swarmed, and she also has access to Immobilize (12" range, 3+ cast) and Command (12" range, 4+ cast) to help mitigate enemy monsters or big heroes. The Lady of Lothlorien gives her a free Will each turn, in addition to the 6 in her store, and Courage 7 means she is unlikely to fail courage tests, even if Harbinger of Evil is active on the battlefield. Like Celeborn, each model in her warband can be boosted to Courage 6 for 1 point, which is phenomenal for basic troops. While she can kill enemy models, the fact that she's unarmed (-1 to duel rolls, -1 to wound rolls) means it can be an uphill battle, especially if she is unsupported in combat or if the enemy model isn't trapped. Last, you can take her Mirror for 25 points, which allows a friendly Hero within 6" to restore his / her Fate to its starting level during the End Phase, which is pretty nifty. As of this writing, that's any friendly Hero model, not a Hero with the Lorien keyword.
• Celeborn. Celeborn didn't get the screen-time of his more famous kin (Elrond and Thranduil), but that didn't stop him from getting some beastly combat potential (though apparently it did demote him to Hero of Valour status). The elven-made hand-and-a-half sword is a tremendous upgrade that takes Celeborn from being unarmed to being one of a handful of Fight 6 models with an elven-made weapon (for getting an edge in those critical strike-offs). The Heavy Armor upgrade boosts him to the all-important Defense 6, and if you take the shield he can get as high as Defense 7 (great insurance against most heroes). Like Elrond, he has Lord of the West for a free duel and to-wound re-roll, along with Terror, Woodland Creature, and a 12" Stand Fast! (Lord of Lorien). 3 Attacks, 3 Wounds, and 3/3/3 heroic stats make for a great combat profile, which he pairs with Heroic Strike and Heroic Defense. He can also Heroic Channel three potential spells: Aura of Command (2+), so all friendly models within 6" auto-pass their courage tests; Enchanted Blades (3+) so he (or another friendly model within 6") can reroll failed to-wound rolls, and a cheeky 12" Immobilize (3+) in case you want to try for a "free" / "no-risk" combat against a bigger hero like Azog or Bolg. Unfortunately you cannot mount him on a proud forest elk, and he doesn't have Elrond's flair for the theatrical (Wrath of Bruinen, Foresight Points), but the lack of both makes him a much cheaper alternative, even with his full upgrade kit. Lastly, you can upgrade any Galadhrim Warriors in his warband to Courage 6.
• Haldir. Haldir's been the subject of much discussion lately, almost none of it related to his profile in-game, which is good but not great. Fight 6 with an elven-made hand-and-a-half-sword, Expert Shot with a 3+ shoot value and the option for an elf-bow, Strength 4, Defense 4-6 (depending on if you take the heavy armor), 2 Attacks / Wounds, and 3/1/1 heroic stats with Heroic Strike, Strength, and Accuracy are pretty good. Since he also cannot be mounted, Woodland Creature (plus the option for an elven cloak) give him some measure of protection against enemy charges, and he also counts as being both Fearless and in range of a banner if he's within 12" of either Aragorn or Theoden. When he finally succumbs to the enemy, One Final Blow lets him make a Strength 4 strike against every model engaged with him in the fatal combat. It's a gimmick play, but potentially a very dangerous one. As of the latest FAQ, he got a promotion to a Hero of Valour (can lead up to 15 troops), which is great for him (more troop slots are always great to have) if a little disconcerting for Celeborn (who now may not need to be the leader in the same force as Haldir).
• Rumil. Haldir's brother, who specializes more in melee combat. You can take an Elven Cloak as an option, but everything comes built-in: Fight 6 with elven-made sword, a shield and heavy armor for Defense 7, 2 Attacks / Wounds, 3/1/1 heroic stats with Heroic Defense, Woodland Creature, and Swift Parry to force an enemy model in his fight to reroll a duel die of your choice (a fantastic ability). The absence of Heroic Strike is a little strange, but Heroic Defense makes him pretty survivable even against bigger foes. As a Hero of Fortitude, he can lead up to 12 warriors in his warband.

Unnamed Hero Profiles

• Galadhrim Captain. As they do in many other armies, the generic Galadhrim Captain offers to fill a particular niche that your named heroes don't fill: cheap troop movers. Heroic March is the central feature, which pairs with a pretty good combat profile (Fight 6 with elven-made weapon, Defense 6/7 if you take the shield, 2 Attacks / Wounds, and 2/1/1 heroic stats). The wargear options are also solid: in addition to the shield, you can take an elf bow or an armored horse (or all three, since you have Expert Rider and Fleetfoot, in addition to Woodland Creature). The full kit costs almost 100 points--more than many a named hero--so I'm not sure spamming three captains is more attractive than, say, Rumil, Haldir, and a Captain, but they can hold their own against a good number of named heroes in their points range, which is something.
• Wood Elf Captain. These guys check-in at just 5 points less than their armored cousins, but lose a lot in comparison: in addition to the drop from Defense 6 to Defense 4, they also lose the option for an armored horse, along with Expert Rider and Fleetfoot (though they retain Woodland Creature). Elf bows and throwing weapons are their two ranged upgrade options (either is a good choice paired with their 3+ shoot value) along with a Wood Elf Spear--a specialized piece of wargear that allows the Wood Elf Captain to use the rules for shielding (in addition to supporting a model). Two additional notes on their starting war gear. First, because they top-out at Defense 4, their Elven Cloak will be important for keeping them safe against enemy archers (especially if you don't have Galadriel along for Blinding Light). Second, their elven-made sword is not a hand-and-a-half sword (at least not in the army book), so you don't have the option to use it two-handed.
• Galadhrim Stormcaller. Unnamed magic casters generally got some nerfs in the new edition, but the Stormcaller seems to have suffered more than most. He's a minor hero now (6 models max in his warband), and unlike all the other heroes available to Lothlorien is only Fight 5 with 1 Attack and 2 Wounds. He has 1/3/1 heroic stats with the option for Heroic Channel, and two spells: Call Winds (3+) and Enchanted Blades (4+). The spells themselves are fairly good (though the loss of Nature's Wrath, while warranted and appreciated from a game balance perspective, hurts as well). Call Winds doesn't knock models back 2D6 inches anymore, but even D6 inches of knock-back (plus prone) can blunt a big enemy hero (or a banner) for a couple of turns. Enchanted Blades is an interesting choice in this list, especially if you have Celeborn in tow (who can also cast it), although Haldir or Rumil can make a respectable showing of it if you can trap their target. While most generic shamans are hard-capped at 3 Will (and thus a maximum of 3 spells cast per game), the Stormcaller has an outside chance of more if he can roll a 6 while casting (in which case he gets all Will that was just spent back--the only model in the game I believe who can regain Will on a natural 6 whilst casting spells). If you roll a single D6 each turn you have a 16.7% chance of rolling a "6," so the odds aren't great. If you roll 3D6, those odds of at least one "6" jump up to 42%. So make of that what you will, I guess...

Warrior Profiles

Photo Credit: Othrandir on DeviantArt

• Galadhrim Warriors. Prior iterations of the game kept these guys slightly behind their High-Elf cousins: while Rivendell could get to Defense 6, Galadriel's armored elves topped out at Defense 5, even with shields. That is no longer the case. Galadhrim warriors are now exactly the same as High-Elves, from their base stats (Fight 5 with an elven-made hand-and-a-half sword, 3+ shoot, Defense 5, and Courage 5) to their upgrade choices (Elf bows, spears, shields, banners, and war horns). That's not a bad thing--heavy elves are among the sturdiest infantry in Middle-Earth--especially since Lothlorien, unlike Rivendell, also has other troop types you can sprinkle into your force for some added variety.
• Galadhrim Knights. Rivendell Knights, these are not. Yes, they're still Fight 5 with elven-made swords and the option for elf-bows and shields. Yes, their horses are armored now (plus they have Fleetfoot to go with Expert Rider). But they don't have the option for lances, nor can they use their sword two-handed (like Wood Elf Captains, they only have elven-made swords, not hand-and-a-half swords, though I'm not sure why that is). And while they're not quite as expensive as Rivendell Knights, they're not exactly much cheaper than RKs, either. Don't get me wrong: fast-moving horses with high fight, defense, and courage who can fly through wooded terrain are phenomenal (and can win you some objective-based missions almost single-handedly). But at only Strength 3 with no option for wound bonuses (and almost no chance you're going to pay a point to swap their elven-made sword for anything else that isn't elven-made), they can struggle to kill things just like Easterlings or Riders of Rohan who haven't charged. Not exactly what you want on a model that costs up to 20 points each if you deck them out.
• Guard of the Galadhrim Court. These are phenomenally cheap for what they do: Fight 6 troops can cause a real problem for many heroes (even heroes who can Strike are probably hesitant to commit one of their precious Might points just to get around a single 12-point warrior), and if the model can shield all the better (Caras Galadhon Fighting Style). Three important notes on them: first, their Fight 6 is a static Fight 6, without any "within X inches of so-and-so" restrictions, which is absolutely awesome. Second, because they have pikes, they cannot support a model who is supporting with a spear--they can only support other pikes from two-deep. Third, although they have Courage 6 (or potentially Courage 7 if they're in Galadriel or Celeborn's warband), they do not have Bodyguard, so they still have take courage tests. It shouldn't matter too often, but every so often it will (and when it does, it will suck). That said, they're still phenomenally good. Definitely take these every time.
• Wood Elf Warriors. These are your Galadhrim Warriors with Defense 3 instead of Defense 5, and options for elf bows, throwing daggers, wood elf spears, and banners (no war horns or shields). These guys actually do have hand-and-a-half swords also (so that's interesting), and if you just take them in their base form without upgrades they're actually surprisingly cheap (8 points for Fight 5 with a hand-and-a-half weapon, plus an elven cloak). The throwing weapons with a 3+ shoot make them sneaky-scary skirmishers, and of course a healthy elf bow contingent in a force with Woodland Creature and elven cloaks (plus potentially Blinding Light) can be scary-difficult to dislodge from terrain. If you have a chance to kill them from distance, by all means do it; getting rid of them in combat is far more difficult, especially if you have to close on them to do it.
• Wood Elf Sentinels. A highly-elite troop, a sentinel is essentially a Wood Elf Warrior (Fight 5, 3+ shoot, Strength 3, Defense 3, 1 Wound, Courage 5) with 2 Attacks, an elven-made sword (again, not hand-and-a-half), elf bow, and elven cloak. Each turn, a Sentinel gets to sing a single song if they are not engaged in combat, which can take one of three forms: a single model within 12" auto-passes all courage tests for the remainder of the turn (The Hymn of Elbereth), a single enemy model within 12" must take a Courage test and, if it fails, may be moved up to its maximum Move, even if it has already moved that turn (and then can move no further) (Eldamar Madrigal), or the Sentinel can cause Terror for the duration of the turn (The Lay of Gondolin). The chosen song is automatically cast without spending Will, and cannot be resisted (though the Eldamar Madrigal requires the target to fail a courage test before it takes effect). 

About those Legendary Legions

• The Defenders of Helm's Deep. As of this writing, Lorien plays a supporting role in one legendary legion: the Defenders of Helm's Deep legion, from Rohan at War. The only eligible Lothlorien models are Haldir and Galadhrim Warriors, and you are capped at filling only 33% of your entire force with Lorien models, so if you're primarily interested in playing with models from Lothlorien this isn't a great showcase legion for those models. Having said that, any elves with elf-bows that do not move get an extra 6" added to their ranged attacks (30" range instead of 24" range), which is pretty sick. 

Concluding Thoughts

That takes us through the two core elven factions in The Lord of the Rings. Next up, we'll head north to Greenwood the Great to check on everyone's favorite yoga-elf and his prince-ling son. If you have thoughts on Lothlorien, be sure to let us know in the comments, and don't forget to check out more resources below from the TMAT Team and the Middle-Earth SBG community!

More from the TMAT Team

• Shooting: Skirmish Models, Revisited (December 2019)
• Shooting: Getting the Most Out of Archery, Revisited (October 2019)
• Throwing Weapon Theory: How to Make Them Work, Revisited (October 2019)
• Using / Fighting Spellcasters: Unlimited Casters, Revisited (August 2019)
• Using / Fighting Spellcasters: Auxiliary Mages, Revisited (August 2019)
• Using / Fighting Spellcasters: Combat Mages, Revisited (July 2019)
• Magic in MESBG, Part IV: Lothlorien (April 2019)
• New Rules, Part VIII: The Free Peoples, Part I (December 2018)
• Workbench Update: Wood Elves (October 2017, *Pre-MESBG)
• Understanding the Strategy: Wood Elves (November 2011, *Pre-MESBG)

Support your Hobby

• Lothlorien Model Range (Games Workshop)

Recommended Resources

• PODCAST: Episode 86: Lothlorien (The Green Dragon Podcast)
• MEDIA: Review of Armies of the Lord of the Rings, Part 12: Lothlorien (STF Wargaming Studio)
• MEDIA: Army Showcase: Galadhrim Elves (The Lotr SBG Team)
• PODCAST: Mustering an Army, Ep. 5: Lothlorien and Mirkwood (The Green Dragon Podcast, *Pre-MESBG)
• MEDIA: How to Play and Buy Lothlorien (DC Hobbit League, *Pre-MESBG)
• MEDIA: Free Peoples Week: Heroes of Lothlorien and Mirkwood and Warriors of Lothlorien and Mirkwood (GBHL, *Pre-MESBG)
• MEDIA: Lothlorien and Radagast with Will Champion (GBHL, *Pre-MESBG)
• BATTLE REPORT: Lothlorien v. Azog's Legion (The D6 Fix)
• BATTLE REPORT: Lothlorien v. Moria (Der Wurfelorden)
• BATTLE COMPANIES: Lothlorien v. Minas Morgul (Blackfyre Productions)
• HOBBYING: Unboxing Galadhrim Warriors (The Scrumpy Kiwi)
• HOBBYING: Let's Paint: Galadhrim Warriors (V1989)
• HOBBYING: Galadhrim for Cheltenham (Guardians of Wilt-Shire)