The Bare Necessities, Part XXI: Azog's Legion

Good morning gamers,

If you live in the States, happy Memorial Day. In the words of King Theoden, "Tonight we remember those who gave their blood for this country - hail the victorious dead!"

In today's post, we're continuing our discussion on armies I'm still purchasing. We've already covered the Halls of Thranduil, the Dark Powers of Dol Guldur, and the Shire and today we come to one of the newest armies that has crossed my mind with some neat ideas: Azog's Legion. While we mentioned that the Dark Powers of Dol Guldur list is the most flexible evil army from the Armies of the Hobbit book, Azog's Legion has a wide variety of units that all basically do the same thing: kill things in melee and shrug off damage with pretty good Defense (some don't have great Defense, but the majority do). For the opinions of the experts, you want to check out the recent podcast from the Green Dragon Podcast on this army (I differ in opinion from them a little bit in this post).

Azog's Legion: If You Bring Azog, When Do You Bring The Signal Tower?

When I first looked at Azog's Legion, I saw a) no shooting apart from Catapult Trolls, and b) very few hero choices (Azog, Bolg, various generic captains). To me, this made them worse than Azog's Hunters and MUCH worse than the Dark Powers of Dol Guldur. When you factor in that some of the models haven't been made yet, many of the models are available exclusively through Forge World, and the handful from GW are pretty expensive, this army was a no-go for me (possibly as an alliance).

When I looked at the list the first time, I also glossed over the Signal Tower - like the One Ring or War Beasts, when you have a whole page of rules (or two) dedicated to one thing in the game (something you may rarely/never face), new players and experienced players alike probably say "Huh, that's nice" and turn the page before digging too far into it. When I first looked at the list, I had no interest in the Signal Tower because a) there's no model for it yet, and b) it costs 200 points - and why in the heck would you spend 200 points for an upgrade?

Well, I'm glad you asked - because after looking into the Signal Tower, it's actually a really good bargain. Let's break it down:

• The Signal Tower includes 7 Azog's Lieutenants, who have profiles very similar to Rangers of the North (no bows and lower Courage, but otherwise their gear and stats are exactly the same). Rangers of the North are 30 points each, so let's assume that Azog's Lieutenants would each be worth 20-25 points. With 7 of them included in the price of the tower, you've got 140-175 points of the Signal Tower covered (25-60 points more to make up).
• The Signal Tower comes with 3 banners (that count as banners in scenarios that give you victory points for having a banner on the board at the end of the game), one of which counts as a battlefield-wide banner for all Gundabad models - that's worth at least 25 points, but probably worth more than that.
• The Signal Tower also has the Horn of Gorgoroth, which counts as a war horn for you (+1 Courage), but also applies a -1 Courage penalty on enemy models all over the battlefield. This, added to the battlefield-wide banner, is basically what you get from a Moria Goblin Drum (which is worth 75 points to Moria and doesn't actually cover the entire battlefield). At the very least, this horn and the battlefield-wide banner are worth 75 points together (which is more than the rest of the cost we need to make up).
• One of the other banners on the signal tower allows you to call free Heroic Marches - each time you call a free Heroic March, that's worth 5 points (as a Might point adds roughly 5 points to a normal profile). Since you don't have shooting, getting across the board is important - and if you want to have Might left over for Heroic Moves on your Captains (and Strike on Azog), this tower is your friend.
• The third banner gives all of the Gundabad models on the battlefield a 6+ save against taking wounds (which turns the 6+ Oblivious To Pain save on your Gundabad Berserkers into a 5+ save) - this is not only a nice surprise for your warriors, but also is great because both Azog and Bolg (all your heroes, actually) have a single Fate point. Having a non-zero probability of stopping every wound is nice to have when you give up points for having wounds on your Army Leader.
• Finally, the Signal Tower is placed at the beginning of the game anywhere on the battlefield - which means you can place it safely behind your lines in most scenarios OR place it in your opponent's side of the board in scenarios where you need to get somewhere. Even if your opponent tries to take the tower, you'll have 7 mini-heroes to defend the banners and distract while the rest of your army gets in position - PERFECT!

In large games, you're getting well over 200 points worth of value for "only" 200 points. The tax comes in this: you need to take Azog in order to take this - so you're spending at least 365 points on Azog and this upgrade (though I don't think you'd leave the White Warg at home or the heavy armor - so realistically, it's 425 points). At lower point levels, Bolg with a Goblin Mercenary warband is probably the better option, but at games at/above 700 points, I think Azog is well worth bringing with the Signal Tower.

One final note on the Signal Tower: if you don't have enough models to man all of the elements, I'd prioritize the signal tower elements as follows:

• Battlefield-wide banner (because you're going to want this).
• Battlefield-wide 6+ save (not a great save, but your army has basically no archery, so every little bit helps as you slog across the map - more important during the middle/end of the game OR from the very beginning if you get to deploy on the center-line).
• Battlefield-wide free Heroic Marches (not really necessary during the middle of the game, essential early in the game, sometimes necessary late in the game).
• War Horn with Battlefield-wide Courage debuff (unless you're facing a Terror/Harbinger army, you can often get away with losing this during the early/middle of the game).

Currently, I have the following models:

• Azog F&M
• Gundabad Troll with Club
• The makings of a Signal Tower

Early picture of my Signal Tower in the works - the tower stands roughly 7" high and is roughly 6" in diameter with a circular stairway that goes around the outside of the tower (total travel distance is 19" up the stairs). There is a tunnel on the ground level and an open landing on the second level (which provide some options for fighting if desired and also makes it more usable as a generic ruin piece in a game where I'm not playing with the Signal Tower).

Perhaps I've already shown my hand, but here's our list today:

The Bare Necessities, Part XX: The Shire

Good morning gamers,

As we continue our look at armies I'm planning on developing, we've viewed the Halls of Thranduil and the Dark Powers of Dol Guldur. Today, we turn our attention to an army that I've wanted to collect since I started the hobby back in 2010 (but alas, the start-up cost for this army is more expensive than pretty much any other army in the game): The Shire!

The Shire: Legendary Legion or Gandalf the Grey?

There are LOADS of new heroes for the Shire in the Scouring of the Shire book, and it's easy to get blown away with all of the people to choose from. In my mind, there are a few Hobbit heroes that do particularly important things:

• Farmer Maggot: not only does he include 3 Faux cavalry in his warband, but he can go 2H with Piercing Strike at base S3 and 2 Attacks - that's as killy as Hobbits come;
• Holfoot Bracegirdle: anyone who makes 2H weapons not lend penalties is really good - especially if your army is predominantly S2 (he also gives you access to Heroic March, which is big if your army is predominantly 4" move);
• Merry and Pippin: these are the two heroes that have decent resilience and augment your troops really well (most of your army as F3 with Tookish Hunters, your axe-carrying militia able to Pierce up to S4);
• Frodo of the Nine Fingers: if you don't have spears, you need banners - and Frodo is a 6" banner that can be put on a pony for slightly more area coverage and more mobility to support the part of your line that needs help;
• Folco Boffin: A cheap hero who allows Frodo to call 3 Heroic Moves/Resolves with his Will points - for an army that sports heroes that predominantly have 1 Might point each, that's good;
• Farmer Tolman Cotton: most Hobbit heroes only have 1 Might point - and that's good if you want to do something once, but it helps if you have 2 Might. Cotton has 2 Might points AND has a pseudo-banner rule (reroll 1s on Duel rolls) AND has a weapon that can be used as a spear (you should always do this, since you only have 1 Attack anyway), so he can augment one fight each round with his Might (and possibly Fight Value if supporting a Hobbit Militia).
• Baldo Tulpenny: not only is it awesome to automatically wound with those rocks if you get a natural 6 to hit, but bringing lots of traps is good too!

While there are MANY great heroes in the Scouring book, these ones jump to the top for me. My collection includes the following models:

• Gandalf the Grey
• Old Bilbo Baggins
• Spare Fellowship Frodo that will be converted into Lotho Sackville-Baggins
• Farmer Maggot & Dogs
• 4 Hobbit Shirriffs
• 4 Hobbit Militia
• 4 Hobbit Archers

In general, I think bringing Gandalf makes for a more balanced Shire list. While the Defenders of the Shire LL is amazing, I turn to Gandalf for my list today (because we need options for neutralizing enemy heroes)!

The Bare Necessities, Part XIX: The Dark Powers of Dol Guldur

Good morning gamers,

Last time, we looked at my plans for developing a Halls of Thranduil force in the coming months. Today, we turn our attention to a force of Evil that I've been scheming about for a while. Most of this year/next year's hobby funds will be devoted to the Halls of Thranduil, but hot on its heels is Dol Guldur, which I consider to be the second most versatile Evil faction in the game (behind Mordor - they are certainly the most versatile force in the Armies of the Hobbit book). Not too long ago, the Green Dragon team posted an amazing podcast on the Dark Powers army - listen to that for some really good insights from veterans of the Dol Guldur faction. My theories happened to coincide with some of theirs, so I feel like I have some good direction for what to collect.

Dark Powers of Dol Guldur: Pure Force or Historical Allies?

It took me a long time to "like" the Orc-based armies from the Hobbit book. I love the Trolls and I gained a lot of respect for Goblin-town the first time my son used it against me. I've fought Centaur's Hunter Orcs for a while now (Azog's Hunters, not Dark Powers) and gained a huge respect for them in his "Halloween Army" that he brought to a TMAT GT back in 2014 (which never lost to my beloved Isengard force).

The Dark Powers of Dol Guldur list, in my opinion, is the most balanced of the Evil forces from the Armies of the Hobbit. As I explained in our podcast/video on Evil Spell-casters, the Dark Powers of Dol Guldur list has all of the warrior profiles available in the Azog's Hunters list (albeit with a lower Shoot value and a lower bow limit) and has Gundabad Orcs which are available in the Azog's Legion list (though none of the other specialized troops) AND have a unique warrior choice in Mirkwood Spiders.

The question is this: should you make a pure Dark Powers of Dol Guldur army? Or should you ally with one of these other forces? If you plan to bring the Necromancer of Dol Guldur, bringing a Historical ally is far better than bringing a Convenient ally (as the Necromancer benefits greatly from the army bonus). Bringing him and a bunch of Nazgul of Dol Guldur appears to be a popular approach, though the warriors in this list beg to be brought along too. Bringing just the Necromancer from the Dark Powers list (with a warband of troops) and bringing in an allied contingent from either (or both) of the Azog lists can give you access to better archers (with Azog's Hunters) and more elite warriors/monsters (with Azog's Legion). Currently, I don't have any models from this army, so everything is from scratch.

Heirlooms of Ages Past: Battle Report

Good morning gamers!

Well, the world might be paralyzed by the Barrow-Wight that is COVID-19 at the moment, but my good mate Centaur and I recently rolled a 6 and decided to use our movement to get up and use our movement to get a battle report in. :-) This game will be between a 750-point variant of one of the armies I recently presented in my List Building series (the Bare Necessities) and Centaur's go-to force this year, the horde that is Azog's Hunters. Here are the forces:

The King Arrives: 750 points

Aragorn, King Elessar on armored horse - 240 points

8 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields - 64 points

6 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields, spears, and bows - 60 points
4 Knights of Minas Tirith with shields - 56 points

The King of the Dead - 100 points

5 Warriors of the Dead with shields - 75 points

4 Warriors of the Dead with shields and spears - 64 points

1 Warriors of the Dead with shield, spear, and banner - 41 points

Damrod - 25 points
1 Warrior of Minas Tirith with shield - 8 points
1 Warrior of Minas Tirith with spear and shield - 9 points
1 Ranger of Gondor - 8 points

34 units, 8 bows, 3 heroes, 5+ Might points

Azog's Boys: 749 points

Azog on the White Warg - 215 points

1 Hunter Orc with banner - 33 points

3 Hunter Orcs with two-handed picks- 27 points

8 Hunter Orcs - 64 points

Narzug - 50 points

8 Hunter Orcs with Orc bows - 72 points

Fimbul on Fell Warg - 60 points

5 Hunter Orcs on Fell Wargs - 80 points

4 Fell Wargs - 32 points

Hunter Orc Captain with two-handed pick - 50 points

2 Hunter Orcs with two-handed picks- 18 points

6 Hunter Orcs - 48 points

41 units, 8 Orc bows, 4 heroes, 14 Might points

The scenario we will be playing is an Heirlooms of Ages Past game on a board that is 48" x 48". We have a hill in the middle (still working on it) with a smattering of woodland patches, some field boundaries, and a bog nearby (can you smell it?). We rolled to place the objectives - Centaur placed the three red objectives (represented by Bilbo Baggins, Farmer Maggot, and a Hobbit Militia that I call Wilcome Tunnelly), while I placed the three blue objectives (represented by Grip, Fang, and Wolf).

The Hunter Orcs won the first turn priority and will begin to roll for his warbands to arrive first.

The Bare Necessities, Part XVIII: The Halls of Thranduil

Good morning gamers,

In this series, we've already looked at 13 armies and how you can build them to be balanced to take advantage of victory points in any scenario you have to play. In Volume I, we looked at the five basic elements for scoring victory points, while Volumes II and III looked at armies I've been collecting for a while and how they can either easily (Vol. 2) or not so easily (Vol. 3) set themselves up for success. This post begins Volume IV, where I look at factions I've barely begun to collect and how I plan to use these five basic principles to shape my army collection. Today we begin with the last of the Elven factions to be reviewed: the Halls of Thranduil.

Halls of Thranduil: To Thanduil or Not To Thranduil (And How Much Thranduil)?

In the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game, we have six major Elven combat heroes (3 Attacks and 3 Wounds): Rivendell has the most with Elrond, Gil-Galad, and Glorfindel; Lothlorien has Celeborn; The Halls of Thranduil have Thranduil himself; and the White Council has Galadriel, Lady of Light (as well as Elrond, Glorfindel, and Celeborn - so technically they have the most I guess). These heroes are really powerful, but often suffer from a big problem: they're really expensive.

Thranduil, when fully kitted out is very expensive: weighing in at 190 points with his Elk, heavy armor, extra sword, Elf bow, and Circlet of Kings, he's as expensive as Elrond with all his toys and more expensive than all of the other Elven hero options. But Thranduil has one major advantage over these other heroes: he has a base cost of 100 points. With 90 points of potential customizability, Thranduil is very flexible as a hero - perfectly capable of being run as a cheap Hero of Legend to bring more warriors to a fight or as a bulked-out combat hero who is capable of slaying lots and lots of things.

If you run a pure Halls of Thranduil list, you're encouraged to get him, as he can provide some much-needed damage output from your armored troops. If you choose to ally with someone who isn't the Survivors of Lake-town or the Iron Hills, you could bring the Halls of Thranduil without Thranduil, relying on some of your other heroes (Tauriel and Legolas, probably in that order) to carry the day. Personally, I like the Halls of Thranduil army bonus, so for me, Thranduil is an auto-include (the question is just how big do you want him to be).

As I mentioned above, I intend to purchase the components of this army and my current Thranduil's Halls army list includes the following:

• Thranduil (old model on-foot);
• Legolas (old model on-foot);
• 3 Wood Elf Sentinels; and
• 1 box of Mirkwood Rangers.

As a result, this list takes into account what I need to purchase in order to get this army. With that in mind, let’s look at the list.