The Bare Necessities, Part XXII: The Army of Thror

Good morning gamers,

We've been looking at armies that I'm hoping to start collecting in the coming months/years. If you've followed this blog for any period of time, you know that I've been a fan of Dwarves since I got started in the hobby in 2010. My beloved bearded fellows from Khazad-Dum are a shooting army (using Dwarf bows, normal bows, and throwing axes) that also sports high Defense. Today, we look at the Army of Thror, which lacks the bows/Dwarf bows, but retains that iconic high Defense that we expect from Dwarves. When trying to build a balanced list, however, the question becomes "How do we compensate for the innate limitations of this list?"

The Army of Thror: How Important is Archery and Mobility?

The Army of Thror has one of the most limited army selections for a Force of Good in the game (and certainly is one of the most limited forces in the Armies of the Hobbit). With two warrior options, two generic heroes, and five named heroes, you've got more options than some factions (like my beloved Numenor or the Garrison of Dale), but the weird thing about these profiles is that the profiles we've been given basically all do the same thing! Yes, you've got two-handed weapon options on your throwing-axe warriors, but all of our warriors are infantry who are likely to be D7 and have to do the majority of their killing in melee. Yes, you've got heroes who kill things in different ways, but they're all melee infantry heroes who are trying to kill things with whatever they have. So the question is, how important is the lack of archery and lack of mobility in this list?

The Army of Thror has a great army bonus (Thror being treated as a banner to friendly Erebor models within 6" of him). The way I see it, you have a few options to build your army:

• Pure Army of Thror with lots of Heroic March: we've covered in our post on cavalry that 7/12 of the scenarios in the main rulebook require you to get somewhere. If you're going to run a pure Army of Thror list, you want to bring 1-2 captains in your list for up to 4 Heroic Marches in the game to propel your army across the board. Pairing these guys with Thror means you've probably got room for about 1 more hero in the army (Thrain to save money, Thorin gives nice auric buffs, Dwalin is about the same cost as a captain and has REALLY good damage potential).
• Army of Thror allied with the Garrison of Dale: you can get good archery from Dale (Elf archers with lower Fight/Defense/Courage/cost), but unless you supplement them with lots of Grim hammers/Guardians of the King with throwing axes, you still won't have a lot of archery. Because Dale doesn't have any cavalry, you still want 1-2 Captains in your army to help you March up the field. That extra hero we talked about above is probably taken up by Girion (who is an excellent archer, even if you don't take his Windlance).
• Army of Thror allied with the Iron Hills: here you merge the option for fast troops (Goat Riders and Dain) with an option for shooting models (crossbows and ballistae). The downside to this army, of course, is the expense in $$$$ of actually buying the models. If you're looking for the best overall list of options, this appears to me to be the best option.

I don't have any of these models right now, so here's what I'm looking at collecting (and it'll be long time before I do this - it's going to be EXPENSIVE)!

The List

• Thror [ARMY LEADER]
• 15 Guardians of the King
• HISTORICAL ALLY - The Iron Hills: Dain Ironfoot on War Boar
• 4 Iron Hills Dwarves
• 2 Iron Hills Dwarves with spears
• 1 Iron Hills Dwarf with spear and banner
• 3 Iron Hills Dwarves with crossbows
• 3 Iron Hills Dwarves with crossbows and spears
• 3 Iron Hills Goat Riders

33 models, 6 crossbows hitting on a 4+ and 15 throwing axes, 33 D6+ models, 4 cavalry, 6+ Might points

The purchases required to get these units are as follows:

• You need to get Thror and Thrain - they're both good heroes.
• You need 15 Grim hammers to convert/paint as Guardians of the King. Personally, I think that you want to have 18 Guardians of the King for your collection, so take the 2 extra Grim hammers and make those guys into Captains (more on them later).
• You need Dain - he's really good.
• You need 1 pack of Goat Riders to support Dain and claim objectives (and run off the board in a Reconnoitre scenario).
• You need 2 packs of Iron Hills Dwarves with crossbows.
• You need a 12-Dwarf blister of Iron Hills Dwarves with spears (you'll need to dig up 4 swords from somewhere, three of them will need to forego their shields to be dismounts for your Goat Riders, three of the guys with swords will need to give their spears to the crossbowmen, and you'll need to make a banner for another).

I'll be highlighting all three army options at the bottom of this post - but know off the bat that this is BY FAR the most expensive option for starting the Army of Thror. As of the time of this writing, you can spend $85 to get Thror and Thrain and 20 Grim hammers, but you'll need to spend $265 to get Dain, 12 spearmen, 6 crossbows, and 3 Goat Riders. For a whopping $350, this is going to take some time to develop, but the good news for me is that my good mate Rythbryt has the Iron Hills contingent of this that I can borrow to try out before I go buying anything. :)

With that, let’s look at each warband and see what they’re intended to do.

Warband #1: The King Under The Mountain

Thror is a great army leader - he is Defense 9 with 3 Wounds and while he only has 1 Fate point, his Arkenstone rule allows him to save wounds on a 3+ with his Fate point and retain his Fate point on a 4+. Like Sauron, this means that you can spend your Might points (and are kind of encouraged to save your Might points) to promote your saving rolls to keep your army leader alive (and unwounded) forever.

Thror doesn't do great melee damage (he is F6/S4 with 3 Attacks, which will do work), but his warband is great: F4/S4 warriors with hand-and-a-half hammer/picks. Since they treat Thror as a banner, these guys can risk two-handing against opponents with lower Fight Value and deal MASSIVE damage. Obviously, you can also single-hand against models too if you want to play it safe (your S4 will still make things work out) AND you can Piercing Strike with these guys too! Pair this with throwing axes, and you've got a devastating front line that can keep Thror from getting into bad fights.

Warband #2: The Lord of the Iron Hills

Dain is a beast - he's more mobile than most of the other units in this army on his War Boar (which is very hard to kill) and is not only gifted with a terrific killing potential (with F6/S5/3A), but he also has a burly two-handed hammer for a free +1 To Wound AND cavalry boosts AND Master of Battle (4+) in case your opponent gets into a Strike-off against him. That Master of Battle (4+) is really good on a tactical consideration too, since you can get free Heroic Moves and Combats as well.

Dain leads 13 infantry models (6 of which have crossbows) and 3 Goat Riders (to screen for Dain). You have 7 shieldwall infantry (a perfect schiltron formation that can almost become two 4s formations) to hole up somewhere and defend a small portion of the board. They will be most effectively used if one flank is protected by the crossbow-carrying Dwarves (half of which have spears) and if the other flank is protected by Dain and the Goat Riders. Iron Hills Dwarves are great when they can focus on attacking what's in front of them, but they're not very good when they're surrounded and trapped (nothing is, really - except for Boromir sometimes . . . and Tauriel sometimes). The Goat Riders are important for mobility in this list, though they are also some of the lowest Defense models in this list and so make sure they get screened from enemy archery!

Scenario Overview

Let’s take a look at each of the available scenarios and see some thoughts/considerations for using this list:

• Domination: You've got Thror and his warband - they want to move to the middle of the board to get some control. They're a tough lot, capable of dealing with a lot of punishment, and they've got throwing weapons - lots of throwing weapons. Pairing high Defense with an 11" throwing weapon threat is really dangerous. Dain and his Goat Riders are free to clear other objectives with the shieldwall heading one way and your crossbows taking objectives that have been cleared by Dain and the Goat Riders (able to send shots into other groups).
• Capture and Control: Similar to Domination, you want Thror holding the center (deploy on the center line), supported in this case by the Shieldwall (spear supports for your Guardians of the King will be very welcome). Your crossbows can stand at the periphery objectives, but should be supported by your Goat Riders and Dain (one of them needs to tag the objective that starts deep in your deployment zone).
• Hold Ground: Dain has March and can get his warband pressing for the center quickly (that +1/-1 modifier to his arrival will be very welcome). Thror's warband should deploy first so that you know where you want Dain to be (ideally they'll walk on from similar points). Get to the middle as quickly as you can, Marching to get your Shieldwall in position early. Defending the middle should be pretty easy - almost everyone is D7+, you've got plenty of spears to support your Guardians of the King, and two very difficult heroes to shift.
• Seize the Prize: A tricky scenario, but you want Dain and his Goat Riders racing for the center. March on the first turn and get as many of your troops to advance with you. You don't want Dain or the Goat Riders to dismount, so don't bother stopping for the Prize if you reach the center first. Instead, use Dain and the Goat Riders as a shield. When you've secured the Prize (killing any enemy model that has it if you need to), get it to Thror and have him race it as quickly as he can towards the enemy board edge. With Defense 9 and using his Might to promote his Arkenstone-enhanced Fate saves, your opponent will find him quite hard to take down.
• To The Death: A straight-up killing scenario is your jam - have Thror and his Guardians (supported by the Shieldwall) advance slowly towards the enemy. Use your crossbows to whittle down your opponent's numbers a little and keep your Goats behind your lines at the beginning so they don't become missile-magnets. Rely on Dain to carve through the flank of your opponent, letting Thror and the majority of your infantry be an anvil. While getting the charge with your throwing weapons is great, be careful not to call too many Heroic Moves to go first (unless they're free from Dain) - you'll need your Might for other things.
• Lords of Battle: Another great scenario - killing your units will be difficult for most models and your models are all S4+, so you shouldn't have the same problem. Similar to To The Death, deploy your Shieldwall behind your Guardians to increase their combat damage.
• Contest of Champions: Your army leader is Thror: he's not bad at killing things, but he does one thing really well - he doesn't die easily. Unlike some of the other armies we've looked at in this very long series who can be killed off by some head-hunting models AND have problems killing things in melee (Denethor, Saruman, Galadriel, Gandalf the Grey), Thror is not only very hard to take down (especially if he saves his Might to promote his Arkenstone saves), but is also decent at killing stuff (3 Attacks at Strength 4 is fine - not as good as Dain, but whatever). Use Dain and your Goat Riders to harry the enemy Army Leader, hopefully killing him before he can rack up too many kills. With most of your army being D7-8, you've got a good chance at denying him kills anyway. Your warriors just need to keep Dain and Thror from getting overwhelmed - use the throwing weapons on the Guardians of the King to keep Thror in manageable fights and use your shieldwall to either back up your Guardians OR make a sturdy bulwark against a flank attack.
• Reconnoitre: Not a great scenario for you, not because you don't have fast troops (you have Dain and your Goats), but because getting broken and falling to 25% is probably going to be difficult. You also don't have enough units to stretch all the way across the battlefield, so you'll have to rely on your throwing weapons (and moving as fast as your Dwarf feet can go) to hunt down and kill any enemy models that are racing for your own board edge. Your crossbows should be set up near the extremities of the board, ideally in firing lanes that allow them to also cover parts of the center of the board. They will need to be your last-ditch-effort to stop models from escaping. As I've recommended with other armies, don't March too early with your Goat Riders - you can get them off in 5 turns, but you don't want them to be cut off. Have Dain go with them to call Heroic Marches, but beware Dain killing too early - he may have to charge the enemy and abandon his riders (thankfully, you can always Bash if you get engaged too early and don't want to get locked in).
• Storm the Camp: Your Goat Riders should try to get to your opponent's camp, but Dain wants to get locked into combat as quickly as possible. Keeping him working around the flanks of the fight will be helpful, so he can call Heroic Combats and charge models that try to get around your battle line. Rely on Thror and his Guardians to make a solid bulwark in the center of the map, supported by spears of course. Your own camp should be guarded by crossbows - not in the camp itself, but nearby so they can get better coverage of the center of the map and can retreat to your camp if required.
• Heirlooms of Ages Past: Your Goat Riders don't want to dismount - so use them to screen Heirlooms from enemy advances. Deploy your objectives as close to one corner as you can so you know where Dain's warband needs to show up. Deploy Dain first so you know if Thror needs to try to deploy near your objectives. Unlike Hold Ground, you don't need to advance to the center as a group, so it's okay if you find Dain and Thror split up at the start of the game. If you get the Heirloom, consolidate your forces as quickly as possible (which might mean having one of your warbands circling up and waiting for the relief force of the other warband). If deployment hates you and you can't deploy near any objectives, deploy as close as you can to an enemy warband so you can reduce their numbers before things get started.
• Fog of War: Well, your opponent has to kill Dain and you have to keep him alive. So do that. :-) That might be hard, given that Dain will want to be killing things (and he has to charge if he can), but that just means you need to keep him near Thror and the rest of their bodyguards instead of letting him get separated and surrounded. When it comes to objectives to claim, you might be tempted to pick something on the periphery that your Goat Riders can claim, but in this case, you probably want them clearing models that are racing to objectives on your side of the board and instead just pick a piece of terrain that's near the center (where your army will be concentrated). When picking a hero to kill, select almost anyone - you have Dain and crossbows for thinning out a retinue, shouldn't be too hard to kill anyone your opponent brings.
• Clash By Moonlight: You'd think this is a great scenario for you - what with 15 throwing axes and 6 crossbows. And you'd be right. :-) While D7+ will be easier to wound with archery, you've got a lot of shooting firepower in this list. Sure, you're only Move 5, but you have Dain to March your army if you need to advance early, you have plenty of warriors that will be hard to kill as you advance, and you've got heroes who are very resilient (3 Wounds with 3 Fate points). The biggest challenge will be fighting S3/S4 bows, which will wound your warriors on 5s (taken in large numbers and with decent/good shoot values, you're looking at taking a LOT of fire).

Modifications

While I’ve already addressed some of this, let’s just recap on the modifications I wouldn’t be surprised to see:

• Run "Spam" Army of Thror – The Army of Thror has good captain models - I like Grim Hammer Captains more than Captains of Erebor because throwing weapons. If you want to save yourself a ton of money, you can get the following army for <$150 by picking up Thror/Thrain, a box of Grim Hammers, and a box of Warriors of Erebor (and you get to 39 models with up to 4 Heroic Marches):
• Thror [ARMY LEADER]
• 18 Guardians of the King
• Grim Hammer Captain
• 3 Warriors of Erebor with shield
• 5 Warriors of Erebor with shield and spear
• 1 Warrior of Erebor with shield, spear, and banner
• Grim Hammer Captain
• 3 Warriors of Erebor with shield
• 5 Warriors of Erebor with shield and spear
• 1 Warrior of Erebor with shield, spear, and banner
• Run "Hero-Heavy" Army of Thror – The Army of Thror is one of the rare armies that has more than three 3A heroes. With Thror (F6/S4/3A), Thrain (F6/S4/3A), Thorin (F6/S4/3A), and Dwalin (F5/S5/A3) in your list, you can get any three of these heroes for your army (I wouldn't get all four, since none of them have March). If you leave one of the big three at home (Thrain or Thorin - you're taking Thror), you can get Dwalin and a Captain of your choice for four total heroes and LOTS of combat potential (this is also very similar to a 600-point list that Mik built on his Veni Vidi Vici blog - read that for more information, I used the +100 points for a captain and upgrading Thorin to Thrain AND still managed to get 30 models into this list):
• Thror [ARMY LEADER]
• 9 Guardians of the King
• Thrain
• 2 Warriors of Erebor with shields
• 3 Warriors of Erebor with shields and spears
• Young Dwalin the Dwarf
• 3 Warriors of Erebor with shields
• 3 Warriors of Erebor with shields and spears
• 1 Warrior of Erebor with shield, spear, and banner
• Grim Hammer Captain
• 2 Warriors of Erebor with shields
• 3 Warriors of Erebor with shields and spears
• Ally with the Garrison of Dale - You can get cavalry and archery from the Iron Hills. If you want to save lots of money, however, allying with Dale is a great idea. Dale reduces your Defense a good bit from running a pure Army of Thror list (though not TOO much lower than the Iron Hills allied contingent we look at today, which had 9 models that are "only" D6), but you can get some really good bowmen and every warrior can be a spearman to support your main troops (the list below has 41 models, which makes it the largest list we've looked at in this post):
• Thror [ARMY LEADER]
• 18 Guardians of the King
• Grim Hammer Captain
• 1 Warrior of Erebor with shield
• 3 Warriors of Erebor with shields and spears
• 1 Warrior of Erebor with shield, spear, and banner
• HISTORICAL ALLY - The Garrison of Dale: Girion, Lord of Dale with Great Bow
• 10 Warriors of Dale with shields and spears
• 5 Warriors of Dale with Esgaroth bows and spears

In our last post in this volume of the series, we approach an army that I've been wanting to collect from the very beginning, but never pulled the trigger on: the Corsairs of Umbar. I love throwing weapons (you all know that, though, right?) and there are throwing weapons all over in this list! The question is, what kind of list do you run? Do you run pure Corsairs? Do you get Black Numenoreans? Do you ally with the Serpent Horde (or someone else)? Lots of options - hence why I haven't bought them yet. I welcome your feedback and thoughts - until next time, happy hobbying!