The Bare Necessities, Part XXIX: Erebor Reclaimed

Good morning gamers,

We've come to yet-another-army that I have no intention of buying: Erebor Reclaimed. Tied for the greatest number of profiles with access to Heroic Strike (eight total - Thorin, Dain, Kili, Fili, Dwalin, Bofur, Nori, and Gloin; tied with Thorin's Company which trades Dain and Bofur's Strike for Gandalf and Bilbo) paired with the ability to regrow Might points by killing enemy heroes/monsters (if you pay the 55-point tax to get Ori), this army has the potential to bash in the smirking heads of any hero-oriented force it faces (unless it's got a lot of magic in it - in which case, you will wish you had more Will). While I love Dwarves (been a long-time player of Khazad-Dum, looking into getting the Army of Thror), these guys hold no appeal for me: their heroes are great, their warriors are great, but the investment cost to buy them is simply too much.

"I'm finally here - and I'm coming for you!!!!"

Thankfully, our resident Iron Hills/Erebor Reclaimed player Rythbryt agreed to help me out with reviewing this faction. In his typical way, he's provided an in-depth treat for us today - take it away Rythbryt!

Sheesh, this was tough.

I run Erebor Reclaimed a lot—it’s one of my favorite factions—and have even run them at 700 points, which I very much enjoyed. But the problem I kept running into is that they have so many great heroes to choose from that getting to at least 30 models, while also needing 2-4 goat riders, a banner, Heroic March, and all the other things you’d want in a well-rounded list proved… challenging.

After weighing something like 20 different list options, I finally settled on this one, which I will commit to (online) paper now before I change my mind again. Here’s how I approached trying to build a balanced list:

• You must be able to neutralize a big enemy hero. As with Barad-Dur, this is probably the easiest of the requirements to check off. Erebor Reclaimed doesn’t have anyone quite as tough as Sauron, but Thorin, Dwalin, Dain, and Gloin are all top-notch fighters (3 Attacks, Defense 8, Fight 6, Heroic Strike, 3 Might, and either a two-handed weapon with no duel penalty or a mount option—Dwalin and Dain have both). For thematic reasons (and, to a lesser degree, cost), I went with Thorin. Dain is by far a better option in terms of gameplay (3/3/3, plus Burly Strength 5, plus he buffs your IH troops), but if you really want Dain, run an Iron Hills army instead. Thorin also has the elven-made weapon here (so Aragorn or Elrond don’t win opposing duels on that annoying 3+), and his free Heroic Combat per turn can do a number on enemy troops, especially if he’s mounted (as he is here).
• There must be at least 1 actual banner. This is a no-brainer, as Fight 4, Strength 4, Defense 7-8 dwarves should always take at least one banner. Bringing Thorin along also means we get a secondary 6” banner for any additional Champions of Erebor that we bring along, so we might want to try shoe-horning a couple more of those in.
• There need to be at least 30 models. Erebor Reclaimed has lots of very big heroes (Thorin is a Hero of Legend; Dwalin, Balin, and Dain are heroes of Valour; and every other Champion of Erebor is a Hero of Fortitude), so having lots of troop slots isn’t the issue. But I don’t really like spamming troops with this force (to the extent you can spam troops with a base cost of 11 points), because you don’t really need a ton of them. Unlike Iron Hills, where your troops will have to do most of the work (just because you don’t really have any killy heroes outside of Dain and, if you’re fighting good vs. evil, perhaps Murin), Erebor Reclaimed can get a lot done with its heroes, almost all of whom are good-to-great in a scrap. You only need enough troops to keep those heroes from being swarmed, so they can do their thing. I want to include at least 4 heroes in this force (including Thorin), which means I need at least 26 warriors. Assuming at least two of these are goats, one is holding the banner, and an average cost of 12 points per model (spear + shield, or just crossbow), that leaves me with just over 200 points (212, to be precise) to spend on my remaining 3 heroes, or an average of about 70 points per hero.
• 70 points is actually a good number for Erebor Reclaimed, which has a lot of 65-and-under heroes (Balin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Ori, and Oin) with pretty cool synergies. It’s also within striking distance of Dori (75), who I’ve opted for. With 3 attacks at Fight 5, Strength 4 with a two-handed weapon and Weapon Master, Defense 8, and the option for Heroic Defense (though not Strike), he’ll function as a body-guard for Thorin (if we’re together and fighting defensively) or the center of my battle-line (if Thorin is off munching on someone’s flanks), and another way of dealing with bigger heroes (for a little while, at least). I’ve also sprung for an Iron Hills Captain, who’s the only way to get Heroic March into the list (other than Dain… who I would totally take, if this was an Iron Hills force instead of one from Erebor Reclaimed). He’s on a war goat as well, to get a second mounted model into our army (plus the goat makes him particularly devastating on the charge, between Strength 4, his war spear, and Devastating Charge).
• More Might. We’re at 7 Might already (3 from Thorin, 2 from Dori, 2 from the Captain), with one hero spot left to fill. This isn’t terrible at 700 points, and could be stretched further potentially—Thorin gets that free Heroic Combat each turn, which should help, and the Captain has a Master of Battle (5+) if our enemy decides to call heroic actions within 6” of him. But it’d be nice to get a little more in. Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur offer us two, which would get us to 9 (and Bifur also gives us an avenue to call a free Heroic Move every turn without spending might, too, which is much more reliable than the 5+ Master of Battle on the Captain). But in the end, I opted for Ori, mostly for his points cost. He only has the one Might (so we’re at 8 total), but his Chronicler offers us a way to get back 1 Might, Will, or Fate every time a champion slays an enemy Hero or Monster within 3” of Ori.
• Is that a particularly reliable way to get those heroic stats back? Well, if we’re forced into a Malestrom deployment, probably not. But if we’re realistic with our expectations, and hope to get just 1-2 stats back over the course of a game, I think he’s got a higher upside than most of the other options, while freeing up enough points for another warrior. Alternatively, you could include one of the 2 Might dwarves here (Bifur would be my suggestion), and even look at swapping the Captain for Gloin (which would boost you to 10 Might overall, plus Thorin’s free Heroic Combat and Bifur’s potential for free heroic moves—not too shabby).
• The list has to include at least 4 models who can move more than 6” (for objective grabbing). The initial plan was to include at least 4 goats, but that’s just too expensive since we went over-budget on our heroes (Thorin, the Captain on goat, and Dori took us over-budget, even without Ori). So I’ve cheated a little and gone for just one goat (Thorin, Captain, Goat Rider), since we paid to include Heroic March (which will allow our generic dwarf warriors to march 8”). I’ve also opted for crossbows, which don’t necessarily help with objective grabbing, but are phenomenal for objective clearing.
• You need at least a few ways to augment your models (war gear options, auric boosts, army special rules, or some sort of special character synergy). I guess we have a few of these already (Ori and Dori have both the Sworn Protector and Du Bekar! special rules, plus the Captain’s Master of Battle, Thorin’s Ancestral Fury, and Ori’s Chronicler—and Dori’s A Good Sort, Really, which we’re not making use of here), so I’ve gone with just war gear options here. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, Iron Hills Warriors have tons of good ones, so I’ve included all of them here: war goats, war spears, regular spears, crossbows, shields, and even a mattock (because why not). Factor in Shieldwall, and I think we’re alright on this one.

So here’s the final list:

Warband 1: Thorin Oakenshield, King Under the Mountain, with Orcrist on War Goat [Army Leader]

• x2 Iron Hills Warriors with Shields
• x2 Iron Hills Warriors with Spears and Shields
•  x3 Iron Hills Warriors with Spears and Crossbows

Warband 2: Dori, Champion of Erebor

• x1 Iron Hills Warrior with Shield, Spear, and Banner
• x2 Iron Hills Warriors with Shields
• x2 Iron Hills Warriors with Spears and Shields
• x2 Iron Hills Warriors with Spears and Crossbows

Warband 3: Ori, Champion of Erebor

• x2 Iron Hills Warriors with Shields
• x2 Iron Hills Warriors with Spears and Shields
• x2 Iron Hills Warriors with Spears and Crossbows

Warband 4: Iron Hills Captain with war spear and shield, on war goat

• x2 Iron Hills Warriors with Shields
• x2 Iron Hills Warriors with Spears and Crossbows
• x1 Iron Hills Warrior with Mattock
• x1 Iron Hills Goat Rider with War Spear

700/700, 30 models exactly (4 heroes, 26 warriors). 

Some thoughts:

• We end up with 4 Heroes, who have 8 Might between them (and the potential for more). Ori is Defense 7, Fight 4, with 2 Attacks, but everyone else is either 3 Attacks (Thorin/Dori) or has a mount with a free +1 to wound on the charge and is Defense 8-9 (the Captain).
• I also think we’ve managed to keep the essence of an Iron Hills army: while there’s only 30 models total, half of them have shields (14 warriors, plus the Captain), so a decently-sized Shieldwall on either flank isn’t impossible if we’re facing a lot of Strength 3. If the enemy is Strength 4, we don’t have to worry about Shieldwall at all. 14 shielding dwarves, in single-combat a half-to three-quarters of an inch apart can defend quite a lot of ground, especially if anchored on some sort of defensive terrain feature.
• Our cavalry contingent isn’t massive, but we do have three goats in total (we could have more if we went with just three heroes), plus the March if we have to get somewhere in a hurry-ish (13” of movement isn’t the greatest, but it’s almost three times as far as dwarves can usually move). Thorin’s Free Heroic Combat also means he may be able to move up to 16” in a single turn, and may be able to do it over multiple turns if the enemy is favorably deployed.
• In the shuffle, you may have missed that we have a pretty good sized archery contingent—nine crossbows, in fact (which I think takes us to bow limit). Nine crossbows will threaten… just about anything, and really helps us extend our threat range beyond the 5-13” that our troops can move. All nine also have spears, which means they’re not entirely useless when combat is joined, even if they're not in the front rank to start.
• There's also a random mattock dude. You scoff now, but just watch--he'll turn the tide of at least one of these games. I hope.

Looking to the scenarios, those pesky ones that require you to get-across-the-board will still be painful (because we're dwarves). I do worry about Maelstrom deployment some (all hero armies do), but I think we’re better equipped than most to deal with it. Our smallest warbands (Ori and the Captain’s) consist of at least seven models, who are Strength 4, Fight 4, and Defense 6+, with a decent number of shields, so the hope is that they’ll be able to hold out and/or tactically retreat if they’re ambushed. On the other hand, we very much like Clash by Moonlight. Here’s how I’d approach the various scenarios:

• Domination / Capture and Control: No Maelstrom to worry about, which is a plus. Thorin has only one Fate, so we’ll want to minimize the risk he’ll get a stray wound knocked off. But as long as we aren’t surrounded and trapped, I like our chances of our troops out-attrition-ing their enemies. And of course we have nine crossbows to try to peg our enemy’s leader.
• Hold Ground / Seize the Prize / Heirlooms of Ages Past: These are all partial-movement scenarios, so we’re not exactly fans. If there’s just one thing to grab, we at least have options (Thorin, the Captain, and our lone Goat Rider could all do it in a pinch, though we’d rather not force our heroes to dismount if we can avoid it). We have Heroic March as well, to help us get where we need to go. Maelstrom deployment could complicate that, in which case our best bet is to try to out-attrition the enemy as we slowly withdraw to where we want to be. If we can get to the middle (Hold Ground) or around the prize / heirloom, I like our chances of out-lasting the opponent (though I’d feel better about having Dain around, to make all our warriors Fearless… but alas).
• To the Death / Lords of Battle / Contest of Champions / Fog of War: Dwarves are generally pretty good at killing things (these dwarves are very good at killing things), so we like these for the most part. Getting a good set-up spot will be key, as we don’t like being surrounded. But if the enemy has to take us head-on, odds are we have one of the higher fight value / strength / defense to pull ahead. We probably have more killy heroes than they do, as well (Thorin, Dori, Captain), and perhaps more firepower as well (plus, at Defense 7, we care much less for enemy firepower than pretty much any other force that doesn’t have Blinding Light). Our crossbows, war goats, and lone mattocks man are the low-hanging fruit for scenarios like Lords of Battle, but at Defense 6 (5 on the goats, I suppose), wounding them will still prove challenging. Having three hero options, two mounted heroes, and a load of crossbows should also help us in Fog of War, as well.
• Reconnoitre / Storm the Camp: I think these are the hardest missions for us, because we’re dwarves and we don’t have any renewable Heroic March. But we do have several goats to try to score some quick points, and crossbows which we’ll definitely need if the enemy has a lot of fast-moving mounted models. These are also the sort of rare scenarios where you may actually be able to mimic a Heroic March with the Captain’s Master of Battle (5+). But I wouldn’t hold out hope for that.
• Clash by Moonlight: We have nine crossbows, fronted by Defense 7-8 dwarves. I think we’ll be alright.

Modifications
Here are some alternate lists based on what Rythbryt covered above.

• Tiberius: Infantry Hero Horde – Erebor Reclaimed has some pretty cheap heroes who provide a lot of Might. Iron Hills Warriors, supported by a handful of goat riders, can do a lot of damage. This list includes the three "auto-include" combat heroes (in my book, at least) on foot and then we make the largest horde you can while still meeting the requirements of a balanced list. With 30 models, 4 mounted models, and three excellent heroes, we've got a pretty good list I think:
• Thorin Oakenshield, King Under the Mountain
• 4 Iron Hills Warriors
• 1 Iron Hills Warrior with spear
• 1 Iron Hills Warrior with spear and banner
• 3 Iron Hills Warriors with crossbows and spears
• Dwalin the Dwarf, COE
• 3 Iron Hills Warriors
• 1 Iron Hills Warrior with spear
• 3 Iron Hills Warriors with crossbows and spears
• 2 Iron Hills Goat Riders
• Gloin the Dwarf, COE
• 3 Iron Hills Warriors
• 1 Iron Hills Warrior with spear
• 3 Iron Hills Warriors with crossbows and spears
• 2 Iron Hills Goat Riders
• Tiberius: Allied Horde – While 30 models at 700 points isn't bad, there are plenty of armies that will swarm our Iron Hills Dwarves and keep them from having a good time. As such, a horde-oriented approach could buy our Dwarves the time they need to cut through the enemy. With that in mind, you could ally Thorin and a bunch of Dwarves with Bard the Bowman from the Army of Lake-town and bring along a bunch of cheap guards to hold off your opponent. Sure, they're only F3/D4, but with 46 models in the list, you should be able to buy time for Bard and Thorin (and all those Dwarves) to do the grimy work. We could have taken the Survivors of Lake-town, but you only need the Erebor Reclaimed army bonus if you're taking other members of the Company who are not Kili or Fili - and you only need the Army of Lake-town army bonus if you're taking the Master of Lake-town:
• Thorin Oakenshield, King Under the Mountain on War Goat
• 5 Iron Hills Warriors
• 4 Iron Hills Warriors with spears
• 1 Iron Hills Warrior with spear and banner
• 3 Iron Hills Warriors with crossbows
• 3 Iron Hills Warriors with crossbows and spears
• 2 Iron Hills Goat Riders
• Bard the Bowman on horse with armor
• 5 Lake-town Guard
• 5 Lake-town Guard and spears
• 2 Lake-town Guard wiith bows
• 2 Lake-town Guard with bows and spears
• Alfrid the Councilor
• 2 Lake-town Guard
• 4 Lake-town Guard and spears
• 3 Lake-town Guard wiith bows
• 3 Lake-town Guard with bows and spears
• Tiberius: Hero Horde – Let's assume that we don't care about numbers if we're taking this list. Let's assume that we want maximum killing power instead. What would a hero-centric army look like (that really only has warriors around to hold objectives and strategic choke points - maybe to also pull models off the heroes)? Like Rythbyrt, I took four heroes - all are mounted - and each squad has at least one crossbow that can be left behind somewhere. We've also placed the shieldwall in Thorin's warband just because - and did I mention that this list has 12 Might points (with free Heroic Combats from Thorin)? Perhaps I didn't . . . there it is:
• Thorin Oakenshield, King Under the Mountain on War Goat with Orcrist
• 7 Iron Hills Warriors
• 6 Iron Hills Warriors with spears
• 1 Iron Hills Warrior with spear and banner
• 1 Iron Hills Warrior with crossbow
• Dwalin the Dwarf, Champion of Erebor on War Goat
• 2 Iron Hills Warriors with crossbow
• Kili the Dwarf, Champion of Erebor on War Goat
• 2 Iron Hills Warriors with crossbow
• Fili the Dwarf, Champion of Erebor on War Goat
• 2 Iron Hills Warriors with crossbow

Our next post in this series takes us back to Haradwaith, where we'll be looking at the army of Far Harad. Competing with the likes of Khand and the Iron Hills for the most expensive faction in the game (and many of their units aren't available right now from the GW store), Far Harad has niche ways of making average-Fight, average-Defense troops incredibly nasty to fight. Want to learn how to make the Move phase more important than anything else? Tune in next time as I'm joined by Rythbryt to talk all things Far Harad. Until then, happy hobbying!