Thoughts on New Legendary Legions - Forces of Good

Hey Reader!

As Tiberius continues his march through the legendary legions, I thought I'd take a moment to share two ideas for legendary legions that we will probably not get in the future (as they are pretty closely tied to books we've already seen released), but that I think would be cool and provide new avenues for gameplay. Neither are particularly groundbreaking (and I don't think either are as good as other legions that are out there, consistent with my methodology for homebrewing stuff), but I think they provide unique options for gameplay.

We will walk through the first one, which is a Rohan legion (I know, I know, ANOTHER Rohan legion), and then into a Fellowship-centric legion.

I.  Eorl Comes Legendary Legion

This is the legendary legion that, I confess, I was surprised we did not get, as it would have given love to a longstanding Rohan hero, and would have given options for a new Gondor hero: Cirion. But perhaps that is also why they didn't do it, as there is already a Cirion in the Minas Tirith army list.

But the concept of the legion is straightforward: in response to the invasion of the Balchoth Easterlings from the East and a contingent of orcs from the Misty Mountains, Cirion the Steward of Gondor fought to keep the enemy from crossing the Anduin. He was pushed back, and faced them at the Battle of the Field of Celebrant, where he was joined unexpectedly by Eorl the Young and the Eothed.

While you can technically build a list like this using a King of Men and Eorl, that list leaves something to be desired, and that's where the legion comes in (much like how you can mix Lorien and Rohan normally, but a Helm's Deep legion works better).

Army Lists for the Legion

The army list borrows models from the Rohan and Minas Tirith army lists. You have access to Eorl the Young, Rohan Captains, Riders of Rohan, Rohan Royal Guards, and Sons of Eorl from the Rohan army list. 

You have access to Cirion, Steward of Gondor (a King of Men with +1 Attack, +1 Might, and +1 Wound, and costs +20 pts), Captain of Gondor, Knight of the White Tower, Warriors of Minas Tirith, Rangers of Gondor, Knights of Minas Tirith, Citadel Guard, Fountain Court Guard, Gondor Battlecry Trebuchet, and Gondor Avenger Bolt Thrower from the Minas Tirith army list. 

Cirion and all captain models have access to all upgrades on their respective profiles.

This provides you with a flexible cavalry squad that can skirmish or be built for heavy charges, and you can augment this with a reliable "anvil" and "fire support" squad of Gondorians. The list will be smaller than some other legions as you will have a decent cavalry force (and potentially siege weapons), but not that much smaller than a standard Rohan list.

Legendary Legion Special Rules

The legion has the following special rules:

Requirements: You must include Eorl the Young and Cirion, Steward of Gondor in your army list. Eorl is considered to be the army leader (as Cirion, Steward of Gondor is still a Hero of Valour).

Lord of the Eothed: Eorl counts as Theoden for the purposes of the Arise, Riders of Theoden special rule.

Fury of the Northmen: All Rohan Cavalry models gain +1 Strength on the charge.

The Wise Steward: Whenever a friendly model within 6" of Cirion, Steward of Gondor suffers a wound, roll a D6: on a 6, the wound is prevented exactly as if a Point of Fate was expended.

II.  The Three Hunters Legendary Legion

Do you know what I never expected the game to do? Give us a legendary legion tied to the Fellowship. But we got a cool one in the Quest for the Ringbearer book, and I love it (RIP Boromir though; I guess Galadriel was out of them fancy daggers, :P ).

But this got me thinking about the Three Hunters: a group that already kinda has a few legendary legions between the Return of the King, the Grey Company, and to some extent the Men of the West, but you don't get one of the three of them hounding the uruks across the plains of Rohan, tracking down their foes through the unbending will of their captain, Estel.

And as I thought about that, their meeting with Eomer, and then their reuniting with Gandalf the White (who cannot be taken with the Three Hunters in the vast majority of lists), and I had my inspiration. One quick watch through those scenes from The Two Towers, and this legion was born.

Army Lists for the Legion

The army list borrows models from the Fellowship and Minas Tirith army lists. You have access to Aragorn/Strider, Gimli Son of Gloin, and Legolas Greenleaf from the Fellowship army list. 

You have access to Gandalf the White from the Minas Tirith army list. 

Aragorn has access to all upgrades on his profile except the Armor upgrade and the elven cloak upgrade. Legolas has access to all upgrades on his profile except the Armor upgrade and the elven cloak upgrade. Gimli has access to all upgrades on his profile except the elven cloak upgrade. Gandalf the White has access to Shadowfax.

If you are going with "Movie Aragorn," we recommend you do not purchase the Anduril upgrade. If you are going with "Book Aragorn," we have left Anduril in the upgrades section for him so that you can purchase it for him. We leave that up to you, because we are a huge fan of letting people live out the book or movie versions of the characters.

Legendary Legion Special Rules

The legion has the following special rules:

Requirements: Your army must include Aragorn/Strider, Gimli Son of Gloin, and Legolas Greenleaf. Aragorn/Strider is always considered to be the army leader, and the legion may be deployed as a single warband with Aragorn as its captain.

Eomer Comes: If desired, you may purchase Hasufel (Legolas's horse) and Arod (Aragorn's horse) for 10pts each. If you purchase Hasufel, Gimli may start the game mounted on Hasufel as a passenger, disembarking by performing a Jump test.

Gifts of Lorien: Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli start with elven cloaks for free.

Three Days and Nights Pursuit: At the start of your Move Phase, Aragorn/Strider may call "Hurry!" and rolls a D6: on a 6, all friendly models within 6" may regain up to 1 expended Might Point. Aragorn/Strider may use Might to increase this roll.

No Food, No Rest: Aragorn/Strider may call Heroic Marches without expending Might Points.

Elf Eyes: Models within 24" of Legolas do not gain the benefits of the Stalk Unseen special rule.

Natural Sprinter: When selecting targets to charge and when charging, Gimli's move distance is increased to 6" instead of 5" (note that this is only for performing charges: it does not apply to moves, Heroic Moves, Heroic Marches, etc.).

Conclusion

Neither of these are particularly game breaking, but I think they offer new ways to play with fun characters (and, in the case of Eorl, just shows the man a bit more love). If you enjoy them, feel free to let us know!

Watching the stars,

Centaur

"(Your teacher) is a human...and is therefore blinkered and fettered by the limitations of your kind." ~ Firenze, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix