The Stuff of Legends: The Riders of Theoden

Good morning gamers,

Today we continue our review of Legendary Legions from Gondor at War (we've already looked at the Men of the West, the Grey Company, and the Army of Gothmog) and we turn our attention to one of the most popular legions from that sourcebook: the Riders of Theoden. While many of the Legions from Gondor at War have remained popular years after its release (the Return of the King LL, the Black Gate Opens LL, and the newly-revamped Rangers of Ithilien LL among the front-runners), the Riders of Theoden is not only a good Legion for new players to try out (since you only need the starter box to get going), but remains one of the most competitive ways to play Rohan (even after Gamling's banner got nerfed). To be honest, this is a Legendary Legion that needs very little introduction - if you've played the game a few times, chances are you've played with or against this Legion.

Because everyone's probably run into this Legion before, I sent this article to one of the Legion's greatest advocates, Lachlan Linton-Keane from Zorpazorp (which, if you haven't run across his stuff on YouTube, you really need to give them a watch)! Lachie has great videos for MESBG (as well as other tabletop game systems) and great videos for terrain building, tournaments, and Battle Companies. Amidst all of these videos is the clear impression that if Lachie had another choice, he'd have been born on the plains of Rohan in the Third Age. He also sells terrain supplies (including free templates for the Minas Tirith project he's been working on with the community), so check out his store and support one of MESBG's flagship entrepreneurs! I'll be highlighting Lachie's thoughts where they differ from my own - and with that, let's dig into this Legendary Legion!

Part 1: What Do You Need?

Legion Tax: 100pts

The only model you NEED is Theoden, King of Rohan (who comes with the kitchen sink and weighs in at a very affordable 100 points). A mega combat hero Theoden is not, but his 12" Fight Value buff to Riders of Rohan, Rohan Royal Guards, and the seldom-seen-in-this-list-Captains-of-Rohan is quite useful (and is critical to how the list works). His ability to call "Death!" at the start of one Fight Phase makes him an essential piece to keep safe early in the game as well (I mean, it's one of the reasons to take this Legion over the vanilla Rohan build). With F5/S4/2 Attacks when charged and F5/S5/3 Attacks and the knock-down on the charge, Theoden has the potential to do some pretty nasty damage to enemy warriors.

But Theoden, like Gothmog (who we discussed last time), isn't an anti-hero power-piece. While he can Feint (reroll 1s at the cost of -D3 Fight Value) even when his starting Fight Value is lower (useful), he CAN fight enemy heroes, but with only 2 Wounds/1 Fate and "only" Defense 7, he's not THAT resilient (plus any wounds he suffers will give your opponent victory points in most scenarios AND he's important for your army buffs). This shouldn't be taken as a big critique - lots of Rohan heroes are D7 with 2 Wounds/1 Fate, so "it's to be expected."

Since Theoden isn't the piece you want to use to respond to an opponent's power hero/monster, you need to take one of several supporting heroes with Theoden (at ANY points level, you need at least one of these heroes). Your most expensive option is Eomer, Marshal of the Riddermark (always give him the throwing spears) and you get a model who is not only more dangerous than Theoden on offense (+1 Attack), but also a model that is far more resilient than Theoden (+1 Wound, +2 Fate). At 125 points, he's not THAT expensive compared to the heroes he'll likely be facing and is FAR more resilient than anyone else in this list (the only model with 3 Wounds and 3 Fate points).

The Riders of Theoden Bonuses

If you want almost all of the offensive power of Eomer for 45 points cheaper, get Dernhelm (with the throwing spears). Dernhelm suffers a lot in the resilience department (D5 instead of D7, 2 Wounds/2 Fate instead of 3 Wounds/3 Fate) and even suffers some on the offensive side of things (-1 Strength, still has 3 Might thanks to Merry, but if dismounted, she's down to 2 Might), but the 45 points that she saves you can provide you with +3 warriors OR make another hero (who might otherwise be too expensive) much easier to afford.

If you're concerned about Dernhelm's low Defense, Lachie's advice is simple: make sure she doesn't lose fights. This probably means having a banner nearby (so she's rolling effectively 5 dice on the attack) and make sure you have enough friendly models nearby to keep her from being trapped or overwhelmed. Doesn't hurt to have a big hero near her as well to call a Heroic Combat to get into her fight and save her should you lose priority and something big charge her. She's also the only hero in this army with Heroic Resolve, and when paired with 2 Will from her, 1 Will from Merry, and Merry's Resistant to Magic, she can roll 4 dice (potentially 5 dice with Heroic Resolve) to resist area of effect magical powers (like Wrath of Bruinen) to keep her and her nearby companions from being dismounted (which, spoiler alert, would be really bad).

The middle-ground between Dernhelm and Eomer is Deorwine, Chief of the King's Knights. Deorwine has a very similar offensive profile to Eomer (but only 2 Attacks instead of 3) and a very similar defensive profile (but with 2 Wounds/1 Fate instead of 3 Wounds/3 Fate). Compared to Dernhelm, he's potentially more resilient (+2 Defense, -1 Fate) and does about the same on offense (+1 Strength, -1 Attack, same Might if Dernhelm remains mounted). For nearly the same cost as Dernhelm, Deorwine is an excellent choice for those on a budget (a points budget that is - his Forge World model costs almost as much as the Dernhelm model AND the new Eomer model together). With free Heroic Combats if Theoden is fighting nearby (but not in the same fight, as the FAQ update from last week informed us), Deorwine is also a great way to get more Might in this list that relies so heavily on its heroes. 

There is some debate about whether Gamling, Captain of Rohan is still necessary for this army to work. He used to be the second or third hero included in this Legion until his Royal Standard of Rohan was FAQ'd to only grant one friendly Rohan hero a Might point back at the start of a turn when they have no Might remaining, which is not as good as the "all friendly Rohan heroes" that it used to be, but is still very good (since heroes like Eomer or Dernhelm want to continue to have Might after they've spent all of theirs). Lachie is of the opinion (I agree) that Gamling is still an auto-include, as having a banner on a model that has 2 Wounds/1 Fate and Heroic Defense (that can potentially be called every single turn if Gamling claims the Might regeneration from the banner every turn) is quite handy. Plus, Gamling's carrying a banner - he only needs to regain 5 Might points during the game for the banner to have been worth the investment (and once you're in the thick of it, that's not very hard to get if you can keep Gamling from being Immobilized and squished).

Elfhelm, Captain of Rohan is a great skirmish hero (and has Heroic Defense as well), which makes him a good leader for a small company of throwing spear cavalry, but sits for me at sixth chair behind the other five named heroes. He's got a great model (also available from Forge World - pretty pricey but very nice) and should be my favorite Rohan hero thanks to his killer throwing spear rules, but he's just not bringing enough to the table for me to LOVE him in this list (especially since we need all of the heroes we bring to be able to get into a combat during one turn and call a free Heroic Combat). Take him in Theodred's Legion every time, but in this list, you can pass on him.

This list also has two warrior profiles - BOTH of which are necessary. While I've seen Rohan Royal Guard spams before (you'll even see one in this post), I think Riders of Rohan play an important part in this army. While Rohan Royal Guards have higher Defense and Fight Value, they need to be within 8" of the enemy before they can do anything - and even then, their shoot values are not that good. Riders of Rohan can provide archery fire from much farther away AND can start with axes, to make them F4/S5 on the charge (vs. F5/S4). I think a mixture of both of these units is good for your army - especially if you assume that you'll be facing a mixture of Defense values (even and odd).

Captains of Rohan are, put simply, not needed in this list unless you REALLY want to spam heroes. Personally, I think they fit better in other Legendary Legions (such as Helm's Guard, Theodred's Guard, and the Riders of Eomer) where the hero selections are far more limited. That said, if you want to REALLY benefit from a Death charge, there's a good case for spamming out these guys for 60-70 points each (we'll see a list like this later on - I'm pretty pleased with it).

Part 2: Why Take This Legion Over "Normal" Allied Forces?

I'll be honest: vanilla Rohan is my favorite Rohan list to date. While having Eomer is good and having Dernhelm AND Eomer is great and have Dernhelm, Eomer, AND Deorwine is really powerful, I like Theodred (he lacks a good power hero to back him up in his legion). I also like Helm Hammerhand in his legion (though he also lacks supporting hero power in his legion). I like Eorl the Young (who CAN take heroes like Theoden, Gamling, Eomer, and Dernhelm along too at the low-low cost of your army bonus). And as a result, I think there's a good case for running vanilla Rohan today (to say nothing of heroes like Erkenbrand or Hama who also don't show up in this Legendary Legion).

But does this legion have any weaknesses over a "vanilla" Rohan force? And how good are its strengths? Well, let's go look, shall we . . .

Weakness #1: Very Limited Warrior Options

A vanilla Rohan army has five (realistically four - you're probably not running Sons of Eorl without Eorl himself in the Legion) warrior choices - and they're all useful. While this legion has the best of the bunch (Riders of Rohan and mounted Rohan Royal Guards hit like train), having some Warriors of Rohan with throwing spears and shields (or bows if you like them) allows you to run around the board with your infantry and claim important tactical positions, all while skirmishing with your opponent (just like your horses do). Since you can get ~2 Warriors of Rohan with skirmish gear for the same cost as a Rohan Royal Guard, it also allows you to bulk out your numbers (something you have a hard time doing with this Legion).

Outriders are also a nice addition to a vanilla Rohan army that don't appear in this legion, as they are not only better at shooting their bows (and slightly cheaper since they don't have the shield), but can also benefit from the Stand Fast of a hero who they can see (not that stay within a certain radius of them). In a vanilla army, they can also be run on foot (we call them "outwalkers" here at TMAT), which give you pretty decent 8-point archers that you can drop behind rocks and shoot at enemies all day long.

Strength #1: Rohan Army Bonus+

The normal Rohan army bonus only helps your mounted models when they're on the charge. This Legion retains the normal Rohan army bonus but also gives you a once-per-game ability with Theoden to call "Death!", which allows friendly Rohan Heroes within 12" of Theoden to declare a Heroic Combat/Heroic Strike without using Might to call it. This "without spending Might" thing is important, as enemy heroes like Grima Wormtongue and the Dwimmerlaik can't make you "pay Might" to use this ability - it's free regardless of who you're facing.

Now as great as Death! is, all experienced Rohan players I've heard discussing this Legion agree on one thing: remembering to call it on the right turn is HUGE. While calling free Heroic Strikes is good, a Strike only gives you the opportunity to have a higher Fight Value than someone else - it doesn't guarantee you'll win. It seems far better and more reliable to me for Theoden to cry Death! when you're about to charge into ranks of warrior models and call many free Heroic Combats. Your offensive profiles are plenty good (hope you don't run into F5 though) and you should kill 1-2 models/hero in the first combat fight, then kill 1-2 more models in the second combat. Even if you only bring 2-3 heroes, your heroes alone have probably closed the model disparity pretty handily "for free."

Weakness #2: Missing (Three) Big Heroes

There are four powerful Rohan power heroes: Eomer (who shows up in most Rohan Legendary Legions), Eorl the Young (who comes with soft restrictions on the named heroes you can bring in a vanilla Rohan force), Helm Hammerhand (who comes with hard restrictions on the named heroes you can bring in a vanilla Rohan force - and so is exclusively taken in his Legendary Legion), and Theodred (who has his own legion, but is also a great hero in a normal Rohan army).

Of these four powerful heroes, this list only has one of them. This isn't a huge critique - only the vanilla Rohan faction has access to all four of them - and if you take Helm, you can't take the other three. While Dernhelm and Deorwine are good heroes, they're limited in how powerful they can really be (Dernhelm only has 2-3 Might to supplement her 3 Attacks, Deorwine only has 2 Attacks to supplement his 3 Might). Both of these heroes (to say nothing of Elfhelm, Gamling, or Theoden) are mid-tier heroes, good for crushing troops and so-so against enemy heroes. That said . . .

Strength #2: Good Mid-Tier Heroes

The great thing about having mid-tier heroes is that they're "cheap" - and when you're running an all-cavalry army, cheap is good. Helm Hammerhand costs 165+ points, which is fine if his supporting heroes are Captains of Rohan and King's Huntsmen (which is the case in his Legion). Eorl the Young is pretty cheap at 115 points, but he encourages you to bring Sons of Eorl (who are expensive for cavalry). Theodred and Eomer are "pretty cheap" and are very good at killing things on the charge - and you have access to Eomer in this list.

Dernhelm, Deorwine, Elfhelm, and Theoden are pretty good at killing troops - and at 100 points or less for each of them, you can field 3-4 of them no matter what points level you're playing at (especially if you don't mind being super outnumbered). Each of these heroes is likely to be able to clear out 2-4 warriors in a single turn when Death! is used, so the more you have, the greater number of warriors you clear out. Then watch your opponent look at these gaping holes in his lines (or an entirely demolished flank) as you roll for priority.

Weakness #3: Base Fight 5 Ceiling

I don't know why this is the case, but no Rohan hero (not even the likes of Helm Hammerhand or Eorl the Young) can get to Fight 6. In the Return of the King book, we read that Eomer is one of three people (Aragorn and Imrahil being the other two) leaving the battle of the Pelennor Fields without a serious injury. While Aragorn and Imrahil proudly tout the glories that you get for being Fight 6, Eomer is stuck at Fight 5. How horrible . . .

The other named heroes are mostly Fight 5, though Elfhelm and Gamling are "only" Fight 4. This can limit their damage potential, as neither Gamling nor Elfhelm have Strike, but they CAN Strike for free with Death! if they must. Personally, I think you look for F3 models to charge and call a Combat instead . . .

No matter how you carve it, if you're facing an army of Elves (or an army that has lots of F6+ heroes or monsters), you need to be Striking constantly. While Gamling's banner can help one person do this, eventually your Might will fizzle out and you'll be stuck at "just" Fight 5. It's disappointing . . .

Strength #3: LOTS of Fight 5 (and/or Strength 5)

While maxing out at Fight 5 isn't great, Fight 5 itself is not bad - especially when facing most warriors. Since your Captains of Rohan and Rohan Royal Guards can be Fight 5 if they're within 12" of Theoden AND on the charge, it's just your Riders of Rohan, Gamling, and Elfhelm that have the potential of being below Fight 5 (and all of them can be Fight 4). This means that while Rohan might not have heroes who get to the innate high Fight values of other factions, they can have one of the highest overall Fight values of any faction in the game (and that is certainly true of the Riders of Theoden Legendary Legion).

Weakness #4: No Blinding Light

If you made it this far in the post without noticing that horses are important, let me highlight the first secret of the Riders of Theoden list: your horses are important. You want to know something weird about these models though? Only two of them (Eomer and Theoden) come with armored horses (D5). The rest - warriors and heroes alike - are riding normal horses (D4). You know what D4 horses don't like? Any kind of shooting weapon. And any kind of melee weapon when they lose a fight. And basically everything in the game.

In legions like the Breaking of the Fellowship (which also doesn't like enemy archery) or the Riders of Eomer (which also doesn't like enemy archery), you have access to Blinding Light, which mitigates the risk of your units getting shot up by the enemy before they can do what they want to do. While all Rohan heroes have Horselord (except Grimbold, who isn't in this list), most of those heroes also only have 1 Fate point, which means you have a 50/50 chance of saving your horse from getting shot before you get to combat. If you're not mounted and on the charge, you're not getting +1 Strength (and your warriors aren't getting +1 Fight), so losing your horses is a big deal.

Strength #4: High Mobility and Charge Power

While not being able to protect the horses is a big deal, using your horses is a huge asset. Rythbryt went through all of the glorious benefits of mounts a while back - read his post for why horses are so great. In short, though, your Legion not only has bonuses that are specifically tied to being mounted, mounts also gives you the power of positioning your army where you want it. Since all of your warriors (and half of your named heroes) can be equipped with throwing spears, you can also move your full 10" (potentially 15" with March) and STILL shoot at your opponent from 8" away. On the charge, these throwing spears become even more powerful, as you might snipe an enemy model on your way in.

Strength #5: So. Much. Bodyguard.

Rohan Royal Guards are a crowd favorite in this Legion, and they've got Bodyguard. Gamling has Sworn Protector(Theoden), so he's got the equivalent of Bodyguard. Deorwine is a Rohan Royal Guard hero and so he has Bodyguard. If you can keep Theoden alive, charging terrifying models will not be hard to do at all (and Eomer/Dernhelm are Courage 5 with 2-3 Will points, while Elfhelm/Captains of Rohan are Courage 4 with 1 Will each - which isn't great, but also isn't bad). Riders of Rohan never have to charge terrifying models (just shoot them). Cavalry armies need to be able to charge - and this is just one way to do it a bit more effectively.

Part 3: Legendary Legion Improvements

This is one of those Legions that doesn't really need changes, but I know I speak for a VAST part of the community when I say that Grimbold should be in this Legion - and he should have a horse! I mean, in the Return of the King movie, we not only see Grimbold AT DUNHARROW where the Rohirrim have been mustered, but we also see him receive commands to LEAD A FLANKING MANEUVER! Come on - he should be here!

I've heard one of the reasons he's not in this Legion is because he can't take a horse. I've also heard that he can't take a horse because he has Mighty Blow and putting Mighty Blow on a cavalry model is ridiculous. To that charge, I direct your attention to Thrydan Wolfsbane, who we'll cover later in this series in the Army of Dunland Legendary Legion, where he not only retains his ability to ride a horse, but has Mighty Blow NOT tied to his two-handed axe (so he can wield his sword one-handed and STILL get Mighty Blow). At 25 points more than Grimbold and with +1 Strength, +1 Will, +1 Fate, an option for wielding a one-handed weapon (instead of being forced into two-handing all the time), a 12" Stand Fast, and access to Heroic Strike, I don't think giving Grimbold a horse would be broken. There, I said it.

The only other change I'd make is to give Eomer a boost to his Fight Value - I'm sure this will come up again, but it seems a travesty to me that Eomer can only be Fight 6 in one Legendary Legion (the Men of the West), and that's only for a single turn. This is Eomer at the pinnacle of his military strength, and he's only Fight 5 . . . that's not right (especially since this means his combat prowess is the same as unnamed Captains and Rohan Royal Guards). Even if his +1 Fight Value was tied to being near Theoden (maybe giving him the Arise, Riders of Theoden! rule?), that would be fine - just so long as there's a way for him to be Fight 6 without having to call a Strike.

On this point, Lachie disagrees with me, citing the fact that Aragorn and Imrahil are both of the Blood of Numenor, which means they should be better at fighting than other people. While that is certainly true (and I get it), and Eomer may not be from as noble a bloodline, other F6 heroes include Amdur the Lord of Blades (Eomer's got at least as good a bloodline as him), and many F5 heroes are nowhere near the caliber that Eomer should be (your regular, run-of-the-mill Uruk-Hai heroes are F5 and they were literally born a few months ago, while somehow Knights of Dol Amroth and Rangers of Gondor can be as good at fighting as Eomer just because they float near the right heroes from Gondor?!?!?!). This is probably an issue with most warriors in the game being F3-4, so most heroes in the game are F4-5 - and many elite warriors are F4-5 as well, but I digress. Since Captains of Rohan can be F5 on the charge in this Legion, I can't believe that their loyalty to Theoden makes them as good at fighting as Eomer. Somewhere, in some Legion, Eomer should be F6. Maybe we'll come back to this next time . . . :)

Part 4: Army Strategies

I covered the strategy for using this Legion in my post on Rohan in the Bare Necessities series - here's a quick recap:

• Build your army to skirmish (Rohan Royal Guards all get throwing spears, Riders of Rohan have throwing spears optional) - otherwise your opponent can dictate how effective your units can be;
• You're looking for one good charge - when you decide to do it, make it count;
• I think Theoden needs to be kept fighting on the periphery of the battlefield, not in the center - his 12" radius is very large, so you don't need Theoden in the back OR in the middle of things. Make sure he's fighting, but keep his fights manageable;
• If you bring Deorwine (and promise to keep heroes near Theoden), Lachie submits that you should instead run Theoden in the center of your battle line to capitalize on his 12" FV buff. Treating Deorwine as part of Theoden's model (always riding side by side) can give you the ability to throw two heroes into whatever tries to eat Theoden - and with Bodyguard on Deorwine, you shouldn't have to worry about most terrifying things. Ideally, you can have Theoden and Deorwine get in adjacent fights, call a free Heroic Combat from Deorwine, slaughter, then charge in to save Theoden. If the friendly models around Theoden make him less threatening, then you should be fine - but I'll just add that from experience, I've never lost Theoden when he was fighting on the edge of my battle line, but I've had him killed quite often when I run him near the center. Practice required, I guess - I cede to Lachie's greater experience on this point; and
• Focus on breaking the enemy - your cavalry are good, but you're still outnumbered (and if you have a few turns where you can't get priority, you'll be hurting).
  

Part 5: Army Showcase

At 500 points, you're looking at one of two builds: one that runs two heroes and maxes out on warriors, or one where you run 3-4 heroes and run "just enough warriors" to keep them from being overwhelmed. This first list intends to play the skirmish game with their cavalry, relying on heroes who can skirmish themselves so that you can take advantage of your incredible maneuverability. With 17 models, the following army has 10 Rohan Royal Guards with throwing spears (deadly on the charge, very powerful at skirmishing if their horses can stay alive) and 5 Riders of Rohan (all of which have throwing spears paired with their bows, one of which has a banner). While I could have saved a lot of points by getting Dernhelm as the supporting hero for Theoden, I find Eomer to be a bit more reliable and much more resilient (and "only 45 points more"). Know that if numbers worry you, getting Dernhelm is probably the better play - but I like Eomer. :-)

• Theoden, King of Rohan on armored horse with shield and heavy armor [AL]
  
• 5 Rohan Royal Guards on horses with throwing spears
• 2 Riders of Rohan with throwing spears
  
• Eomer, Marshal of the Riddermark on armored horse with shield and throwing spears
  
• 5 Rohan Royal Guards on horses with throwing spears
• 2 Riders of Rohan with throwing spears
• 1 Rider of Rohan with throwing spears and banner
  

In the alternative hero-oriented list, we drop Eomer for Gamling and Deorwine. For 75 points more than "just getting Eomer", we've chosen to drop the banner warriors (we have Gamling) and most of our Riders of Rohan. With 2 Riders of Rohan (one with throwing spear) and 10 Rohan Royal Guards with throwing spears, the army will cost a lot of money, but will hit like a train. This list also allows you to run Theoden in the center of your battle line, supported by both Gamling and Deorwine, and run the table quickly.

• Theoden, King of Rohan on armored horse with shield and heavy armor [AL] (170)
• 5 Rohan Royal Guards on horses with throwing spears
• Gamling, Captain of Rohan on horse with the Royal Standard of Rohan (115)
• 1 Rider of Rohan
• 1 Rider of Rohan with throwing spears
• Deorwine, Chief of the King's Knights on horse
  
• 5 Rohan Royal Guards on horses with throwing spears
  

As we scale up to 700 points, I think the hero-heavy list is better for this Legion than the warrior-heavy list. Death! is a powerful ability if you can slam your heroes into a rank of warriors and avoid their heroes (free Heroic Combats on cavalry models is HUGE). In this list, I've taken all-but-one hero (Elfhelm - love the guy, but I get a 1:1 ratio of heroes to warriors with him in the list too), which keeps the list at about the same size (but makes it FAR more lethal on that first charge). This list sports 10 Rohan Royal Guards and 15 models (slightly smaller by model count than the first list, far MORE damage output than either of them because of all the heroes in it), and two banners (Gamling and a Royal Guard with banner) - perhaps two banners are excessive with this model count, but we want those heroes to do their job, right?

• Theoden, King of Rohan on armored horse with shield and heavy armor [AL]
• 2 Rohan Royal Guards on horses with throwing spears
  
• Eomer, Marshal of the Riddermark on armored horse with shield and throwing spears
  
• 1 Rohan Royal Guard on horse with throwing spears
• 1 Rohan Royal Guard on horse with throwing spears and banner
  
• Dernhelm with throwing spears
  
• 2 Rohan Royal Guards on horses with throwing spears
• Gamling, Captain of Rohan on horse with the Royal Standard of Rohan
  
• 2 Rohan Royal Guards on horses with throwing spears
  
• Deorwine, Chief of the King's Knights on horse
  
• 2 Rohan Royal Guards on horses with throwing spears

Normally, I do three lists in these posts, but I couldn't refrain from doing one more list at 700 points - and that's an all-hero list! Honestly, you probably get more from an all-hero list from the Riders of Eomer (which we'll cover next week), but calling Death! on a turn when eight heroes have charged is pretty good! With most of those heroes being F5, if you can get the charge against enemy warriors, eight Heroic Combats that kill 16 warriors followed by a second-rank push that kills 16 more warriors should close the numbers deficit. By running the list this way, our Captains are bare-bones (no heavy armor, bows, or throwing spears, which makes me sad) - if you want them boosted a bit, consider dropping Elfhelm (NOOOOO!!!!!) to get a third Captain of Rohan and one extra piece of gear on each of the Captains (throwing spears would be my recommendation, though I'm sure others would recommend the heavy armor instead). With two models capped at F4 (Elfhelm and Deorwine) and everyone else at F5 (Captains of Rohan get there on the charge), you can be devastating against warriors on the turn you call Death! I really want to give this army a try sometime - FORTH EORLINGAS!

• Theoden, King of Rohan on armored horse with shield and heavy armor [AL]
• Eomer, Marshal of the Riddermark on armored horse with shield and throwing spears
• Elfhelm, Captain of Rohan on horse
• Dernhelm
• Deorwine, Chief of the King's Knights on horse
• Gamling, Captain of Rohan on horse with the Royal Standard of Rohan
• Captain of Rohan on horse with shield
• Captain of Rohan on horse with shield

Army Summary

So, that's it for the Riders of Theoden. With them under our belts, we've covered four of the seven Legendary Legions that were introduced in Gondor at War. Next time, Centaur will be reviewing another Rohan all-cavalry list: the Riders of Eomer! If you thought this army had only a handful of heroes, prepare for a shorter list next time! If you thought this army had too few warrior choices . . . prepare for an even shorter list next time! How do you even use a Legion that only has five profiles in it? Well, prepare your billowing white robes, shine up that red armor, grab your war horn, and ride to Helm's Deep - see you there next time, and until then, happy hobbying!