TMAT GT: Tiberius's Army Thoughts

Good morning gamers,

This coming weekend is TMAT's Grand Tournament and we're doing an escalation tournament with the following point levels and scenarios:

• 450 - Hold Ground
• 600 - To The Death
• 750 - Fog of War

I've been wanting to throw an escalation tournament for ages - I developed armies in an escalation tournament style to teach people the game since I got started playing (100 points of warriors only, 250 points by adding a hero or two and some additional warriors, and slowly adding more points with additional warriors and heroes until you get to 500-700 points). This approach allows people who are new to the game (or haven't played in ages) to understand the core mechanics slowly and ease them into a game that has (if we're honest) a LOT more rules than the game requires.

Developing armies that can do well at three different point levels and are good at missions that do different things is hard to do - and so I had many armies swirling through my brain before I finally quieted the petitions from the boxes and picked one. Extra bonus points are awarded at this tournament if you have a "nesting dolls" style build, where the 450 is a subset of the 600, which is a subset (naturally) of the 750 - as opposed to having the 450 army be a subset of the 750 army and the 600 be a subset of the 750 army (but not having all of the models in the 450pt list in the 600pt list). Here are the armies I considered taking - and why I didn't chose the ones I did.

Army #1: The Breaking of the Fellowship Legendary Legion

All of the models are newly acquired except for Aragorn and Gimli

With Quest of the Ringbearer in my hand, I really wanted to give this Legion a try - lots of Might, powerful anti-magic (and potentially anti-archery) capabilities, and lots of known characters that I already had painted (check out our recent article on this Legion for more information). Sure, the army caps out at 600 points (giving your opponent a 150pt handicap in the third scenario), but your army is also one of the hardest armies to fight at 600 points in To The Death. If Frodo is alive, your opponent can't get points for breaking you, so the best he can do is a 7-5 Minor Victory IF he can quarter you (without killing Frodo), kill Aragorn, and keep a banner alive - and if any of those things don't happen, the best he can do is a 5-5 Draw (though most of the time, the score is more like a 10-0 Major Victory for these guys).

• 450 - Hold Ground:
• Aragorn - Strider with Elven Cloak [ARMY LEADER]
• Frodo Baggins with Sting, Mithril Coat, and Elven Cloak
• Meriadoc Brandybuck with Elven Cloak
• Legolas Greenleaf with Elven Cloak
• Gimli, Son of Gloin with Elven Cloak
• 600 - To The Death/750 - Fog of War:
• Previous Stuff
• Samwise Gamgee with Elven Coak
• Peregrin Took with Elven Cloak
• Boromir of Gondor with shield and Elven Cloak

Ultimately, I both ruled out this army AND got to play with it a lot because we chose this army to be used by the "Automated Player" for the purposes of determining bye round scores (we needed an army that everyone had so we didn't need one person around to play the games for record). This army did very well in To The Death (getting Major Victories over my army and Centaur's Isengard force) and didn't play for record in To The Death against any of the other players (Rythbyrt beat it in a practice game with a different variation of his final army at the last minute). 

It got Major Losses at 450 points against my army and Centaur's Isengard force (though it beat both of us in practice games), and didn't play for record against Rythbryt, Red Jacket, or the Black Prince. I got a Minor loss against it at 750 (should have protected my Captain and opted to kill Legolas). Rythbryt managed to beat them at 750 (less dependent on magic/archery than me).

All told, I was happy that I got to play it and I think it's a really great Legion. It may not be competitive in certain scenarios or at certain points levels, but in all the games it played, it had an admirable (if not devastating) showing.

Army #2: Historical Alliance between Rivendell and Numenor

Some of the High Elf Warriors are still a work in progress . . . but I didn't need them for the tournament, so who cares!

This was an army I thought about recommending for the AI, but thought it might be too difficult for people to get their hands on some of the models (that, and fighting a F6 Ringbearer is hard). :-) The advantage is that most of the army doesn't have special rules, so playing their games would be "easy" (especially when you compare it to the Breaking of the Fellowship LL). The army sports three really good heroes (none of which are mounted - because I don't have mounts for two of them, not because the mounts aren't good options for them) and 34 models at 750 points (a bit low, but not THAT much lower than most of the armies I looked at).

• 446 - Hold Ground
• Elrond, Master of Rivendell with heavy armor [ARMY LEADER]
• 2 High Elf Warriors with shields
• 2 High Elf Warriors with shields and spears
• 4 High Elf Warriors with Elf bows
• 1 High Elf Warrior with Elf bow and spear
• Cirdan
• 3 High Elf Warriors with shields
• 2 High Elf Warriors with shields and spears
• 1 High Elf Warrior with shield, spear, and banner
• 600 - To The Death
• Previous Stuff
• 1 High Elf Warrior with Elf bow (in Elrond's Warband)
• Isildur with shield
• 2 Warriors of Numenor with shields
• 750 - Fog of War
• Previous Stuff
• 5 Warriors of Numenor with shields
• 2 Warriors of Numenor with shields and shields
• 1 Warrior of Numenor with shield, spear, and banner
• 5 Warriors of Numenor with spears and bows

The army has good archery protection with Cirdan (in most games), not a lot of Might at any points level (but you do have at least one Foresight point to help you get priority on a turn when you need it), and a good mix of F5/S3 and F4/S4 warriors. I did think about running Glorfindel instead of Elrond (would have saved me some points), but figured the Foresight points would be more welcome than F7. I also decided I couldn't have Elrond/Glorfindel AND Elendil AND Cirdan, so Isildur was the choice to lead the Numenor contingent. From playing with him a lot, he's pretty good (not as good as daddy, but pretty good for 50-75 points less).

The D4-D5 limitation has bit me in the past, but the lack of March is the real stopper in this army - and that's what made this army just not stand up quite as well to the other three lists I looked at. No mounted models, no way for the models I do have to move faster, and two scenarios (Hold Ground and Fog of War) that will/might require me to travel the board. You should know that I want to run a list like this in the future, so watch this space!

Army #3: The Men of the West Legendary Legion

All of the Warriors of Rohan who have shields also have throwing spears . . . by the way . . . I don't think I'm alone when I say that I don't have that many throwing spears . . .

This was the first Legion I covered in our current (at the time of this writing) series on Legendary Legions. Often critiqued for not letting non-Rohan, non-Gondor heroes lead troops (a completely fair critique) and not having "good" warrior choices (a mostly fair critique), this Legion doesn't get a lot of love from the community.

For my part, I actually like it a lot - you can run both Aragorn (March + Banner) and Eomer (over-qualified to be your second threat hero) at nearly any points level (and certainly at these points levels) and you've got flexible warrior choices that can fill lots of different roles. Plus, I manage to get shooting attacks on 2/3 of my army at all of these points levels, so what's not to like about that? :)

• 450 - Hold Ground
• Aragorn, King Elessar [ARMY LEADER]
• 2 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields
• 5 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields, spears, and bows
• Eomer, Marshal of the Riddermark with shield
• 6 Warriors of Rohan with shields and throwing spears
• 600 - To The Death
• Previous Stuff
• 4 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields
• 2 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields and spears
• 1 Warrior of Minas Tirith with bow, spear, and bow
• 1 Warrior of Minas Tirith with bow
• 3 Warriors of Rohan with shields and throwing spears
• 1 Warrior of Rohan with shield, throwing spears, and banner
• 2 Warriors of Rohan with bows
• 750 - Fog of War
• Previous Stuff
• 1 Warrior of Minas Tirith with shield and spear
• 2 Warriors of Minas Tirith with bows
• 3 Warriors of Rohan with shields and throwing spears
• Legolas Greenleaf with armor

From a shooting perspective, you start with 11 shots (5 S2 bows and 6 S3 throwing spears) that hit on a 4+. You then go up to 19 shots (9 S2 bows and 10 S3 throwing spears) in To The Death that hit on a 4+ and finish with 25-27 shots (11 S2 bows and 13 S3 throwing spears and Legolas) - THAT'S CRAZY! Against most armies (especially if they have S2 bows), you can outshoot the enemy, despite not having a 50% bow limit or access to crazy siege engines. This is the same strategy I run with my Kingdom of Moria army - use those throwing weapons to increase the damage you can do BEFORE you fight so you can make up for combat weaknesses (limited access to spears for the Kingdom of Moria, F3 warriors for the Men of the West - unless you're investing in Imrahil and Knights of Dol Amroth).

The problem with this list is that for one turn, you'll have F4 troops - and after that one turn, you're playing down-handed on the Fight Value game against most armies (or at least pulling a tied Fight Value). This means that if the skirmish game doesn't work for you, you have to try to outlast the enemy in a game of attrition, counting on Eomer and Aragorn (and eventually Legolas) to kill the enemy troops for you. In practice, this army has done alright - skirmishing is hard in Hold Ground, but can be done pretty easily in both To The Death and Fog of War. With army-wide bodyguard, I'm not that worried about Terror armies (so long as I can keep Aragorn from getting sniped/smashed). Still, this army just didn't make the cut - though the good things about this army did play into the army I eventually chose.

Army #4: The Depths of Moria Legendary Legion

Someday, I'll bring you to a tournament, I promise . . .

If you've read any of my stuff on this blog, you probably know that I'm a big fan of the Balrog. I'm also a HUGE fan of his Legendary Legion - it's amazing. Sure, it doesn't have Warg Marauders (who are excellent) and it doesn't have Bat Swarms (who are also excellent), but it DOES have the four most important models any Moria army can field: a big monster (my favorite is the Balrog), a Moria Goblin Drum, Moria Goblin Captains, and Moria Goblin Warriors. With a very thematic army based on the movies, I've ignored Blackshields in this army and gone with something really fun (for me).

• 450 - Hold Ground
• The Balrog [ARMY LEADER]
• 5 Moria Goblin Prowlers
• 4 Moria Goblin Warriors with shields
• 9 Moria Goblin Warriors with spears
• 600 - To The Death
• Previous Stuff
• 1 Moria Goblin Captain with shield
• 1 Moria Goblin Drum (with 2 Drummers)
• 1 Moria Goblin Warrior with spear
• 6 Moria Goblin Warriors with Orc bows
• 750 - Fog of War
• Previous Stuff
• 1 Moria Goblin Captain with shield
• 1 Cave Troll with Troll Chain and Hand-and-a-half Hammer
• 2 Moria Goblin Warriors with shields
• 3 Moria Goblin Warriors with spears

To be honest, I have found list-building with this army better at 700 and 800 than at 750 - I have the Cave Troll in there because I can't fill the warbands of both Captains and land at 750 points. With 10 warrior slots available (without the Cave Troll), I'd have to go heavily into Blackshields to "just make it work," and I'm not sure that's going to do as much for me as the Cave Troll will (second threat and all). I could drop the Troll Chain to get an extra guy, but in my experience, the threat of a Troll Chain is better than not having it (makes it harder to do a "halo" maneuver to avoid being charged by the Cave Troll, and I don't HAVE to try to charge Terror models with him if facing the Dead of Dunharrow). 

I've nearly changed my mind every step of the way in taking this army - forcing my opponent to wound the Balrog five times in To The Death to avoid a loss (chances are I'm breaking him and not being broken) would be pretty hard to do for most armies - and for me, I really enjoy the tactics required to use the Balrog well - he's not the kind of model you can just "put on the board" and win any game. 

But there's a problem with this army: while I'd probably do well in To The Death and would have a harder time with Fog of War (but still a decent chance), I could really be in for it with Hold Ground. With a predominantly D4 army at 450 points, I could be quartered before I get to the center if my opponent has any significant shooting. While I won't be broken by that (and the game can randomly end after one army is broken - which I wouldn't be), I do need to have a higher model count than my opponent in the center of the board when the game does end - and THAT might be really hard to do. Sure, I could have the Balrog walk in front of my D4 troops (I have a few D5 troops who could screen as well), but I'm just not convinced this army would do well at that points level for that scenario. 

I'm also terrified of rolling two 1s on my first two attempts to appear on the board - with no March, and predominantly 5" move troops, regardless of who I face, I'm probably showing up second (especially if I don't arrive on the first turn). As such, I really want to take this army sometime to a tournament, but for now, I'm putting them in the box and answering the cries of justice from . . .

Army #5 and Tournament Participant: Lothlorien

I think I can win the shooting game . . .

I "took" Lothlorien to our last TMAT GT two years ago - and took two byes because we had an odd number of players (and the one round I did play, I got crushed). My Lorien Elves have been licking their wounds ever since - and we're ready to come back for blood! Thanks to a global pandemic, I got some Galadhrim Knights purchased and painted (and a banner conversion done for one of my Wood Elves) and they're anxious for a test drive. It looks like we're going to have an odd number of players this year, so their record against the AI might matter - here's the lists, then we'll talk about how they've done against the Breaking of the Fellowship:

• 445 - Hold Ground
• Haldir with Elf bow and heavy armor [ARMY LEADER]
• 7 Wood Elf Warriors with Elf bows
• 1 Wood Elf Warrior with Elf bow, Wood Elf Spear, and banner
• 3 Wood Elf Warriors with throwing daggers and Wood Elf Spears
• Galadhrim Captain on armored horse with shield and Elf bow
• 6 Wood Elf Warriors with throwing daggers
• 6 Wood Elf Warriors with throwing daggers and Wood Elf Spears
• 600 - To The Death
• Previous Stuff
• Galadriel with the Mirror of Galadriel [NEW ARMY LEADER]
• 750 - Fog of War
• Previous Stuff
• 3 Galadhrim Knights with shields and Elf bows
• 1 Wood Elf Warrior with Elf bow
• 7 Wood Elf Warriors with throwing daggers and Wood Elf Spears

Okay, let's get this out of the way first and foremost: everyone shoots in this list except for Galadriel. Since Haldir has two shots a turn, we have the potential for 26-37 shots in a turn with this army - even if we move and shoot, we're looking at 13-19 hits a turn with S3 bows or throwing daggers. Of those 26-37 shots, 11-15 of them are Elf bows which have a 24" range (giving us 5-8 hits when we move and shoot every round). Here's a chart that shows our expected archery damage for Hold Ground/To The Death (our archery doesn't change since we just add Galadriel at 600pts):

If our bows alone shoot at D4/D5 targets, we're looking at 1.8-2.4 kills each turn against average-Defense troops (depending on whether we move and shoot or stand and shoot). Even if we're facing heavily armored troops, we're expected to do 0.9-1.2 wounds a turn - basically killing one model a turn. This translates into the first rule of this army:

If we stand and shoot (instead of moving and shooting), we're only getting one extra kill every other turn - so move and shoot until there's nowhere else to go.

Normally, I wouldn't be too happy about 2ish kills a round with archery - but consider this: in low points level games (like the 450 mission), every kill matters. Furthermore, in a tournament where models that cost 150+ points are likely to come out in the first mission (so they're not "all you get" in a later points level), the model counts in the 450 game are likely to be quite low. As a result, my Captain in Hold Ground is going to March as many of my melee troops (who all have throwing weapons) towards the middle quickly so that if we can get a model count advantage early with our bows, we can hold the center and make it an uphill battle from the outset.

Our throwing weapon damage (one or two shots before combat begins, I'd imagine - and possibly some damage on the charge) adds an expected 2-3 kills a turn against average Defense troops (slightly more damage if they're standing and shooting or shooting while charging instead of moving and shooting). Against heavily armored troops, we're still expected to add 1-2 kills each turn with our throwing daggers - anything to make those numbers a bit more even.

All told, if I can get 1-2 kills each round with my bows for 3-4 rounds and 2-3 kills with my throwing weapons on 1-2 rounds, I should see anywhere between 5-14 kills with my shooting before I actually have to fight - which means I don't have to kill much in melee to break my opponents.

As we increase the points level to 750, we see the +11 warrior models really change these numbers:

With 2.5-3.3 kills with our bows from a distance against average Defense troops (and 1.3-1.7 kills against heavily armored troops) and an extra 3.5-4.9 kills with our throwing daggers against average Defense troops (and 2.7-3.5 kills against heavily armored troops), we're doing some serious damage to most armies that have to slog across the 24" gap between the armies in Fog of War. Life is good - if I can keep the shooting up. 

For my part, I haven't had much trouble breaking armies with this kind of list (getting 3-5 rounds of bow archery against people should see 7-12 models fall, causing us to outnumber most armies by the time the fighting begins). With great anti-archery rules in this army (Blinding Light from Galadriel and Elven Cloaks on all of the Wood Elf Warriors, plus the Mirror of Galadriel to recover any Fate points that were taken off by enemy archery), you've got some great means of sustaining damage from a distance and forcing your opponent to close with you quickly.

This army isn't without it's weaknesses - and probably the most glaring weakness is only adding Galadriel at 600 points. This tournament, I'm trying out the mirror, so we need to play the first mission down handed by 5 points, but what we gain from Galadriel is incredible. Having Blinding Light and a way to deal with heroes who don't resist magic well is great in To The Death - we'll see if it's enough.

So . . . that's that. :) I'm pretty happy with the army and excited to see how it does at the tournament. We'll probably be doing a podcast on the tournament (better venue for it), so keep an eye out for that and how it goes. As for me, I'm just hoping I get in a few good turns of shooting with my throwing weapons and everything will be just fine. :) Until next time, happy hobbying!