In Defense Of: Gildor Inglorion

Good morning gamers,

Today we're viewing a hero who doesn't get a lot of credit in the Rivendell list: Gildor Inglorion. Once one of the hardest models to find in the MESBG range, this hero is one of the cheapest casters in the game (and can cast Immobilize on a 3+ with 4 Will points - pretty reliable at stopping people), but for a number of reasons, lots of players abandon this guy upon viewing him. Well, today we seek to change that and highlight a few things this hero provides to Rivendell that is useful to their team. Let's get stuck in!

Why NOT To Take Gildor Inglorion

So happy I own this guy . . . finally . . .

The root of most of Gildor's critiques is the comparison he has to two other Rivendell profiles: Erestor and High Elf Captains. These three heroes are the mid-tier heroes in Rivendell (worse combatants than Gil-Galad, Elrond, Glorfindel, and the Twins; better combatants than Lindir, Arwen, Cirdan, Bilbo, and Stormcallers) and are roughly cost-equivalent (for being Elves - Gildor is 70pts, Erestor is 85pts, and High Elf Captains are 75-100pts). When you compare their profiles, Gildor just doesn't look as good as the others:

The three "mid-tier combat heroes" for Rivendell

We'll start with Gildor's Defense 4 stat - because he's unarmored, he's vulnerable to taking damage. With 2 Wounds and 1 Fate point, you run the risk of having this hero shot out before he can do anything useful (while the other two are pretty resilient to taking damage).

Gildor also has a single Might point, while the others have 2 Might. Each of these heroes has useful specialized heroic actions - Erestor has Strike with 2 Might, the High Elf Captain has Heroic March with 2 Might, and Gildor has Heroic March and Heroic Defense but with only 1 Might point. This means that, while you CAN call a March, you can only call it once (so when you call it matters). It also means that calling Heroic March and calling Heroic Defense (which can make up for your low Defense problem) is mutually exclusive.

Finally, while Gildor can Immobilize his target, he can't Strike - and while the Captain can't Strike either, if the Captain's on the charge (or shooting with his bow from afar), he can shred troops (and some heroes) while Gildor could have problems beating enemy warriors (and most heroes) and will struggle to kill models unless he gets a trap. With no throwing weapons or Elf bow to skirmish with the enemy, you need Gildor to get in combat in order to be useful - and that's dangerous, even if he has his Might point.

So is Gildor not worth taking? Should you just take a Captain to March your army around? Maybe - but I think there's utility in Gildor. Let's look at that now.

Why TO Take Gildor Inglorion

Units are valuable in MESBG based on the lists they're in - you can include really good units in your army (like Suladan or Elessar) and if the list isn't built to optimize that hero's utility, then you're not going to like that hero. Gildor is one of those niche heroes that can make or break your list - he can neutralize big heroes long enough that you can slaughter them OR hold them up long enough so that you can crush everyone around that hero. Let's see what he needs in his army to work well.

First off, Gildor gives you access to Noldorin Exiles. Rivendell is strapped for warrior choices - you ordinarily have High Elf Warriors (who get all the basic wargear options) and Rivendell Knights (who don't count toward your bow limit if you have Elrond in your list). If you take Gil-Galad, you can upgrade up to 18 High Elf Warriors to King's Guard (High Elf Warriors with +1 FV), but your only other troop option is Noldorin Exiles - and for those, you need Gildor.

I'm not going to go into why Noldorin Exiles are useful - that's the subject of next week's article, actually. :-) Suffice it to say for now that Noldorin Exiles are fast for being infantry, they have lower Defense but can't be shot at from a distance thanks to their Elven Cloaks, and they have access to throwing weapons - which not only means that more of your Elves can benefit from their 3+ Shoot Value, but also means that more of your army can deal damage BEFORE they get locked into combat. For 12 points/model, you can give them throwing weapons and Wood Elf spears, which allows them to support friendly models or defend themselves by shielding (so it's harder to overwhelm them).

Speaking of Elven cloaks, Gildor also has an Elven cloak - which can make him harder to deal with than the other Rivendell mid-tier heroes with archery or magic (and the only other Rivendell heroes with Elven cloaks in their wargear options have mounts - so they probably would choose those instead). Enemy magic is dangerous for Rivendell - you can get magical protection with either Lindir (Resistant to Magic) or allying in Galadriel, Lady of Light (historical ally from the White Council - so even with the new change in her heroic tier, you can ally her by herself into the list). Elven cloaks are common in Lothlorien, but are pretty rare in Rivendell - and they can give your heroes some distinct advantages if you can use terrain well.

Gildor also has Immobilize - which makes up greatly for not having Heroic Strike. An Immobilized target can't make Strikes if they win (so charging an Immobilized hero has no risk of taking damage), but they also can't call a Heroic Strike if they have access to Heroic Strike (so being F6 with an Elven-made sword can be good enough to win a tied duel). I wouldn't channel this spell though - you need the Might for other things.

Making It Work

Gildor is a great hero, but he needs some heroes around him to make him work well. Here are a few things to consider:

• Gildor's crew is likely to be using throwing daggers, so you probably want to have a way to move first so you can skirmish or charge (depending on whether you like your match-ups). Elrond is great for getting priority (though you can ally in Balin the Dwarf from Thorin's Company or Erebor Reclaimed if you'd prefer a reroll instead of Foresight points to boost your priority roll). You can also ally in heroes with Might that can be spent on calling Heroic Moves, including Elladan, Elrohir, Erestor (who also has throwing daggers), or High Elf Captains in a pure list, or jump for Boromir of Gondor from the Fellowship.
• Gildor's units are also easy to shoot (if they are visible), so including anti-archery bubbles is quite valuable. In Rivendell, you have access to Cirdan, but you can also ally in Galadriel (either version) or Gandalf (either version) to keep your troops alive longer.
• Gildor wants more Might - which means allying with Tom Bombadil can get you more Might for Heroic March/Defense and to regain Will points so he can Immobilize enemy models longer. I've actually run Gildor with Glorfindel, Arwen, Tom, AND Goldberry, which gave me TONS of Might points on Gildor and tons of Will on both him and Arwen. It was devastating . . .
  

Here's a Rivendell list that I've been playing recently - it's got 34 models at 700pts (pretty good for being Elves) and has "only" 5 Might points, but has quite a bit of staying power, speed, and (of course) shooting. It doesn't have Tom Bombadil though - that will probably make a few people happy:

• Elrond, Master of Rivendell with heavy armor
• 1 High Elf Warrior
  
• 3 High Elf Warriors with shields
• 3 High Elf Warriors with shields and spears
• 1 High Elf Warrior with shield, spear, and banner
• 4 High Elf Warriors with Elf bows
• 5 High Elf Warriors with Elf bows and spears
  
• Cirdan
• 3 High Elf Warriors with shields
  
• 3 High Elf Warriors with shields and spears
  
• Gildor Inglorion
• 1 High Elf Warrior with Elf bow
• 1 High Elf Warrior with Elf bow and spear
  
• 6 Noldorin Exiles with throwing daggers and Wood Elf spears
  

Conclusion

In our next post, we'll be looking at Gildor's band of followers - Noldorin Exiles. We'll be talking in the same breath about Wood Elf Warriors - probably the least-loved of all Elven warrior infantry models. Is it worth it to pay 9+ points for a D3 model (before getting any skirmish weapons on them)? Is there a place for these models in the game? And how useful is the Elven cloak? Find out next time - until then, happy hobbying!