The Road To The TMAT GT 2022: Tiberius's List

Good morning gamers,

Well, we're preparing for the GT this weekend and today we're going to talk about the armies I thought about taking and what army I decided to take. I should mention that while there are five lists here that could have worked well, it was always going to be one of two lists.

The Tournament Format

The tournament this year will feature the veto system, with each round coming from a different pool of the Matched Play Guide. The pools will be the control pool (#2), the slaying pool (#4), and the get-somewhere pool (#5). Each round the players will take turns vetoing a scenario from the pool, leaving only one scenario to play that round.

The tournament is also set for 800pts and 2:15:00 rounds, so there's enough time to finish the scenario if the players play quickly. We've never done an 800pt event before, so this will be a new one for us.

That's it for the preliminaries - let's look at some lists!

List #5: The Vanquishers of the Necromancer LL

Yep, they're the hot new sauce - and while Gandalf might be required now, at 800pts neither the most recent list building rule that Gandalf needs to be in the list nor the demotion of Galadriel to a Hero of Fortitude change anything (except that Galadriel is less likely to be issued a Heroic Challenge). Yes, you can't cast Sorcerous Blast, Nature's Wrath, and Wrath of Bruinen after you've been charged, but you still have plenty of melee combat potential and spells like Immobilize, Panic Steed, Renew, and Banishment can be game-changing and are still fair game when your models have been charged. 

Based on the THREE objective-scenario practice games that I played, I learned that . . . I have a lot to learn about playing objective-based games with these guys. Knowing that at least one scenario would require me to do this, I'm putting them back in the box and will bring them out for a tournament in the future (and learn how to use them better).

• Saruman the White [ARMY LEADER]
• Gandalf the Gray
• Galadriel, Lady of Light
• Elrond, Master of Rivendell with heavy armor
• Radagast the Brown

List #4: The Rangers of Mirkwood LL

I really like this Legion from the Fall of the Necromancer sourcebook, but I'd need to get Legolas, Tauriel, and about 20 Mirkwood Rangers to complete it. While I could certainly borrow models from Rythbyrt (assuming he had enough), I figured I could wait for this army until another event. I'm sure everyone else will be happy I'm not running 36 bows (one of those being Legolas) at this tournament, though. :-) 

I did opt to take 2 Captains instead of +5 Rangers with weapon swaps (or +3 Wood Elf Sentinels) - I did this because a) I think having more Might on an army that wants to pick who/when they engage is useful, b) the boost to shooting overall would be negligible and having Might behind a bow is handy, and c) the more warbands you have, the longer you can delay deploying Legolas and Tauriel (hopefully you know enough about what the enemy has planned before you commit them).

Note that one of the Mirkwood Rangers has a weapon swap - because they have multiple hand weapons, we have the choice of using the axe without the Elven-made keyword or a dagger with the Elven-made keyword. Against non-F5 models, we don't need the Elven-made keyword, so nothing has been lost and an extra option has been gained.

• Legolas, Prince of Mirkwood with Elven cloak [ARMY LEADER]
• 1 Mirkwood Ranger with weapon-swapped axe
• 7 Mirkwood Rangers
• Tauriel with Elf bow
• 1 Wood Elf Sentinel
• 7 Mirkwood Rangers
• Mirkwood Ranger Captain
• 8 Mirkwood Rangers
• Mirkwood Ranger Captain
• 8 Mirkwood Rangers

List #3: The Last Alliance (Historical Alliance between Rivendell and Numenor)

I have been talking about running this list for ages (and loved playing with them at Brawler Bash) - and 800pts finally felt like a good points level for it. I like Elrond, Isildur, and Cirdan in the same list, but I really need a Captain in there to march the army around. At this points level, I can finally get all four with enough guys to make the team work. True to theme for the Last Alliance, I have left all the mounts at home . . . yeah, Elrond and the Captain have suffered, but whatever. With 37 models and good immunity to archery and Terror, I feel like this army could do really well. I picked up a second-hand Gil-Galad recently and thought about dropping Elrond and running Gil-Galad instead (probably dropping a model to get some King's Guard upgrades too).

• Elrond, Master of Rivendell with heavy armor [ARMY LEADER]
• 2 High Elf Warriors with shields
• 2 High Elf Warriors with shields and spears
• 1 High Elf Warrior with shield, spear, and banner
• 3 High Elf Warriors with Elf bows
• 3 High Elf Warriors with Elf bows and spears
• Cirdan
• 3 High Elf Warriors with shields
• 3 High Elf Warriors with shields and spears
• HISTORICAL ALLY: Isildur with shield
• 5 Warriors of Numenor with shields
• HISTORICAL ALLY: Captain of Numenor with shield
• 5 Warriors of Numenor with shields
• 6 Warriors of Numenor with spears and bows

I will admit that I like this list and have been torn about not taking it - but in a way, Facebook chose my list for me. While these three lists are all good in their own ways, I very much fell in love with two builds as a result of having to defend them on every Facebook group. The runner up was . . .

List #2: The Riders of Eomer LL

I was REALLY close to taking these guys. This is a Legion that gets a lot of critique in the competitive community - but I think it's actually one of the best Rohan Legions in the game. Why? Because most Rohan heroes rely on their horses to get extra combat potency - and this is the only Rohan Legion that gets anti-archery protection (to say nothing of the anti-magic protection it gets as well) to keep those horses alive. The Riders of Theoden are lethal - but shoot their horses out from under those guys and "Death!" loses its sting.

Now I have heard repeatedly that you should just run a Historical Alliance between Minas Tirith and Rohan to get a better list - but this requires having an infantry shieldwall or Knights of Minas Tirith/mounted Citadel Guards - both of which are going to distract Gandalf from protecting those vulnerable Rohan horses. You also get comparable unit costs between Minas Tirith mounted troops and Rohan troops - you won't see your numbers improve by allying in cavalry (and you might even see your numbers drop by 1-2 models if you favor mounted Citadel Guards).

The list has been really fun to use and while the numbers aren't great (22 models is not bad for being all-cavalry, but isn't great on the whole), this army packs a punch on the turn when the Sun is Rising (I try to call 4 Heroic Combats after charging into a bunch of warriors if I have the option). It's nasty and surprisingly difficult to fight if you move second (so your opponent can't respond).

• Eomer, Marshal of the Riddermark on horse with shield and throwing spears [ARMY LEADER]
• 2 Riders of Rohan
• 2 Riders of Rohan with throwing spears
• 1 Rider of Rohan with banner
• Gandalf the White on Shadowfax
• 5 Riders of Rohan
• Erkenbrand, Captain of Rohan on horse
• 4 Westfold Redshields
• Captain of Rohan on horse with heavy armor, shield, and bow
• 4 Riders of Rohan

As fun as running an all-cavalry Rohan list at the tournament would be (and I still agonize over whether I made the right choice), the decision ultimately was made to take an army that I've been thinking about and talking about for the last few tournaments - it's Elessar time!

List #1 and Tiberius's GT Participant: The Men of the West LL

If there's any Legion that's critiqued more by the competitive community than the Riders of Eomer, it's probably the Men of the West LL. With no horses, no elite warrior choices from Minas Tirith/Rohan, and expensive heroes who can't lead warriors, there's a lot to NOT like about this Legion. 

But I like it - especially at 800pts. Why? Because I'm able to field both Elessar and Gandalf the White. Elessar is one of the most powerful heroes in the game but his usual bane is being shot to death or being locked in place by magic - neither of which are that dangerous when Gandalf is around. This list idea was inspired by an episode of the Durin Show, where Markus Hammond talked about how fun it is to run Elessar and Gandalf together - but in this list, because I can't take horses or elite warriors, I actually get them AND Eomer . . . pretty crazy.

I also have an all-skirmish Rohan contingent (except Eomer) who can harass objectives, draw enemy models out of formations, and generally be distracting while the heroes go to work with the support of the Minas Tirith shieldwall. This gives the heroes the freedom to plow through warriors (without having to rush to objectives).

To anticipate the comments, you can get this army with a Historical Alliance, but if you're paying +35pts for Aragorn's armored horse and Shadowfax, you're going to lose 4-5 guys just to have the Minas Tirith heroes mounted. If you also pay 10-20pts to get Eomer a mount (and maybe some throwing spears), you're losing another 1-3 models. After upgrading some of your troops to the more elite options from Rohan and Minas Tirith, your list is tiny (mid-20s). Our list is 34 models, all of which automatically pass Courage tests while Aragorn is on the board. Oh, and I have 3 good slaying heroes . . . you can't do that with a Historical Alliance (though you could get Elessar, Gandalf, and Hurin with their mounts for +20pts over my heroes - and you'd have to pay at least 8pts to convert the Rohan contingent into Minas Tirith troops). I will admit that a 30-model list with Aragorn, Gandalf, Hurin, and some elite troops would be dangerous too.

• Aragorn, King Elessar [ARMY LEADER]
• 7 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields
• 10 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields and spears
• Eomer, Marshal of the Riddermark with shield
• 3 Warriors of Rohan with throwing spears and shields
• 11 Warriors of Rohan with bows
• Gandalf the White

Conclusion

So, I'm finally doing it - I'm gonna take a Legion that I love and probably not win the tournament. :) But I don't care - my goal is to get some respect for this Legion (and that I think I can do - win or lose). We'll be covering the results of the tournament in a coming podcast, but in the meantime, let loose in the comments and happy hobbying!