In Defense Of: Sons of Eorl

Good morning gamers,

We've looked at Rohan recently with regard to Erkenbrand (read that article if you haven't already) and before then with Captains of Rohan, but today we turn to probably the least used Rohan warrior profile in the game: Sons of Eorl. This profile, which has had a cavalry model for a long time and no infantry model ever, is a staple for a very select subset of Rohan army builds and absent from most Rohan lists at high points levels as well as all of the Rohan Legendary Legions. Depending on how you build your lists, these guys may show up in small numbers or not at all. And that's a shame, because these guys are great - even in normal Rohan lists that don't have Eorl the Young. Think I'm crazy? Well, let's dig into the critiques of the model before we delve into this hidden gem.

Why NOT To Take Sons of Eorl

Let's settle this right from the get-go: if you run Sons of Eorl with Eorl the Young, everyone agrees they can be lethal. If they are within 6" of "Dad", these guys become (besides the Warg Marauder edge case) the only true 2 Attack mounted warriors in the game (and on the charge, they become 3 Attack warriors - which is usually reserved for monster models). With F4/S4 (potentially S5 with the army bonus when charging) and axes standard (S6 on the charge), with D6 riders on D5 mounts, these guys pack a punch and are hard to snipe with archery by most things. If they ram into you, they can crack through just about anything.

The photo is GW, but the reference article was written by Centaur wrote ages ago . . .

But what about in normal Rohan lists? You know, the ones where you're running Theoden, Theodred, and a handful of other heroes that doesn't fit nicely into a Legendary Legion - is there a place for Sons of Eorl without Eorl in the list? Most players would say no - and THAT is what we're going to be covering today. The first reason most players say no is because of their cost. If you look at Sons of Eorl among the complete list of cavalry (at the time of this writing - though I left off the Rohan Outriders because they're too close in profile to Riders of Rohan), you'll see that they are nearly the most expensive cavalry models in the game (though they are not the most expensive):

NOTE: the Angmar Warg Rider should be S4 - missed that one and wasn't going to recreate the chart just to fix it - though I did fix it later on a different one. I also forgot to add Citadel Guard on horses, but whatever.

The blue cells indicate mounted warriors with mounts that are at least D5 and the yellow cells indicate the models that have Expert Rider (something that Rohan gets basically for free and can be really useful if your horse gets shot out or if you need to pick up an object). As you can see from the chart, there are lots of cheaper models that have Expert Rider (including two Rohan profiles) and a few that have armored horses.

Most of the cavalry who cost less than Sons of Eorl are only F3 and/or D4-5, but there are some (like Morgul Knights and Black Dragon Kataphrakts) who manage to be F4/D6 for fewer points (and Rohan Royal Guards could be F5/D6 if Theoden is within 12" and you're on the charge). Having 2 Attacks might make Sons of Eorl better than these guys, but without it, they just don't look as good.

There are two other cavalry models who are 20pts and fill a similar role as Sons of Eorl: Knights of Dol Amroth with lances and armored mounts and Iron Hills Goat Riders. Both of these units are F4/D6 base (though a few Knights of Dol Amroth could get to F5 if they're within 3" of Imrahil) and have C4 and D5 mounts. While the Son of Eorl has an axe (and potentially +1 Strength on the charge with the army bonus), both of these units have lances, which means they'll have comparable Strength (effectively) as a Son of Eorl will on the charge (and the S4 base on the Goat Rider means that he'll have effectively comparable Strength even if the Son of Eorl uses Piercing Strike while on the charge). With 2 Attacks, you'd probably want the Sons of Eorl - but without it, these other guys look like they might be better.

Finally, there is a very small group of cavalry who cost MORE than Sons of Eorl (not including Galadhrim Knights with Elf bows that we covered recently): Rivendell Knights (F5 lancers with Elf bows built into their profiles), Riders of the Dead (F3/D8 models that wound against your Courage value on D6 mounts), and Warg Marauders (3 Attacks base if the archers don't shoot on a Terror-causing mount). Each of these models is their faction's only cavalry model and have tactical advantages that make them desirable and can crack through some of the nastiest foes in the game. Paying extra for these models looks like a really good idea (especially Warg Marauders), while Sons of Eorl just don't look like they're providing as much.

The second big detraction for these models is the existence (and supremacy in this edition) of Rohan Royal Guards. With the ability to be one of the cheapest F5 cavalry models in the game (tied with Mirkwood Cavalry) and access to both S4/D6 for killing power and resilience, these guys seem to have it all. To top it all off, they've also got Bodyguard, so you can chew through Terror-causing troops as easily as the non-Terror variety. For 5pts cheaper than a Son of Eorl if you don't hand out throwing spears to the Royal Guards (which you should), why would you want to spend all those points on a Son of Eorl when you could get a Royal Guard?

Third, these guys can't skirmish. All of the other Rohan cavalry options have skirmish options - Rohan Outriders and Riders of Rohan come with bows innately and both Riders of Rohan and Rohan Royal Guards (as we just mentioned) can be given throwing spears. Sons of Eorl are the only Rohan cavalry warriors who can't deal damage from a distance (or while they're charging) - and that really limits their utility compared to the other Rohan options.

The final reason these guys stay at home is because they force you to take Rohan normally - and while an allied Rohan list could be great, the Legendary Legions available to Rohan are REALLY good. Whether it's Theodred's Guard (mixed arms with large infantry blocks and access to virtually all your cavalry models) or the Riders of Theoden (all cavalry models), Rohan Legendary Legions are no strangers to top tables - and vanilla/allied Rohan could bring Sons of Eorl to the table, but it would do so without free heroic actions, the ability to spear-support with throwing spears, or getting army-wide bodyguard rules. All for some 20pt cavalry models? I don't think so. In addition, if you think Sons of Eorl are only good with Eorl the Young, your army bonus is up for removal if you ally with anyone other than generic-hero-only Minas Tirith (which could give you some VERY difficult match-ups against magic-heavy or shooting-heavy armies).

So given all this, is there a place for Sons of Eorl in a normal Rohan list? I think so - but it takes rethinking about the place and purpose of cavalry in the game. Let's take a look at what these guys bring to the table.

Why TO Take Sons of Eorl

When the new edition came out, GBHL legend and long-time Rohan player James Clark reviewed the newly revamed Rohan army list - and one of his greatest laments was that Sons of Eorl lost their 2A stat by default and had it tied to being near Eorl the Young. In his mind, Sons of Eorl were great as models that could hold the flanks of your formation, since they'd keep the 2 Attacks with or without the charge. While this is true for Eorl-the-Young-led Rohan lists, it's not true for Theoden-led Rohan lists (or whoever else is leading these guys).

Sons of Eorl have been reshaped in the new rules to be used almost exclusively with Eorl the Young - but even if Eorl isn't in the list, they still boast a LOT of benefits over other cavalry in the game. Let's look at the list of cavalry again - this time, with a focus on the non-FV elements of the profile:

Didn't add the Citadel Guard, guys - sorry.

I made an assumption for the Rohan models in the image above that they would have Strength +1 from their army bonus - and I similarly assumed that they'd be FV +1 from being within 12" of Theoden (because it's hard not to be in most games). Anything that's blue indicates that the Son of Eorl is ahead by +1 over the next guy (I gave them 2pts in the war gear category for having an armored horse and an axe - for their competition, I gave points for having lances as well as axes). In the special rules section, anyone who had a special rule that made them "significantly better" (such as Terror, Bodyguard, Fell Sight, or Impaler) got +1pt as well, just to be fair. Here's the color-coding matrix:

• Purple: the Son of Eorl is +2 ahead of the profile being viewed
• Blue: the Son of Eorl is +1 ahead of the profile being viewed
• White: both models come out the same
• Orange: the profile being viewed is +1 ahead of the Son of Eorl
• Red: the profile being viewed is +2 ahead of the Son of Eorl
  

If we add up the differences in scores between the Son of Eorl and his competition . . . it's actually pretty close without giving them +1 Attack:

• Warg Riders and Dunlending Horsemen are 8pts cheaper, but are -1 Fight Value, -1 Strength, -1 Defense, and -1/2 Courage from the statline only (that's half the points difference) and they are on D4 mounts and the Warg Rider has a sword only (which, there's nothing wrong with Feint/Stab, but with the +1 Strength from the army bonus, these guys can get a lot more mileage out of Piercing Strike. In this simplistic evaluation, you're overspending the Warg Rider by 1pt and the Dunlending Horsemen by 3pts (but that's if you think +1 FV/S/D is worth 3pts - which paired together on a mounted model, they might not be.
  
• Haradrim Raiders, Serpent Riders, and Khandish Horsemen are all light cavalry, so you've got major advantages over them: +2 Strength on the charge, +2 Defense, +1 Courage, and +1 Fight Value over the Haradrim Raider. Like the Warg Riders and Dunlending Horsemen, these guys all have D4 mounts, but these guys do have lances/axe-options and the Haradrim Raiders and Khandish Horsemen have bows for added flexibility. This gives the Sons of Eorl a +5 or +6 advantage over these guys, which means you're overspending by 1-2pts (but again, that's only if you think +2 Defense and +2 Strength are worth 4pts - and they might not be.
• Knights of Minas Tirith with shields and Riders of Rohan are 14pts each and fulfill very different roles from each other. The Knights of Minas Tirith are more comparable to the Sons of Eorl as shock cavalry, but are -1 Fight Value, -2 Strength, -1 Courage, have a D4 mount, and a lance instead of an axe. This gives the Sons of Eorl a +6 advantage and with only 6pts difference, they don't seem that overpriced. If the Riders of Rohan have their army bonus and Theoden nearby, they actually compare pretty well - yes, they're -1 Strength, -1 Defense, and -1 Courage, but they can have the axe by default and trade a D4 mount for a bow. The entry says they have throwing spears, but that's erroneous (or they'd be +2pts more). With only 3 penalties, though, the Son of Eorl might be 3pts overcosted compared to them.
• Citadel Guards on horses with longbows are 15pts each and get -2 Strength, -1 Defense, -1 Courage, a longbow instead of an axe, a D4 mount, and Bodyguard - which means they are 4pts worse and 5pts cheaper - slightly better than a Son of Eorl.
• Hunter Orcs on Fell Wargs and Black Dragon Kataphrakts are 16pts each and they pose an interesting point of comparison. Hunter Orcs are light cavalry and suffer -1 Fight Value, -1 Strength without an axe, -2 Defense, -2 Courage, and are on a D4 mount (that is balanced by being able to charge without line of sight). This gives the Son of Eorl a +6pt advantage and only +4pts/model - our first "better" comparison! Black Dragon Kataphrakts, however, are 16pts/model normally but are only -1 Strength and lack the axe. With Gleaming Horde active, they can actually be +1 Defense as well, which gives the Son of Eorl an advantage of +1 for being +4pts/model - and this difference is exacerbated by the new Easterling Legion where these guys can be upgraded to Black Dragons for free (making them 14pts/model).
• Mirkwood Cavalry and Rohan Royal Guards on horses with throwing spears are an interesting comparison as well. At 17pts/model, Mirkwood Cavalry have +1 Fight Value, -2 Strength, +1 Courage, are on a D4 mount with a sword, but treat Thranduil as a banner and might have +1 To Wound with their army bonus. Depending on how close they are to Thranduil, the Son of Eorl either has a +2 advantage or they break even - so we're looking at 1-3pts more expensive than "they should be" without the extra Attack. Rohan Royal Guards that have their army bonus and are within 12" of Theoden have +1 Fight Value, -1 Strength, -1 Courage, have a D4 mount with a sword but have throwing spears, and have Bodyguard. This gives them a cumulative penalty of -1, making the Sons of Eorl 2pts more expensive than they should be without the extra Attack.
• Morgul Knights are 2pts cheaper than Sons of Eorl and are -2 Strength with swords and lances. Their Terror rule can be useful, but so can Expert Rider if the scenario is right. All told, these guys break even in my book (and are very similar profiles - one with more Strength and one with a lance).
• Mahud Raiders with blow pipes and war spears and Galadhrim Knights with shields are 19pts each and once again are very different profiles: the Mahud Raiders are light shock troops with -1 Fight Value, -1 Strength, -1 Defense, -2 Courage, a war spear counter-acting the axe bonus, a blowpipe counter-acting the D4 mount, and the Impaler rule. All told, the Son of Eorl has a +4pt advantage for only +1pt . . . that's really good value (if you think the Impaler rule is only worth 1pt). Galadhrim Knights (who we covered earlier in this series) should have Elf bows, but for this comparison they will be melee-only heavy cavalry. With +1 Fight Value, -2 Strength, +1 Courage, a sword instead of an axe, and Fleetfoot, these guys break even and are only 1pt less (so the Son of Eorl is slightly overcosted without the bonus Attack).
• Knights of Dol Amroth on armored horses with lances and Iron Hills Goat Riders are 20pts/model and are both heavy shock cavalry: Knights of Dol Amroth could have +1 Fight Value if they're within 3" of Imrahil (pretty hard to do with more than 1-2 guys though - and virtually impossible if you're running Imrahil behind your Men-at-Arms), are in range of a banner if Imrahil is within 12" of them (pretty easy to do) and are -2 Strength with a lance instead of an axe. Despite being the same points cost as Sons of Eorl, the Knight of Dol Amroth is 0-1pt more expensive than the Son of Eorl (depending on where Imrahil is) WITHOUT the bonus Attack figured in. Iron Hills Goat Riders are 8" move, which I'll value at 1pt difference since you can pay 1pt to get +2" of movement on several infantry units. Goat Riders are also -1 Strength, have war spears instead of axes, and can knock over their foes before fighting thanks to their goats. This gives the Son of Eorl a 1pt advantage over them (though it seems much closer and less circumstantial than the Knight of Dol Amroth comparison).
• Almost done guys - hang in there. At over 20pts, we have three profiles (Rivendell Knights with shields, Riders of the Dead, and Warg Marauders): Rivendell Knights cost 2pts more and get +1 Fight Value, -2 Strength, +1 Courage, a lance instead of an axe, and an Elf bow - which gives the Son of Eorl a +1pt advantage over them. Riders of the Dead have -1 Fight Value, -2 Strength, +2 Defense, +2 Courage, have a D6 mount, and have Blades of the Dead and Terror (both of which are difficult to evaluate in a vacuum). At the very least, the Rider of the Dead has +4pts of value and costs 4pts more - so we'll call them even. Warg Marauders are a completely different beast with -1 Fight Value, -1 Strength, -1 Defense while the shield-guy is alive, +2 Attacks while charging (and 2 bow shots even if you full-move when you're not), -2 Courage, no axe and a D4 mount, and +2 models (10pt value given that they're bowmen). All told, if we treat each Attack as being worth 3pts (derived from Morgul Stalkers, Iron Guard, Watchers of Karna, but NOT Hunter Orcs), the Warg Marauder gives +9pts of value for +10pts . . . not a bad comparison at all.

This highlights something about these guys: like Uruk-Hai, you're paying for good stats and a good mount - and when you look at what you're getting for the profile, these guys aren't poorly costed at all. They get much better in the comparison with +1 Attack (usually a 3pt value), but these guys aren't poorly costed without it. Also, when compared to other expensive, elite cavalry, they pretty much break even or beat the competition (Galadhrim Knights excepted, interestingly enough). Disagree with my weighting system if you want - it was simplistic but through - but I think you might be surprised in the end at how well costed these guys are.

Second, while they might have a better FV than Sons of Eorl (potentially), Rohan Royal Guards aren't a competitor with Sons of Eorl - they're a complement. There will be times when you want a F5 rider instead of a F4 one - but if they can get into a fight together, then the Royal Guard lends the FV needed to win the fight and the Son of Eorl lends the Strength needed to actually kill the darn guy. What's more, having a F5 warrior that lends 2 extra dice to win the fight makes it less risky to Piercing Strike with the Son of Eorl, so if Piercing Strike helps you kill things better, you can do it if the two are working in concert together with reduced risk of actually incurring the penalty. Bodyguard these guys don't have, but Rohan doesn't need to struggle to boost its Courage (more on that in a minute).

Third, these guys can't skirmish - but they don't have to. Most Rohan builds (especially the Riders of Theoden LL ) aren't rewarded for "playing keep-away" - they're actually encouraged to do what Rohan does in the films: charge down the gut of the enemy as quickly as possible and smash whatever is in their way. If backed by a banner, these guys on the charge are some of the most dangerous cavalry in the game - and at only a few points more than a Royal Guard, they will rarely glance off what they fight. Skirmish with some of your army - but not these guys.

Finally, there's nothing wrong with running "vanilla Rohan." Rohan has some really great heroes in it that you can combine in interesting ways that aren't available in a Legion - Theodred is a really cheap, hard-hitting hero and is best used when he's not your army leader (which he needs to be in the one Legion that can take him). Heroes like Erkenbrand and Gamling provide really good value to your army aurically, but can't be fielded in the same Legion (Gamling shows up in a lot, Erkenbrand in only one). Eorl the Young, unlike Helm Hammerhand, doesn't prevent you from running guys like Theoden, Eomer, or Gamling with him - you just don't get your army bonus. And yes, I've talked up the army bonus a lot, but regrowing Might on Eorl with Gamling (as well as getting more FV out of your Royal Guards/Riders of Rohan with Theoden) is incredibly useful. Why not have a bash-fest army that doesn't get the +1 Strength on the charge?

Making It Work

Here are some guidelines for adding Sons of Eorl to your Rohan armies:

• Run them with Eorl the Young if you want to - I've stayed away from talking about them in the context of Eorl, but it does beg mentioning here: they do get better if he's around. While most cavalry in the game are 0-3pts "better" than these guys, that extra Attack while within 6" of Eorl changes everything for these guys, making them either on-par for cost or better. Trading your army bonus for more use out of Eorl/the non-Sons-of-Eorl elements of your army could be a worthwhile trade as well.
• Have a banner nearby - banners save lives, especially if the units using them are elite. And these guys are about as elite as cavalry come. So make sure they have a banner.
• Boost their Courage - this can be done inexpensively with Erkenbrand if you are willing to lose your army bonus, but you can also do it with a war horn. Yes, you're paying a lot of points for models already, but war horns are really useful if you have C3-4 troops that need to engage to do anything. I would just take Erkenbrand, personally, but I could see the argument for not doing that (so you can reach S5-6 instead of S4-5).
• Keep reserves near them - Sons of Eorl want to be charging as much as they can, but they don't have to charge every round so long as someone else is getting a charge off. If you have Sons of Eorl engage on the first round of charging with some Riders of Rohan skirting around the flanks to harass the spear-supports (and far enough away that they won't be counter-charged on the next turn), you can get a devastating charge with the Riders of Rohan regardless of whether you win the Heroic Move-off to go first on the next round. Ideally those Sons of Eorl will keep running forward, but if they don't, you can take away much of the benefit the enemy has by having someone else charging in on the following turn.
  

Here's a neat list you can try that is a WONKY pure Rohan list (it has no army bonus, but it gives you all the synergistic benefits we talked about above (and I guarantee your opponent will have no idea what to make of it):

• Theoden, King of Rohan on armored horse with shield and heavy armor [ARMY LEADER]
• 3 Rohan Royal Guards on horses with throwing spears
• 2 Rohan Outriders on horses
  
• Gamling, Captain of Rohan on horse with the Royal Standard of Rohan
• 4 Rohan Royal Guards on horses with throwing spears
• Erkenbrand, Captain of Rohan on horse
• 2 Westfold Reshields with axes
• 2 Westfold Reshields with swords
  
• Eorl the Young on Felarof
• 4 Sons of Eorl

This list has 21 models at 700pts (which is pretty normal for a 4-hero all-mounted-Rohan list and not bad for an all-mounted list in general), 12+ Might, 2 Strike heroes if you need them, and a really nice mix of Royal Guards (Bodyguard with F5), Westfold Redshields (F4 near Theoden and granting banner boosts to those in their fights if near Erkenbrand), normal Riders of Rohan (good for objective holding, but also F4 near Theoden), and of course some Sons of Eorl. You don't have the army bonus, but here's what you can do with it:

• Eorl and Gamling ride together - Eorl then can restore a Might point each turn once he runs out, which he could avoid spending with Legendary Hero (so +2 Might/turn sometimes).
• The Sons of Eorl benefit greatly from Gamling's banner as well as Erkenbrand's Horn of the Hammerhand (bringing them to C6 - who needs Bodyguard when you're C6!) and will extend the damage done by Eorl wherever they choose to charge.
• Gamling brings F5 cavalry (if Theoden is within 12" - which is a very far ways away) to assist the Sons of Eorl if you can get multiple models into the same fight.
• Theoden and Erkenbrand ride together so that the Westfold Redshields can all be F4 on the charge - and they have a mix of axes and swords so that you can get the benefits of both Piercing Strike (should it help you) and Feint if you can double-up in fights.
• Theoden and Erkenbrand don't need to be in range of an actual banner, so having someone else in their fight (a Redshield) will give them a greater chance of winning/killing what they face without wasting points.
• You have 6 bows and 8 throwing spears (including Eorl) to support your 4 Sons of Eorl and 3 melee-only heroes (so 2/3 of your army can shoot) - some of which are "disposable" enough to just leave on far-flung objectives (Outriders).
• We're not worried about Terror at all - C6-7 on our heroes, C6 on our Sons of Eorl, C5 with Bodyguard on our Royal Guards, C5 on our Redshields, and C5 with unlimited Stand Fast range on our Outriders.
  

Conclusion

If you've never used these models before, they're not only great models aesthetically, but they're a lot of fun to use. While I can certainly see the argument that you want to keep their army bonus, I actually think they (and Eorl) are better without it. If you're a Rohan player and have thoughts on these guys, drop them in the comments below! Next time, we turn from the pale-haired men of Rohan to their ancient foes: Dunland. With a slew of cool named heroes to use, the lowly generic Dunlending Chieftain often gets bypassed in army building. But should you skip this guy (unless you've already maxed out the other warbands)? I don't think so - find out why next time, and until then, happy hobbying!