The Bare Necessities, Part XLVII: Grimbeorn and his Beornings

Good morning gamers,

With the release of Defence of the North, we have a new faction that you can ally with if you have a Forces of Good army: the Beornings. No, this isn't the new Legendary Legion (view our article from last week on that list) - it's "just Grimbeorn" and up to 15 Beornings. They lose a lot of rules, but they gain something valuable: the ability to ally with other factions. Do any of the other Forces of Good factions have anything to offer that rivals the boosts from the Legion? Let's dive in and find out - I think the answer might surprise you . . .

More gifs of daddy - Photo Credit: Tumblr 

Grimbeorn and the Beornings: How Important Are Army Bonuses, Anyway?

When it comes to the alliance matrix, running a pure list or a historical alliance has one advantage: you get to keep your army bonus. For most factions, though, you can live without it - it might help your army, but sometimes an alliance can get you as much or more than your army bonus does.

While a Convenient alliance makes you "just lose your army bonus" (and this would appear to be the best route for the Beornings to take, since they have no army bonus of their own), an Impossible alliance grants three additional penalties: first and foremost, heroic actions only affect models from the faction that's calling them. This can be bad, but can also mean nothing. Second, banners/banner effects are faction-specific as well. If you don't run banners, it's no big deal (and since Grimbeorn counts as a banner for his guys, bringing another banner will just help the other guys). So there we go - not much lost there.

Third, impossible allies break independently of each other. Giving up points for being broken can be really bad (3-5 VPs in some scenarios) or not that bad at all (1VP in some scenarios). Since there's only 12 VPs up for grabs in any given game, avoiding being broken is generally a good idea (and it causes many armies to avoid Impossible Alliances where possible - even if they have no banners or stand fasts that need to help the army as a whole).

But here's the thing about being broken: since you need to lose more than half of your force to be broken, taking 1 model from an army would require your opponent to kill . . . that model. If you take 2 models from an army, you would have to kill BOTH models to break that portion of the army. If you take 3 models from an army, you need to kill all-but-one model from the army - and in the context of Beornings, this means that if you have a spam army allied with Grimbeorn, bringing "just Grimbeorn" or "Grimbeorn and one friend" means your opponent has to kill a F8/D8/3 Wound/3 Fate monster . . . and I think that's okay.

With all this in mind, let's see which lists can live without their army bonuses and what they bring to the table for the Beornings (the color-coding below shows whether the army is historical allies, convenient allies, or impossible allies with Grimbeorn and the Beornings). In tribute to one of my favorite authors, the factions are all getting 5-star reviews:

• The Army of Lake-town: This is one of the best spam armies for the Forces of Good - and since they lack killing power innately in their army (maybe Bard counts - but a lot of Lake-town heroes won't benefit from his heroics), adding in the Beornings is a good choice. Yes, you lose your army bonus (so you have a 6" banner with +1 Fight from the Master instead of a 12" banner with +1 Fight), but if you're used to conveniently allying with these guys anyway, nothing much is lost. The trick is to determine how many Beornings you want to take, since the two factions will break independently of each other. Still, F4 mass numbers and March have value and I rate this alliance 5/5.
  
• The Army of Thror: Thror loses a lot when he loses his army bonus - and so allying with Grimbeorn would probably slant you more to using Thrain and NOT Thror so that you have some choice over your army leader. You can get fairly cheap spearmen to back up those Beornings with this list (and they can stand in front of the Beornings to absorb archery), but without access to fast troops (save Captains to call Heroic March), I'm not sure these guys are giving you that much. Still, if you leave Thror at home and take his beater-son Thrain, I rate this alliance 3/5.
  
• Arnor: Also a cheap spam list, Arnor would give you D6 warriors that can have a 5+ save and spears EVERYWHERE. If you were trying to choose between the Army of Thror and Arnor, I think Arnor might carry the day. If you were to take Arvedui, Malbeth, and 27 warriors (18 Warriors of Arnor with 1 banner, 4 Rangers of Arnor with spears, and 5 Hobbit Archers), you'd only spend 380pts on nearly 30 models. Add in Grimbeorn and 6 Beornings (not sure you need any great bows), and you've got a decently large force with lots of saves and lots of hitting power. With the survivability and high numbers, this looks like a good alliance, but Arnor lacks fast units and really doesn't have another heavy hitter besides Grimbeorn. Still, I rate this alliance 4/5.
  
• The Dead of Dunharrow: This army will be Impossible Allies for you if you don't have Aragorn also in your list and . . . well, if you have the points for Aragorn, Grimbeorn, and the King of the Dead, maybe it's worth it as a convenient alliance. Without Aragorn, you're paying 300pts for an Impossible Alliance and you're coughing up some pretty good army bonus material from the Dead of Dunharrow. While D8 spearmen who can stand in front of Beornings to absorb archery and then swap-places to lend an extra die that wounds against courage have their advantages, I think there are better spear armies (like Arnor) for this kind of strategy. Still, you can get Grimbeorn and 12 Beornings to fight alongside the King of the Dead and 10 Warriors of the Dead with spears . . . yes, you'd be broken after 7 Beornings or 6 Warriors of the Dead were killed, but you'd also kill a LOT of stuff. I rate this alliance 2/5.
  
• Erebor Reclaimed: This army is Convenient allies if taken from the War of the Ring era and Impossible allies if taken from the Hobbit era. Dain loses a lot if the army bonus disappears, but you could run Thorin III and still be Convenient allies. With Thorin III and Bifur helping Grimbeorn out (roughly 400pts), you could get some pretty good Dwarves to spear-support those Beornings (and again, stand in front to absorb archery) while supporting them with a few Goat Riders (cost-equivalent to Beornings). While Hobbit-era Erebor Reclaimed has easy access through the Halls of Thranduil to F5, the War-of-the-Ring-era Erebor Reclaimed can get it for not too much more from this alliance - I rate this alliance 3/5.
  
• Fangorn: Ents are big and expensive - and with Treebeard in tow, I don't know that this alliance works any better for you than running the Beornings Legion. However, at 700pts, if you take Treebeard (without Merry and Pippin) and Quickbeam (for March) alongside Grimbeorn and 9 Beornings, you would have an army that moves very quickly and that no one wants to engage. You could even steer harder into the skid and remove 8 of the Beornings to get Beechbone, leaving you with 3 Ents, 1 Bear, and 1 Beorning to deal with . . . yeah, have fun. I rate this alliance 2/5.
  
• The Fellowship: Gandalf provides some nice buffs to the army, but the real guys you want are Legolas and Boromir. In a 700pt game, you could have 14 Beornings led by Grimbeorn allied with Boromir with shield and horse and Legolas with armor and Elven cloak, Marching the Beornings up to deal damage quickly while Legolas and 5 Beornings provide cover fire (in two skirmish triangles if you like). You could also run Aragorn with Anduril instead of these two if you wanted to, but I kinda like them in this list. Gandalf in his cart sounds pretty good too. I rate this alliance 3/5.
  
• The Fiefdoms: The Fiefdoms is usually an army that you look at the army bonus and say, "I want that." The truth, however, is that if you're just bringing in Imrahil with Men-at-Arms of Dol Amroth (maybe a few Knights), or Forlong with some Axemen of Lossarnach, you don't really NEED your army bonus. Since everyone who isn't your Captain of Dol Amroth is a Hero of Valor/Legend, it's actually an affordable alliance and you get pretty elite troops (not Beornings, but close) who can lend valuable numbers, ranged threat, and potentially Heroic March to this army. I certainly didn't expect to do this when I first saw the Beornings list, but I rate this alliance 5/5.
  
• The Garrison of Dale: The Garrison of Dale has pretty cheap Heroes of Valor/Legend (depending on the era you're playing) and also has cheap March heroes (their Captains basically cap out at 55pts). Unless they ally with the Army of Thror or Erebor Reclaimed (depending on your era), these guys will lose their army bonus, which gives them a 3+ shoot value with their Esgaroth bows. This is a hit, to be sure, but not one you can't get past if your alliance is getting you something good. While I think either of the Historical Alliance Dwarf factions would be better than Grimbeorn, it's undeniable that the Beornings would benefit from having some fairly cheap F4 spearmen and some strong bows to complement. This is probably not as good as Arnor, though, so I rate this alliance 3/5.
  
• The Halls of Thranduil: This should have been fixed in the FAQ, but the Halls of Thranduil is the only Elven faction that can be Impossible Allies with another faction (so long as you don't run Thranduil). With Thranduil in your list, you're the Beorning's only Historical ally, which means you can keep your Halls of Thranduil army bonus (spamming Mirkwood Rangers and +1 To Wound for your armored warriors). The problem with this alliance is that Thranduil is usually expensive - and when paired with Grimbeorn (who is also expensive), you have problems fitting in those expensive Elves (especially of the spammable Mirkwood Ranger variety) and those even-more-expensive Beornings. I've struggled to get good numbers from this alliance at 700pts, but you'll see the list at the end of the post. Having F6 Palace Guards supporting your Beornings has some merit, though, so I rate this alliance 2/5.
  
• The Iron Hills: If you want an army contingent to NOT break, the Iron Hills is probably one of the best factions for that. The biggest problem is that the only Hero of Valor/Legend that the Iron Hills has is Dain (pity for Murin and Drar) - so you're committing to 340-360pts to run both Dain and Grimbeorn together. Like the Dead of Dunharrow, though, you've got the chance for a mid-20s army with lots of Dwarf spearmen, a few crossbowmen, and the choice of Goat Riders or Beornings (equal cost) to tear through the enemy. This army won't be big (and unless Dain Marches you around, it won't be fast), but it will be TOUGH to fight. Iron Hills Dwarves love getting some F5 models allied in - and that bear is going to be more resilient than Thranduil! But, I don't think this is as good of an ally as Erebor Reclaimed (where you can get the same stuff with a cheaper hero), so I rate this alliance 2/5.
  
• The Kingdom of Khazad-Dum: Don't - just don't. You have exactly three Heroes of Valor/Legend to ally - a 160+pt Durin (once you factor in the Hearthguard upgrades, it's probably closer to 180pts), a 110-pt Balin (who is affordable and nice), and a 75-85pt Dwarf King (who is probably your best option). You don't get spears (except in Vault Warden teams), you don't get fast models (except Heroic March - which can be gained from either the Dwarf King or Balin), and if you get a King's Champion for the double-banners (really the only thing besides high defense these guys can provide - though the Impossible Alliance will keep your Beornings from benefitting from said banners), you've basically got no numbers. Pick literally any other Dwarf Faction and you'll get more bang for your buck. I rate this alliance 1/5.
  
• Lothlorien: On paper, I think this is the best Elven faction to ally with the Beornings - they have the cheapest F6 infantry, they have the cheapest Blinding Light option in the game (see the discussion on Cirdan later), they have fairly cheap cavalry (for being elite cavalry), and they have cheap Valor/Legend heroes to keep the initial buy-in cost low. However, I have yet to find a Lorien list that ACTUALLY brings good numbers to a list of Beornings without really undercutting the Beorning model count. The best list I've come up with is shown at the end of this post and features lots of Guards of the Galadhrim Court, 2 cavalry, some Wood Elf Warrior bowmen, Galadriel, and 8 Beornings - but it only hits 27 models, it has no March and is predominantly infantry, and it has "only 6 Elf bows" . . . but it seems better than almost every other Elf list I've built. It feels like the best F6-support list I've built so far and I rate this alliance 4/5.
  
• Minas Tirith: There aren't many Forces of Good armies that can ally with the Beornings and field all 15 Beornings while also fielding at least 15 models of its own - but one of them is Minas Tirith (if it runs Denethor). Denethor isn't much to look at, but he can bring a bunch of high-Defense, spear-wielding models (and some cavalry for speed). If you don't want an actual banner, you can splurge on Guars of the Fountain Court, but if you want the banner, you can get Warriors of Minas Tirith and Rangers of Godor instead. Either way, you'll have a solid alliance for the Beornings to lean on (albeit without a supporting hero for Grimbeorn). I rate this alliance 4/5.
  
• The Misty Mountains: Birds, check. Speed, check. Numbers, no check. Can live without their army bonus, check. Gwaihir will make your points limit a little funny, but if you bring in 1-2 Great Eagles to support Gwaihir and Grimbeorn, you can still get 7-12 Beornings to hold the ground (with 7-10 of them having weapon swaps as we talked about in the Legendary Legion review). Not a bad faction, but it's basically a faster, less-Might Fangorn option. I rate this alliance 2/5.
  
• Numenor: As fun as Grimbeorn and Elendil would be . . . you probably don't want to do this. Numenor has pretty expensive warriors so you'd probably only have two heroes (neither of whom can March), BUT you could max out Elendil's warband and still get 5 Beornings (and that means your opponent would need to kill 4 Beornings or 10 Numenoreans to break your army). 25 models isn't a lot, but they'd all be S4-5, which is pretty tough. Your heroes would be OBNOXIOUS to deal with, but I think there are armies that do this better. Still, it would be fun so I rate this alliance 2/5.
  
• Radagast's Alliance: In general, don't ally with this list - if you want Beorn in your army, run the Legion. If you want Gwaihir in your army, you can run the Misty Mountains (I'm not sure that the Impossible Alliance hurts you that much considering Gwaihir's restrictions on Heroic Actions and the low Eagle model count you're going to have, but it's one more thing to remember). If you want Radagast, you might have a leg to stand on, but I'm inclined to think that allying in a Blinding Light hero might be better from the White Council. But, I will cede that adding Radagast on an Eagle (or his sleigh with Sebastian) could be valuable - offering you healing for Beorn, Terror for your Beornings, and a way to dismount enemy cavalry models (which is great for an all-infantry army). For Radagast alone (and maybe an Eagle companion), I rate this alliance 2/5.
  
• The Rangers: By taking this alliance, you've chosen to make all your Rangers 1A models and they don't get the Woodland Creature that usually allows them to hide in forests while pot-shoting the enemy . . . why do this when you can just field Dunedain from the Shire? I rate this alliance 1/5.
  
• Rivendell: Well, you need to start by picking one of the "big three" to be your Hero of Valor/Legend - and if you choose Gil-Galad, you're an Impossible Alliance instead of a Convenient Alliance. I think Glorfindel provides better hitting power than Elrond because of the speed of his mount (and slightly lower cost), but Elrond's tactical advantages via Wrath of Bruinen or Renew and the Foresight points probably gives him the edge in my choices. Elrond also gives you the option to run 5 Rivendell Knights with shields to provide speed for your army, while 10 Beornings and Grimbeorn follow in their wake (with Grimbeorn NOT being the army leader). Not a big army, but everyone hits hard (if they don't get shot first). Cirdan could help a bit, but would undercut our Beorning numbers pretty dramatically. An intriguing list though - I rate this alliance 3/5.
  
• Rohan: So here's an unexpected twist: if you're willing to give up that Strength +1 on the charge army bonus of yours, you can actually get a fairly affordable pile of Riders, ally in with Theoden if you want the F4-5 (or Theodred/Eomer if you want the killing power/Grimbeorn to be your army leader) and a heap-ton of Beornings. The list (along with many others, in case that wasn't clear yet) will be at the end of the article, but I was rather surprised that you could get a good model count out of a cavalry-and-elite-infantry force. A mixed-arms Rohan army (that runs Royal Guards on foot to supplement the cavalry) would also be quite good and would gain a few numbers. I rate this alliance 3/5.
  
• The Shire: Besides Galadriel, Gandalf the Grey is one of the best Blinding Light drops for an army - and in the Shire, he can lead 15 cheap bodies to boost the numbers of the army. Grimbeorn and the Beornings brings needed power to the army (though don't underestimate the power of Hobbit Archers and Hobbit Shirriffs near Holfoot Bracegirdle). With Gandalf, Holfoot, and Farmer Maggot (who should be in EVERY Shire list), you can get a 40-model army with 6 Beornings in it - lots of bodies, good protection from enemy archery/magic, and lots of little archers to hold ground while your Beornings and Shirriffs tear through stuff. I rate this alliance 4/5.
  
• The Survivors of Lake-town: Oh look - another list where Gandalf can lead cheap troops (but this time, they have spears!). This is also a good list for the Beornings if Gandalf is leading it - the Lake-towners can get a lot of models into their horde (which makes them harder to break) AND Gandalf can keep your Beornings from being shot to death (and Grimbeorn from being pasted with archery). While you would usually run Bard in this list, Grimbeorn costs about the same as Bard and his children, but boasts a better innate combat profile and is much harder to wound. This list isn't as good as other factions, but I think is on-par with a Shire alliance - I rate this alliance 4/5.
  
• Thorin's Company: Oh, Thorin's Company. If you want some cheap hitter heroes, this isn't a bad place to look - but as Impossible Allies, I don't think you could ally in more than 2 and not risk being broken every game. If Gandalf and Dwalin are your choices, you can spend less than 300pts to get good auric protection and a heavy hitter (though you could look to Gloin for a cheaper option or to Thorin for a more resilient option). Depending on your points level, this could help your army quite a bit (giving it extra Might as well as protection from archery/magic), so there's certainly merit to it - I rate this alliance 3/5.
  
• The Wanderers in the Wild: While grabbing Harry Goatleaf, Barliman and Bill, or even Murin and Drar could be fun, the wildcards in this list are Tom and Goldberry. Yes, the OG cheat codes aren't loved by some members of the community, but it's undeniable that if you have one big beater in your army, the best way to keep that beater working is with Refreshing Song - and who better to tag along than not one but TWO ancient beings of Middle-Earth to sing that song. You won't be boosting your numbers effectively, you still won't be Marching, and there's no auric protection from archery or magic in play, but if your Beornings hide in the back while the three named heroes go munching through the enemy, I think you have a good chance of wrecking your opponent up before your warriors have to do anything. I rate this alliance 4/5.
  
• The White Council: If you were to ally in the two cheapest members of the White Council (Galadriel and Celeborn), you'd have to kill both of them in order to break the army. Their combined cost (if Celeborn is maxed out - which you should do to be points efficient) along with Grimbeorn would be almost 500pts . . . that's a lot to spend on an army BUT you'd get anti-archery protection, you'd get good magic protection (Fortify Spirit), you'd get 2 additional Strike heroes, and you could cast Enchanted Blades on Grimbeorn (which is the next best thing to doubling his dice with Monstrous Charge). Alternatively, you could get Radagast on an Eagle to ally in with a full warband of Beornings, which would be fast and Terror-inducing . . . oh, and you could heal Grimbeorn too . . . so despite this being an Impossible Alliance (which I don't understand considering the Fellowship is Convenient Allies and was formed AFTER the Beornings were around), it's not a bad option. I rate this alliance 3/5.
  
• The Wildmen of Druadan: Um . . . 32 models max, 700pts max, access to spears/Stalk Unseen/blowpipes has been gained, but the "numbers" (and 3-Might-and-March) are all you're getting in this alliance. March and spears aren't nothing, but this army will likely be shredded by an army that shoots a lot (or has lots of combat heroes). Still, it isn't without merits, so I rate this alliance 2/5.
  

So which of these factions should we pick to evaluate today? Let's dive into a list that I was frankly blown away by (and would never have thought of proposing if I hadn't opened up my mind a lot) - bring on the Fiefdoms!

The List

• Grimbeorn [ARMY LEADER]
• 4 Beornings
• 3 Beornings with great bows
  
• CONVENIENT ALLY: Forlong the Fat on horse
• 4 Axemen of Lossarnach
• 2 Blackroot Vale Archers
• 5 Blackroot Vale Archers with spears
  
• CONVENIENT ALLY: Captain of Dol Amroth on armored horse with lance
• 1 Knight of Dol Amroth on armored horse with lance
• 4 Clansmen of Lamedon
• 4 Axemen of Lossarnach
  

30 models, 3 great bows hitting on a 4+ AND 7 bows hitting on a 3+, 4 D6+ models, 3 cavalry + 1 bear, 8 Might points

The purchases required to get these units are as follows:

• You'll need to get Grimbeorn, obviously;
• You'll also need to get 3 boxes of Beornings since they come 3 models to a pack (if you want to save some money, you could drop 1 Beorning with great bow so you only need to get 2 blisters of Beornings and get 1 Knight of Dol Amroth with armored horse and lance for exactly the same points);
• You'll need the Fiefdoms heroes (and probably do a magnetized head/body so you can swap out whether he's on foot/mounted);
• You'll need a blister of Knights of Dol Amroth on foot and mounted for the Captain and the Knight (and possibly your mounted Forlong option);
• You'll need a blister of Rangers for the Blackroot Vale Archers; and
• You'll need 3 sets of Fiefdoms warriors (though you could get away with 2 blisters if you downgrade 2 Axemen into Clansmen, which could get you 2 spears for your Blackroot Vale archers if you wanted them).
  

That's kind of pricey, but Fiefdoms has always been expensive. I will note before we dive in that there's ANOTHER Fiefdoms list at the end of this post if you want Imrahil - I've gone for the more tactical heroes in this list, but if you want the beaters, there's more on that build to come.

Warband #1: The Bear

Grimbeorn leads 7 Beornings in this list - I've chosen to max out on bows here (including Grimbeorn you have 4) so that you can at least attempt to force your opponent to come to you if he's taken only token archery. You've also got 4 melee Beornings and they get their spear support assistance from the Axemen of Lossarnach in Forlong's warband. The bowmen can also benefit from the extra spears in Forlong's Blackroot Vale Archer contingent (though those archers could just support the Axemen if you maelstrom in apart from each other). If you can keep your bear near your 4-7 Beornings, you've got a REAL recipe for slaughter!

Warband #2: The War Horn

Forlong is one of those heroes who doesn't have Strike and doesn't have March - and in THIS army, that means he's used for two things: Heroic Moves and Heroic Shoots. I've sunk all of the Blackroot Vale Archers into his warband so that they can reroll failed To Wound rolls (even if they've moved) so long as Forlong calls a Heroic Shoot. With 3 Might and nothing else to use it on (besides Moves in some games), those S2 bows will find their mark far more often than you'd think. If he's also helping great bows fire first . . . ouch.

Warband #3: The March

The last thing we want is to have to walk 6" each turn to advance on an army with better shooting than us. Grimbeorn will probably be fine (though he doesn't have the 5+ save that he has in his Legion) and the Captain will probably be fine (whether his horse is fine or not is a different question), but our warriors won't. The Fiefdoms (like the Beornings, Dunland, and most Last Alliance builds) are predominantly D4-5, which means they take archery damage pretty hard. While two rounds of Marching might not do that much, it will save us at least one turn of walking - and in some scenarios, it'll help us "just get somewhere" that little bit faster.

Scenario Overview

With this army in tow, let's see what our plan is for each scenario, shall we?

• Domination: We're allowed to start on the center line, so start there we shall. Beorn and his boys probably want to deploy on the center objective, not only because it allows his great bows to provide cover fire to the other objectives while holding the center, but also because they can rush towards any objective they want with relatively little change in our formation. Because his spear supports are in Forlong's warband, we probably want his boys to deploy near the center - though if they can drift towards another objective on your half of the deployment area, that would be valuable too (as some of the Blackroot Value Archers can lay down cover fire from there - leaving some of their spear-supporting brethren behind with the bow-armed Beornings). Our final warband has our Captain and his small melee division. While they can certainly leave troops behind at an objective as well, this should probably be used to push deep into the enemy's realm, contesting objectives that the Beornings can't reach, and forcing your opponent to spread out.
  
• Capture and Control: Same song, different orchestra - but this time, the Captain/Knight of Dol Amroth can ride from objective to objective, starting with your initial objective, and then racing around the circuit to the other objectives. Your Blackroot Vale archers should be supporting the Beorning archers in the center while Forlong and Grimbeorn work each of the sides down. You want to press fast and hard to make sure your opponent stays on the back-foot and on his own side of the board for most of/all of the fight, reinforcing your center if your opponent pushes there.
  
• Hold Ground: Maelstrom is fine with this army - Grimbeorn should come down first, though, so you know where Forlong needs to deploy to support him. If it requires 1 Might point to arrive together, pay it - otherwise, arrive separately (everything will be fine). The Captain's warband should focus on racing to the middle - the others have archers and can take their time (even stopping to level a warband or two on the way in). Forlong's warband is pretty squishy, but if you have some distance between you and your opponent's nearest warband, those Heroic Shoots that Forlong can call can be deadly (7 shots hitting on 4s and wounding on 6s rerolling all faileds = ~1 wound/turn vs. D5-6 while moving). If your Captain's warband arrives at the center early, you'll have 10 models there who are elite enough to be hard to drive off. Get to the center with your other melee units, keep your archers moving, focus on slowing down the enemy advance, and you have a good shot at taking the game.
  
• Seize the Prize: Ah, those "race to the center games" - line up your 3 Beornings and 7 Blackroot Vale archers with a clear view of the Prize, have the Captain within 6" of all of them and call a March on the first turn, advance the archers 4.5", and make sure Forlong ends his movement within 6" of all the Blackroot Vale Archers so you can call a Heroic Shoot if your opponent gets antsy. The rest of your army should March up as quickly as possible without blocking the line-of-sight of the archers, ready to hedge off the prize on Turn 2. If you arrive at the center uncontested, have Grimbeorn try to pick up the Prize if you can - otherwise, have any grunt do it and try to hand it off to him if he's free (or you can hand it to one of your cavalry models). From up in the center and slowly grind your way up your opponent's board edge, keeping the prize safely out of enemy reach for as long as you can.
  
• To The Death: You have excellent shooting, though are vulnerable to S3+ shooting, so if your opponent has a lot of that, you want to get up the field as quickly as you can, shrugging off as much of the damage on your four fast models as possible (they are your only D6+ models and they can make quite the large shield for the rest of your units. When you finally engage (because you had to go to your opponent or because your opponent had to come to you), engage with your Beornings if possible and spear-support them so you have 4 dice/fight (if Grimbeorn is providing his banner boost) with F5 (should win you a lot of fights). Tear through your opponent as quickly as you can and try not to break! Also, kill any banners the enemy has - they're worth 2VPs in this game (since we don't have an actual banner)!
  
• Lords of Battle: If your opponent is likely to win the archery war, start on the center line and rush him. Your army is squishy, so to win this scenario you need to tear into your opponent quickly. Hit fast and hard, using those cavalry to get Heroic Combats off and rack up the kills/wounds as fast as possible. Grimbeorn should do what we can as well to tear through warriors, only engaging heroes if that will keep your opponent from wrecking your warriors.
  
• Contest of Champions: Um, Grimbeorn and his boys are back on the center line, ready to tear through the enemy. Forlong should back them up and the Captain shouldn't be far behind. You have archery, but you can skip it here (unless your opponent hides.
  
• Reconnoitre: Getting across the board is tough for most armies, but not so with this one. We have three cavalry models that we really don't need to kill things, so they can move up in a Marching wedge, relying on Forlong's Might to call Heroic Moves and the Captain's Might to call Heroic Marches. If you can get those three models off the board, you can quarter yourself once you have 4 models left on the board (since 7 models will still be alive, if you include the three guys who escaped), so throw the rest of your models (not Grimbeorn) with reckless abandon into the enemy, slowing them down as much as you can and shooting at them while you can. I would wait to March your cavalry wedge up until your opponent is close (it gives them very little time to redeploy to stop you - and allows you to get a Heroic Shoot or two off before Forlong runs off).
  
• Storm the Camp: 4 Blackroot Vale Archers should be left to guard the camp - make sure they have good firing lanes and the potential for support from some of your melee models. The Beorning archers should advance up the middle (Marched by the Captain) to provide fire on the enemy early and later support the main combat lines in the middle (since they're quite good in melee). Grimbeorn can wait to change in this scenario until you're ready to charge, relying on his bow to get a kill or two in before the fighting starts. Keep your archers moving towards the enemy camp, though - you don't want to get bogged down on your side of the board. Because your Blackroot Vale Archers will be split up, don't worry about Heroic Shoots - use Forlong's Might to call Heroic Combats with your other mounted models to get extra movement out of them and slingshot them towards the enemy camp.
  
• Heirlooms of Ages Past: With an 8" move bear (potentially) and lots of archers to lay down fire on anyone who comes, this isn't a horrible maelstrom mission for you. Grimbeorn should transform as quickly as possible to get the extra movement and provide cover for his Beornings, but if you wanted to hedge around an objective with Blackroot Vale Archers and/or Beorning archers, you can threaten the other objectives all over the board with your melee troops. If you get the relic, hide it and hedge up around the relic as quickly as possible. If your opponent gets it, rely on your shooting to thin out the enemy while your melee troops converge. Kill any enemy banners where possible, since you don't have one and your opponent will gain VPs if he keeps it at the end of the mission.
  
• Fog of War: Pick a hero you can shoot to death if you can - that hero will probably also be easy for Grimbeorn to kill. The hero you want to protect is probably Forlong - and it should be pretty easy if he's sitting back with the archers. As with most things this army does, pick a piece of terrain that's near the center line (or on the center line) so you can hole up there and defend it. Because this is a D4-5 army, not breaking will be hard - so deny kills as much as you can.
  
• Clash By Moonlight: You shoot, but you're also very vulnerable to shooting - so if your opponent has sizeable archery and you don't have good terrain to shoot from behind, you could be in some big trouble. The main thing in this mission is to March up the field but to NOT let your heroes get sniped. If you can pull that off, you're in good shape if you can break the enemy. The enemy army leader is worth quite a lot in this scenario if you can kill him, so do that if possible.
  

Modifications

I was a little surprised when I started writing this post because I kept finding interesting configurations for the Beornings to slot into other lists! Usually I keep this list to three lists, but today I've really cut loose and didn't bother counting until I was done writing (which ended up being TEN lists). Let's see what we have for both convenient, historical, and impossible alliances, shall we?

• Run Imrahil and Angbor - As I mentioned during the long discussion of possible alliances, Imrahil would be great alongside Grimbeorn. He'd have to be your army leader, which means Grimbeorn becomes a grenade for your army. He's more expensive than Forlong (even if you downgrade your Captain into one of the cheaper Heroes of Valor), so you'd be running fewer Beornings with this approach, but maybe you're okay with that if you're getting a second (or third) Strike hero. Imrahil is also a banner for Men-at-Arms of Dol Amroth, so we'll be using them instead of Axemen of Lossarnach for our force (same cost, both can support). Joining Grimbeorn and Imrahil is our third Strike/banner hero, Angbor the Fearless. Not only does he make your Clansmen a bit better (Fearless and counts as a banner), but he keeps the killing power up with his two-handed claymore. You could run a Captain of Dol Amroth on foot for the same cost if you want March more than a third banner/Strike hero. It's "only 27 models," but I couldn't change the list without making it feel a lot worse "just" to get to 30 models (though you can hit 30 models on the head by converting the 2 Knights of Dol Amroth into Clansmen - and I think I would be okay with that).
  
• Grimbeorn
• 4 Beornings
• CONVENIENT ALLY: Prince Imrahil of Dol Armoth on armored horse with lance
• 2 Knights of Dol Amroth on armored horses with lances
  
• 4 Men-at-Arms of Dol Armroth
• 2 Blackroot Vale Archers
• 2 Blackroot Vale Archers with spears
  
• CONVENIENT ALLY: Angbor the Fearless (or Captain of Dol Amroth)
• 3 Clansmen of Lamedon
• 4 Men-at-Arms of Dol Amroth
• 2 Blackroot Vale Archers
• 1 Blackroot Vale Archer with spear
  
• Conveniently Ally with Minas Tirith – If there's any army that can afford to lose its army bonus to pick up a big bear and some F2/S5/2A burly models, it's Minas Tirith. While you could go the spam model route, I wanted to find an ally that allowed you to max out Grimbeorn's warband - and with the help of Denethor, you can get to 31 models with 4 fast models (3 cavalry + a bear), pretty high defense, and a REAL banner with this list. If the Beornings are backed by the 10 spears from the Minas Tirith contingent (and either the real banner or Grimbeorn's banner), they can be absolutely devastating. Against a shooting army, your Minas Tirith "tin cans" can form a D6-7 line to protect your Beorning advance while your Rangers and archer Beornings harass with archery. Oh, and you have three lancers to alleviate pressure on Grimbeorn or race to Denethor's aid (who should be nowhere near the action - unless you're playing Contest of Champions, I guess).
  
• Grimbeorn
• 10 Beornings
• 5 Beornings with great bows
  
• CONVENIENT ALLY: Denethor, Steward of Gondor [ARMY LEADER]
• 5 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields and spears
• 1 Warrior of Minas Tirith with shield, spear, and banner
• 1 Ranger of Gondor
  
• 4 Rangers of Gondor with spears
  
• 3 Knights of Minas Tirith with shields
• Historically Ally with the Halls of Thranduil – I'm not going to lie, I'm not happy with this list. Thranduil is really expensive - especially if you want him to be another beat-stick in an army that has Grimbeorn in it too. Technically, I could have run him with just an Elf bow and heavy armor and taken a 115-point spam hero (instead of the 150-point melee hero in this list). With 6 Beornings who can be backed up by 6 Palace Guards, you've got a NASTY front line (albeit an expensive one). You've also got a bear to guard one flank, Thranduil and some Mirkwood Cavalry to guard the other, and 8 Mirkwood Rangers to assist on either flank as needed. 24 models isn't a lot, but something's gotta give if you're going to take 350pts of heroes, 120pts of Beornings, and 16 Elves . . .
  
• Grimbeorn
• 6 Beornings
• HISTORICAL ALLY: Thranduil, King of the Woodland Realm on horse with heavy armor and extra sword [ARMY LEADER]
• 6 Palace Guards with shields and spears
• 2 Mirkwood Cavalry with shields
  
• 8 Mirkwood Rangers
• Conveniently Ally with the Wanderers in the Wild - Do you know a way to can keep Grimbeorn from getting bogged down? Join up with Tom and Goldberry from the Wanderers in the Wild! Yes, they're a bit cheesy to play against, but with Refreshing Song from both of them (and the ability to shield off your flanks), you can not only get past the low Might problem you usually face with Beornings, but you also get more out of Grimbeorn himself (since he's not limited to 3 Might). At 700pts, you can get Grimbeorn and 10 Beornings alongside Tom and Goldberry - and yes, 13 models isn't a lot at 700pts, but it's also going to be a PAIN to deal with that bear! With the Beornings safely tucked away (shooting cover fire and protecting objectives/not being broken), Tom, Goldberry, and their new friend Grimbeorn can go galivanting across the board, killing whatever they find (well, Grimbeorn will be killing any non-spirit models - Goldberry will just be watching).
• Grimbeorn [ARMY LEADER]
• 6 Beornings
• 4 Beornings with great bows
  
• CONVENIENT ALLY: Tom Bombadil
• CONVENIENT ALLY: Goldberry
  
• Conveniently Ally with Rohan - As was mentioned above, you can get one of the "big three" heroes (Theoden, Theodred, or Eomer) into your army with quite a few Beornings. Since Riders of Rohan not counting towards your bow limit isn't part of your army bonus, you keep it when you ally with the Beornings - and if you choose Eomer as your hero, you can bring 10 cavalry models to support 12 Beornings and Grimbeorn - pretty cool list, if you ask me (though we'd save 25pts if we took either of the other heroes - which could mean an actual banner to help our cavalry OR getting +1 Rohan Royal Guard and upgrading more of our Riders of Rohan to Rohan Royal Guards):
• Grimbeorn
• 8 Beornings
• 4 Beorings with great bows
  
• CONVENIENT ALLY: Eomer, Marshal of the Riddermark on armored horse with shield and throwing spears
• 6 Riders of Rohan
• 3 Rohan Royal Guards on horses with throwing spears
  
• Conveniently Ally with the Garrison of Dale - If you're buying the Defence of the North book to run the Beornings, you might as well see if you can run them allied with some other models from that book, right? So what if I told you that you could run a 30-model army that featured Warriors of Dale with either spears and shields or spears and Esgaroth bows led by Bard II to supplement a pack of Beornings led by Grimbeorn? The Garrison of Dale, as has already been mentioned, loses their 3+ shoot value, but with 5 Esgaroth bows and 5-6 Great bows, you have a good amount of archery (and two pretty good heroes). No March and no real banner, but still a powerful army.
• Grimbeorn [ARMY LEADER]
• 8 Beornings
• 5 Beornings with Great Bow
  
• CONVENIENT ALLY: Bard II, Prince of Dale
• 10 Warriors of Dale with spears and shields
• 5 Warriors of Dale with spears and Esgaroth bows
  
• Conveniently Ally with the Shire - I love this list a lot - lots of little guys swarming around a few really big guys. Gandalf really makes this list work - he keeps all your low-defense models from being shot to pieces and he keeps Grimbeorn from being shut down by magic. And with him, we have some of the best Shire heroes you can get: Farmer Maggot (for fast dogs and good killing power) and Holfoot Bracegirdle (for augmenting your Shirriffs to deal damage almost as well as those Beornings). With 40 models, this is a pretty big list:
• Grimbeorn [ARMY LEADER]
• 6 Beornings
  
• CONVENIENT ALLY: Gandalf the Grey
• 5 Hobbit Shirriffs
• 5 Hobbit Archers
  
• Holfoot Bracegirdle, Shirriff-Leader
• 10 Hobbit Shirriffs
  
• Farmer Maggot
• Grip, Fang, and Wolf
• 2 Hobbit Shirriffs
• 5 Hobbit Archers
  
• Impossibly Ally with Arnor - Arnor is one of the cheapest ways to get F4/D6 spearmen into your list - bar none. Yes, they're Impossible Allies with basically everyone (including the Beornings), but they're also VERY tough to kill. This list sports Grimbeorn and 7 Beornings (no great bows - swap in up to 3 if you want) with nearly full warbands of Arnorian models - Arvedui leading a small contingent of Warriors of Arnor with a host of Hobbit Archers and Malbeth bringing the spear anvil to support the Beornings. With 36 models in it, if I were to try out a non-Fiefdoms list allied with the Beornings, this would be at the top of my list.
• Grimbeorn [ARMY LEADER]
• 7 Beornings
• IMPOSSIBLE ALLY: Arvedui, Last King of Arnor
• 6 Warriors of Arnor
• 7 Hobbit Archers
• 1 Hobbit Archer with weapon-swapped flail
• IMPOSSIBLE ALLY: Malbeth the Seer
• 11 Warriors of Arnor
• 1 Warrior of of Arnor with banner (swapped for shield and spear . . . why?!?!?!?!)
• Impossibly Ally with the Army of Lake-town - I actually mentioned in my article on the Beornings Legendary Legion that you can hit 55 models with the Army of Lake-town if you run minimal Beornings. As we mentioned at the beginning of this article, an Impossible Alliance can mean that you break earlier than normal - but by having Grimbeorn and up to 1 Beorning in your army, you require your opponent to kill both the Beorning and Grimbeorn to break the army that way. Good luck with that when the Beorning is tucked away in a corner with a great bow and Grimbeorn is somewhere else with a swarm of guys to shield him from unfavorable match-ups. Allied with him is the usual suspects from the Army of Lake-town - The Master, Alfrid, Braga, and 2 Guard Captains (Grimbeorn is basically slotting in for Bard and his kids - which means your army has dropped slightly in numbers, but you've got a much more powerful hero in the mix).
  
• Grimbeorn [ARMY LEADER?]
• 1 Beorning with great bow
  
• IMPOSSIBLE ALLY: The Master of Lake-town [ARMY LEADER?]
• 6 Lake-town Guard
• 6 Lake-town Guard with spears and bows
  
• IMPOSSIBLE ALLY: Alfrid the Councillor
• 6 Lake-town Guard
• 3 Lake-town Guard with spears
  
• IMPOSSIBLE ALLY: Braga, Captain of the Guard
• 4 Lake-town Guard
• 5 Lake-town Guard with spears
  
• IMPOSSIBLE ALLY: Lake-town Guard Captain
• 4 Lake-town Guard
• 5 Lake-town Guard with spears and bows
  
• IMPOSSIBLE ALLY: Lake-town Guard Captain
• 4 Lake-town Guard
• 5 Lake-town Guard with spears and bows
  
• Impossibly Ally with the Survivors of Lake-town - If you want a more balanced list with far fewer numbers (and worse Fight Value), you could run the following 40-model Impossible Alliance but you'd gain one very important asset: Gandalf the Grey. Gandalf not only gives you protection from archery, but can also make sure that Grimbeorn can't be targeted by nasty magical powers/special rules OR makes sure an enemy hero can't Strike/deal Strikes if he's been Immobilized/Sorcerous Blasted. I think the previous list is better, but this is certainly an option too.
• Grimbeorn [ARMY LEADER?]
• 1 Beorning with great bow
• IMPOSSIBLE ALLY: Gandalf the Grey on horse [ARMY LEADER?]
  
• 8 Lake-town Militia with shields
• 5 Lake-town Militia with spears and bows
  
• IMPOSSIBLE ALLY: Hilda-Bianca
• 6 Lake-town Milita with shields
• 3 Lake-town Militia with shields and spears
  
• 2 Lake-town Militia with spears and bows
  
• IMPOSSIBLE ALLY: Lake-town Militia Captain with shield
  
• 6 Lake-town Militia with shields
• 5 Lake-town Militia with spears and bows
  

I think most people are looking at the Beornings LL as the go-to for using Grimbeorn (and Beornings as well), but I'm glad they have a place outside of a Legendary Legion to be used in the game. If you've run these guys as allies in another army, let us know in the comments below! Next time, we look at a Legion that fans have awaited since the idea of Legendary Legions were announced: the Host of the Dragon Emperor. Since I am a self-proclaimed not-Easterling player, I thought it best to get some input from both the Easterling players I know and international Easterling Legion competitor Matt Iverson. If you love that Legion (or just want to read an article from me that isn't blasting Easterlings), you'll want to pop back here next week! Until then, happy hobbying!