Top 5 New Battlehosts for Forces of Good

Hey Reader!

Quick caveat before we start: no, we don't have special knowledge about what is going to come down the line from GW, so don't take any of this as, "these are coming in the future" please!!! We love the team, we trust the team, and we don't want to get in trouble, :P

That being said, I think these would also help to bring people into the hobby, and I think the more ways we can make joining the hobby and playing the game easier and simpler for people the better, and battlehosts will undoubtedly help get new players into the game.

And with Minas Tirith and Rohan coming to the line, this is a great start as they are both iconic armies from the films and books. But what other factions would be good to add? Let's take a look.

We will consider three factors: ease of packaging (so plastic models will have an advantage over resin and metal models), popularity (as creating a battle host for, say, Sharkey's Rogues, may not be worth the investment), and driving sales (it should help to sell models that aren't selling out on their own).

#5: The Fiefdoms

Fiefdoms is slowly coming together!

Now this would be an AWESOME battlehost: a group of six knights led by Imrahil supported by a mix of Lossarnachs, Clansmen, Men-at-Arms, and some rangers? This would be incredible and beautiful and just everything that you'd love to see from a battlehost. And with them combining the sets for Lossarnachs and Clansmen, this is easier than ever before. 

But this is also the issue: this is a lot of non-plastic minis in a single set, and there's no living way that this makes a good profit for GW. So while I think it would be among the most attractive of the battlehosts (and even a seasoned player like me would buy it, just because the savings on it would be too good to pass up), it's also one of the reasons it will probably never happen. So I place it here.

#4: Halls of Thranduil

Photo Courtesy of GamesWorkshop

This faction has two plastic warrior blisters (Palace Guard and Mirkwood Rangers), both of which people field and are iconic from the Hobbit movies. We also have Legolas and Tauriel in a plastic kit, both of which are among the first heroes we think of for this faction, and both of whom we would probably run.

The reason I rank this one so low is that 1) these models have no problem flying off the shelves as the sculpts are gorgeous and they perform well, but more importantly 2) is what's not here. Halls of Thranduil is rarely run without, well, Thranduil, and all of the Thranduils to date are in resin. Add onto this that there's basically no chance that we get an elk in a battlehost (or at least not without a price increase), and I think this one is set to come out very late in the progression if at all.

But it would be nice to have a battlehost for them, not only because each race should be represented, but also because these sculpts are just so good and I think it would make it far easier for people to jump into the hobby if they could pick up these models on a bargain.

#3: Rivendell

Waiting to collect warriors until new sculpts...

This battlehost has 80% of what it needs: easy access to plastic heroes and warriors, access to a mix of mounted troops, iconic infantry, and beautiful heroes, and, for being Rivendell, a wide variety of plastic heroes (especially if a new Gilgalad is on the horizon). And I'll be honest: if the previews are to be believed, there's almost a 100% chance that this is next one to be released.

The issue it needs to overcome is the warrior sprue: since High Elf Warriors are 1) an old sculpt and 2) they come alongside Numenoreans, so if they were to turn this into a battle host we'd need a new sprue for the high elf warrior. But honestly I think that GW is more than willing to do that, and I think we'll see something over the next year or so in this direction.

But as another iconic army - the first real army we see in the movies - this would be phenomenal! And while it hasn't been said, it seems to me that we might actually get this one in a year or two, so we'll see...

#2: Army of Thror

Photo Courtesy of GamesWorkshop

To start off, we need a dwarf battlehost full stop, so the only question now is which one. I think it could be Khazad Dum, and while I would love to see an Iron Hills battlehost, I think that 1) too many of the items are from ForgeWorld, so I don't see that coming to fruition anytime soon, and 2) Iron Hills has no difficulty moving product as it is, so I don't anticipate a battlehost in the near future.

On the other hand, Army of Thror is basically perfect: you could do some Warriors of Erebor and Grimhammers alongside Thror and Thrain, which would mimic the value you find in the Isengard set, but with two added benefits. First, you get two kick-butt heroes that you would be tempted to take regardless of points level (maybe you take Thorin, and for good reason, but there's at least a fighting chance you'd take Thror and Thrain), and you are actually pretty close to fielding all of these guys even under the standard rules for hero tiers, which is rare for battle hosts.

And the only thing they're missing is plastic heroes, which could be foregone if they just wanted to move product, but I suspect that the decision would instead be to hold off until the right opportunity presents itself, and that's why I can't give this one the #1 spot. Everything is in place, except for one thing, and that one thing may not be remedied for a very long time.

Which brings us to what I think is the most likely battlehost to come out, if not next then definitely sometime soon after.

#1: The Dead of Dunharrow

Can we get Undead Riders back in stock?

The battlehost literally does have it all: plastic heroes, and the only heroes you can even field (short of the Return of the King legendary legion). You can include two boxes of Dead of Dunharrow warriors, which is not only a common way to run these guys but is also a decent force for you to run (I'd add some Riders of the Dead, but hey - they're not always in stock, so here we are). It's iconic from the movies, it gives a chance for some absolutely mind-blowing paint jobs, and it's a very forgiving army with that sweet sweet D8 all while wounding against the opponent's Courage value (while also having Harbinger of Evil).

If I was on the team, I'd drop this battlehost tomorrow: it's an army that may not sell that much (or at least you don't tend to see it on the table), but it would totally sell if packaged correctly. And if I'm a Warhammer 40k player coming to the game for the first time and I'm used to playing high-armor factions or necrons that are hard to kill, this is the one I'd buy. So as 40k gets bigger and bigger, this is a good way to get people to take a look at the Middle Earth line, catch their interest, and cross-integrate them into the hobby.

Conclusion

I've played a lot of games, some by GW and some not, and "starter armies" are always a good way to get people to play the game, especially when they come with substantial savings. I've been playing Bolt Action recently, and while I don't always buy the starter army (the Polish one is TRASH as you get a bunch of stuff you'll never use and no heavy artillery which is your auto-include), having that as an option is always attractive. So I'm glad to see that we're finally getting "starter armies" for our game, and I am just dying to see what else they bring us.

In my next post we'll be looking at the top choices for Forces of Evil, so stay tuned!

Watching the stars,

Centaur

"I watch the stars, for it is mine to watch, as it is yours, Badger, to remember." ~ Glenstorm, Prince Caspian