In Defense Of: Bofur the Dwarf

Good morning gamers,

Today's article returns to a series we did back in early 2022, where we look at models that get maligned by the community and look for why they're good and worth taking (and how to tailor a list to make them work at their best). The model we'll be covering today is one of the most popular Dwarves from Thorin's Company when you consider the actor who played him, but is often left at home when looking to field Thorin's Company (or the Champions of Erebor in either version of the Erebor Reclaimed army list): Bofur the Dwarf.

My son, Gorgoroth, just finished reading the Hobbit and watching the Hobbit films (extended versions for #1 and #2, theatrical version for #3). Your own views of the films aside, chances are that Bofur the Dwarf makes you smile if not outright laugh just as he delights me when I watch the films (excellent work, James Nesbitt - you snagged my "favorite Dwarf" award, but mostly for what you do in the extended editions of the films). I love this guy and really enjoyed painting him, but I gotta say, that profile just doesn't look appealing. So let's dig into why most people critique the profile . . . and then into why I've come around to like this guy so much!

Why NOT To Take Bofur the Dwarf

The first critique of Bofur that everyone seems to make is that he has to fight two-handed. While every other Dwarf (and Hobbit and Wizard) in Thorin's Company has a hand weapon or a hand-and-a-half weapon (aka, doesn't NEED to suffer the -1 penalty to their dueling roll), Bofur has a "mattock," which is a "two-handed weapon, which can use either the Bash or Piercing Strike Special Strikes." Interestingly enough, this is different from the Grim Hammer "Pick-Hammers," which are hand-and-a-half hammers . . . not sure why that is, to be honest. Anyway, Bofur will always suffer than -1 penalty to his dueling roll, so if he's fighting alone (quite likely), his Might has pretty much one purpose: boosting his dueling rolls so he doesn't die.

This leads us to the second critique of Bofur the Dwarf: he's got pretty average stats. This critique isn't unique to Bofur in this list - and when compared to non-Dwarf Captain units who live at this points level, this is exactly what you'd expect to find. Compare Bofur and his cousins to your average Captain from Minas Tirith, Rohan, Rhun, and Mordor:

Bifur-Bofur-Bombur vs. 4 traditional Captain models . . . the comparison isn't bad, really . . .

As you can see, the Dwarves are cheaper than the other Captains by 10-15pts and like these generic heroes, they're F4/S4, 2 Attacks/2 Wounds, and 2M/1W/1F. Their movement is lower (because they're Dwarves), their Courage is higher (technically tied with the Captain of Minas Tirith if he has his army bonus), but their Defense is lower - like 2-3 pips lower than the competition. Being D5 isn't a problem (and Bombur's extra Wound makes up for him being D4 in most cases - as will Heroic Defense), but it also isn't great.

If you've got average stats for 45pts, chances are good someone who costs a little more than you (like an Uruk-Hai Captain or a Dwarf Captain) is going to clobber you if they run into you - and that's not even covering those big heroes who could flash-kill someone like Bofur (be they fairly cheap heroes like Theodred or Thrydan to the very expensive beat-sticks of Elendil, Elessar, or pick-your-favorite-monster). Yeah, this could just end badly.

Bofur's cousins (Bifur and Bombur) have remedies against this threat though: Bifur has access to Heroic Strike, which could force someone like Theodred or Thrydan to call a Strike as well to avoid losing their horse. Bofur doesn't have Strike, so his ability to force these heroes to burn Might this way isn't present. Similarly, Bombur has Heroic Defense, which is a very situational saving grace (your opponent has to roll natural 6s) and this could force these big heroes to avoid calling a Heroic Combat and blunt them for a turn or two - if a 45pt hero is blunting a 95+ point hero, I'll take that any day. Bofur . . . doesn't have Defense either.

It's almost like my former self wishes he was me . . .

Now I must interject and note that these two critiques (having to fight two-handed and having average stats/heroics) don't apply to Bofur the Dwarf, Champion of Erebor. THAT version of Bofur has Strike, has D8/Sworn Protector, and has a hand-and-a-half hammer - and all that for +20pts. Yeah, if you read my post comparing the champs to Thorin's Company, this guy was a huge winner. This version of Bofur, however, runs into the third critique of Bofur: he's just not better than the other heroes he's competing with.

Thorin's Company has 15 heroes in it (and Erebor Reclaimed has 9-15 heroes in it, depending on what era you play in) and if you're one of 9-15 heroes, you had better be really good at something or you're never getting fielded. Thorin's Company has four F5-6/3A beater heroes (Thorin, Dwalin, Gloin, Dori), three F5/2A melee threats - the latter two are also decent at range (Nori, Kili, Fili), a wizard and a Ringbearer (Gandalf and Bilbo, respectively . . . obviously, more like), four free Heroics/restorative stats heroes (Bifur, Ori, Bombur, Oin), Balin (who gives you priority rerolls, but otherwise is pretty awful), and Bofur . . . yeah, you see how he's competing for a slot?

When I sit down to build a list, I'm going to start with the four beaters in most cases (just because having 3 Attacks when you don't have a banner is better than having 1-2 Attacks), then look to see if I can squeeze in a wizard, then look for some heroics/stats regrowth, then see if I can get a Ringbearer/support hitters, and eventually I wind down to the end of my points level . . . and Bofur is just standing there on the sideline and I'm thinking, "Do I take Bofur or Bombur/Ori/Kili/Fili for my last slot?" Yeah, it's a pretty tough ask, if you ask me.

Fitting him into an Erebor Reclaimed list is even harder - depending on the era you're playing, you'll have 6-12 Champs, Thorin/Young Dain or Thorin III/Old Dain, and generic Iron Hills Captains for Heroic March/Master of Battle (5+). Oh, and you can get troops - LOTS of F4/D6-7 troops that may or may not be mounted, D8 in shieldwall, or wielding crossbows. Champ Bofur may have a better profile than his Thorin's Company version, but he's still going to have problems cracking the list.

So is this a profile that's doomed to the old Easterling treatment (love the aesthetic/lore, but just don't see it winning on the table)? I don't think so, and it took a LOT to change my mind. So let's dig into a character that I've learned to love over the past year . . .

Why TO Take Bofur the Dwarf

If you've been following our Fantasy Fellowship campaign this year, you know that I took the "Erebor Reunion" Fellowship, where I used the 6 mobile Dwarves who were alive during the War of the Ring to accompany Old Bilbo, Gandalf the Grey, and Bilbo's companion Farmer Maggot (because, you know, he totally would have escorted Bilbo to Rivendell if Bilbo had asked . . . clearly). The Dwarves who took my Merry and Pippin slots were going to need to be Thorin's Company Dwarves, and of the Dwarves I could choose from (Dwalin, Gloin, Dori, Nori, Bifur, and Bofur), only Bifur and Bofur were going to fit within the 50pt limit for those two character slots. I had a lot of fear about taking Bofur in my Fellowship, so I've started running him in my Thorin's Company lists for Matched Play as well - and here's what I've found from both experiences.

First and foremost, it's okay to go two-handed - as a matter of fact, it actually makes him quite an unexpected heavy hitter. Many heroes who happen to be S4/2A and infantry have problems killing more than one model - not so with Bofur. If Bofur gets charged by 2 enemies (and if they have spear supports), he could be in a lot of trouble . . . unless your opponent doesn't get a 6. If Bofur has Might enough to win the fight, he has the chance to be able to knock the blocks off his foes. Consider what a two-handed model can do when he has the flexibility of being S4 or S5:

• Against D3 foes ("light troops"), he can wound them on a 2+;
• Against D4-5 foes ("average defense"), he can wound them on a 3+;
• Against D6-7 foes ("high defense"), he can wound them on a 4+;
• Against D8-9 foes ("really tough models"), he can wound them on a 5+; and
• Against The Dark Lord Sauron (D10), Bofur can wound him on a 5+/3+ - that's a 22% chance of wounding SAURON!
  

Oh, and if you keep your army bonus (by running them pure or allying with the Army of Lake-town) and are within 3" of Thorin, you'll also reroll 1s . . . yeah, you're gonna kill 1-2 guys each turn.

And would you believe it, but you get all this for only 45pts! To put this in perspective, to get comparable wounding levels, you need to invest in someone like Young Dwalin (85pts), Thrydan Wolfsbane (probably 95pts), or any of your super-epic-Dwarf-heroes (ranging from 90-160pts). While all of these heroes are going to have higher Fight Values than Bofur (as well as higher Defense and often 3 Attacks), their overall damage output is likely to be in the same ballpark if Bofur can just win a fight. This leads us to a second thought to probe with using Bofur: get someone else in his fight.

I know, we're supposed to be talking about how good Bofur is, not Bofur + <somebody else>, but it's true - Bofur is a 45pt Hero of Fortitude who can be easily brought with Gandalf (170-180pts), Thorin (100-120pts), Dwalin (95-100pts), or Balin, I guess (40-45pts) into a list with models who can get warriors (and if you use the Army of Lake-town, who can easily get ~40 models for ~400pts, you don't even need the Hero of Valour/Legend). If you've got Thorin and Bofur in your list (and both are backed by cheap spearmen), you stand in a good spot to get Bofur to the part of the dueling cycle that he's really good at: the Wounding Roll. Even if Thorin isn't in the same fight, having him near Bofur to provide the reroll and attract some of the enemy from Bofur can be enough. This guy's so incredibly slanted towards the second part of the dueling roll that it's not funny - so make sure he gets there!

Bofur may have average stats, but you know what, for 45pts, he's supposed to have average stats. When you look at other heroes who live at his points level, being F4/S4/2A on offense is fine - and being D5/2 Wounds/1 Fate is fine too. Sure, you may not have the customizable gear options that others do - and you may not have those fancy heroic actions that other people do, but for under 50pts, it's hard to find someone that punches as hard as Bofur - and even harder still to find someone who's better than F4. Yes, the Eowyns of the world are better than you, but she's rarely fielded for 45pts, now is she? Denethor's F5, but I'm liking Bofur's chances against him, seeing as how Denethor can't boost his rolls and Bofur can wound him on 3s, possibly rerolling 1s . . .

So far, however, we've talked about Bofur's profile and war gear, but we haven't talked about his defining quality in Thorin's Company: the Steadfast special rule (no, it's not Heroic Resolve - others have it and while you have Resolve as well, you don't want to use your Might to call it). Steadfast is amazing - if Bofur is the target of a magical power, he can roll a die and on a 2+ (which can be affected by Might), he can cancel the effects of the magical power. This has been FAQ'd to mean that the entire spell loses its effect, not that he alone is exempt from the effects. Facing down some Barrow-Wights or Nazgul? They're not targeting Bofur. Brorgir trying to tear a hole in your lines? Everyone that stands right in front of Bofur (possibly behind him too?) is probably fine. Is Elrond trying to knock down all your Dwarves with his knowledge of how rivers work? Not near Bofur, that's for sure. Yeah, Bofur may be one of many, many heroes in his lists, but he's the only one that isn't afraid of a sustained magical barrage - he just isn't.

What functionally happens is that your opponent will just avoid casting magic at Bofur directly or within his general vicinity - which means if you're running Bofur, you're probably running your army in a ball. Let's talk about this a little more as we delve into how to make your army work with Bofur in it.

Making It Work

If you're running pure Thorin's Company, there appear to be two approaches in my mind to building your list: a) you intend to skirmish with the army, or b) you intend to run up and smash the enemy with the army. If you're looking at the first list, you're going to have Thorin as your leader and Gandalf to protect him/cast Sorcerous Blast, followed by the likes of Ori/Kili (medium-range threat), Fili/Gloin (close-range threat), and Bifur/Bilbo (close-range non-moving threat). You probably want to get Dwalin and Dori if you can because they have 3 Attacks (they can't shoot, but you've probably got a lot of other units who can skirmish for you). If you're running the latter, you probably start with Gandalf and the four 3A heroes (Thorin, Dwalin, Gloin, Dori), followed by the next three best heroes (Nori, Kili, Fili), possibly with Bifur/Oin inserted right after the 3A heroes for free Heroic Moves/banner-like reroll/healing.

Regardless of which list you run, slotting in Bofur isn't that hard once you're at 700pts - Thorin, Gloin, Dwalin, and Gandalf cost 450-475pts (depending on whether you want a horse for Gandalf and Orcrist/the Oakenshield on Thorin), which leaves you with 225-250pts for other heroes (you can get 4-5 of them depending on how cheap you want to go). If you want melee damage, you could take Dori, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, and Oin (for the reroll each turn - healing is good too). If you wanted shooting, you could instead go with Dori, Bifur, Bofur, Ori, and Kili (which gets you almost everyone who can shoot). If you wanted Bilbo in the mix, taking him could be done by dropping any one Dwarf and some gear off Thorin/Gandalf or by swapping Bilbo and Nori for three Dwarves. All told, you're looking at 8-9 models at 700pts, which is a pretty fearsome threat when you break it down. Here's the list I've been trying at 700pts recently - it's a lot of fun:

• Thorin Oakenshield with the Oakenshield [ARMY LEADER]
• Kili the Dwarf
• Dwalin the Dwarf
• Bifur the Dwarf
• Bofur the Dwarf
• Ori the Dwarf
• Dori the Dwarf
• Gloin the Dwarf
• Gandalf the Grey on horse

Now if we're looking for allies, the Army of Lake-town immediately comes to mind - as Historical Allies, you can use your Thorin's Company heroes to bolster your offensive damage that you don't normally get from Lake-town - this 43-model list runs the "big three" plus Bombur and Bofur for added damage and extra Will for Alfrid to keep the Master going:

• The Master of Lake-town
• 6 Lake-town Guard
• 6 Lake-town Guard with spears and bows
  
• Alfrid the Councilor
• 6 Lake-town Guard
• 6 Lake-town Guard with spears
  
• Braga, Captain of the Guard
• 5 Lake-town Guard
• 6 Lake-town Guard with spears and bows
  
• HISTORICAL ALLY - Thorin's Company: Thorin Oakenshield with the Oakenshield [ARMY LEADER]
• Dwalin the Dwarf
• Bombur the Dwarf
• Bofur the Dwarf
• Gloin the Dwarf
  

Alternatively, we could look for a Convenient Alliance with the Survivors of Lake-town, which would allow us to have Gandalf in the list leading troops, along with a Lake-town Militia Captain for Heroic March (since our Dwarves don't have it anymore). To get to 33 models, I had to drop Gloin, which I'm not happy about, but there it is:

• Gandalf the Grey on horse
• 3 Lake-town Militia with shields
• 3 Lake-town Militia with shields and spears
• 5 Lake-town Militia with bows
• 4 Lake-town Militia with bows and spears
• Lake-town Milia Captain with shield
• 6 Lake-town Militia with shields
• 6 Lake-town Militia with shields and spears
• CONVENIENT ALLY - Thorin's Company: Thorin Oakenshield with Orcrist and the Oakenshield [ARMY LEADER]
  
• Dwalin the Dwarf
• Bifur the Dwarf
• Bofur the Dwarf

Of course, this list begs the question whether you should take Erebor Reclaimed instead and get the other version of Bofur . . . but whatever. :-)

Conclusion

Perhaps I haven't convinced you yet - and that's fine. I've seen the light and love fielding Bofur - he's a nice guy to throw into a big fight to deal some extra damage, and if his match-ups are managed, he's reliable at killing his foes. But his killing power is predicated on him winning fights while two-handing, so our next post is going to break the mold of this series and defend something that most players say to never do: actually two-hand with the penalty. It's looking like it'll be the most controversial post yet - until next time, happy hobbying!