Nemesis: How to Fight the Assault on Lothlorien Legendary Legion

Good morning gamers,

Last time, we looked at the much-feared Assault Upon Helm's Deep Legendary Legion and some strategies you can employ to fight it. Today, we turn to the other "Assault" legion (the Assault on Lothlorien) to see what the hype is about this list . . . and some things you can employ to fight against it. Yes, it shoots things - and yes, it has crazy shenanigans that the Helm's Deep list doesn't quite have - but it also plays very differently and can be beaten with some other methods of attack. Let's dig in and see what all the fuss is about (especially now that they've changed a bit).

What Makes The Assault on Lothlorien Legion So Hated?

Photo Credit: Warhammer Community 

The first thing that annoys players about fighting this Legion is that it's a horde list - this critique isn't unique to the Legion, but any time you can get a large number of models at basically any points level, someone is going to gripe. Sometimes bringing a horde to the board (I'm a poet, I know) is fine - no one seems to complain that much when there's a Denethor-led Minas Tirith spam list on the board - and there are plenty of lists that run "just a lot of Orcs or Goblins" that no one things is oppressive. It's not like this list is spawning new models from behind your lines like Goblin-town or has +10 or +15 models on you at the start of a game (though it might).

What makes this list annoying is that it's a horde list with other stuff. The list has access to Moria Goblins (5-7 points depending on what gear you give the Moria Goblin Warriors and your opinion of Moria Goblin Prowlers), Orc Warriors and Trackers (5-10 points depending on the gear you give them, potentially more if you invest in a banner), and Wild Wargs (which all heroes can lead and are very cheap fast infantry). If you spend 250-300 points on these things, you can easily field 40 warriors at most points levels, so long as you have the heroes to lead them.

Enter the shamans in this list: on the named front, you've got Druzhag and Ashrak (at least one of them is required), who come in at 50-90 points, but fielding both is certainly possible at 500+ points. You also have Muzgur (who is required along with one of these Goblin guys - and now has to be your army leader), who at 70 points is one of the cheapest Heroes of Valour in the game (normally he's Fortitude, but in this list he's Valour). Pick up all three of these guys (or two of these guys and one other hero) and you can horde out pretty easily.

On the generic hero front, you have both Moria Goblin Shamans and Orc Shamans (45 or 50 points, respectively) who are able to lead 12 warriors in their warbands, thanks to the promotion to Fortitude status in the Legion. Which one you prefer used to depend very much on your view of Orcs - are they just a handful of spearmen behind the Goblins or are they a proper shieldwall (half shield, half spear-and-shield). Now that you have to have fewer Goblins than Orcs, it'll be hard for any player to have exclusively Goblins in their shieldwalls, but I have always liked the picks that can help the Orcs reach S4 (which you can get with Moria Goblin Prowlers who have to fight two-handed, but not Moria Goblin Warriors) and the flexibility of not having to have these guys arrive near the Goblin lines. I used to be in the minority opinion on this - time will tell how the new meta for this list will shake out.

You also have other generic heroes in the form of Orc Captains and Moria Goblin Captains to provided much-needed Might and access to Heroic March. Besides caddying 12 warriors of Orc or Goblin varieties (and of course, Wild Wargs), these guys are pretty much here as 2-Might heroes who can call Heroic March/Move for your army. You also have Wild Warg Chieftains (who are pretty cheap, considering what they do) who can only lead Wild Wargs and Bat Swarms, but are nonetheless very powerful pieces - especially when buffed by Druzhag.

On the warrior front, your cheap Orcs/Goblins/Wargs can allow you to field multiple Bat Swarms and Giant Spiders (who get the free upgrade to Venom instead of Poison if Ashrak is in your army). While anyone can field a Bat Swarm, only Ashrak and Druzhag can field Giant Spiders, so taking them cuts into the number of Goblins you can take. Druzhag was ruled to not be able to lead Fell Wargs in his warband (so that's no longer a question) and any Goblin hero can take Warg Marauders, who are a bit expensive relative to spiders and Wargs, but are still quite useful pieces if you want to take one or two. Regretably, because these guys are cavalry, they cannot be buffed by Druzhag.

So why is this such a problem for Assault on Lothlorien as opposed to other horde lists? Usually, if you're fielding a horde list, numbers is all you have - a Goblin-town list will have one big hero (and maybe a Ringbearer), but other than that, it's just a large number of guys. If you can cut through them, everything's fine. The same can be said for Lake-town spam lists (from either list variant, but particularly the Army of Lake-town - which also saw some changes recently), Minas Tirith spam lists, Shire lists of several varieties, and Serpent Horde infantry spam lists - it's usually just a bunch of guys. Not so for Assault on Lothlorien - you're not only going to face a numerically stronger force, but there's a good chance that there are some F4 Spiders that can be backed by Bat Swarms that will run around and cause trouble for your heroes, while some lowly Wild Warg suddenly becomes a Wild Warg Chieftain (or a Giant Spider becomes truly scary - more on this in a moment) for a turn thanks to Druzhag's magical words. And if that weren't enough, there's a ton of guys on the board that you have to cut through - and if you don't, they're going to eat you alive with the sheer press of numbers.

Against most horde lists, a common strategy of leveling the playing field is to use archery to reduce their numbers either in one concentrated area or in small pockets here and there. To counter this strategy, the Cover of Darkness Legion special rule helps some, in that all fights happen at nighttime and your shooting/casting visibility is reduced to 12". In addition, the Goblin bowmen (who are usually pretty awful) ignore this reduced visibility and can still shoot from 18" away. All shooting attacks that aren't directed at a model with the Cave Dweller rule get +1 To Wound, so those Goblins are effectively getting crossbows (hitting on a 5+ if they stand still and a 6+ if they move), while enemy archery at the Goblins don't get the wounding bonus (Orcs, Wargs, and Spiders are all fair game - and now you need a lot of Orcs in your list). Depending on the scenario deployment rules, this could make for a very unfun run across the field while enduring a hailstorm of arrows.

But it's not just the Goblin bowmen that are a threat - this list also gets access to Orc Trackers, who will be affected by the 12" visibility rule, but also have a better base Shoot value than the Goblins (4+) and can get that bonus while mounted. This means they can close to 12" after moving 5-7.5" (if they've been Marched) and still hit on the same difficulty level as the Goblins who stood still - and hit more reliably if the Goblins have moved. Park these guys where the 12" visibility won't affect them and they're actually better archers than the Goblins (though they'll die more easily to retaliatory fire). Once the enemy is within 6" of the front lines, those Goblin Prowlers can become a nasty bit of work with their throwing daggers that get +1 To Wound with a 4+ Shoot Value . . . yeah, the shooting in this list is unreal.

The next awful thing about this Legion is how their shamans change everything about it. Normally, if you just have Orcs and Wargs on one side of the board, you're not that worried about how much damage they're going to do. I mean, they're F3, right? They can't be that bad . . . well, enter Druzhag. I've already alluded to this, but Druzhag's Enrage Beast magical power (which he can cast reliably on one die thanks to the reroll to casting attempts that the Legion gives him and his magical friends) can turn a lowly Wild Warg from a F3/S4/1A pleb into a F5/S6/3A killing machine - yes, that's the same offensive stat line as a Wild Warg Chieftain! That Bat Swarm that starts at F1/S3/2A suddenly becomes a F3/S5/4A model, which is pretty good considering anything that's below F6 will have the lower Fight Value against it - and with 4 wounds, the potential S10 exhaustion hit that it takes may not kill it (the Warg is all but doomed by comparison)! Spiders are the nastiest, since they start with F4/S5/2A and become F6/S7/4A - on par with a Cave Drake - and if Ashrak has channelled Shroud of Shadows on the same spider (or a Bat Swarm is in the same fight), they're auto-beating the Fight Value of anything they're hitting. Four attacks at S7, potentially rerolling all failed To Wounds? Heroes beware . . .

But surely this is only going to neutralize one or two big heroes. I can deal with that, you say - well, our final stop is with Muzgur and those Fury shamans. Muzgur has 4 Will points and Transfix, which is reliably cast on a single die and can force an enemy hero to spend some time beating at the air without killing anything. Normally, a Fury shaman is good for one thing: casting Fury. In this Legion, however, they can reliably cast Fury on a single die (especially if they don't channel it and save their Might point for boosting a 2 into a 3), which means they have a Will point at their disposal to cast Transfix (with the reroll, they have a 56% chance of it getting off). Do you know what's more annoying than have pesky animals getting ridiculous stats and blunting your heroes from chopping through things? It's when a shaman Transfixes you and keeps you from chopping through things. Centaur loves having his Uruk-Hai Shamans cast Transfix and boy is it annoying (it seems to always work for him - and he's not even using this Legion!).

Speaking of Fury shamans, this list is also pretty immune to Terror. Usually with a horde list, focusing on Terror is a good opt-out since cheap troops are very rarely courageous troops. Every warrior in this list is Courage 2 and it doesn't matter because between the Moria Goblin Shamans (for the Goblins), the Orc Shamans (for the Orcs), Ashrak (for Spiders - and not himself), and Druzhag (for the Wargs, Bats, Spiders, and himself), you have Fury. Now the utility of Fury as a channelled spell is hotly contested here at TMAT - Rythbyrt thinks it's worth it to have a 6+ save, Centaur doesn't think a 6+ save really counts as a save, and I am happy channelling it in THIS list if you throw two dice with the reroll to cast Fury - but the utility of Fury as a spell for Evil forces is pretty much universally held as a useful thing. In fact, it usually means that, for the cost of your average generic hero, you can punt on the Courage stat on your warriors and not have to think about passing Courage tests. It's pretty good - and something very few other horde lists can do (like Goblin-town, the Serpent Horde, or Lake-town). 

Finally, if you can double-up on fights, the Assault on Lothlorien Legion can give their grunts +1 To Wound - perfect for when you've got traps on your those big heroes or when you're trying to wrap around the flanks of a battle line. If you've read our article on the Cirith Ungol Legendary Legion, there is a way to double-up on fights when you're in the middle of a shieldwall line, but it requires having two of your own guys charge multiple people and then having two of your other guys getting into the one guy left between (so four of your files take on five of the enemy files). Those guys on the side are probably dead - especially in this Legion where they're limited to F2-3 - but hopefully you chop through the guy in the middle, which will open up options for getting multiple charges in two fights next turn.

With all this said, it would seem like this Legion is just the scum of the earth (and maybe they are), but there are several ways you can fight back against these guys without the rules writers needing to wield their "nerf bat." Let's look at them now.

How Do You Fight Back Against The Assault on Lothlorien Legion?

The first solution can actually be done by a tournament organizer who doesn't want "mean lists" ruining his event (including the Assault on Lothlorien list - but also for other lists that vex them): choose a low points level. Like many lists (to include the Host of the Dragon Emperor, many previous Lake-town-soup-lists, and the Assault Upon Helm's Deep Legion), keeping the points level around 500 points limits how many game-breaking things a brutal list can take. Sure, you can still run 40+ models in this list, but you're not going to have a ton of Spiders with Ashrak/Druzhag, 60-70 models, AND auto-passing Terror tests with Fury. You might have a few of those things, but not all of them. And that's a start. Outside of a tournament setting, if you and a friend have been getting together and you're finding you can't beat the Assault on Lothlorien list, drop the points level - it not only means your game can be over faster (if it's STILL a punishment to play against), but it also means your opponent won't have all the normal tricks he's used to . . . and he'll have to adapt to beat you. That's valuable for both players, I think.

The second solution can also be done by a tournament organizer: use the veto system - and do vetoing by scenario pools. I've written about this before, but it bears repeating here: since any shooting-heavy list wants some time for their bows to work, allowing players to veto scenarios where they have to start in the back and being able to deploy closer to the center makes shooting list less of a drudgery to play against. If you veto by scenario pool, you're less likely to be left with a rock-and-hard-place situation against a Legion like this:

• In Pool 1, all of the missions have maelstrom deployments, so it's possible for you to ambush those Orcs before they can be spear-supports for the Goblins (or start within charge range of those archers so they only get one shot at you).
• In Pool 2, all scenarios allow the forces to deploy on the center - and in at least two scenarios, if the Assault on Lothlorien Legion doesn't start on the centerline, they've given up 3-4 objectives to your force.
• In Pool 3, there's one scenario where you can deploy outside of 3" of the center-diagonal-line (Retrieval) and two scenarios where you have to deploy 12" back (though Seize the Prize incentivizes both sides to race for the center).
• In Pool 4, two scenarios allow you to deploy on the centerline (Lords of Battle and Contest of Champions), with one of those scenarios (Contest) requiring the Assault on Lothlorien army leader to deploy within 3" of the center of the board.
• In Pool 5, all the scenarios are walking trips . . . this won't be fun . . . but a lot of players don't like some of the scenarios in this pool (Reconnoitre and Storm the Camp - haven't heard any harsh critiques of Divide and Conquer), so that's nothing new.
  
• Pool 6 has one center-line deployment scenario (Assassination - which could admittedly be really bad for you) and two where you're taking a walking trip (though the special rules for Clash by Moonlight won't come into play . . . since the Legion brings those into every game).
  

I'm not saying that "just by having the veto system" you can beat this Legion - far from it. What I am saying is that you're more in the driver's seat than before (you don't HAVE to play To The Death or Fog of War against them and have to endure their pain from a distance).

With these a priori methods of helping forces deal with this Legion, we turn to what you as a general can do in the list building phase to prepare yourself for fighting this list. Our first stop should be pretty obvious: we want to have resilient troops and speed. Since we're worried about S2 bows hitting us from far away with +1 To Wound, "resilience" means D5-6 (wounded on 5s), but D7-8 if we can manage it (pretty much exclusive to the Forces of Good, but will be wounded on 5/3+ and 5/4+ respectively - or roughly 6s To Wound). With an expected 20 shots/turn coming from the Goblins at high points levels, we should expect to lose ~2-3 models a turn if we have this kind of Defense level.

This is where speed comes into play: if we can get a Heroic March or War Drum (or both) into our list, we can cut down the number of turns the enemy will have to shoot at us - 18" range even with a few extra inches of "backing up" can be closed in three turns by Marching or Drumming. Three turns of shooting sees us roughly 2 models down - we can handle that. Plus, the more the Goblins back up towards their board edge, the less room their models have to maneuver unless they try to wrap around us. This would allow us to have mounted heroes charge/Combat off of models on the flank to drive up the enemy losses while also being far away from the shamans that could harm them. Sure, there may be a threat from a Bat Swarm/Enraged-Giant-Spider combo, but probably not until we're close to engaging anyway.

While almost every faction can get Heroic March and D5, where possible, you also want to get to F4 and have quite a healthy amount of numbers. Not all factions can do this - but whether you play Good or Evil, it's not hard to find Heroes of Fortitude that are 60 points or less (probably with 2-3 Might and Heroic March) and warriors that are F4 (and possibly D6) for 9 points or less. If run this way, a maxed-out warband of 12 warriors under their leader is likely to come in around 170 points - this means reaching 40-50 models isn't that hard and you should be able to endure a few rounds of archery with superior troops once you arrive. Since the warriors on the other side will be F2-3 and D4-5, having F4/S3 troops (who are ideally D6+, but D5 is fine) gives you a definite edge over most of what you'll be fighting.

If possible, there are advantages to running armies that lean heavily into either the Cave Dweller special rule (Moria and Goblin-town, in particular) or the Stalk Unseen special rule if you can find terrain (Lothlorien, the Wildmen of Druadan, and the Rangers of Ithilien/Mirkwood Legendary Legions). Like we talked about last time, running these special rules can either deny your opponent shooting targets entirely (Stalk Unseen from beyond 6") or remove the +1 To Wound bonus from the Goblin bows (which makes the Goblins . . . well, they're back to being the worst archers in the game).

Finally, don't underestimate the value of having a Terror-heavy list with at least one model who has Harbinger of Evil and the Sap Will magical power. Perhaps the most competitive builds that do this will be found in a Witch-King-run Angmar list (possibly with Gulavhar and/or the Tainted/Dwimmerlaik) or a Mordor list with lots of Black Numenoreans and 2+ Ringwraiths (the Witch-King, the Shadow Lord, and generic Ringwraiths would be good candidates). Since the Assault on Lothlorien list relies on Fury to get its C2 models to pass Courage tests (some beasts can be C4 near Druzhag), having Harbinger to reduce their Courage to C1 and using Sap Will to clear out the Will points on a Fury Shaman (or any other caster, like Muzgur) is pretty devastating. You can still run into trouble if a Bat Swarm and a Giant Spider get natural 10+ rolls to pass their Terror tests, but if only one gets in, they're in big trouble. This option is exclusively limited to Evil, though (and doesn't exist in any Legendary Legion except the Black Riders list, which is likely to be murdered by the bows of the Goblins long before the Assault on Lothlorien list is forced to engage.

Okay, with these principles in mind, let's look at some units that are good at fighting the Assault on Lothlorien list!

Tiberius's Top 5 Models To Counter The Assault on Lothlorien Legion

Before we get into the nominated models, I wanted to provide a sample list for this Legion at 800 points, since that seems to be the points level where everyone makes a big fuss about it (or at least, a reasonable points level where it feels very oppressive). It comes in at 63 models with 20 Orc bows and all three of the named Orc/Goblin heroes:

• Muzgur, Orc Shaman
• 14 Orc Warriors with shields and spears
• 1 Orc Warrior with shield, spear, and banner
• Druzhag the Beastcaller [ARMY LEADER]
• 7 Moria Goblin Warriors with shields
• 7 Moria Goblin Warriors with Orc bows
• 1 Wild Warg
  
• Ashrak
• 3 Moria Goblin Warriors with shields
• 5 Moria Goblin Warriors with Orc bows
  
• 6 Venom-back Spiders
• 1 Bat Swarm
  
• Orc Shaman
• 4 Orc Warriors with shields
• 6 Orc Trackers
• Moria Goblin Captain
• 2 Moria Goblin Warriors with Orc bows
• 1 Bat Swarm
  

As was mentioned in the Unexpected Podcast review of this Legion, there are other ways to build the list (not having Ashrak and relying on the Wild Warg Chieftain, for example), but I've gone with one that appears to be more dominant in the competitive community (though I've had to guess a bit with the new meta). At lower points levels (specifically 600 points), you have to make some choices, so my proposed example list for the Assault on Lothlorien chooses to drop Ashrak, the Spiders, and some of the grunts (retaining a very healthy and scary 51 models/16 Orc bows):

• Muzgur, Orc Shaman
• 14 Orc Warriors with shields and spears
• 1 Orc Warrior with shield, spear, and banner
• Druzhag the Beastcaller [ARMY LEADER]
• 7 Moria Goblin Warriors with shields
• 7 Moria Goblin Warriors with Orc bows
• 1 Wild Warg
• Orc Shaman
• 3 Orc Warriors with shields 
• 4 Orc Trackers
• 2 Bat Swarms
  
• Moria Goblin Captain
• 3 Moria Goblin Warriors with shields
• 5 Moria Goblin Warriors with Orc bows
  

The spiders are missing - and that's probably the biggest critique of this list - but we can still super-charge the Bats (or a well-placed Warg if he wants to eat some F4 warriors), so I think it still works. Okay, let's get into the list with our almost-made-it models!

Honorable Mention: The Dark Lord Sauron

Okay, this is a bit unconventional, but hear me out: the main problems with fighting the Assault on Lothlorien list is that those darn S2 bows hit harder than they should and those beasts that hit harder than they should in melee. But what happens if you run the only model in the game that CANNOT be wounded by a S2 weapon? Since Sauron is D10, he cannot take wounds from S1-2 weapons (unless they skip the To Wound roll, in the case of a natural 6 rolled by Ori the Dwarf's slingshot or Baldo Tulpenny's Thrown Stones).

If everyone else "hides" and Sauron advances (using Sap Will/Drain Courage to deprive Druzhag of Enraging Beasts and helping those darn Bat Swarms from passing Courage tests), the Assault on Lothlorien player will have a hard time actually getting in shots against your army (and if he tries to go around Sauron, he probably won't have the time needed to break you just with shooting if you've got terrain to absorb some of the damage). Since the warriors in this Legion are C2 across the board, Sap Will against a Goblin Shaman (or Druzhag or Ashrak) can have devastating consequences - and it will really make the Lothlorien player question WHEN to cast Fury (and whether it will last longer than one turn). Sauron can also "skirmish" a bit, stepping forward, casting Sap Will on a 4+ against one of the Fury casters, and then back away so he can't be charged next turn. A few turns of this and your opponent's whole strategy can fall apart - especially if there are Black Numenoreans behind Sauron . . .

Even if Ashrak is able to Channel Shroud of Shadows on an Enraged Spider for a turn or two, your opponent will eventually need a Bat Swarm in the fight in order to tie your Fight Value (and a Strike will automatically beat the Fight Value of the Spider if he's not Enraged again). Even if the spider wins, a S5 Spider will wound Sauron on 6/4+ (rerolling all failed rolls), while an Enraged Spider with S7 will wound him on "just 6s" (rerolling all failed rolls). If the Spider can double-up with someone, this gets better (5/3+ or 5+ if Enraged), but you're still looking at taking 1-2 wounds each turn. This could easily mean that, over time, your army might break normally, but it's still a far cry from removing Sauron from the board. Should the spider/bat fail to get a good dueling roll, someone's getting smushed on 4s (probably the Bat for starters, possibly the spider so there's no punch anymore).

I've never tried this, but I want to - and if you face them at a low points level (say, 500-600pts), you might have "pretty much just Sauron," which could make things really interesting. I don't know that this would actually work, but it might be amusing for you . . . hence the honorable mention.

Dishonorable Mention: Any list with a Heroic March and a War Drum

As we said above, bull-rushing the Legion is one of the best ways to make sure they don't get in a lot of shooting - yes, they could risk shooting their own guys, but any friendly Orc models that take an arrow in the back are in big trouble (since the +1 To Wound will apply against them). War drums (which confer 3-5" extra inches of movement) are unique to evil factions, but can be fielded most notably by the Easterlings (especially in the Host of the Dragon Emperor Legendary Legion), Barad-Dur/Mordor (via Orc Drummers or Mordor Trolls with War Drums - and this applies to several Legendary Legions as well), and Isengard (Uruk-Hai Drummers or Isengard Trolls with War Drums - and several Legendary Legions have access to one of these two options). Each of these factions/Legions has at least one option for Heroic March.

This makes your alliance options pretty limited, but if you're moving 12" with D5-6 infantry (and potentially 20" with D5-6 cavalry), you're in a pretty good place, I think, for getting most of your army into combat. While Sauron COULD have the benefit of a war drum, he'd have to use a Troll to get it . . . and I don't think most people would pay for both a Drummer Troll AND Sauron. If you're looking for a good competitive option for dealing with armies other than Assault on Lothlorien, the Host of the Dragon Emperor with a Kataphrakt-with-war-drum and an Easterling Captain seems like a pretty good option (and may be better than most of the options I'm going to propose below). But this kind of strategy feels a lot like cheating, so they get the dishonorable mention.

Okay, with these two options briefly discussed, let's get into the main list of candidates.

Pick #5: The Rangers of Ithilien, Rangers of Mirkwood, or a pure Druadan list

Sometimes, you just need to fight fire with fire - and what better way is there to fight a low-Defense shooting horde than with a shooting horde of your own! Yes, D3-4 shooting lists can die in droves to these guys, but they can also deal a ton of damage back. Consider this: at 600 points (see the reference list above), the Legion is pushing out an estimated 3-6 hits/turn with 10+6 Orc bows and 1-3 wounds/turn against D3-4 models. That's pretty good, right? Well, the Rangers of Ithilien can have 34 models with the following list:

• Faramir, Captain of Gondor on horse with bow [ARMY LEADER]
• INDEPENDENT: Frodo Baggins with Sting, the Mithril Coat, and Elven cloak
• INDEPENDENT: Samwise Gamgee with Elven cloak
• INDEPENDENT: Smeagol
• 11 Rangers of Gondor
• Madril, Captain of Ithilien
• 8 Rangers of Gondor
• 4 Rangers of Gondor with spears
• Anborn, Ranger of Ithilien
• 2 Rangers of Gondor
• Mablung, Ranger of Ithilien
• 2 Rangers of Gondor

With 31 bows (and immunity from archery retaliation for those near Mablung and behind terrain), you're supposed to get 15-20 hits/turn once you get within 12" and wound 5-7 models each turn - and potentially more if you're using Might to boost wounding rolls (on Anborn at least, possibly others) or if you're targeting models that aren't Cave Dwellers (like all the creatures and Orcs)! Double or triple the wounds sounds pretty good to me . . .

A similar strategy can be used by the Rangers of Mirkwood, who can field 26 models at 600 points:

• Legolas with Elven Cloak
• 7 Mirkwood Rangers
• 1 Wood Elf Sentinel
• Tauriel
• 7 Mirkwood Rangers
• 1 Mirkwood Ranger with weapon-swapped axe
• Mirkwood Ranger Captain
• 6 Mirkwood Rangers
• 1 Mirkwood Ranger with weapon-swapped axe

26-28 shots each turn is pretty good, as is Stalk Unseen that isn't tied to being within 6" of a particular hero (like the Rangers of Ithilien is). While you could run this (with some additional unit options) in a normal Halls of Thranduil list, taking the Legion also gives these Elves a 6+ save if they're near a tree (aka, you want to have trees trigger Stalk Unseen so if someone sees around the tree, at least you get a save of some kind) and Legolas gets anti-swarm resiliency from the Knife Fighters special rule. 28 shots a turn means your archery output is roughly the same as the Rangers of Ithilien (14-19 hits/turn, 5-6 wounds/turn).

But capping off the list - and a truly fearsome prospect to face - is the Wildmen of Druadan, who can field Ghan-Buri-Ghan with FIFTY-NINE Woses (four of which have weapon-swaps - I recommend flails) and will get +1 To Wound in melee against the Orcs and Goblins when they close. Since their blowpipes are 12" range anyway, they want to find terrain to hide behind that's within that range, but are fine if they can't have it thanks to the sheer volume of shots they're getting. Once they start shooting, 60 shots (or slightly less if you've taken some casualties) will translate into 30-45 hits and 10-15 wounds. OUCH!

Assuming you're not behind cover, the expected damage from the Assault Legion is only 5-6 hits and 2-3 wounds each turn. Even if you lose 10 models on the approach (which would be ridiculously good shooting for the Assault list), 50 blowpipes are going to get 25-33 hits and 4-11 wounds, depending on the Defense of the target! In short, one round of your reduced shooting will make up for 2-3 turns of average shooting from the Assault on Lothlorien's shooting.

If we scale up to our 800 point list, the Assault on Lothlorien Legion will have 20-22 bows (it depends on how much you like Spiders - the list above has 14+6 Orc bows with 6 Spiders), which means it's expected to hit each turn with 4-13 shots and wound 2-5 models. That's still below what these other lists are fielding at 600 points - and you can expect 49 shots/turn from the Rangers of Ithilien (I added Damrod, 12 Rangers, 5 Rangers with spears, and a Warrior of Minas Tirith with shield, spear, and banner - this deals an expected 4-11 wounds/turn), 42-44 shots/turn from the Rangers of Mirkwood (depending on whether you want 1-2 Sentinels - this deals an expected 7-10 wounds/turn), and 82 shots/turn from the Woses (an expected 7-18 wounds/turn if everyone can get in range) - I put it to you, I think the Assault on Lothlorien Legion is in trouble.

But shooting is a fickle mistress - and factions that can't take all-shooting models are likely to struggle to match the output of these factions. As such, I'm going to put them at the bottom of the list and turn to something a bit more niche but also more available to Good and Evil . . .

Pick #4: Volley fire siege weapons (especially with high-Defense troops)

Do you know what the great thing is about volley fire weapons? They can still hit things in the dark (and you still only need a spotter for them). Volley fire is limited to a handful of factions - Minas Tirith (Trebuchets), Mordor/Barad-Dur (War Catapults), the Iron Hills (Iron Hills Ballista), and Azog's Legion (Catapult Trolls), but this means they can be allied Conveniently with basically anyone from any era. Sure, you usually need to pay a lot of points to get them into an army (Dain and an Iron Hills Ballista are pushing 300 points, The Mouth of Sauron with a Catapult is around 325 points, and Bolg and a Catapult Troll are over 350 points), but Denethor and a Trebuchet are just under 120 points, so it's possible to ally in a volley fire weapon to get some threat from far away without breaking the bank (and bringing Denethor + another-Fortitude-hero and two Trebuchets is pushing 300 points, making an allied contingent of Minas Tirith probably around 500 points for over 30 models - not bad, really).

The volley fire is intended for one thing: to force the enemy to come to you. A War Catapult may not be able to threaten a Fury-enraged army very well with Severed Heads, but if the Shaman isn't covering everyone (or if those Orcs can't auto-passing Courage tests because you didn't take their Shaman), one good shot from a War Catapult could see a huge section of the enemy running away. Similarly, one Iron Hills Ballista (hitting on a 6 and rerolling 1s, thanks to Reliable) could see the shooting of the enemy cut off for a turn . . . and a bunch of models dying to the S5 collateral hit they take! Catapult Trolls have a different kind of threat, since they can move-and-shoot while hitting on a 6 - perfect for supporting your army as you close the gap or skirmishing away from the Goblins with your army from cover-to-cover (and since the darkness makes him hit on a 6 anyway, you're not losing anything by moving and shooting)! This last one doesn't really force the enemy to come to you - but it does provide some cover fire while you are coming to it!

There is an innate danger, however, that the siege engines will fail to hit what they want (if they can hit at all). Many of these weapons can't shoot once the enemy is within 12" (when the bows in the army would normally begin to shoot), but it'll be hard for those pesky shaman heroes to stay within 12" of you, so you might get some shots in. Still, it'll be unreliable (or at least less reliable than if they could shoot normally). For a more reliable army, let me recommend . . .

Pick #3: Goblin-town (and possibly Goblin-town allied with other factions)

Cave Dweller can be acquired en masse from Goblin-town with very little effort or points investment. If you plan to ally with anyone, you have to get the Goblin King, but for 500 points, you can get the Goblin King, Gollum, the Goblin Scribe, a Goblin Captain, a Goblin Mercenary Captain, 12 Goblin Mercenaries, and 35 Goblin Warriors (maxed warbands if they don't have their army bonus) - that's 52 models at 500 points! Sure, your alliance options are likely to be small at that point, but you have 50 models you can run in front of the rest of your troops to keep them from being shot with the +1 To Wound bonus. As an added bonus, the Goblin-town contingent is large enough (and with the Scribe, it can get even larger) that you're unlikely to break - or even have fewer models than the Assault Legion has!

Depending on your alliance choice, your effectiveness against the Assault Legion will be a big question mark, though. My go-to (as I've talked about before) is to ally Goblin-town with Sharkey's Rogues, since we could get Sid Briarthorn, Rowan Thistlewood, Ted Sandyman, 10 Hobbit Militia, 13 Ruffians with whips, and 12 Ruffians with bows for 300 points - giving us a whopping 90 models (52+38) at 800 points and over half of our army (and counting) would be immune from the archery bonus. Our bows, whips, and stones would do murder to any creatures (or Orcs) trying to engage us - and an in-the-way on Goblins would be just fine too. With the need to kill 20 Ruffian models or 27 Goblins before we give up points for breaking, I'm not sure how quickly they'll be able to do that (if at all) so long as our Ruffians aren't exposing themselves to arrow fire.

Goblin-town is a dangerous threat to many armies - especially as the points level gets higher - but from experience, the army I'm more afraid of is . . .

Pick #2: Castellan-heavy Dark Powers of Dol Guldur allied with Goblin Mercenaries

I hate Castellans - they never die and they chop up whatever you have. If you've read Rythbyrt's post on Castellans in our In Defense Of series, you know that the primary threat from Castellans comes when you've gotten 5+ of them - they make a solid battle line, aren't afraid of anything, and with 12 Will that is split between fighting and preventing Wounds, it takes a lot to kill them off. They also cause Terror and if fielded with a Nazgul of Dol Guldur, you can make the enemy have to keep his Fury bubbles in the right places or whatever's facing these guys is in for it. Multi-wound creatures (like Bats and Spiders) beware, though - those 5pt Morgul Blades can mean your precious creatures are only a 3+ away from becoming a bloody pool on the ground . . . yeah, they're annoying.

They also absorb archery really well - wounding them on 5s sounds like it's not that hard, but again, with 16-20 bows at 600-800 points, you're not looking at THAT much damage coming out that requires these guys to use their Fate (2-3 wounds/turn). If these guys have a banner near them (Gundabad Orc with shield, spear, and banner is my recommendation) and potentially spear supports as well, these guys are a PAIN to deal with and can chop up your army pretty quickly. Bringing in some Hunter Orcs/Gundabad Orcs to hold down the flanks and some Fell Wargs for speed - man, that's a nasty group to have to fight.

But these guys are also historical allies with Azog's Legion, which gives them access to Goblin Mercenaries - and if your opponent left a patch of Moria Goblin bowmen on a flank without the help of someone else, a horde of Goblin Mercs is about the worst thing they can fight. No bonuses To Wound (and do you really want to shoot them when you could/should be shooting somewhere else?), similar profiles, probably fewer numbers . . . yeah, you don't want to see that.

But this is a REALLY niche list (even more niche than Goblin-town), so let's wrap this up with some options that are more generic . . .

Pick #1: Galadriel, Gandalf, or the Shadow Lord

Yep, Blinding Light (or its evil equivalent) take the top spot - specifically if you run Galadriel, Gandalf, and the Shadow Lord. Galadriel is very cheap at 130 points for a Hero of Legend and since she can bring 18 Elves (up to 6 bows with 10-12 melee units), it's not hard to get a large pack of Elves for about 350 points with her leading it. Besides Blinding Light (channelled on the first turn - or whenever you're going to be within 18" of the enemy), Galadriel adds Immobilize and Command to her arsenal, which can help her prevent a super-charged Warg or Spider (or Bat, I suppose) from making Strikes for a turn - or can be used to keep a Bat Swarm from moving (perhaps after a 6" move away from cover) so it can be shot to death by Elven bowmen. Don't underestimate the ability to also prevent Druzhag or Ashrak (or Muzgur) from casting for a turn by targeting them (and potentially burning through some of their precious Will if they choose to resist the spell). As far as Pockets Full of Power goes, that's not bad at all - and your Blinding Light should keep those wounds you're taking down to the 0-1 wounds/turn level. Once within range, those Elf bows can do their thing and start clearing out the horde. Their best ally option (if you want numbers) will probably be Rohan (who can get cheap heroes/D5 warriors who can be backed up by 18 Elves with spears/pikes), but as Convenient Allies with everyone, you can make any list more resilient to the shooting of the Assault Legion (both Assault Legions, actually).

Gandalf has a similar spell suite to Galadriel and if fielded in the Shire (if allying with most of the Armies of the Lord of the Rings) or with the Survivors of Lake-town (if allying with most of the Armies of the Hobbit), you can field pretty cheap troops with him. The Lake-town guys are unlikely to be F3 and the Shirelings definitely won't be D5, but on the whole, you can get most of what you need with him, relying on your alliance option to bring the F4+/D5+ that you want (from, say, Rohan or Erebor Reclaimed).

You can also use Gandalf the White - though more expensive - to bring in a host from Minas Tirith. Fielded on Shadowfax and accompanied by Denethor, you can field 32 models with 20 Warriors of Minas Tirith (15 shields, 4 shields/spears, 1 shield/spear/banner) and 10 Rangers of Gondor with bows and spears for 555 points - and at 700 points, you could also run two Trebuchets if you drop 15pts (which is easily done with 2 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields - and you can even swap a Warriors of Minas Tirith with shield and spear for a Ranger with spear because of the four siege crew guys) . . . are you thinking what I'm thinking? You're not an allied contingent anymore, but you're definitely quite dangerous and resilient to the shooting that's coming your way thanks to Shieldwall.

For Evil, you have the Shadow Lord - and that's it. If you're running Evil from the Armies of the Hobbit, run one of the other lists I talked about above (Goblin-town pure/allied, Dark Powers, Azog's Legion) - but if you're running anyone else, the Shadow Lord on horse with 12 Black Numenoreans and 3 Morgul Knights costs you just 292 points, which can easily be allied into a lot of things to give you a Sap-Will-Harbinger-Terror army - and bringing along a generic Ringwraith on horse with 2M/9W/1F for 90 points and 12 Orcs with shields and spears (one with banner) comes in at 491 points. Archery protection, limited use for the enemy's shaman heroes, and TONS of F4/D6? Yeah, I'm thinking this can work.

Perhaps some of you are wondering why I'm not talking about Cirdan. Yes, he also has Blinding Light - and he's the cheapest Blinding Light option out there. He SHOULD be in the discussion. But he isn't - because to field him (now that he's a Minor Hero), you have to bring along either a Fortitude hero (like a High Elf Captain or Erestor) or you'd have to bring along one of the Valour/Legend heroes (who are 170-190 poinst each). With only 6 warrior slots, this guy is a huge points sink in anything that isn't pure Rivendell/heavily Rivendell (like a Last Alliance list). His utility is really good - he can make your guys cause Terror (which we want) and he can protect your guys from archery (which we also want) - but if he can be targeted by archery and the arrows actually land, being D4 with 2 Wounds/1 Fate isn't good. All of our other heroes have better resilience (Gandalf and Galadriel have rerollable Fate Points - and Galadriel can get hers back with either Blessing of the Valar or the Mirror of Galadriel - and the Shadow Lord is D8). All of these guys are tougher than Cirdan, but I'll acknowledge at the very end that as a non-allied option, he'd be great too.

Sample Lists

Interestingly enough, all of the lists from the previous post on the Assault Upon Helm's Deep Legion would work pretty well against this Legion too. As such, I'm going to avoid talking about Goblin-town, double-Iron-Hills-Ballistas, and the Shadow Lord and focus on other list options instead. I also disguised several lists in the section on horde shooting armies, so I'll skip those as well.

Our first list is one I want to try - it's a "Defense of Minas Tirith" list that sports a spam of Warriors of Minas Tirith, most of which are backed by Rangers of Gondor with spears. It also has Denethor as its leader, Gandalf the White for archery protection, and two Trebuchets . . . you know, because we can:

• Denethor, Steward of Gondor [ARMY LEADER]
• 5 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields
• 4 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields and spears
• 1 Warrior of Minas Tirith with shield, spear, and banner
• 4 Rangers of Gondor with spears
  
• Gandalf the White on Shadowfax
• 7 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields
• 7 Rangers of Gondor with spears
  
• Minas Tirith Siege Veteran with Gondor Battlecry Trebuchet
• 2 crew
  
• Minas Tirith Siege Veteran with Gondor Battlecry Trebuchet
• 2 crew
  

700 points, 36 models, 11 bows hitting on a 3+ AND 2 Trebuchets hitting on a 4+, 18 D6+ models, 1 cavalry, 5 Might

This list isn't fast (except for the wizard - he's really fast) and it doesn't have a lot of Might - but it can shoot better than most enemy lists and with the Might points on the siege veterans to boost a To Hit roll of a 5 into a 6, these guys can force an Assault on Lothlorien list to come to them. Gandalf can start the game by channelling Blinding Light to reduce the incoming damage on the infantry block and the D7 from the Warriors of Minas Tirith should keep them from dying too quickly from the arrows that make it past Blinding Light. Once within range, the Rangers can get to work adding to the kill count (along with strategic Sorcerous Blasts from Gandalf), which should add 7-8 hits/1-3 wounds each turn, depending on what you're able to target - added to the Treb damage, this should be able to blow chunks out of the enemy force and keep pace with the damage they're dealing in return. Yes, they'll have about double our numbers, but if we can Blast key heroes/into key heroes, they'll have to close - and at that point, the F4 we spammed out should help us tremendously.

Our second list is a Castellan list - something akin to the first list I faced while using the Assault on Lothlorien list. It's got lots of Castellans for absorbing damage and chopping up D4-5 models, lots of Gundabads to back them up, and a big pack of Goblin Mercenaries to flank their archers or claim objectives. It's better at 800 points, but at 700, the only units on the board will be hard to kill and moving fast towards the enemy:

• Gundabad Orc Captain with shield [ARMY LEADER?]
• 5 Gundabad Orc Warriors with shields
  
• 5 Gundabad Orc Warriors with shields and spears
• 1 Gundabad Orc Warrior with shield, spear, and banner
  
• Castellan of Dol Guldur with Morgul Blade
• 1 Gundabad Orc Warrior with shield and spear
  
• Castellan of Dol Guldur with Morgul Blade
• 1 Gundabad Orc Warrior with shield and spear
  
• Castellan of Dol Guldur with Morgul Blade
• 1 Gundabad Orc Warrior with shield and spear
  
• Castellan of Dol Guldur with Morgul Blade
• 1 Gundabad Orc Warrior with shield and spear
  
• Castellan of Dol Guldur
• 1 Gundabad Orc Warrior with shield and spear
  
• Castellan of Dol Guldur
• 1 Gundabad Orc Warrior with shield and spear
  
• Castellan of Dol Guldur
• 1 Gundabad Orc Warrior with shield and spear
  
• Castellan of Dol Guldur
• 1 Gundabad Orc Warrior with shield and spear
  
• HISTORICAL ALLY - Azog's Legion: Goblin Mercenary Captain [ARMY LEADER?]
  
• 9 Goblin Mercenaries
  

700 points, 38 models, no shooting, 28 D6+ models, no fast models but 4 Might for Heroic March, 4 Might

Our last list is an Easterling list, featuring the Host of the Dragon Emperor (and the War Drum/Captain combo). This list has the Dragon Emperor (obviously) leading 15 pikes and 3 Kataphrakts (one with drum), all of which get the free upgrade to Black Dragon, and who can be sprinkled throughout the army to lend F4 (or F5 if they're within 6" of him). Rutabi and the Captain bring mostly the front-line troops to the fight, but also have some pikemen and a few Dragon Cult Acolytes. Competitive players would tell you to bring Brorgir - and they'd be right - but to showcase the 12" move infantry shenanigan, here's a list:

• The Dragon Emperor [ARMY LEADER]
• 15 Black Dragon Warriors with shields and pikes
• 2 Black Dragon Kataphrakts
• 1 Black Dragon Kataphrakt with war drum
  
• Rutabi, General of the Dragon Legion
• 6 Easterling Warriors with shields
• 1 Easterling Warrior with shield and pike
• 2 Dragon Cult Acolytes
  
• Easterling Captain on armored horse with shield
• 6 Easterling Warriors with shields
• 4 Easterling Warriors with shields and pikes

700 points, 40 models, no shooting, 38 D6+ models, 4 cavalry and 2 Might for Heroic March and a war drum, 8 Might

Conclusion

Those are my thoughts on fight against the Assault on Lothlorien Legion. I think the Legion is very much up in the air and we need time to figure out how everything shakes out. If you have other thoughts on how to beat this Legion, drop them in the comments below! Our next post will look at some of the most ubiquitous evil casters in the game and models that can absolutely ruin your day if you're not ready for them: Ringwraiths. While they may look fragile with only 1 Wound and 0-3 Fate points, they can be a nightmare to deal with. Join us next time as we look for ways to banish these guys from the battlefield - and until then, happy hobbying!