Fantasy Fellowship Deep-Dive: Ranking Sample Fellowships

Good morning gamers,

We've spent the previous four posts in this deep-dive analyzing which models have been ranked the "best" for each of the different roles of the Fellowship in Fantasy Fellowships. One of the things I liked the most about the Quest of the Ringbearer supplement was seeing the example Fantasy Fellowships at the back of the book from the design team. Naturally, I figured it would be good to wrap up this discussion of Fantasy Fellowships by viewing those sample lists (which were released before everyone started playing Fantasy Fellowships - and before the release of the models that were introduced in Defence of the North) and "ranking" them based on how their selected models did in my analytic model.

A quick note: some of these Fellowships were formed with specific themes in mind - they were not made to be optimized. Fantasy Fellowships don't need to be optimized at all (my Fellowship worked pretty well, but I didn't optimize it very much - heck, I could have fit 25 more points in it without dropping Sting/the Mithril Coat from my initial Fellowship!), but this ranking is intended to view how well these Fellowships are optimized (even if optimization wasn't in the creator's mind) according to the analytic model I built as a means of comparing what the creator wanted to use and what is actually required of the unit. With fun and much charity in mind, let's dig into it!

Contestant #1: Rob Alderman

• Ringbearer: Young Bilbo (#2, 2.433)
• Companion: Balin the Dwarf (#14, 1.933)
• Friends: The Master of Lake-town and Alfrid (#16/27, 2.517/1.917)
• Wizard: Radagast the Brown [with Sebastian?] (#1, 3.5)
• King: Beorn (#7, 4.25)
• Shooter: Tauriel (#28, 3.7915)
• Fighter: Gloin the Dwarf (#44, 3.4165)
• Doomed: Kili the Dwarf (#51, 3.322)

We're not told which character plays Merry or Pippin, so I'm going to assume that Alfrid will be taking the Merry slot (since the Master will be slightly better in the Minas Tirith scenarios, seeing as how Alfrid can't give anyone Might and only has 1 Attack). Radagast and Bilbo are excellent choices and Kili (like many characters) scored pretty well as a Boromir character (though his numerical ranking doesn't reflect this). Balin is useful, though I do question how two 1A characters will fare late in the campaign.

The choice of Beorn (who is great in the Aragorn slot - whether he can change forms or not), Tauriel (who isn't a better archer than many of her competitors but is excellent in scenarios where you'll be outnumbered), and Gloin (both versions of him are good) are excellent, netting Rob a good final utility score of 27.08. When I dropped these guys into my spreadsheet builder, I noticed that Rob has only spent 745 of his total 750pts, so I assumed that he started Radagast with Sebastian instead of starting Bilbo with Sting. This is a great Fellowship to start with and, assuming Bilbo and Balin don't get eaten by Shelob, I think this Fellowship has a good shot at making it to the end.

Contestant #2: Luke Blick

• Ringbearer: Old Bilbo with Sting and the Mithril Coat (#3, 1.533)
• Companion: Samwise Gamgee with Elven cloak (#13, 2.033)
• Friends: Hamfast 'Gaffer' Gamgee and Rosie Cotton (#46/42, 1.022/1.117)
• Wizard: Radagast the Brown with Sebastian (#1, 3.5)
• King: Eomer, Marshal of the Riddermark with throwing spears and shield (#59, 1.761)
• Shooter: The King of the Dead (#42, 3.4585)
• Fighter: Arwen Undomiel with Elven cloak (#112, 1.8415)
• Doomed: Theoden, King of Rohan with heavy armor and shield (#28, 3.572)

I had to do a lot of guesswork on this one - Sam, the Gaffer, and Rosie are listed as the "other three" Hobbits and Eomer, the King of the Dead, and Arwen are listed as the Three Hunters. This is the first list we have with a "double caster" Fellowship, which can keep the Fellowship strong while they're all together. I think I would have doomed Arwen instead of Theoden (running Theoden in the Legolas slot instead of the Boromir slot) so you'd have his FV buff for Warg Attack and Ride Out, but theme must take precedence here (and Wrath of Bruinen will do work in all the scenarios).

There's a lot that's not optimized in this list, however. To start with, if we give everyone all the gear they can possibly start with, the Fellowship is only 665pts - it leaves 85pts on the table with two Elven cloaks handed out to Sam and Arwen (which will eventually be redundant with their gifts from Lorien - and with very little magic, archery or 7"+ movement in the scenarios in general, I don't know how much Elven cloaks will really help). The four Hobbit characters are fine but not optimized - I like Old Bilbo as a Ringbearer, but Sam is better paired with Frodo if he's going to be your Companion (the points are available for him) and while it's incredibly themey for you to have Rosie and the Gaffer along, Rosie makes Samwise the Brave better - not Samwise Gamgee. As a result, I think putting the Gaffer as the Companion and upgrading Sam to his future self would have been better overall (though I'd jump to swap the Gaffer for Maggot, personally).

Leaving the Hobbits alone, Radagast is an excellent choice and Eomer/the King of the Dead are very good at killing things too. While I think not having Theoden in certain scenarios will be a complication, losing Eomer in the three scenarios he appears in won't be as big a deal. Yes, you'll need to play more carefully in the Ambush at Night scenario (where you'll only have 2 Captains instead of Eomer and a Captain), and yes, you'll need to have Radagast get more work in during the Eomer's Return scenario, but you have plenty of heroes and warriors for the Charge of the Rohirrim scenario, so all will be fine. Eomer didn't rank that well in our King ranking (mostly because he's not F6), but he's still plenty good in a fight. Luke ended with a final utility score of 19.383 - a perfectly good score for someone who had a theme in mind (and props to you, Luke, for not spending all your points).

Contestant #3: Chris Peach

• Ringbearer: Smeagol (#1, 2.583)
• Companion: Peregrin Took, Guard of the Citadel with Elven cloak (#24, 0.883)
• Friends: Eowyn, Shieldmaiden of Rohan with two choices of throwing spears/shield/armor and Beregond, Guard of the Citadel (#21/5, 2.322/3.1)
• Wizard: Saruman (#7, 2.225)
• King: Glorfindel, Lord of the West with the Armor of Gondolin (#3, 4.4585)
• Shooter: Tauriel with Elf bow (#28, 3.7915)
• Fighter: Erestor (#58, 3.0415)
• Doomed: Arwen Undomiel with Elven cloak (#119, 2.033)

Once again, I had to do some guesswork with this Fellowship, since the four "fighter" profiles weren't assigned to anyone in particular. Glorfindel is the beefiest of the group, so I assumed he'd be taking Aragorn's slot, and since Tauriel is the next punchiest, I figured she'd be in Legolas's spot. Whether Erestor or Arwen should be in Gimli's slot is anyone's guess, but I figured Erestor's more combat-oriented bent might be more rewarding in the Deeping Wall is Breached scenario and the Docks of Harlond than 1-2 casts of Wrath of Bruinen (though there is water in the Deeping Wall scenario . . . and people likely to be standing in it).

Some of the models in this list were ones I expected to do well but didn't (Pippin, Eowyn, Saruman) and others were ones I thought were fine, but did quite well (Smeagol, Beregond). Tauriel has already appeared in our listing and I don't think there's anyone that's going to argue with how well Glorfindel ranked (and once he gets Anduril, oh MAN is he going to cut through things). Chris finished with a final utility score of 24.4375, despite leaving 35pts on the table after purchasing two Elven cloaks. If I were to make any changes to this Fellowship, I think Pippin would be my only swap - I think Smeagol is great, but you probably want some dogs to charge the casters in the early missions (since Smeagol is a sitting duck against them). Now for another themed list!

Contestant #4: Gavin Newton

• Ringbearer: Smeagol (#1, 2.583)
• Companion: Lotho Sackville-Baggins (#29, 0.717)
• Friends: Lobelia Sackville-Baggins and Grima Wormtongue (#47/36, 0.933/1.378)
• Wizard: Saruman (#7, 2.225)
• King: Thorin Oakenshield with the Oakenshield and Orcrist (#19, 3.9165) - could be Thorin Oakenshield, King Under the Mountain with Orcrist (#4, 4.4165)
• Shooter: Thranduil, King of Mirkwood with extra sword, heavy armor, Elf bow, and the Circlet of Kings (#20, 4.1665)
• Fighter: Denethor, Steward of Gondor (#83, 2.311)
• Doomed: Thrain the Broken (#111, 2.283) 

It seems to be a trend that the Aragorn/Legolas/Gimli/Boromir slots are left to the imagination, so I put Thorin (right or wrong) above Thranduil in the Aragorn slot, which left Thranduil (with his 2+ Shoot Value) in the Legolas slot. Denethor takes up the Gimli slot and Thrain the Broken will only be playing for a short time. This Fellowship is super themey, but it could really struggle in the early missions - it wants to skulk its way to the Ferry, needs Tom Bombadil to arrive early and escort them at the Barrow-Downs, and needs to keep the Ringwraiths from just Black Darting Smeagol on Weathertop before Thorin can save the day. If it can make it to Rivendell, the next missions should be easier.

Smeagol, Thranduil, and Thorin (either version) scored well, but I have to say the rest did not. While I feel bad for Saruman's score, the rest of the Fellowship just isn't well kitted out for the scenarios they're going to be playing. Sure, if you can get Thrain to pass his Courage Tests on a double (which is rare), he becomes a beast in combat, but I gotta say, not being able to wound well with Lotho and Grima (and not being able to wound at all with Lobelia) is a real set-back. Denethor will be bringing a cheap F5 hero to the Deeping Wall/the Docks of Harlond, but he's also a huge liability in scenarios where you're counting how many heroes you have left. This Fellowship is so themey, that even with all the gear I bought (which wasn't much), the Fellowship only clocked in at 610 points . . . there's 140pts left on the table and I can't help but feel like a few changes could have been made to make things better (like having Boromir instead of Denethor - or putting Thrain in Lobelia's slot and taking someone like the Master as the Doomed companion). Gavin has a super cool idea that got him a final utility score of 20.513, narrowly edging out Luke's themed Fellowship.

Contestant #5: David Morley

• Ringbearer: Young Bilbo (#2, 2.433)
• Companion: Samwise Gamgee aka "Younger Gaffer" (#13, 2.033)
• Friends: Kili and Fili (#6/6, 2.822/2.822)
• Wizard: Elrond (#4, 2.95)
• King: Thranduil, King of Mirkwood (#36, 2.5665)
• Shooter: Bard the Bowman (#28, 3.7915)
• Fighter: Dwalin the Dwarf (#16, 4.25)
• Doomed: Bombur the Dwarf (#48, 3.372)

Once again, it's guessing time - I figured this time that Bard would be Legolas (for rerolls on his 1-3 shots each turn), Thranduil would be Aragorn (because Bladelord with Anduril sounds good), Dwalin would be Gimli, and Bombur would perish sadly. Frankly, I think he'd be a better choice than Sam for Companion, but THEME! This Fellowship might be the closest to the way I like to build Fellowships and I expect it would do quite well.

This Fellowship actually scored quite well in pretty much every slot - Bilbo and any members of Thorin's Company are good choices for your Hobbit slots, and Elrond, Thranduil, Dwalin, and Bard are good hero choices. Sam is probably the weakest link, but he's one of a very few Hobbits with Strike to challenge Shelob, so even with Sam in the list, I think it's solid. Now for another themed list . . .

Contestant #6: Anka Sep

• Ringbearer: Frodo Baggins (#3, 1.533)
• Companion: Rosie Cotton (#27, 0.717)
• Friends: Sigrid and Tilda (#37, 1.283/1.283)
• Wizard: Galadriel (#9, 1.625)
• King: Tauriel (#36, 2.5665)
• Shooter: Eowyn, Shieldmaiden of Rohan (#106, 2.011)
• Fighter: Arwen Undomiel (#112, 1.8415)
• Doomed: Hilda-Bianca (#126, 1.822)

Finally - someone who (more or less) specifies who everyone is! I did have to guess with the Three Hunters, but I figured the F6/1A with 1 Might on Arwen wasn't as good as the F5/2A with 2 Might on Eowyn. Both are worse than Tauriel in combat, so she was clearly going to be Aragorn (though a few Wrath of Bruinen spells at Weathertop would be very interesting to see). I love the theme that Anka went for here, but as I also suspected when I saw the list . . . yeah, this list is going to struggle in the early missions - and will probably continue to struggle as the campaign progresses through Moria and Amon Hen. Still, I don't think you could make a better all-female Fellowship . . . I mean, your only other option is Lobelia, right?

Contestant #7: Lewis Collins

• Ringbearer: Young Bilbo (#2, 2.433)
• Companion: Balin the Dwarf (#14, 1.933)
• Friends: Bain and Farmer Maggot (#24/9, 2.183/2.722)
• Wizard: Radagast the Brown (#1, 3.5)
• King: Glorfindel, Lord of the West (#3, 4.4585)
• Shooter: Drar (#83, 2.311)
• Fighter: Murin (#75, 2.611)
• Doomed: Erestor (#68, 3.083)

We're back to guessing - and I assumed Murin and Drar would want to stay together (and Drar would want the rerolls on his two shots each turn), so Erestor gets to be Boromir and Glorfindel (clearly) gets to be Aragorn. From Lewis's description, we know that Farmer Maggot will be Pippin (the "dogs atop the walls of Minas Tirith" comment is a dead give-away), which I think is absolutely the right choice . . . though swapping Maggot and Balin would have been good too. While I think there are better choices than Bain, if he's sitting on Eowyn's horse at the Pelennor and ties down a model each round in the Moria missions, I think he's alright.

Contestant #8: Jay Clare

• Ringbearer: Old Bilbo (#3, 1.533)
• Companion: Hamfast 'Gaffer' Gamgee (#21, 1.022)
• Friends: Barliman Butterbur and Paladin Took (#14/48, 2.583/0.922)
• Wizard: Gandalf the Grey (#3, 2.975)
• King: Aragorn - Strider (#4, 4.4165) - but really lower because he doesn't have Anduril
• Shooter: Elladan (#28, 3.7915)
• Fighter: Elrohir (#28, 3.7915)
• Doomed: Halbarad (#60, 3.183)

If you look on page 109 of the Quest of the Ringbearer book, Jay Clare's Fantasy Fellowship is used as the example list for how to fill out your army sheet - thanks Jay! We know for a fact that Aragorn only has his bow, Elladan and Elrohir only have their bows, and Halbarad has the banner. This list is surprisingly similar to Centaur's Fellowship (he had Aragorn, the Twins, and Halbarad as well), but he wanted the banner to stick around and one of the Twins to die, so there's a slight change. Oh, and his Wizard was cheaper so his friends/Companion could be beefier and so he could have Anduril. Jay's Fellowship is solid, though I think there are better options than the Gaffer for the Companion slot (but I totally see the theme he's going for).

Final Ranking

The overall ranking (when you add up the utility scores from all nine Fellowship members) is as follows:

1. Rob Alderman, overall utility score of 27.08
2. David Morley, overall utility score of 27.04
3. Lewis Collins, overall utility score of 25.2345
4. Chris Peach, overall utility score of 24.4375
5. Jay Clare, overall utility score of 24.2175
6. Gavin Newton, overall utility score of 20.513
7. Luke Blick, overall utility score of 19.383
8. Anka Sep, overall utility score of 14.682

Wow, four HUNDREDTHS of a utility point difference between first and second place! When I read the Fellowships the first time, I was like, "Rob's Fellowship and David's Fellowship are really strong" and it turns out that they did really well in this particular ranking. Jay's score is a bit higher than it should be (since Aragorn was evaluated with Anduril in my assessment), but his score would still be above Gavin's end score.

Conclusion

Well, this has been fun - hopefully you enjoyed the journey with us this year through Fantasy Fellowships! I really enjoyed it and we'll see when we undertake to do this again (and be sure to look for the End of the All Things scenario deep-dive coming out on Saturday!). We're gearing up for Christmastime next week and while we'll have two more of our regularly scheduled articles coming out next week, we'll also be kicking off a special Christmas treat for you all in December. Until then, happy hobbying!