Top 10 Most Improved Good Profiles from the Armies of Middle Earth Book

  Hey Reader!

We're back with another Top 10 post, today looking at the top ten most improved profiles in the Armies of Middle Earth book from the Forces of Good. Now that we know all the armies that someone can be fielded in, potential models that they can pair with, and special rules, we're set to rank the top ten most improved models for the Forces of Good in the Armies of Middle Earth book.

As we did in the top ten most improved profiles for the Forces of Good, a few caveats before we look at the list: 

• We're ranking the most improved profiles in The Armies of Middle Earth book, so we won't be looking at profiles beyond that book. It also means we're almost done with this part of the series!
• We're ranking the top ten most improved profiles for the Forces of Good in the book, so only good profiles will be considered here.
• We're ranking the most improved profiles, not the strongest profiles: Durin is incredibly powerful, but the change from last edition is literally just an increase from F6 to F7 at the expense of +10pts, and while that means he is improved, and good, and tough to beat, he's not among the top ten. 
• The "Most Improved" means that the profile had to exist last edition, which is not really an issue with this book, but again it's something we're looking for in this ranking.
• There were more profiles than this list can hold, so yes, I couldn't include all of the ones that I thought were interesting/useful. There will be some honorable mentions, but suffice it to say, if you really thought that someone should have made the list and didn't, there's a good chance that they were considered and just didn't break the top ten.

And so with that, let's look at some cool profiles!

Honorable Mention: Khazad Guard

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Not much actually happened with Khazad Guards this edition: they're still able to reroll 1s to wound like last edition, they don't have access to Piercing Strike anymore, but they did pick up one nice upgrade for only +1pt/model: they jumped up to F5, making them truly elite infantry, finally on-par with elves.

They don't make the top ten because a lot of the characters above are either the same or lower cost than last edition, or getting far better value, but it's worth noting that we finally have F5 dwarves, and more than that, per the new rules for two-handed weapons, if they roll a 6 for the duel roll they don't get the -1 penalty, which is nice.

Honorable Mention: Clansmen of Lamedon

Still the same cost as last edition, and the stats are basically the same as last edition, but they picked up a new special rule, The Honor of Lamedon: while they are within 3" of a Lamedon Hero (aka, Angbor alone), they can reroll any rolls of a natural 1 when making a duel roll. 

This is really good for two reasons: first, since they have two-handed weapons, they really don't want low rolls, so rerolling 1s is good. But second, since all 6s for the duel roll on two-handed weapons don't suffer the -1, this gives you a second chance at getting a 6 if you happen to get a 1, which is also really nice.

And on its own this wouldn't be enough to make the list, but we list it here as an honorable mention because, again, the points cost didn't change: they just got this rule for free, and if they're spear supported within range of a banner, you'd be able to reroll the Clansman dice with this rule if you get a 1, while also having the ability to reroll the other dice with the banner, which is really nice.

So with that all squared, let's get to the top ten!

#10: Paladin Took

Paladin is now at 30pts (instead of 25pts), but he picked up a special rule that is quite nice: Tookish Hunters get +1 to wound on strikes within 6" of him. And while yes, +1 to wound doesn't sound that great, when you're a S2 model that is effectively becoming S4 in close combat, for only 6pts each, that's really, really good value (even if you're only F2). 

And this combines with the change to Tookish Hunters this edition: last edition they went from F2 to F3, but this edition they now pay that +1pt/man to reroll 1s to wound with shooting attacks. So now Tookish Hunters are damage focused, which is exactly what Shire needs to keep off the hordes and the elite spear-backed lines that they are likely to see.

Not the greatest bonus, and he would have placed higher if it was a free special rule he added, but this is a nice boost that makes Paladin far more desirable to take (which he was not before).

#9: Will Whitfoot, Mayor of Hobbiton

Will Whitfoot saw a full rebrand from last edition, where he filled the roll of being another 6" banner (in addition to Frodo of the Nine Fingers) by spending 1 Will Point. This edition he spends a Will Point (still has 3) to give all hobbits within 3" of him +1 Fight Value, which means that you can make your Hobbit Shirriffs F4, or F5 in the Shire army list if you also have Lotho Sackville-Baggins nearby. 

Now this is a big boon to Defenders of the Shire, as they don't get access to Lotho (who is fighting with the ruffians/dead by that point), though the Defenders of the Shire really didn't need another 6" banner seeing as they have Rosie and Frodo, so that's a nice niche for him. It also means that in The Shire army list (or Bilbo's Birthday Bash, as we like to call it) because you still have Rosie for a 6" banner option, but now you can keep that Fight Value buff going longer with Gandalf restoring Will on Will (hehe).

And having access to F4 in that list is really nice, as you are short on attackers; he's useful, but not nearly as useful as other options on this list.

#8: Thorin III Stonehelm

Thorin III came late in the last edition, and he's an interesting option: pretty good attacker, arguably better than his dad, and he holds his own with the other Erebor heroes (though I think I'd still lean toward Gloin over him as an attacker - see the Hobbit heroes post for why).

And he's mostly the same: he hasn't seen a lot of changes this edition, save for one stat going up by +1 for 0pts increase. Which is not much, except that it was his Defense going from D8 to D9, which is a huge deal.

Most models in the game are S3 or S4, and that means that, at D8, you might be wounded on 6s or 6/4s by basically everything in the game. But at D9 you're being wounded on 6/4s or worse by most everything - even 6/6s for S2 archery, hobbits, and children - which is crazy good.

And what puts him this high on the list is the fact that he gets this for free. His point cost remained at 110pts, same as last edition: no points increase, but went up by about 50% on his survivability with that small increase in durability. Incredible.

#7: Elladan and Elrohir

The twin sons of Elrond were in an odd place last edition: they were fantastic for Might Point generation because for relatively cheap you got 6 Might between the two of them. Furthermore, since they got elf bows, horses, heavy armor, and good close-combat ability, you got two really good scrappers that could cleave through warriors and hold down heroes pretty reliably, which Rivendell armies needed. 

But there were issues: they were one warband (with one of them, probably Elrohir, being the first member of the warband), and for giving you one warband they were quite expensive, in a list that didn't have a lot of sub-100pt heroes (and only one sub-50pt hero, which is Old Bilbo).

This edition solved a number of the issues, while also removing a few benefits they already had. First, they can now lead their own warbands, so you can generate warrior slots far more easily now. Second, they don't get elf bows anymore (so their good Shoot Value is kinda wasted), but at the same time while they are within 3" of each other they become Dominant 2 and get to reroll 1s to wound, both of which are great (though they also dropped to 2 Might each instead of 3).

Furthermore, they fixed the glitch last edition of their Defence when a brother died, as it specified that they gained +1 Strength when the other brother dies, but their Defence is reduced to 4 (not -1, just set to 4), which was an issue because they started at D5, but could be upgraded from armor to heavy armor to D6, which means there's technically a -2 Defence reduction if you take the heavy armor. They fixed that this edition by just not having a Defence reduction: you get +1 Strength, have to charge if you can, and must prioritize the slayer of his brother if possible, but there's no Defence modification now, which is great.

So still great slayers (better actually, as long as we're not factoring in skirmish capability with ranged weapons), able to take more warriors, and still highly mobile threats.

#6: Robin Smallburrow

Robin was not commonly taken last edition, mostly because he was worse than Holfoot Bracegirdle and just gave his warband a +/-1 to arrival/deployment. And that's fine...it is nice to be able to concentrate forces on a specific part of the board, but when you have a choice between that and 4 shirriffs...like it's not even close: you leave Robin behind.

But this edition, for +5pts, he got a huge boost: now, as long as you only have shirriffs in his warband (which, now that you can only take shirriffs in a few warbands led by specific people, is pretty likely), all of your warbands now don't have to roll at all: you just get to decide the number (which means it's a 6 every time).

That is HUGE when you have primarily F2 and lower models with S2: being able to effectively deploy without playing the odds is really good, because you can reliably plan your battle lines out and always have your tools in the places you want them. And that's awesome compared to where he started.

#5: Ingold, Warden of the Rammas Echor

Ingold is 70pts this edition, but he's now D7 normally (D8 in Shieldwall), so he's being wounded on 6s or worse by most things in the game. That's fantastic, as it means that you can save Heroic Defence for serious situations against big hitters, as your average grunt won't be wounding you often.

But he also got a useful clarification that extended his survivability and that of the men near him by a lot: last edition models near him didn't have to back away from fights, but that meant that, technically, since they didn't give way, they were treated as trapped, whether that was intended in the writing of the rule or not.

This edition they clarified it: they only count as trapped if they would have been trapped at the start of the combat (which makes sense, and is very fair), but that means that if you have a line of Warriors of Minas Tirith on either side of Ingold, you can have a line almost 9" long that can keep people from breaching the line of an objective, only backing away if you choose to let them (which you don't have to do). Back those up with Warriors of Minas Tirith with spears and shields, and you're looking at a tough nut to crack, especially now that all of these guys are starting at F4 instead of F3.

In addition, instead of being 3-1-1 for heroic stats, he's now 2-2-2 (which means that, if you consider the added Will or Fate Point as a +5pt upgrade, the Defence increase and rules clarification are free). Now this naturally means you're down 1 Might Point, which sucks, but 1) the Fate Point might actually be more useful, especially in light of the rule update, since keeping him alive is what keeps your defense line holding.

He also went from F4 to F5, so that Heroic Strike is not as great as it might have been last edition (you're still just as likely to get to F7, but you had a chance to get to F9-10), but it's not bad, and in the event of a high-FV opponent, he can always call Heroic Defence and buy time for a bigger hitter to come to his rescue. And since he can be taken in the Minas Tirith and Defenders of the Pelennor lists, he has access to some really big hitters as "hammers" that can pound the enemy on his "anvil."

#4: Elfhelm

Elfhelm is one of the few heroes this edition that actually dropped in points, and yet is arguably more effective by a hair than he was before. He went down -5pts and has -1 Might (so only 2 Might Points now), and that would explain the points reduction (considering that his special rules stayed the same, all of which are awesome), but in addition he added +1 Fate and +1 Attack (so he's a 3-attack hero that you can field for only 80pts mounted - which is insane).

So on the one hand, yes, he only gets 2 Might, which is not a lot of wound roll promotion or Heroic Defences in a given game. However, having 3-4 Attacks (depending on whether/what you're charging) is really good, and having 2 Fate makes rules like Horse Lord far more useful as you're not trying to decide whether to use your only Fate Point to have a 50% chance of saving your mount.

So one of the best snipers in the game last edition just got admittedly slightly worse when it comes to Might, but he's more durable and more capable of punching through lines in close combat, and is a very budget-friendly attacker. Highly recommend!

#3: Dwarf Ranger

Dwarf rangers are still 9pts however they are loaded out, just like last edition (except you can't take Vanilla rangers, much to Tiberius's chagrin), and they retained every ability they had from last edition (including rerolling 1s to wound in close combat from the army list). But they picked up two new special rules for free, both of which are awesome. 

First, they get +1 to wound against models in difficult terrain, so in addition to having Mountain Dweller, not only do they move through a lot of difficult terrain easily, they find it easier to cut down enemies in difficult terrain and ruins. And since Osgiliath Ruins and ruined Rohan terrain is becoming all the rage, playing in ruins has gotten easier.

In addition, they also picked up Dominant 2 in the list, so your far-ranging rangers are also better at holding objectives, which is awesome! And again, all of this is free: no points expended to get these bonuses (which is good, as there are scenarios and boards where they may not come up).

#2: Glorfindel

Glorfindel only got two changes, which on the one hand isn't that surprsing seeing as he was performing pretty well last edition, but on the other hand the changes he got were awesome, and help him fill an even better niche in Rivendell forces more reliably.

Glorfindel has always been fielded as an "anti-monster hero," because his F7 + Heroic Strike + elven-made weapon, 3 base Attacks (4 if mounted and charging an infantry monster on the charge, which is a lot of monsters in the game), Lord of the West rule, and immunity to Brutal Power Attacks, the only thing he didn't do well was actually wounding monsters: at S4, possibly with a +1 to wound if you were okay with a -1 to the duel roll, his odds of wounding on better than a 5-6 was not good.

Enter the new edition: the man now sports a very powerful F8, putting him above most monsters generally (very few get to F8+, basically just dragons, Sauron, the Balrog, Bill the Troll, Gwaihir, and a few ents), and if he hits a F9-10, he's got the elven-made weapon to give him an edge in the fight. And since he can't be targeted with Rend, monsters have to wound against his D7, which means most of them are looking at 4-5s to wound, which, after 3 Fate with 3 Wounds, will take a while to chew through.

But that's not all: Glorfindel also now sports a +1 to wound v. monsters, so now those D6-8 monsters (which is most all of them, save for like Smaug, Sauron, the Balrog, and some dragons), are being wounded on 4-5s instead of 5-6s, and could be 3-4s if you two-hand and shoot for the 6 on the duel roll (which now doesn't get the -1, and hey with 4 dice, your chances aren't bad. Even better if someone else in the fight can get the 6).

So against monsters (and most warriors, to be honest), Glorfindel is a beast. Watch him crush his way to victory past most monsters in the game (assuming no magic to prevent him from striking up as needed)!

#1: Beregond

Beregond is probably the model in this whole book that got the most adjustments, going from effectively an armored Ranger of the North with a longbow (don't get me started on how Rangers of the North should have been updated in this edition - the TMAT guys are firmly in the camp of #JusticeforGreyCompany in various levels, and we're not likely to change our minds) to a captain model with special rules, and that's healthy! 

So to start off, he's 65pts now (which is a hefty +35pts over last edition), and so while I was pretty sure he was going to make this list, I didn't know exactly what his placement was going to be seeing as it's also the steepest points increase in this book. But what he gets is just straight value: he's now F5 instead of F4 (which is good), 2 Attacks instead of 1 (which is really good), 2 Wounds instead of 1 (which helps immensely with the investment, since a stray wild roll won't remove him), and his heroic stats got increase to 2-2-2 from 1-1-1, which on its own is like 15pts out of the 35pt increase, and the Attacks/Wounds increase is probably worth the other 20pts, so the Fight Value bump, his 5+ Intelligence Check (which is above-average for captains), and his new special rule (which we'll discuss next) are all free upgrades. 

But he gets one more update that is very useful: when he is within 3" of Pippin (which is thematic, and you can always take him with Pippin) he can reroll failed to-wound rolls in melee, which makes him a far more reliable damage dealer with his 2 attacks. He did lose the horse option, so he can't get 3 Attacks on the charge, with the knockdown for 6 dice to wound, with reroll fails (so he's no Theodred, though he's also a good bit cheaper than Theodred, so fair enough), but if you add him to a fight with Gandalf the White with Pippin as a passenger, you can get 2 Attacks + knockdown for 4 dice to wound, reroll fails, which is awesome. Naturally you can do something similar with Pippin fighting on foot near him and a Knight of Minas Tirith, but you get the idea: you can get double your wounding dice, reroll fails, as long as you put a cavalry model in there and/or get a trap.

So for value, I think this guy is the best improved: he really stepped up from a glorified warrior to a real hero, he can now lead 12 men instead of 6, and he's a better slayer with more resilience than he was before. My only regret is that he was my "Pippin" in Fantasy Fellowships, and now he doesn't meet the criteria of being 50pts or lower, so that's a bit sad, but I can't complain too much about that.

Conclusion

Now it's worth noting in advance that right before the new edition dropped we got Rise of Angmar, which means a lot of the models from that book - including all of Arnor and the Dunedain - had an update, and as we expected, there weren't any changes from what was present there. So I feel bad that none of them were considered, because they weren't updated from last edition, because some of them were changed late last edition, over and against how we knew them all edition.

What do you think: did I forget anything? Did I overrate the changes to Beregond (or anyone else)? Lemme know down below!

Watching the stars,

Centaur

"Lie back on the floor," said Firenze in a calm voice, "and observe the heavens.  Here is written, for those who can see, the fortune of our races." ~ Firenze, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix