The New Age Is Begun: the Minas Tirith Army List

Good morning gamers,

Today we're tackling the Minas Tirith army list, which has some distinctives among the Minas Tirith factions of the game, despite starting with a pretty limited set of profiles (the Armies of Middle-Earth and Legacies supplements fleshed out the list a lot more). If you're just getting into the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game and have the Armies of the Lord of the Rings in hand, this is a pretty good army to start with for several reasons which we'll get into today. Let's see what the list has to offer (and in case you're new to this series, anything in red is tied to using the Legacies document)!

Minas Tirith: Changes for 2025

Profile Selection

This list has most of the "tin can" units that were available to Minas Tirith in the last edition. You only have one of the "big three" beater heroes (Boromir, no Elessar or Gandalf), but you have a nice supporting cast of Denethor, Faramir, Irolas, and generic Captains of Minas Tirith from the Armies of the Lord of the Rings book. When you add in the Armies of Middle-Earth supplement, you have access to Hurin, Ingold, Beregond, and Bolt Throwers, which gives you some alternate options to Faramir, Irolas, or Captains - as we'll see a little later, I don't think there's a substitute for Boromir . . . that's probably as it should be. If you expand your horizons to include the Legacies profiles, you add in Cirion and Knights of the White Tower, which means you're glutted for hero options, many of whom are living in the F5/2A/no horse realm, so it's very much a "season to taste" based on your play style or preference for models. Besides Pippin, the only model that I feel should be here but isn't is the Trebuchet option . . . I'll whine about that more later, but everything else that should be here is here.

On the warrior side of the house, we have four profiles: Warriors of Minas Tirith and Knights of Minas Tirith can be taken by anyone, Citadel Guard can be taken by Denethor, Boromir, Faramir, and Irolas (but in practice, probably just Irolas), and Denethor can take Guards of the Fountain Court (read: he should probably JUST take Guards of the Fountain Court, maybe some Warriors of Minas Tirith to stand in front of them, but I'm not sure that you want to do that). While you don't have Rangers or Osgiliath Veterans (Hatred (Mordor) would be pretty sweet here), you have basically everything else - and since a lot of heroes can take Citadel Guard with longbows, you have decent bow options and very good heavy infantry options. All in all, it's a pretty good list!

Army List Bonuses

The first army list "bonus" is really a list building rule: while you don't have to take Denethor in your list, if you do, he's your General. Now that Contest of Champions doesn't require Denethor to be your Champion (though I've contended that he's perfectly fine in that role - though he was better when he had Gandalf around to mess with your opponent's army general), taking Denethor as your general isn't a tax at all - and since he's the only person who can take Guards of the Fountain Court, he's pretty much a guaranteed pick in my book.

The "Do you think the eyes of the white tower are blind" special rule gives Denethor a Palantir to spend once per game, which allows you to claim priority before you roll for it. This is a REALLY good inclusion, and Denethor is the cheapest of all of the "Palantir" heroes (Saruman and Azog are super expensive). Even when you factor in the cost of 15 Guards of the Fountain Court (200pts), Denethor is still only barely in the range of cost for these heroes - and you're getting 16 models for that cost! Yes, I think Denethor's great and this is a cool rule to make him even better.

You also have the "Is there a captain here who still has the courage to do his lord's will" special rule, which like last edition requires Faramir to charge if Denethor is alive and on the battlefield (but he also passes all of his Courage tests). This just means that Faramir is going to always make his charges and he's highly incentivized to actually do charging stuff. It also leads nicely into the third rule (Faramir's Charge), which allows Faramir to give Fearless and +1 Fight Value to any Knight of Minas Tirith (technically "Gondor Cavalry Warrior models," but the only people who fit that bill now that Citadel Guard can't take horses are Knights of Minas Tirith) if they start within 6" of him. They don't have to END within 6" of him unless he calls a Heroic Move, so this is a great way to make sure that your F6/3A hero gets into the action and your supporting cast of cavalry are F5/Fearless . . . sheesh, that's super good!

Profile Adjustments

Most of these profiles were reviewed in the last post (or over the past few posts in this series as I've been playing with Gondor lists), but a few of those have been updated for specific rules/options in this army list - particularly Hurin, who is actually worth taking this time. Here's the overview of everyone:

• Denethor got some stellar buffs in this edition - 2 Might/1 Fate points, retention of F5/2A on offense, D6 with Heroic Defense on Defense, the ability to take Citadel Guard and more important Guards of the Fountain Court, and a 5+ Intelligence stat to pass Broken Mind tests are all solid updates. We've already mentioned that he has a Palantir rule in this list and the only "downside" to taking him is that if you do, Faramir will have to charge if he can . . . that's fine, as Faramir can give your Knights of Minas Tirith who start near him +1 Fight Value and Fearless, which is excellent. For 50pts, he's a bargain and I'd always take him.
• Boromir got some nice updates in this edition - like his Fellowship version, he's got F7 with Strike, his horn counts as a war horn (giving him Dominant (2) if he's not your general!), the ability to lead Citadel Guard (if you don't want the other guys), and +1 To Wound when he charges . . . and no points increase! He has access to a horse and a shield, so he caps out at 185, which is cheaper than last edition . . . namely because very few people went with the lance (which he basically has built in now) and instead took the banner. Not having the banner is probably the biggest critique of him in this list, but with 6 Might, F7, and the ability to allow Denethor the ability to skip the Broken Mind test every turn (which he'll probably pass, but why risk it?), he's probably still a shoe-in to any list that isn't playing at a really small points level.
• Faramir is in his armored form in this list - the only list where he can be - and he's got access to a horse and shield to make him mobile and resilient for 125pts. This puts him solidly ahead of Hurin in cost (more on him next), but with F6 base, 3 Might and Strike/Defense, a free Heroic Resolve/reroll all failed To Wounds if you break, Resistant to Magic, and the ability to give himself and friendly Warrior models near him Dominant (2) by giving up priority to your opponent, Faramir is a pretty solid hero. I think he's solidly in the category of "give this man a horse" so he can help your cavalry hit harder - but that also means that he's going to be leading pricey warriors (at least a few will be Knights) and he's a bit pricey himself.
• Hurin is available in three lists right now and this is his best army list. He's still F5, which puts him on the same level as basically all of our other heroes in the list (except for Boromir and Faramir and one other), he still only has 2 Attacks (no dueling reroll anymore), he has 3-Might-and-Strike still (not as good now that Strike is only D3 when you start from F5), and has access to a horse. In this list, his Line of Command special rule actually works because if you take Boromir, Faramir, or Denethor, they'll have the Gondor keyword - and unlike the Atop the Walls list, his In Defense of the King special rule isn't superfluous with the army list bonuses. He still has a master-forged hand-and-a-half sword and can be taken with a mount . . . he might be better to take than Faramir, but I think he's a far cry from replacing Boromir.
• Irolas saw a pretty balanced suite of changes - he's a 2 Might hero without Heroic March, but he can still shield without a shield and make a single S4 strike if he wins and now all friendly Citadel Guard within 3" of him get +1 To Wound when making Strikes (which includes both Engaged Citadel Guard and spear-supporting ones). Irolas also picked up a second Fate point, which can make him a little more resilient than your other Fortitude options. Without March, I think he's a good third-choice of hero (fourth behind Pippin-with-Gandalf, I guess).
• Ingold has changed a bit from the last edition. Like Irolas, he lost 1 Might and is now a 2 Might hero, but he's also got 2 Will/2 Fate, so he's more resilient on the whole. With D7 base and Shieldwall, he's a perfect fit into a warband of 9 Warriors of Minas Tirith (all of whom can hold their ground and push their opponent's back with Resolute Fighter). At 70 points, though, he's more expensive than Irolas and more expensive than the next two (or four) heroes.
• Beregond, Guard of the Citadel has seen a HUGE glow-up! He's a big character in the book, so I'm happy he got the Damrod treatment and went up from 30pts to 65pts and has F5, 3+ Shoot, 2 Attacks/Wounds, and 2 Might/Will/Fate now. He still has a longbow (no Sharpshooter), still has Bodyguard (good usually but unnecessary in this list as everyone effectively has Bodyguard), and picked up a special rule that he can't use in this list because you can't get Pippin. He's not quite the cheap archery hero he was before, but he's still a cheap archery hero and he's also decent at fighting now!
• Captains of Minas Tirith are some of the big winners of the new edition - and losers, depending on your opinion of lances and horses on F4 heroes. While the horse and lance helped these guys kill things reliably last edition, the F4 was always a bit of a let-down unless they had help from another hero (probably one that couldn't take a horse). Now these guys are on foot, but they're 60pts instead of 55pts, they're F5 instead of F4, and they still have Shieldwall, which makes them reliable tanking heroes at low points levels. He's the only source of Heroic March in this list, but he is competing with Beregond, Irolas, and Ingold for time in the sun, so I don't think he's a shoe-in necessarily for your cheap-hero slot (though with Denethor, Boromir, and Faramir in the list, it's questionable whether you're even taking a cheap hero besides Denethor).
• Cirion is yet another 65pt hero available to anyone using the Legacies profiles. He's got F5 now, he's got 2 Might/2 Will/1 Fate (suffering from the 2-Might-cap that a lot of cheap heroes are feeling this edition), and he's still got a solid Courage stat with a buff to Terror-based Courage Tests from Boldest of the Bold. He also retained the ability to get some extra defense against Blades of the Dead (treating him as having a 6+ Courage instead of a 4+ Courage). He's still got both Strike and Resolve, but this Resolve is really only important if a) you don't have Faramir in your list, or b) if you do have Faramir but want Heroic Resolve before you're broken. Both could be useful, sure, but I don't think this guy is bringing enough to the table to compete with Irolas, generic Captains, Ingold, or Beregond. Also, he has a 3+ Shoot Value and now bow . . .
• Knights of the White Tower are back if you allow the Legacies profiles and they're base F6 now (higher than Hurin?) with unchanged stats otherwise. They still have Heroic Strike (which their base F6 makes pretty relevant), but for 75pts each, they're the most expensive of your lesser heroes - though I will say that taking one of these guys looks a bit more appealing than paying 5-25pts more for Hurin, so that's a mark in their favor. As they were in the last edition, these guys can be embedded in a battle line like Captains of Minas Tirith and with a two-handed weapon that has Mighty Blow (on the off chance you face a multi-wound model), these guys can really wreck a battle line . . . if you can afford them.
• Warriors of Minas Tirith are also big winners this edition for this list - they're still great front-line troops and are even more reliable in that role now that they're F4. They do cost more than they used to, but at 9pts/model with shield or bow, they're not THAT pricey (and since Warriors of Minas Tirith are slightly more ubiquitous in this list than Citadel Guard, they may actually be taken as archers). If you're paying 18pts/file for a Warrior of Minas Tirith with shield backed by a Citadel Guard or 19pts/file for two Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields (one with spear) OR a Warrior of Minas Tirith with shield backed by a Guard of the Fountain Court, you're doing pretty well for yourself. Take these guys - take a lot of these guys - and call it a day.
• Knights of Minas Tirith have become some of the best shock cavalry for price in the game - F4 is pretty common now, but they're not F3 and they're not that expensive for D6 troops. Knights are nothing to write home about, but they're still plenty good and I love them - take a few to ride alongside Gandalf or race to objectives as you need to, but please don't throw them into a horde of infantry and expect them to come out alive!
• Citadel Guard are a nice alternative to Warriors of Minas Tirith. They're best employed in Irolas's warband, but can be fielded in the warbands of Denethor, Boromir, and Faramir as well. While they can make decent archers, having spears that can get +1 To Wound while near Irolas is pretty big. Citadel Guard backing up Warriors of Minas Tirith near Irolas is a powerful combo and no one should underestimate what these boys can do when they have a protected battle line to support. Citadel Guard led by Boromir and Faramir are fine, but I think you could make the argument that Warriors of Minas Tirith are also excellent options for 1pt more (to boost their own Defense, give the option to shield/extend the battle line, and trigger Shieldwall for the front rank at the cost of 1pt/model and Bodyguard). Never take these guys with Denethor - fork over 1pt per model to get . . .
• Guards of the Fountain Court aren't available in a lot of lists, but they're still very strong options. They're stuck at 10pts without the option to get a shield, but they still have all of their old goodness (F4/D6 with spears and Bodyguard) AND picked up the Protectors of the White Tree special rule, which gives them Dominant (2) while within 6" of a friendly Gondor General. Since everyone has the Gondor keyword in this list (this isn't the case in most Minas Tirith lists), they can have Dominant (2) when it matters so long as they stick near the General. The only hero who can lead these guys is Denethor, so that means sticking with Denethor (since he's your army leader if you take him). These guys are the same cost as Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields and spears and make just as good second-line units (though they won't trigger Shieldwall for your front-line guys).
• Bolt Throwers have long been the more competitive Gondor siege engine, and while Centaur will always be a Treb player (why are there no trebuchets in this list?!?!?!?!), Bolt Throwers are certainly the better option for spamming out range threats in this list. Not only do they shoot multiple shots (which can each benefit from the rerolling 1s To Wound if you're near an objective), but each of those shots is a very powerful hit that won't auto-kill, admittedly, but is also likely to punch through a warrior as well as a hero. Volume plus reliability on the wounding roll strikes fear in basically anyone, so if you're going to field two or even three siege engines, you want these.

That's the overview of the profiles available to the list.

Minas Tirith: Strengths and Weaknesses

Our first stop is Denethor: Denethor is insanely cheap for what he brings to the table and you should bring him every time. In our last post, we talked about taking Gandalf and a Captain every time, but then you needed to pick a third hero at most points levels to fill in the gaps (Irolas, Beregond, a siege engine or two, or even another Captain). In this list, your first hero is Denethor because he gives you a reliable general who sports a pretty good combat profile (for an infantry hero under 100pts), he gives you a Palantir, and he gives you access to Guards of the Fountain Court. As has already been mentioned, you can bring him and 15 Guards of the Fountain Court for 200pts - and that means there's plenty of room for someone like Boromir with a pile of Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields or Citadel Guard with longbows at 500 points. We'll see a sample list later in the post, but let's just say that you can have 30 models with insanely high defense AND a beater hero who isn't your army leader just by taking Denethor and his entourage. He's great - take him every time.

Your second stop is always Boromir. I know he's pricey and you can get 2 heroes for the cost of one (we'll say Hurin or Faramir as your next-best beaters and a Captain or one of the other cheaper heroes to support the beater you choose), but none of your other heroes are going to have the same command of the battlefield as Boromir. In the last edition, Minas Tirith models got +1 Courage from the army list bonus - this edition, you can have this for all friendly models within 24" of Boromir because of his war horn . . . so yeah, take Boromir - he makes your dudes better (even if he doesn't buff their Fight Value or give them banner bonuses anymore). With +1 To Wound to help him chop through things, he's more reliable on offense than he was before and with his dad keeping him from being the General, you're not worried about giving up points with him in most scenarios.

One of the weaknesses of this list, however, is that everything is sort of expensive. Warriors of Minas Tirith are pretty good value units for 9-10pts each, as are Citadel Guard, Guards of the Fountain Court, and Knights of Minas Tirith. But you don't have cheaper warriors and your non-Denethor "cheap" heroes all live in the 60-75pt range, while your beaters are functionally all over 100pts (and Boromir is probably maxed out at 185). Getting three heroes into your list is probably all you'll be able to do - and getting more than that is going to take a high toll on your model count (which is already going to be pressed).

Another limitation that you will find in this list is that it only has one way of beating the enemy: in melee. Yes, you have Citadel Guard that can be led by Irolas (who probably wants spearmen), Faramir (who wants some of his warriors to be Knights), and Boromir (who probably wants most of his units to be Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields to stand in front of his dad's retinue). Yes, you have Bolt Throwers for filling big things with holes the size of your fist. Even if you find slots for 12-18 Citadel Guard and the points for 1-2 Bolt Throwers, having these as your only asymmetric answer to big problems isn't that great. Having Gandalf would be better, as would easy access to Rangers like you'll find in the Reclamation of Osgiliath and Garrison of Ithilien lists. Still, this list has a pretty terrifying shieldwall (albeit a F4 one) and can grind against most without buckling.

Finally, this list has cavalry units that hit hard. Boromir, Faramir, and Hurin can all be mounted and Knights of Minas Tirith have always been solid cavalry choices (and even more so now that they're base F4). Near Faramir, these guys get absolutely BONKERS, but there is a real question mark for me as to whether Faramir appears in this list too much. Yes, he makes your Knights F5 and Fearless, but he doesn't deny VPs like Hurin does (for fewer points, I might add) and he's certainly no Boromir. So . . . jury's out for me on Faramir, but it's undeniable that the hammer this army can wield to support its anvil is pretty insane.

Minas Tirith: Strategies for the Tabletop

Like most Gondor army lists, we need to start off by talking about shieldwalls. I did a whole series on how to use shieldwalls in the last edition and Rythbyrt and I have done several articles on formations you can use to get the most out of the Shieldwall rule specifically. If you haven't checked out those articles, they still apply in the current edition and hold up (I think) to rereading. This army list is going to live and die by how well it utilizes shieldwalls and how well it protects those shieldwalls (and manages the matchups) with its cavalry.

If you have Denethor and 10+ Guards of the Fountain Court, you're going to want to have 10+ Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields to stand in front of them, probably in two blocks of 5 files, which gives you the ability to block off a large chunk of land, especially if the Guards of the Fountain Court flair outwards a little. These two blocks can either have a gap for Boromir to ride through (like a Long Fangs formation) or they could operate as one shieldwall with Boromir safely behind them getting in-the-way rolls. However you choose to do it, you should think of these two blocks as able to function independently, as you'll probably need them to split up to cover objectives or wrap around an enemy position.

You want to have at least a few Knights to support Boromir (and possibly Faramir/Hurin). These guys aren't any better than normal if Faramir is not in the list, but they're still very good and their mobility is the key. Shieldwalls are predictable and static, but Knights can change the game quite quickly. While their innate speed is certainly a plus, don't be hasty to ride 10" every turn - in the opening turns, you'll probably want these guys to run to screening cover up to 10" away OR to walk 6" each turn behind your shieldwall so that you can't have your horse shot out from under you. Working with Boromir to get extra movement from a Heroic Combat is also a solid option, which could be used to score VPs by getting where you're supposed to OR by flying out of one combat into others that will trap a section of your opponent's battle line! With "just" F4 if Faramir isn't present, I highly recommend you charge into a single model if you're charging in the Move Phase or after a successful Heroic Combat in the Fight Phase so that you don't find yourself outgunned.

You'll also want to manage your hero matchups. Boromir is great, but he's probably best employed slamming through troops instead of getting stuck in a deadly grind against a big hero. Yes, he's probably your only answer to the Balrog or Sauron, but he's not going to KILL either of those guys in a hurry, while he can slam through four warriors a turn easily (including cavalry). Faramir is a great hero too, but he's not going to like being surrounded by warriors who wound him on 6s but his horse on 4s or 5s, making Heroic Defense not really a worthwhile proposition. Hurin has a dice cap that's unfortunate, so if you have him in your list, you really want him to be fighting 1-2 foes, even if he's charged. Denethor REALLY needs his matchups managed, but don't be shy with him and hold him in the very back - he's got a good profile, just make sure he can't get slammed into without help (though 2 Might and Heroic Defense is a nice add for him). Your other heroes want to be fighting 1-2 models like Hurin does, mostly because their reliability of killing those models is so limited.

Finally, take some bows or siege engines if you want them, but consider running Atop the Walls or the Garrison of Ithilien if you want a shooting list. Citadel Guard are fine and Warriors of Minas Tirith with bows are on the lower end of fine, but they're not great and they're not cost effective. This list can get 33% bow limit with the same archery options as Atop the Walls, but without any bonuses and such an expensive corps of heroes, you'd have to really tank your offensive melee threat just to get so-so archers. Without Gandalf supplementing your survivability against counter-archery/transfixing heroes and without the 50% bow limit with cheaper Rangers that the Garrison of Ithilien gets (potentially with VPs in hand at the start of the game), I just don't think this list is THAT good at shooting. Take some if you want a few "honesty bows" to sit on objectives or harass a lightly-held objective, but most of the power in this list comes from melee and that's as it should be.

Okay, let's look into some lists!

Sample Lists

Our first list is a 500pt list that features Denethor and Boromir, father and son, along with 27 warriors including 2 Knights - I could have gone for fewer units and gotten a banner, make that change if you want to:

At 600pts, I only added a few models, but I got a Captain in there for March, as well as a banner for VP scoring - and we have 14 Guards of the Fountain Court now (and absolutely no shooting):

Our first 700-point list is another no-shooting list and it just fleshes out the list with models: 42 total guys, 14 Guards of the Fountain court to back up Warriors of Minas Tirith, and the Captain embedded in a shieldwall warband that has banner support. You could swap out a Guard of the Fountain Court for another Warrior of Minas Tirith with shield/spear to move the banner to Denethor's warband if you wanted to:

We haven't seen Faramir yet - and frankly, I think that's about fair - but the following list is designed with how much money you have to pay in mind. This list assumes that you've bought the Minas Tirith battle host (24 Warriors of Minas Tirith, 6 Knights of Minas Tirith, and Gandalf the White), picked up Denethor and his sons, picked up another box of Minas Tirith guys, and have two blisters of Citadel Guard (you can pass on this purchase if you want extra spears and one fewer models). I think Guards of the Fountain Court are the better units, but if you might run Irolas (who you'll have in your collection), get the Citadel Guard. If not, run a 33-model list that doesn't have them:

Like I said last time, there's really only a few profiles that I'm looking to run with this list - and that's not to say that the other ones are bad or anything, but there's a very streamlined approach to these unit choices that makes them effective and good. I've enjoyed playing with the Minas Tirith list - and I'm sure there are lots of ways to make good lists if you prefer certain heroes over others.

Conclusion

If you've enjoyed this post, let us know in the comments below! We're looking at the super cool Reclamation of Osgiliath list next time - and in that army list, Boromir has his banner and access to his brother's heroic resources! Find out how this list plays differently than when daddy's not around next time - and until then, happy hobbying!