The New Age Is Begun: The Kingdom of Rohan Army List

Good morning gamers,

This is the close-out post for 2025 and we're looking at the Rohan list that forms the core of the Rohan faction: the Kingdom of Rohan. Unless you're building a list around Helm Hammerhand or Eorl the Young, chances are good you can find the hero you're looking for in this list. It also gives you special rules that make most of the Rohan heroes better at what they do. Let's see what's great about this list - and what separates it from the other Rohan army lists.

The Kingdom of Rohan: Changes for 2025

Profile Selection

We have basically all of the Rohan profiles in the game - there's no Merry in this list (and consequently, you can't take Merry with Eowyn) and you can't take heroes like Eorl the Young or anyone from the War of the Rohirrim film. Aldor and Haleth from the Helm's Deep list and Sons of Eorl are also not available, but you get everything else - which makes this a very good starting point for most Rohan players. Along with a huge selection of heroes (many of which are available in the Riders of Theoden army list - more on that next year), you get as many warriors as possible - which is frankly the same two profiles (warriors and guards) on foot or on horses. In some ways, you have a lot of profiles . . . in other ways, we don't . . . but what we have is good.

Army List Bonuses

The army list bonuses in this list don't appear to be particularly crazy, but they're VERY good for Rohan lists. Most Rohan heroes (and warriors) are going to be mounted, so getting Strength +1 on the Charge will help some of your units get an easier wounding difficulty than before. Similarly, most of your Rohan heroes will want to be mounted and have the Horse Lord special rule - passing the "free save" on a 5+ instead of a 6+ is super good and makes keeping your horses easier while preserving your Fate points.

Profile Adjustments

There are a bunch of hero profiles in this list - and most of them saw a glow-up in this edition of the game:

• Theoden, King of Rohan hasn't changed in price, but he's lost a lot of his previous weight thanks to the Arise, Riders of Rohan rule transferring to any Rohan General (which, I'll go on record to say, was a good change). Herugrim got better (it auto-wins ties when the combat is drawn instead of rerolling 1s even when the Fight Value of Theoden is lower than his foe), he can lead Rohan Royal Guards (which is particularly good in this list), and he still has a 12" Stand Fast. All in all, he's still a decent take - and better in this list than in the Defenders of Helm's Deep list because he has Snowmane (whose special rule makes no difference in this list because everyone is Fearless).
• Eomer, Marshal of the Riddermark has seen some pretty great changes this edition - like all heroes, he's more expensive mounted than he was before, but not drastically more expensive. His horse, Firefoot, also got faster and he himself got the promotion to F6. With the change to Arise, Riders of Rohan, he can be the source of F4 on your charging Riders of Rohan (if you don't take Theoden and pick him over Theodred as your general), which is one of the best changes for Rohan in this edition (except maybe for Theoden). Guthwine now triggers an additional To Wound roll when it gets natural 6s To Wound, which is a poor man's version of Mighty Blow, but hey, it could be good sometimes? His Leader (Rohan Royal Guards) actually applies in this list (unlike the Riders of Eomer list) and the Price of Grief rule might apply (if you take Eowyn - or, I guess, if you take Theoden).
• Theodred, Prince of Rohan was another hero who went up to F6 (I'm so glad that Rohan isn't a faction that's capped at F5 anymore) and is otherwise what he was before. He's got Leader (Rohan Royal Guards), so he's yet another way to get Royal Guards in your list if you like those. He's still got Reckless Charge, which both requires him to charge models if he can (he doesn't have the Cavalry contingency that you find in the Ride Out army list), but whether he's on foot or mounted, whenever he Charges, he rerolls all failed To Wound rolls when making Strikes. You can't take throwing spears on him anymore, but with Brego making it possible for you to avoid being knocked Prone (roll of a 6, modifiable by Might), he's only 110pts and remains one of the best damage-for-cost pieces that Rohan (and a lot of other factions) have to offer.
• Eowyn, Shieldmaiden of Rohan is a Minor Hero in this list and has gained an extra Fate point. She's got very few changes to her profile, but her I Will Kill You if You Touch Him rule has seen a few changes. For starters, while Theoden is alive, Eowyn can reroll 1s on her To Wound rolls when making Strikes (which is . . . better than nothing). Once Theoden is slain, Eowyn still gets Fearless/rerolls all failed To Wounds against the model that killed him but doesn't have to stay near the point where Theoden died. If equipped with a horse, armor, shield, and throwing spears, she comes in at 95pts, which is both more expensive than she was on her own in the last edition (by, like, 30pts) and is more expensive than the Dernhelm profile was in the last edition (by a little - but you're also losing a lot of rules). That said, for 95pts, she could be worth taking . . . but probably only if you're taking Theoden and you've passed on other expensive heroes, like Eomer.
• Hama, Captain of Rohan is ONLY featured in this list and despite being mounted in the Two Towers film (and, you know, being a Rohirrim), he's infantry only because that's the only model we've got. His profile is well-priced, he can lead (and WILL lead) Rohan Royal Guards, and while Theoden is alive and on the battlefield, he will be Fearless thanks to Sworn Protector and he and all Rohan Royal Guards within 6" of him count as having Dominant (2). Frankly, if you're thinking of taking Theoden and an infantry shieldwall to support your cavalry, you definitely want to look into Hama - for 60pts, he's a really strong option.
• Deorwine, Chief of the King's Knights got the hit that a lot of heroes did this edition and went down to 2M/2W/2F instead of 3M/1W/1F - this works out better for him than most other heroes, but not having 3 Might is still a drawback. Like Hama, you really need Theoden in your list to make Deorwine worth taking - Theoden gives him Sworn Protector and if Theoden is Engaged within 6" of Deorwine, Deorwine can call a free Heroic Combat (just like last edition). Free heroics have always been good - and Deorwine has always been good when tucked in close to Theoden . . . this much has not changed. He's still got Strike and March, which makes him a pretty flexible hero option for 90pts - as much as I like Eowyn, I think I'd take this guy before her most of the time.
• Elfhelm, Captain of Rohan is still a very affordable hero and has 2 Fate to support his Horse Lord ability, doesn't suffer the move-and-shoot penalty with this throwing spears, and still rerolls failed To Hit, In-the-Way, and To Wound rolls when shooting, which is awesome (and why you'd want him in your list). He's also still a tank into enemy heroes with Heroic Defense and 2 Might, but he's also got 3 Attacks base now . . . honestly, I think his F4 is his "only weakness" and it's hard for me to think of any heroes that are better to take than this guy (after you've taken your General piece).
• Erkenbrand, Captain of Rohan went up to 90pts mounted (which means his base profile actually went down in cost a little). He's still got a war horn in his profile (which makes his base cost STUPIDLY cheap - and gives him Dominant (2)), but instead of giving +2 Courage to Rohan units, he can give enemy units a -1 penalty to their Courage within 24" of him - which I think makes him the largest non-global Courage debuff in the game. This is . . . basically the end of the road for the good news, though. He's still F5/D7 and effectively C5+ because of the war horn, but he's been adjusted to 2M/2W/2F, which means he's more resilient than before, but also more limited in the Might department than before (a lot of heroes lost their third Might point this edition). He can still allow Redshields (+1pt/model) to treat him as a banner, but he doesn't count as a banner for the purpose of victory points (like King Thorin in the Ravenhill list or Rosie in the Shire lists), which is a shame. All in all, if you can take him, you probably want to for the +1 FV and boosted Courage (and maybe the Redshield upgrade on a few guys to fill out points), but if Legacy models aren't available to you, it's not a big loss.
• Grimbold of Grimslade is also in this list and is basically the same as he was - he's still a F5 infantry hero, he's only got a two-handed weapon (not as bad as last edition), and and like a lot of heroes, he traded 1 Might for 1 Will (2M/2W now). He's still got Mighty Blow, which I very much still hold is a trap - he's not a hero or monster killer, he still doesn't have Heroic Strike (not as strong as it used to be, but being capped at F5 is a definite no-go for killing most heroes on his own), and as an infantry model, the hero you want to kill has to want to be near you . . . which most won't want to do. He can still allow you to upgrade Warriors of Rohan to Helmingas (something Helm still can't do?!?!?!) for 1pt/model to give them S4 - this is actually really good this edition since Warriors of Rohan can't use Piercing Strike to reach S4 and D6 is everywhere! If you're running an infantry shieldwall with your army, taking 12 Helmingas with shields and throwing spears isn't a bad option.
• King's Huntsmen went up in price by 5pts and didn't change much - they gained Sharpshooter and otherwise do exactly what they used to do . . . so I'm not taking them, but if you like them, take them.
• Captains of Rohan are basically the same as they always were - they can't take bows or throwing spears anymore, but they're still cheap fortitude heroes who can be D7 with heavy armor and shields. Without Arise, Riders of Theoden/Rohan, these guys have capped out at F4, which is fine-not-great into warriors or heroes. Still, they're cheap Heroic March heroes, so if you need to get warriors where they want to go, they're not TERRIBLE choices, but I'd definitely look into . . .
• Gamling, Captain of Rohan got the reduction from 3 Might to 2 Might reduction that a lot of heroes experienced this edition, his banner now has a larger radius (6", which is great) but also restores Might on the roll of a 6 when they're used instead of regenerating 1 Might point each turn. This . . . makes the Might restoration a lot less reliable, but potentially can restore Might before a hero is out and can restore more than 1 Might point each turn . . . potentially. He still remains a difficult banner hero to kill (especially in this list) who has access to Heroic March (as does Theoden), so he might still be worth taking in lists. Personally, I think the greatest thing he does is allow players who really like Rohan Royal Guards to run a lot of them. Speaking of which . . .
• Rohan Royal Guards went up by 1pt and didn't get anything from it besides the Spear Mastery special rule. They can be fielded by a lot of heroes in this list, which means if you want a lot of them, you can have them (Rythbyrt was running Rohan lists with 20 of these guys on foot in the last edition). These guys are a little pricey, but they're base F4 with F5 on the charge (while within 12" of your General), they're D6, and they're S4 on the charge while mounted. Take these guys if you want to or leave them at home - I think both are perfectly fine, depending on how you build your list.
• Riders of Rohan are virtually unchanged from last edition - they still cost 14pts each, but they picked up Spear Mastery (so they can spear support if they get dismounted) and they simultaneously got a nerf in that only 1/3 of them can take throwing spears (since bow limit and throwing weapon limit are two different things). They also get Fearless and F4/S4 on the charge with the option to shoot if your opponent isn't in charge range. All in all, I'm happy that these guys didn't increase in price and I think they're in a pretty good place overall.
• Rohan Outriders went up in price by 1pt and haven't changed - if you plan to have bowmen in your list, if you're allowed to use Legacy models, and if you think having those bows in your list is valuable, take these guys.

For the most part, the profiles are what they were before OR slightly better than they were before. The points cost of everything is also more or less the same, with the caveat that horses themselves got more expensive. Let's see what's so great about running this list in the game . . . and where you can expect to struggle a bit.

The Kingdom of Rohan: Strengths and Weaknesses

Starting with the army list bonuses, this list has bonuses that make Rohan better at Rohan things. Horse Lord normally gives mounted heroes a 6+ save on their mount, which is either "not a save" or "not a good save", depending on who you talk to here at TMAT. Having a 5+ save doesn't mean you'll save every hit that comes in, but you'll save enough hits that a "lucky shot" may not ruin your day. Additionally, getting +1 Strength on any mounted hero that's on the charge is going to put most of your heroes in the S5 arena, which means that they're probably wounding on 4s or 5s - perfect for wounding lots of things that are knocked over!

While most of the heroes in this list are good, most of our heroes still have 1 Fate point - this means that while Horse Lord gets better in this list, you're still choosing whether to burn your only (or one of your only) Fate point to save your mount instead of saving a wound on yourself. This decision might be easy - save the horse because you need the killing power/mobility, but it still doesn't feel good. Yes, we're always glad to have Horse Lord (and especially if it works more often than normal), but most of our heroes are still going to be pushing to save their mounts. 

One of the things I like about this list is that it has a lot of flexibility in list building. If you want to do an all-infantry/mostly-infantry list, this list might not be as good as the Defenders of Helm's Deep, but you can do it if you want to. If you want to do an all-cavalry list, this list might not be as good as the Ride Out/Riders of Eomer/Riders of Theoden army lists, but you can do it. If you want a combined arms list, this is one of the few Rohan lists where you can do that - and certainly the one with the widest range of hero options. With plenty of good hero options and very functional warrior choices, the list has plenty of tools to meet your needs.

The downside to this list is that the more you lean into cavalry, the smaller your model count will be. This isn't necessarily a "weakness" - it's more a feature of your design choices. Smaller model counts can be fine if you manage fights well, use your maneuverability to split up your opponent's forces, and get good use out of Heroic Combats to even out the playing field. One should keep in mind, however, that a bad turn of fighting could send the numerical disparity between you and your opponent to an unrecoverable level . . . but again, this is part of your design choice decisions.

Finally, this list has good profiles all-around - and there are solid reasons to take just about anything in the list. Most lists can't say this - there are profiles that you're like, "yeah, I don't have to take this every time but I will" and there are profiles that you're like, "yeah, why would I ever take that?" In this list, the only profile that might be a no-go is the King's Huntsman, but if Legacy profiles are allowed, you might give him a try? Roughly half of the profiles want Theoden in the list, so the primary reason not to take one of those profiles is if you've punted on Theoden and have focused on someone else.

Okay, let's look at some strategies for using this list!

The Kingdom of Rohan: Strategies for the Tabletop

The first question you'll need to ask is whether or not to take a shieldwall of infantry. On the one hand, infantry that can be Dominant (2) near Hama (and will also have Bodyguard to help them pass their Courage tests) are very reliable at engaging enemy troops. You can also get roughly 2 infantry for every cavalry model that you take, so if you're spending 16-24pts per file on infantry, you're probably getting an extra model for every file you take (less if you are paying 24pts for a pair of Rohan Royal Guards). Taking a shieldwall helps in a few ways - scenarios like Contest of Champions and basically any of the 4+ objective missions could see you starting on the center line, so having some infantry to throw up control zones in front of your cavalry can be super useful. Additionally, having infantry to stand on far-off objectives is usually a better use of points than having cavalry perform the same function (where their mobility and charge bonuses won't come into play much). Heroes like Hama, Captains, and Eowyn (and Grimbold if you're playing with Legacies) are great in shieldwalls if you want to have a hero embedded in them that won't cost you a ton of points.

I would definitely lean into the skirmish element of your cavalry - unless you happen to like Rohan Royal Guards on horses without throwing spears, I'd definitely look into taking a mix of Riders of Rohan with just bows and Rohan Royal Guards on horses with throwing spears (up to one third of your army when running all-cavalry OR as many as you can if you're running a combined arms approach and have some throwing spears in your shieldwall). This allows you to have the opportunity to soften up an enemy position before charging. Keep in mind that to deal effective damage with shooting weapons, you need to have a lot of them (my rule of 12-18 comes into play here) - but something is still something and kills done with shooting are kills you don't have to work for in melee. When possible, get skirmishing options for your heroes - about half of them can take throwing spears (the big losers from the last edition are Theodred and Captains of Rohan), but taking a throwing weapon gives you the opportunity to deal damage on the turn before your charge AND the potential for a hit on the way in.

I'd also focus on getting that first charge to start a snowball effect to victory. We've talked about this over the last few posts in the context of the Ride Out and Riders of Eomer lists, but it bears repeating here: charge when you don't have priority (either you lost the roll and your opponent took it OR you won the roll and you gave it to your opponent), charge one side of your opponent's force, avoid hitting heroes, and use Heroic Combats to make a mess of things quickly. If you have 2-3 mounted heroes that kill 4 models each and 4-6 warriors that each kill 1-2 warriors (only go for 2 kills if you've got the higher Fight Value and if you've taken out their spear supports - or will take our their spear supports with a Heroic Combat or two), you could see 15-20 models taken off the field - that's a LOT. One good charge could see the game swing heavily to your advantage - pull it off and then focus on the victory conditions quickly! Oh, and please don't forget about reserves - they really are a very important part to making sure your cavalry keep charging after your first big hit!

One other thing that you'll want to consider is trying a heavy-shooting list build. If you're running a shieldwall, you can run Rohan Royal Guards standing in front of Warriors of Rohan with shields and throwing spears and a horde of Riders of Rohan with just bows - for every 3 models purchased this way, you're only paying 34pts, or roughly 11pts/model. Getting 30 models and a banner will put you around 350pts spent on warriors and you'll have impressive numbers AND 10 throwing spears on foot and 10 bows on horses. Because of how bow limit works, you could add 2 additional models (a throwing weapon guy and a Rider of Rohan with bow) and still be within bow and throwing spear limits, which is pretty slick. Chuck in just under 300pts of heroes at 650 and you've got yourself a pretty solid list! 

You can, of course, go all-mounted and take 2 Riders of Rohan for every 1 Rohan Royal Guard on horse with throwing spears, which is 46pts for the triplet or roughly 15pts/model. Taking 20 of these and a banner is under 350pts and now everything can shoot! A similar strategy for combined arms could run 10 Warriors of Rohan (or Rohan Royal Guards) with throwing spears, 6 Warriors of Rohan with bows, and 14 Riders of Rohan with just bows - this wouldn't necessarily be a shieldwall list, but you'd get 30 shooting weapons for 328-348pts and everything would still be shooting. If you then took Eomer, Elfhelm, and Eowyn with their full kits, you'd be looking at about 300pts of heroes . . . not a bad start to a 700pt list if you take a banner or two?

The final thing you'll want to think about is whether to take Theoden or not. There are a few heroes that you probably only want to take with Theoden (Hama needs him for most of his rules, Deorwine needs him for free Heroic Combats but could also be taken as a better Rohan Captain - Gamling/Eowyn/Eomer can trigger rules if Theoden is in your list but don't necessarily need him), but if you're taking him you probably want to make him a focal point for your list. Theoden hits just fine in combat (and Herugrim is better now than in the last edition), but if you want to deny your opponent leader VPs and need to get models off the table, running Theoden and a Rider of Rohan with banner (or Gamling with the banner) off the board is a perfectly good idea. I'd always pair Theoden with at least one other hitting hero (Theodred is a nice budget option, Eomer is more resilient and expensive, Deorwine/Eowyn/Elfhelm are interesting options too) OR with a massive list so you can manage his engagements well and perhaps even beat your opponent with your numbers and skirmishing potential instead of a big killing piece. If you want Theoden to live, the best approach might be to make another hero a lot more of a threat.

The downside to taking Theoden is that he will be your General - this isn't necessarily a problem, but you might not want to dump over 100pts into Theoden AND 100+ points into another hero at lower points levels (heck, even at higher points levels!). When this is the case, you might look into having Theodred or Eomer as your general (they can be your generals in other lists, of course, but their supporting casts are more limited) and then be looking at another supporting hero to fill in the gaps. All this is to say that you should make a decision about whether to take Theoden or not and then build the rest of the army from there - I will note that besides this list, the only other list with Theoden in it where you get to choose whether to take him or not is the Defenders of the Pelennor - and like this list, you have a LOT of hero options to think about!

Okay, let's get into some lists!

Sample Lists

Our first stop is a 500pt list that features only 12 models - it's an all-mounted Rohan list that sports three beater heroes: Eomer, Theodred, and Elfhelm! You can choose which of the two big guys you want as your General, but they're all 3A heroes on horses and they all hit pretty hard:

While the numbers in this list are low, low-model count lists at low points levels just need one good turn of Heroic Combats to turn the tables on opponents who focused more on warriors than on heroes. Our second list runs a combined arms list of Rohan Royal Guards on foot with Hama supporting a large cavalry contingent led by Theoden (because Hama's in the list) and Theodred (because he's cheaper than Eomer and hits about as hard):

Alternatively, if you have access to Legacy profiles, you can lean harder into the infantry and really boost your model count (36 total models!) and take Hama and Grimbold supporting Theoden and mostly Riders of Rohan:

At 700pts, we can run a pure cavalry force that hits 24 models and features the same three beater heroes from before - but this time, supported by 200pts of additional warriors: 

If you like other heroes (like Eowyn or Theoden), you could change up the heroes. I've also stayed away from Gamling, who might be a better inclusion than Elfhelm in this sort of list (dropping a Rider of Rohan with banner too), but I don't know. If you like Gamling (I do), run him - or don't run him if you don't like him.

Conclusion

And that's the Kingdom of Rohan - if you've run this list (and especially if you like it more than other Rohan options), let us know in the comments below what you like about it! Next year, we'll be wrapping up the other Rohan lists in January, so expect to see a lot more on some Rohan heroes we didn't cover here! Until then, happy new year and happy hobbying!