Good morning gamers,
Editor's Note: well, I wasn't keeping a close look at the numbers, but we just blew past the 4 million views mark - from all of us here at TMAT, thanks for taking the time to read our stuff. :-)
This is it - this is the last list from the battle of Helm's Deep and it's a fun cavalry list! Ride Out is not a list that I thought I'd like when I first read it, but there's a LOT here that I think is good and at a wide variety of points levels. Let's see what Theoden and his final sally from the Hornburg has to offer!
Ride Out: Changes for 2025
Profile Selection
This list has everyone that you'd expect to be in the list given the scene of everyone riding out of Helm's Deep (and the Ride Out scenario from War in Rohan) - it's got Theoden, it's got Gamling, it's got generic Captains, it's got Aragorn, it's got Legolas, and it has the non-Legacy mounted Warriors (Rohan Royal Guards and Riders of Rohan).
What I feel sad about is that the list doesn't include Gimli in it. Yes, I know it kind of does with the horn rules. Yes, I know he doesn't go riding around with Legolas in this one (like he does in the Road to Helm's Deep list). Yes, I know it would be silly to have him running around with the group - but like the Gimli slot in Fantasy Fellowships seems a bit less important than the other two because he's not here in the scene. I don't know that you'd want him in the list even if you could take him, but still, it feels sad to not have Gimli in here. Moving on now . . .
Army List Bonuses
The army list bonuses are interesting. As is usually the case, Riders of Rohan don't count towards your bow limit, which is good because you'd be really capped for options because of the Elite keyword on Rohan Royal Guards (and only two guys who can take them). Thanks to the For Death and Glory special rule, everyone is Fearless, which makes Bodyguard an irrelevant rule, but is also great for making sure you pass any kind of courage test you have to take. Once per game, you can pretend that Gimli is in your list by using The Horn of Helm Hammerhand Shall Sound in the Deep; One Last Time, which gives all of your cavalry models the Terror special rule at the top of any Move Phase (not the start of a friendly activation, so if you'd moving second, you can turn this on to keep your cavalry from being charged before you get to go). Like the Look to the Sun rule we looked at last time, I feel like this should be able to last for more than one turn - it's an okay rule and could be really useful . . . if you remember it on the turn in which it matters most.
The big rule for this list is the Now for Wrath, Now for Ruin, and the Red Dawn rule, which is both really good and potentially not good at all. On the one hand, whenever a friendly Cavalry model Charges, they get +1 Strength (the usual stuff you get with the Kingdom of Rohan list - and very useful in some situations for heroes like Legolas and Aragorn who are capping out at S4) and get to reroll 1s during a Duel roll. Make note of this: this is the Duel roll, not the To Wound roll - so getting to reroll 1s makes it more likely that you win a fight and therefore don't die. This rule is on every turn and if you can make sure you have the charge, you can also make sure that you don't lose as much - super good, that!
On the other hand, if a model can charge, they have to charge . . . even if they'd rather be sitting on an objective or running off with an artifact, if there's a hostile model within 10" of you, you're Charging him - and yes, you may run him over and skewer him good, but if the game ends with you out of position, that could also be really, REALLY bad. There are ways to work around this - and I think it also affects what units are good in the list and which are less good, but let's take a look at how the characters we have access to have changed this edition and how that affects our list building options.
Profile Adjustments
There are only seven profiles in this list and honestly, like the last one, that can seem like a real hindrance to their effectiveness. I think the selection they have is fabulous and solid:
- 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).
- Aragorn saw . . . a lot of changes. First and foremost, I asked TWICE (and many times via email) for Aragorn's sword to become a hand-and-a-half sword and by golly they did it. :) Aragorn also got the boost to F7, has the Ring of Barahir now for some added magical resiliency, added Resistant to Magic for even MORE magical resiliency to his already impressive set of special rules, and (wait for it) didn't increase in price at all . . . take Aragorn, everyone, take Aragorn . . . even if you don't think you have the points. Also, Heroic Strength is even better now for Aragorn in this list and makes up for not having access to Anduril.
- Legolas got a 2+ shoot value (so he's gonna be hitting a lot - as usual), he ignores the moving-and-shooting penalty while he's got the Infantry keyword (that's . . . really cool), he can shoot while Engaged in Combat (up to three times - including shooting at the guys that he's Engaged with . . . also very cool), and his Final Count rule got changed to boosting his To Wound roll while Gimli is ahead on the kill count, which is WAY better than boosting his To Hit roll in the previous edition. It's arguable that his Pinpoint Shot is less powerful than it used to be, since he doesn't Hit on a 2+ into Blinding Light anymore (but will still pass any in-the-way tests he needs to take if he passes the To Hit roll). This applies to a single-shot only, not to his usual three shots . . . thank goodness. While I think in general you should consider taking Legolas, you might not want to take him in this list - he's a good shooting option (even when he charges), but he can't keep your other units from charging off of objectives. Consider taking instead either . . .
- 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 prevent warriors from charging, 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 only be fielded by Theoden and Gamling, which means you won't have many of them (but you're an all-cav list - you won't have many warriors anyway). The fact that Riders of Rohan (who we'll look at next) get Fearless makes these guys a little pricey for what they do, but they're still base F4 with F5 on the charge, they're D6, and they're S4 on the charge. 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.
I don't think there's a weak link in the line-up here and the list has a few really strong options in it. Let's look at both strengths and weaknesses in the list.
Ride Out: Strengths and Weaknesses
For starters, this is an all cavalry list - and that means it's fast. 10" movement with Heroic March for +5" of movement on Theoden and the obligatory Aragorn addition is super clutch and means that if you need to get somewhere in a hurry, you can - especially if you pair a 1-10" charge with a Heroic Combat of an additional 10" of movement. The need to charge a model if you can be a sticky thing, but you don't have to charge the nearest enemy model (unless control zones dictate that) - you just have to charge someone. This means that you can slingshot from one side of a battle line to another very quickly and make it hard for your opponent to pin you down without burning through Might points of his own.
The drawback to being this fast is that your speed can't always be used the way that you want. While you may not have to charge the nearest foe, using Heroic Combats to slingshot you away from the fighting and to an objective deep in your opponent's side of the board or towards a board edge to escape is only possible if there's an enemy unit that you can charge in the direction you want to go. We'll go over ways to move models the way that you want to in the strategies section below, but suffice it to say for now that you should expect to not do at least a few tactical plays that you want to do at some point in every game.
This list has as an additional strength the ability to get decent archery and good melee damage on the charge. Like we talked about last time with the Riders of Eomer, getting a good charge off will depend on going second (winning the priority roll and giving it to your opponent OR losing the priority roll and your opponent keeping it) and being able to strike one side of your opponent's force, but getting S4 warriors and S5 heroes (before Heroic Strength on Aragorn) with a banner-like reroll of 1s everywhere (basically guaranteed not-helpful in winning the Duel) and hopefully a real banner near one of your heroes means you helps make your eventual melee damage super good. All of this can be supported by 10 bows (140pts, probably with +25pts for a banner one of them) at any points level upwards of 275pts (or 450pts if you think Aragorn is required in the list, as I do).
Ride Out: Strategies for the Tabletop
Unlike the Riders of Eomer, this list is about getting a bunch of very good charge rounds before the game ends. Because all cavalry models that can charge have to charge, you're going to be charging a lot. Sometimes, this will be with you moving first and inviting counter-charges from your opponent - ideally, you'll be moving second more often than not, but charging first is better than being charged. When you charge, make sure it counts - there are articles in our Tactics page about how to use cavalry well and I recommend reading those for a better picture on how to use reserves, how to charge one flank and then smash the other flank, or how to use Heroic Combats to get your heroes (and sometimes their friends) into stronger positions. The Riders of Eomer can get in a good charge or three in as well, but they're heavily focused on skirmishing first - you can do that too, but most of your big heroes are useless in this list until they're in combat, so don't avoid it for too long!
Second, this list wants to either avoid or roadblock enemy heroes. Cavalry-heavy lists are going to be at a numerical disadvantage against most lists - and because of this, your heroes need to focus on bringing the enemy numbers down to a manageable level so that the extra dice you roll when you charge and the massive pile of dice you roll to Wound will result in a continual reduction in the numbers of the enemy. As a result, if you can afford to not charge an enemy hero, do that - not being charged means there's no Heroic Combat option for the hero to go elsewhere. Not being charged means your heroes get to act and the enemy doesn't get to act. As much as you can practice avoidance (which is easy if a hero is embedded in a battle line - charge the two people next to the hero with two of your own but block out the opening to charge the hero and you're golden!), do it. If your opponent doesn't leave you the option but to charge the hero, you'll want to use Aragorn (or anyone that isn't Theoden) to make sure the hero doesn't kill you off (Heroic Defense or Heroic Strike from F7 are solid options here) while you're killing all his friends nearby.
But let's talk about the elephant in the room - how do you make sure that you don't charge with units that should be elsewhere? Well, there are three options available to you in this list. First, declare a Heroic March with at least one of your heroes. Everyone in this list except Legolas has Heroic March and at least 2 Might points - and since any hero or warrior within 6" of a Hero who declares a Heroic March and then starts moving can't charge, you don't even have to go very far in order to turn off your buddies' ability to charge when they don't want to. For anyone except Aragorn (thanks to Mighty Hero), this is on a 2-3 turn clock - and it comes at the expense of using Might for other things, like Heroic Combats. Additionally, whichever hero declares the Heroic March is guaranteed not to charge - and that might be fine if you're trying to run Theoden and some friends off the board or something, but if you're trying to get Aragorn to smash through the enemy, you definitely don't want to declare a March. This means you need other options.
Our second trick is to block off access to combats. Yes, you can box out heroes that you don't want to charge - but if you warriors in your "second rank" who can't charge, they can move BEFORE models that are further up, move so that there is less than 40mm between their bases, and make the distance to wrap around them and charge impossible to reach - perfect! You can use this during the early phases of the game, but will find it almost impossible to do once you've gotten your first big charge in (unless you kill everyone, of course - and that'd be great).
Our third option is the least intuitive and comes with perhaps the greatest cost: you can dismount models that don't want to leave where they are. The rule for having to charge applies to cavalry models - but if you dismount, you're infantry . . . and you don't have to leave your spot. So, if you're playing Domination or something and don't want to be baited off of your current spot, you can always dismount. Riders of Rohan will need to choose whether to keep their bow or their shield - and which one you want heavily depends on what your opponent brings. If your opponent has models that might actually die to S2 archery - or if you just want to have the off-chance of killing a model on the approach - keep the bow. If you feel like your opponent will laugh at a few bows and that you'll need to hold a staunch defense on the objective you're guarding, you might want to trust in defending by shielding (and more than likely, help from cavalry friends). I'd generally keep the bow in scenarios where objectives are spread out and keep the shield when there's one objective that you're trying to hold, but suit to taste and see how it works for you.
There isn't much to say about the list otherwise - manage Theoden's fights, keep the victory conditions in mind, and for goodness sake, take Aragorn. Let's look at some lists!
Sample Lists
Our first list is a 500pt list that features Theoden (obviously), Aragorn (a clear need for me), 9 Riders of Rohan (one carrying a banner), and 3 Rohan Royal Guards with throwing spears - this list doesn't have the 10 bows I mentioned above, but that's because if I swapped a Royal Guard for a Rider of Rohan, I'd be playing down-handed in points:
Because there's a 4pt difference between the Riders of Rohan and the Royal Guards with throwing spears (2pts without the throwing weapons), so if you wanted more Royal Guards, you would probably net 1 fewer model overall, but that gives you a throwing weapon limit of 4 warriors . . . so personally, I think this is the best mix as Rohan Royal Guards without shooting options just seems worse than the bow-armed alternative of Riders of Rohan.
As we scale up to 650pts, I've swapped out the Rider of Rohan with a banner for Gamling (one could make the argument that taking two Riders of Rohan with banners is better, but I like Gamling's 6" radius on his banner and more resilient chassis - plus the extra Might and option for Heroic March to keep important units moving towards objectives seems like a powerful option). You could get Legolas for roughly the same price, but you'll be down 2 warriors at least to get a normal banner in the list (and basically be running the previous list with Legolas and 1-2 more guys):
In this 700pt list, I've toyed with swapping Gamling for a Captain and two Riders of Rohan with banners - this gives you similar numbers but two banners that can be handed off (which can be better in some scenarios than one hero who can't hand his banner off):
This list could get to 26 models if you swap the Captain for 5 Riders of Rohan instead - you have plenty of cap space, but you'd have fewer heroes for tactical utility and fewer Might points overall. It's your call whether this is better or not - and probably the same call you're making for Riders of Eomer lists (do you want a third hero or five warriors?).
Conclusion
This is an interesting alternative to the Riders of Rohan (and other all-cavalry Rohan lists). I'm strongly thinking about taking this list to our next event (don't tell anyone) - and will let you all know how it goes if I do! Next time, Centaur is taking the stage next week with one of his favorite armies. I'll be back with one more Rohan post the following week and then will kick off 2026 with one more Rohan list before we dive into Mordor lists (the last of the "big four" from the Lord of the Rings) and the Armies of the Hobbit (which I have largely ignored). I hope your upcoming Christmas celebrations are awesome - may your days be merry and bright and may you have some happy hobbying!
No comments:
Post a Comment