The New Age Is Begun: The Battle of Fornost Army List

Good morning gamers,

Editor's Note: Before we begin the formal post, I just wanted to say that we just passed the 5 million view mark - we're so happy that you guys read our stuff and we'll keep doing what we can to provide accurate information and thoughtful articles about the game we all love!

One of the last games I played in the old edition (not including the practice leading up to our throw-back tournament we did last year) was with the Battle of Fornost. I had to proxy Earnur with Elessar, but golly was the list fun to use. In this edition of the game, the Battle of Fornost remains a powerhouse list, with a very unique flavoring of different factions that is probably only rivaled by the Battle of Five Armies, the Legions of Mordor, or the Defenders of the Pelennor. Of all the Rivendell-style armies, this one has the most warrior diversity by far and also has a really interesting array of heroes. Let's see what this list brings and why it seems to be a good list in the competitive scene.

The Battle of Fornost: Changes for 2025

Profile Selection

This list is composed of three elements: Gondor, Arnor, and Rivendell. The "Arnor" section is incredibly fragmented, but this also makes for some very interesting options for your list building. The Arnor heroes include Aranarth (Valor) and Rangers of the North (Minor or Independent) and all of these guys can lead Hobbit Archers (more on this later in the post).

The Gondor contingent is Earnur (required, Legend) and Captains of Minas Tirith and they can lead Knights of Minas Tirith and Warriors of Minas Tirith (pretty restrictive, but really all you need). The Rivendell contingent includes Glorfindel (required, Legend), Cirdan (Fortitude), and Rivendell Captains (Fortitude) and they can lead Rivendell Warriors. Thirteen total profiles doesn't seem huge (and is less than the total number of heroes available to any of those omnibus lists I mentioned earlier!), but it has an incredible array of models to choose from - heavily-armored men (foot and mounted), heavily-armored Elves (mostly on foot), unarmored Hobbits (on foot, obviously), and hero-warrior Rangers (all on foot).

The Road to the TMAT GT 2026: Tiberius's List

Good morning gamers,

I love the week leading up to an event - lists are in (usually), spreadsheets are being made, rules are being reviewed, and final practice games are being run. It's always a good time - and I love it all. As is usually the case, there's never one list that has taken my attention during the lead up to an event, so I culled the many thoughts to five lists . . . and those are the ones I will be sharing with you today.

Pick #5: The Garrison of Ithilien 

I had a blast with this list - it gets slightly more than 50% shooting thanks to the heroes in it and it has a very healthy model count of 32. I tested several variants of this list, including one that pushed 40 models but didn't have Smeagol and Sam in it. At the end of the day, the biggest limitation on this list is that its only answers to big heroes is its volume of S2 archery and Frodo with the Ring - and I wanted more options:

I still think this list has potential and I really liked the shooting. That did become a bit of the theme of these lists and as a long-time proponent of shooting-heavy lists, perhaps it's not a surprise that I also looked at . . .

The New Age Is Begun: The Rivendell Army List

Good morning gamers,

I got started with Rivendell by accident - I got a bunch of Rivendell heroes for my White Council list . . . and then I was like, "You know, I can ally the White Council into a Rivendell list" . . . and then I was like, "You know, I could use some more Elves to support my Numenoreans", and then I finally said, "What the heck, let's flesh this thing out." Rivendell has always been a solid and popular choice - perhaps because of that awesome sequence at the start of the Fellowship of the Ring where the Rivendell Elves are fighting alongside the Numenoreans in a cool battle sequence. I knew I always wanted this army in my collection and they're in a really interesting place this edition. Let's see both what's cool about these guys, what's competitive about these guys, and how they've changed in this new version of the game!

Rivendell: Changes for 2025

Profile Selection

This list has most of the Rivendell models available in the last edition - you have Elrond and Glorfindel as your beater heroes (no Gil-Galad though), you have Rivendell Captains for Heroic March, you have Elladan, Elrohir, and Erestor as your cheaper beaters, and Arwen, Lindir, and Bilbo for support work (no Cirdan). Losing Gil-Galad and Cirdan (and Gildor for a very select few of us) does change the list a lot from the last edition, but these two heroes don't function the way they used to, so that change is to be expected. You still have Rivendell Warriors and Rivendell Knights, but with the loss of Gil-Galad, you also lose access to King's Guard, so you're "stuck" at F5 on the warriors. This is a minor change, but having F6 Elves to support your lines isn't a bad thing.

Army List Bonuses

Last edition, Rivendell had a rule that helped them with their archery if their bowmen were near their Army Leader (now General) and didn't move . . . while the Lindon army list kept that rule, this list traded it for three other rules - all three of which are situationally good. The simplest is the Protection of Imladris rule, which gives all of your models +1 to their Courage Tests. Elves already have good Courage, but no matter how good your Courage is, there's usually a chance that you'll mess things up. Having Courage 4+ across the warriors in this list is great and your top-tier heroes might have a 2+ Courage stat, which is fabulous. Sometimes this rule will matter and sometimes it won't - but it's good to have. 

Similarly situational is the Defensive Stance rule, which is the design team's attempt to represent the "windmill" thing we see at the start of the Fellowship of the Ring - friendly Elf Warrior models get to reroll 1s To Wound if they didn't move in the Move Phase. This is great for players like me who used Feint a lot in the last edition and probably doesn't look like much to others - whatever. When two-handing with your frontline Elves and you're responding to enemy charges, this is a really strong rule and can turn definitely failed rolls to potential successes. Since Might might be limited in your list (see what I did there?), this does "reward" you for stemming an assault, but only if you intend to not defend by shielding. So . . . is this a good rule? It can be, but it isn't always going to be invoked - and I think it's markedly worse than the Last Alliance "wound enemies that charge you on a 6" rule.

The New Age Is Begun: The Lothlorien Army List

Good morning gamers,

I had been playing SBG for about a year before my wife got me an eBay lot of Galadriel, Celeborn, and unarmored Haldir with no bow (that sculpt did not age well). I had been playing with Wood Elf Warriors (not called Lothlorien Warriors) in the Thranduil's Halls list (before the Hobbit films changed that list A LOT) and had Legolas leading a bunch of Elves, all of whom couldn't be shot. I used to ally in Gandalf into the list to keep them alive while crossing the inevitable no-man's-land, until our good mate Zorro told me, "You know you can ally Legolas with Galadriel and run all those Elves for like 40pts less, right?" And I basically never looked back. :)

Today, we're tackling Lothlorien - a list that I think has been good throughout the ages, but has gotten particularly good with the return of its cavalry and super-elite infantry with the release of the Armies of Middle-Earth book. I'm also not the only person who thinks this - Lothlorien doesn't have more profiles than a lot of other lists (and it certainly doesn't have a lot of army list bonuses), but the units it has are good, they're very well costed, and the whole list can play incredibly asymmetrically into big-nasty lists or horde lists. Let's see what's baking in the Golden Wood, shall we?

Lothlorien: Changes for 2025

Profile Selection

This list both does and doesn't have the same profiles from the last edition: you have Galadriel (caster form, not war form), Haldir, Orophin, Rumil, Galadhrim Captains, Lothlorien Captains (nee Wood Elf Captains), and Lothlorien Stormcallers. The list also has Celeborn, but this version of Celeborn is vastly different from his previous version and has to be taken in his pajamas. I converted an armored Celeborn from one of the old metal Haldir's Elves sculpts . . . that guy isn't seeing much use these days. The warriors are all the same, so the only real profile change is the overhaul of the previous Celeborn (who was awesome) and the arrival of the new Celeborn profile (who is also awesome, but for very different reasons).

There is a functional difference in this list, however, when it comes to profiles: in the last edition, you would usually use Lothlorien as part of an allied list, instead of as a mono-list. While there aren't any "bad" profiles in Lothlorien, the list gave you access to a cheap "unlimited" caster in Galadriel, F6 supporting models with Guards of the Galadhrim Court, 10pt D6 front-line guys, and 18-21pt cavalry models - all of which were appealing to lists with limited unit choices, like Numenor (which brought S4 to the mix), Fangorn (which was really profile-constrained), the Misty Mountains (the dreaded "birdbath" list with the eternal Gwaihir model), and the Fellowship (Boromir/Legolas/Aragorn would love to slot in and help out their Elven friends). Not only is allying a thing of the past, but these heroes provided something that Lothlorien definitely no longer has: a fast-moving/hard-hitting Strike hero. Yes, there are some heroes with Heroic Strike in the list, but none of them are toting more than 2 Attacks, one of them is Unarmed with 1 Attack, and their only 3 Attack hero is "stuck" at F6 . . . in that comparison, having a F7+ hero with 3 or more Attacks (Boromir, Aragorn, Gwaihir, Treebeard, Isildur, and Elendil - JUST from the list of profiles above) would be most welcome.

It's a new era, but the bones of the list are still good and so I think the list itself is definitely worth a try. Let's see what our army list bonuses are.

Back to Basics, Revisited: Cavalry in MESBG

Editor's note: sorry to the 182 viewers who saw a blank page - the article was written, but didn't get pasted in on time. :-)

Good morning gamers,

We're back in our Back to Basics series today and we're looking at a part of the game that became much more balanced in the current edition of the game: cavalry!
When you could buy a horse or armored horse for 10-15pts/hero, there was basically no reason NOT to buy it. Now, for basic mounts costing 20-25pts/hero (more for elite cavalry options, like the White Warg) and with the addition of the Sharpshooter keyword on many bow-armed heroes, buying a horse is still usually a good idea, but you might choose to pass on it if you don't think you can keep the mount alive.

While we'll be covering the basics of how cavalry work today, you can find more tactical discussions about how to use cavalry in our Cavalry Charge formations series (which was written for the last edition of the game, but the mechanics haven't changed and the articles are still very much applicable to the current edition of the game).

Moving Your Cavalry

It won't come as any surprise to start off by saying that cavalry move faster than your everyday, run-of-the-mill infantry. Sure, there are things like Wild Wargs that move as fast as a horse can and are TECHNICALLY infantry, but man-sized models (and shorter ones) are going to move 4-8" and cavalry will be faster than that (10-12"). This extra movement usually means that a) they can reach a far-flung objective in a turn or two, b) can get around the enemy flanks to charge vulnerable units, and c) if equipped with ranged weapons, they can usually "kite" away from enemy infantry while still shooting at them (moving at half speed, as we talked about in the Shoot Phase post).

But cavalry are different from infantry when they move - first and foremost because their bases are larger than your standard infantry base. Larger bases are a thing when it comes to moving - gaps between models or between a model and a terrain piece have to be pretty big for a 40mm base to pass through them. These large base sizes also mean that more models can charge into a cavalry model's base (or monster's base or whatever), so cavalry should expect to be charged by more things than usual.

Second, cavalry don't treat difficult terrain the same way infantry do: an infantry model moves at half speed through most kinds of terrain (to include your generic "difficult terrain" in the form of marshes and bogs, "woodland difficult terrain" for woods, "rocky difficult terrain" for rocky ground/outcroppings, and "shallow water difficult terrain"). Cavalry work differently: shallow water is treated by cavalry models (and various other unit types, like war beasts) as open terrain, so they can splash through it without any reduction to their speed. All other kinds of difficult terrain, however, reduce cavalry speed to a quarter unless there's a rule that says otherwise. This means cavalry will move as slow as an infantry model will (and often a little slower), so avoid difficult terrain like the plague with these guys if you can help it. If you play with deep water (where models can drown if they enter it), having a mount gives you a +1 to your swim test roll (though if you have heavy armor and a shield, those will apply -1 penalties to your roll, so best not to risk it). Most players don't bother with deep water in Matched Play, but this is good to know nonetheless.

Some cavalry models have special rules that allow them to ignore the penalties for moving through difficult terrain (the most common is the Woodland Creature rule) - but please note that the mount, not the rider, needs to have the special rule in order to ignore the difficult terrain. If the mount has the rule, then the movement penalties will be ignored. There's more to talk about with regard to difficult terrain, but I'm going to put a pin in the discussion for now - we'll be revisiting this a little later, though, when we get to cavalry in combat.

Cavalry models can also dismount in the game: sometimes having a mount can actually be restriction on you as a model (which could be the result of needing to get into a piece of difficult terrain, getting into a narrow space that your cavalry base can't fit into, digging up an objective, or reducing your base size so you can escape the reach of a big monster/hero). Whatever the reason, a model can choose to dismount if they wish at any point in their move: before you remove the mount, place the infantry model for the rider in base contact with the mount. If the model has already moved more than its infantry movement allowance, then it cannot move further that turn - otherwise, it can keep moving up to its remaining infantry movement (including charging other models). You can't dismount into a combat (so if you intend to charge someone after dismounting, make sure you have the movement left).

Note that a model that chooses to dismount cannot remount his steed during the game with one exception: in the Fangorn army list, Merry and Pippin can be taken as a 10pt upgrade for Treebeard. They begin perched on Treebeard's shoulder/head and can throw rocks at people from above. They can also choose to "dismount" from Treebeard and "remount" if they want to. Treebeard doesn't count as a cavalry model while they're sitting on his head, though, so it's not TECHNICALLY dismounting from a cavalry model - and to be more accurate, Merry and Pippin are "passengers" on Treebeard.

The rules for passengers can be found in the Advanced section of the rules on page 115 of the new rulebook and only apply to a select set of models in normal Matched Play games: Eowyn with Merry, Gandalf with Pippin, Treebeard with Merry and Pippin, Legolas and Gimli, and the Warg Marauder model. Passengers don't often do anything while traveling with a mount and rider, but they can choose to dismount if they wish to (unlike a rider dismounting, the passenger can't move any further that turn - but the cavalry model can - though Gimli has a rule that changes this). These models have special rules that provide you with strong benefits if you don't dismount (unless you're counting how many models can escape a board edge - if so, you want to dismount the passenger so they count as a separate model from the rider). If you shoot at a mounted model with a passenger on it, you make the normal horse-or-rider in-the-way test, but if the rider is hit, you then roll to determine if the rider or the passenger is hit. Should the rider dismount/be killed/otherwise be thrown from the mount, the passenger will take a Thrown Rider test as well.

The final thing we need to talk about with regard to cavalry and the Move phase is charging. Sure, cavalry are fast, but if they didn't attack any better than infantry, their increased cost would make them a luxury most generals wouldn't want to pay for. Cavalry get two excellent bonuses when charging infantry (both of which we talked about in our Fight Phase post): Extra Attack and Knock to the Ground. When a cavalry model charges an infantry model (or more than one infantry model), they get +1 Attack (so a 1 Attack warrior becomes a 2 Attack warrior). If the cavalry model wins the fight and the infantry that were charged are below S6, the infantry are Knocked Prone and the wounding dice of the cavalry model are doubled (2 Attacks becomes two sets of 2 dice). This usually results in at least one dead infantry model!

Sometimes only one of these rules with trigger - when charging a S6+ Infantry model, for example (or any Infantry Monster model), a cavalry model would get the +1 Attack for charging an infantry model, but the Knocked to the Ground rule wouldn't trigger because the model has more than S5. Sometimes, however, neither rule will trigger - and the most common situation for this is if a cavalry model a) charges at least one cavalry model, b) is counter-charged by a cavalry model, or c) moved through/into difficult terrain during its move. When there are cavalry fighting other cavalry or cavalry that have moved through difficult terrain, their extra rules are cancelled and they fight . . . well, they fight pretty much like infantry models. It often pays to have a few cavalry in your army to turn off important cavalry charges from the enemy - and Rythbyrt taught me a formation a few years ago that can help do that.

Okay, that's about all we need to cover on the Move phase - let's move on to shooting!

Shooting At Cavalry

Shooting with cavalry works exactly the same way as with infantry - you can move half or all of your movement based on what weapons you have and you're good to go. Because cavalry are faster than infantry, this usually means you'll move a few inches more than an infantry shooting model will, but you're probably also moving slower than an infantry model at a dead run. Shooting AT cavalry, however, requires one additional roll (most of the time): when cavalry models are the targets of a shooting attack, the shooting model must make a random roll to see if they hit the rider or the mount.

If this sounds like an in-the-way roll, that would make sense - it is an in-the-way roll. It's important to note, however, that because your target is the "model," if you get the required roll to hit the rider and you wanted to hit the horse, you "succeeded" in passing the In The Way and so cannot reroll it to try to hit the horse (just like you wouldn't be able to reroll a different in-the-way roll to see if you hit the target). It's sad, I know - but the new Sharpshooter keyword allows you to not only skip the in-the-way roll, but you get to choose which of the parts of the model (mount or rider) you want to hit - Sharpshooters are very good at picking off horses under big heroes.

Depending on the kind of mount that's being ridden, the difficulty rating for hitting the rider can change: for most mounts, you hit the rider on a 4+ (and the mount on a 1-3). However, if you're up against a Monstrous Mount (like a Fell Beast or a Great Eagle), the rider will only be hit on a 5+.

If the rider is killed, the mount will need to see if it stays on the field. If the mount has an Attack stat of 0 (common on horses, goats, and ponies), then the mount will bolt without its rider and the entire model is removed as a casualty. If the mount has an Attack stat of 1+ (common on Wargs), the mount must pass a Courage test to see if it stays. When counting up how many "casualties" a force has taken, it's important to keep track of how many mounts have been killed/fled after their rider was killed and how many riders have been killed: every dead rider paired with a dead mount will count as 1 casualty, even if they weren't originally paired together.

If the mount dies, the rider will need to take a Thrown Rider test, which we discussed in a recent post: on a 1, something bad happens (the rider is placed Prone and takes one S3 hit - which could kill the rider!), on a 2-5, the rider is placed in base contact with where the mount was located and cannot perform shooting attacks/make strikes in the Fight phase, and on a 6, the rider gracefully recovers, is placed in base contact with where the mount was, and is able to function normally. It's important to note that if the cavalry model was engaged in a fight and got dismounted by an arrow or something, he'd STILL be counted as being engaged in the fight, even if the rider was placed in a spot that was not in base contact with the guys he was fighting.

The final thing we need to talk about are special rules that might help your cavalry: Horse Lord and Expert Rider. The "Expert Rider" rule does a few things for a cavalry model (such as not needing to dismount to pick up a light object - useful in some scenarios - and being able to reroll jump/leap/Thrown Rider tests). With regard to shooting, a model with the Expert Rider rule can gain the +1 Defense from a shield even if they carry a bow (which the Cumbersome rule for shields would normally not allow). If the model dismounts/loses its mount, they now have to choose again between keeping the shield or the bow. Horse Lord changed this edition to not only allow a hero with this rule to spend Fate points to prevent wounds to their mounts, but also grants the mount a free roll to try to block the wound (successful on a natural 6 in most cases). If you have both Horse Lord and Expert Rider, you're unlikely to take damage from a Thrown Rider test - but it does happen and most mounted heroes don't have the pair of rules (or even one of them).

Okay, we're almost done - let's talk about cavalry in combat!

Cavalry in Combat

As has already been mentioned, cavalry get the Extra Attack and Knocked to the Ground bonuses when they charge infantry, but while the most common way to lose these rules is to be charged by an enemy cavalry model (or you charged into one), there are several ways to remove these rules. Because these are Active abilities, you can also turn off the benefits by casting Transfix, which is one of the most common magical powers in the game. Transfix and counter-charging gives the guy receiving the cavalry charge a few options for dealing with cavalry - but only if the enemy cavalry are moving first (we'll get into this more later).

One other thing to keep in mind about cavalry when they fight is they are not allowed to defend by shielding - if your infantry model gets charged by someone scary, he can "defend by shielding" to double the number of dice he rolls in order to skip the "to wound roll" (some heroes can make a single strike after shielding, but as a general rule, no one gets to make strikes when they defend by shielding). Cavalry, however, can't do this - if you charge, you're going for the kill, and if you were charged, you're still going for the kill (but without all the charge bonuses). As such, it might be a good idea to dismount before being charged if you feel like you're in a bad spot.

If you beat a cavalry model in combat, you have the choice to wound either the rider or the mount - declare which one you're targeting before you roll. Often times, the mount will have the same Defense or a lower Defense than its rider - and depending on your Strength value, you may wound the mount more easily than the Rider. As has already been mentioned, killing a mount will count as a full casualty once any rider is killed, so there's some value to killing mounts that have an Attack stat of 1+, but in general, going for the rider is a much better option (as a mount with an Attack stat of 0 will just run away).

Some cavalry models (like Chariots) might have rules that have you pass a roll in order to strike at the rider instead of the mount - this can increase the survivability of the rider quite a bit (since chariots especially have quite a bit more Defense than their riders - usually) and have more than 1 Wound. When making strikes against a model like this, it's best to allocate your wounding dice one at a time (or in pairs if the model is trapped) so that if you kill the mount with the first few rolls, you know you don't need to make the in-the-way roll for the future rolls.

When Are Cavalry Good?

Cavalry are not as overpowered in MESBG this edition, but they can still feel that way sometimes - a big hero with a fast mount can be absolutely devastating and can make it feel like you have no answer to them. Similarly, a horde of cavalry in a big charge can run right over your beautiful infantry ranks and make your chances of winning disappear in a single round (especially if those cavalry are charging a single file of warriors so their dice counts are about the same). While the benefits of a good cavalry charge are clear, are cavalry always worth taking?

For some players, having a few cavalry is good enough - models that can get some extra damage potential in an important spot, run to an objective, or rapidly reinforce a flank are really useful to have, but having a LOT of cavalry can reduce your model count dramatically. For some players, that's okay - having a fast fighting force (I love me some alliteration) is worth running fewer numbers, but cavalry do reduce your model count (and in MANY missions, having more guys on the board can mean an easier time holding objectives or not handing over VPs for being broken).

Cavalry are also really good against infantry - but against cavalry they can really struggle. I did an article on this in our Cavalry Charge formations mini-series, and it bears repeating here: cavalry are great when they're rolling over infantry, but most Warrior Cavalry models are going to struggle if they're up against a D6 cavalry model - especially if they don't have the charge (or are also fighting a few infantry). Some cavarly models have lances or get bonus Fight Value/Strength when they charge and these bonuses won't be ignored if you're fighting enemy cavalry - so they don't mind as much, but they're still rolling one fewer dice, so that it's still worth avoiding if you can.

Cavalry can also struggle against infantry when there's a lot of them - if you're a 1 Attack Warrior Cavalry model and you charge into 2 infantry models, each of which has a spear backing them up (and maybe being in range of a banner), the sheer weight of their dice is going to give them a far greater chance of getting a 5- or a 6-high - and your chances of getting a 5-high or a 6-high are only floating around 56% (or roughly half the time). As a result, cavalry models should be very careful with how greedy they get when charging into infantry shieldwalls (and unless you're a hero with a good Fight Value and some Might to boost a bad roll, you probably don't want to charge headlong into a hedge of infantry).

Cavalry can also be really susceptible to three non-melee elements of the game: archery, magical powers, and the Hurl Brutal Power Attack. The value of archery should be pretty easy to see: if you paid for a mount and the mount gets shot . . . you're back to being a normal infantry guy. You might be alive, but you're not going to be as happy as you would have been if you were galloping through the enemy ranks astride your mighty steed.

Some magical powers will affect cavalry more than infantry - and these include area-of-effect magical powers (like Wrath of Bruinen and Nature's Wrath) or spells that knock models over (like Sorcerous Blast and Tremor). The larger base size of cavalry models not only means that a cavalry model that is near other models is more likely to get clipped by the area of effect range (or be in the path of a flung model/earthquake line), but if the cavalry model is the TARGET of the magical power, the actual area of effect will cover more space because the starting base size is larger. Some magical powers will automatically have a mounted model suffer the Knocked Flying rule, which means you won't be rolling on the Thrown Rider charge to see what happens to you - you're Prone and taking a S3 hit (in addition to anything else you're taking). Others will say you need to test, so there might be some mitigation for those risks.

The final thing we need to talk about is the Hurl Brutal Power Attack. We're going to talk about monsters next time, so I won't divulge everything here, but suffice it to say that like Sorcerous Blast, having a large base on the model that's being thrown means you're strafing a larger area of ground than if you were infantry, having a larger base when you're not the one being thrown means you're more likely to land in the thrown model's path, and you're also going to take some collateral damage for being Knocked Flying that you wouldn't have suffered if you were on foot. Yeah, sometimes it bites to be cavalry.

Conclusion

And that's the "basics" about cavalry. :-) I know that was a lot, but cavalry are a big part of MESBG (as they should be). If you're new to SBG and found this helpful, let us know below! If you've been running cavalry for ages in MESBG and I forgot something, let us know that too! Next time, we turn to another quintessential part of the SBG game: monsters. Yes, these things are a bear to fight (and sometimes they ARE bears who are bears to fight). So what all can they actually do? And how useful are those brutal power attacks, anyway? And how have those brutal power attacks changed in the new edition? Find out next time - until then, happy hobbying!

The New Age Is Begun: The Rangers of Mirkwood

Good morning gamers,

This post officially kicks off Elf month and we're doing so by talking about more Dwarves. :) Yes, we're tackling a really fun list from the last edition that's seen a greatly expanded roster . . . many of which you will probably not be able to throw into your final list unless you're playing at a very, VERY high points level (at which point, I'd like to direct your attention to the Battle of Five Armies army list that we'll look at later this year). Welcome one of the big powerhouses of shooting: the new imagined Rangers of Mirkwood.

Rangers of Mirkwood: Changes for 2025

Profile Selection

Last edition, this list had five profiles in it: Legolas, Tauriel, Mirkwood Ranger Captains, Mirkwood Rangers, and Wood Elf Sentinels. Four of these profiles (not Wood Elf Sentinels) stayed in the list, but the list picked up fourteen new profiles: Bilbo and the thirteen Dwarves of Thorin's Company (a bit awkward for a band name, but their music is alright). This gives the list some much-needed diversity and introduces another angle that you can lean into in order to expand the list to higher points levels (and honestly, I think some kind of Thorin's Company element is necessary in any list, but more on that later).

The list has two composition rules that bear noting when talking about this make up: Mirkwood Rangers can only be led by Mirkwood heroes (Legolas, Tauriel, and Mirkwood Ranger Captains) and Mirkwood Rangers don't count towards your army's bow limit (which is a much-needed carry-over from last edition). I will note that unlike Thorin's Company and to a much lesser degree the Army of Lake-town, you can't field the Thorin's Company members as part of a single warband, which makes your warband count high (good for some scenarios, bad for others).

Army List Bonuses

Besides the two list building rules that were mentioned above, we have two other general rules: you need to include at least one Unique Elf hero (so, Legolas and/or Tauriel) and if you choose Legolas, he must be your army leader (Tauriel otherwise). Both of these heroes are Heroes of Valour, so you'll get 30 warrior slots (625pts for both heroes with max gear and max warbands) - this seems like a pretty decent collection of models for 625pts, but let me assure you, this is probably all you need for this list. If you choose to take Thorin (more on him in a minute), he will only be a grenade hero . . . something he's very, very good at. The other Dwarves will likely be grenades, which can be helpful too.

The New Age Is Begun: The Army of Lake-town

Good morning gamers,

One of our readers asked when we'd do the Army of Lake-town - and I mentioned that I needed to do Thorin's Company first. This post closes out "Dwarf month" and it features . . . exactly four Dwarves. It also has one Elf and that makes it an interesting bridge into the month of May, which will be Elf month. Yes, we're reviewing the Army of Lake-town today - an army that used to be super powerful in the last edition and now really does need to lean into the non-Lake-town elements of the list (which, if we're honest, was always the strength of the Army of Lake-town last edition - see our Bare Necessities post for more on that, which did cover adding in Gwaihir, but not from the Misty Mountains list so he didn't have to be your army leader).

Army of Lake-town: Changes for 2025

Profile Selection

This list has all of the old profiles that you'd expect - the Master of Lake-town, Alfrid, Braga, and Lake-town Guard Captains for your conventional heroes, Lake-town Guard as your only warrior option, and then Alfrid, Bard, and Bard's kids as "the rest of it." This edition, however, we have the guests of Bard's home as well - Tauriel, Kili, Fili, Oin, and Bofur (though notably . . . not Legolas . . . I guess he didn't stay long enough?). These additional heroes are the only way to "ally in" non-Lake-town bodies, which is good because Lake-town has always had fine-not-great profiles that you can buy on a budget to make space for something really strong (and something that's usually better than Bard).

Army List Bonuses

This list has some of the standard rules constraints for mixed-list armies - your Lake-town Guard can only be led by Lake-town Heroes and Bard's Family can be included either in Bard's warband or in Tauriel's warband. Tauriel's warband can also take the Dwarves, which could be useful if you know maelstrom might be a thing.

The Rise of Angmar: What Models Do You Need to Buy?

Good morning gamers,

It's been nearly three years since we were in this series, but we're finally closing out our review of what models you need to play through the scenarios in last edition's supplements. Right before the new edition dropped, The Rise of Angmar was released and boy are there some interesting models in it! Since it's been so long, I thought it might be good to review the costs of the preceding sourcebooks (keeping in mind that both inflation and made-to-order are a thing):

• Gondor At War: $3500
• The Scouring of the Shire: $1100
• War in Rohan: $3700
• Quest of the Ringbearer: $2100-$3200 (depending on whether you want to play just the scenarios from the book, Fantasy Fellowships, or both)
• Fall of the Necromancer: $1100
• Defense of the North: $4951

NOTE: we have quite a bit of Arnor and Angmar Forgeworld models in this supplement, so we should expect things to be pricey. As always, I get no kick-backs from GW for doing this post, and as such, I'll do what I can to save you some cash and then offer ways to save even more money if you're willing to do some conversions or proxying at the end. We will assume that we already have the Battle for Osgiliath starter set, since that was the starter box when the book dropped (and it's actually quite handy for a few things).

Can this supplement pass the nearly $5000 investment of Defense of the North? It's gonna be hard, but let's dig in and find out!

The New Age Is Begun: the Thorin's Company Army List

Good morning gamers,

This is our last post of all-Dwarves in "Dwarf month" and we're looking at what is mostly an all-hero list: Thorin's Company. I played this list some last edition (never in a tournament) and I've got to say, it's got a lot of rules to keep track of (even more now), but it's FUN to play! The models work together better now and I kinda feel like our recommendation to fix Thorin's Company was heard by GW - but let's see what this list has to offer and what you have to think about when bringing it to the table.

Thorin's Company: Changes for 2025

Profile Selection

This list has the fifteen members of Thorin's Company, as you'd expect. For about $60 (less on eBay), you can get that whole list of models - and now that they can't take ponies (sadness), that's a good 1000-points worth of this list for an insanely small amount of money (relative to what 1000pts requires in most other lists). These units are all infantry and carry the bulk of the rules - and if you choose to just play with these guys, you'll have a jolly time for sure.

That said, the list now includes Radagast the Brown (with access to his sleigh, but it isn't required) and Gwaihir (who can bring Great Eagles, but not Fledgling Eagles). Bringing Gwaihir requires you to also bring Gandalf, which makes the investment kind of hefty - but one could argue that Gwaihir is worth it. Interestingly enough, Radagast has the Thorin's Company faction keyword, so anything that's said below about "Thorin's Company" models can affect him too . . . we'll talk about that a bit in the strategy section below.

Army List Bonuses

This list has a few restrictions in it - but they're not hard to remember. You have to take Thorin and he has to be your General. If you want to take any of the Dwarves, Wizards, or Biblo, they have to be in Thorin's warband (which is great in maelstrom missions, but also gives up a lot of deployment advantages to your opponent in virtually all other scenarios). If you want to take Gwaihir in your list, you have to have Gandalf in your list (fair enough). If you want to take Great Eagles, you have to bring them with Gwaihir. Simple, right? Everyone who isn't a bird with Thorin, get birds by taking Gandalf.

The New Age Is Begun: the Army of Erebor Army List

Good morning gamers,

This is our third list in our cruise through lists that feature the Iron Hills Dwarf Warrior profile and while we've looked at Erebor Reclaimed (where the heroes were necessary to get the warriors where they wanted to go on the quick side) and the Defenders of Erebor (where we got a mix of light and heavy warriors to support some budget heroes), this list features all-Dwarves but with a more limited array of them compared to Erebor Reclaimed . . . but with some very interesting hitting power. Let's see if this list is any good - and what the potential traps are in it!

The Army of Erebor: Changes for 2025

Profile Selection

This list has very similar participants to our last list (the Defenders of Erebor), but we've traded the three Dale heroes (Brand, Bard, and a Captain) for Gimli and Dwarf Kings - which I kind of feel is a trade up! Additionally, we've lost access to the Dale warriors, but haven't lost Goat Riders (so we just have to make up for the spear-carrying, banner-carrying, and bow-carrying Dale guys with Iron Hills Warriors . . . done). 

As with the Defenders of Erebor list we looked at last time, everyone in this list gains the Erebor keyword (I assume as a replacement for the Iron Hills keyword? Or do they have both?), which is good because it means more people can be affected by Bofur's Steadfast rule. All in all, we've still got lots of Champs with solid profiles, we still have good warrior profiles, and we have some new kids on the block to shake things up. Thanks to losing the Dale guys, our numbers will be smaller . . . but we'll also be more durable, so that may end up being fine in the end.

Back to Basics Revisited: All the Tests

Good morning gamers,

We're continuing our how-to-play series and we're covering seven different tests that you may need to make in a game of MESBG. We've recently looked at how to build lists and the general flow of the game, but these are oddities that everyone should know before they have to make tactical decisions in the game - and since these rules have changed from previous editions, veterans of the game would do well to brush up on these as well (as retraining old habits can be hard).

Movement-Related Tests: Jump, Leap, and Climb Tests

There have been three types of movement-related tests in the game for ages: jump, leap, and climb tests. Depending on the era of the game, these tests would allow you to charge people or not allow you to charge people, depending on the value of the roll you got. Each test effectively works the same way: you roll a single D6 and you consult a table - a 1 is bad, a 6 is good, and a 2-5 is fine.

The New Age Is Begun: The Defenders of Erebor Army List

Good morning gamers,

Last edition, one of my favorite Legendary Legions that I never took to an event was the Defenders of Erebor - I played a LOT of practice games with them, but never actually locked in with them as my list for any of the events I attended. I plan to rectify this in the coming months (maybe a year) because I think there's a lot that you can do with this particular list. The heroes are great, the warriors are great, and the rules are tricky - let's see how this Dwarf-plus-Men list squares up in the new edition!

The Defenders of Erebor: Changes for 2025

Profile Selection

Our available profiles haven't changed since last edition - you can still get the four royals (Dain, Thorin III, Brand, and Bard II), the six mobile members of Thorin's Company who were still at Erebor during the War of the Ring (Dwalin, Dori, Nori, Bifur, Bofur, and Gloin when he got back from Rivendell - Bombur was too fat, still think there was a missed opportunity to put him in, though!), your stock-standard generic captains, and two warrior profiles for each side (Iron Hills Dwarf Warriors/Goat Riders and Warriors/Knights of Dale). 

All in all, this both is and isn't a deep bench - it's deep because it has twelve hero choices and four warrior choices and between them all, you get a nice spread of possibilities. However, you're unlikely to be able to afford more than four of them in any given game, not only because of the relative expense of the heroes we have (many are in the 70-100pt range), but also because the warriors we have (unless we REALLY focus on the Dale contingent) are pricey. All that being true, this list doesn't have a problem getting to a healthy model count and it will do it with solid Dale archery, the occasional Dale melee guy, and lots of doughty Dwarves.

There are some list constraints, but nothing that's weird for these kinds of lists. Your Dwarf Warrior models can only be led by Dwarf Heroes and your Man Warrior models can only be led by your Man Heroes. As a result, the more you want Dwarves, the more you'll need Dwarf Heroes in the mix. Additionally, any unit with the Iron Hills keyword (Iron Hills Captains/Dwarf Warriors/Goat Riders) pick up the Erebor keyword, which is really nice.

Announcing the TMAT GT 2026!

Good morning gamers,

It's that time of year - The TMAT GT is upon us! The tournament will be held in Purcellville, VA on May 23, 2026. Without further ado, here are (in my typical style) the Ten Commandments of the Tournament (Rules):

1) Thou Shalt Understand The Canon

The ruleset we will be using is from the most recent Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game Rules Manual (the Fellowship walking one). The supplements for the Armies of the Lord of the Rings, the Armies of the Hobbit, the Armies of Middle-Earth, and the Legacies of Middle-Earth will govern the profiles and army lists being used. Any GW errata for these books will take precedent over the printed text of these documents.

2) Thou Shalt Honor Thy Alliance

This tournament follows the alliance "restrictions" provided in the main rulebook - players will pick one army list from one of the GW-issued supplements for this edition and follow all requirements for that army list.

The New Age Is Begun: The Erebor Reclaimed Army List

Good morning gamers,

This post was supposed to kick off our April series, but Centaur got busy, so you get this article either a day late or six days early, depending on your perspective. Today and through April, we're back with Dwarves - but this time, we're plowing through the Iron Hills Dwarf Warriors from the Armies of the Hobbit and the Armies of Middle-Earth! My son has used these guys a ton - they're a bit expensive for 1 Attack infantry, but they're incredibly durable and if you can manage to get good numbers with them, you can find yourself with the numbers advantage pretty quickly and then the battle swings hard in your favor.

The list that I think showcases these guys the best is Erebor Reclaimed. When I first read the updated rules for the Champs (three in particular) and saw the army list special rules, I was absolutely flabbergasted that they weren't the meta. I think there's a lot going for this list - so let's see what we have to work with and how it's changed from previous editions of the game.

Erebor Reclaimed: Changes for 2025

Profile Selection

This list has only lost one profile technically speaking from the previous edition of the game: Iron Hills Goat Riders. This list has actually lost another profile (the "champ chariot") and has effectively lost six other profiles (King Thorin, Fili, Kili, Dwalin, Dain, and Iron Hills Captains on their mounts). While the mounted heroes are still available in their infantry forms, they function quite differently than they did before - and without warrior cavalry options, this list faces the perennial problem of all Dwarves: how do we make up for being slow and getting where we need to go when we need to be there? Thankfully, one of our army list bonuses helps us with this . . .

Army List Bonuses

The glamor rule of this army list is that everyone in your list has Heroic March and while this isn't great for Iron Hills Captains finding a place in the list, this list goes the extra mile and allows the Dwarves who are benefitting from a Heroic March to ALSO charge . . . which means if you have enough Might in the list, you can basically have 8" move infantry. Now it should be noted that the standard rules of ending within 6" of the March hero still apply, so that 8" move is going to be highly predictable, but considering that anyone can trigger it means you have a lot of flexibility with where and with whom you move 8".

Back to Basics, Revisited: Magical Powers in MESBG

Good morning gamers,

I have always been a HUGE fan of the magical powers in MESBG and how the system of casting and resisting spells works. The rules for casting and resisting hasn't changed much since I got started and the only additions that were made (Heroic Channelling casts a spell on a 6 now and you get Will points back on resist tests that get a natural 6) have been good - and I think the change to Channelling was epic in this edition. The purpose of today's article isn't to go in-depth into every spell - we'll be doing that in a later series - but rather to explain how casting works, things to think about for different caster types, and how to pick the right targets for your spells. Furthermore, you should be aware that I'll be using the term "spell" and "magical power" interchangeably in this post (and have already done so in this paragraph). Let's dig in!

How It Works: Casting and Resisting Magical Power in MESBG

Casting got both harder and easier in the new version of MESBG. This is partly due to the change to Heroic Channelling, where you spend a Might point to "get the spell off on a 6" (more on that later), but also the casting difficulties of most spells went up (nothing is cast on a 2+ anymore and many spells are cast on a 4+ or a 5+). While the casting difficulties went up (and many people would say this had made casting magic harder - and it is now), the fact of the matter is that magic itself got stronger in this edition of the game - so learning how to use it is definitely a good idea. We'll see why magic is so good at the end of the post.

In order to cast a spell, a model with at least one magical power has to be unengaged in order to cast one of its magical powers (though there might be a list that gives its members the ability to cast some of their spells while engaged). This means that if you can charge an enemy caster before they get to cast, you can prevent them (most of the time) from being able to cast a spell. Perfect!

As you probably noticed in the statements above, each model with at least one magical power can only cast one magical power each round (though again, there are models that might plead an exception in certain army lists). Since many casters have access to more than one spell, they have to be selective and intentional with which spell they're using this round. It's often a good idea to figure out BEFORE you play a game what spells you intend to use and in what situations you intend to use them. For casters like Moria Goblin Shamans, this may be decided pretty easily (I'm casting Fury with two dice and then I'm done OR I'm channelling Fury and will save 1 Will for a one-off use later), while casters like Ringwraiths and Wizards might require an entire chart to figure out what spell you're going to cast. Experience and practice helps with this a lot.

The New Age Is Begun: The Expedition to the East Army List

Good morning gamers,

This is our second army list that comes to us from the Legacies document (we'll be back with non-Legacy stuff next time for all you who go to GW-official events and can't take these) and we're still looking at Dwarves . . . but this time with Minas Tirith guys thrown in! Yes, it's the army list that harkens back to the old "Shadow in the East" sourcebook that features our favorite wandering Dwarves (Murin and Drar), their unlikely acquaintance (Cirion), and a bunch of cheap plastic core troops for Khazad-Dum and Minas Tirith. Yes, we're diving into the Expedition to the East army list - a list that I think has a lot of play and one that I'm interested in fielding. Let's see what this list has to offer!

Expedition to the East: Changes for 2025

Profile Selection

This list is really lean on the units - you have four heroes (three of which are unique) and five warriors (two Dwarf-based, two Man-based). The good news about collecting this list is that all of the warriors come in big plastic boxes and while the heroes can be hard to find, you really just need a Minas Tirith command blister (or convert your own Captain), Cirion, and Murin and Drar. All told, it's a very light bench, but it's also everything I'd expect (though I wouldn't have missed putting Knights of the White Tower in this list - it would probably be a little out of place for them to be here, but golly would it have been fun).

The New Age Is Begun: The Reclamation of Moria Army List

Good morning gamers,

This article is special for us here at TMAT as it's our first look at a Legacy army list - you can't run this list at an event that doesn't allow for Legacy profiles. The irony, of course, is that half of the heroes in this army list (and all of the warriors in this army list) are not Legacy profiles - and you could actually run a list very much like it using the Khazad-Dum army list that we looked at last time. Your army list bonuses would change, of course, but the profiles on the whole would be the same.

What makes this list different (and interesting) is that you have to take Balin in it - and the King Balin profile has been one of the best Dwarf hero profiles that we've had since it was first released. So let's see what happens when we get a "beater hero" who costs 60pts less than Durin, change a bunch of rules, add a bunch of hero options, and lose one warrior option, shall we?

The Reclamation of Moria: Changes for 2025

Profile Selection

In the last edition of the game, the primary difference between the Kingdom of Khazad-Dum (with Durin and Mardin) and the Kingdom of Moria (with Balin, Floi, Gimli, Oin, and Ori) was the named heroes. Everything else was the same. In this edition of the game, we have all of the generic heroes from the Khazad-Dum list (King's Champions, Shieldbearers, Dwarf Kings, and Dwarf Captains), plus a few named heroes (King Balin, Champ-Ori, Champ-Oin, and Floi). Sans Gimli, this is the same hero corps we had last time.

Except we don't have ballistas in this list anymore. As for warriors, we basically have the same guys as last time, but we don't have Vault Warden Teams. If you liked these last edition, run them in Khazad-Dum (they're still very good). If you liked Dwarf Warriors, Dwarf Rangers, Iron Guard, or Khazad Guards, they're still available to you and they're very, VERY good.

Army List Bonuses

To start off with, there's no overlap between the army list bonuses from the Khazad-Dum faction and the Reclamation of Moria faction. This is good in that there isn't a Dominant (2) consideration to drive us towards the cheaper warriors/March heroes, but on the other hand makes us have to be a bit more intentional about what we need in units because . . . well, what we see is what we get.

The most generic rule of the army is that at the start of the Fight Phase, any of your heroes who would be considered Trapped can declare a Heroic Defense for free (even if they don't have it naturally). This is good, but what makes you "considered Trapped" is a bit of a difficult question to answer. This certainly applies to any hero who starts the Fight Phase Prone and it would also include any hero who starts the Fight Phase with two models that would need to make way for him. However, if a Dwarf hero has been charged by a cavalry model, he WILL be Prone and hence Trapped IF he loses . . . but he won't be Trapped if he wins. So . . . does any Dwarf hero who has been charged by a cavalry model get to declare a free Heroic Defense? I don't think so.

Back to Basics, Revisited: The Fight Phase

Good morning gamers,

Well, today is our fourth post in this how-to-play-MESBG series and we're covering the Fight phase. We've already talked about building an army, the Priority and Move phases, and the Shoot phase. While maneuvering your troops is an important part of the game, most of the action (and removing of models) happens in the Fight phase - so for most armies, it's kind of important to know how it works (and often times, you're maneuvering your army to either get a better combat match-up - or trying to avoid combat entirely). Let's get stuck in!

The New Age Is Begun: The Khazad-Dum Army List

Good morning gamers,

I got started in my MESBG journey with the Mines of Moria starter set in September 2010. That got me collecting Goblins and the Fellowship. That Christmas, I picked up a box of Wood Elf Warriors and some Dwarf Warriors and Centaur and I started playing (he was running Rohan and Isengard at the time - I would branch into Isengard shortly after Christmas). My "bearded fellows" - the Dwarves of Khazad-Dum (who at the time were the Erebor army list) quickly became "my main faction" and I took them to the first GT we threw here at TMAT. I went 1-2 but had a really great time with them (and have always had a good time with them).

Last edition, the faction was cleanly split between the Kingdom of Khazad-Dum and the Kingdom of Moria (though there was a lot of overlapping profiles) and in this edition, we still have that distinction. Today, we're tackling the Kingdom of Khazad-Dum list and next time, we'll be looking at the Legacy-only Reclamation of Moria (I'll be foregoing the legacy-in-red text there to save all of our eyesight). The traditional Khazad-Dum list wasn't my first love last edition, but I like what they've done to it this time. Let's see how things have changed - and why these Dwarves have the potential to be a dominant force on the tabletop, despite their less-than-average speed (that oh so important resource in MESBG).

The Kingdom of Khazad-Dum: Changes for 2025

Profile Selection

This list includes everyone you'd expect to find. It has Durin and Mardin as your named heroes (as of yore), it has Dwarf Kings/Captains and Siege Veterans (for those pesky ballista crews) by default as your generic heroes (and King's Champions and Dwarf Shieldbearers if you play with Legacy profiles), and Dwarf Warriors, Dwarf Rangers, Khazad Guards, Iron Guards, and Vault Wardens (besides the obligatory ballista crewmen) for your warriors. If you're a Khazad-Dum player from the last edition (and especially if you have access to Legacy profiles), not much will feel that different.

Army List Bonuses

The old Khazad-Dum army bonus from the last edition was preserved in this edition: Dwarves get to reroll To Wound rolls of a natural 1 when making Strikes - and as had to be clarified in the old edition (and I don't think is needed in this edition, thanks to changes in the rulebook), even if you're using a two-handed weapon and you get a 1 that would promote to a 2, you still get the reroll if you want it (since . . . you know, wounding on 2s is in fact quite hard to do now).

The Dwarves of Khazad-Dum picked up three new rules: first, before using any rerolls, if your Dwarves are rolling fewer dice than their opponents, one Dwarf in each fight can reroll one D6 just as if they had a banner in range (but if they also have a banner, they can reroll a second die). This is GREAT when you don't have a banner near your units and like the Depths of Moria banner rules, this is battlefield wide and can't be taken away from you! Additionally, if you really like Dwarf Warriors (which I do), Dwarf Rangers (which I do), and Dwarf Captains (which I do now), they all get Dominant (2). Remember what I said about spamming models with Dominant (2) in the Men of the West and Defenders of the Hornburg lists? Well, all those D5-9 Dwarves have Dominant (2) as well . . . slick, slick, slick . . .

The New Age Is Begun: The Battle of Bywater List

Image Courtesy of GamesWorkshop

Hey Reader!

Welcome back to the blog! Today we're looking at the Battle of Bywater list from the Armies of Middle Earth book, aka "The Defenders of the Shire legendary legion" but with a few new twists.

In my last article we talked about The Shire army list, and while some of the models here are the same, you'd be surprised how differently this one plays from both that list and the old Defenders of the Shire legendary legion.

The Battle of Bywater: Changes for 2025

Profile Selection

The list of models you have in this army list hasn't changed much from the previous edition: you still get access to the Four Travelers (Merry, Pippin, Frodo, and Sam), all of the old hobbit sculpts (with Maggot and Lobelia, ironically, being the big two here), and the new hobbit sculpts we got from Scouring of the Shire (except Lotho Sackville-Baggins, so no F5 shenanigans with Shirriffs in this list). And of course, a horde of peasants ready to do their best to defend their cabbages (or whatever it is you put on your table).

FAQ Time: Unpacking the February 2026 FAQ

Good morning gamers,

It took a week longer than I'd hoped, but the GW development team has spoken and we have some balance updates! This FAQ changed a few things that had to do with the "big lists" that we see talked about (or bemoaned playing against) on top tables - some of whom got hit harder than others. There was one profile that appears to have gone unscathed though, so there will be a discussion about that at the end.

Photo Credit: Reddit

What Didn't Have Changes

Amazingly, everything had changes - though not everything had significant changes. I decided this time around to mostly save the erratas for the end, as the changes there seemed a bit more interesting to me than the FAQs themselves. We're going to begin first, though, with the clarifications that seemed to be pretty close to what we assumed from before . . .

Rules That Worked Like We Thought

The first change is simple: to account for the new Shelob model, Shelob's base size has been upped to 80mm:

Page 146 – Shelob – Base Size Change to 80mm. 

Thankfully, Shelob is fast enough that she can probably make due with a larger base size - but golly 80mm is a bit bigger than it was before! I've been playing with Mumaks a lot recently and I've got to say, having big bases can be great, but you have to not want to be too precise to make your plays happen. Having a base that is the same as two cavalry next to each other can maneuver through most places, but not in all places - and those heroes who are embedded in their battle lines are gonna feel pretty safe against Shelob while their mates are everywhere.

The New Age Is Begun: The Army of the Great Eye Army List

Good morning gamers,

It's here . . . it's come . . . oh yes, we've been building up to the "big Mordor list" from the Armies of Middle-Earth all month and it's finally time to tackle the Army of the Great Eye! Back when I got started in the game, there were lots of Mordor lists in the Legions of Middle-Earth supplement. About a year after getting started, we got "the warband books" and all of those Mordor lists got compacted into one big "Mordor" supplement (the only faction that got its own book). Then, in the last edition, Mordor both retained its omnibus nature AND split up into smaller groups (first by getting a Barad-Dur faction/losing access to Spectres, then later getting Legendary Legions that gave them more rules in trade for fewer profiles).

This list feels like we've gone back the warband books a bit - and if you liked your Mordor Soup lists in the last edition (like I did), this very well may be the list for you! Let's see what's available to us and what we're giving up by going with this list!

The Army of the Great Eye: Changes for 2025

Profile Selection

I'm not going to go over the whole list - it's everything from the Army of Gothmog, Cirith Ungol, and Black Gate lists that we've looked at over the course of this month PLUS some more guys (the Witch-King, Black Numenorean Warriors/Knights, and a lot of Legacy profiles). If you want it, you can find it in this list . . . just like you used to be able to do in the vanilla Mordor list of the previous edition. A profile selection this vast, however, comes with one big balancing factor, though . . .

Army List Bonuses

This list has exactly ONE special rule . . . yes, that's right, it functions not only like the omnibus lists you'll find, like the Legions of Mordor or the Battle of Five Armies, but this is not actually that much different from the way pure Mordor lists used to be run in the last edition. The rule is called The Great Eye and you place a 25mm marker on the battlefield somewhere in your deployment zone (how this works in a maelstrom scenario is anyone's guess). At the end of each Move Phase, the controlling player rolls a D6 and on a 2+, the controlling player can place it anywhere within 6" of its current location (measure first before you pick it up!). On a 1, however, the opposing player can place it anywhere within 12" of its current location (measure first!). Like Ringbearers and other weird-moving models, you can't overlap model bases with this token, but models can end their movement on it.

The Great Eye token provides three bonuses to its controlling player. First, friendly models treat it as a banner (3" range because a range is not specified). Secondly, enemy models within 3" of the token suffer a -1 penalty to Courage/Intelligence tests that they have to make (I assume this is not cumulative with Harbinger, but I may be wrong there). Finally, if your opponent has a Ringbearer (not Sauron, obviously), then if the Ringbearer is wearing the Ring within 3" of the token, you roll a D6. On a 3+, the Ringbearer is corrupted and removed as a casualty!

When you boil it down, this is basically giving you a 5/6th chance of getting a banner that cannot be shot off the board each turn . . . and you can redeploy through enemy units without risk. Additionally, you can pester a Ringbearer with it . . . but with at least one Ringwraith on the board, I doubt most Ringbearers will be putting on the Ring. That said, even if your Ringwraith dies, there's still a threat you can pose to Ringbearers who aren't Sauron.