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.

Army List Bonuses

Last edition, this list gave all friendly Lothlorien models Resistant to Magic - and they retained this rule. This should make Galadriel and Celeborn (along with all of the 1 Will Captains) harder to shut down with magic, but with the casting difficulties going up this edition and Heroic Channel giving you an auto-6 to cast, a free die to resist is nice, but it's definitely not a guarantee that things are going to work out for you. Still, Resistant to Magic is nice to have, especially on warrior models who would normally "just fail" - we'll take it.

The list also picked up a new rule: friendly Lothlorien models that are making shooting attacks and can't be seen (so with Elf bows and Elven Cloaks, or Haldir with Elf Cloak/Elf bow, Lothlorien Captains, and Lothlorien Warriors with Elf bows) get to reroll 1s To Hit. Whether you stood and shoot (hitting on a 3+) or are moving and shooting (hitting on a 4+), this is a fabulous rule. Rerolling 1s To Wound gets a bad rap (something we'll look at below), but the simple dice rule is this: rerolling a would-be failure without having to pay extra is a good thing. Rerolling 1s when you hit on a 4+ gives you an extra 8% chance of success, while hitting on a 3+ give you an extra 11% chance of success - that's not nothing over time. Additionally, this is a strong reason to take shooting models who can't be seen - which leads nicely into a discussion of what models we have to work with.

Profile Adjustments

Many of these models underwent minor changes this edition - but there weren't any models that came through unchanged:

• Galadriel is mostly unchanged from the last edition. She went down by 5pts, retained her previous profile, and gained a lot of spells. She still has Transfix (formerly Immobilize) on a 3+, Compel on a 3+ (reduced difficulty with reduced capability), Blessing of the Valar to restore lost Fate points on a 4+, and her Blinding Light went up (like everyone's did) to a 4+ and can't "stay on" when you channel it. She also picked up Fog of Disarray to make intelligence tests harder to pass around her (good against Hurl monsters and supporting Wood Elf Sentinels) and Foil Magic to turn off things like Fury (anything else really?). All in all, she's still going to be restoring Fate when that's applicable, maybe reducing the impact of enemy archery (if that's applicable), and making big heroes/monsters with limited Will stores walk backwards (or not make Strikes) with Compel/Transfix. She's great - and her mirror still costs 25pts, so for an even 150, she's a great Hero of Legend.
• Celeborn also went down by 5pts to 125 but is locked into his pajama form . . . definitely thought we'd get an alternate profile/option for combat gear with the Armies of Middle-Earth supplement, but alas. He's definitely not a combatant with 1A and unarmed (like his wife), but getting a free Will point each turn and giving friendly Lothlorien Warrior models (not to be confused with "Lothlorien Warriors", who we'll look at in a moment) +1 To Wound while within 3" of him makes him a pretty good support hero. He's a bit expensive, but two casters with Transfix on a 3+ (and the potential for Writhing Vines/Enchanted Blades on a 4+) makes him a pretty useful piece in your army. If you can spare 250pts for both him and Galadriel (maybe 275 with the mirror - we'll talk about that later), I think you could certainly get away with it. If you only have the points for one, pick whichever one you like better and then pick one of the following guys . . .
• Haldir is the OG named Captain hero and he's basically unchanged from last edition. He's got Expert Shot with Sharpshooter, so he's good at plucking mounts out from under heroes and with heavy armor and Elf bow, he's still only 85pts. I know a lot of people don't like this guy - and he certainly lives in a more niche spot than his brothers, but I think he's still good to take, if you plan to lean into shooting (which this list certainly can).
• Orophin is the melee brawler of the three brothers, with F6/3A and will double those attack dice if he gets a natural 6 on the dueling roll (so like last edition, make sure this guy has a banner near him!). There is a note that if you fight a trapped model, you don't get 12 dice - I believe you still get 6, as "these Strikes will not also gain the benefit for Striking a Trapped model" . . . though it's debatable whether you get 6 or 9, because the "these Strikes" could be referring to all six dice that you roll (in which case, you'd get 6) OR it could be referring to the three extra dice that you roll . . . personally, I think it's the former, but this is a point of vaguery that should be sorted out in an FAQ. This guy doesn't have Strike, but he really doesn't need it - with 2 Might, he's great at calling Heroic Combats or Heroic Moves, which is good for a Captain who isn't Marching your army.
• Rumil is still one of the best blunting pieces in the game - with D7/2 Wounds/2 Fate and the ability to defend by shielding for 4 Attack dice (and forcing opponents to reroll one D6 in the fight - a die that doesn't have to be a natural 6 anymore!), you can make sure that a just-barely-good-enough-to-beat-you roll might lead to you winning/forcing Might out of your opponent. He's also got 2 Might/Heroic Defense, which means declaring a Heroic Strike or Heroic Combat against him has a real risk of doing nothing. This guy is probably your safe option, but I will say that a 6" move and very limited killing power does mean that this guy could be your absolute savior in some games, but only if he can get into the target he wants to (and assuming your opponent didn't leave all of the big toys at home and take a horde of little things). As great as Rumil and his brothers are, I think they're all the third or fourth hero you take after Galadriel and/or Celeborn and . . .
• Galadhrim Captains are still the go-to option for March Captains. These guys picked up Sharpshooter, have 2-Might-and-March, and while they lost the option for the horse, they didn't lose the option for the Elf bow - and so for 75pts, you can get a VERY competitively priced March Captain. While I think this solidly makes them worse than Rivendell Captains, I think they're still incredibly useful for getting your army where you want to go. The only argument for not taking this guy (especially in this list) is if you wanted to save 10pts by taking . . .
• Lothlorien Captains have often struggled with finding a place in the same list as Galadhrim Captains - being D4, even with Stalk Unseen, just doesn't feel good. With an Elf-bow automatically included in the 65pt profile and a good 10pts cheaper than a Galadhrim Captain with Elf bow, these guys might see the light of day now (though oddly enough, these guys do not have Sharpshooter). The shooting-related army bonus will help them with their shooting a bit, which is nice but also very situationally useful - take this guy if you intend to sit back and shoot, but I think you should choose either this guy or a Galadhrim Captain to bring up your troops, treating the shooting as a nice add-on option if you don't have to get anywhere.
• Lothlorien Stormcallers have only ever been good when Call Winds has been good. Last edition, it got nerfed to the point that no one wanted it and this edition, it's not much better. This edition, you can use it to get someone out of combat and knock them Prone - and there's no Strength limit on the model you can choose. WIth a 3+ casting difficulty, these guys might be okay? Writhing Vines is an interesting addition for these guys, but only if you channel it (cast on a 4+, it's quite likely that one unchannelled cast is all you'll be able to do).
• Galadhrim Warriors are perhaps the most customizable warrior choice in the game - besides the "vanilla" option for 9pts/model (which I still hold are good), you can take a shield for +1pt, a spear for +1pt, a shield and spear for +2pts, an Elf bow for +2pts, a banner (without spear or shield, sadly) for +25pts, a war horn with Elf bow for +27pts (don't think you'd want to do that - that's an expensive way to get Dominant (2) and more Courage on your already high Courage rating). AND, new to this edition, their Lorien Guard upgrade for +1pt/model allows them to reroll 1s To Wound in melee. I know, there are lots of people who will tell you that rerolling 1s To Wound isn't that great of a rule, but as a person who ran Lothlorien a LOT in the last edition and used the Feint special strike a lot, a) rerolling 1s turns a definitely-didn't-wound into a this-might-actually wound, b) rerolling 1s gets better as your probability of wounding increases, and c) when paired selectively with Celeborn, you can boost your reliability of killing things by two-handing and being near Celeborn (which will see these Elves wound D6-7 enemies on not-2s-or-3s, which is incredibly solid). Consider getting a few models upgraded to Lorien Guard, probably run vanilla to save points (spearmen can get +1 To Wound with the reroll, while swordsmen can get +2 To Wound).
• Lothlorien Warriors are still 1pt/model cheaper than Galadhrim Warriors and trade heavy armor for an Elven Cloak (which now gives a -1 penalty to shooting attacks, as well as the Stalk Unseen rule that it gave last edition). Their throwing weapons are still 1pt too expensive (these are the only models in the game that pay 2pts/model for 6" throwing weapons - and they are not the only 3+ Shoot Value models with access to throwing weapons and the benefits of those throwing weapons being "Elven" is really only applicable to shooting the Goblin King, but backstop me if I'm missing something). Like Galadhrim Warriors, their wargear is technically optional, but Wood Elf Spears are still a steal (they allow you to support friendly models OR defend by shielding, now with the Elven keyword), Elf bows are great on models that can avoid being shot back at, and having a banner that can't be targeted is good too. Having a few of these guys (or a lot of them, maybe?) can be good.
• Guards of the Galadhrim Court were models that I was absolutely certain would be given the Elite keyword and only takable by certain heroes - alas, they're "regular guys" like everyone else! They retain the F6/pike combo that made them formidable in the last edition, but are probably less good this edition since they can only be used to support S3 Elf models (though being near Celeborn can up their damage, and supporting Orophin can up his reliability). Still, if your opponent has F5-6 heroes that are charging your Elves, these guys can really change their plans, so having a few of them isn't bad (and they only cost 2pts/model more than a Galadhrim Warrior. Do not give these guys a banner.
• Wood Elf Sentinels got some changes, but they remain mostly the same. They're still 25pts each, they still have 2 Attacks base (to support their Elf bow/Elven Cloak), and they still sing songs. The Hymn of Elbereth still makes a friendly model within 12" (including the Sentinel himself/herself) pass any Courage Tests they need to take, the Lay of Gondolin now gives not only the Sentinel but also friendly models within 3" the Terror special rule (which can have HUGE implications for your battle line), and the Eldamar Madrigal forces an Intelligence test on an enemy model within 12" and does the same move-them-and-they-don't-Activate that it did last edition. The pairing of the Intelligence test with Fog of Disarray could be very good at driving off enemy banners, though the traditional tactics for blocking in priority pieces still works against Sentinels. They're good - take a few to support your battle line and maybe shoot someone, but don't spam them.
• Galadhrim Knights are still 18pts/model base (without the need for extra gear), they lost Expert Rider (but both the rider and mount have Woodland Creature, so they effectively kept Fleetfoot), and they can't take Elf bows and shields anymore (which is fine, since losing Expert Rider means they wouldn't benefit from the shield most of the time). I still think these guys are fabulous cavalry archers/harassers and I think taking a few of them is a fabulous choice, but not having a mounted hero to ride with them (Galadhrim Captains/allied heroes in the last edition, but also we bemoan the fact that armored Celeborn/warlady Galadriel never got mounts in the official game) does make using them a little harder than most cavalry hit-squads. They're still worth taking, so take a few of them.

We've got a lot of solid profiles here - and honestly, I'm not sure any of them are bad! Let's see what this list does well and where it can struggle a little.

Lothlorien: Strengths and Weaknesses

When I got started with Lothlorien, I ran it with all Lothlorien Warriors (Wood Elf Warriors at the time) - and that's because up until this edition, you could run your list with 100% shooting (66% throwing weapons, 33% bows). This list can't be a shooting list in that sense anymore, but it can certainly be a shooting list. Throwing weapons require a lot of finnese to use well, but extra damage before the Fight Phase (on the charge or the turn before a big charge) can swing a flank or any low points level game. I don't know how many games I've won just because I had an oppressive amount of throwing weapons at low points levels, but it's a lot. The Galadhrim Warriors/Guards of the Galadhrim Court can't contribute to this, but you can get them as spearmen/pikemen (or with a small contingent of shields backed by spears) that makes up roughly 33% of your army, if you want to. Your bowmen can be Galadhrim Warriors (a fine but not great choice in this list), Lothlorien Warriors (a fabulous choice in this list), or Galadhrim Knights with Elf bows (a good choice if you want mobility and the option to skirmish - but make no mistake, these guys are primarily for speed, not shooting). Paired with heroes like Haldir and either of the generic Captains, you can pump out a lot of archery at insanely low points levels if you want to!

There is a downside to this: the harder you lean into shooting, the lower your Defense is likely to be and the faster you are likely to break if you don't kill enough with your shooting. I've long said that shooting is a fickle mistress in this game - and it's very true: some games, you'll mop up the floor with your archery while other games will see nary a kill. It's the way shooting is in this game - it's something your opponent has no say in after he's done moving, but as a result, it's hard to convert shooting dice to wounds dealt in most situations. This list certainly can get good work out of its bowmen, but leaning into throwing weapons may not be for everyone.

This list also has elite warrior options - Galadhrim Warriors got really good in the last edition with the upgrade from regular armor (max D5) to heavy armor (max D6) and this edition, that is doubly true since Piercing Strike isn't a thing and S4 on enemy shieldwalls is a lot less prevalent. If you decide that the "pajama party" of play isn't your favorite, then getting a D6 frontline backed by a D5-6 second rank (optional pikes in a third rank for select fights, maybe) is pretty tough to crack - and since those models are going to be F5-6, even heroes won't feel great about going into the shieldwall. There are those out there (namely me, but I hope someone else agrees) that might be fielding the frontline as D5 (or D3 if Lothlorien Warriors are used) with the intent to two-hand in the front rank, getting +1 To Wound from the two-handed weapon and an additional +1 To Wound from being near Celeborn - this is great for cracking through shieldwalls, but does make your frontline wounded on 5s (or 4s) by basically everyone in the game. It's really strong against Hobbits, Goblin-town Goblins, Corsairs, and Wildmen, though, who are wounded on 2s when you do this - though one could make the argument that you don't need to two-hand and can settle for wounding on 3s in that case.

The super elite status does have a downside to it: while you have excellent warrior options (with lots of customizability), your heroes feel incredibly stovepiped in their roles and aren't very customizable at all. In the last edition, Galadriel, Orophin, Stormcallers, and Rumil were basically not customizable - Galadriel had or didn't have her mirror and Rumil had or didn't have his Elven cloak. Now, Rumil doesn't get the option for an Elven cloak, but everyone else still has 0-1 options to take. The Galadhrim Captain was incredibly flexible last edition with the option for an Elf bow, an armored horse, and a shield and this edition, he's just got the bow - a similar tale can be sung for Lothlorien Captains (nee Wood Elf Captains) who could take a Wood Elf spear, throwing daggers, and/or Elf bow in the last edition and now have the Elf bow baked into their profile (not the worst choice for their gear, by the way). Celeborn went from having options for an Elven-made hand-and-a-half sword (with a F6/3A combat profile), a shield, and heavy armor to having nothing. Haldir remains the only one that's customizable, but he basically always takes the bow because his profile has Expert Shot/Sharpshooter and he usually take the heavy armor (this is the only list where you actually have a choice about whether to take the heavy armor or not - it's not allowed in the Breaking of the Fellowship and it's required in the Defenders of Helm's Deep).

Each hero fills a specific role and there isn't a lot of crossover between them - Celeborn used to flex as a hero-blunter with Immobilize (now standardized to Transfix, thank goodness), Heroic Defense, and defending by shielding and now is purely a support piece. Orophin has been the "beatstick brother" since his release and Rumil has been the "quagmire guy" (I couldn't come up with a "q" word, sorry). Galadriel still does the support stuff she's always done, but I do kind of wish that she had gotten a shapeshift rule that allowed her to use her Lady of Light version (even if it was transforming once or twice during the game) - that would have given her a few more options. Haldir (and technically the March Captains) are shooting guys and the Stormcaller is at least notionally a support piece. There's usually not enough points to get more than 3 heroes in your lists, so you have to choose the role you want and that's what you have to work with - unlike fielding characters like Gandalf, there are no flex pieces that can perform multiple roles, based on what you need.

That said, while the heroes aren't very flexible or customizable, your heroes are reasonably cheap, which means that you can usually get a lot of elite models - if you manage how much you invest in wargear for your warriors. One caster (125-150pts), one March Captain (65-75pts), and one of the brothers (80-90pts) will run you less than 300pts most of the time and 25pts spent on a banner, probably another 60pts on three cavalry models, and ~10pts/warrior (if you run Galadhrim Warriors for your melee units and Lothlorien Warriors with Elf bows for your bow units), you're looking at about 30 units at 600pts. That's a pretty good number! You also have room for 39-42 warriors with those heroes (depending on whether you took Galadriel or Celeborn), so you can scale up to 700pts easily by just piling in guys. We'll see this in the sample lists below, but understand that while your units are elite, that doesn't mean you're going to be short of guys.

Lothlorien: Strategies for the Tabletop

Let's start off by talking about the value of Lothlorien Warriors. From the army bonus, there seems to be value in taking Lothlorien Warriors with Elf bows in your list - and having at least a few of them is probably wise. A handful of bowmen can be tucked behind terrain, can't be seen, and if they stand and shoot, they'll hit their targets on a 3+ and reroll 1s (so don't get a 2, basically). While this makes the bows a lot more reliable at hitting their targets, an old math post on this blog explains that boosting the reliability of the To Hit roll for shooting does boost your reliability, but it's the easiest of the shooting rolls to make. Yes, hitting with basically everyone is good - but you're probably only wounding with one-in-three or one-in-six dice. I happen to think that taking 33% bows and all of them being Lothlorien Warriors or Galadhrim Knights is good and you'll see that in the lists below, but if you want to pay +1pt/model to lose the Elven cloaks, ignore the army rule, and taking Galadhrim Warriors with Elf bows, that's good.

For your melee warriors, you can take 33% of your army as Lothlorien Warriors with throwing daggers - these guys were far better in the last edition when you could give all of your melee units throwing daggers and Wood Elf Spears (or taking Wood Elf Spears on as many as possible if you didn't have enough points for spears on everyone). Using throwing weapons well is in fact quite hard - something I know from personal experience from the last 15 years - but kills made in the Move Phase during a big charge or at point-blank during the Shoot Phase before a big charge can absolutely change the course of a game (or secure a victory on a flank). Shooting is fickle, though, so counting on it to work is a dangerous proposition. That said, if you have a "hit squad" of Lothlorien Warriors to support a more traditional shieldwall (with or without shields) can be incredibly good.

Lothlorien Warriors with Wood Elf Spears are 1pt cheaper per model than Galadhrim Warriors with spears (and 2pts cheaper if you take shields/spears and 3pts cheaper than Guards of the Galadhrim Court). There are bonuses to taking Galadhrim Warriors and Guards of the Galadhrim Court, for sure, but if you're looking for cheap spearmen to support part or all of your shieldwall, these guys are certainly a good take. I think there's a place for all of these guys, but I usually try to find the points to get Galadhrim Warriors (or flex into Guards of the Galadhrim Court) if I can.

Next, we need to talk about Galadhrim Knights. I still think these guys are best with Elf bows, though they don't have Expert Rider this edition and cannot take both a shield and Elf bow. This makes them a bit more fragile (D5 riders on D5 mounts), but their flexibility with Woodland Creature on their horses as well as the riders is incredibly good. I also feel like their effectiveness on horseback as charging units (while still good) is greatly inhibited by not having access to a mounted hero who can make sure they get a Heroic Move/opportunity to charge on the follow-up turn. Giving them bows allows them to skirmish a bit (moving 5" per turn to stay out of reach of most infantry for a prolonged period of time) and charge when they have a good chance of wiping out whatever they charge by getting equal odds. These guys have never been Rivendell Knights, who can charge in and run amok with ease (and even less so now that there are no mounted heroes to charge in with them). I would always take a few as skirmishers to do objective stuff, but I wouldn't lean too hard into them.

This next point is simple: always take a Galadhrim Warrior with banner. While banners can be worth VPs, the real reason you want a banner is because when you have Elves on the board, you're paying for elite profiles: high Fight Value, reasonable Strength value, Elven-made weapons when that matters, often average-to-high Defense, and high Courage. You do NOT want these guys to lose fights, so rerolling your lowest die is awesome. This applies to your combat heroes too, who can deal a surprising amount of pain to your opponent (through damage or by blunting important heroes) if they can just roll a 6-high on their dueling roll. Life is great when you have a banner - so take one. I wouldn't take one on a Lothlorien Warrior unless you're running a "pajama party" list and I definitely wouldn't trade a pike on a Guard of the Galadhrim Court for a banner.

Next we have Guards of the Galadhrim Court: I think these guys are optional, but if you take them, I'd only take a few of them. Guards of the Galadhrim Court are, in many ways, better than Galadhrim Warriors with spears: they can defend themselves by shielding, they're F6 and can support friendly models, and they've got slightly better Courage, so they're better at sticking if you need that. However, they're also12pts/model and cap out at D5 - and so a back line of pikes at that cost is likely to result in 2-4 fewer models who could defend by shielding (Galadhrim Warriors with shields, possibly also spears, or Lothlorien Warriors with Wood Elf spears). Having a few is good - often times, being F5 or F6 won't make a difference, but it can make all the difference if it forces a hero to call a Heroic Strike instead of a Heroic Combat (assuming that Heroic Strike is on the hero's menu). Trading a Lothlorien Warrior with Wood Elf spear to upgrade 3 other Lothlorien Warriors with Wood Elf spears to Guards of the Galadhrim Court or trading some shields on your Galadhrim Warriors to upgrade Galadhrim Warrriors with spears (possibly also shields) into Guards of the Galadhrim Court might be a good trade, but it depends very much on how important you think D6 is.

Our final note on warriors has to do with Wood Elf Sentinels: if you can, get two of these to anchor your battle line. You don't want them IN your battle line, but you want them near/behind hit so that they can a) shoot out from behind friends who will provide in-the-ways, and b) so they can sing the Lay of Gondolin to give the models on the edges of your battle line Terror. This can work well with Celeborn's Aura of Dismay spell (which now works as a 6" Harbinger of Evil instead of an Exhaustion spell that grants Terror within 6") and his Writhing Vines spell that can reduce enemy speed to wrap around your flanks. Two of these guys can make charging Celeborn's warband much harder after the initial round of fighting (and sometimes before it). With 2 Attacks each, they can run around the flanks and fight spearmen, but you don't want them getting too exposed, as their D3 falls really fast and they're super expensive at 25pts/model. They can do other things, too, but Terror on your battle line is a great way to make sure hordes don't run all over your ranks.

Let's talk for a little bit about your March heroes: always take a March hero and treat their bow like it's optional. This is going to be an infantry army and it's an elite infantry army. It needs to have its block of troops where the VPs are and that means speed. Having more than one March hero is probably not going to happen, so be willing to burn at least one Might point on Heroic March and possibly two if the scenario rewards that. While shooting with them can be fun - and sometimes you won't have to go very far, so you won't need to March - you should ask yourself how you win the scenario and if that involves moving places, then getting somewhere on-time will always outweigh the benefits of a single arrow shot over 1-2 turns.

When it comes to your other heroes, your combat heroes (Rumil and Orophin) and your support heroes (Galadriel and Celeborn) need to keep at least some of their Might points for Heroic Moves. Elite armies really do want to dictate the positioning and fights for the round. The usual way to do this is to call Heroic Moves so you get to move first. This list has a particular desire to do that, since Wood Elf Sentinels need to activate in order to turn on Terror and Celeborn's Writhing Vines/Aura of Dismay similarly need to preempt enemy movement. While Galadriel and Celeborn might want to channel an important spell each game, Heroic Moves are still the king of heroic actions (with Heroic Combats being a close second). Orophin doesn't mind calling Heroic Moves - Heoric Strength on him has very limited utility - but Rumil definitely might need to declare Heroic Defenses, so only declare one with him if needs must.

Finally, focus on the objectives - this should probably be at the end of all strategy sections, but this list is incredibly powerful and can grind out enemies with archery and Celeborn-supported shieldwalls pretty easily. While killing enemy models is fun, it can also be a distraction from the main event, so be sure to focus on what you actually need to do and don't get caught up in just killing everything. I have played with this army (or its precursors) a ton - and I have lost sight of the objectives many, many, many times (and lost games where I decimated my opponent's army but was nowhere near the objectives and so didn't score most of the VPs). If you land on To the Death, great. If you land on Fog of War, great. If you land on Lords of Battle, great. If you land on basically anything else . . . get moving!

Okay, we've gone on long enough about Elves - let's look at some lists!

Sample Lists

At 500pts, we can't take the three heroes we want - so we're taking Galadriel (she's got a few more options for locking down enemy heroes/support pieces, as well as gives us the ability to get Fate back and reduce enemy archery - but if you want to dice things up with Celeborn, you can do the swap easily) and a Galadhrim Captain. We also get to 26 models with plenty of damage pieces - I've skipped the Guards of the Galadhrim Court here, but feel free to skip on the Lorien Guard upgrade to upgrade 3 Galadhrim Warriors to Guards of the Galadhrim Court if you want to):

When we push up to 650pts, we can get Celeborn (you can direct-swap for Galadriel if you want), Haldir with Elf bow and heavy armor (you can swap for Rumil or Orophin if you want), and a Lothlorien Captain (you can drop 1 model to get a Galadhrim Captain if you want), and 32 models total. This list has 6 Galadhrim Guards with the Lorien Guard upgrade to capitalize on the extra damage from being near Celeborn (and they can all have Terror if your Sentinels sing the right song). You can pass on the Galadhrim Guard upgrade if you want to in order to get shields or upgrade some of your spearmen to Guards of the Galadhrim Court:

At 800pts, we're finally feeling good about our numbers and we can get basically everything we want - we've got a Terror battle line, we've got a second shieldwall with Knight support, and we've got tons of archers who can hide from view and shoot . . . and both Celeborn and Galadriel:

Conclusion

This list plays very differently than it did in the last edition, but it's still really good. While I haven't showcased any "pajama party lists," I think there's definitely play there for people who want to do that (I've been known to take that list to events in the past). If you have experience playing with or against this list, let us know in the comments below! Next time, we're pivoting north to Rivendell, where we'll find magical powers that might rival what we have in this list. Find out what's brewing across the Bruinen next time, and until then, happy hobbying!