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 simplest of the special rules in this list are that everyone gains Hatred (Spider), Legolas gains Knife Fighters, and Dwarves reroll failed Fate rolls. While the applicability of Hatred (Spider) is likely to be limited, getting additional attack dice on Legolas and getting more of those Dwarven Fate points to work is super good - most of the Dwarves have 2 Fate, so rerolling failed Fate means they're expected to get 1-2 Fate points to pass each game, which makes them ever so much more durable than they were before. There's another special rule that has a lot of text but basically does three things: your Dwarves don't benefit from Heroics/Stand Fasts of Elves (pity for Heroic Moves, but otherwise this is probably not applicable), your Elves don't benefit from Heroics/Stand Fasts of Dwarves (this has all kinds of applicability and seems like a major downside for me, but certainly doesn't make the list unplayable), and Tauriel doesn't go crazy if Kili dies (she hasn't had time to be star-struck with him yet). 

The last special rule of the list is that friendly Elf models get to reroll To Wound rolls of 1 when they make strikes (so not their bows) and they can use the shielding rule if they don't use Knife Fighters/Blade Mistress. This means that a Mirkwood Ranger who is in a 1:1 fight and not triggering Knife Figthers can have 2 Attacks and Tauriel can have 6 Attacks if she's not certain that she can win with her normal 3 Attacks against something big. Most of the time, if you can trigger Knife Fighters or Blade Mistress, you'll want to use those - but this is nice to have if you have to stall for time and not quarter someone OR if you have to dig yourself out of a bad matchup. This list has lost the 6+ save when near woodland terrain that it used to have, but otherwise is basically unchanged from the last edition.

Profile Adjustments

Many of these profiles we've seen before, but largely in the context of being able to share resources (for Thorin's Company) or in other lists where there are other rules in play:

• Thorin has always been good value - and this version of Thorin is still 100pts base and hasn't changed in his profile much. He's still got all the solid stats of a big hero that you'd want (F6/3A with 3 Might/Will/Fate). His "Loyalty, Honour . . ." special rule gives the old army bonus (Thorin's Company models reroll 1s To Wound within 6" of him), which is good because all your Elves are getting the same rule. This rule won't turn a game necessarily, but it might help you here and there. Thorin's Stand Fast also affects the other Thorin's Company models, which is good because the Elves in this list are squishier than the Dwarves (which is saying something), so this is a nice rule to have if you happen to need it. He has to take Orcrist and should take the Oakenshield - both of which are fantastic pieces of gear. The final big thing about Thorin's new profile is that he has Heroic March innately - this is HUGE because he's your only March hero choice (though it will only work on the Dwarves in the list - which is just fine).
• Balin has seen a few changes - he's S4 now (hooray!), but still only has 1 Attack. He's got "armor" instead of "light armor", so his D5 will stay D5 against enemy shooting, which is only relevant because most of the Dwarves in this list have light armor, and so will be D4 in melee and D5 against bows. He's still got 3 Will/Longbeard, so he can reroll your priority roll - handy to have, but also not something that I think you NEED to have in every list.
• Dwalin is still 95pts and boy has he lost some things. This is a recurring theme from last month - Dwalin is a 2A hero now who can have 3 Attacks without +1 To Wound . . . as opposed to having 3 Attacks with his two-handed weapon OR his multiple hand weapons last edition. While I think his current version is the way it always should have been (he works just like Gimli), I think his changes should have come with an appropriate reduction in cost - on its face, he's pretty similar to Gimli (+1 Strength, -2 Defense, -1 Might/Fate, gains Fearless), but like I said before, I think he's probably 5-10pts too high. If Thorin's Company isn't the best list for taking any version of Dwalin, this one might be - he's one of very few Dwarves who has a profile that compares favorably to similarly-costed Elf heroes. That said, he's the same cost as two other Dwarves most of the time, so decide if what he's packing on offense is worth the trade. 
• Kili is still 50pts and has D5/light armor (so D6 against shooting attacks) and 2 Fate now. Besides that . . . he's basically what he used to be. Combat Synergy is better now, as any flip-flopping of position between Fili and Kili gives them a banner-like reroll AND they can be within 1" of each other instead of in base contact. All in all, a great profile (and one of your limited shooting options). In this list, Tauriel's Vengeful Fury rule won't trigger, so he has no synergies beyond Combat Synergy.
• Fili is similarly still 50pts and still has a nearly identical profile to Kili (Heroic Strength over Heroic Accuracy, throwing weapons instead of a Dwarf bow). He still has "hand weapons" of an unspecified number, so functionally he also has weapon master - which has been and still is cool but mostly irrelevant. If you're interested in taking one of these guys, you should probably take them both - and for 100pts, they're a good bargain.
• Dori in this form, like his Champ form, suffers a bit from last edition in that he's only situationally F5/3A - and in this list, taking Nori and/or Ori is not a given. His A Good Sort no only allows him to become a 3A hero again, but it also gives him a banner-like reroll of 1s - something that could be taken away from him by the Mouth of Sauron, who we viewed a few months ago, but that will be very useful in other contexts since a dueling die result of 1 isn't going to win much. He swapped Heroic Strength for Heroic Resolve . . . which might be a net positive, but I think is mostly a net neutral. He's D5 with light armor like Kili and Fili, which makes him reasonably resilient to enemy archery. With 2 Will/2 Fate this edition, he can tank enemy magic and chip-damage for a turn or two.
• Nori is still 55pts and still has the choice between a hand weapon and a two-handed weapon. This option is a real decision-maker this edition, since Weapon Master now only makes Nori never count as being unarmed - but won't remove the dueling penalty for fighting two-handed. With D5/light armor, he's also decently resilient to enemy archery and he picked up a neat special rule that allows him to reroll all failed To Wound rolls if he's carrying an objective marker (though he can't play "hot potato" with it and hand it off to anyone). Nori's an interesting take and you might take him with Dori or Ori. I think of the three brothers, you're still most likely to take . . .
• Ori has long been my favorite of the three "ri" guys - he's got a good shooting option (augmented this edition with Sharpshooter), helps you regain Might points if you happen to go gronking enemy heroes/monsters (great for Thorin, Dwalin, and Gloin), and he's cheap at 40pts (95 with Nori or possibly Dori). With 1 Might/2 Will/2 Fate, he's got a decent set of resources, but with D4 and no armor at all, he's pretty squishy if he's left out in the open. Still, with 2 Fate base and a LOT of shooting threats in this list, I think he's worth taking to keep Thorin going (he, Thorin, Kili, and Fili are a pretty decent 250-255pt hit squad). Oh, and Chronicler allows you to pick a hero who wasn't involved in slaying the target hero/monster if the guy who slew the brute is at full . . . which is kinda nice, though not always relevant.
• Oin is 50pts now (up 5 from last edition) and gained a Will point and a special rule. His Healing Herbs rule still requires you to be in base contact (though it's at any point in your move) - healing is rare in SBG, so while there were no changes to how this rule works, it's still a good rule to have. Additionally, Reading the Portents hasn't really changed much - Oin can spend his 5 Will points to provide a banner-like reroll and can do so as many times as he wants during a round, so long as he has the Will to spend. He also got a new rule (Hearing Trumpet), which gives him a pseudo-Master-of-Battle-(5+), but if he gets a natural 1, he has to spend a Will point or can't move for the turn . . . which is fine, I think. I don't know that you'll ever have room for Oin, but he's the only sort of banner option you have in the list, so if you plan to lean into Thorin's killing power, you might take him.
• Gloin is still one of the best damage-for-cost options - and in this list, he's slightly cheaper than Legolas, Tauriel, and Thorin and is truly overquallified to be the "fourth beater". Gloin is only 85pts (10pts less than Dwalin) and has a nearly identical profile to Dwalin wielding Grasper & Keeper (-1 Strength, +1 Defense), but he trades rules like Fearless and Weapon Master (and the situational bonuses you might get from Grasper & Keeper) for throwing weapons and the Axe Mastery special rule, which gives him 4 Attacks if he's outnumbered . . . so if he charges two models, he'll be F6/4A. This is SO GOOD and if you keep him near Thorin, you'll also reroll 1s To Wound. If you have the points, take this guy!
• Bifur has changed a lot since the last edition - something we've talked about a lot over the past month. Bifur only has 1 Might base, but still gives you a free Heroic Move if you pass an Intelligence check AND get the Embedded Axe out of his head. I think he's definitely worth taking in this list - free Might in a usually-all-hero-list is definitely worth taking. He's D5/light armor with 2 Fate on defense, which is about what you expect in this group. He still has Throw STones, but it has Strength 2 now instead of S1 . . . yaye for skirmish builds? The Boar Spear can still be used as a spear or a two-handed weapon, which can give him some extra punch, but at F4, I think he's mostly fighting one-handed unless he's fighting a 1A model on the other side.
• Bofur got some sweet stock-increase when the ruling on how Steadfast "works" came out a few FAQs ago. For 45pts, he has a pretty average profile for this lot (2 Might/1 Will/2 Fate that can be borrowed by Bifur/Bombur is pretty nice for making sure they do what they want to do), and with D5/light armor, he's reaonably defensible for costing what he does. He's got a mattock (two-handed weapon with the old Bash special strike), but mostly you're bringing him so that you can turn off those nasty special rules and magical powers that target your Thorin's Company Rules . . . and if you haven't seen how expansive the definition of "special rules" is, note that rules like Harbinger of Evil and the Ambush Attack from the Pits of Dol Guldur are highlighted in the FAQ - that's pretty expansive! With Thorin's Company only being part of your list, I think it's a toss-up whether you take Bofur or not, but I think he might add more utility than three more Elves if you have a few points left over.
• Bombur is Dominant (2) this edition (throughout the book, he's described as "counting as two") and with the ability to restore Will points on your Thorin's Company models, he's a great way to make sure that Balin can still reroll priority rolls, Oin helps friends reroll dueling rolls, and any of your Dwarves can replenish lost stores from resisting spells. Bombur is D4 with no armor, but with 3 Wounds/2 Fate and Heroic Defense with 1 Might, he's decently durable and tanky (though not as tanky as he is in Thorin's Company, where he has access to Bifur/Bofur's Might/Fate points). I like the guy - though it's unclear how great he is in THIS list . . . though again, he costs about the same as 3 Mirkwood Rangers and counts as 2 models while sitting on an objective. I think you should at least consider taking the guy.
• Bilbo is in an interesting place this edition. On the one hand, he still has It Has Not Yet Awoken, so he is the only Ringbearer who will be fully under his owner's control, so that makes him a really useful tactical piece. At the same time, he can't hop into a fight with Thorin/Gloin/Dwalin/Legolas/Tauriel and automatically give his side the higher Fight Value (not only because halving Fight Values doesn't happen with most Ringbearers when there's a friend in their fight, but also because Heroic Strike happens after Fight Value modifications). Bilbo is only 60pts now (with Sting not being optional in this list), but he can't borrow Dori's resources like he could last edition, so with 2 Might/3 Will/3 Fate and no Mithril, he's probably running around with the Ring on and finding one-off warriors he can pester. That said, I have yet to fit Bilbo into one of these lists - he costs the same as 4 Mirkwood Rangers or 1 Mirkwood Ranger and a Dwarf.
• Legolas is one of the pick-at-least-one heroes that you have to take and he's definitely improved this edition. As we've said in a BUNCH of posts in this series so far, he got a 2+ shoot value (so he's gonna be hitting a lot - as usual), he ignores the moving-and-shooting penalty while he's got the Infantry keyword (guaranteed in this list and very cool), he can shoot while Engaged in Combat (up to three times - including shooting at the guys that he's Engaged with . . . also very cool), and in this list, he gets Knife Fighters, so he rolls more dice in melee if he's mighting multiple people. It's arguable that his Pinpoint Shot is less powerful than it used to be, since he doesn't Hit on a 2+ into Blinding Light anymore (but will still pass any in-the-way tests he needs to take if he passes the To Hit roll). This applies to a single-shot only, not to his usual three shots . . . thank goodness. As I've said in basically every post so far, I'd definitely plan on taking Legolas in any list. At low points levels, you MIGHT leave him home and take . . .
• Tauriel was showcased as a must-take in the Army of Lake-town last time - and I think she's all-but-guaranteed in your lists here as well. Tauriel is the other pick-at-least-one hero in the list and is a little cheaper than Legolas (though this doesn't exclude you taking both - I think you often include both), her Blade Mistress rule has always made her fantastic into a mobs of people, she gets to reroll 1s To Wound (while not very strong, it certainly makes definitely-didn't-wound rolls into possibly-wound rolls), and she's got a shooting option if you want to sit back and wait for your opponent to engage. She's fantastic and really is only missing either a mount or free Heroic Combats to be a top-tier hero. She also picked up Expert Shot and Sharpshooter this edition, which makes her a much better ranged threat, which is nice in this list.
• Mirkwood Ranger Captains are 75pts each and still don't have March . . . which puts them in a bit of a spot. On the one hand, they can lead 12 warriors (which would be better if their warrior were cheaper) and they bring 2 Might points that can affect your Elf units. That said, for fewer points, you can get almost any member of Thorin's Company, who is bringing similar or more heroic stats, sports a not-that-dissimilar combat profile, probably has more Defense, and can benefit from Thorin's Heroic Marches. Personally, I'd leave these guys at home - I think the Thorin's Company bomb gives you more value, especially if you already have 30 Mirkwood Rangers with Legolas and Tauriel. Speaking of which . . .
• Mirkwood Rangers are still 14pts/model, which makes them very expensive. A Lothlorien Warrior with Elf bow has similar stats for 11pts, so those 3pts/model that you're paying are JUST getting you the Sharpshooter and Knife Fighters special rules. Extra attacks all the time are usually a 2-3pt/model investment, but the 1-3 extra Attacks that you get on these guys is only applied when they are outnumbered. These guys have nice rules in this list for making that 1 Attack base work better for them, but you really don't want to be flying into shieldwalls with these guys - we'll talk about using these guys in the tactics section below, but just bear in mind that you have rules for fighting in melee that you hopefully don't have to use that much. Mirkwood Rangers also lost the option to take a war horn this edition . . . and the masses didn't even notice or shed a tear. :P

Like I said above, a lot of these profiles we've seen before - but I will say that this list feels a lot different than it did in the last edition. Still, this list struggles with a lot of the same things it used to - and it still has a lot of the same strengths it used to. Let's compare what those are and how the Dwarves of Thorin's Company might be able to augment previous weaknesses as well as add to the strengths this list has always had.

Rangers of Mirkwood: Strengths and Weaknesses

Like I've said in a bunch of lists recently, this is a shooting list. While this list looks like it should be more of a shooting list than a lot of other lists we've seen recently, the fact that each bowman it can field costs 14pts (and their heroes are a bit pricey) means that many other lists (like the Garrison of Osgiliath) will be able to match their archery output with a 50% bow limit - and some lists (like the Defenders of Helm's Deep, if they lean into the Rohan contingent) might be able to match it with a 33% bow limit. Still, with 2 shots/turn from Tauriel and maybe Ori and 3 shots/turn from Legolas (unless he REALLY has to hit a single target), this list reaches a pretty high shooting threshold quickly (similar to what you'll find in the Defenders of Helm's Deep list that features Legolas or Haldir alongside Theoden). There are a surprising number of Dwarves who can help you play the shooting game, but very few that can do so from further than 6" away, so if you take some Dwarves, you're probably looking at a melee kill squad that might be able to help with shooting, but also isn't dependent on that happening.

One of the biggest downsides this list has always had is that it has limited mobility options. There are no mounted units, there are no "fast infantry" options, and you have exactly one source of Heroic March in Thorin (and he can't affect your Elves). We'll talk about how to manage this in the strategies section, but suffice it to say that many of your units are going to have to walk at a normal pace, which means Heoric Combats with Legolas/Tauriel might be more valuable than Heroic Strikes and Heroic Moves that you declare HAVE to work if you're going to burn the Might to call them (so be careful "just calling them").

This list features a good selection of combat heroes, though: Legolas with Knife Fighters and Tauriel with Blade Mistress are fabulous for their cost, as is Thorin, Gloin, and in his own way, Dwalin. I really like the banner-like reroll you can get from Kili and Fili and a lot of the other Dwarves are "fine" (though I don't usually find the points to field them). If you get 3-4 of these hitters, I think you're doing alright in the killing department.

That said, there aren't any big killing heroes in this list. This version of Thorin is very resilient and decent at killing, but he's not anywhere near the power level of King Thorin in any of his lists and he's not as dangerous as most heroes who pair a mount with F6/3A. Legolas and Tauriel are great, but if you want bigger heroes, the Halls of Thranduil list (or even the Battle of Five Armies) will give you a better selection. The Dwarves of Thorin's Company are fun, but many are locked in at F4/2A, a few are worse than that, and a few are better than that. All in all, their units are . . . functional and fine, but not really strong. This list will need to be relying on the whole team to win the game - it has no piece that can carry a game on its back alone.

Perhaps the best thing about this list is that it doesn't have to fight as a shieldwall to work. This may be a turn-off for some players, but I don't personally like the static way that shieldwalls play. In an ideal world, a good shieldwall list sets up, it presents its durable exterior to its opponent, it tries to get the opponent to charge it, and it relies on bringing the weight of its units to bear against a smaller portion of the enemy and grinds it down. It wins or loses based on how well it can do this. This kind of a list can split up the Elven archers to operate as small units while the Dwarves move together to secure farther-off objectives and crunch a portion of the enemy army. It can dance towards or away from the enemy while taking shots at them (more on that shortly, as this can be a trap) and if an enemy shieldwall wants to fight it, it doesn't have to play that way (see an article I wrote on skirmishing against shieldwalls back in 2022 for more on this). I like this list because it can have a loose game plan instead of a pretty rigid one, which has all kinds of bonuses if you're in a multi-game tournament setting.

Okay, let's look at how to make all of this work (and how to mitigate the weaknesses we viewed above).

Rangers of Mirkwood: Strategies for the Tabletop

I know that I recommend this a lot, but I definitely recommend the use of skirmish triangles with this list. Legolas, Tauriel, and the Mirkwood Rangers are best employed if they're able to shoot in all directions - and having three friendly models sitting base-to-base with each other gives them a 360 degree view of the board (excluding any pockets of friendly models that block your line of sight). I wrote about 

As for the Dwarves, I recommend using some kind of Marching formation and possibly the "Boar Snout" formation from this old post, as the Marching formations allow you to maintain some flexibility (as you won't have 30 models packed around your March hero) and the Boar Snout can force your opponent to fight your combat models. I think using Heroic March to get to important objectives quickly is a useful thing to have, but please understand that if you're trying to race to the middle in a scenario like Seize the Prize or Divide and Conquer . . . you're showing up second. Make sure you can punish a fast enemy with archery in these scenarios.

I would take at least four Dwarves in any list - and my go-to options are Thorin (for Heroic March), Ori (for Might regen and shooting capacity), and Kili/Fili (for banner reroll, healthy Might stores, F5/2A, and more shooting capacity). There are definitely arguments for others, but having 4 fast models (which could be 3 fast models if you leave Ori behind with the Elves) gives you the "magic number" you might need to score well in certain scenarios. Additionally, having Thorin, Kili, and Fili gives you a very affordable baseline for decent killing/sticking power - yes, you could get more resilience and killing power by upgrading Kili and Fili to Gloin and Dwalin, but you'd do so for nearly 100pts more . . . I don't know that this list can afford that. Thorin, Kili, Fili, and Ori cost 250pts without the Oakenshield, which means you still have room for a named Elf hero and 10-11 Mirkwood Rangers (more on that when we get to the lists below).

I will advocate a lot of patience with this list - like a lot of all-hero lists (and certainly like Thorin's Company lists), any models you lose are going to be felt and you can't afford to make a lot of mistakes. The good news is that your army should move pretty quickly, so you can take a minute to assess the board, make measurements/mark a few distances that your opponent can move with dice, and then move your models. Don't abuse the time limit (if you have one), but understand that your army will probably move faster than your opponent's list (or you're both playing low model count lists and things will go quickly regardless of what you do).

Finally, since this is a shooting-heavy list, let's talk about shooting. Whenever you play a shooting-heavy list - I don't care what kind of a list it is - you need to put piles of dice next to the models that can shoot while you're moving your models OR while your opponent is moving models. You don't want to have to scan the board a few times during the Shoot Phase, looking for models that can shoot and what they can see. All of this needs to be done in the Move Phase, if possible, and you want to make sure that models that have moved and can see a clump of enemies and those that have not moved and can see the same clump of enemies have different colored dice. You don't want to bog the game down in the Shoot Phase - it's happened to me and many in my group before and it will certainly happen again, but please, please, PLEASE don't be that guy! You brought a shooting army, fine - but make sure both players get to play the game.

When picking targets for shooting, keep scoring objectives in mind. If there are points for having banners, you're losing the game at the start and that banner's got to die - so shoot into that part of the enemy's force. You don't have to take in-the-way shots or call Heroic Accuracies to hit the banner specifically - just punch a hole in the guys around him. If you get points for killing a specific model (maybe the enemy General, maybe someone else), shoot at that model or the friends around him. If you need to be sneaky about it, shoot in the general direction of several heroes - but make sure you're concentrating as much of your shooting in one area as possible (little chip damage here and there is not as good as a lot of damage all in one place).

Finally, avoid enemy shieldwalls - even with your Dwarves. In some situations, you may not have a choice - but if you have any choice whatsoever, get away from enemy shieldwalls and skirmish for as long as you can. Even when there are objectives on the board, maneuvering around to distant objectives and shooting guys off of them can help you force the enemy to redeploy - and that can give you an opening to tackle a weakened shieldwall, which is a good day for you! To help you get the most out of your Mirkwood Rangers in melee, keep in mind the math facts that we talked about a while ago (the 2-4-8 principle), since you probably have the higher Fight Value:

• If you've got 1 Attack die and your opponent has 1 Attack die, fight normally.
• If you've got 1 Attack die and your opponent has 2-3 Attack dice (spear/pike supports, banners, cavalry charges, etc.), defend by shielding (NOTE: defending by shielding is a good way to try to keep your guys alive - it will not make their lives any easier on the next round, so get help to them quick OR get out of there next round if you can!).
• If you've got 1 Attack die and your opponent has 4+ Attack dice (multiple of the things we saw in the previous bullet) . . . you're in a bad spot and want to get help if you can (Legolas's Pinpoint Shot/Deadly Shot against spear/pike supports, Heroic Combats with Dwarves into spear/pike supports, "defend by shielding and roll a 6", etc.).
• If you've got 2-4 Attack dice . . . you're actually quite likely to win, so fight normally because you're capping out at 2 Attacks when shielding anyway!

Sample Lists

At 500pts, I've opted for only one Elf hero because I want to be able to push several models up the board with Heroic March. Yes, for the cost of Thorin, I could have gotten Legolas, but I think the tactical benefits I get from having Heroic March and a good (better?) grenade hero is worth the trade. With Thorin, I've brought Kili, Fili, and Ori (my main four Dwarves in this list), which complements Tauriel and 11 Mirkwood Rangers (or Legolas and 10 Mirkwood Rangers) pretty well:

With Tauriel's 2 shots/turn, Ori's potentially 2 shots/turn, and 12 shots from Kili and the Mirkwood Rangers, this list puts out a LOT of archery at 500pts - and you've still got throwing weapons from Fili and some heavy-hitting from Thorin. I do regret not having the Oakenshield in this list, but I couldn't get the points to work without dropping Fili for Bombur/Bofur/Bifur (which would give me some bonuses, but would lose Combat Synergy, which I think is quite useful).

As we scale up to 650pts, we can "upgrade" Tauriel to Legolas and flesh our model count out a little by adding a few more Mirkwood Rangers and adding Gloin to the mix (for more throwing weapons and another good beater hero) - if you want Tauriel instead, you can add a fifteenth Mirkwood Ranger and have 21 models:

At 750pts, I think you can easily get both Elf heroes and you can reach 27 models with Thorin, Kili, Fili, and Ori (and 29 shots/turn plus the throwing weapon from Fili):

These armies get a lot of shooting out, but also do decently in melee when they have to engage. I think they want to stay away as long as they can, but Thorin and Company should be able to stake a place of ground out and hopefully hold out until the Elves arrive, having whittled down the enemy a little. I don't know how competitive this list is without a good bit of terrain to shield them from retributive archery, but I like it.

Conclusion

This list is a lot of fun and I've enjoyed messing around with it before our upcoming GT (more on that in a few weeks when we do the road to the GT post)! If you've played with this list and have thoughts on how to use it, let us know in the comments below! Next time, we're pivoting to what many might consider the better "pajama Elf" list: Lothlorien. With a non-armored Celeborn and cool rules for the pajama-clad Elves that I started my SBG journey, this list is really fun and also super competitive. Find out what's great about this list next time - and until then, happy hobbying!