Good morning gamers,
Editor's Note: this article does reflect the new gear options for Wild Men of Dunland, but the army lists do not - feel free to retool the lists if you want to.
We're back in the Legacy documents today with a review of the Army of Dunland (which is the last "wild man" list we need to cover this month - next week's article is a by-request article). This list features the way Dunland lists looked in the last edition, with heroes who were released in the War in Rohan supplement joining the ranks of the OG Dunland creations by GW a long, long time ago. This army list features a lot of profiles that are only available in the Legacy document, but there are a few familiar faces. Let's see how this list has changed from its Legendary Legion version last edition . . .
The Army of Dunland: Changes for 2025
Profile Selection
This list has ALMOST all of the Dunland profiles in the game - it has the named heroes from the last edition (Thrydan, Gorulf, Frida, and the Oathmaker), Dunlending Chieftains as your generic hero option, and Wild Men, Dunlending Warriors, Dunlending Cavalry, and Crebain for your warriors.
The profile it's missing, however, is the generic Wild Man Chieftain - a profile that you'll find in the Army of the White Hand (and a mirror profile for Hill Tribesman Chieftains is available in the War of the Rohirrim lists that we viewed earlier this month) but that is absent here. In a way, it's weird that this option isn't available here . . . and in another way, it's good that it doesn't appear in this list, as it would probably ace the Dunlending Chieftain out of a job (more on that in the profile discussion below).
The rules for this army list are exactly the same as they were last edition: friendly banners have a 6" range instead of a 3" range, everyone has Hatred (Rohan) if they didn't have it already, and once per game, Thrydan can give all friendly models within 12" of himself +1 To Wound when making Strikes. This last rule got a little more expansive, because before it was friendly "Dunlending" models and now it's "Dunland" models (which includes Crebain). All in all, this list is going to behave a lot like it did last edition: the banner radius is extended so you can win more fights (with is easier now that you have 6pt spearmen in the list, but is still going to be an uphill battle since you'll be F3 in most of your fights) and when you do win, you might be able to pack an extra bit of punch based on the army you're playing against or whether you've used your once per game ability.
We have seen ALL Of these profiles before, but I've modified the text of some because this list plays pretty differently from the other places we've seen the profiles (most notably in the Army of the White Hand profiles, which is where we've seen all of the heroes before - turns out not having Saruman changes things):
- Thrydan Wolfsbane was one of my favorite Isengard heroes in the last edition - Immobilizing (now Transfixing) a hero with Saruman before charging in with Thrydan (who would two-hand because he couldn't get hit back) led to quite a few dead heroes (and sometimes some early-game VPs in Assassination). Like I said last edition, Thrydan has a harder time getting the killing power he wants in a list where he doesn't have Saruman to skew the matchup - and that's even more true now that he's still a F5 hero (Heroic Strike from F5 is really unreliable). Still, he's F5/S5/2A with access to a horse, has a 12" stand fast, but isn't a particularly cheap (110pts mounted) Hero of Valor - he is in a list that can bring some pretty cheap chaff to augment your numbers though. He's not very resilient with D5/2 Wounds/2 Fate, so be sure to keep him screened from enemy archery.
- Gorulf Ironskin has always been a good option for those who want a not-very-expensive beater infantry hero - F5/S5/3A is fabulous on its own for a 70pt hero and with a free Heroic Defense if he's engaged with a hero at the start of the Fight Phase, his 2 Might is not nearly as penalizing as a lot of other heroes are feeling this edition. He's also not very resilient with D5/2 Wounds/2 Fate, but in case you don't gather this by the end of this segment . . . most of the Dunland heroes live in the D5/2 Wound space, so . . . deal with it. Gorulf hits stuff and blunts heroes - if you focus on that, you'll be doing just fine.
- Frida Tallspear is still the only D6 hero you have access to (and D6 unit you have access to) and she can still deny the Extra Attack/Knock to the Ground rules of enemy cavalry models that she's fighting (Engaged or Supporting). Her bonus against mounts is an area-of-effect (3" reroll all failed To Wound rolls against mounts), which is a nice boost and probably gives her a place in the list if you know cavalry are big in your meta. Still, she's not bringing much to the fight besides 2-Might-and-Defense, F5 with a spear (that denies cavalry bonuses), and rerolls against mounts, so I don't think she's a great option unless you're playing at a pretty high points level.
- The Wild Man Oathmaker is probably an auto-include in any Army of Dunland list - he grants Fearless to everyone within 6" of himself, he's still got 3 Might points (a lot of lesser heroes lost that third one), and he's got Hatred (Rohan) with Heroic Strength and maybe +1 To Wound from the once-per-game warcry rule . . . which is a potentially devastating array if he's working with another hero! For 55pts, he's a cheap and solid add to your list.
- Dunlending Chieftains are your basic generic heroes - and these are NOT Wild Man Chieftains like you'll find in the Army of the White Hand! For 55pts each, they've got +1 Strength, two-handed weapons by default, and have +1 Defense - and are still 2-Might-and-March heroes, which is really their appeal in this list. Having one of these guys is probably a must JUST so you can have March (unless you really lean into cavalry/Crebain). I for one am really missing the option for a shield from the last edition, though - it was nice to have a "rock" hero who could defend by shielding to hold his position with D6 if he lost a fight . . .
- Wild Men of Dunland are REALLY different from the way the unit was before - they're still perfectly good without extra gear if you need to save some points, but they can take spears for 1pt, flaming brands for Terror (Cavalry) and effectively Dominant (2) for 1pt, bows for 1pt (incredibly useful in a horde list like this), and war horns/banners thanks to the new command blister. I wouldn't bother with taking light shields (on their own or with other gear) - as was just said, paying 1pt to defend by shielding isn't worth it. Because Wild Men with one piece of gear costs 6pts, I would never take more than 5 Wild Men without extra gear - if you can take 6, you should take 5 guys with a piece of gear each (bows, spears, or flaming brands). In this list, you might consider taking two-handed weapons, since the +1 To Wound from two-handing will stack with your once-per-game army list bonus of +1 To Wound - and possibly the +1 To Wound from Hatred (Rohan) as well!
- Dunlending Warriors are kind of like Warriors of Rohan who pay +1 pt/model to get +1 Strength. With the option for a bow (probably unnecessary this edition now that Wild Men of Dunland have bows), shield (great choice), two-handed weapon (arguably unnecessary since Wild Men of Dunland are in the list, but I don't think it's a bad choice), and banner (definitely something you would have taken on two of your guys before the release of the new Wild Man blister - still defensible now if you think there's a difference between D4 and D3), these guys will certainly see play in your lists. The same might not be said for . . .
- Dunlending Huscarls are still trying to do too much for 11pts/model. They have an axe that can be used as a spear or two-handed weapon - both of which are available on Wild Men of Dunland who cost roughly half as much as Huscarls do. Depending on whether you charge in or support, you're either F3 with Bodyguard (which might be unnecessary if you have the Oathmaker nearby and are clever with when he moves) or you're F4 as a spear-support - this is really the only reason to take these guys and since you can get 2:1 Wild Men for every Huscarl, that's a REALLY expensive F4 tax. Personally, I'd just skip on these guys.
- Dunlending Horsemen are your only warrior cavalry models and while they're not your only fast models, they're good as cavalry go. At 12pts/model, they cost the same as Warg Riders with shields and they have the exact same stats, except that they have higher Courage (and might be Fearless if they're operating in concert with the Oathmaker), they have higher base Strength (instead of relying on a Warg to bring S4), and they get a special rule that lets them reroll 1s to wound mounts (which might be redundant with Frida's bonus, but it's unlikely that they're within 3" of her). All in all, if you want cavalry to turn off enemy cavalry bonuses, consider taking a few of these guys.
- Crebain are the talk of the town right now - 20pts for a fast mover (who can't snag objectives, but can contest them) with 4 Wounds and can't be trapped is pretty great. Competitive players will tell you to take at least 6 of these guys - I got a pack from Rythbyrt for Christmas and have converted a that pack of two Crebain into eight, so . . . yeah, I guess that's an endorsement. :) Thanks to the Dunland keyword, they benefit from a lot of things (like Hatred, +1 To Wound once per turn, Fearless from the Oathmaker, rerolling all failed To Wound rolls against mounts from Frida) . . . they're very efficient and you should definitely have some of them in your lists.
Unlike the other lists we've looked at this month . . . we actually have quite a few tools to work with! Let's see how this affects the list's strengths and weaknesses (especially when compared to other Dunland army options).
The Army of Dunland: Strengths and Weaknesses
The first strength of this list is that it has affordable warrior cavalry. Dunlending Horsemen don't get nearly the credit they should right now because of how good Crebain are - and yes, Crebain are fast units and are incredibly good multi-tools. However, if you get charged by enemy cavalry, Crebain can't save a friendly unit from getting run-over - they can avoid being run-over themselves, but are utterly helpless for saving heroes on foot or banner-carriers. A big hero like Glorfindel or Elessar is counting on those cavalry bonuses to do the work - and for the low-low price of 12pts/model, you can have a few cavalry to shut off enemy hero charges (and you'll still get bonuses to wound the hero's mount should they blow their roll and lose the duel). Neither of the Dunland lists we looked at this month have warrior cavalry models of any kind (though they have mounted heroes and Crebain), which means that this is the first Dunland list that can effectively shut down cavalry heroes without counting on blunting them with Crebain. The Army of the White Hand has more options, but that's to be expected - it's an omnibus list. :)
At the same time, there are almost no mounted heroes in this list. Thrydan has a horse - and he really needs it - but everyone else will be legging it at the pace of infantry. Gorulf and to a lesser degree Dunlending Chieftains can hit hard, but their base 2-3 Attacks, no extra Attacks/Knock Down bonuses, and reliance on traps/spears is going to drive them deep into your battle line, which limits their effectiveness at crashing through things. While I don't know that either of the other Dunland lists that we looked at this month really want to have a second mounted hero (they have Wulf, obviously, but their second option is Targg . . . who I think really doesn't need a horse), this does remain a bit of a problem if you need two people maneuvering together or managing different sides of the board. Admittedly, I may have some recent Ride Out experiences informing this opinion a bit - mounted heroes working together get work done.
The infantry warriors in this list (with the possible exception of Huscarls) are fantastic - Wild Men have come into a fantastic place, taking the most of the roles that Isengard Orcs used to play backing up Wild Men or Uruk-Hai in the last edition and are able to multi-tool as better bowmen, comparable spearmen, comparable two-handers, and new roles like 5-point chaff units or 6-point Dominant (2) units with Terror against cavalry models. The only roles that Orcs could provide that these guys can't really fill is the shieldwall role (light shields are terrible and don't really count for this) and the banner-carrier - both of which can be filled easily and relatively cheaply by Dunlending Warriors. Crebain are technically infantry and they are, of course, fantastic in basically every way (and in this list, they may even wound better than their stats suggest). Fight 3 across the lot isn't great, but if you REALLY want F4, you can pay for Huscarls . . . I accept that it is an option, though I don't think I'd pay the price for it.
The list does have a general lack of good defense. You will probably have at least a few infantry who are D5 (Dunlending Cavalry, Dunlending Warriors with shields, maybe Dunlending Huscarls), but most of them are likely to be D3 Wild Men, D3 Crebain, or D4 Dunlending Warriors with banners. Bows of basically any kind will be the death of your troops - which means speed is important in this list. Your heroes aren't much better - most of them are D5 (the Oathmaker is D4 and Frida is D6), so they're hoping to not take a hail of arrows either. The only units not that worried about taking arrows, actually, are the Crebain because they have a special rule that makes them hard to hit directly, but if they're standing in front of your army, they can take in-the-way hits just as well as any other unit might . . . so still be wary of archery when running this list.
Finally, the list has an advantage that the Besiegers of the Hornburg list really doesn't have: it scales well at basically any points level. With four named heroes and a generic hero that you won't mind having two of (and warriors with a wide range of points costs), this list can play at basically any points level you want and you'll often find that you're having to cut things out rather than finding stuff to cram in. That's got some huge advantages if you're in a gaming group that likes to shake points levels up (like we do here at TMAT) to fit into one-day or multi-day events. While there's certainly nothing wrong with copy/pasting warbands, there are some lists that feel like they're just getting "more of the same" as the points level goes up. This list isn't one of those lists.
Okay, let's talk strategy a bit . . .
The Army of Dunland: Strategies for the Tabletop
Our first point to tackle is this: don't try to match shieldwall with shieldwall with this list. With your choice of Wild Men of Dunland with no gear or Dunlending Warriors with shields as the front rank and your choice of Wild Men of Dunland with spears or Dunlending Huscarls as the second rank, it's pretty obvious that you can - and maybe should - make shieldwall formations with your melee troops. Please understand this - something that all Orc and Goblin players know very well:
Just because you have a shieldwall doesn't mean you want to throw it against your opponent's shieldwall.
F3 shieldwalls are in a rough spot this edition because so many factions got a jump to F4 (and some to F5) - that means that in the center of your shieldwalls, you're likely to have 2 dice on your side (rerolling the lowest from a banner) while your opponent has at least 2 dice on his side (possibly rerolling the lowest from a banner) - and if you've check out an old math post that I did, if you're not rolling 4+ dice against an opponent rolling 2 dice, you have a less than 50% chance of winning the duel. If you have six or so fights aligned like this, you should expect to lose 3-4 of them and only win 2-3 of them - and while that might mean that you kill two enemy models, you're probably losing at least that many on your side.
A far better strategy is to form up with your shieldwall across from your opponent and either extend your shieldwall to force your opponent to not spear-support in all of his fights (do this if you went for Wild Men in the front rank instead of Dunlending Warriors) or move your spearmen to the wings and charge while shielding with your Dunlending Warriors and wrap-and-trap on the flanks with your spearmen (which will also force your opponent to not spear-support). In both cases, you're trying to get your opponent to not be able to use his shieldwall . . . and in both cases, you're not really using a shieldwall either.
This leads to another recommendation: consider getting a lot of bowmen. Wild Men of Dunland with bows are 6pts each and have a 4+ Shoot Value, which makes them perfectly competent archers at an absurdly low points cost. In the aforementioned math post, I also noted that you need 12-18 S2 bows in order to reliably get 1 kill/turn - for 72pts, you can get 12 Wild Men of Dunland with bows and that's right about the average cost of your heroes. Packing in the bows requires packing in the models, but if you get 12 models with spears (to back up your bowmen, perhaps), 4 Crebain for speed, and 6 guys with flaming brands (optional), you only need 260 points . . . and while we could definitely push that number closer to 300pts with a banner and maybe another Crebain, getting 12 bows really isn't that hard if you want to focus on it.
I'd also recommend that you charge with your heroes wisely. Even Gorulf isn't that resilient to enemy damage (Heroic Defense helps a lot, but the more dice your opponent throws, the more likely he is to get a natural 6 - and Gorulf can't survive four of those!) and the others are all more vulnerable than him. At the same time, most of the heroes need to be contributing at least their Fight Values if not their damage output to make sure you keep a numerical advantage on your opponent. Leaning into Wild Men will augment your numbers, but golly do they die quickly! Be judicious with how your heroes engage, don't be drawn to fight any old multi-wound model with Thrydan just because he has Mighty Blow, and don't just throw Gorulf into whatever hero you find so he gets a free Heroic Defense - pick fights where your heroes will survive and help to swing an important part of the battlefield instead.
With this recommendation comes another one: while I don't think you HAVE to take two March Chieftains, consider getting two March Chieftains. I think the Oathmaker, Gorulf, and the required Thrydan provide very useful bonuses to the team that March Chieftains no longer fill - but you don't want a two-handing hero to be out of Might when the fighting starts. As a result, having two Chieftains allows you to March twice and get up the board faster than normal. When you reach the 750-800pt mark, you're looking at adding Frida to the ranks - and while I think her bonuses are useful, it's unclear to me if they're more useful than a second March Chieftain. Play it both ways and see which one you like.
Finally, use your many tools for stalling enemy heroes so you can focus on killing grunts. Crebain cannot be trapped and have 4 wounds, which makes them very difficult for a solo-hero to kill in a single round (though not impossible for a charging hero with friends to kill off, so pull off his helpers or block out the Crebain to make sure that the blunting works). Gorulf can declare a free Heroic Defense, but this is best used when your opponent's hero is out of Might so you can capitalize on a bad dueling roll without your opponent able to do anything about it. A single Wild Man of Dunland can force a big hero to spend a precious Might point on a Heroic Combat so they can do more than kill a 5-6pt model that turn (assuming the Combat isn't free - there are an astonishingly high number of big heroes who can do that). You can also move Wild Men just outside the control zone of the hero but spread out in such a way that the hero will have to enter a control zone to move but not charge more than one model (this is great if you don't have a Fearless bubble to help your Wild Men charge a hero with Terror). However you do it, do your best to avoid/stall enemy heroes and rely on your own heroes to crunch through grunts - they're pretty good at doing that!
Okay, let's talk lists!
Sample Lists
At 500pts, we have to make some really hard decisions - we have to take Thrydan and in my opinion, we also need a Dunlending Chieftain for speed. This means that we need to choose between Fearless/3 Might on the Wild Man Oathmaker and a second killing piece/hero blunting piece in Gorulf. I've opted for Gorulf and with 3 Crebain and 1 banner in the list, we have a whopping 35 models (though it's unclear to me if one of the vanilla Wild Men should have been dropped to get three bows and a flaming brand with light shield - that's up to you):
Growing to 650 allows us to add the Oathmaker, but there's a WIDE range of options you can pursue from there. This list has dropped most of the Dunlending Warriors with shields in order to get 12 bows, 5 Crebain, and a second banner in the list. It ends up with 43 models, which feels like a very strong number for a double-banner/quintuple-
At 800pts, we can get one of each hero (you could save money by taking a second Chieftain instead of Frida if you're not concerned about cavalry in your meta . . . for whatever reason) and reach 58 models with a very strong emphasis on archery (front-rank guys), two banners, five Crebain, and a few Flaming Brands here and there to get some extra bodies in objective scenarios:
Conclusion
And with that, we're Dunland with Dunland month (this isn't quite the wordplay that I did five years ago when I reviewed the legendary legion, but us dads take whatever opportunity comes our way). :) We'll be wrapping up this month with a reader-requested army list review, so pack your bags for the central area of the Misty Mountains (not far from Dunland, actually) as we see what's brewing in Moria. Until next time, happy hobbying!
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