Good morning gamers,
Last week, we looked at the Fiefdoms army list and today, we're truncating down the Fiefdoms side of the house and adding in some Rohan units as we look at the Grief of Eomer army list. This list finds its origin in a scenario from the Gondor at War supplement from the last edition and it feels like several lists we've looked at over the past few months. Let's see what's in this double-heavy-hitter list, shall we (there's only one legacy profile, we'll highlight the relevant sections in red like we always do)?
The Grief of Eomer: Changes for 2025
Profile Selection
This list is supposed to represent the scene from the books where Eomer rallies his Eored after seeing Theoden and Eowyn on the ground and begins a death-charge into the thick of the enemy. He's rescued by Imrahil and a host of Dol Amroth and Minas Tirith troops. As a result, we have two distinct contingents: a Rohan side and a Gondor side, both of which can only take Warriors in warband led by Heroes of the same faction.
The Rohan side of the house is incredibly light, with just Eomer, Captains of Rohan, Warriors of Rohan, and Riders of Rohan. The Gondor side of the house has Imrahil and Hurin as the named heroes, Captains of Minas Tirith/Dol Amroth for the generic heroes, and Knights/Men-at-arms of Dol Amroth for the Fiefdoms working alongside (maybe) Warriors/Knights of Minas Tirith. You don't have any specialized units for either side (unless you count the Dol Amroth troops as specialists).
Army List Bonuses
The army list bonuses that this list gets are pretty good - Eomer is always under the effects of the Price of Grief, which isn't a downside if you plan ahead (more on that in the Strategies section below). He also gets +1 Fight Value when he Charges, so if you can keep him going, he'll be a F7 hero (like Imrahil). Eomer also gets Fearless and any Rohan models (Hero and Warrior) who can see him automatically pass any Courage Tests they have to take - so they have Fearless as long as they can see him, which is brilliant.
Finally, the Gondor side of the house gets a bonus of rerolling 1s To Wound when they Charge . . . which is not nothing, but also not very much. This bonus is better as the wounding difficulties drop, so charging into D3 Wild Men is pretty good, charging into D4-5 Orcs will feel good sometimes, charging into D6-7 heavy troops from a whole heap of factions (and in particular into lists that play like this one) will see the rule crop up occasionally but rarely. So . . . whatever.
We have slightly more profiles to review today, but we've still got a pretty light (but efficient) bench of units:
- Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth got a much-needed points adjustment last month and now starts at 140pts. Anyone who has played with S4 heroes on foot will know that if you have the option to give them a horse (upping their mobility, number of Attacks, and lethality by knocking things over) and a lance (further upping their lethality), you take those - and that means Imrahil will actually be bought at 170pts. For that cost, you get a very comparable profile to Mega-Boromir - F7, 3s in all the places (less Might than Boromir, but everything else is even), a 12" Stand Fast, and a 6" banner radius (greatly reduced from last edition, but banners that have more than 6" range arenot very common in this edition of the game). Though Boromir's banner gives bonuses that Imrahil doesn't give and Boromir has a War Horn that will help pass courage tests, Imrahil now comes in a good 55pts under Boromir's cost . . . not bad, but you definitely do need to play in a way that will claw Imrahil's points back.
- Eomer, Marshal of the Riddermark has seen some pretty great changes this edition - like all heroes, he's more expensive mounted than he was before, but not drastically more expensive. His horse, Firefoot, also got faster and he himself got the promotion to F6 (F7 on the charge in this list). With the change to Arise, Riders of Rohan, he can be the source of F4 on your charging Riders of Rohan, which is one of the best changes for Rohan in this edition (but does have an impact on your character choices in this list - more on that next). Guthwine now triggers an additional To Wound roll when it gets natural 6s To Wound, which is a poor man's version of Mighty Blow, but hey, it could be good sometimes - and triggers more often when you get a full reroll on your To Wound rolls from the Price of Grief? His Leader (Rohan Royal Guards) does not apply in this list and as a second F7 hero (when on the charge), the cost of him and Imrahil is comparable to the Glorfindel/Earnur combo you find in the Battle for Fornost list.
- Hurin the Tall hasn't received a very strong recommendation from me so far in this series - and he's not going to stand out today because . . . Eomer has to be your General. Hurin in this list will still have a master-forged hand-and-a-half sword, but his other two rules are completely unusable. So . . . for 100pts mounted and 80pts on foot, I think any of the generic Captains are better than this guy . . . which is a pity.
- Captains of Minas Tirith are some of the big winners of the new edition - and losers, depending on your opinion of lances and horses on F4 heroes. While the horse and lance helped these guys kill things reliably last edition, the F4 was always a bit of a let-down unless they had help from another hero (probably one that couldn't take a horse). Now these guys are on foot, but they're 60pts instead of 55pts, they're F5 instead of F4, and they still have Shieldwall, which makes them reliable tanking heroes at low points levels. He's one of three sources of Heroic March in this list, and if you're looking for an Infantry March hero (or a cheap March hero), I think he's unrivaled by the competition. If you want the mounted version of last edition and don't mind paying 35pts more, you could take . . .
- Captains of Dol Amroth are decent March Captains, though they're expensive relative to the other two Captains. With F5 (and +1 Fight Value if they're within 3" of Imrahil - that's a REALLY small radius), they're pretty decent heroes . . . for 95pts mounted with lances. I think there's a real question about whether you want a mounted hero with March or a foot hero with March to save some cash. If you want a mounted hero, you might take one of these guys . . . or you might take . . .
- Captains of Rohan are basically the same as they always were - they can't take bows or throwing spears anymore, but they're still cheap fortitude heroes who can be D7 with heavy armor and shields. The loss of Arise, Riders of Theoden/Rohan has been felt for me - these guys being locked in at F4 means they have to rely on shielding if on foot or on charging if mounted to really beat through basic troops (and you really don't want them squaring up against heroes). In this list, they're very much outclassed by Captains of Minas Tirith if taken on foot, but do have a place as cheap mounted March heroes when compared to Captains of Dol Amroth (who are 95pts, compared to 70-75pts for a Captain of Rohan). Take one if you want more Rohan boys in the list, but personally, I think Captains of Minas Tirith are just so good in your infantry blocks that I don't think you need these guys until your points level is very high (and even then, I don't know).
- Knights of Dol Amroth are still super expensive - they're 11pts/model on foot, which makes them 1pt MORE expensive than Galadhrim Warriors and are sometimes F5 (if they're within 3" of Imrahil) instead of being always F5, are Courage 6+ instead of Courage 5+, don't have any movement-related special rules (like Woodland Creature), and don't have Elven-made weapons . . . I can't be the only one that sees the problem here. These guys have an impressive array of gear, including horse/lance (20pts/model total), a banner (which you probably shouldn't take ever), and a war horn (which you should probably also never take ever). This is the list where you should definitely NOT take these guys - they are not the only F4/D6 infantry in your list (Knights of Minas Tirith and Warriors of Minas Tirith are both in the list), you have cheaper cavalry in the list (Knights of Minas Tirith and Riders of Rohan), and these options are all 2-6pts cheaper per model to field.
- Men-at-Arms of Dol Amroth have gone up by 1pt/model and got . . . basically nothing in return from last edition. For 10pts each, this is a Legacies model that isn't likely to see a lot of play in this list, as you have access to Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields and spears for the same cost and Warriors of Rohan with throwing spears and shields for 1pt less/model. While you can certainly make these guys work, I think in general you're overpaying for these guys. If you want heavy infantry, you should probably forsake the Fiefdoms contribution and instead take . . .
- Warriors of Minas Tirith are also big winners this edition - they're still great front-line troops and are even more reliable in that role now that they're F4. They do cost more than they used to, but at 9pts/model with shield (10pts/model with shield and spear), they're not THAT pricey (don't take them with bows - there are better bow-armed models in the list). If you're paying 18pts/file for a Warrior of Minas Tirith with shield backed by a Warrior of Rohan with throwing spears and shield or 19pts/file for two Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields (one with spear), you're doing pretty well for yourself. Take these guys - take a lot of these guys - and call it a day.
- Knights of Minas Tirith have become some of the best shock cavalry for price in the game - F4 is pretty common now, but they're not F3 and they're not that expensive for D6 troops. Knights are nothing to write home about, but they're still plenty good and I love them - they're much cheaper than Knights of Dol Amroth with all their gear and comparable in price to Riders of Rohan. Both these guys and the Warriors of Minas Tirith with reroll 1s To Wound while on the charge in this list, which is whatever-fine for Warriors of Minas Tirith, but when you improve your wounding roll with a lance, that becomes much better!
- Warriors of Rohan are basically unchanged from last edition (Spear Mastery is new, but was previously given to them in several Legendary Legions in the last edition), which means they are still blissfully cheap at 7-9pts with the standard equipment (and 31pts with a banner!). While not great at shooting, they're also half the cost of Riders of Rohan - and since Riders of Rohan do count towards your bow limit in this list, you will have a very real decision about how many cavalry models you want in your list! Frankly, I think these guys will probably stay at home (relying on the Minas Tirith contingent for your infantry corps), unless you want some skirmish troops with throwing spears and shields to shake things up/save some points. On the other hand, you probably will take at least a few Rohan models in the form of . . .
- Riders of Rohan are virtually unchanged from last edition - they still cost 14pts each, but they picked up Spear Mastery (so they can spear support if they get dismounted) and they simultaneously got a nerf in that only 1/3 of them can take throwing spears (since bow limit and throwing weapon limit are two different things). They also get F4 on the charge (no S4 in this list, but they can be Fearless if they can see Eomer) with the option to shoot if your opponent isn't in charge range. All in all, I'm happy that these guys didn't increase in price and I think they're in a pretty good place overall.
This gives us a surprisingly large spread of units that we can use (despite not having a large number of profiles) - we have heavy cavalry, skirmish cavalry, light infantry, heavy infantry, a mix of generic Captains with March, and two big beaters. That's a lot to work with - so let's see what this list does well and where it lags behind other lists . . .
Like the Battle of Fornost list, this army has a great array of heroes and D6 warriors. Imrahil and Eomer hit very hard and for 315pts fully kitted out, you have 36 slots for warriors, who can be purchased for 10pts/model or less for infantry (and 14-15pts for cavalry). This means that at basically any points level, you can have a few cavalry supporting a strong block of infantry and at least Eomer (if not also Imrahil). Having strong heroes and durable warriors is a solid start for any army - and this list can be a very terrifying force to face.
This list is, however, very one-dimensional. Your answers to big heroes are a) throw Eomer at them (probably not a great idea until their resources have dwindled), b) throw Imrahil at them (a better idea, since he'll usually not be worth VPs), or c) throw "tin cans" from Minas Tirith at them and defend by shielding/try to stall them out. That's it - no magic (damage, augments, or debuffs), no compelling shooting options, no siege weapons, no impact hits, nothing except cold steel. If you are facing a list that you can line up and run over the enemy, this list is pretty happy. If you're facing anything else . . . this list may have problems.
On the flip side, the supporting heroes can be taken inexpensively, which means that getting numbers in your army shouldn't be that difficult. A Minas Tirith warband that sports a Captain of Minas Tirith (60pts), four Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields (36pts), and 5 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields and spears (50pts) costs less than 150pts and gets you 10 guys - and if there are 10 Warriors of Minas Tirith in Imrahil's warband (95pts), you have plenty of room and points at the 700+ points levels for Riders of Rohan (or Knights of Minas Tirith) to give you some speed to augment your 10-file, 2-rank shieldwall.
While your supporting cast of characters is well priced, the big heroes are pretty expensive if you get both of them. A problem I've long had with lists (that I love) like the Last Alliance and the Defenders of Erebor is that there's usually 3-4 heroes that you want to take - and while the Defenders of Erebor can get three heroes for under 300pts, the Last Alliance is a lot like this list: you're going to pay 300+ points for the two big heroes that you want and then 60+ points for a Captain. This list doesn't have the option that the Battle of Fornost has where you can bloat your numbers a little with Dunedain leading Hobbit Archers, so at certain points levels, I think Imrahil is staying at home.
Finally, this list finally makes Eomer feel like the hero he should have always been. Yes, he got the boost to F6 this edition - and for that, I'm grateful. Being a F7 hero who has to charge if he can when he moves (more on that next) and rerolling To Wound rolls, however, turns him into something else entirely. F7 is the new F6 - it gives you a point where you might be able to hit F10 and brings you up over the Fight Values of any non-Monster warrior model. This means that Eomer can ride right over warriors with a bit of recklessness, so long as he's got a banner nearby to keep him going (more on that in the next section too). Imrahil doesn't get these rules - Imrahil doesn't need these rules - but he's better costed now and gives your opponent something more threatening than Eomer (at least on paper).
Okay, let's talk about strategies . . .
The Grief of Eomer: Strategies for the Tabletop
We have to take Eomer, so we need to start by looking at Eomer. In the Ride Out army list (one that I'm a big fan of), Cavalry models have a rule similar to what Eomer has in the Price of Grief special rule: "when Eomer Moves he must Charge an enemy model if possible." The operative clause here is "when Eomer Moves", not "when Eomer activates" (a wording that we see in Beorn's Berserk special rule). Since moving is optional, Eomer can choose NOT to move if he likes where he's at (he's got Dominant (3) in this list because he's the General, so you might not want him moving away from his current position - unless it's to Charge someone nearby), so keep that in mind. Additionally, if your opponent tries to bait Eomer out of line on a turn you want to be moving (it's easier to do than it used to be now that Firefoot has 12" movement), there's nothing that says Eomer has to move before anyone else - so you can move Riders of Rohan (or Knights of Minas Tirith - whoever is the cavalry hit-squad for Eomer) before Eomer moves, leave less than 40mm of space between their bases, and then move Eomer (who will now not be able to charge and so can move wherever he wants). Eomer himself hits very hard with 3 Attacks at F7/S4 and rerolling all failed To Wound rolls (dealing a potential extra wound if he gets a natural 6 on the To Wound roll) before charge bonuses are factored in, but keep in mind that he's not S5 on the charge in this list (like he is in most Rohan lists).
Imrahil is our next stop - and I think he's your second pick at any points level north of 600pts. If you pay for everything on Eomer and Imrahil, you're at 315pts (as was mentioned above), but at 600pts, you can field close to 30 models if you have a strong infantry corps, which should give you the model count that you need to hold ground while Eomer and Imrahil do their thing. An infantry-heavy army without a Captain will struggle a little to move up the board, but if Eomer and Imrahil surge ahead with some friends, the infantry should have time to catch up. While Eomer hits hard in this list, Imrahil is the actual threat to the enemy, with F7/S4/3A with a lance on offense (probably about the same or better as rerolling failures) and absolutely 0 VPs riding on the line if he dies in the vast majority of scenarios. Don't be reckless with him or Eomer in this list, of course, but you have options for smashing things on two fronts.
Next we need to talk about Minas Tirith shieldwalls. As was mentioned above, there's a very cheap warband block that you can take that has one Captain of Minas Tirith and 9 Warriors of Minas Tirith (4 with shields, 5 with shields and spears). This ten-man brick is easily movable, everyone contributes to Shieldwall, and can be joined easily by other Warriors of Minas Tirith from Imrahil's warband if you want. It is a bit difficult to run a good March formation with this particular load out, but a Pac-Man formation can still trigger Shieldwall on everyone (you just have to be creative with where the spearmen go). The goal of this warband is actually the traditional plan for shieldwalls (something we've avoided in recent posts): line up against the enemy, try to bring two of your men against 1-2 of your opponents, and rely on average-to-high Fight Value to beat the enemy and high Defense to keep you alive if you fail. This warband does have shields on its spearmen, so you can extend your shieldwall if you want to wrap-and-trap - but ideally the heroes are murdering the backline of spearmen.
Speaking of which, decide what cavalry you want - and use them to escort Eomer and Imrahil. Whether it's Knights of Minas Tirith for devastating charge potential or skirmishing potentially-Fearless Riders of Rohan, you want most of your cavalry escorting Eomer and Imrahil. A Rider of Rohan or two might sit on a rear objective and shoot or might race for a piece of terrain that's worth points, but by and large, you want these guys riding alongside your heroes to help them manage their fights and kill off a few more guys around them. I wouldn't charge your Warrior cavalry into two models each - I'd recommend that they each charge one guy if they can to prompt the enemy to defend by shielding if they can or fight with 1 die to the charging cavalry's 2 dice if possible. Even if you have Knights of Minas Tirith (or conceivably Knights of Dol Amroth - but I hold that they're too expensive), they still want to manage their kills so they don't accidentally die.
Okay, let's dig into some lists!
Sample Lists
At 500pts, we COULD take Eomer and Imrahil . . . but I'm going to instead opt for a decent model count with Eomer and a Captain of Minas Tirith. The Captain's warband is nearly maxed out, so I threw some Rohan skirmish infantry into Eomer's warband. Between Eomer, the 8 Riders of Rohan that we have, and Heroic March, this is a pretty fast list if it wants to be - and we have a random Rohan bowman to sit on a rear objective and help the 8 archers and 6 throwing spears with some archery:
At 650pts, we can get Imrahil and lean into the warriors (instead of a Captain) and get 30 models with 10 Riders of Rohan and 18 Warriors of Minas Tirith - not as fast as having March on the infantry, but we'd have plenty of cavalry if we need to have a scrum in the middle:
At 750pts, we come to a points level where I actually like the list (it has all the elements I want in it) - it's 34 models, but that includes 13 cavalry, a lot of heavy infantry, and a mix of beater heroes and a March hero. I did take three throwing spears on the Riders of Rohan - if you want to upgrade 6 Riders of Rohan to Knights of Minas Tirith instead, be my guest:
Conclusion
I know this list has less visible variety than the Fiefdoms list we looked at last time, but golly I think it's a stronger list! Yes, there's no Blackroot Vale Archer volleys that will tear through the enemy (and no Clansmen to claymore their way through the enemy when they get close), but golly having a solid, straight-forward shieldwall backed by tricky cavalry feels good! If you've used this list and have thoughts on how to run it, let us know below!
Now in the Return of the King, we read that when Eomer and his beleaguered boys are being surrounded after his "death charge", he saw the black ships of the Corsairs coming in the distance. In the film, we know that the ships heralded the arrival of Aragorn and the Army of the Dead (who helped take the ships in the book, but the crew were Dunedain and Clansmen from Lamedon/other men willing to serve from the coastal fiefdoms). Our next stop in this tour de force of the Pelennor Fields is none other than one of the OG Legendary Legions from last edition: the Return of the King. This one . . . well, it plays differently than it did before. Find out what there is to like about this list next time - and until then, happy hobbying!
No comments:
Post a Comment