Good morning gamers,
One of the most popular Legendary Legions last edition was one of the first Legendary Legions that was released: the Return of the King. This list is really easy to collect - just get the Three Hunters, the King of the Dead with Heralds, and a box of the Warriors of the Dead and you're pretty much golden (especially if you use one of the Heralds as a banner-carrying Warrior of the Dead). When all is said and done, that's not a lot to spend (by wargaming standards) and you have a perfectly functional, durable army. Today, we're looking to see if that inexpensive army is actually worth taking - and if so, how you do it. Let's dive in and see what's cooking in the Vale of Erech!
The Return of the King: Changes for 2025
Profile Selection
This list requires us to take both Aragorn and the King of the Dead - these are two heroes that we'd probably want to take anyway (and if you don't want to take the King of the Dead, consider the list that we're looking at next week instead). In addition to these two, we have Legolas, Gimli, and Heralds of the Dead as our heroes (Heralds being the only generic hero option) and we have Warriors of the Dead and Riders of the Dead for our warrior choices.
I think this list lost a real opportunity by not including other options - namely Dunedain/Rangers of the North as heroes in any list and Angbor the Fearless as a required choice (instead of the King of the Dead) and Clansmen of Lamedon if you don't take the Dead. The addition of the Lamedon contingent allows you to do the Book-accurate part of Aragorn and his men arriving at the Pelennor (the Dead help them get the black ships from the Corsairs, but don't actually come to the Pelennor). I guess if you want to play with that list . . . come back next week. :)
Army List Bonuses
There are two army list bonuses that center around Aragorn and one for the King of the Dead. Aragorn gets Anduril for free (a 40pt value) and this helps him keep up with the absurdly low wounding difficulties of the Dead. Additionally, friendly Dunharrow Warriors will get +1 Fight Value while within 3" of him, which means some of your warriors (but not many at all) will be F4 . . . that's something that you used to have to get with spearmen before and now you're getting it for free - yaye!
The King of the Dead picks up a niche rule that allows him to spend a Will point when he Charges to force each enemy model within 3" of him to pass a Courage test or move as far as possible directly away from the King of the Dead. This is what Instill Fear used to do last edition - and if you're not keeping the King of the Dead from being shut down by magic, this gives you a good use for his 6 Will points.
What is NOT in the army list bonuses is the ability to take leaderless warbands (like the normal list could last edition) and there's no 6" banner rule for the dead near Aragorn. Both of these rules made the Dead of Dunharrow an interesting choice (whether in the Legion with the banner rule or on their own in a "normal list"), but we don't see either of those being an option this time. I guess that means we should by a normal banner and some of the sweet, sweet heroes we have access to.
We only have seven profiles to talk about today - most of them are worth taking in your lists:
- Aragorn saw . . . a lot of changes this edition. First and foremost, I asked TWICE (and many times via email) for Aragorn's sword to become a hand-and-a-half sword and by golly they did it. :) Aragorn also got the boost to F7, has the Ring of Barahir now for some added magical resiliency, added Resistant to Magic for even MORE magical resiliency to his already impressive set of special rules, and (wait for it) didn't increase in price at all. In this list, he levels up even more by getting Anduril for free and gives friendly Dunharrow Warrior models (aka Warriors/Riders of the Dead) +1 Fight Value within 3" of him. He no longer counts as a banner, so that's a downgrade from the Legendary Legion of yester-year, but otherwise it's all good news for Aragorn fans!
- Legolas 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 (which he always will be in this list), he can shoot while Engaged in Combat so long as he's the only friendly model in the combat (up to three times - including shooting at the guys that he's Engaged with . . . also very cool), and his Final Count rule got changed to boosting his To Wound roll while Gimli is ahead on the kill count, which is WAY better than boosting his To Hit roll in the previous edition. 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. In this list, Legolas is the clear front-runner for your third hero.
- Gimli is basically unchanged, but got a third Fate point (which is helpful) and still boasts a very strong profile. Like Legolas, he avoided a price-hike, which is also really good. He's the hard-hitting melee tank that we know and love . . . but at the same time, with all of the improvements to Aragorn, Legolas, and countless other heroes, having basically the same Gimli profile does feel a bit like someone got left behind . . . must be his short legs or something. Still, a third Fate point on a high-Defense model in an era where Piercing Strike isn't a thing is most welcome - and that high Defense status really does help him fit in with the other profiles in this list.
- The King of the Dead is a required hero and he got a few buffs over his previous version. With no points change (still 100pts), he has 8" move and F6/3 Wounds now and has 6 Will points (still) that he can use to do the 3" Instill Fear scatter maneuver from last edition. He still has Drain Soul/Blades of the Dead so his Strength 4 is super good, but he doesn't have Harbinger of Evil (in this list or any list), so wounding against Courage will sometimes not be as easy as it once was. Still, for 100pts, he's very durable (though still only has 1 Might point). I'd consider getting a third hero at nearly every points level. I would not choose for that hero . . .
- Heralds of the Dead are, at least on paper, the easiest way to get Might points on the King of the Dead - being able to spend Will points on these guys (3 Will each) so the King of the Dead can declare Heroic Actions without using Might appears to make a lot of sense. The problem with this, of course, is that the King of the Dead AND the Herald need to be alive in order for those Will points to become Might points - and they have to be used on heroics and not things like boosting rolls. For 70pts each, they're encroaching on the 100pt price tags of Legolas and Gimli . . . which means that for the cost of 2 Warriors of the Dead, you can get improved Fight Value (F6 on both instead of F4), more Fate (3 Fate on both instead of 2 Fate), 3 actual Might points with 2 Will points (instead of 3 Will points that the King of the Dead can turn into heroics), and each of them comes with a ranged weapon (Gimli has throwing weapons, and Legolas has his unnatural bow). In trade, the Heralds have 8" move, grant Resistant to Magic to nearby Dunharrow models (3" radius), have Blades of the Dead, and cause Terror - all four of which are truly good bonuses. However, I think you want all four of the named guys before you want any of these guys.
- Warriors of the Dead are basically unchanged from last edition - for 15pts once you give them a shield (16pts with a spear and shield, 39pts with a banner), you get a F3/D8 model that has S3 and wounds against Courage with Blades of the Dead. With the same solid Courage stat (4+) and an improved 8" move (with Spectral Walk, which I've skimmed over for the King/Heralds because it doesn't always come up), these guys are durable and forgiving, even if they're a bit expensive. With the added speed, it's arguable that you don't need cavalry anymore, but if you want to be able to knock enemies Prone while fighting alongside one of those infantry-only heroes or if you want to turn off enemy charge bonuses, you can consider getting . . .
- Riders of the Dead are slightly more expensive at 25pts each, but their horses are now 12" move and they're basically Warriors of the Dead with shields that pay 10pts for D6/12" move horses . . . I mean, what's not to like? You can buy these guys if you want to, but with Heroic March each turn from Aragorn and 8" move base, I think the infantry are moving along just fine (there's a 5:3 ratio of Warriors of the Dead with shields to Riders of the Dead, so your model count will only drop slightly if you take them).
That's not a big list - and it's not a lot of options - but the list very clearly leans into some very strong skews that a careful commander can take advantage of. Let's see what those are (and what the vulnerabilities that you'll need to watch out for are) . . .
It doesn't take a genius to know that an army that has D7-8 (read D8) Warriors and most of its heroes can be D8 as well is going to have great Defense. Last edition, my Dwarves and Rohan guys relied on using Piercing Strike when fighting the Dead of Dunharrow because a) it pushed their cheap-grunts to be S4 and wound on straight-6s instead of 6/4+ and b) because the Dead wounded against my courage stat instead of my Defense stat, there was no downside to using Piercing Strike and going down D3 Defense. This edition, Piercing Strike is largely out of the game (only a few profiles have the rule as it used to be) and that means that the vast majority of Warriors are going to wound these guys on 6/4+ - so even when you have F3 against F4+, you're still likely to walk away from the fight alive.
This army also cuts through most enemies easily because of Blades of the Dead. For most races, you're capped at having Courage 6+ - and often times you'll have models that are Courage 7+ or Courage 8+. Blades of the Dead allows you to treat your opponents like their Defense value is (10 - <the Courage number>), which means many foes will be treated as D4, D3, or D2 . . . put differently, you should wound most foes on 5s or 4s, regardless of how much they paid for Defense. This is not nearly as powerful as it was last edition (where you wounded most foes on 4s or 3s) because there's no Harbinger of Evil on the King of the Dead - but golly, wounding D6 troops on 5s or 4s always feels good!
In trade for this incredible Defense stat and a very impressive wounding potential, this list will always have a low model count. I know, I know, someone out there will say, "If you play at <pick a high points level>, your model count becomes fine." I heartily disagree - as you'll see in the lists at the end of the post, your ability to get the model count you want is hindered by a) having 15-25pt warriors without factoring in the cost of a banner, b) heroes who are by and large 100pts or more, and c) your only "cheap heroes" are still 70pts - more expensive than most Heroes of Fortitude. Cut the cake however you want, if each 11-model warband you're bringing is 250+ points . . . your model count is not going to be high. I'm not saying this is necessarily a bad thing, but it is a weakness that you have to plan for.
As great as those heroes (and the warriors) are, this list has a very limited set of "tricks" it can use to change the game. Yes, it probably has Legolas at reasonably high points levels. Yes, it's got Aragorn for maneuvering and cleaving through things. Yes, basically everyone has Terror. And in some situations, a "make them run" move by the King of the Dead could be super useful. This list definitely has some tricks, but Legolas can't carry the shooting war by himself against a dedicated archery army (probably). Aragorn makes your guys faster, but you won't be a lot faster than your opponents. Terror is great, but Harbinger is no longer here. There's no magic, no Brutal Power Attacks, no mounted smashy heroes. In some games, this won't matter . . . in other games, it might make all the difference.
Okay, so let's look at some strategies for this list.
The Return of the King: Strategies for the Tabletop
This list is going to be running light on models and it has very little archery - so this list needs to move quickly and for that, you're relying on Aragorn for Heroic March. As one of possibly two models in your list that won't be D8 (you shouldn't run any Warriors of the Dead without shields - it should only be Aragorn and Legolas that don't reach that point), you need to make sure that Aragorn doesn't become an archery magnet. As such, you should run March formations where line-of-sight to Aragorn is a bit obscured - formations like the Millenium Falcon formation or the Bow-Tie formation are certainly options. These formations do limit Aragorn's effective direction of traffic, but will also limit archery accessibility by having "lanes" for him to run through (and lots of bodies blocking the other routes).
You should also consider how many spears and horsemen to take. I think for most players, the assumption is to get a 1:1 ratio of spears-and-shields to shields-only - and I think this is a mistake. If you want Warriors of the Dead backed by other models, check out our article next week. In this list, you're not going to have too many options for running a shieldwall-vs-shieldwall fight - you'll be far better served by having a few spears, a horseman or two, and mostly run Warriors of the Dead with shields. Why? Because more than anything else, this list needs to be able to extend its battle line to avoid being trapped. D8 Terror models are hard to kill - unless they're trapped and heavily outdiced. A F3 (sometimes F4) model that defends by shielding can hold its own against other F3 (sometimes 4) models that are only rolling two dice - and being D8 makes your standard S3 model not that likely to kill them. On the other hand, if your F3-4 model is fighting four models, at least one of which is F5+, you're not only very likely to lose the fight, but having 4 dice (possibly 8 dice if he's trapped) looking for 6/4+ is reasonably likely to get in a kill here and there. Having a long line makes getting around you very hard - and if your boys are base-to-base, getting two files against any of yours will be hard and rare.
The most important use for spearmen is to lend an extra die to the King of the Dead (who only starts with 2 Attacks and probably isn't calling Heroic Combats to leave his spearman behind), possibly helping Legolas, and occasionally helping Aragorn. Cavalry are similarly useful in getting double-dice for the King of the Dead and Aragorn (possibly Legolas), so I would only use spears as a way to fill in points that you're missing - not as a large part of your strategy. The cavalry are a take-them-if-you-want, but since they're giving you 2 models for slightly more than the cost of 3 models, I think there's a very reasonable case for taking no cavalry at all. The lists you'll see below have skipped them entirely - but if you like them, by all means take a few.
The King of the Dead will always present a very important question for you: what is the King of the Dead's Might point for? He has Heroic March, but with Aragorn in the list, you're unlikely to need it (unless you're playing a scenario where your army has to be split up, like in Divide and Conquer). Even in a scenario like that, however, a single Heroic March with no ability to call a Heroic Move on an important turn doesn't seem like a compelling reason for me. You can call a Heroic Strike as a ditch effort to force Might out of an opponent or to go up and over a Monster Warrior's Fight Value stat, but without the ability to boost dueling rolls, there's a bit of a risk in this strategy if the King of the Dead doesn't have a lot of helping dice. Most of the time, I'd save the Might point for a) boosting an important dueling roll to keep him alive, b) calling an important Heroic Move so Aragorn doesn't have to (or because Aragorn isn't around), c) calling an important Heroic Combat to get your models to move where you need them to, or d) boosting a very, VERY important wounding roll (especially against multi-wound models that don't have any Fate points left).
While you have to take the King of the Dead and Aragorn, there is a real question about when to take Legolas and perhaps when to take Gimli - and there is very much a question about when to take both. It's almost universally agreed that Legolas has gotten one of the largest glow-ups in the new edition (did he need it as much as other people? Probably not). There are a LOT of lists that can take Legolas and usually, if you have the option to take Legolas, you probably should. While I have struggled to find a place for him recently in Ride Out lists (because I think you need to take Aragorn and having a 6" banner from Gamling in an all-cavalry list is super useful), this list benefits a lot from having Legolas - he shoots (even in melee), you can hide him easily in scenarios where you need to keep someone alive, and he is pretty resilient (especially if he has an Elven Cloak to reduce enemy archery threat).
The problem is . . . when do you have the points to fit him in? With the King of the Dead and Aragorn eating up 260-265pts, one might think "at any points level", right? I mean you can get Aragorn, Legolas, the King of the Dead, and 9 Warriors of the Dead with shields (5 with spears as well) at 500pts. Isn't that a solid plan? Well, 12 models is about half of what every other elite army will be toting - and it's probably closer to a third or a quarter of what spam armies are fielding. While Legolas's archery is super good, he's still not that likely to kill more than one model each turn (2+ To Hit even when moving half-speed, 5+ or 6+ to wound anything that's D4-7, 3 shots against anyone not Engaged or Engaged with just Legolas). Without Legolas, you can get to 16 models with a banner and 17 models (with a Rider of the Dead) without a banner. Is 16-17 models (with a banner or cavalry model) more valuable than 12 models with Legolas? I don't know - but I think it gives you options against enemy heroes. If you go from 16 models with a banner to 17 models with Legolas at 600pts, I think you have a stronger case, because those Warriors give you a solid base of attack - but if you want the armor on Legolas, I think the argument gets stronger at 650pts where you can add Legolas and 3 Warriors of the Dead with shields (20 models total).
If you're looking for a 600pt list, though, you COULD go with Gimli instead of Legolas - while Legolas wants to live in the 105-110pt range, Gimli is perfectly happy to come in at 100pts without any upgrades. Gimli will give you better melee firepower than a Herald of the Dead and 2 Warriors of the Dead with shields (equal cost), gives you 3 Might points for Heroic Combats and possibly Heroic Strikes/Moves, and he's very tanky now with D8/3 Fate. I don't know that he's worth taking over Legolas if you have the points for Legolas, but at 600pts specifically, I think there's a strong case for taking him (unless you really want 7 more Warriors of the Dead with shields - which admittedly is a strong consideration, but does cut your base available Might points in half). When it comes to taking both Legolas and Gimli, I think you have to be playing above 1000pts. You can hit 43 models at 1000pts with just Aragorn, Legolas, and the King of the Dead, which is . . . not great for a model count, but it's certainly a durable army that might be able to compete. You'll have 8 warrior slots available, so even at 1100pts, you don't NEED Gimli. At 1200pts, you probably have to take Gimli and Legolas . . . so we'll call that the point where you take them both.
Our last point has to do with fighting enemy heroes. While you have heroes like Aragorn, the King of the Dead, and possibly Legolas or Gimli, I don't think you want to use your heroes to stop enemy heroes. The King of the Dead has 2 Attacks base and while he's certainly threatening to enemy heroes, he probably only wants to fight them once they're out of Fate points (or has one Fate left). With 2 Attacks, he's quite likely to fail to get a good result - and while a spearman backing him up and maybe a friend or two to get a trap will get you a solid dice pool, I don't know that he's worth throwing into someone until they've been exhausted. To do that, you certainly don't want one of your most vulnerable models and your General to fight them (Aragorn), so I recommend using your Warriors of the Dead with shields to blunt them. Heroes like Azog want to be fighting other heroes so they get a better wounding potential . . . and D8 Warriors are a nasty surprise for any non-Monster hero (even those who get lance/two-hander bonuses). If you want to NOT defend by shielding (rolling fewer dice, but with the threat of wounding against Courage), you can force Might points out of a hero who doesn't automatically win the fight which is very strong. There's also a chance that some heroes will fail to charge you if the only units you put forward are Terror-causing Warriors of the Dead . . . in which case, you can just avoid them and try to wrap-and-trap their escorts. This army has durable warriors that might require Might points from your opponent to kill off, so I'd use them to stop enemy heroes (which in turn allows your heroes to focus on killing warriors and even out the numbers game).
Sample Lists
At 500pts our list is . . . well, small - but we knew that already. :) We've skipped on Legolas and we've opted for a 16-model list that features exactly one spear to back up the King of the Dead, one banner, the Elven Cloak on Aragorn (for reduced archery to-hit if not immunity entirely), and "lots" of shield guys. If you don't want the Elven Cloak on Aragorn, you could add 5 more spears:
We're going to do two 650-point lists today - our first adds Legolas with armor and Elven Cloak (no Elven Cloak on Aragorn in this list) and three Warriors with shields. This gives us an archery presence on a hero who is pretty decent in combat (especially if he shoots a guy that he's fighting before the fight begins). We're at a very low 20 models if we run this list, but we've added some options:
On the flip side, adding 150pts means we could go from having 16 models to 26 models if we just add 10 more Warriors of the Dead with shields. This doesn't give us the archery threat, 3 more Might points, and a hero that we can safely hide in the back in certain scenarios while still contributing to the fight - but adding 10 more D8 warriors does give you something:
At 800pts, you'd think this list would finally be coming into its own, but it only hits 30 models if you take Legolas or Gimli (you could take the maximum 35 models with 1 Rider of the Dead if you stick with Aragorn and the King of the Dead). This list isn't bad, but the model count is still very low . . . despite it all:
Conclusion
I think this list is fun, but it's not my preferred way to use Dunharrow this edition (which checks out, because it wasn't my preferred way to run Dunharrow last edition). To me, you can capitalize on the Warriors of the Dead the most if they're supported by cheaper models - last edition, that meant either a) running Dunharrow as a single faction and taking leaderless warbands, or b) running Dunharrow with an allied Minas Tirith contingent that included Aragorn, King Elessar and lots of Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields/spears (and Rangers of Gondor for fire support).
If you want to run either of these list ideas in the new edition (leaderless warbands not being a thing, of course), you have to run the Defenders of the Pelennor - which conveniently is our topic for next week (this shouldn't be a surprise, as we're closing out Pelennor month AND I've been hinting at it throughout this post). There's a whopper of a list of profiles to cover, but we've seen most of them before - and the options you get in this list rivals almost all of the other lists in the game! Find out what kinds of weird combinations we can cook with next time - and until then, happy hobbying!
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