Good morning gamers,
The month of September will tackle the last four army lists with Rohan models. We're kicking things off with a list that harkens back to when I first got started with Rohan: the Fields of Celebrant. Back in the last edition, you could run Eorl the Young with other named heroes if you were okay losing your army bonus . . . and I figured that the Might regen from Gamling's banner (which was far more reliable last edition) and the Arise, Riders of Theoden rule from having Theoden in your list made everything better (Eorl basically became a cheaper version of Eomer, slightly worse in some ways and slightly better in other ways). This edition, you don't need these boosts nearly as much - so let's see if the requirement to work with Minas Tirith (which was an option last edition but wasn't required) changes anything about how the list operates.
The Fields of Celebrant: Changes for 2025
Profile Selection
This list doesn't give us a lot of profiles, but most of our bases are covered. We have to take Eorl the Young and a Gondor King of Men (and we're limited to taking a single King of Men in this list). The list also has Captains of Rohan/Minas Tirith for generic hero support and a basic warrior unit (Riders of Rohan and Warriors of Minas Tirith) and a more specialized warrior unit (Sons of Eorl and Citadel Guard). I think there are models that would be good to add to this list, but I think what we have is perfectly functional.
Army List Bonuses
This list has the two expected rules restrictions for list building: Rohan Warriors can only be taken by Rohan Heroes and Gondor Warriors can only be taken by Gondor Heroes. I gotta say, while I fully accept these list building restrictions, it sure makes me appreciate the more open list building options you have in lists like Men of the West and Defenders of Helm's Deep, where you can mix-and-match your warbands to make each a bit more balanced and self-sufficient. This list, like a lot of other lists, has a clear build: some infantry blocks in certain warbands and a threatening cavalry charge in others.
To assist with these list building restrictions, there are three special rules that affect the models in the list. With the Gondor's Last Defence rule, Gondor models that are within range of an Objective Marker get to reroll 1s when making Strikes, which is . . . not nothing, but certainly not as good as what you see in Atop the Walls where it also affects shooting attacks. The Rohan models bring a once-per-game rule (The Charge of Eorl) that requires friendly Cavalry models (your Rohan models that are still mounted and the King of Men if he took a horse) to Charge if they choose to move and can Charge AND they get to reroll all failed To Wound rolls when making Strikes. This operates just like the Ride Out army list rule and Theodred's rule but NOT like Beorn's Berserk rule: if the unit can Charge and chooses to move, it has to Charge - but it doesn't have to Charge if it chooses not to move.
