The New Age Is Begun: the Fords of Isen Army List

Good morning gamers,

We're back for another week in Rohan month (Volume III!) with the Fords of Isen army list. A while back, the TMAT team did a podcast episode where we drafted Legendary Legions and I got the first pick of the first round. My choice was easy: Theodred's Guard. I took them to a low-points event that Centaur threw and came in third with them (tying one of my best performances at an event) and I know I wasn't alone in the international community for thinking they were good. Still, this list may have been a controversial choice for some, but I think most players would agree that it was playable if not very good - and then when the new edition arrived and you couldn't run it anymore, I eagerly awaited the arrival of the Armies of Middle-Earth book and the resurgence of a proper mixed-arms Rohan list (one that didn't require the War of the Rohirrim heroes, most of whom I still have to buy). With the release of both the Armies of Middle-Earth and the Legacies documents, we have a pretty good army list that has only gotten better with a recent errata. Let's see what's cooking for one of Rohan's finest lists!

The Fords of Isen: Changes for 2025

Profile Selection

This list has more profiles available to it than the Fields of Celebrant list - but only if you allow Legacy profiles to play, which seems fair considering the Fields of Celebrant is a Legacy list. For named heroes, we have to take Theodred and we can/should take Elfhelm and we can also take Grimbold if Legacies are in play. For generic heroes we have Captains of Rohan and maybe King's Huntsmen. On the warrior front, we have Rohan Royal Guards, Riders of Rohan, Rohan Outriders if Legacies are in play, and Warriors of Rohan (who can technically be taken as one of two forms, Warriors of Rohan or Helmingas, if Grimbold is in your list - though only in his warband).

That's . . . not a lot of profiles, but as is usual for not having a lot of profiles, this list makes up for that with a lot of special rules - some of which are copied over from the Legendary Legion of last edition (which I always thought had an excellent set of special rules).

Army List Bonuses

For army creation rules, we have to take Theodred (I don't know why you wouldn't in any case) and we can take up to 50% throwing spears, thanks to an errata - we are definitely going to take advantage of that! There are two passive rules that are pretty good: when your army breaks, all of your models gain Dominant (2) (Resolute Rohirrim) and everyone (including Theodred) gets Sworn Protector (Theodred), so they'll pass Courage tests if Theodred is alive and on the battlefield (Protect the Prince). The first rule might require some record keeping in Reconnoitre (see a recent discussion on the latest FAQ for more on that), but otherwise we're able to effectively double our army on objectives once we've lost half of our army and we don't have to worry about break tests/Terror walls so long as Theodred is alive - perfect!

Additionally, there's a fail-safe rule for Theodred that's new to the list (The Courage of Elfhelm): if he is fighting within 6" of Elfhelm, enemies cannot target Theodred with Strikes if they can target someone other than him. This means that a) we want Theodred to fight dangerous things with a buddy or three, b) we want to take Elfhelm in every list (already done, but still), and c) we want Elfhelm to stay near-ish to Theodred.

There are two notes I'd like to make about special rules that are not in this list: first, this is another Rohan list where Riders of Rohan do count towards your bow limit. Second, this is also one of a few Rohan lists where you don't get Strength +1 on the Charge. Between these two rules being absent, you're actively being encouraged not to go too hard into cavalry and instead are encouraged to bring a mixed arms force (more on that in the profile discussion below).

Profile Adjustments

Our list today has slightly more profiles than last time, but it's all Rohan and it's still a very lean list by most standards:

• Theodred, Prince of Rohan is one of several Rohan heroes who went up to F6 (I'm so glad that Rohan isn't a faction that's capped at F5 anymore) and is otherwise what he was before. He's got Leader (Rohan Royal Guards), so he's the only way in this list to get Royal Guards in your list if you like those. He's still got Reckless Charge, which both requires him to charge models if he chooses to Move (but he can choose to NOT move - it isn't like the Bersek special rule on Beorn!), but whether he's on foot or mounted, whenever he Charges, he rerolls all failed To Wound rolls when making Strikes. You can't take throwing spears on him anymore, but with Brego making it possible for you to avoid being knocked Prone (roll of a 6, modifiable by Might), he's only 110pts and remains one of the best damage-for-cost pieces that Rohan (and a lot of other factions) have to offer.
• Elfhelm, Captain of Rohan is still a very affordable hero and has 2 Fate to support his Horse Lord ability, doesn't suffer the move-and-shoot penalty with this throwing spears, and still rerolls failed To Hit, In-the-Way, and To Wound rolls when shooting, which is awesome (and why you'd want him in your list). He's also still a tank into enemy heroes with Heroic Defense and 2 Might, but he's also got 3 Attacks base now . . . honestly, I think his F4 is his "only weakness" and it's hard for me to think of any heroes that are better to take than this guy (after you've taken Theodred as your required piece - he's also very good).
• Grimbold of Grimslade is basically the same as he was - he's still a F5 infantry hero, he's only got a two-handed weapon (not as bad as last edition), and like a lot of heroes, he traded 1 Might for 1 Will (2M/2W now). He's still got Mighty Blow, which I very much still hold is a trap - he's not a hero- or monster-killer, he still doesn't have Heroic Strike (not as strong as it used to be, but being capped at F5 is a definite no-go for killing most heroes on his own), and as an infantry model, the hero you want to kill has to want to be near you . . . which most won't want to do unless they don't think you can kill them. He can still allow you to upgrade Warriors of Rohan to Helmingas for 1pt/model to give them S4 - this is actually really good this edition since Warriors of Rohan can't use Piercing Strike to reach S4 and D6 is everywhere! If you're running an infantry shieldwall with your army, taking 12 Helmingas with shields and optionally throwing spears isn't a bad option (though a little expensive at 8-10pts/model).
• King's Huntsmen went up in price by 5pts and didn't change much - they gained Sharpshooter and otherwise do exactly what they used to do . . . so I'm not taking them, but if you like them, take them.
• Captains of Rohan on horses 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 for 75pts. Without Arise, Riders of Theoden/Rohan, these guys have capped out at F4, which is fine-not-great into warriors or heroes. This list lacks any serious generic hero, so you might be bringing one of these guys in your list - definitely not before you take Elfhelm, but maybe before you take Grimbold (and definitely before you take a King's Huntsman).
• Rohan Royal Guards went up by 1pt and didn't get anything from it besides the Spear Mastery special rule. They can only be fielded by Theodred in this list, which means you're capped at 15 of them on foot or mounted (and you might do both in this list). These guys are a little pricey, but they're base F4 with F5 on the charge while mounted (and while within 12" of Theodred) and they're D6. Like the Fields of Celebrant list we looked at last time, these guys do not get S4 on the Charge, so their charge will feel a little underwhelming against D6 armies compared to some other Rohan lists.
• 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 (so they're affected by both throwing weapon limits and bow limits in this list). They don't have great courage, but they're very functional skirmish cavalry. 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 (though not having S4 in this list kinda hurts their overall effectiveness). They are also your only means of getting a banner on a mounted model in this list, so taking at least one of these guys would probably be good for the overall effectiveness of your cavalry. These guys will count towards your bow limit in this list, so your ability to spam shooting is not as strong as certain other Rohan lists (but is certainly higher than most lists in the game).
• Rohan Outriders went up in price by 1pt and haven't changed - if you plan to have bowmen in your list, if you're allowed to use Legacy models, and if you think having those bows in your list is valuable, you should definitely take these guys.
• Warriors of Rohan are basically unchanged from their Legendary Legion form in this edition (Spear Mastery is new, but was previously given to them in the Theodred's Guard Legendary Legion in the last edition), which means they are still blissfully cheap at 7-9pts with the standard equipment (and 31pts with a banner!). If taken by Grimbold, they can get S4 for 1pt/model, which as was said above, isn't a terrible choice. While not great at shooting, they're also half the cost of Riders of Rohan - and since you have 50% throwing spears in this list, you might consider taking some of these guys in case you've really gone hard into Rohan Royal Guards or Helmingas with throwing spears instead of Riders of Rohan!

It's a tight ship (like last time), but we've got most of our bases covered! Let's see what this list has going for it (and some weaknesses to be aware of before you bring it to the table).

The Fords of Isen: Strengths and Weaknesses

This list has two really great heroes with Theodred and Elfhelm. Together, fully kitted out, they cost less than 200pts and they give you 27 warrior slots - that's pretty good for a F6/3A hero and a F4/3A hero with mounts! Between Theodred's increased damage output in melee and Elfhelm's chip damage (and Heroic Defense) potential, they can be a very powerful team (and if they're in the same fight, a Heroic Defense from Elfhelm might keep Theodred alive against something really, really big).

That said, this list really lacks good heroes besides these two. Grimbold hits very hard when he wins fights (which will be easier this edition than last edition, but he probably wants a spearman and possibly a banner if he can get it). Captains of Rohan are points efficient March caddies, but they're also locked in at F4, which makes them only so-so in combat against basically anything. You don't have magic options to shut down enemy heroes (though Elfhelm might be able to do that for a little while), you don't have monsters to shake up the board (sometimes quite literally), and you don't have support heroes to buff your troops - what you see is what you get.

Like many Rohan lists, this list gives you very good shooting options - but unlike most Rohan lists, the 50% throwing weapon limit makes it the best throwing spear Rohan army list in the game (and it really isn't close). Throwing spears are a PAIN to fight against - their range is longer than standard infantry movement, which means that a good skirmish commander can move his throwing spears so that they can't be charged this turn or next turn and might still get a shot it (depending on who moves first - check out this old post - which revisited a topic from this VERY old post - for more on how to do that). Throwing weapons also double as spears, but that means that they have utility in the front rank as both shooting tools or anti-cavalry tools AND in the rear rank as shooting tools or supporting tools. Having lots of these gives you a lot of formation flexibility and you can deal an absolute HAMMERING on the charge for the second round of combat if you can wrap-and-trap.

This list is also one of the best mixed arms Rohan lists. I think the Army of Edoras does a great job of this by giving Shieldwall to cheap Warriors of Rohan for free with the inclusion of Frealaf (and that list can get to 100% bows because the Riders of Rohan don't count towards your bow limit), but this list gives you a strong incentive to take infantry and still rewards the use of cavalry models (at least on heroes, if not also for a slightly larger banner radius). In the lists you see in a moment, you'll see a lone Rider of Rohan carrying a banner - feel free to make changes to get more cavalry in the list if you want to, but the two good heroes already hit hard as your cavalry contingent and having a larger infantry base can screen for them so that they get the fights they want.

That said, this list has very limited access to D6 units and so will be dependent on the shooting to get an edge over your opponent (or else you run the risk of a predominantly F3 force getting cut down faster than they can hit back). There are plenty of lists that can do just fine without access to D6, but I don't think it's a stretch to say that D4-5 lists do have to think differently about where, when, and how they engage with D6+ army lists.

The Fords of Isen: Strategies for the Tabletop

This is going to sound weird (and basically something I haven't recommended for anything beyond a Hama-led squad in the Kingdom of Rohan): you probably want to keep your Rohan Royal Guards on foot in this list. Rohan Royal Guards bring three powerful tools to your battle line: F4, D6, and throwing spears. Whether they're in the front rank (maximizing D6 against S3 foes), second rank (with throwing spears), or as harassers outside of a battle line, these guys pose a real problem to your opponent. They're a little overcosted because their Bodyguard is superfluous with army-wide Sworn Protector (both of which are tied to Theodred), but for 11-13pts/model, they're still a very good bargain in a list that will pair them with 7-9pt models (20pts/file). While mounted Rohan Royal Guards can get to F5 and get the standard cavalry benefits, being S3 does limit their effectiveness as charging cavalry for 16-18pts/model. If you don't feel like Easterling Kataphrakts hit hard enough . . . you're basically looking at the same thing for Rohan Royal Guards on horse in this list.

I think this list really wants to maximize on its throwing weapons now that you have a 50% limit. Throwing weapons have always been good - that's why we have a 33% limit this edition. :) Throwing weapons allow you to do damage in the Move Phase when you charge, in the Shoot Phase if you didn't charge and are within range (after a full move too!), and in this list, your throwing weapons can be used in the Fight Phase as standard spears if they weren't used for shooting in the Move/Shoot Phase. All in all, they're incredibly flexible weapons for 2pts/model (costing the same as a spear and standard throwing weapon but with 2" extra range) and you want to have as close to 50% of your list wielding them as possible.

I think you also want to take a lot of bows - this includes Rohan Outriders if you have access to Legacies, Warriors of Rohan with bows as potential front-liners if you want to buff out your numbers/make a points level work, and Riders of Rohan for a banner-bearer to operate near Theodred/your battle line or to race for objectives. Rohan Outriders are by far and away the most reliable archers in the list - but having 10 of them that can hit on a 3+ while standing still or a 4+ while moving should be able to tally up close to 1 kill/round against D5-6 armies (which most armies are). If you're already getting good numbers (because your heroes are cheap and most of your infantry are pretty cheap), then whittling down the enemy before engaging might mean that you have a numerical superiority before the fight proper actually begins.

While you can certainly take Rohan Royal Guards as your frontline troops, Warriors of Rohan with shields are also a good frontline choice. While S3 bows (and melee weapons) are more than happy to cut through Warriors of Rohan with shields on a 5+, S2 or S4 weapons (range or melee) will wound them exactly the same as Rohan Royal Guards - and these guys cost about half as much as Rohan Royal Guards. Keeping the cost down on some of your troops allows you to get more of those elite units and if you can get a mass of elite troops, you can win a lot of games. If Grimbold made it into your list, you can also upgrade these guys to S4 with the Helminga upgrade - and in a game where getting your grunts to S4 is hard and getting D6 is usually easy, having the option for it here and there is an excellent option.

Finally, keep Theodred and Elfhelm together - they don't necessarily have to be in the same fight, but you definitely don't want your opponent getting a few hits on Theodred because your army will start to crumble if Theodred falls. He's the big power piece, he's the source of Sworn Protector/auto-passing Courage tests, he's one of your fast pieces - you need him alive! Elfhelm can be in the same fight (forcing a big hero to strike into Heroic Defense instead of Theodred is mean and awesome), but he can also just eat troops near Theodred so that the two are wrecking some troops together. Elfhelm might bounce off some troops, so I'd manage his match-ups a lot (even if it means Theodred needs to pull some guys off of him). They should focus on fighting grunts where they can, ideally wrapping around the enemy lines to pull spears off (and avoid spear-supported matchups themselves).

Okay, let's apply this to some lists!

Sample Lists

I'm going to say this up-front: I've fielded as many Outriders as possible in these lists. If you don't have access to them, you can save 1pt/model and take Warriors of Rohan with bows to fulfill much of the same purpose (or you can take shields on them and be more melee-oriented, but I do think it's worse). At 500 points, we can easily fill both the warbands of Theodred and Elfhelm and get a stunning amount of archery - 9 bows and 15 throwing weapons on 29 models (all but 5 of them can shoot). At low points levels, non-Fight-Phase skews (shooting and impact hits) are pretty devastating things and can make a game swing hard very quickly - and this list does it with nearly 30 models, over half of which are D6 (and most of the bows are Outriders with a 3+ Shoot Value):

As we scale up the points, I kept Theodred's warband the same, I added a Captain of Rohan on horse with shield (so D6, not D7), and fleshed out the army to 40 models with 10 bows/19 throwing weapons. This list looks REALLY good and 7 of those bows are Outriders:

The previous list basically fills all of our warbands, so scaling up to 750pts means we're not adding that many models - we're mostly adding Grimbold and upgrading some guys to Helmingas (or another Captain on a horse for about the same number of points). This list hits 44 models with 14 bows/21 throwing weapons and has a stand-alone Grimbold warband with two partially-filled bow warbands from Elfhelm and the Captain:

Conclusion

If you're a shooting afficiando like me, this is DEFINITELY a strong Rohan list to try out. No, it won't get you the full shooting options of the Army of Edoras or the Riders of Eomer, but golly do you get a lot of shooting paired with great Courage and high Defense on some of your models! I think this list is better than most people think and if you haven't tried using Theodred before, I can tell you that it's a LOT of fun!

Next time, we're headed back to the Legacies document to check out the Paths of the Druadan list. This list was also an intriguing play for me last edition, but some things about it have changed this time around. Find out what's new about the only list where you can run Woses (and pro tip: you may need more than 15 of them) next time - and until then, happy hobbying!