Updated Armies of Middle Earth (Mordor and Khand)

Photo Credit: Warhammer.com

Good morning gamers,

Just a short interruption on this off-week Thursday to let you know that Rythbryt is finally working on those Seventh Edition updates to our Armies of Middle-Earth Series. :-P The format has had to change slightly, because traditional "factions" have gone away, giving way to multiple army lists (and for some/most of these lists, you need 2 army books plus maybe a Legacies PDF to get the entire roster of profiles that each can take). Plus, you know... some profiles have changed and stuff. :-P

First up this week are Mordor and Khand, which you can access via their old links here:

• {7th Edition} Mordor in the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game
• {7th Edition} The Variags of Khand in the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game

Each write-up has been updated to include the complete roster of all profiles that have the "Mordor" and "Khand" faction keywords (respectively), complete with a unit-by-unit summary of which lists can field these models now, what benefits the model gets (if any) from being taken in that particular list, and where you can find the original profile as well as the army list (Armies of the Lord of the Rings, Armies of the Hobbit, Armies of Middle-Earth, or Legacies). In addition, we've updated the general strengths/weaknesses of the "faction" as a whole, and updated our final section to talk (briefly... or at least briefly-ish) about why you might prefer one Mordor list over another, and which lists lean heavily into a specific theme, allow you to replicate older alliances, etc.

As with everything we do, this is a work in progress--and it turns out that updating some of the larger write-ups takes some time when you need to sort through three books (and occasionally an army builder) to get the whole picture (the Mordor update alone took about 10 hours... hopefully the rest will be faster, now that we've ironed out the process some). Still, we hope this proves useful to you as you begin to navigate the new edition. And don't forget, you can also catch up on our profile reviews for the new edition over on this page.

Finally, as always, please let us know in the comments if there's anything we've missed or can improve (or if there's a particular faction you'd like Rythbryt to prioritize next--rumor is that he's looking at dwarves, camels, and fellows if left to his own devices ;-) )!

Armies of Middle-Earth SBG: Countering Angmar, Part 4 -- Avoiding (Avoidable) Mistakes on the Table

What?!?! Back for more tricks?!?!

Photo Credit: Hint--I'm a creature of habit (it's me again)

Editor's Note: This article is part of a larger series on dealing with Angmar. Click the links for Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

* * *

The semester's over, so I'm back baby! (Raise your hand if you had an article from me on your bingo card for today ;-P )

As some of you may recall, over the Summer we explored strategies to counter Angmar (if you missed it, or need a refresher, you can check out the previous articles on dealing with Terror, maintaining control over our own pieces, and weathering magic spells by clicking the links). In terms of list-building, these are the primary tactical issues that we'll want to make sure we address, or at least think about. And as we discussed at length, most armies have at least some tools available to counter these tactics (or at least make things harder for the Angmar player).

What I want to talk about in this fourth and final discussion, however, is something that often gets lost in all the tactics: mental overload. I touched on this some in my write-up of the Angmar faction proper, but playing with and against Angmar lists (especially optimized Angmar lists of the magic-heavy variety) is a taxing thing for both sides. And in taxing situations, it's easy to forget things that should be obvious, scrap our game plan because we think we see "ghosts,"* and make mistakes. So here's the big-picture idea:

Whenever Angmar has a lot of nasty debuff pieces, you want to make their job harder (not easier) by planning ahead, avoiding simple mistakes that play into their hands, and pressing on. 

Admittedly, that's easier said than done, especially against an experienced Angmar player. But here's a few "meta-tactics" (plus a few practical tactical tactics) that can help us accomplish that primary goal.

* Although when playing against Angmar, you may in fact be seeing actual ghosts...

Reminder 1: Playing Angmar does typically make risk-taking more dangerous, so plan accordingly. We've all done them--those risky, "Hail Mary" plays that put all our chips on the table. A hero calls a heroic combat in a fight where the opponent has one more model than we'd prefer; we do a cavalry charge knowing that everything will come down to the 50-50 roll-off next turn; we march 15" into the line of fire, knowing that if we can just weather this turn of shooting, we'll catch them in the open next turn; we call 4-10 heroic combats in a singe fight phase, hoping to evaporate the enemy's battle line. We'd like to think that every game can be won with planning, precision, and patience. But we know there's games that come down to daring, guts, and dumb luck.

The reality is that Angmar has lots of ways to muck up those risky plays, and then to capitalize on any mistakes we made (especially if you're moving first and Angmar moves second). And an Angmar player wants us to think that because of that fact, we shouldn't take risks like we normally would. Just play it safe--conservative. Now there's certainly something to be said for conservative play against Angmar (if nothing else, that style tends to commit fewer of the "stupid" mistakes that Angmar can really capitalize on, which we'll talk about at the end). But you can certainly take risks against Angmar--you just need to take Edna Mode's advice, and have a plan in place should the risky play fail.

Sage advice, that.

Photo credit: pinterest.com (not me this time... I'm not this creative)

So how do we do this? Here's a couple of practical questions to ask ourselves at the start of the game (and periodically as the game progresses):

What's my target priority this round and next round (at least)? One of the best tips for combatting mental fatigue is taking the initiative (i.e., taking control of things you can control), and pressing your advantages. Think of it as being active/positive-minded ("What am I going to make happen?") instead of passive/negative-minded ("What nasty thing is going to happen to me next?"). After all, we are a participant in the game (not just a passive observer), same as the Angmar player. So we should participate.

Threat assessment is an important part of any game, and games against Angmar are no exception. But Angmar armies often have more threats than we're used to dealing with at once, so we need to be constantly assessing and re-assessing what's the most dangerous thing to us, as well as what weakness(es) we're going to exploit to buy us some breathing space. If it's Gulavhar, am I going to avoid him? Try to bait him over to a far flank? Pour every available shot into him, and try to scare him off? Or am I going to ignore him because he'll have trouble causing my Terror-causing Black Numenoreans (or because my big hero can deal with him later, as long as I can eliminate his supporting Barrow-Wight in the first two turns)?

Now again--this kind of in-game calculus feels like it takes on added significance in a match-up with Angmar (because the threats are more varied, and in some ways more subtle). But the calculus itself isn't any different from what you would typically do against any other opponent. And that's sort of comforting, if you think about it long enough. 

Armies of Middle-Earth SBG: The Kingdom of Moria in the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game

And they say Gimli wasn't in Moria...

Photo credit: Quora.com

Something something something BALIN!!!

So there's more to this list than just Balin, of course (FLOI!!!). But if you're opting for the Kingdom of Moria instead of a generic Khazad-Dum list, you're by definition opting for Balin (and his mates) instead of Durin (and his mate). As we'll discuss in the rest of this write-up, that's not a bad thing (Balin is good, and a couple of his mates are great). But that's the trade-off.

Having said that, apart from the changes to the hero suite (two subtractions, five additions) and alliance matrix (which is all Red), you don't lose really any of the options in Khazad-Dum... which means that if you came over here after reading our army summary of Khazad-Dum, you're going to see a lot of repetition. I've tried to front-load some of the differences to save you time... but as much as I love you guys, I wasn't going to re-write everything I've already rewritten.

Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu!

Army Quick(ish) Hits

• Strength: A solid (though restricted) suite of heroes. Believe it or not, Moria actually has a better suite of heroes than Khazad-Dum does. Yes, your top-end talent is limited (Kingdom of Moria has no power-curve equivalent to Durin), but apart from Durin, the only other model you absolutely can't take is Mardin... and let's be honest, even most Khazad-Dum players weren't going to take Mardin unless the points level is very high. Every other hero, however, is on the table. Dwarf Captains provide that all-important Heroic March, which you will usually want because (a) dwarves move only 5" base, (b) this particular dwarf army has no cavalry options, and (c) Durin, unlike Balin, doesn't have access to Heroic March for some reason. At Fight 5, Strength 4, and Defense 7 base (8 with shield), they're also reliable tanks when they aren't pushing your army from place to place. If you'd like to double-down on your support role to get both speed and magic defense, Dwarf Kings have access to Heroic March and Heroic Resolve, with an extra point of Will (2/2/1 Heroic Stats), higher Fight (F6), and base Defense 8. Plus, with the errata, they're now Heroes of Valour, with the ability to bring up to 15 warriors (and ally with other yellow/red factions... which is all of them). The Dwarf Shieldbearer offers a way to buff your force's global courage in the absence of Bodyguard, while also offering a buff to some of your combat pieces with his ability to call free Heroic Combats sometimes (In Defense of the King). Last but not least, the King's Champion is one of the best generic heroes in the game, capable of slaying heroes or troops (F6, S5, 3 Attacks, and Heroic Strike with 2/1/1 Heroic Stats) or tanking something really nasty (2 Wounds, D7-9, and 1-5 Fate, depending on where his supporting Heralds are). Oh, and he comes with two heralds with two 3" banners included in his points cost, for fewer points than a Great Beast of Gorgoroth. Finally, Kingdom of Moria gets access to four additional heroes to help take the "sting" out of losing Durin (and Mardin): 

Armies of Middle-Earth SBG: Khazad-Dum in the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game

Something wicked this way comes...

Photo credit: Brrokk Barrowbane

So if you showed up this week hoping for our wrap-up on countering Angmar... sorry. My hands stopped working.

Instead, I've got a more traditional "Armies of Middle-Earth" for you, on the OG tanks in MESBG: the Dwarves of Khazad-Dum. So hopefully all is forgiven.

Cards on the table: when it comes to elves vs. dwarves, I'm solidly on Team Dwarves. I don't remember if dwarves were the first faction I played when Tiberius and Centaur finally persuaded me to play MESBG (shortly before it became MESBG), but it was definitely one of the first. And at the time, the only way to play dwarves (at least in our gaming group) was Khazad-Dum. So this list has always had some sentimental value for me, and I expect it will always be so (although that does not explain my snail's pace when it comes to painting their models). 

I'm splitting this review up into two parts because the new edition of the rules split this faction up into two: Khazad-Dum (today) and Kingdom of Moria (next time). I'm doing this even though those of us who play know they're really the same faction differentiated by a single (albeit, important) hero choice: to Balin (and Floi) or not to Balin (and Floi)? As such, if you stumbled on this review after reading the Kingdom of Moria review, you'll see some overlap (and vice versa). I've tried to front-load the differences (so you can gloss over the rest), but apologies on the front end if you find this repetitive (It's not my fault!).

As always, you'll find a list of handy community resources at the end, but I want to flag the 4.5 hour gem that is the Green Dragon Podcast on Khazad-Dum--way more than you'll ever need to know about what makes Khazad-Dum amazing... so definitely read this first (otherwise, you won't need it).

Army Quick(ish) Hits

• Strength: Dwarves = TOUGHNESS. Stat-wise, there's two things that make dwarves "dwarves" in MESBG: they move 5" instead of your "standard" 6" (more on that shortly), and they have ready access to D7 warriors (or better), and even more defense on their heroes. Add these excellent defensive stats to very good combat stats overall (Fight 4, with ready access to shields and banners), and generally access to axes and/or Strength 4 on their warriors (if not both), and dwarf armies become tough to engage, tough to wound, tough to shift, and they're tough to rout. The Kingdom of Khazad-Dum is no different, with Courage 4 standard on all your core units and Defense 7 on most models (the notable exception are your skirmishing Dwarf Rangers, Dwarf Warriors with bows, and Iron Guard--all of which make up for the lack of D7 with other stats / shenanigans). Add in Bodyguard on your Khazad Guard, Courage rerolls from the Shieldbearer, banners aplenty, and shields everywhere (for both more attacks and an option for non-lethal strikes), and you have a force that can perform well at all stages in the game.

Armies of Middle-Earth SBG: Countering Angmar, Part 3 -- Weathering Overwhelming Magic

Ooooo... spooky!

Photo Credit: Me

Editor's Note: This article is part of a larger series on dealing with Angmar. Click the links for Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

We left off last time talking about how list-building is only part of the picture when it comes to countering what Angmar can do: there are definitely list-building choices that help (and some that decidedly don't), but at the end of the day this is a game that is (usually) decided on the tabletop, by tactics and movement (and, of course, dice). 

As we transition to dealing with the third of Angmar's core strengths (magic), there will still be important list-building decisions for us to think through. But we'll be talking more and more about those list-building decisions in the context of how they are likely to play out (and even affect what happens) on the tabletop. That's important, because as we'll see (1) not every list has equal list-building counters to magic, and (2) almost no list has a fool-proof answer to magic on the scale to which Angmar can (and usually does) marshal it. 

The raw output of Angmar's magic attack is overwhelming, and its potency is debilitating.

Before delving into the potential solutions, let's have a quick refresher about the way magic works. If you're new to the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game, played under the old rule-set and want a quick summary of what's changed, or if you've been playing for a bit but magic is not common in your area, I recommend that you push "Pause" here and check out Tiberius's primer post on Revisiting Magic. While Tiberius and I don't agree on all aspects of MESBG, he's thought about magic a lot more than I have, and his knowledge of how it works (and, by extension, how to counter it) is, at best, second to only a very few. Plus, your reading his article saves me a lot of typing.

Armies of Middle-Earth SBG: Countering Angmar, Part 2 -- Repelling the Shut-Down

Still evil! Still spooky! Still mine!

Photo Credit: The author, himself

Editor's Note: This article is part of a larger series on dealing with Angmar. Click the links for Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

If you're just joining us, this is an ongoing series about how to build forces that would feel reasonably comfortable countering Angmar. While there are definitely certain lists that have advantages against Angmar (more to come on that score in parts 5-8), my goal with this particular series is to help identify the tools that every faction (or at least almost every faction) has to deal with Angmar. Some have more tools than others, certainly; but when you dig in and drill down, it's surprising how many factions actually have multiple tools they can draw upon.

In Part 1, we talked about how to get around the Terror that Angmar generally brings to the table (as it turns out, there are a lot of strategies we could try). This time, we're turning to what may be the most oppressive aspect of an Angmar list: it's ability to shut down or take out your army's key pieces. We're focusing primarily on the non-magic ways Angmar does this, but don't worry: we still have plenty to talk about (plus, countering the magic is coming next time, so I've got you).

If you have a model that's essential to your army, Angmar can probably affect it, shut it down, or take it out before it does what you need it to do.

One of the many practical problems that players face when facing Angmar (especially if it's your first time playing against Angmar) is that if you have something essential to your army, Angmar can probably take it out (and usually quickly). Exactly how it does this takes many different forms (depending on what exactly is in Angmar's list, and how many of a given profile are in it), but here's some of the many ways Angmar can mitigate / take out / depower your key models: 

• Terror front line / Harbinger of Evil / Drain Courage against low-courage heroes (so they cannot charge without burning Might or Will);
• Magical spells like Transfix / Paralyze to incapacitate a hero;
• Compel / Spectres to pull targets out of position / into dangerous positions; 
• Monsters (often flying monsters) to challenge enemy heroes, deal huge damage, and / or disrupt the opponent's battle lines; and
• Heroes who either neuter your heroic actions (the Tainted) or drain your resources (the Dwimmerlaik, Shades, and Barrow Wights)

Fortunately, Angmar can't take all of these things in a single list unless you're playing at absurdly high points levels. But Angmar can take most of these things at most points levels, and therein lies the problem. Most army lists have some sort of way to avoid, incapacitate, or assassinate at least one priority target in the opponent's army (even if that way is "Strike and hope"). If Angmar can take this model out of the equation through one (or multiple) of these mitigation tactics, however, your force may not be able to deal with everything else that Angmar has.

In the same vein, if you over-build your force to address one particular problem posed by Angmar, you may not have enough in your force to address other problems Angmar poses. By way of example, Terror is the primary problem that most opponents need to solve against Angmar. But if your entire game-plan is keyed around charging Terror models (especially if your solution rests on a single model sticking around), you may not have the tools you need to keep Angmar from assassinating that target (thereby depriving you of the tools you need). By the same token, most armies' solution to dealing with big enemy heroes is to have their own big hero deal with them. But if Angmar can tie up your own big hero with one or two of their smaller ones (i.e., a couple of Barrow Wights spend four turns casting two Paralyze spells a turn at your Aragorn), you may find yourself without any answers to Angmar's own big heroes (and there are some big heroes in Angmar which, left unchecked, will wreak havoc on most opponents).

Armies of Middle-Earth SBG: Countering Angmar, Part 1 -- Dealing with Terror

Photo Credit: ME!!!! (Thanks, me!)

Editor's Note: This article is part of a larger series on dealing with Angmar. Click the links for Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

It's still summer (which means I still have time to write :-P), so I'm back with another Armies of Middle-Earth! 

As you probably gleaned from the title, this one's a little special: instead of doing our usual blow-by-blow of a particular faction (there are a couple more of those in the pipeline that I think I'll get out before I start teaching again in the fall), this series will zero-in on how to counter a particular faction that seems to cause an inordinate amount of headaches for many players: Angmar.

If you're not familiar with Angmar (unlikely since you're reading this article, but still...), I'll be referring throughout to concepts that I discuss in our write-up on Angmar proper. If you need a refresher on the faction (and have an hour or so that you can devote to reading), I'd at least recommend looking at the discussion of strengths and weaknesses at the start (although the list of recommended community resources at the end may prove useful if you're interested in learning more about the faction). 

Finally, while this series will be keyed towards countering Angmar specifically, a lot of the list-building concepts and ideas we'll discuss will have applications beyond Angmar. So I hope it helps to get your creative juices flowing.

• Part 1: Dealing with Terror (July 2023)
• Part 2: Repelling the Shut-Down (July 2023)
• Part 3: Weathering Overwhelming Magic (July 2023)
• Part 4: Avoiding (Avoidable) Mistakes (March 2024)

Attacking the Weak, Avoiding the Strong

One of Sun Tzu's great principles in The Art of War is to attack where the opponent is weak, and to avoid where the opponent is strong. I often think about this principle when I'm thinking through list-building ideas for competitive play: is there anything I can throw into this list that will be able to exploit at least one weaknesses in common, competitive armies while perhaps blunting something that they typically excel in? Since Angmar is an army with a lot of strengths and weaknesses, I think this approach gives us a good chance of identifying both army lists and in-game tactics that can give us a competitive edge against most Angmar forces.

Over the course of these write-ups, we'll be working our way through several strengths that Angmar brings to the table. Using our original Armies post as a starting-point, and assuming that most Angmar lists you'll face will be what I will call "typical" Angmar lists (i.e., a pure force with the Army Bonus, at least one Ringwraith, 1-3 Barrow Wights, 1-2 Monsters, some Specters, and a decent chunk of Orcs who cause Terror -- as opposed to something weird like, say, Buhrdur with ten Cave Trolls), here's the strengths we'll be targeting:

• TERROR: There will likely be a lot of Terror (probably buffed by Harbinger of Evil). 
• SEEK, CONTROL, DESTROY: If you have a model that's essential to your army, Angmar can probably affect it, shut it down, or take it out before it does what you need it to do.
• MAGIC: The volume and potency of Angmar's magic attack is overwhelming and debilitating.
• MENTAL MISTAKES: Angmar has so many tools at its disposal, that it's easy to feel "oppressed" or "frustrated," resulting in avoidable mental mistakes.

We'll cover all of these strengths in upcoming articles (along with some articles on a taxonomy of heroes and the best factions for good/evil to combat Angmar), but I wanted to start the discussion today with Terror because it's the most obvious aspect (and, in some ways, the aspect that's easiest to deal with) of what makes Angmar such a hard match-up for many armies. 

Armies of Middle-Earth SBG: The Army of Thror in the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game

Something something something GRIMHAMMERS!!!

Just kidding. There's more to this list, of course, but what can I say? I just love these models (even if I think they're about 20% too slim when standing shoulder-to-shoulder with their cousins from the Iron Hills). 

Azanulbizar, in all its... ferocity

(Don't sleep on Dwalin's head-bash in the foreground)

Photo credit: Rogue Prince on tumblr

Armies of Middle-Earth SBG: The Dark Powers of Dol-Guldur in the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game

Photo Credit: The New York Times

So, funny story: I started writing this post almost two years ago. Actually, it was (briefly) published two years ago (as basically a list of bullet points--very embarrassing). So this probably has the record for longest-post-never-to-be-posted (although my "Ode to Kardush the Firecaller" is getting close). Anyway, good things come to those who wait. Or in this case, very spooky things...

So yeah. Dol Guldur. Spooky stuff. Lots of Strength 4. Historical Allies with Azog, Bolg, and da boys. Spoiler alert: they're good, and surprisingly versatile.

Also, be sure you check out the Green Dragon Podcast's recent episode on Dol Guldur at some point--it's phenomenal (except for the discussion of my favorite profile in the list). Definitely worth your time, especially if you have pressing painting projects.

Onward!

Armies of Middle-Earth SBG: The Rangers

Photo Credit: worldanvil.com

Summer is here again, and so it's time for my annual tradition of trying to finish this series on army lists.    :-P To get back in the swing of things, I figured I'd start with two lists I've spent a lot of time playing over the last year: the Rangers and the Dark Powers of Dol Guldur. The Rangers won the coin flip, so here we are.

While this list is not the most competitive list out there, my personal experience is that it is both (1) an absolute blast to play, and (2) way more competitive in way more scenarios than you might think at first glance. The secret sauce is the absurd number of heroes you can / must take, complimented as well by the assortment of heroes (and sometimes troops) you can ally with them). Having one of the best heroes in the game, with one of the best wargear items in the game, also doesn't hurt. (Can you guess which? spoiler: there are two great candidates.)

Once again, while there's a lengthy list of community resources at the end, I'll flag the Green Dragon Podcast's episode on the Rangers at the outset: definitely give that a listen if you have a lengthy painting project. Devin Moreno over at the DC Hobbit League did a great review of the Rangers after the new edition dropped, both on YouTube and with Mik at Veni Vidi Double. Finally, I have listened many times to the Green Dragon's post-tourney report from Ardacon 2018, when Kylie ran a now-outdated Ranger-heavy list that used the same run-and-hit tactics that continue to make the Rangers so dangerous. If this is a list that interests you, those battle reports give a lot of insights into how to run that list well.

Shall we?

Armies of Middle Earth SBG: Re-ranking Jay Clare's Top-10 Combat Heroes (Good)

Photo Credit: Gil-Galad on Facebook

Back in November, the legendary Jay Clare posted a list of his top-10 combat heroes for the forces of good. If you somehow haven't read it yet, I highly recommend you do so--it's well worth the read. 

The list prompted a fair bit of discussion in all corners of the MESBG community (as lists tend to do), including our TMAT community (in the form of a lengthy e-mail chain). The timing was fortuitous, because we've been thinking about this topic a lot lately.

Initial Impressions

Who are these little orcs? Voo-rahooom!

Photo Credit: Warhammer Community

I had several impressions after reading Jay's list. The first is that, overall, I think it contains most of the usual suspects one would expect. King Aragorn, Gil-Galad, and Elendil are probably in anyone's top-10 of LOTR-era heroes, while Dain and Champion Dwalin have sterling resumes from the Hobbit-era. Having played recently with Helm Hammerhand (and having a ball, even though he was unhorsed round 1), I can see his appeal as well.

Those six heroes share a lot of common features. All have either beefy combat stats (F6+, 3 attacks) or the ability to strike infinitely, and they also have the option to get a +1 to-wound (and sometimes better) and take a mount. Extra attacks on the charge, with a knock-down, and to-wound boosts will kill a lot of things.

The most surprising inclusions (for me) were Eomer and Durin. Both are incredibly tanky combat heroes (3/3/3 with 3 attacks/wounds for Eomer, and of course Defense 9 with a free 6+ save on all wounds for Durin), but their killing power suffers compared to the others (Eomer because he has no +1-to-wound option, while Durin lacks the high-end damage that comes from having a mount). 

Less surprising inclusions for me were Thranduil and Boromir (of the Minas Tirith variety--the Fellowship profile for Boromir would have been surprising). But they also have some questions. While both can take mounts and have spectacular Fight Value (7 base, plus Strike), neither has a way to get a to-wound bonus beyond spending Might (as neither has a hand-and-a-half sword, much less a rule like Weapon Master or Burly). And yes, I know Boromir can technically take a lance, but if he does he can't take the Banner of Minas Tirith--and let's face it... if you're running Minas Tirith Boromir, aren't you 99% of the time taking the Banner of Minas Tirith?

There were also some surprising omissions. Eomer is great, but when it comes to kill-power, his cousin Theodred might be a better. Eomer undoubtedly has the edge when it comes to toughness (3 wounds/3 fate is way better than 2 wounds/1 fate, after all), but while neither has a +1 to-wound option, Theodred at least gets to reroll all failed to-wound rolls (which makes his damage much more reliable, especially against high-defense targets like monsters or other big heroes). Treebeard is another surprising omission. Like Durin, he doesn't get any charge bonuses, but with Fight 8, Strike, Strength 8, access to Rend, some nasty brutal power attacks (Bludgeon, anyone?), and Strength 10 stones, he looks like a top-10 combat hero. And when it comes to crazy stat profiles, there's nothing crazier than the Champions of Erebor on Chariot.

Very dangerous over short AND not-so-short distances!

Photo Credit: Contains Moderate Peril

Part of the reason rankings like these are so hard is that while there are some stat characteristics that play an important role in being able to kill other models (fight value, strength, and attacks), there are a lot of other factors that impact how effective a profile is at actually being able to kill other models. 

Staying power is just one example (it's hard to kill something, especially a big something, if you can be easily one-shotted). Mobility is another--apart from the charge benefits that come from being mounted, moving an extra 4-6" per turn gives you more targets to choose from. 

The type of models that you're trying to kill also impacts what stats you need. The higher your fight value, the better your chances of killing monsters or other big heroes. But all you need to effectively kill 90% of most troops is Fight 6 (and Fight 7 is just as good against non-monster troops as Fight 9 or 10). A lot of big heroes, monsters, and even troops cause Terror, so if a combat hero has low courage their effectiveness may decrease dramatically. And, of course, there's the number one blunter of combat heroes of all time: enemy magic (Transfixed heroes can't make strikes, after all). 

As we mentioned towards the end of our last TMAT Talks podcast, the final categories in our "top-100" series are focused on "slayer" models, so we've been mulling these ideas over a lot lately. We've already recorded some of our rankings, which includes several subset categories (like "sub-100 point slayers") as well as top-50 slayers for both the forces of good and forces of evil... but we're not quite done yet. 

In the meantime, I thought I'd tease things a little bit by taking Jay's list of ten good heroes and re-ranking them based on how they slotted into my own top-50 list. It'll also give you a sneak-peek at the approach we'll be using in our massive slayer pods, which will start to drop over the next couple months. 

As with any "rankings," these are to some degree subjective, and you'll almost certainly disagree with some of these (Centaur and Tiberius certainly do). So be sure to let me know what you think in the comments!

Armies of Middle-Earth SBG: Angmar in the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game

Photo Credit: Game Art on Pinterest

Yes, we're back from hibernation with another Armies of Middle-Earth write-up! The Fall semester is usually pretty full for me (because life), so I wouldn't get your hopes up for more of these in the near-future. But I thought I'd make an exception for everyone's favorite faction to play against (just kidding): Angmar.

Those of you who have been following this series probably noticed that we skipped over Angmar when we did our cadre of evil army reviews last year. That was intentional, because my own experience in Angmar was... basically non-existent. And while there's a lot of stuff in Angmar that looks good on-paper, I had a suspicion that to truly appreciate what it can do, you had to experience it. So that's what I did, over the course of this summer, as I got ready for TMAT's THRO tournament (where I took an Angmar army). Now that the tourney is over--and armed with all the things I learned--I finally feel like I can do Angmar justice.

Spoiler alert: this army is crazy good, and I'm hardly the first person to say that. You'll find our standard list of recommended resources in the back, but I'll flag a few that I particularly liked--and used a lot when preparing my own Angmar force for THRO--here at the outset. Taylor over at The Nazgul Times has a great break-down of all the profile choices in the army. My take is slightly different than his on some things (mostly the Dwimmerlaik and Warg Riders), but his insights are fantastic. For a panoply of list-building ideas, check out Mik's Fog of War post on Angmar with Dave Nolan (Dave's instincts are more in-line with mine--WK and barrow-wight spam--while Mik loves the trolls, wargs, and especially Gulavhar that can make Angmar particularly scary). Tiberius posted his own thoughts on balanced Angmar lists last Spring in his Bare Necessities Series. Lastly, if you have painting projects and are looking for something to play in the background, I would highly recommend the Green Dragon Podcast's recap of Ardacon 2019's Masters Tournament (featuring Kylie's Angmar army), supplemented if you like by video coverage of three of her rounds courtesy of STF Wargaming Studio (though I don't know that you'll get much painting done if you have that on in the background). Tiberius, Centaur, and I also talked about Angmar quite a bit in our lengthy recap of the THRO tournament (complete with some battle reports), in the highly unlikely event you want to hear anything more from me. Edit: And, as a special treat, you can now listen to the Green Dragon's full faction break-down of Angmar. Plus a whole bunch of other links to other community resources at the end!

Alright, here we go... 

(although for full thematic effect, you'll have to run this music track in the background)

Armies of Middle-Earth SBG: Azog's Legion in the MIddle-Earth Strategy Battle Game

Our subject today was spoiled last week, so no elaborate intro for these guys. But that's oddly appropriate, as this army is all-business (as in the business-end of a cleaver).

Azog has come to blot out the line of Durin. If that makes you happy, read on (and perhaps seek some help?).

Praise me, my peoplez!

Photo Credit: 4.bp.blogspot.com on Pinterest

Armies of Middle-Earth SBG: Azog's Hunters in the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game

As promised, the forces of Evil have arisen to beat back the upstart collection of men, elves, and dwarves who have dared to lay claim to the title of "greatest Hobbit army" (and their oddly-isolated mountain fortress). Today we deal with their light-weight brigade, that soften up the enemy before the weight of the full army crushes them.

That would be Azog's hunters. They're particularly brutal--even to each other.

Boo!
Photo Credit: hole-intheground.blogspot.com

Armies of Middle-Earth SBG: The Survivors of Lake-Town in the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game

In stark contrast to the last army list we covered, this one is far more humble in its outlook and bearer. And a humble force deserves a humble intro:

In the lands of Lake-Town, the people of Esgaroth are led by two separate yet equally important groups of heroes: the family of Bard who stick together through thick and thin, and the militia captains of Lake-Town who buff their numbers.

 

These are their stories.

*dun-dun*

I think they're onto us, son...
Photo Credit: denofgeek.com

Armies of Middle-Earth SBG: Thranduil's Halls in the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game

I generally try to start these off with a cool graphic that shows off a key character from the force we're talking about, and also subtly hints at the flavor and tone of the army (and the write-up). Sometimes this is hard to do. 

Today is not one of those times.

Photo Credit: tumbler.com

So yeah... we're talking about Thranduil today. He's kind of a diva, so this makes him happy.

(And yes, there's other things in the list, too).