Cavalry Charge: The Importance of Reserves and the Battle of Tinchebray

Good morning gamers,

Today we're wrapping up (at least for now) our series on cavalry by talking about the most important principle for using cavalry in MEBG: reserves. If cavalry models can get the charge in MESBG, they can be absolutely devastating - often doubling their Attacks when dueling and doubling THOSE dice when fighting most infantry models. A well-timed charge can be absolutely crushing for an enemy force, but it's that NEXT turn that can really seal the deal. If you commit all of your cavalry on one big charge, you may be forced on the following turn to risk several Heroic Moves just to have the chance of getting in a few charges. Since counter-calling Heroic Moves can be a waste of Might points, it's better to have some cavalry who can't be charged on the following turn so that someone can get charges in if you don't get to move first. To illustrate this, we turn to an important battle in history - the Battle of Tinchebray!

The Battle of Tinchebray

As usual, you can find a great visual summary of the battle on the BazBattles channel on YouTube - I absolutely love their stuff! In 1100, the ruling King of England, William Rufus, the son of William the Conqueror, was killed in a hunting accident. With no heir of his own, the bid for the rule of England was up for grabs between his brothers Robert Curthose of Normandy (who was on the First Crusade at the time) and Henry Beauclerc (who was in England at the time and was crowned in Robert's absence). When Robert got back to England in 1101, Robert got some concessions from Henry, but also identified lords who were unhappy with Henry's rule. Robert had difficulties managing his duchy and from 1105-1106, Henry "invaded" Normandy and took various castles from Robert. When Henry besieged Tinchebray castle in 1106, Robert mustered his nobles to drive Henry off.

Robert formed two lines - one with a mix of heavy cavalry and infantry, the other with infantry held in reserve. Henry formed three groups - one with dismounted knights, one with infantry reserves, and the final with heavy cavalry in deep reserves. As Henry's first corps began to falter, the infantry reserves were ordered to support the main line while the heavy cavalry swept around the exposed flanks of Robert's line. Robert saw that his forces were being flanked and called in his reserve forces - but seeing the losses mounting up on Robert's side, his reserves decided not to engage and fled the field. This led to a rout of Robert's forces, but Robert himself was taken captive and imprisoned for life.

We talk about this a lot in these formations posts, but real life isn't always reflected well in MESBG. However, the importance of cavalry reserves is a HUGE deal in MESBG and historically. It's very tempting when you have cavalry to commit them all in one big charge - but that isn't always the best plan. In this formations post, we're going to look at several different formations that will give you cavalry reserves so that you can make sure you get in a good charge on two consecutive turns. Let's take a look!

Cavalry Charge: Heavy Cavalry and the Battle of Kressenbrun

Good morning gamers,

We're continuing our discussion of cavalry tactics today and we're going to hone-in on heavy cavalry today. Whether they're lancers in heavy armor (like Morgul Knights or Knights of Minas Tirith) or cavalry with high defense but no lances (like Easterling Kataphrakts or Rohan Royal Guards), heavy cavalry are hard to shoot and can pack a punch on the charge (usually). But how do you get these units to get their points worth? Well, let's dig in and find out!

The Battle of Kressenbrun: How to Tip the Scales with Heavy Cavalry

A few months ago, we looked at the Battle of the Marchfeld, which was fought between the Bohemian king Ottokar II and the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph I and featured German heavy cavalry (as well as some Hungarian skirmish cavalry supporting Rudolph's forces). Today, we're looking at a battle earlier in Ottokar's reign, not long after becoming King of Bohemia. While he would later run up against the elected Holy Roman Emperor, his great enemy early in his reign was the Hungarian king Bela IV. For an excellent visualization of this battle, check out the BazBattles video on YouTube - as always, their stuff is excellent! You can also read a bit about it here.

Both kings contested the rule of the region of Stygia and after a series of revolts drove the Hungarian prince Stephen out, Ottokar was quick to sail in and bring the territory of Stygia back under Bohemian rule. Bela rallied a great host of soldiers from many of the neighboring countries and camped on one side of the Morava river while a Bohemian-allied force led by Ottokar encamped on the other side. With neither side wishing to be caught in the river, Ottokar issued an invitation for Bela's forces to be given free passage over the river and meet on the opposite side in a fair fight. If this sounds like the Battle of Maldon, it should - the situation is nearly the same (you know, if Brythnoth was the one to invite Olaf I to come onto his side of the shore).

While the crossing was happening, young Prince Stephen of Hungary attacked the redeploying Bohemian troops, prompting the Bohemian heavy cavalry to launch a counter-attack. The Hungarian forces that had crossed the river were quickly repulsed and the Hungarian forces lost many units to the charging onslaught and the river itself. The Hungarians were in retreat and didn't pose an external threat to Ottokar during the rest of his reign.

Whether some Bohemian troops lagged behind the rest of the Bohemian force in order to bait Stephen's attack is unclear, but what is evident is that the heavy cavalry in the Bohemian force were able to devastate the mostly light cavalry/light troops fielded by the Hungarians. In MESBG, there are several factions that can field heavy cavalry - and they're often quite expensive. When they see use, getting them to have the impact you want can also be really difficult. So today, we're going to use the principles of this battle to give us some insights into how to use heavy cavalry in SBG. Let's take a look.

Cavalry Charge: The Wag and the Battle of Val-es-Dunes

Good morning gamers,

Last month, we looked at some of the basic principles for using cavalry in MESBG and today we're going to look at one of the most common tricks a cavalry army has up its sleeves: the "wag". The term is used regularly here by Centaur and showcases how a cavalry force (usually down-handed in the model count comparison to other armies) can utilize the mounts they've paid so much for when faced with overwhelming odds. To see this, though, we're going to look at a battle fought by William the Conqueror in the Eleventh Century which showcased Duke William's great command of cavalry and strategic battlefield control. Let's take a look.

The Battle of Val-es-Dunes

You can learn more about this battle here and you can view two different visuals of this here and here. Almost 20 years before the battle of Hastings in 1066, Duke William of Normandy (later to be known as William the Conqueror) found some of his vassal nobles preparing to revolt and petitioned the King of France (Henry I) to support him in suppressing the rebellion. Henry would support William in this conflict, though would later fight against William before he departed for England. William and the King managed to rally about 10,000 men to fight the rebel nobles, who had amassed for themselves about 25,000 men - this didn't look good. William and Henry advanced to Caen and began to engage the rebels (though at least one noble changed sides from the rebels to the crown's forces before the battle began and launched a treacherous surprise attack).

William had his cavalry engage in small fights with the enemy, maneuvering and coordinating his forces to fight in one area, then retreat to break another division of the enemy army. With this hit-and-run method, the royal forces were able to rout the rebels and they pursued their retreat to kill many more. The victory was attributed to both the tactical acumen of William and the skill of the King's knights and secured William's holdings in Normandy in the immediate future (though he'd be putting down rebellions and invasions of Normandy for many years).

In MESBG, we pay a lot of points for our cavalry models and if we're not careful with them, we'll miss out on the most important benefit of these models: their increased speed. Let's take a look at how we can use our increased speed to our greatest advantage - and we'll do this by showing off "the wag."

Cavalry Charge: An Overview of Cavalry and the Battle on the Marchfeld

Good morning gamers,

We're beginning a new series of formations articles dedicated to the use of cavalry. Some factions in the game don't have access to cavalry natively in their lists (though Forces of Good factions can ally in Elven cavalry pretty easily with Haldir + Galadhrim Knights, Legolas + Mirkwood Cavalry, or Elrond + Rivendell Knights), and many factions that do have access to cavalry also have good infantry options. For a long time, I left cavalry at home, relying on the greater weight of numbers I could get from infantry spams instead of getting some/a lot of cavalry (perhaps that explains why I love Khazad-Dum so much). Perhaps you've felt this desire too.

Some factions can be competitive without cavalry - Goblin-town and the Assault Upon Helm's Deep LL chief among them. Some factions can legitimately run "all cavalry" (or very, VERY heavy on cavalry) and do well - Rohan (whether it's the Riders of Theoden LL or a vanilla hodge-podge list) and some very edge-case Erebor Reclaimed lists chief among those. For most armies, though, getting a few cavalry into your army is quite beneficial for handling objective/travel missions or for swinging a flank in favor of your infantry - but this has sparked a question in my mind (and I would guess in the minds of other players as well): what exactly does having cavalry do for me - and how do I use them effectively? If you've found yourself asking this question, let's take a look at what you can do with cavalry in MESBG - and use a rather important battle in history to showcase the benefits (and limitations of cavalry).

The Battle on the Marchfeld

For those interested in learning more about this battle, I highly recommend the Baz Battles video on the subject - their stuff is really good. By 1278, heavy cavalry were a dominant force in central Europe - the Mongols had already invaded Europe, sweeping in with a mix of light, skirmish cavalry as well as heavy lancer cavalry. In the Holy Roman Empire, German heavy cavalry (especially in Bohemia and Bavaria) were some of the most elite cavalry in the world, completely covered in plate heavy mail armor and dealing devastating damage on the charge with lances or hand weapons. The next door neighbor of Bohemia, the Kingdom of Hungary, still relied on skirmish cavalry.

During the mid 1200s, the King of Bohemia, Ottokar the II, had both gained territory south of Bohemia and lost it when the newly-elected Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph I claimed the lands for the Imperial throne. What followed was a clash between Ottokar's forces (heavy cavalry) and the joint allied forces of the Holy Roman Emperor (heavy cavalry) and some allied forces from Hungary (skirmish cavalry).

The battle began with the Hungarian horse archers harassing the heavy knights of the Bohemians. The Bohemian ranks suffered little damage, but their morale was reduced by the assault. Both lines of heavy knights charged into each other and began a bloody battle. A few hours into the melee, a (rather dishonorable and unchivalrous) counter-attack was launched by Rudolph's forces, hitting one flank of Ottokar's line and causing a panic. As the Bohemian ranks began to break, the Hungarian light cavalry swept in to assist in killing those in retreat.

Unexpected Military Formations: The Mushroom Charge

Good morning gamers,

Today we're continuing our discussion of formations and we're using as our inspiration a very exciting moment from the Two Towers: the charge of Eomer's Eored as they slam into the Uruk-Hai at Helm's Deep. 

Photo Credit: Tumblr

We've already looked at ways to fight against cavalry (see our article on the Long Fangs formation as well as our articles on the Schiltron and Tercio formations as ways of protecting vulnerable units from being gronked by a cavalry charge). Today we're looking at the other side of the coin and viewing how to maximize your effectiveness when charging with cavalry.

To illustrate the formation today, let's assume that you have the following forces in a 500-point game (if one of these armies looks familiar, it's because we viewed it recently):

• The Riders of Eomer (10 models):
• Eomer, Marshal of the Riddermark on horse with throwing spears and shield
• 3 Riders of Rohan
• 1 Rider of Rohan with throwing spears
  
• Gandalf the White on Shadowfax
• 3 Riders of Rohan
• 1 Rider of Rohan with banner
  
• The Assault Upon Helm's Deep LL (33 models):
• 1 Uber-Uruk-Hai Captain with two-handed axe [ARMY LEADER]
• 5 Uruk-Hai Berserkers
• 7 Uruk-Hai Warriors with pikes
• 1 Uruk-Hai Warrior with pike and banner
• 4 Uruk-Hai Warriors with crossbows
  
• 1 Uruk-Hai Captain with crossbow
• 4 Uruk-Hai Warriors with shields
  
• 4 Uruk-Hai Warriors with pikes
• 6 Uruk-Hai Warriors with crossbows
  

Wow - our all-cavalry army is down-handed 3:1 in this match up. While we don't have any ballistas or demo teams to worry about (worth 145+ points), we do have LOTS of Uruks to worry about (you can get ~14 Uruks for the same points as the ballista and demo team, which means +8 total models). So how do we use our cavalry effectively against such big odds?

My Tiny But Powerful Band

COVID Painting Projects: Rohan Army Showcase

Good morning gamers,

COVID has affected all of us in different ways, but chances are if you're reading this article, you play the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game. And chances are that if you were playing MESBG before COVID hit, you spent at least some time while quarantined away from friends and family painting miniatures. Well, I got the Battle for Pelennor Fields box set right around Christmas 2019, which meant that, in addition to some Riders of Rohan that I got from Centaur and some Warriors of Rohan I ordered off eBay (probably from someone else's Pelennor Fields box set), I had loads of Warriors of Rohan and Riders of Rohan to paint during quarantine.

Today's article is a highlight of the army and the different things I've done to get them all painted (most of the basing still needs to happen). I'm not the best painter (I try) and I'll tell you that painting a Rohan army looks like a deceptively small task because "you don't have a lot of models," but when you consider that each mounted model has a dismounted rider, a mounted rider, and a horse, an army of 24 warriors is actually 72 models to paint up . . . which is more than many spam infantry armies have. This took me by surprise, so here is the culmination of a LOT of work that is finally being shown to you all (though I've sneaked images of my Rohan models into tactics posts recently).

Part 1: The Heroes

Like most Rohan armies, we start with Theoden. Theoden is a great auric hero and a decent combat hero. Mounted on his armored horse, he has incredible maneuverability and can pack a punch on the charge. I prefer to have him focus on clearing out troops instead of heroes.

Next up is Eomer - because he's Eomer! I'm looking at getting the new Eomer sculpt (he's great), but for now I have the old one (with throwing spears and shield added). Eomer may not be a Top 10 hero for everyone, but he's devastating on the charge and can be hard to kill with 3 Wounds and 3 Fate (and maxes out at 125pts, though I normally leave the barding armor at home).

The Stuff of Legends: The Wolves of Isengard

Good morning gamers,

Today we're continuing our review of evil armies from War in Rohan and covering the Wolves of Isengard. There are five Isengard/Dunland Legendary Legions - Ugluk's Scouts and Lurtz's Scouts have several named heroes who provide good synergies for their armies (though they're all mid-tier heroes at best), paired with 1-2 generic heroes to fill out your list (March is a bit unnecessary in both lists, as the named Uruk-Hai heroes have it if you need it). 

Last time, we covered the Assault Upon Helm's Deep LL, which has no named heroes at all, but its generic heroes provide some added punch to an already nasty list. We'll cover the Army of Dunland in a few weeks, but today we turn our attention to the Wolves of Isengard. In my mind, this is the hardest Isengard LL to use - and yet, there are aspects of it that make dealing with certain armies (terror armies and cavalry armies) easier than any Isengard Legendary Legion we've looked at so far! Centaur takes us through this Legion today (with my usual uninvited commentaries added) - take it away, buddy!

Part 1: What Do You Need?

Legion Tax: 60-65pts

The only required model is Sharku, and even with a shield, he's only 65pts. Effectively, though, you need to take every profile in this list: you need at least one Orc Captain to call March (because we need Sharku to save his Might for fighting), Orc Shamans to deal with Courage issues, Warg Riders for killing power/banner support/ranged options, and Wild Wargs for fleshing out numbers, holding objectives, disabling siege weapons, and digging up heirlooms as appropriate. So while yes, you technically only need Sharku, you effectively need some of everything.

Unexpected Military Formations in MESBG

Good morning gamers,

We are always trying to find new and interesting formations here at TMAT - some of which have their basis in historical military formations. Today we'll look at a few formations that can be helpful in various contexts - fighting cavalry, breaking a shieldwall, and holding ground.

Formation #1: The "Long Fangs" Anti-Cavalry Formation

Have you ever found yourself staring across the field at an army of Rohan cavalry preparing to run into your front ranks and absolutely decimate your troops? Have you ever wondered how having a few cavalry models of your own can keep this doomsday scenario from working against you? Well, Rythbryt came up with the following formation to be used in a mixed arms force of infantry and cavalry. How do you prepare to meet the cavalry? By NOT having battle lines. Instead, we want a few very long teeth. 

The Stuff of Legends: The Paths of the Druadan

Good morning gamers,

We're a little more than half way done with the Legendary Legions released so far and we're back in the War in Rohan book, covering my second favorite Rohan Legendary Legion: the Paths of the Druadan. This army has an interesting mix of light infantry (all of whom can skirmish with blowpipes AND have spears) and cavalry (who can also skirmish). With the highest Legion tax for the Forces of Good, Centaur takes us through building lists with this Legion - take it away, Centaur!

Part 1: What Do You Need?

Legion Tax: 290-300pts!

Centaur: You are required to take Theoden, King of Rohan on armored horse, though if you were running Rohan without Helm Hammerhand or Eorl the Young, you were probably taking Theoden already. Theoden can take a shield and heavy armor - and you're probably taking both of them. You are also required to take Ghan-Buri-Ghan, but if you were planning on running Woses, you were going to take him anyway. Personally, I don't think he's worth the 65pts you have to spend from a profile perspective (he's only a 2.6/5 from my Overly Pedantic Stats perspective, and that's with his low cost inflating his score), and the fact that you have to take a full warband of Wose Warriors means that your "tax" is 300 points - which is a LOT (especially since you're probably going to need to also take Eomer for dealing with big bad evil guys, Dernhelm for rolling over the masses as a second attacker, and Gamling for banner support and keeping those Heroic Moves coming). So I'm not a huge fan of the tax, but it does mean that you start with a lot of models in your army as woses are cheap.

The Stuff of Legends: The Black Riders

Good morning gamers,

We've covered a lot of Legendary Legions already in this series - and today, we turn to one of the Legendary Legions I was most excited about in the Quest of the Ringbearer book (and one I ran at a tournament LONG before the Legion was available): the Black Riders. While the "actual" models (sans the Witch-King) have only recently become available (I provided four different ways to get them if you want to play through the Quest of the Ringbearer scenarios), these models represent one of the most iconic forces of Evil in the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy. While their Fell-Beast-mounted cousins are more powerful on offense, these guys are set to dominate the magical game in ways that other Ringwraiths will envy forever. Let's dive in!

Part 1: What Do You Need?

Legion Tax: 80-165pts

The only model you NEED to take is the Witch-King of Angmar on horse, who comes in at a very affordable 80 points. Functionally, he's going to come in at 100 points, because you want to give him 3 Might points and at least 1 Fate point.

Since most games are played above 200 points, you'll be running at least one Ringwraith on horse, but you really want to include at least 3 Ringwraiths on horses. Like the Witch-King, I think you want to run these guys with 2 Might each and at least 1 Fate point. This means they're at least 80 points each - and each stat improvement will cost you 5 points/model (if you're going to have these guys have different Will/Fate allocations, make sure you mark your Ringwraiths well!).

We'll be talking in the Strategy section about when to get more Will/Fate on each Ringwraith, but for now let it suffice to say that the customizability of this force is largely found in the allocation of Will/Fate to each model (I think you run full Might on all of them - even over Fate). An interesting OTHER way to customize your army is to do weapon swaps on your Ringwraiths: as generic heroes, you can swap their swords for other weapons (axes perhaps?) if you want some variety in your ranks (or just do more damage). In February 2019, I recommended giving these guys clubs so they can get the OLD version of Transfix via the Stun special strike - not sure it's worth it in this Legion because you need to be killing things, but it could be very useful (stunned models are easy to kill).

The Stuff of Legends: The Riders of Eomer

Good morning gamers,

Last time we looked at the Riders of Theoden Legendary Legion - one of the most prolific and beloved Rohan Legendary Legions. Today we look at one of the LEAST loved Rohan Legendary Legions (and the most profile-restrictive Legendary Legion to date - narrowly edging out the Return of the King and Lurtz's Scouts Legendary Legions). Does limited choices mean a "worse" Legion? Today, Centaur takes us through this remarkable Legion and some of the neat tricks you can pull out of the hat with it - take it away, Centaur!

Part 1: What Do You Need?

Legion Tax: 110-120pts

Centaur: You have to take Eomer, Third Marshal of the Riddermark on horse (and a 110-120pt Eomer at that, so you do save some points), but in truth, if you're giving up the Arise, Riders of Theoden! bonus and the universal charge bonus, you should be taking Gandalf too. This means that the list is far more effective in higher points games, though even at 500pts (as you'll see in a moment), having Gandalf dramatically changes things as he's really hard to beat in lower points games. So the "requirements" for the list, to be fair, are steep, but probably worth it.

The Stuff of Legends: The Riders of Theoden

Good morning gamers,

Today we continue our review of Legendary Legions from Gondor at War (we've already looked at the Men of the West, the Grey Company, and the Army of Gothmog) and we turn our attention to one of the most popular legions from that sourcebook: the Riders of Theoden. While many of the Legions from Gondor at War have remained popular years after its release (the Return of the King LL, the Black Gate Opens LL, and the newly-revamped Rangers of Ithilien LL among the front-runners), the Riders of Theoden is not only a good Legion for new players to try out (since you only need the starter box to get going), but remains one of the most competitive ways to play Rohan (even after Gamling's banner got nerfed). To be honest, this is a Legendary Legion that needs very little introduction - if you've played the game a few times, chances are you've played with or against this Legion.

Because everyone's probably run into this Legion before, I sent this article to one of the Legion's greatest advocates, Lachlan Linton-Keane from Zorpazorp (which, if you haven't run across his stuff on YouTube, you really need to give them a watch)! Lachie has great videos for MESBG (as well as other tabletop game systems) and great videos for terrain building, tournaments, and Battle Companies. Amidst all of these videos is the clear impression that if Lachie had another choice, he'd have been born on the plains of Rohan in the Third Age. He also sells terrain supplies (including free templates for the Minas Tirith project he's been working on with the community), so check out his store and support one of MESBG's flagship entrepreneurs! I'll be highlighting Lachie's thoughts where they differ from my own - and with that, let's dig into this Legendary Legion!

Part 1: What Do You Need?

Legion Tax: 100pts

The only model you NEED is Theoden, King of Rohan (who comes with the kitchen sink and weighs in at a very affordable 100 points). A mega combat hero Theoden is not, but his 12" Fight Value buff to Riders of Rohan, Rohan Royal Guards, and the seldom-seen-in-this-list-Captains-of-Rohan is quite useful (and is critical to how the list works). His ability to call "Death!" at the start of one Fight Phase makes him an essential piece to keep safe early in the game as well (I mean, it's one of the reasons to take this Legion over the vanilla Rohan build). With F5/S4/2 Attacks when charged and F5/S5/3 Attacks and the knock-down on the charge, Theoden has the potential to do some pretty nasty damage to enemy warriors.

But Theoden, like Gothmog (who we discussed last time), isn't an anti-hero power-piece. While he can Feint (reroll 1s at the cost of -D3 Fight Value) even when his starting Fight Value is lower (useful), he CAN fight enemy heroes, but with only 2 Wounds/1 Fate and "only" Defense 7, he's not THAT resilient (plus any wounds he suffers will give your opponent victory points in most scenarios AND he's important for your army buffs). This shouldn't be taken as a big critique - lots of Rohan heroes are D7 with 2 Wounds/1 Fate, so "it's to be expected."

The Bare Necessities, Part I: On Cavalry (or Fast-Moving Infantry)

Good morning gamers,

Today’s post kicks off a new series on the “bare necessities” for any well-balanced army to employ based on the scenarios you may have to play. While not all unit types (cavalry, archers, and monsters in particular) are available to all factions, most armies can find a way to get cavalry-like movement, archer-like shooting, or monster-like heroes into their armies. In this series, we’ll be looking at some of the most basic things to include in your army in order to give you the opportunity to score maximum points in a game (assuming that the scenarios you play are random and not pre-defined). All games are based on both how you play AND how your opponent plays AND both of your dice rolls, so while your army list doesn’t guarantee you a victory, it does decide how many points you are able to get. As a review, the following categories give you points in different scenarios:

• Getting units off your opponent’s board edge (Reconnoitre);
• Getting units within a given radius of one or more objectives/points on the map (Domination, Hold Ground, Capture and Control, Heirlooms of Ages Past, Fog of War, Storm the Camp);
• Having 1+ banners alive at the end of the game (To The Death, Heirlooms of Ages Past)
• Wounding/killing the enemy army leader or enemy heroes (every scenario, but most importantly Clash By Moonlight, Contest of Champions, Fog of War); and
• Wounding lots of models, either because you’re counting models or because you’re trying to Break/Quarter the enemy army (every scenario, but most importantly To The Death, Lords of Battle, Contest of Champions)

When you break down these five points, it leaves you with five elements of your army that you would need to include if you wanted a chance at maximum points in a scenario:

• Fast troops who can claim objectives or exit the opposing board edge;
• At least one actual banner;
• Ways of delaying/avoiding being broken (often in the form of large numbers);
• Means of killing enemy heroes; and
• Means of keeping your own heroes alive.

These five points will be the crux of what we’re going to be looking at over the next five posts. I figured I’d begin with the one that I’ve only recently come to appreciate: the inclusion of fast troops in your list for strategic purposes. In this post, we’ll be looking primarily at cavalry, though we’ll also be looking for ways you can get access to cavalry-like speed without cavalry (for the factions that don’t have access to them). For additional reading on cavalry, I highly recommend some thoughts Centaur wrote in 2012, a very detailed analysis of what mounts get you from Rythbryt in May 2019, and some of my own thoughts on throwing weapons (if you’re looking into skirmish cavalry).

Last Month on TMAT (November 2019)

November was full of other-life stuff (with personal travel for all of us), but we still got some content up! With our series on shooting continuing and a few workbench updates, there's a mixture of hobbying and tactics if you need to catch up!

Workbench Update: HORSES! (Minas Tirith & Numenor, Part II)

Good morning gamers,

So, let's begin by acknowledging that today in the US is Veterans Day - thanks vets!

Let's also acknowledge that despite a holiday weekend, my fellow admins are busy, so our collaboration post on skirmishers is slipping a week. Instead, we're doing next week's workbench update today (and, coincidentally, it's about Veterans of the Osgiliath variety).

In June/July of this year, we did two workbench updates on Minas Tirith and Numenor, showcasing some of the basing, painting, and converting we’ve been doing on the models I own. Today, we continue that work by looking at a few new acquisitions: painting up 8 more Warriors of Minas Tirith, further conversions on Osgiliath Veterans, adding spears and shields to some of my bowmen, purchasing six Knights of Minas Tirith, and painting up two Rangers of Gondor (and painting up two Aragorns and two spare Numenoreans - but we're getting ahead of ourselves).

{7th Edition} Armies of Middle-Earth SBG: The Variags of Khand in the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game

Photo Credit: LOTR Fandom

Updated: Seventh Edition (June 2025)

To the east of Middle-earth lies the fractious and war-torn land of Khand, split into untold numbers of provinces, settlements and villages. These are all presided over by a host of kings and chiefs, each one having come to rule through Ruthlessness, treachery and the acquisition of wealth, for in Khand, power lies with the ones who can best afford it, and loyalty is a commodity that can be bought or sold as if it were goods on a stall...

It is not just the kings and chiefs of Khand that can buy the loyalty of these warriors. Often the rulers of nearby lands will pay the Khandish Kings handsomely for the use of their armies when they march to war against their foes in Gondor or other enemies of the Dark Lord, for the warriors of Khand are stubborn and belligerent fighters that will refuse to back down even if they should be clearly beaten, exhibiting a savage nature for which they are famed. Their horsemen are skilled riders, and will often form a flanking force to pick off scouts and those that stray too far from the safety of the rank and file. However, the most deadly force within the armies of Khand are their chariots. Ridden by only the Kings and their most loyal followers, the chariots are able to charge through ranks of enemies, leaving fields strewn with corpses in their devastating wake...

~ Armies of the Lord of the Rings, Sixth Edition

Khand is an army so legendary (and mysterious) that it made the jump to Legacies in the Seventh Edition. Almost nothing is known of this mysterious troop in the lore (apart from the fact that they were, in fact, there at Pelennor), but in the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game, Khand has historically taken the form of axe-wielding horse archers and charioteers, which gave them a unique place in the Middle Earth we inhabit. 

If your events allow Legacy models, the upgraded version of Khand (which you can see here) received a number of buffs in the new edition, most notably to their chariots (which are now extremely tanky and difficult to table, while remaining merchants of death once they get rolling). The entire faction also remains tailor-made to take out enemy cavalry models, between their chariots (which do two Strength 4 impact hits to both horse and rider, plus have Monstrous Charge) and their generic horsemen (which are Fight 4 with bows and hand-and-a-half axes, for a slightly more balanced points cost).

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

Photo Credit: Warhammer Community

Updated September 2023: Having wrapped the forces of good at Pelennor Fields (MinasTirith, Rohan, the Fiefdoms, the Rangers of the North, and the Dead of Dunharrow [coming!]), it’s time to get evil again. While Mordor took center stage, they had a host of allies at their beckon call. Today we look at their heavily-armored allies from the north-east, the Easterlings of Rhun (even if they only made a single, brief cameo).

I’ve always liked the look of Easterlings aesthetically (like I’ve said before, I’m a sucker for heavily-armored infantry of any kind), red-gold color palate is remarkably rich. They’ve been a staple in the TMAT group for a long time (check out our pre-MESBG resources at the end), one of my sons has played them extensively in Battle Companies (chosen solely because of the Rhunish Drake), and in 2022 the faction got several major additions in the Defense of the North supplement... so yeah, they're in a really good spot now. Marshall the gleaming  horde!

Army Quick(ish) Hits

• Strength: Combat Heroes with Renewable Might. There aren’t that many that can field multiple three-attack heroes, and the ones that can almost always have to field a bevy of expensive named legends. They’re the armies you expect: The Fellowship (Aragorn, Boromir, Legolas, Gimli), Thorin’s Company (Thorin, Dwalin, Gloin, Dori), Erebor Reclaimed (Thorin, Dain, Dwalin, Gloin, Nori, Dori), the Army of Thror (Thror, Thrain, young Thorin, Dwalin), Thranduil’s Halls (Thranduil (usually), Tauriel), the White Council (Elrond, Glorfindel, Celeborn, Galadriel), Azog’s Hunters/Legion (Azog, Bolg, and potentially Ogres/Trolls), the Three Trolls (all the trolls), Minas Tirith (Aragorn, Boromir), Rohan (Eomer, Theodred), Rivendell (Gil-Galad, Elrond, Glorfindel, the twins (sometimes)), Ents, Khazad-Dum (Durin + King’s Champions), Moria (Balrog, Dragon, Drake, Watcher, Cave Trolls), Isengard (Lurtz, Mahur), Barad-Dur (Sauron, Witch-King, Troll Chieftain, Mordor Trolls), The Serpent Horde (Suladan and Raza), Angmar (Witch-King, Burhdur, Cave Trolls, usually Ghulavar), and of course Mordor (Witch-King, Khamul on Fell Beast,** Shagrat, Zagdush, Mordor Troll Chieftains, Mordor Trolls, and Gorbag sometimes). The Easterlings are on that list, too, with Amdur, Lord of Blades, Dragon Knights (plus Khamul, if you take him on Fell Beast and take the +1 Attack buff each turn), and now Rutabi and the Dragon Emperor. Plus, the fact that Dragon Knights aren’t named heroes means you can take as many of those 3 Attack heroes as your points level will allow (most other lists can’t do that, though there are some exceptions). Amdur has a fantastic stat line for dueling enemy heroes: Fight 6, Strength 4, Defense 6/7 if mounted, 3 Attacks, 3 Wounds, and 3/3/1 Heroic Stats with Heroic Strike, plus an elven-made hand-and-a-half sword for winning those crucial drawn combats. The Dragon Knights have a pretty good stat line as well (Fight 5, Strength 4, Defense 6, with 3 Attacks, 2 Wounds, 2 Might, and Heroic Strike), and are very inexpensive points-wise even when mounted on armored horses (cash-wise is a different story). Unyielding Combat Stance is great on Amdur and the Dragon Knights in case they get charged by a cavalry model or have their horse shot out from under them (4+ save whenever knocked prone, even if Knocked Flying), but the star of the show is Blood and Glory, allowing them to regain a Might point any time they slay an enemy hero. Given their stat-line, a Dragon Knight should be able to deal with most generic captains with ease, and Amdur (who gets to counter-call Heroic Strikes for free, thanks to The Lord of Blades) is a striking machine. Last but not least, those 3 Attack Striking Dragon Knights can shield, even though they have no shield (Shield of Blades), which can make them very difficult to chew through.

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

After the sprawling thematic tableaus that are Minas Tirith and Rohan, the Fiefdoms army list may seem a little... confined? But don't let that put you off your guard. This list is a power-house, packed with powerful named heroes, fantastic warrior profiles, great synergies, and so, so, so many Heroes of Valor. So gather your wing-crested helmet and mount your noble steed. To Gondor! (By way of Dol Amroth, of course.)

Photo Credit: Evan Amundsen

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

---Updated April 2024---

So I tried to think of something clever or inventive or thematic to say when introducing our faction for this week, but in the end, I couldn’t find anything better than this iconic tune (although this one is a very close second).

We’re talking, of course, about the second of the three heroic factions of men that fought at the Battle of Pelennor Fields (and other places, too, as it turns out): the Horse Lords themselves, Rohan. If you picked up the Battle of the Pelennor Fields box set when the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game was re-branded in 2018 (and didn’t sell off the model sprues for parts), odds are you have at least 12 of these guys, plus their fearless leader Theoden (more on him shortly—he’s kind of important to the army nowadays). 

The troop options in Rohan aren’t quite as diverse as what we have in Minas Tirith, but Rohan still features a plethora of iconic, powerful, and in many cases stupidly-cheap (in points, not necessarily cash) heroes to lead your riders into battle. Cavalry charges can be tricky in this game, and in some respects, Rohan is missing some core elements we’d expect to see if we want to recreate those smashing moments from Return of the King (high fight, lances, armored horses, etc.). Underestimate them at your peril…

As with Minas Tirith, I think it’s worth highlighting some of the fantastic community resources on Rohan that are especially worth checking out. James Clark from the GBHL was on Rohan early after the new edition came out, with a video on how Rohan’s changed in the new edition, and what their new rules could mean for their future. And I’d also be remiss if I didn’t direct you to Mik’s Fog of War entry on Rohan (which also features Mr. Clark) for some fantastic sample lists to get your creative juices flowing.

Now for wrath! Now for ruin! (And our thoughts, I guess?)

Photo Credit: The Fandamentals

Heroes of Middle Earth SBG: Dain Ironfoot, Lord of the Iron Hills (Profile and Basic Tactics)

No discussion of the Iron Hills and Erebor Reclaimed army lists would be complete without Dain Ironfoot, the Lord of the Iron Hills himself. He made a name for himself (in the books, anyway) by slaying Azog at the gates of Moria in the Drimrill Dale, and in the Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game, he’s on any short-list of top-tier dwarf heroes. He is the undisputed commander of some of the slickest-looking dwarves in Middle Earth, and has some incredibly thematic rules to pair with an exceptional profile (plus an iconic mount). So if you want to indulge your reckless side, or just want an excuse to tell Sauron’s messenger to shove it or call an elven lord “princess,” Dain’s your man (er, dwarf).

(Oh. And his maths are pretty good, too…)