TMAT Talks, Episode 5: Big Honkin' Things for the Forces of Good

Tiberius, Centaur, and Rythbryt return to discuss their top-10(ish) "Big Honkin' Things"... which turns out to be a whole lot of siege weapons, war beasts, and other giant machines of war that they'd otherwise never talk about (just kidding). If you've always craved an extended soliloquy on the [Censored] Bolt-Thrower from Minas Tirith* or a dissection of the Khazad-Dum Dwarf Ballista... well, you may need help--but this is the podcast for you! Plus three more ally-able army lists (450 points or less) in our pocket-full-of-power segment!

Music: Happy Haunts by Aaron Kenny

Intro (0:00)

Good, not best: lots of projectile weapons (6:35)

Good Top-3 (52:38)

Pockets-Full-of-Power (1:35:26)

----------

You can now listen to TMAT Talks everywhere you listen to podcasts!** If you like what you hear, leave a 5-star rating to help us spread the word!

Apple Podcasts: 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tmat-talks/id1520452769?ign-mpt=uo%3D4

Google Podcasts: 

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy8yN2FhMjE2Yy9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw==

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/show/6GgU1nXgFoiDczWGLpcgOV

Anchor:

https://anchor.fm/tmattalks

RadioPublic:

https://radiopublic.com/tmat-talks-6nZ3jy

Breaker:

https://www.breaker.audio/tmat-talks

Overcast:

https://overcast.fm/itunes1520452769/tmat-talks

Pocket Casts:

https://pca.st/vesclqjv

* Shout-out to Jeremy at the Green Dragon Podcast... and also apologies--we slipped up a lot. :-/

** (Except YouTube... still working on this episode's YouTube version. Sorry.)

{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).