War in Rohan Inspired Lists: Theodred's Guard LL Revisited

Good morning gamers,

As we delve into the War in Rohan supplement, looking at how to take the scenario forces into Matched Play, it makes sense to start with the primary protagonists of the scenarios: Rohan. This means we're starting the series with LOTS of options, as we not only got new profiles in War in Rohan (Helm Hammerhand, Haleth, and Aldor), but we also got a bunch of new Legendary Legions that allow us to run Rohan in different ways. With all the choices ahead of us, let's look at what we have to work with!

We essentially get everything we could want from Rohan if we collect all of the models for the scenarios (like I did for the Scouring of the Shire, I've grouped things a bit because the list is LONG):

• The Royal Family: Theoden, Theodred (no throwing spears), Eomer (no throwing spears), and Eowyn (no throwing spears)
  
• Supporting Named Heroes: Elfhelm, Grimbold, Gamling, Hama (no extra gear), Haleth, Aldor, Erkenbrand, Eorl the Young, Helm Hammerhand
  
• Generic Heroes: 3 Captains of Rohan with shields, 1 Captain of Rohan on horse with shield
  
• Also, we have at least 1 King's Huntsman because we bought at least one command blister
  
• Infantry Warriors: 36 Warriors of Rohan (12 shields, 12 throwing spears and shields, 12 bows), 12 Rohan Royal Guards with throwing spears
  
• +13 Warriors of Rohan if you collect everything you need for the big Battle of Helm's Deep scenario
• You also have 1 war horn (with shield and throwing spear) and 1 banner from the command blister along with 1 banner and 1 war horn from Grimbold's command blister 
  
• Mounted Warriors: 24 Riders of Rohan (8 with throwing spears), 3 Rohan Outriders on horses, 12 Rohan Royal Guards on horses with throwing spears, 6 Sons of Eorl
• You also have 1 Rider of Rohan with banner from the mounted command blister
  

For those keeping track, the only Rohan models we're missing are Dernhelm (though we have Eowyn) and Deorwine, Chief of the King's Knights. We're light on Rohan Outriders and have a small but functional number of Sons of Eorl, but otherwise we have 12+ of every other Rohan Warrior model - and we have THREE banners we could bring in our army. Pretty good, I feel - something we can work with for sure.

Fantasy Fellowships: The Erebor Reunion, Part 1

Good morning gamers,

Today we're going to look at the first three missions of Fantasy Fellowships for my Fellowship. Our last post walked through what we have to face in these missions (Ringwraiths and Barrow-Wights), so let's see how we did!

Mission #1: Buckleberry Ferry

My team of "hobbits" wants nothing to do with hiding from some lowly Ringwraiths - nope, go in fast, take them down one at a time, job's done. The players I have are:

• Ringbearer: Old Bilbo Baggins with Sting and the Mithril Coat
• Companion: Farmer Maggot with Grip, Fang, and Wolf
• Rohan-bound Friend: Bofur the Dwarf
• Gondor-bound Friend: Bifur the Dwarf

With a Fellowship that wanted to get locked in quickly, I lined up my guys as far forward as possible and were ready to rush for the southernmost Nazgul straight away:

It's surprising how close you can start to these guys if you really want to fight them . . .

I charged headlong forward and the nearest Nazgul got a 6 for his sentry roll, moved into position to see us, and immediately sounded the alarm:

SSSCCCEEEEEETTTCCCHHH!!!

War in Rohan: What Models Do You Need?

Good morning gamers,

Photo Credit: Warhammer Community

We're preparing for our FOURTH round of the what-do-you-need-for-scenarios series. Because I love Quest of the Ringbearer so much (check out our page for everything we've written about that), we started with what you need for Quest of the Ringbearer (and Fantasy Fellowships) and have since also covered Gondor at War and The Scouring of the Shire. Our travels take us this time to the next chronological sourcebook to be released, War in Rohan.

Commonly held to be one of the best (if not THE best) supplement released by Games Workshop in this newest iteration of MESBG, War in Rohan is a powerhouse supplement for those who like matched play, introducing Legions (such as the Assault Upon Helm's Deep, Theodred's Guard, and the Defenders of Helm's Deep) that have podiumed across the globe and proven their metal at a variety of points levels. It also introduced a bunch of models, to include most of the current Dunland collection (like the infantry heroes and crebain), as well as selected models from Rohan and Isengard. Oh, and some Ents too (though only one has an official sculpt). Yes, if you're a matched play enthusiast (and chances are . . . you are), War in Rohan might be the best (or at least the most competitive) starting point for you.

But what if you don't JUST want to butt heads with whatever weird concoction of troops your regular playing buddy has thrown together - what if you'd like to play through some of the incredible scenarios that were provided in War in Rohan? Well, today we're going to look at the models you need (and as usual, ways to save some cash along the way). Let's dive right in!

FAQ Time: Breaking Down the February 2023 FAQ

Good morning gamers,

I happen to be on vacation, but that doesn't stop me from checking out what's new in the SBG community - and at the top of the list is the newest dump of FAQs. As the first set of FAQs since the release of the Battle of Osgiliath box set and the updated rulebook, I was excited to see what changes were in store (and whether the old rulebook would continue to be supported now that we have a new one). You can find the article here and the FAQ page here. Let's dig in and see what changed!

Photo Credit: Reddit 
No matter how many times I tell myself to play it cool , I just can't stop myself from looking for the questions I asked . . .

General Observations

First off, there were no updates for the Gondor at War, Scouring of the Shire, War in Rohan, Quest of the Ringbearer, or Fall of the Necromancer sourcebooks - apparently, these have been hashed out enough and we're just focused on the Defence of the North and the quadrumvirate of necessary sourcebooks (the main rulebook, the Armies of the Lord of the Rings, the Armies of the Hobbit, and the Matched Play Guide). Check out these pages if you want, but there's nothing new there (much to pity - I asked for some things in these).

There were only two erratas (and no FAQs) in the Armies of the Lord of the Rings book - one of which I asked for and totally expected to make it in without my input and one that I didn't ask for, wish I'd asked for, and am thrilled made it in (but more on this later).

There were four FAQs from the main rulebook that, apparently, didn't make it into the rules rewrite - these include what makes a model count as "trapped" (e.g. you can't just be fighting a cavalry model that charged you), what a model can do when they're transfixed (the infamous "degree of common sense" FAQ), the need to measure vertical distance when using Swift Movement, and the need for making a scatter roll when using Severed Heads.  

Finally (and alluded to in the previous point), the main rulebook FAQ was truncated to just what hasn't been covered since the new rulebook release. This . . . was kind of expected on my part, but I also wish hadn't happened. For version control (and to promote a new product), it makes sense that the Middle-Earth team has done away with the old rulebook FAQs - but if they'd kept the old main rulebook FAQs as a static document and provided the new one as well, then players wouldn't have to buy the new sourcebook . . . which, I guess would translate into less profit for them. Still, the new rulebook was advertised as an incorporation of the old FAQs - and now it's required because the old FAQs don't exist. 

Okay, with that, let's get into one of the shortest FAQ releases we've seen to date!

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.