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So my big brother is thinking of starting lotr with his buddies. he doesnt really know however what the specialty of the armies have, so can anyone tell me what each armies features are? (like orks being the meele, etc)

brother already chose, umm idk lock or delete this thread?

Orcs are the cheap, expendable, fast, mobile assault units. Poor fight skill is overwhelmed by numbers. Moderate cavalry. Say hello to trolls.

Uruk-Hai (Isengard) Excel in close combat, but are more elitist and cost more. Your brother may enjoy the high fight value, meaning that in most ties, your brother will win the fight. High defense and strength are plusses. Cavalry and archery extremely limited.

Gondor warriors are, well, terrible. While they beat mordor orcs, your brother likely won't face TOO many orc players. Great cavalry, good archery, and an unrivaled amount of good, strong heroes (aside from Rohan)

Rohan, the horse riders. These skilled cavalrymen can fire bows, throw spears, AND use shields and swords. Their defense is only slightly compromised from the heavier armored Gondorians. All your favorite heroes are available, from Aragorn to Eomer.

Elves, my personal favorite, are harder to come by. These troops only come in sets of 16, with 8 Gondorian allies, representing the last alliance of men and elves. Like the Uruk-Hai, their high fight value leaves them winning almost all ties. Fantastic archery and skilled troops will put you towards the top in most conflicts, but note your brother will most certainly be outnumbered.

neotom1118 wrote:Elves, my personal favorite, are harder to come by. These troops only come in sets of 16, with 8 Gondorian allies, representing the last alliance of men and elves. Like the Uruk-Hai, their high fight value leaves them winning almost all ties. Fantastic archery and skilled troops will put you towards the top in most conflicts, but note your brother will most certainly be outnumbered.

That obviously is not counting the box of 24 Wood Elves, 24 Galadhrim or the box of 6 Galadhrim Knights?
BTW those are not men of Gondor, the are Numenoreans.

At the time of release, the Last Alliance box figures were called Men of Gondor, and High Elves.

If you check the LotR book, I think they are still listed that way.

I don't believe they use Numenoreans to identify a troop type in the LotR/WotR games except the Black Numenoreans.

AFAIK, there are Numenorean Captains and Men of Numenor in the main rulebook. Although they do have the same stats as their Minas Tirith equivalents.

Krellnus wrote:AFAIK, there are Numenorean Captains and Men of Numenor in the main rulebook. Although they do have the same stats as their Minas Tirith equivalents.

Just got the War of the Ring book last night.

It seems they renamed the "Men of Gondor" to "Men of Numenor" in the transition to the mass battle game.

All through the Lord of the Rings game they were referred to as Men of Gondor.

Interestingly, there is no option for Spears for the MoN, even though there were metal spearmen. I wonder if a new plastic is in the works to split them from the elves.

skrulnik wrote:

Krellnus wrote:AFAIK, there are Numenorean Captains and Men of Numenor in the main rulebook. Although they do have the same stats as their Minas Tirith equivalents.

Just got the War of the Ring book last night.

It seems they renamed the "Men of Gondor" to "Men of Numenor" in the transition to the mass battle game.

All through the Lord of the Rings game they were referred to as Men of Gondor.

Interestingly, there is no option for Spears for the MoN, even though there were metal spearmen. I wonder if a new plastic is in the works to split them from the elves.

There is no equivocation for Spears in WotR. They are usually considered hand weapons. Which to be honest is sort of a shame since there really isnt much reason to buy numenorean spearmen for WotR.

Really? No Spears? Wow.

I haven't been able to read the rules yet. Just a few skims of the army section.

explains why the Easterlings' Polearms are classed as Pike though.

skrulnik wrote:Really? No Spears? Wow.

I haven't been able to read the rules yet. Just a few skims of the army section.

explains why the Easterlings' Polearms are classed as Pike though.

I think its due to spears not being able to function in WotR as they do in SBG seeing as how the abstraction is different. Kind of pointless to have spears when you cant have a model in front of you getting to attack as well.

Even dwarven vault wardens just function as a high defense, pike wielding team.

Easterlings are nice. They've cavalry, warriors and archers and all wear armour.

may i suggest goblins, i love em, swarming my enemy with gobos and spiders