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Hey,
I'm looking into starting a LotR army to play with my brothers, they are orks and goblins so I decide I need to be a "Good" army, I'm leaning to Kingdoms of Men because they seem to be less points and more versatile. However The Free People aren't out of the game because in RPG games I like dwarfs with their high strength and health. Any tips to push me one way or the other? Thanks.

With Men you can play Rohan (riders can take throwing weapons, making them quite nasty) or Gondor (your classic knight who has balanced stats and cost.

No elves? They have the highest fight value for a troop and are about as costly as an Uruk-Hai. Their courage is helpful too (but Rohan/Gondor can use the bodyguard rule to auto-pass courage).

Dwarves are not a bad deal. Really good defense (a tough egg to crack if you're playing goblins (trust me, really frustrating)) and they aren't too pricy.

Really and truly, it comes down to who you liked in the books/films.

If you really liked Boromir, why not build an army around Boromir of the White Tower (Games Workshop's #1 voted hated good guy for being powerful) with some Guards of the Fountain Court? Maybe take Faramir and some rangers as allies.

If you really like Theoden, Eomer, and/or Eowyn, play Rohan. These guys run like raiders, fast and capable of ambushing. To play them, you use throwing spears to take out guys withing 6", then when you're ready to charge, you throw them and take out the remainder.

I'd have to agree with the doc. I collected a dwarf army because I liked Gimli and it hasn't let me down.
The army that you will find the most worthwhile will be the army that you like the most ; it's worth it if you like it.

Gondor is a safe bet, they have good troops and heros who will leave a trail of broken foes.

I agree that Gondor is probably the safest bet, the goblins have trouble against anything with a high defence and you can just send Boromir or Gimli to deal with any trolls.

I like the aesthetic of Rohan, but heroes of Gondor more.

You can of chourse do a Rohan army with Gondor allies, best of both worlds really

The obvious was staring us in the face all this time

Or if you feel like a walk on the wild side..... EASTERLINGS!

I love your avatar Trondheim

GONDOR! BOROMIR! GONDOR AND BOROMIR! BOROMIR AND GONDOR!

And did I mention Boromir or Gondor?

Brother-Captain Scotti wrote:GONDOR! BOROMIR! GONDOR AND BOROMIR! BOROMIR AND GONDOR!

And did I mention Boromir or Gondor?

Oh hush you silly spirit of old

@ Magnuszered : Why thank you. I like your avatar too

I play Dwarves, they are amazing.


There is a certain finess to their style though.

Dwarves can't afford to get surrounded in 1 on 2 fights. They need to stand shoulder to shoulder. Anchor a portion of the battle line on some sort of terrain and then bottle the enemy up.

I prefer a line of shield warriors with two handed weapons behind to support them.

Archers and Ironguard skirmish along the flanks to keep the enemy from surrounding me.

Khazad Guard are also a really solid frontline unit. The defense of a warrior with shield and a 2 handed weapon.

You need a banner in your army.


Dwarf archers are a really good unit. Str3 shooting is invaluable for thinning the enemy out.

Aye, Dwarfs are one of the more demandig armies in LOTR to play as the Grey One said. but still heaps of fun to play i imagien thou

My Haradrim cry when Dwarves close the door on them.

Thank you for all the opinions, facts, and knowledge, I think I'll go for the free people and dwarves.

Trondheim wrote:

Brother-Captain Scotti wrote:GONDOR! BOROMIR! GONDOR AND BOROMIR! BOROMIR AND GONDOR!

And did I mention Boromir or Gondor?

Oh hush you silly spirit of old

@ Magnuszered : Why thank you. I like your avatar too

Nail on the head there

Dayvuni wrote:Thank you for all the opinions, facts, and knowledge, I think I'll go for the free people and dwarves.

Noooooooooooo!!

No a good choice, if I wasn't playing Gondor for the goodies it would dwarves no doubt. I would advise taking Dain Ironfoot, he is the one character that I just can't kill and my brother knows it oh so well Except for when he jumps of things and kills himself, true story

I've got Dain and he is one of the hardest good heroes out there.

Well, another reason why I'm pushed to The Free People is because I am Sm in 40k and I'd hate to end up playing all humans. Also I will be a fun change of pace from all around good Sm to specific army. Thank you for all your input though. I can always have dwarves and humans in the same army I believe.

Space marines aren't technically human, wich chapter do you play?

Any of the Dwarf characters are solid. I'm partial to Balin myself.

I try and keep my heroes cheap. One named hero at most and then the required number of captains to lead my army(dang I hate the new rules)

The reason for this is because Dwarves are always outnumbered. No need to make it worse by filling up on expensive characters.

Grey Templar wrote:Any of the Dwarf characters are solid. I'm partial to Balin myself.

I try and keep my heroes cheap. One named hero at most and then the required number of captains to lead my army(dang I hate the new rules)

The reason for this is because Dwarves are always outnumbered. No need to make it worse by filling up on expensive characters.

Thanks you for this, being my main opponents I will face are my brothers mordor orks/goblin I'd want as much as I can get.

Here is a generic template for dwarves that is pretty solid.

Warband 1
Named Hero
12 Khazad guard to protect him.

Warband 2
Captian
Banner bearer
11 warriors to taste

Warband 3
Captain
12 warriors to taste


I like to have the 1/3 bow limit fully filled. Dwarf bows are deadly, take advantage.

The dwarf archers can be given shields allowing them to take the place of a shield warrior(almost) if the situation is dire.

I like a 2-1 ratio of shield warriors to 2 handed weapon warriors. the shield warriors form a shield wall along with the Khazad Guard(same defense) while the 2 handed warriors hang around behind to plug gaps.


Ironguard are useful as skirmishers to keep your flanks protected. With 2 attacks and throwing weapons they can do quite alot of damage. They can keep your shield wall from getting surrounded and also charge in to support your main battle line.

I havn't ever tried rangers but I imagine they would do the same thing the Ironguard do.