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Hi all,

Over the last few months I've been accumulating forces for my three favorite factions in Lord of the Rings before they all disappear completely. They were armies I'd always wanted to own so I bit the bullet and bought 'em. Since then I've gotten some pretty big armies and I've been itching to play War of the Ring. Can anyone with experience with the system let me know some pointers for my armies, or suggested builds for War of the Ring, or what other units I should buff/enhance/acquire/get rid of, to make a balanced War of the Ring force? Thanks!

Here's what I have:

Gondor/Minas Tirith -

Warriors of Minas Tirith: 50 spear, 70 sword, 80 bow
Knights of Minas Tirith: 18 knights, 1 knight with banner
Rangers of Minas Tirith: 6 metal Faramir rangers, 22 Gondor rangers
Citadel Guard: 12 citadel guards
Guards of the Fountain court: 3 guards
Avenger bolt thrower: 2 bolt throwers
Battlecry Trebuchet: 2 trebuchets

Heroes: Captain 1, Captain 2, Banner 1, Banner 2, 2x Banner 3, 2x musician, 2x captain 3, 1x Knight of the White Tower; Blackroot Vale captain and banner (thought they'd be cool for normal ranger command since they're excellent models)
Aragorn king mounted. Boromir captain of the White Tower, armored mounted Faramir captain of Ithilien. Cirion, Madril, Faramir on foot, Damrod, Strider

I would like to get some Osgiliath Veterans and possibly more Guards of the Fountain Court and Citadel Guard, and another banner Knight as well, but I'm not sure what else I'd "need". I want to keep it a pure Minas Tirith force as I'm not too interested in the Feifdoms, etc. Perhaps more Rangers to increase the side of the Ranger formation?

Isengard -

Fighting Uruk Hai: ~160 Uruk Hai, ~140 Uruk Hai Pikemen, 19 Uruk Hai with Crossbows
Uruk Hai Scouts: 32 Scouts
Uruk Hai Sappers: 26 Sappers/engineers
Berserkers: 11 plastic, 7 metal
Isengard Orcs: 36 normal orcs
Warg Riders: 18 Warg Riders
Assault Ballista: 2 ballistas
Battering Ram: 2 rams
Trolls: 1 plastic Isengard Troll
Heroes: Saruman mounted and on foot, Grima, Lurtz, Lurtz with Bow
3x Captain, Shaman, 3x Banner,

I think I'd like to get a box of the 4-man Finecast Isengard Commanders for a few more command and a musician, and two more Trolls (including hopefully an old metal one), and a couple of the characters I'm missing (Ugluk, Vrasku, Mauhur). Maybe the finecast Mordor Orc Commanders box for the normal orcs? Again, pure Isengard, so no wildmen or anything.


Harad -

Haradrim Warriors: 30 Haradrim, 30 Haradrim w/ Bow
Serpent Riders: 5 Serpent Riders
Haradrim Raiders: 6 Raiders
Watchers of Karna: 6 Watchers
Mumakil w/ crew and a Mumak Mahud
Heroes: Sulladan, Hasharin x3, Captain x4, Banner 1 x4, Banner 2, Musician, Taskmaster

I think I would like to keep this force completely Harad-based; no Corsairs or Mahud. I think I'd like to expand with 24-36 more Haradrim, 6-12 more Raiders, and another Mumakil. And possibly more Watchers (but are they worth it?)

Ok, let's take a look at this. It's been a while since I've looked at War of the Ring, so I won't go into too much detail, and apologies if I miss/mistake anything.

For Gondor, you've got a very nice core of warriors. The sword and Spearmen all count as the same unit type, so you've got 120 Warriors and 80 archers. This rounds out at 10 Archer companies and 15 Warrior companies, so I'd divvy that up like this:

6 Warriors, full command. Add a powerful Hero and this becomes the centre of your battle line.

4 Warriors, Captain, Maybe banner
4 Warriors, Captain, Maybe banner

4 Archers and 4 Archers to go on the flanks, trim these if you need the points.

So you've got a big block in the middle, and 2 mid-sized blocks on the sides. Deploy this in a 2x2 formation for the 4 units and a 3 wide by 2 deep for the larger unit. You want to keep them fairly close so they can act defensively/defend each other (ie. the enemy charges centre block, you bring in a flanking block to hit their side), but leave enough space for a unit to move through (see below for why).

Then, the cavalry.18 Knights= 9 companies, so I'd split that into 2 4-company units (I like symmetry, but the extras can easily be added on, and if you throw in a hero, you can go 5 and 5). These are primarily for counter-charging, so keep them behind the 4-company infantry units and use them to hit anything that hits your battle line. If you fancy playing the more aggressive game, you can reverse this; the cavalry hit first and hard, and the infantry mop up what's left. Faramir is a good choice to lead these guys.

I'm not sure about the rangers, but as you've only got enough for a few companies, I recall the Blackroot Vale archers being quite good, so that might be the option to go for. Failing that, if you don't use Faramir for the Knights, use the Faramir's Rangers formation instead.

I've no idea how good the War Machines are, it's been so long since I played.

So you're looking at hero-buffed battle lines with the cavalry and archers in support, or an aggressive cavalry charge followed by an infantry wave assault, depending on the opponents. More rangers would be nice, as you can then phase out the less-good MT archers, and Osgilliath Vets are quite good from what I remember, although the minis are tragically expensive (I just mixed Rangers and MT warriors in a unit and gave them a grimy paintscheme)

Hope that helps, I'll come back and do the other armies later.

By excluding the Mahud from the Harad army you are taking away a lot of the 'shock' troops.

Serpant riders are okay but will not fare well against other Cavalry, and your troops are not the strongest, toughest or cheapest.

Good Blocks of infantry backed up with a base or 2 of mahud is useful, and the camel riders are an excellant counter to horses.

If you want to go all Harad, i would possibly go down the route of 2 Mumaks and the rest all mounted its fast hits hard and can pick off units quite well

Thanks for the advice, Paradigm - I actually have another box of Knights on the way so I'll be able to make 12 companies or so.

Why do you say "maybe banner"? It seems to me that any combat oriented unit should take a banner for the courage re-rolls - let me know if I'm mistaken, as again, my experience is almost nil.

From my readings of the rules, it seems like Warmachines are straight up excellent (just rolling on a chart, with 50% of the time causing a lot of hits). I did specifically get two Trebuchets as I'm commissioning a Minas Tirith gate/level 1 later in the year as I really want to do a siege.

Oh, and actually, I have 6 Fountain Court now. Do you think either the Citadel Guard or the Fountain Court are worth expanding into formations?

---

Cammy, so would you say for Harad only I should focus on dual Mumaks, several formations of Raiders, and then maybe some thin lines of Haradrim archers, with a small formation of Serpent Riders to countercharge anyone that gets past the initial lines? That poison rule seems just so good to not take advantage of, especially for the archers. What's your opinion on the Watchers of Karna or the Hasharii? Seems like a Hasharin is pretty expensive for what he can do.

Yeah, certainly banner then. I couldn't recall if it was the banner or musician that gave the Courage reroll, but you're right, combat units always benefit from them.

2 massive Knight units led by heroes (Faramir and Boromir if you want the fluffy and effective option) would mess up anyone's day, just keep them safe from shooting as due to the way damage works, cavalry can lose men fast to archers. It's the trade off for being so dangerous offensively, but I've had good success with cav-heavy Gondor armies.

I think the issue with war machines, if there is one, is the lack of defence on them. They hit hard, but if you let cavalry, or particularly the few flying units reach then, they're all but gone, I think. If you're confident you can defend them and get a good vantage point, then go for it, but if not, maybe leave them off.

As for the various types of guard, unless you're willing to spend a fair bit I doubt they're worth it. Combat units like them want 3 companies minimum with the exception of some ultra-tough/deadly units. So if you're willing to splash the cash for a biggish unit, they're good, but otherwise, get the warriors/archers/rangers/knights in first.

For Harad, Dual Mumakil would certainly hurt, and a fast-moving support element will help them a lot, as well as being hard for some armiears to deal with (dwarves, for instance). I've no idea what exactly is good as I rarely used Harad, but the Mumakil are cerrtaionly tough.

Looking at the Gondor list, Paradigm has summed itup pretty well. If you are going to do high point games then it could be worth investing in battlehosts (it's also on Scribd ) as the models you have complete some already. The main one I think you should consider is the Defenders of Minas Tirith, but you'll need Gandalf the White and Pippin. This includes your core battleline of warriors and archers and also some optional trebuchets, and makes them all a lot more courageous and gives them rerolls for onset of dismay etc. and all shooting units within 12” of Gandalf are affected by his heroic shoots! Trebuchets are worth it most of the time.

I would also consider including faramir's knights (faramir and at least 12 companies of knights and a banner) as it generally makes them tougher and harder hitting. You could also give them steeds of pureblood for extra range.

As for the rangers, i'd put damrod and madril with them and make them rangers of ithillien, which is in the normal rulebook. This just gives them more versatility.

If you want an elite guard unit but don't want to spend loads on more minis, then you could mix the gotfc and gotc into one unit and use them as wardens of the keys, and use the knight of the white tower as huor or something. I wouldn't go for osgiliath vets as i don't think that they are necessary and a lot of money. Although cirion is pretty handy.

Scatter the unnamed heroes about the units and add the named heroes to units that are likely to be in the thick of it, like the womt.

Admittedly all of these upgrades will cost, but you can pick and choose some, none, or all! If you want a pretty nasty combo, though it's not completely minas tirith, put radaghast in the ranger unit, as he can guide their arrows to cause a lot more damage!

I think that is all for now (i don't know much about the other lists) so I hope it has at least helped a bit!

Good point about Battlehosts there, there are some pretty good ones for Gondor, and to be hnest, adding Gandalf to the army is pretty much always good. Faramir, too, is someone I'd always throw in, he's dirt cheap for the might points alone f nothing else, and if I recall his Knight formation is pretty badass too.

Since the Harad list has been looked at, I'll go onto Isengard:

You have 20 company's worth of Swordsmen and 17 of Pikemen, and much like the Warriors of Minas Tirith, these are going to be the core of the battle line. I'd advise blocks of no less than 4 companies, and preferably at least 2 blocks of 6. Pikemen on the side to protect against flanking Cavalry, Warriors in the middle to push forward.

If you go down the Battlehosts route, there's a great formation called simply The Fighting Uruk-hai, consisting of Saruman, 2-4 Pikemen warbands and 2-4 Warriors warbands (all 3 companies minimum). Every model gets a 6+ 'save' against damage, and all units within 12" of Sauruman re-roll Terror tests (handy against Elves). You already have the models for this, so I'd say it's worth looking into.

For the scouts, Marhur's Marauders might be worth looking at (main rulebook). D6 extra auto-hit if you win a combat can be awesome and tip the balance on Panic tests. Failing that, Ugluck's Raiders get extra charge range and bonus, and are more resistant to Terror tests (kill D6 guys to auto-pass).

The Warg Riders make great harassment units, with bonuses for flank attacks and cheap Archer upgrades. The Beserkers, as you'd expect, are awesome Wrecking Ball units. Hide them behind the large infantry blocks, run out and smash the hell out of something with a ton of bonus attacks. They are individually fragile, though ,due to the 1 company limit, so you do need to keep them safe.

I'm not sure about the Sappers, to be honest. Their explosion rules are certainly very cool, and potentially lethal, but with only one company per warband and D5, they're asking to be shot and blown up in the middle of your army. Perhaps mix them in with Orcs, as you can then get 2 decent size orc units for support.

Trolls and characters seem like a good investment, Isengard have some pretty awesome formations that need characters and Isengard trolls look awesome.

I do have Battlehosts, but had only glanced at it! Didn't realize those formations were so effective.

Thanks for all the help Galenus and Paradigm! I think i've got my Gondor plans in full swing then. Good idea about using the elite Guards all as Wardens.

I'm looking forward to fielding a huge Isengard army. I actually have more pikemen on the way

I'll have to re-read the Battlehosts book and try to make it gel with the WotR rules. Though probably for my first game or two I'll just the base WotR rulebook before expanding into more special rules.

Though - question about the Battlehosts - once you buy those warbands, they don't have to "stay together" or anything, right? You just pay the cost, plus the cost of the companies, and that's it?

For battlehosts, you pay the cost+whatever the best units cost, and that's it. Some have area related bonuses, such as an effect for being within X inches of Hero Y, but those are just bonuses, not requirements.

 judgedoug wrote:
Thanks for the advice, Paradigm - I actually have another box of Knights on the way so I'll be able to make 12 companies or so.

Why do you say "maybe banner"? It seems to me that any combat oriented unit should take a banner for the courage re-rolls - let me know if I'm mistaken, as again, my experience is almost nil.

From my readings of the rules, it seems like Warmachines are straight up excellent (just rolling on a chart, with 50% of the time causing a lot of hits). I did specifically get two Trebuchets as I'm commissioning a Minas Tirith gate/level 1 later in the year as I really want to do a siege.

Oh, and actually, I have 6 Fountain Court now. Do you think either the Citadel Guard or the Fountain Court are worth expanding into formations?

---

Cammy, so would you say for Harad only I should focus on dual Mumaks, several formations of Raiders, and then maybe some thin lines of Haradrim archers, with a small formation of Serpent Riders to countercharge anyone that gets past the initial lines? That poison rule seems just so good to not take advantage of, especially for the archers. What's your opinion on the Watchers of Karna or the Hasharii? Seems like a Hasharin is pretty expensive for what he can do.

I like Harad - but for war of the ring its different to the other versions.

I would say duel mumakil, with serpant riders would be good. Some supporting infantry/archers would also work, but bear in mind this would be a fast army and they could get left behind.

Hasharii are not to bad, but if you going fast they again are not able to be used to best advantage. They are best in the skirmish side of things.

If you want some additional bows ( other than mumakil ones), can always go with some mounted guys with them

My reply comes a little late, however i have to add to paradigms statements.

Nscrap the trebuchets unless you are going against fortifications

Use as many bolt throwers as possible. I have a high elven army with no cavalery and those have always been my achillis heel whenever i played my buddy with his mt army. He had three of the bolt throwers and always managed to annihilate one of my hosts with them in a few turns. Keep the stationay, halfway on one of your flanks, high ground if possible and watch them mow everything down.

See if you can add gandalf to your main host. Magic is what usually gives me the advantage over other armies.

Other than that i would consider your mt army a good challange.

Harad is badass. Half trolls all-the-way, roar. Add some.

If you have a Harad army and you don't have any of the cool flavorful choices (Those ninja-guys, Half-Trolls, Khand guys, African-looking guys, obese sultan guard guys) I think you're missing out the real joy of that force. I guess you have the ninjas.

You think GW's LotR range is going to dissapear? I hope it doesn't- those are some of my favorite models GW has ever made.