Welcome to Dakka, and to LotR!
Minas Tirith is a great army to start out with, as it's one built around solid, dependable troops and powerful heroes rather than fancy tricks. Each component of the army will do exactly what it looks like it should; Warriors of Minas Tirith will form your battle line, led by heroes that can spearhead an advance or hold a defence together. Rangers will provide support through spears and the Knight of Minas Tirith and Dol Amroth will provide you with a real hammer-blow to strike at the enemy's weakest points. It's a very straightforward army to build and play, and very rewarding when your humble men stand firm against hordes of orcs, brutal Uruks or rampaging trolls.
In terms of points, the game scales up and down very well, so it varies depending on who and where you're playing. Check with your store to see what kind of size they're looking at. Typically, anywhere between 300-1000 is playable, so it's hard to be specific without that. Regardless of points, you'll need one Hero (named or otherwise) per 12 warriors, so at the most basic level, starting with one box of Warriors of Minas Tirith and a hero of your choice will get you a playable force. Alternatively, the Gondor Commanders box gives you a Captain and Knight, both of which are heroes so you can have up to 24 Warriors, and a banner and war horn that are very useful things to have to buff your troops. With that in mind, a good start would be 2 boxes of WOMT, 1 box of Knights of Minas Tirith and the Aragon foot and mounted blister. This gives you a good starting force of:
Warband 1: (Note that Warbands simply deploy together, after the game starts they can split up however you like)
Aragorn
6 Knights of Minas Tirth
Warband 2:
Captain of Gondor
5xWOMT Shields, 5x Shields and Spears
WOMT with Banner
WOMT with War Horn
Warband 3:
Knight of the White Tower
3x WOMT with Shields, 3x Shields and Spears
6x WOMT with Bows
This gives you a hard-hitting offensive group (Warband 1) a solid battle line with decent staying power thanks to the banner and horn (WB2) and a third group which can provide ranged support and gives you spare Shield/Spear troops to plug any gaps in your initial line that emerge, led by the Knight who can go Monster/hero hunting (WB3). You'll also have a couple of guys left over, which can potentially be converted to more Captains or another banner with a bit of work.
I don't know exactly how many points that is, but it's a solid core of an army, to which you can then add fancier stuff like some allied Eagles or some Rangers ect. Hope that helps you get started!
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