Rohan
Obviously given the title of the book Rohan
gets the most Legendary Legions here, with 4 of the 7 we’ve seen covering
different points in the book. The intention seems to be in making lists that
are fluffy yet still viable (like all the other LL lists) and not to have super-competitive
lists that are just amazing.
Theodred’s Guard
The long-awaited Fords of Isen list, this
is based around the initial conflicts of the War in Rohan, the Burning of the
Westfold and Theodred’s death. This list is unique for Rohan’s many Legendary
Legions in that it has a combined arms focus and isn’t locked into pure cavalry
or pure infantry, and instead gives benefits to both depending on what they are
doing. Theodred has to be taken as the army’s leader obviously, but otherwise
there are no restrictions (including Riders of Rohan counting towards the bow
limit in this list, likely to force taking Warriors to reinforce the theme). It
has access to Elfhelm and Grimbold as the other named heroes both with their
regular options (horse for Elfhelm, Helmingas upgrade for Grimbold’s troops)
and all the generic Rohan warrior options plus Captains.
Protect
the Prince- All models in the force gain Sworn Protector (Theodred) which
is a nice bonus, and it also affects Theodred himself which is really great to
have against armies that cause Terror.
Riders
of Theodred- In
effect it’s replacing the benefits of being near Theoden for Rohan Captains,
Riders and Royal Guard with being near Theodred. It’s great in that it heavily
pushes Theodred as the lynchpin of the army as it should and gives the army
some nice bonuses in their ability while keeping it quite elegant in terms of rules
text.
Fight
in Ranks!- A really nice boost to foot Rohan, this
lets Warriors armed with Throwing Spears use them as regular spears to support
provided they didn’t throw them that turn. It’s a great way to promote a
lesser-seen Rohan build and pretty good in general as it increases versatility in
the army.
All in all this is a really nice thematic
list that I like a lot and has a lot of strong options. Elfhelm and Grimbold
are both great budget heroes that can dish out a lot of hurt, and Theodred is a
good lynchpin for the army as well with his damage output. It does have to be
careful against higher tier heroes and magic, but it’s a good enough list that
it isn’t just auto-losing when Azog hits the table.
Defenders of Helm’s Deep
The movie-based LL of the Helm’s Deep
siege, with Rohan and Haldir’s Galadhrim unified by the Three Hunters. This force
is a purely foot-based Rohan list and as such no models have options for
mounts, and options are somewhat more restricted. It can take Galadhrim models,
but they can only be a maximum of 33% of the army, and Theoden has to lead the
force and must wear heavy armour. The only major restriction of wargear in this
list other than no horses is Aragorn, who has to take his armour but otherwise
gets no other options as this is movie-based and Aragorn didn’t have Anduril
yet.
Fight in Ranks!- Same as in Theodred’s list, it lets Warriors armed with Throwing
Spears use them as regular spears to support provided they didn’t throw them
that turn. Just as good here as it is there if you’re using it for a Theoden-focused
foot Rohan, but Galadhrim spears are more useful in terms of actually
supporting because then you’re getting their great fight values added as well
as just extra dice.
Give Them A Volley- If any bow-armed model (including elf bow) doesn’t move they get to
increase their shooting range to 30”. This is great on the named Elven heroes
because they not only get extra range, they’re accurate (Legolas using his
single shot) or making multiple shots so it’s just more value. It also works well
with Aldor’s shooting but the elf options are usually better
Fall Back to the Keep!- Similar to the Easterling army bonus in that they get +1 courage
when broken (but here only warriors), but they get a reroll to courage tests if
near Theoden once broken instead of choosing when the game ends. Great fluffy
rules here to represent the stubborn defence of Helm’s Deep even in the face of
failure, and even though the courage bonus is only useful against Terror
(because if Theoden is passing break tests Stand Fast! Kicks in, if he fails he
isn’t there any more) it’s still there.
I would personally recommend having a
contingent of Lothlorien elves present in the army purely for bow fire, and for
this reason I would make sure every one of them has bows (the limit to elves is
the same as the bow limit and they’re better shots than the Rohirrim so they’re
the better option. Giving them spears is also useful so they can shoot through
the front line and then add support later. Haleth is also naturally a must have
for the army to get the fight bonuses, and Aragorn with this bonus becomes a
complete monster even without Anduril to get the wound bonuses.
Riders of Eomer
The
relief force that comes to break the siege of Helm’s Deep, this force is
another all-mounted Rohan army with relatively few options, instead making up
for it by those options being useful. Eomer must lead, which makes sense given
the army title, and otherwise the only options are Erkenbrand, Gandalf the
White, Captains of Rohan and Riders of Rohan.
To the King!- All Rohan Cavalry models (every option but
Gandalf that is) gains +1 strength on the charge provided they are within 12”
of Eomer (which is fairly easy)
Look to the Sun- Once per game Gandalf can declare that all
enemy models that were charged by friendly cavalry that turn are at -1 to their
duel rolls, massively increasing the chances of winning fights (and then the
bonus from Eomer gives bonuses to wound).
This army
is pretty simple but good at it’s job of being a hard-hitting cavalry army
based around 2 great heroes, and I would almost always take Gandalf above 500
points as he benefits the army in a lot of ways. Erkenbrand is also a very good
option that plays into the strengths of the army, as his Redshields will mean
the army is even more reliable having a banner effect while not having to pay anywhere
near the points of a banner (although I would still take a regular Rider with a
banner just to spread the effect around and especially to hit Eomer) and his
Horn of the Hammerhand will benefit the army a lot against Terror-causing foes
Paths of the Druadan
This one represents the Rohirrim on their
ride to Gondor and the skirmishing in the Druadan Forest alongside the Woses
Warriors that reside there. Because of this the list must take both Theoden (who
has to be the leader like the other forces he appears in) and Ghan-buri-Ghan
(who must take his full warband of Woses Warriors). All Rohan models have to
take horses and other than the Woses and Rohan Outriders they get all the same
options as the Riders of Theoden list from Gondor at War, although the very
strong bonuses of that list are replaced with different ones to reflect the
different events.
The models in this list do not benefit from
any of their regular army bonuses (other than Riders of Rohan not counting to
bow limits) and instead gain the following.
Know All Paths- The biggest bonus of the list in my opinion, it affects how easy it is
for your army to win simultaneous Heroic Moves. It effectively gives a bonus to
the roll (3 or less becomes 4 or less, 4+ becomes 3+) so you can be far more
reliable in your manoeuvring and make sure your own cavalry charges are
successful when it has the biggest impact.
Waypoints- The player of this army gets 3
25mm markers that go anywhere on the table before deployment, and Rohan Cavalry
within 6” of them ignore the negative effects of moving or charging through
Difficult Terrain. It’s good to have, especially on terrain-heavy tables, but overall
isn’t going to win or lose games by itself.
Kill Orc-folk- This one is simple and quite good, all models in this list reroll 1s
to wound against Orcs, Uruk-Hai and Goblins. It helps reliability and it does
the job when it works, but it isn’t a huge loss when the opponent doesn’t have
any of them.
This army in my opinion is something that
won’t be seen at tournaments or large events outside of novelty lists for a
couple of reasons, but it is a really nice thematic army that does exactly what
it should. It’s not as outright strong as any of the “named” Rohan lists (those
being Theoden, Eomer and Theodred) and Woses Warriors aren’t exactly a popular
army to begin with, but for someone who wants to play both this is definitely
something to consider.
Isengard
Unlike Gondor at War the conflict in this book is largely between two sides, with Isengard making up the Evil side. As such they get 3 Legendary Legions (that we know of- one for Dunland is still possible) each for a different part of the Isengard war machine.
Ugluk’s
Scouts
This Legendary Legion reflects the point in
the movies and books where Pippin and Merry are taken hostage by a group of
Uruk-Hai and Orcs, and the debate between them that ensues while they are
supposed to be working together for Saruman (before quickly getting slaughtered
by Eomer’s men). It’s a scout army and as such lacks the pikes and crossbows that
Uruk-Hai Warriors bring (as well as Vrasku and Lurtz) but still has some great
options in the list. Ugluk has to be the leader given the name, and only Orc
heroes can lead Orc models while only Uruk heroes can lead Uruk models. It has Ugluk,
Mauhur, Grishnakh and the new Snaga as named options, Uruk Scout Captains, Uruk
Drummers and Orc Captains as generic heroes and Uruk Scouts and Orc Warriors as
the Warrior options. All of these keep their standard options from the regular
lists except for no Warg on the Orc Captain (Wargs go in the Wolves list not
here!)
Their
Pace Has Quickened- If Mauhur is in the army (which he should be) all Uruk Scouts can get his
Marauders bonus (for move 8”) and don’t pay for it. In addition Ugluk, Uruk
Drummers and Uruk Scout Captains always get the 8” movement which is in itself
a great bonus and makes the army super fast.
Make Haste to Isengard- giving the army Woodland Creature, it’s just a part of the army
bonus that extends to the Orcs present. It’s good to have and in an army that
is already quicker than normal it comes in handy very often which is terrifying.
Animosity- Something
originally seen in the Cirith Ungol list for Battle Companies, this gives all
Orcs a +1 to wound if they’re in the same fight as an Uruk, and vice versa. It’s
nice to have but not always going to happen, so make sure if you’re in fights
you want to get kills in to pack in an Orc and an Uruk.
I’ll start first by saying this LL has the
definite issue of us not knowing what Snaga does, so no one can fully judge the
value of the army as a whole quite yet. That said, Mauhur and Ugluk are both
excellent and make Uruks in the force very good, and with that said the Scouts
are well worth taking here. Grishnakh and the Orcs are less useful but noticeably
cheaper and as such have a use in both bumping up the model count and in
triggering Animosity for easier wounding.
Wolves
of Isengard
Isengard’s answer to the all-mounted
Rohirrim, this list is purely based around Warg Riders. Every model in the list
has to be mounted on a Warg (or is a Warg) but otherwise they have their
standard options. Sharku gets bumped to a Hero of Valour and must be taken as
the army’s leader, and the other options for heroes are Orc Captains and
Shamans who gain the Isengard keyword (and the Shaman changes Fury to benefit
Isengard Orcs). The only warriors they get are Warg Riders and Wild Wargs but
these are both effective enough in their roles that they don’t need more (and
these are what fits the theme of the army)
Leader of the Pack- Sharku always has the option of declaring Heroic Combat for free. The
saving in might is great to have and should he be against weaker chaff he can
potentially chew through them and push the opponent to break point quicker
which is always helpful.
Ambush- In
scenarios with Maelstrom deployment they can choose who wins first turn (unless
the opponent also does that in which case it’s regular rolls) and they can
charge the turn they deploy off the board edge, with the added rule that if
they would take a Terror test and fail they still move on, but cannot charge.
Scouts- Probably
the jankiest rule in the whole book, it allows d6 models to move after
deployment and if able they can also shoot. They can’t end within 3” of an
enemy or charge, but they can also use this movement in Maelstrom of Battle
deployments or as Reinforcements to come onto the board before they would
normally be allowed, each being treated as its own warband and re-rolling
results that prevent them from arriving (but not ones that let the enemy place
them which is important)
In such a simple list there isn’t much to
say about list building other than you probably want to have a Shaman in somewhere
to get around Terror. Other than that, a good mix of shields, throwing spears
and bows is nice and banners are always useful, but you’ve got a cavalry force
at strength 4 with access to cheap Warg fodder to grab objectives when they
need to. It’s basic but it should work well enough given the bonuses, which is
all you can really ask for.
Assault
Upon Helm’s Deep
The attacker list for the siege, this is pretty
simple in that it has no named characters and you just get Uruk Captains, Shamans,
Warriors, Berserkers and Demolition Team plus the Isengard Siege Ballistae and Trolls.
You have to take an Uruk Captain as your leader but that was likely to happen
anyway because taking an army of Shamans leading isn’t very effective as after
the first one their value diminishes.
“You do not know Pain, you do not know
Fear!”- Half of the regular Isengard army bonus
(the other half going to Ugluk’s Scouts) this means Isengard models don’t take
break tests until 66% of the army is dead. That’s the entire list here so stops
things running away more which is great
Commander of the Uruk-Hai- The Captain leading the army gets bumped to 3 attacks and 3 wounds,
which is helpful when your army leader isn’t a powerhouse hero. It helps him win
fights and survive if he does lose, which are both useful given his Captain
stats.
The Isengard Hordes- Every hero’s max warband size is increased by 6 models, which lets
you pack out a horde of Uruks a lot easier without having to buy as many heroes
to lead. In a list that is geared towards taking troops this is very good to
have and is a really nice bonus
Break the Walls- The siege-based rules for the
army, Ballistae can reroll hits and scatter rolls they make which helps them a
lot and can make them very annoying to face (but they’re still no Iron Hills
Ballista) and the demolition charges in your army can roll 2 dice instead of 1
when detonated and pick the highest, meaning they will be doing as much damage
as possible and making them somewhat worthwhile.
When I
would build this army I would lean towards making sure I have a lot of bases
covered while also keeping more of the army bonuses. This means I would take as
many Uruks as I can pack in at lower levels and have crossbows for strong
shooting, berserkers and pikes scattered into the rest to make up a strong fighting
line. At higher levels this idea is much the same with the basic troops, but I
would consider a troll or a ballista to add some bigger punch against higher
tier heroes as they will cut through the army somewhat more easily given the
lack of anything but Captains and Shamans.
