A Noob's Perspective – Defenders of The Shire

Today we have fellow Noob Dave taking a break from stomping his Balrog all over us to look at everyone’s favourite hairy-footed creatures!

Who doesn't love Hobbits?! Peaceful, food loving people who mostly just want to be left alone... But enough about me, lets have a look at a Noob’s Perspective of the Defenders of The Shire legendary legion.

So to preface this, I've never written a list for The Shire, or this legendary legion before, and to be honest, I haven't given Hobbits much of a look at all since our friend Colm had a Hobbit do pretty much nothing for the whole of our Battle Companies campaign. What can I say, I see F1, I’m instantly dubious. That being said, with my absolute grand total of 0 minutes into looking at what makes them good, lets have a look at what I've thrown together.

For the Shire! - 500 points

(Leader) Meriadoc, Captain of the Shire with Shield, Elven Cloak and Pony: 60

10 Hobbit Militia, Battlin' Brandybucks: 50

2 Hobbit Shirrifs: 10

Peregrin, Captain of The Shire with Shield, Elven Cloak and Pony: 60

5 Hobbit Militia: 20

1 Hobbit Shirrif: 5

Frodo of the Nine Fingers with Elven Cloak and Pony: 70

3 Hobbit Militia: 12

1 Hobbit Shirrif: 5

Samwise the Brave with Elven Cloak and Pony: 55

6 Hobbit Archers: 30

5 Hobbit Militia: 20

1 Hobbit Shirrif: 5

Fredegar Bolger: 10

6 Hobbit Archers: 30

Farmer Maggot: 45

Grip, Wolf and Fang: -

2 Hobbit Militia: 8

1 Hobbit Shirrif: 5

So, let’s try and begin to deconstruct the mess I've made!

Basic pros of what I've got here:

I've got 49 models total, so in theory, should be annoying at the very least to whittle down and hard to break. 

A 6” banner for the Hobbits coming from Frodo.

Hobbit Archers have a 3+ shoot value. I've not maxed out on my bow limit, that is potentially a thing I will change if I ever get this list on a table.

6 Warbands, so I should be able to get decent positioning on the table in scenarios where we alternate our deployment, one warband at a time.

Either the warband led by Freddy or Farmer Maggot will be able to “leap out of” a terrain piece on turn 3 instead of setting up.

Technically, I have shooting across the board, due to Throw Stones.

However, some drawbacks instantly off the bat are:

They're Hobbits, my Militia is F1, and other than Merry's warband, they're also only S2.

I've probably not got enough Shirrifs in there. Shirrifs are F3.

Stubby legs! 4” Move for anyone on foot.

Ponies need a courage test to charge, so might just flake when they need to get into combat.

I don't know anything about playing Hobbits.

Lets take a look at what I've taken, and I'll try and explain the thought process behind it all.

My choice of heroes is pretty basic, I've got the FabFour mounted with Elven Cloaks, to hopefully lessen the chance of getting shredded by bows at range.

Frodo is there to be a banner, and he's another Might on the table for the inevitable need to Heroic Move when the fight ends up in the Hobbits face.

Sam gets to strike at S3 thanks to Sting, and he's also rocking 2 Might, so seems like a decent pick. Sadly he loses “Let him go...” from his Fellowship profile, so no Heroic Combats for free if Frodo is in danger.

Merry and Pip have to be taken due to the legions rules. 2 Might each, access to Heroic March, and a bunch of other things going for them, I couldn't see me not taking them anyway.

My more interesting (I think...) hero choices come in the form of Fredegar (herein referred to as “Fatty”) and Farmer Maggot.

I like Fatty, cause he's just 10 points. Sure, he's shit, but since the legendary legion lets one of my warbands jump out of a terrain feature on turn 3, his warband is just 6 Archers. Depending on the match up, I can choose to have him start on the table and begin having his warband fire as soon as possible, or I can have them appear turn 3, and be ready to provide some shooting at any models who have been kiting or hanging out at the back of their line.

Farmer Maggot gets to bring his 3 dogs, which all get a fairly respectable F,D and S of 3. Same deal as with Fatty, his small warband of a couple of Militia and a Shirrif can elect to jump out of terrain if Fatty's warband does not, and provide a little bit of support where they need to.

Now lets have a look at my warrior choices.

Like I said before, I haven't maxed out my bow limit, which already feels like a mistake, but we'll see how it goes.

Pip has to upgrade any Archers in his warband to Tookish Hunters, at the cost of 1pt extra per model. Since this only grants extra Fight Value, I've (probably foolishly) chosen to not take any, instead, just loading up Pip with a bunch of Militia and a Shirrif.

Merry has a similar rule, but upgrading Militia to “Battlin' Brandybucks” instead. Giving them an extra strength, it seems like a good investment to me.

I only have 6 Shirrifs in my list, so I know they're just going to get picked off where they can, since they provide my highest Fight value in my Warriors.

I didn't want to focus too much on Shirrifs over numbers, since I'm used to being lower Fight value than my opponent in my “main” army, Moria.

As per the Legendary Legion, I get to take 8 Trap Markers as well, not only do they look like a great modelling opportunity, they look pretty decent, and I'm sure the more I'll play the list, the more I'll figure out the optimal position and placement for each one.

For those who don't know, Trap Markers are 25mm bases, one side completely plain, just a bit of grass, so they all look mostly the same, but the underside of each trap has something to show that it's a certain type of trap. The 4 traps are: Pitfall, Tripwire, Snare and Dummy, you get 2 of each in this Legendary Legion, and the Scouring of The Shire book is pretty handy, as it gives you an idea how to make each one.

So what do they do, and how do they help?

Well, each trap has a different effect, from simply knocking you prone, to stopping you from being able to move until you pass a test. The Pitfall even creates a permanent hole on the board that you have to jump over or go around, at risk of falling in!

I don't think I can say too much about where to put traps, one) because I'm yet to play them, so have no idea myself, and, two) because I think the prime places to drop them will change every game, depending on scenarios and match up.

I think some basic placements you can't go wrong would be; Using them to block door ways, or tight lanes created by terrain.

Creating areas around objectives (they have to be a few inches away from any objective markers) that make it threatening for you opponent.

Making your planned “Freddy Flank”* even juicer, by hopefully catching your opponent with his pants down as he frivolously tries to trod on your small bases of flowers that you spent all night making, cause damn this game is a labour of love sometimes.

I'm looking forward to messing around with Traps, they seem to add a lot of flavour and some potential to swing an encounter, if only slightly, in your favour.

  

So what do I think of the list?

I think it looks like a blast to play, and I've been after an excuse to pick some Hobbits for a long time, so if I see any going on a trade group, I might take the plunge.

Do I think this list will win?

Maybe, if you play it well I'm sure 40 odd models that can all throw stones will eventually pick up kills with them, and their Archers are no slouch thanks to their brilliant Shoot value.

I can't really say for certain if I think its good in the slightest, as, like I opened with saying, I haven't really got an idea where the strengths lie in this army list, since I've done no research in it whatsoever. However the sheer number of bodies has got to count for something!

*I'm coining the term Freddy Flank and I don't care what anyone says.

Thanks Dave! Nearly 50 models at 500 points seems terrifying even if they are mostly F1! If you can’t have quality then just throw bucketfuls of dice at your opponent! What do you think of Dave’s list? Leave us a comment and let us know!