Today we are looking at the Top 5 lists from W.A.R. of the Ring, a 500 point Good v Evil event held down in Reading last weekend. It was also a 100 point GBHL event and had 54 attendees. Read on to have a look at the lists or skip to the end to see how it compares with the Scouring of Stirlingshire, another Good v Evil event from a few weeks ago.
5th Place
Good: Army of Lake-Town (Pure List)
The Master of Lake-Town
6 Guard
6 Guard with Spear
Alfrid the Councilor
Braga, Captain of the Guard
3 Guard
8 Guard with Spear
Bard the Bowman with Armour and Horse
Sigrid and Tilda
11 Guard with Bow
40 Models, 8 Might (up to 11 though)
This is very similar to a list on the most recent episode of the Green Dragon Podcast. Since those guys are far more experienced than me I’ll just parrot what they said. This list is based around The Master using his Money Bags special rule to up the Fight value of the Guard to 4 and Braga to 5 at key points in order to win a load of fights and either kill the enemy or control a certain area. Added to this is the fact that they count as within range of a banner when within 6” of Bard, or The Master whenever the Money Bags rule is active. This gives a huge amount of coverage. You’ve also got the reliable combat hero that is Bard with the standard upgrade package (Alfrid, Sigrid and Tilda) for dealing with big heroes. Alfrid doesn’t have to just give his Might to Bard though, he could give it to the Master if the Guard need more buffing. Finally, 40 Models at 500 points is pretty huge so there is definitely scope for swamping and surrounding the enemy. Remember, traps win games! (Sorry Green Dragon guys, hope you don’t mind me stealing your wisdom 😉)
Evil: Azog's Legion (Pure List)
Azog with White Warg, Heavy Armour and Stone Flail
7 Gundabad Orcs with Shield
7 Gundabad Orcs with Spear
1 Gundabad Orc with Banner and Shield
Goblin Mercenary Captain
9 Goblin Mercenaries
26 Models, 8 Might
This list really revolves around Azog and him being basically unkillable. Going down the rest of the Top 5 I really can't see anything that could deal with Azog in a straight fight. The rest of the list is an escort for Azog and to help play the objectives. With that in mind it might suffer from a lack of mobility, especially as it is one of the smaller forces in the Top 5. However in Contest of Champions this should be a very easy win. Not sure what else to say about this one to be honest, I guess the Goblins can jump out of terrain to surround people but really it’s all about Azog.
4th Place
Good: Fiefdoms (Pure List)
Prince Imrahil with Armoured Horse and Lance
1 Knight with Armoured Horse and Lance
2 Knights
6 Men-at-arms
1 Clansman
1 Blackroot Vale Archer
1 Blackroot Vale Archer with Spear
Forlong with Horse
1 Knight with Armoured Horse and Lance
2 Knights
6 Men-at-arms
2 Clansmen
1 Blackroot Vale Archer
1 Blackroot Vale Archer with Spear
29 Models, 6 Might
This is a solid fighting force of a lot of F4 troops being helped by Imrahil’s ridiculously large banner effect. We’ve also got two impressive combat heroes and some very punchy cavalry backed up by a pretty decent pike block and some choppy two handed weapons. The Knights are F5 within 3” of Imrahil and everyone within 6” of Forlong is rerolling 1s to wound. Overall this just seems extremely solid and has tools for pretty much everything. You’ve got to know how and when to use them but if you do this list will not let you down.
Evil: Mordor (Pure List)
Gothmog with Warg and Shield
4 Black Numenoreans
4 Morannon Orcs with Shield and Spear
Gorbag
4 Black Numenoreans
4 Morannon Orcs with Shield and Spear
1 Warg Rider with Shield
Zagdush
4 Black Numenoreans
4 Morannon Orcs with Shield and Spear
1 Warg Rider with Shield
29 Models, 9 Might
No legendary legion here, instead 12 Black Numenoreans are accompanying the orcs, bringing with them high defence and an above average Fight value of 4. Also, 2 Warg Riders let you play objectives slightly more effectively than the LL allows. Gothmog with full kit is still very strong despite the limited range on his special rules, however, 29 models in 500 points means you'll have to whittle some forces down to be able to activate the Mordor army bonus, so the BN's have to put in some leg work, especially since Mog’s abilities do not buff them at all. Gorbag and Zagdush are nice choices, as they're cheaper named captains who are both bringing 3 Might each and 3 attacks each (Gorbag gets 3 if outnumbered). Zagdush can deal with stronger models with a combo of Heroic Strength and his ability, but that risks death if he loses the fight, as his D drops to 4. Morannons all armed with Shield and Spear imply that all of the leg work in the list is being done by the BN's rather than having the Orcs on the front line, paired with Gothmog, once per game the spear line will reroll failed strikes, and can potentially have Hatred if they are against Men. BN's cause Terror, that and the F4 has to be worth something since it did well. They are 1 point more than an M.Orc with a shield, but for the 1 point you gain +1 Fight and Terror.
3rd Place
Good: Lothlorien and The Shire (Yellow Alliance)
Haldir with Heavy Armour and Bow
2 Guards of the Galadhrim Court
4 Wood Elves with Bow and Spear
5 Wood Elves with Spear
1 Galadhrim Warrior with Spear and Banner
Holfoot
12 Shirriffs
Farmer Maggot
Grip, Fang and Wolf
6 Archers
3 Militia
Farmer Cotton
5 Shirriffs
6 Archers
51 Models, 7 Might
Well this is a strange, unassuming, little list. At first it doesn’t look like much but as I read through the profiles I found more and more little tricks hidden within it. Sure the Hobbits are low Fight, but the Elves are above average and all have spears/pikes so can support in key places. The Hobbits are low Strength, but actually all the Shirriffs around Farmer Cotton can go two handed with no penalty so they are essentially S4. Everyone in the army actually has a pretty impressive shoot value so those Short Bows are going to pull more than their weight, and then you’ve got 40-odd lots of Throw Stones when the enemy gets close. Even at S1 that is going to leave a mark. Finally, at 51 models this is a veritable horde at this points level so it has good objective game too!
Evil: Moria and Goblin Town (Yellow Alliance)
Dragon with Fly
6 Moria Goblins with Shield
3 Moria Goblins with Spear
Grinnah
10 Goblins
Goblin Town Captain
10 Goblins
32 Models, 8 Might
Another strange list, the centrepiece of which is the Dragon. This thing is a machine at F7 S7 D7 and 5A on the charge. Maybe this thing could go up against the Azog above but it’d take a bit of luck as Azog has double the Might. It also has fly so it can pick its fights or grab an objective if need be. The rest of the army is a big screen of troops, most of which can support each other thanks to either spears or the Chittering Horde special rule. It really looks as though the Dragon needs to do some serious work here as the goblins are nothing special, but at this points level there aren’t a huge amount of things that can stop it!
2nd Place
Good: Army of Thror (Pure List)
Thror
12 Guardians of the King
Young Dwalin
5 Warriors with Spear and Shield
Dwarf Captain
4 Warriors with Spear and Shield
24 Models, 7 Might
This list is just plain solid. Lots of high Fight, lots of high Strength and lots of high Defence all backed up by 2 very powerful heroes. It’s also the smallest list in the Top 5 but unlike some lists there is no filler here, everything can hold its own. The Guardians of the King in particular can smash through basically anything with their F4, S4 two handed weapons backed up by the F4 of the Warriors. They are going to be outnumbered but Thror is a large banner and there are plenty of spears in the list to help even things out again.
Evil: Azog's Legion and Azog's Hunters (Green Alliance)
Bolg with Fell Warg
13 Gundabad Orcs with Spears and Shields
Fimbul
5 Hunter Orcs with Bows
3 Hunter Orcs with Two Handed Weapons
2 Hunter Orcs
1 Hunter Orc with Bow and War Horn
1 Fell Warg
27 Models, 6 Might
Here we have Bolg. He’s not quite Azog but he isn’t far behind, especially in small games. Backing him up is a block of decent Defense troops and a chunk of 2 attack Hunter Orcs. These guys seem to be all the rage at the moment. Sure they are only F3 but if they win a Fight they’ve got 2 strikes at S4. That can end up mowing down a lot of stuff quickly. Master of Battle also can’t be overemphasised in small games where resources are already limited.
1st Place
Good: Rangers of Ithilien (Legendary Legion)
Faramir with Bow and Horse
12 Rangers with Spear
Madril
12 Rangers
Damrod
3 Rangers with Spear
3 Rangers
Captain of Minas Tirith with Horse, Lance and Bow
34 Models, 9 Might
What a disgusting number of bows. 34 of the buggers, hitting on 3+ and probably wounding on 5s or 6s, you'd expect to get somewhere between 4 and 8 wounds per turn. At this points level that could be a quarter of your army! Yikes. As this was Good v Evil unless you have brought the Shadow Lord along you are really not going to have a good time against this list. It is not super hard to see why this won, I don't really know what could deal with it on the Evil side!
Evil: Mordor, Dark Denizens of Mirkwood and Moria (Yellow Alliance)
The Shadow Lord with Fellbeast
10 Black Numenoreans
2 Orc Trackers
2 Orc Trackers on Wargs
The Spider Queen
Moria Goblin Captain
8 Goblins with Spear and Shield
2 Goblins with Spear
27 Models, 7 Might
This is a strange amalgamation but at 500 points having 2 monsters, protection from shooting, a strong magic caster and a decent number of troops is pretty good going. I thought for sure when I saw Moria alliance that it would involve Bat Swarms but I guess they are there for the numbers. Presumably the goblins are the back rank behind the Black Numenoreans who have all of the benefits that we’ve discussed in other lists but with the added bonus of Harbinger of Evil. In fact, almost half the army causes terror. Not generally a huge problem for Good armies but still adds an element of control.
So just like in previous tournaments we have looked at there is no one thing we can pick out as common to all of these lists. Some rely on numbers, some on heroes. What is interesting is that at this points level players seem to be building lists that are less about having tricks and tools, and much more abut raw efficiency. Plenty of these lists are very straightforward, bow spam, troop spam, unkillable heroes, solid defensive lines, etc. This definitely makes sense as you have fewer points to work with but it’s still interesting to see.
Something that I have noticed is that all but one of these lists have either elements from Armies of the Hobbit or one of the new supplements (Gondor at War, Scouring of the Shire). Only the Fiefdoms list is purely from Armies of the LOTR. I thought this might just be a quirk but then I went and looked at the Stirlingshire lists and all but 2 of them were the same. So out of 20 lists that’s only 3 pure AoLOTR lists. Does this suggest there has been some power creep with the new additions to the game? Quite possibly. It’ll be interesting to see if this trend continues as this is still only 2 data points so not enough to make sweeping conclusions but it is something to keep an eye on.
What do you think about these lists? What about the possibility of power creep? Leave us a comment and let us know!
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