Will: In this edition of 500 under 50 we are going to look at Minas Tirith. Shiny shiny armour and helmets which remind me of the 1993 Coneheads film!
For this list I am going to look at Boromir as a leader. He is pretty high in points value but he adds some punching power to the army, especially if you arm him with a Banner. His pack from GW comes with 3 models and a huge amount of options for conversion (if you don't mid chopping up some bits). With his 6 Might and armed with the Horn of Gondor he is a scary prospect to go into combat against.
The buy in for this list is pretty simple:
Boromir, Captain of the White Tower: £20
1 box of Minas Tirith Warriors: £26
1 box of Knights of Minis Tirith: 20
Total: £66
Total: £66
So with this purchase you have multiple options.
List 1:
Boromir with Banner of Minas Tirith on Horse
8 Warriors with Shield
8 Warriors with Spear and Shield
Captain of Minas Tirith on Horse with Lance (Use one of the spare Knights, be creative but it can be a simple as putting the horse on a rock or a simple head swap)
4 Knights of Minas Tirith with Lance and Shield
4 Warriors with Bows
499 points, 26 Models, 4 Bows
So Boromir armed with the Banner can advance up the field with the bulk of warriors in order to increase the much needed low fight and providing the Warriors with rerolls. With D6 and F4 they will be able to stick around for a fair while in order for the Knights to jockey position on the battlefield. When possible Boromir on horseback can charge multiple models as he has 4 attacks at F7 meaning he will win most fights. If things are looking dicey then engage the horn of Gondor or break off in order to help the Knights if need be.
The plan with the Knights would be to flank or objective grab using their speed to your advantage. Whilst in combat I realise F3 is not ideal but if you can get the charge and win the fight a lance should be able to take out a lot of warriors. Alternatively, if Boromir and his Banner are around then they become some of the more deadly Cavalry in the game.
The Archers are there just for some ranged attacks or can sit on objectives and attempt to defend them. You have a 50% chance of hitting a target if you haven't moved, with only 4 Archers they aren't going to decide the game but they still help with your break point.
List 2: Conversion Time(Nothing too taxing)
Boromir on Horse with Lance and Shield
5 Knights of Minas Tirith
6 Warriors with Bows
Captain of Minas Tirith (either use a spare MT warrior or convert the spare body of Boromir)
1 Warrior with Banner shield(Spare banner used from Boromir on Horse)
7 Warriors with Shield
7 Warriors with Spear and Shield
500 points, 26 Models, 6 Bows
This is clearly similar to the first list, but it doesn't sink as many points into Boromir. Now with this they lose the +1 fight and range from Boromir's banner but he gains a lance and can still charge in on his horse. By using the spare arm from Boromir's mounted model you have a banner for the future. The general idea is the same but i think using the cavalry more offensively from the beginning. The bowmen, as well as adding to break point, give more of a presence and can cut off some of the board to would be flankers or objective protection. Losing the higher fight could be kind of a big deal
here but Defensively you are pretty sound at D6 mostly across the board.
All in all this is a good starting base for a MT Army. From here you can add a whole host of things. Rangers, Faramir and his captains or Gandalf? You can go in so many ways either make your Minas Tirith a huge force or ally to others.
At 500 points, very few things can answer Boromir. I do think King Aragorn might be a better choice - retains a 6" banner, doesn't buff the FV of your troops, but kills things more reliably. Free heroic March early in the game followed by free Heroic Combats/Strikes later in the game are also very welcome (and only 3 Might behind Boromir - he'll make that up quickly). All told, he's a little more expensive in-game, so you'd be dropping roughly 2 archers (worth it I think).
ReplyDeleteI agree about Aragorn if I was writing a list one dimensionally however, I looked for options for both the present and the future. With Aragorn you are minimum 225 points and are removing most of your list building options at 500. With Boromir you can have him as at little as 160 upto 215, leaving you plenty of room to play about with list composition, find your sweet spot and also if you choose will enable you to start converting.
DeleteTrue, though you actually run Aragorn at 240 - always. :-) I actually think he doesn't cramp list building that much - sure, he's a big chunk of points, but his access to nearly every heroic action (not channelling and not accuracy - no big loss with either) means that as a new player, you can experiment and find what you like. Are you facing a magic-heavy list? You've got someone who can call Heroic Resolve (not great on a turn when you'd like to be charging, but not bad if you're standing back and shooting for the round OR about to be charged). Do you want to clear stuff out? Aragorn can do that with a free Combat/Strike (or Strength, I guess). Heroes you can ally with are limited to not Boromir/Denethor, but you've got access to great heroes including Faramir, Madril, Damrod, and Cirion (to say nothing of generic captains - though get Madril first) if you want to expand.
DeleteAnd you get access to the Dead of Dunharrow as a Historical alliance, which can be really, really fun (my thoughts here on them): https://tellmeatalegreatorsmall.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-bare-necessities-part-xvii-dead-of.html.