MESBG: Breaking of the Fellowship Lists

 


Breaking of the Fellowship

It is within the sanctuary of Lothlórien that the Fellowship came following the loss of Gandalf in Moria.  When they set off once again the Fellowship, accompanied by Haldir and his warriors, knows that their toughest days are still in front of them. Yet the gifts Lady Galadriel has presented them also come with a renewed sense of hope; hope that they may yet succeed in their heroic quest.

Army Profiles and Gifts

  • Aragorn ~ We have to take our leader.  His gift is an Elven hand weapon that may occasionally be useful.  Unless we are attacking two handed we are always going to use it.
  • Haldir ~ An Elven Captain gives us the option to actually have some Troops.  Not sure why his bow is optional war gear but it is absolutely essential given his power is ranged attacks.
  • Legolas ~ Our favourite Hero and even more shooting.  He is hitting on 2+ and his gift lets him reroll 1's when he his near another Elf! 
  • Frodo ~ The ring bearer makes our army unbreakable while he is alive (a good thing given the low model count) while his gift is a free magic spell every turn to protect from ranged attacks.
  • Boromir ~ Given he is about to die (spoiler!) this is the only time we get to play Boromir and he does have a very impressive profile.  His gift is woodland creature; at least he can sneak around with the Elves if the terrain setup allow it.
  • Merry & Pippin ~ These guys are mostly filler but it is useful to have one of them to support Boromir.  Their gift is Elven daggers that allow them rerolls to wound.  Against an average opponent going from 33% to 55% is a nice bonus and always useful.
  • Gimli ~ It is a close call between the man of Gondor and the Dwarf for building lists but we get to take Gimli for all the other major battles and thus he will likely take second fiddle in this one.  His gift is three rerolls during the battle, his own personal Banner.
  • Sam ~ I want to like Sam but he is competing against Elves for space in this army.  He needs to be paired up with Boromir and near Frodo in order to make the most of his abilities which seems like it might be a little tricky.  His gift is always passing jump and climb tests another occasionally useful but not something that will come up a lot.

BotF List 350 Points

We can make a Hero Hammer list with our three main Heroes! This does give 7 shots a turn although it will likely struggle with some scenarios.  Alternatively we can replace Legolas with a dozen Elves for a more balanced starting list.

BotF List 400 Points

Now Haldir and a full contingent of Elves make perfect companions for Aragorn.  Our leader has lost his bow but that is made up for with the extra Lothlórien warriors.

BotF List 500 Points

Legolas permanently joins the team at our next step up in points with the option of either an Elven Banner or Frodo to round out the list.  Frodo gives Aragorn and Legolas Fearless and makes the army unbreakable while he is alive.  The other options is four more Elves one of whom has a Banner (while another seems to have nicked Aragorn's bow again).

BotF List 600 Points

Boromir is our main addition at 600 points; it is useful to have Merry along to help trigger his "Protect the little ones!" rule.  We still have the Banner vs Frodo debate but could squeeze them both in with less Elven bodies.  The real question is should the last five points be Aragorn's bow or Boromir's Shield?  I will see how they play out on the tabletop.

There is also the 600 point Thematic list with all the 8 Heroes or the option of taking Gimli rather than Boromir.  Lots of choice for which toys to play with here.

BotF List 650 Points

650 is likely the sweet spot were we get everything we want having Frodo, a Banner and 8 bows along with Boromir having his shield as well.

BotF Lists 700-800 Points

Increasing to 700 we have a choice between Sam or the other hobbits and Frodo's war gear.  I think the Mithril Shirt is going to be more use than a gardener especially with Merry and Pippin being able reroll wound rolls while Sam cannot.  After that Gimli gets added to either of the previous lists if we step up to 800 points which is likely the limit for playing this army.



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