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In the first part of this new series we are going to be looking at factions in depth, probably way more so than is considered sane. But we are doing this so you don't have to. Part 1 will focus on the heroes of the Army of Thror. "First up is one of my favorite armies and one I used for the entirety of the competitive season in 2019. Picking up a few podiums along the way and as part of team England when we won the ETC (again ;D ). Thror and friends have been up against the best and here are some of the things I learned along the way" - Alastair King
Army Bonus
The army bonus for army of Thror is pretty neat, and makes Thror a 6" banner effect for the whole army. Effectively giving all your heroes and troops an extra dice to win combat increasing their reliability. Because of how the army works overall and lack of mounted heroes, its pretty essential to keep this.
Rating - 7/10
Profile analysis
Heroes
Thror
So first up is the big dwarf himself Thror. A quick look of his profile show him to have a fairly solid stat line worthy of dwarf hero of legend. With 3A (attacks), S4 (strength) and F6 (fight value), Thror is solid if unspectacular combat threat. He can take down a model a turn quite reliably but don't expect big things from him. The main things to stand out though is his D9 (defense) and his 1 fate. D9 is amazing, especially combined with 3W (wounds) and that Thror will have to be the general. Thror is all but immune to those plucky random warriors who can get a sneaky wound, no need to worry about conceding those costly victory points like weakly clad generals of other races. A shield to boot means you can roll 6 dice to win combat if you are really in a tight spot. 1 fate is a bit of a bummer, but with your high defense and the Arkenstone you don't mind so much. Speaking of the Arkenstone... Thror has a couple of special rules and interesting war gear. The Arkenstone gives you a 3+ fate save that if passed on a 4+ means you don't lose the fate points. This makes that 1 fate go potentially a long way. My main advice though when using Thror is if you roll a 3 for the fate roll, bump it up to a 4 with might if possible. His other piece of war gear is the ring of Durin, this cool little ring has the potential to be a game changer; giving you the chance for to snatch (or lose) a priority at a key moment of the game. While not wholly reliable and easy to forget, (did this a few times early on) its a nice little bonus that every once in a while will be a life saver. Thror also becomes a 6" banner effect for the army, this is a great bonus and makes all the dwarfs that much more reliable as it will cover most of your battle line. Thror has a very handy rule that allows you to upgrade your grim hammers to Guardians of the King for 1point (I think Grim-er hammer would have been a better name personally). These guys get +1S but must be in his war band. This is pretty much an essential part of any Army of Thror list but i will go into that when talking about the troops. Thror has 1 highly useful additional Heroic action in heroic strike, and 2 sup par ones in challenge and strength. Any army needs a few strikes and having it on a F6, D9 hero is pretty good as he can fight enemy heroes with minimal risk. Overall Thror is decent, if unspectacular for his 120 points. However taking into account his effect on the army and access to strength 4 troops he becomes an essential part of every army of Thror lists, whether you like it or not. So even if his overall rating may seem low because of his actual profile, he should be the first name on the list. Ranting without army bonus - 5/10 Rating with army bonus - 7/10
Thrain Next up on this list and the line of Durin is Thrain. Thrain has arguable the perfect stat line, with 3's in all the right places, F6 and D8 he is a durable and solid hero of valour.
It is in Thrain's war gear that thing go from good to great. As the wielder of a master forged two-handed hammer, Thrain goes from ok in combat to great. That plus 1 to wound really makes a difference and elevates him above the other dwarfs in combat potential. On a side note he can also have the ring of Durin if Thror isn't in the list but that will be a rare occurrence.
Special rules wise Thrain has 2. 'Blood Feud' is very situational and while cool only came up for me one time in all my events last year (Azogs not that common at the moment). The 2nd one, 'Durin's Heir,' is a great little rule that mean on the rare occurrence you do break, any guys on objective will stay there and you can avoid some bad rolls for your other heroes. Thrain has 2 of the best heroic actions in the game to boot, With heroic Strike and his combat potential he is gonna give anything short of Smaug a run for their money. Saying that if you do face something that may make Thrain feel a bit uncomfortable, he has Heroic defense to ensure he holds them up for many turns.
Overall Thror is the best named hero in the list and is incredibly points efficient. He can be used like a wrecking ball, you don't have to be worried about him dying, just chuck him in and kill stuff. If it weren't for external factors outside his control he would be the first name on the army sheet. As it is though, points allowing, he would be the 3rd.
Rating - 9/10
Young Thorin Oakenshield
Everyone's favourite grandchild, Thorin in his younger days. He was as skilled warrior then as he ever has been. Withe the classic 3's in all the right places, F6 and D7(8) stat line, he follows in his fathers footsteps as being dependable and solid hero of valour.
In terms of war gear Thorin doesn't offer much offensively, armed only with a sword. This limits him to 1 reliable kill a turn. However he can be armed with the oaken shield for the same price as a shield. This gives him the benefit of being able to make 1 strike when shielding. This can be fairly handy if you get charged by a model that is a bit scary and mounted, something like a Bolg on warg. You can all but guarantee that 6 and if your opponent fails to roll it, use that 1 strike to take out the mount. I would even use might to do this. Thorin has one special rule 'To Arms' (I guess Du Bekar! had already been taken). Its a cool little rule that buffs all Erebor models within 3" to have +1 strength for that turn phase. The good thing is you get to activate it at the start of the fight phase, so you can make sure that you get the most out of it. I find because I usually have a mix of a S4 and S3 line it will make some difference no matter what i am facing. I recommend using this as early as possible, its normally going to effect the most models at that point and really can help gain an early advantage. Also its another one of those things that is easily forgotten. In terms of heroics, Thorin gets all of the heroics that Thror and Thrain get. Getting two good ones and the other situational ones. I won't go into strike and defence as I already have, but I will touch on heroic challenge and strength briefly.
While still not going to happen that often a heroic strength with Thorin combined with his 'To Arms!' rule can actually turn him into a pretty scary and reliable killer for a turn, whether being a minimum of S6 its worth a might is up to you though. Heroic challenge on a hero of valour has some more flexibility that it does on say Thror. There are going to be more models you can use it on to start with, but also as he wont be your general so is less risky. Thorin is pretty tanky and can use the Oaken shield and survive first round even if your opponent strikes. The main benefit though is you can force a hero like Borimir into spending several turns trying to beat up Thorin, or make him sacrifice a large benefit of his might store. Its also a good way to get out of things like the Bilbo and bard combo sometimes.
While Thorin lacks the punch of Thrain for a hero with his stat line and abilities coming in round the 100-105 points mark he is pretty good value. Its normally a choice between him and Thrain though, Thrain comes out on top as he is just far more reliable in combat. Once again if it weren't for the needs of the army he would probably be my 2nd or 3rd choice hero. However for the list he going to be the 4th name on the sheet, although could sub in when Thrain is to expensive. Rating - 7/10
Young Balin the Dwarf
Young Balin has probably the most unique stat line in the whole list. He basically is the equivalent of an orc captain but with C6, 1 might, 3 will and 2 fate. Its not great stats for a dwarf (how I would love him to be F5). He is the cheapest hero in the list however and has some funky special rules.
Equipment wise he is equipped with a sword-mace, this enables him to feint of bash. Bash is actually a pretty useful ability and one I will talk about more when we get to the Grim hammers in the troops.
Balin has 1 special rule, which much like the ring of Durin allows you to re-roll the priority dice. This time instead he can do it at the cost of a will point. This means you can re-roll the dice 4 times in the list if you have Balin normally which is pretty good. You may want to use the will however to stop area of effect spells though and save you scary heroes will for things like transfix. Either way you will actually use all of Balin's will in most games for something.
Balin has one heroic action, but its a good one in Defence. This is pretty handy especially with his D5. Sadly its a one shot with with his only might but Balin is not expensive and you could throw him into something like the Balrog as a delay tactic for a turn and come out alive if you do.
Balin used to be one of the mainstays of my dwarf army in the old edition, sadly this is not the case anymore. Its not because he is bad, he just fails to bring anything more important to the army than the other heroes can offer. While he is cheap, he is only 5pts less than a captain who has better stats overall and heroic march. I do like him he is gonna be the 5th name on the sheet at best most of the time. I think his place is more to ally into iron hills and boost number in that list.
Rating - 4/10
Young Dwalin the Dwarf
Much like his brother Dwalin has an interesting profile. His biggest pro's are his 3A and S5. While he is only F5, its mean he is a pretty strong troop killer. With 2 of each of the heroic stats he is solid but not at the level of higher tier heroes. The 2 fate does help him out a bit with his relatively squishy D6, for a dwarf at least. - On a side note anyone notice how the defence bonus for dwarf amour varies massively in this list
It terms of war gear he has a pair of axes, meaning you can boost his strength up to 6 and take down some of those shield walls on 4's.
Dwalin has the Fearless special rule, in the current meta there is a lot of terror hanging around and it is hand having 1 model that won't get caught out on a bad dice roll. His next special rule 'weapon master' is one of the best in the game... when you have a two handed weapon. Dwalin sadly doesn't and so this rule is pretty useless unless a Gundabad shaman is around who wants to shatter him. The last special rule 'Dwarven fury' helps make up for his lack of punch compared to his older self. Re-roll to wounds on a 3A S5(or higher) makes Dwalin on Thrain's level of damage output. This however comes at the cost of D3 to your FV. My advice with this rule is use it in conjunction with a spear man vs lower fight troops, maintaining that higher FV.
For heroics, Dwalin has Heroic strike, which as we all know is great. If your lucky as well it can help with his 'Dwarven Fury' special rule. His other one is heroic strength, once again situational but combined with his natural S5, piercing strike, 'To Arms!' and even 'Dwarven fury means he can actually get to S10 and re-roll wounds if your lucky, something even Sauron will flinch at.
Coming in at 85 points Young Dwalin is a relatively cheap combat threat. However for the extra 15 points you get Young Thorin who gains a lot. Worth the drop in combat potential. When I have used Young Dwalin it has usually been at lower points where I cant stretch to get Thrain or Thorin. He is especially useful in good vs evil where his F5 doesn't hurt so much and you are able to get the most from his special rules.
Rating - 6/10
Grim Hammer Captain
As the first of our non-named heroes on this list the captain has the standard captain profile of a dwarf but with D8 as standard. This means he can take a beating and give reasonable combat support with his F5 and 2 attacks.
War gear wise he is armed with the pick hammer, a great versatile hand and a half weapon. This gives him some flexibility and can give him some much greater hitting power with the two hand and piercing strike options. He also comes with throwing weapons which can be fairly hand at taking out an extra model or mount, especially with some might behind it to become more reliable. As a captain he comes with the fairly standard additional heroic of heroic march. This is essential in any dwarf list. When you are only movement 5 you are going to need some help to get around the board. This is especially important in scenarios such as seize the prize.
Coming in at 70 points this guy is fairly cheap and has solid stats. Most importantly he has Heroic march. That all said I would rarely recommend using him other the regular dwarf captain, who is cheaper even with a shield.
Rating 6/10
Captain of Erebor
With the standard captain profile, the Erebor captain matches his Grim hammer version in every aspect apart from being D7.
Despite the D7 he can be equipped with a shield to boost him to D8. This actually makes him better defensively than the Grim hammer one. He is still armed with axes so has access to piercing strike, but does not have some of the flexibility of his compatriot. There are no throwing weapons either but its not a major loss and you save the points for them anyway.
Once again he comes with essential heroic march. One tactic involving march i have often used if to quickly move and reposition your dwarfs. This is especially good if you can catch your opponents deciding to split their forces to go round terrain. Enabling you to apply pressure and inflict damage before they can bring their full army to bear. I would advice doing this on a turn you lose priority as it works much better. Doing everything the Grim Hammer captain does for you army but for less points and is worth the trade off you get. He is he for one reason only and that is to bring march and he does that cheapest. You don't even have to take the shield, although I would if you have the spare points. This guy is always the 2nd or first name on my list and should be for you too.
Rating - 7/10
As you can see army of Thror actually has a good range of heroes and nearly all of them have their uses. You wont be wasting points for taking any of them. The needs of the army does mean though that some heroes have to be taken over others though.
That concludes part 1 of this series on army of Thror. In part 2 we will go through an look at the troops of the army. Future parts will look at example army lists and tactics. so you have a lot to look forward to. - GBHL Alastair