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With a distinct lack of tournaments at the moment, I put the great tactical minds of the Great British Hobbit League to use. Here the players currently at the top of the league provide some tips on army ideas they’re working on; have been successful with in major tournaments; or general tips on things to think about if you’re new to the game.
Enjoy! - GBHL Harry
Alastair King - First Place
Harry ~ Alastair is currently at the top of the league, having won at Ripon and come second at the League opener in Cardiff, and with two other stellar performances in major tourneys. He usually favours dwarves, but is working on some taller projects:
Alastair ~ I am currently working on 2 new army projects, one good one evil. Neither of them has the strongest competitive pedigree right now, but I like a challenge. Both of which have an average move of over 5” so something quite different to the dwarfs I have been using of late and should challenge me to use a different play style. I am aiming towards 700pts of each although this doesn’t mean it’s the ideal points value for the army.
First are Easterlings; this much maligned faction has some un-mined potential and was something I have considered using since the beginning of the year but didn’t have the resources to get it done.
700pts-
Amdur, armoured horse
X6 Easterling Warriors, shields
x6 Easterling Warriors, shields + pikes
x2 Easterling Katapharax
War drum
War Priest
X6 Easterling Warriors, shields
x6 Easterling Warriors, shields + pikes
Dragon Knight, armoured horse
X4 Black dragons, shields + pikes
Dragon Knight, armoured horse
X4 Black dragons, shields + pikes
Key to the list is the war drum that allows you to get around the board almost as fast as cavalry, very helpful in many of the new scenarios. The 3 pronged attack of Amdur and the Dragon knights provide 3 heroes that can cause some serious damage with 4A on the charge; feel free to be a bit reckless with might if there are some squishy heroes around. The War Priest can provide a nice fury bubble for the army if it were to need it, but unless I face a terror causing army I think I will save the will for blade wrath.
The other list is an Eorl the young theme gondor/rohan alliance. Eorl has been one of my favourite characters since his release but I have never actually used him, so now’s the time.
ROHAN - 700pts
Eorl the young
X4 sons of Eorl
King of Men, horse + shield + lance + heavy armour
X5 Warriors of Minas Tirith, shields
x3 Warriors of Minas Tirith, shields + spears
x1 Warrior of Minas Tirith, shield + spear + banner
x3 Rangers of Gondor, spears
Knight of the White tower
X4 Warriors of Minas Tirith, shields
x2 Warriors of Minas Tirith, shields + spears
x4 Rangers of Gondor, spears
Knight of the White tower
X4 Warriors of Minas Tirith, shields
x2 Warriors of Minas Tirith, shields + spears
x4 Rangers of Gondor, spears
Eorl is great for his points, 3s in nearly all the right places (except fate, but he has heroic defense to help), S5 on the charge and on a 4+ his might is free. He is a surprising power house people don’t see often. The Sons equally have 3 S5 (S6 if you are piercing striking) attacks on the charge at F4, that will kill things.
The bulk of the list is actually made of Gondor, with the kings providing some heroic march and another might carrying mounted threat with lance he can deal some damage. The knights of the white tower provide some Heroic Strike to the list and can beef up the line with their special rules for 2 hand weapons and might blow, enemy heroes/monsters beware.
Both of these lists, I think, are better in a good vs evil setting as the D6 of the Easterling’s is better against a good who are s3 as the norm. Then the F4 of the troops and F5 of the heroes for the Gondor rohan is better against the more frequent lower fight value of the evil armies.
Harry ~ Thanks Ali, hopefully those armies perform as well as the Dwarfs have for you so far.
Next is Mr David Clubley, currently second place in the league after two podiums and some very high ranking performances at 5 tournaments this year. Here he focuses on 500pts of Dunland:
David Clubley - Second Place
This list took me 3rd place at a 34 player, 4 game tournament.
The Dunland Legion had just come out and I was eager to try it out which is why the list might seem strange as it was all I had painted at the time and all the new units were included so I could test their strengths and weaknesses.
At 500 points having 26 models is a good amount of troops. The army has 12 Might though and that really allowed me to command the battlefield in my games.
For me a balanced army is key to doing well at tournaments I try to aim for:
- 1.5 Might points for every 100 points
- AT LEAST 5 models for every 100 points
- Models with Wargear to form an effective Shield / Spear wall.
- A handful of fast moving models to capture objectives
- Some shooting capability of possible
Dunland tick all these boxes with some great 3 Might heroes, relatively cheap troops, Warriors with Shields and Huscarls, average bowmen and super fast and manoeuvrable Crebain (don’t leave home without some!)
A word of caution on Dunland though. With their high strength, axes and To Wound bonuses they can tear through your opponents army quickly.... too quickly! My loss with this list came because I reduced my opponent to 25% before I could capture their camp in Storm the Camp whilst they played well to narrowly capture my camp.
Always focus on the objectives of the mission if you want to do well at tournaments!
Harry ~ Some really smart advice, thanks for including your 5 tips on tournament armies in there, really useful for us noobs! Also, Check out the paint job on these Dunland guys, gorgeous work David!
Next up, in third place Shaun Lang, whose consistent performance has earned him some high scores and podiums in the early part of the year. He’s mostly been using a Fiefdom force, which he has a convenient list of tips for…
Shaun Lang - Third Place
Shaun ~
1. Keep your whole army within 12 inches of Imrahil for his banner effect allowing every duel roll to benefit. Despite his power in combat, it’is important not to throw him into risky battles; sometimes that banner effect is more useful. If your opponent has a spell caster, make sure Imrahil is in a position to be a banner with a couple of models to protect him. Unless a spell causes a wound to him, it is best not to waste your will.
2. Just 4 cavalry is more than enough as this means you can ensure all your knights are F5 when close to imrahil. Alongside Imrahil, and with Forlong charging, they all can reroll 1s to wound, with a +1 and banner. Devastating!
3. If you really need to kill something from range make sure to call a heroic shoot with Duinhir, the archers gain rerolls to wound, which can really help to weaken an opponent’s flank ready for your cavalry to strike. If there are no valuable targets to make it worth spending the might to call a heroic shoot, Duinhir can always help with heroic moves to save Forlong and Imrahil’s might for combat.
4. Clansmen and Axemen are really effective in the list to deal with high armoured opponents, being able to two hand piercing strike with the Axemen. And 6s in the duel roll with clansmen don’t suffer the -1 for going two-handed (Handy ~ Harry). I tend to run a small strike squad with Angbor and a handful of both on a flank.
Harry ~ Excellent stuff, I’ve never thought to run a pure Fiefdoms army but that’s highlighted their potential for me for sure!
Next, we go to fourth place, Matthew light, who was this year’s winner of the Welsh System open - winning him a ticket to the Ardacon Masters Tournament in August (if it happens).
Rather than focusing on his winning list (The Rangers of Ithilien at a 450pt tourney…) I give you “Master Matt’s 5 Ms”™...
Matthew Light - Fourth Place
Matt ~ In short, the Ithilien list is crackers, but instead of discussing it in particular, I’ll discuss what I consider to be the pillars of a good list. If you’ve got all of these, you’re going to be in good shape to score those victory points- Models, Might, Magic, Monsters and Mobility.
Models:
Many of the scenarios favour having lots of models, and we all know that traps win games (thanks to the Green Dragon Podcast ~ Harry) . If your list has a high model count, you’re looking good right out of the gates. The more of this M you have, the better you’re looking.
Might:
You know what’s great? Getting to make decisions (Speak for yourself ~ Harry). When you sit down at the table you’re hoping that the decisions you make will win the game. If you run out of might, then your opponent will dictate the pace of the game. They pick who charges what, and that can only be bad for you. Armies with a lot of might tend to do well, and a low might army is asking for trouble.
Magic:
In my discussions with my main testing partner, we talk often about it dictating the flow of the game. Putting pressure on your opponent’s army, creating weak spots, and preventing them from utilising their models to the best of their ability. Magic helps you do this.
Mobility:
The better you can move, the more options there are available to you, the easier you can grab objectives, the better you can get traps and the better you can protect your stuff. Try not to leave home without some speed.
Monsters:
Much like magic, monsters allow you to dictate the flow of the game (even better if they have might). A well timed hurl or barge can totally change the state of the game, and I like nothing better than seeing a monster rip a hero’s arms off.
Harry ~ Master Matt’s 5 Ms™. It’s a thing, get used to it.
Now, after some general tips to help you in game, let’s allow our fifth and final expert fill us in on the tactics that have helped her podium at two thirds of the tournaments she’s been to this year, including taking gold at the Warhammer World Grand Tournament with these two brutal lists. Here are her three key tips to success for each:
Jasmine Tetley - Fifth Place
Minas Tirith & White Council Alliance:
1) This army has a huge amount of might. Don’t be afraid to keep pressuring your enemy with heroic moves, combats and strikes. You will be able to control the game as they will either have to forfeit countering or leave you with more towards the end of the game.
2) Make sure to use fortify spirit. This spell is so strong (especially in G v E) and it allows you to negate one of Boromir’s biggest weaknesses, magic. By having all three of your heroics protected from magic, you can play more aggressively.
3) Don’t forget Boromir’s horn. It can give you free strikes in combat, especially as Galadriel gives a -1 courage to the enemy.
Assault Upon Helms Deep Legendary Legion:
1) Use your shooting. Sit back, use both ballistas and all the crossbows to weaken the enemy as much as possible before you engage or go looking for objectives.
2) Don’t worry about losing priority. This army has very few might points to start with, but most of the time you actually want to lose priority. This is because the bomb can provide enough threat that your opponent has to split up or engage carefully, especially as you could just move the bomb next to their heroes. Additionally it allows you to move in a better way to not block your ballistas,
reducing the risk of hitting your own models and also targeting the combats you really want to hit.
3) Hold onto the demo team and use it to end the game. If you don’t need to use it, keep hold of it as it provides threat, but also a quick way to end the game. If you see an opportunity where you hold more VP’s, then just gather as many uruk hai around the bomb as needed and quarter yourself.
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