I see a lot of battle reports, and a lot of different army combination and figure swaps but I, as a new player, would like to know what you all have seen that is the most devastating.

Im talking generally, meaning like which force, not exact models.

Could be Harad, Rhun, Rohan, Mirkwood, Cirith Ungol etc but try to put it to a race or location and any combination thereof.

Thank you. I look forward to the discussion!

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BLACKHAWK 2010 2013 2015 DYNASTY

The toughest armies for me to deal with are those with a lot of strength 4 troops, mainly Isengard. Running a Minas Tirith list means that my lovely defence 6 on the majority of models becomes useless (although I've recently started to deal with this by not giving my soldiers shields).

I find Isengard gives me the most trouble, but that's my son's favorite to field, so I see it the most. Really, anything with D6 is a pain for Good to deal with, so Morannons and Easterlings can also be trouble. Basic orcs, even with a shade, usually lose.

I only occasionally play evil, in which case I find the Galadhrim + wood elves combo most difficult to handle. You'd think high elves would be tougher, but the extra D is wasted against S4. We can usually chew through each other's Gondor or Rohan forces. We never play dwarves, so I can't speak to them.

From what Ive tested, I have to say this is pretty accurate. Every battle I played involving Isengard....well, they at least take out a ton of enemies before going down.

In fact, your post is almost exactly what Id say.

I, on good, prefer wood elves/galadhrim, and On evil, I love morannons. I think high elves are worthless. And with two equally skilled players, I think Rohan and Minis Tirith suck unless you have the elite troops which are a ton of money, points, and fuss. I love a basic Isengard army with a lot of basic troops just attacking.

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BLACKHAWK 2010 2013 2015 DYNASTY

high elves are worthless?
They certainly are not. They can beat anyone if they are played right.

Tom and Goldberry. Simply undefeatable.

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'Though my memory's fading, I remember two things very clearly: I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior'
-John Newton

Yeah youre right. Anyone can win with anything. Lets put it this way. I mean to say, in close quarters combat for their point value they suck. The high fight value doesnt ever do much. Especially when youre outnumbered 2-1 by the enemy.

I also have somewhat of a vendetta against them because their only models are the original boring last alliance poses and then over prices hard to find metal 3 packs. I have personal issues....lol

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BLACKHAWK 2010 2013 2015 DYNASTY

It depends what points level. At 500pts high elves are rubbish. However at 1000pts, you can get 2 or more awesome heroes and 4 warbands. Technically high elves and uruks should be on equal terms because the uruks are wasting a few points on f4 while the elves are wasting points on d 6. If the elves use archery to kill off pikemen, then they maybe able to pull through.

With my last alliance or high elves I agree that Uruk's are tough, but not more s then anyone else, they effectively pay elven troop points, so their numbers are not that much more, and elven archery can deal with cross bows and pikes, and our heroes can go toe to tow with trolls.
The army I find the most problem with is Moria Goblins, as the sheer numbers they can bring along with shamans who channel fury is just sheer frustrating, nothing like Goblins who are less then half your troops points cost being tougher then your "elite" troops.
Dwarves, if there is one army that seriously needs the nerf Hammer, it is the dwarves.....High defense, bodyguard troops, balistae, cheap yet powerful Heroes? No real weakness and great value troops? The king's champion? The dwarves have it all, with warriors of Erebor now giving them spears... suffice to say regardless of if I'm playing Easterlings, Men of Numenor or High elves, if I see dwarves I know I need to prepare for my attacks to bounce off what is most likely to be a force with as many numbers as me or more.

High Elves have defence 6 on their frontline, meaning things like orcs&goblins still need those 6's. Their S3 archery makes the able to kill evil spear support, archers and most frontline units on a 5. They outfight uruks and Watchers of Karna, and equal Reavers and Castellans of Umbar, against which their elven blades come to use. Castellans of Umbar trade the elven blade for terror, in my opinion equally good rules. High elves knock out reavers on 5+'s while they need 6's to kill the high elves. High elves with elven blades win 2/3 of the ties. Against goblin hordes it even gets better:
If you have say 10 archers, about 7 of them hit, killing 3,5 goblins on average each turn. This way you decimate them while they're marching on you. When they get close, Nature's Wrath knocks them down. Goblins need 6's to wound elves, while elves need 4's to wound goblins. Elves win ties.
Black Guards of Barad Dur kill wood elves on 3's and galadhrim with shields on 4's while they kill High Elves on 6's.
Not to mention High Elves can be upgraded to Fight 6, giving them an equal fight to most lesser evil monsters.

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Ours is the fury!

Lords of Battle against dwarves using High Elves... kill as many as possible in 2/3 rounds of shooting, then keep running until time is up

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Ours is the fury!

This is a really good question. Which is the most competitive army list (ie Army of Thror, Isengard, The Shire etc.) as opposed to which is the most competitive army (ie selected 1000 points of troops) is a valid question that often goes unaddressed. I see an awful lot of people asking "I play Gondor but suffer from low fight, how can I get around this?" And the answer is often "ally in some elves!" At which point of course you're no longer playing Gondor! I think comparing the armies without the option of allies is a very interesting exercise.

For me there are a few contenders:

Isengard - Great troops (esp. Ferals and crossbowmen), great, cheap 3 Might Heroes and Saruman

Lothlorien and Mirkwood - deadly at almost any points value. Leggy, Thranduil, Rumil and Stormcallers are all great heroes for their points. Assuming you take Thranduil you'll have 33% S3 bows hitting on 2+. Good courage and Fight across the board, Galadhrim Court give you access to F6 and much more. Very tough to beat if used well.

Harad - easily the most broken list in the game. Access to Ringwraiths, and several absurdly under-costed troop choices esp. Abrakan Guard and Watchers of Karna (the latter of which have a strong claim to best troop in the game). 50% bow limit and poison is a horrific combo too.

Moria - Groblog, Shamans, front line of D6 Gundabad Blackshields and a back line of goblin spearmen. Wargs and spiders are very effective support troops esp. Accompanied by Druzhag and Warg Marauders are one of the best troops in the game. Variety is their real strength, they have access to a very wide range of very effective troops.

Finally Mordor - purely because of their range and choice, they have SOOO much available to them and so many builds, Ringwraiths and Morannon Orcs are obviously two of their strengths.

Without doubt though, the most horrendously powerful army in the game (at any points level) from one army list is pure named Ringwraiths on Fell Beasts. At 1000 points you can take 6 and they're incredibly overpowered, undercosted and hard to beat. It's actually pretty easy to pick a list to defeat them if you know you're facing them but its the cheesy tournent army of choice as most standard themed/tournament armies won't stand a chance against it.

Great topic, very interesting to think about.

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On appearances alone, Isengard.
On winning frequency, nothing stands out due to the innumerable variables that are influencing the outcome. I have seen a great player with a well-managed and deployed army lose to someone of moderate ability simply because he had an persistent case of horrid dice results.

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Even though I've played all the classic "hard" armies (Moria, fellbeasts, harad dwarves etc etc) the one I really hate facing off against is all Easterlings.

Amdur is a beast, the war priest makes tough troops (for good) even tougher. Pikes at F4 neutralise most armies I play. Then add in how cheap they are and its like a very very boring unkillable brick wall.

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“Advice is a dangerous gift, even from the wise to the wise, all courses may run ill.”

The Fight 4 is expensive,making them cost the same as Elves, I'd only do it on Kataphracts.
Yes Easterlings are powerful, but they have their weakness, namely their low Fight, especially on their heroes, why the Dragon priest is an independent hero I don't know, if he was I would take him as he would make a nice middle ground between the captains and Amdur for when points allowed.
Also, Khamul needs to be mounted to work, his rules mean a cheap budget wraith is as good at suppressing heros as it is.
That said Easterling blocks can be boring, but personally I like te appeal of putting down phalanx of armored men who are not evil per say, but more due to their religion then anything else.
This may get me laughed off the Forum, but here goes. I would say Numenorians are pretty powerful. Yes they are only D5 with shields, but with all the S4 about heavy armour and shield is in a pickle, they have a high enough fight value to draw against most other men or evil forces, and against those who are higher then them they can feint without having payed the points for wasted Fight skill, and Isildur and Elendil are fairly good, Narsil making Elendil hard to control, and F7 and 3 might and willl being useful. Not the most powerfull, but certainly not the fell beast fodder everyone calls them.

Yup people do often complain about my Harad, the only thing they are missing is cheap monster support/monster characters. Their troops though are very solid.

For me though, one of the Elf forces has to be better? higher fight value, higher defence, better strength bows (Harad may have poison but those are still STR2 bows and tend to do next to nothing in most of my games.) and a bigger selection of mighty heroes - Elrond on horseback with natures wrath springs to mind!

Nasty Harad builds… lot's of undercosted very decent troops, 50% bows, lot's of poison… and everything Dr Grant said!

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Don't forget their cheap heroes as well..

i find rohan the hardest i can deal with a str4 on other armys and high fight values but unable to catch my foes and they can just shoot me to death fustrates me and just makes me want to quit the game. unlike other cav they have to be in melee to do dgm.