I'll agree with Lord Hurin about LoME, it does a pretty good job of keeping forces balanced. Without it it's too easy to power game, even if accidentally.

Thank you all for your replies! Yeah I'd play by the rules myself, I'm pretty strict on myself about abiding to rules and limitations.
I realized yesterday that most of the LOTR range is mail-direct only, which is freaking expensive down here in Asia. Unfortunately I'd also have to order the book at the same time, so my problem here is, I think I'll buy one big order (maybe, say, ~100-150 USD) and not buy anymore for a long time so that I only pay the shipping once.

That said, I'm still honestly a little torn between Harad and Easterlings, because the Easterlings are my typical playstyle (I prefer smaller elite armies) although both look good model-wise. Any in-depth advice on purchasing and playing that would help me decide what to include in the big order?

Sorry for the tough question, and thanks again

Heh

i think you should choose the "maximum points" limit of your army. Me for example - i got 500pts army, that includes core, support and one hero. Its only infantry though. But its not a bad start.
Soo you should think of it in this way "What do i want my army to consist of, and in what point limit do i need to squeeze in".

I personally would put in some Easterling warriors as core. They can wield bows and spear/pikes (phalanx rule), and if you want to cower more ground you should go for some of Harad mounted units (like serpent guard) and later on mix them with Cataphrakts.

The thing is - the mutiple strike rule makes bigger masses of units playeble. Soo basically what you want is to have some hard hitting stuff lilke, dunno lets say Amdur and a Dragon Knight, some D6 defenders - Eaterlings with shield, and some reinforcements who allow you to make full use of Phalanx and mutliple striking. Here come in the more wulnareable but cheaper Haradrim Warriors.

As for comand for Haradrim, they got some neat stuff (i like the sound of Hasharin, though i dont have him yet)

The Fallen Realms has insane variability of units. And if you feel that you lack some serious punch a Ringwraith (and especially a named Ringwraith) can do the finishing touch. Well i hope this helps you a bit when choosing the right units for your army. Good luck

Yes, I agree with you on that. Our house rules are actually stricter than the LoME rules, because IMO LoME allow for too much power gaming (shadowlord + Spider Queen or Legolas and Saruman in every army). Therefore we play by "factions" without alliances. I was actually thinking about posting them sometime.

BoT: I wish you good luck. I have a note on Khamul though. He doesen't nesecarily have to be on a fell beast, he can work well (not optimal) on horse or with pike support.

Easterlings aren't elite. They have good defence but are otherwise very average, and unfortunately there is only one warrior type. Elite usually means something with a higher fight and/or strength score. Still viable though, you can build a good 500 point force around 3 boxes of warriors (this gives you more spears, but you'll have to toss some bows because of the 33% bow limit). Add a normal captain, the command blister with dragon knight and war priest, Amdur, and Khamul and you should have enough variety to keep you going for a while, and it should come under $200. I wouldn't recommend the cavalry, they're metal, expensive, and not great. If you want cavalry, swap a box of easterlings for a box of harad raiders (plastic) and a mounted Harad chief.

Yeah i play against a haradrim player that often fields dalamyr and a hasharin in 500pt games, together they cause so much trouble and if you're smart about what else you put in you're list you should be fine
If you go harad, buy a hasharin, a box of harad warriors, a box of corsairs, a corsair captain+bosun, some half trolls (3+ blisters) and a mahud king. That should make for a formidable force with lots of different options to include (providing you take into account that you can use the mahud king as a harad chieftan/harad king).

If you're looking to make a single large purchase you may want to keep an eye on ebay for a little while to see if someone is selling off an army that you're interested in. Although I haven't done this myself I have a couple friends that now and then have picked up collections for something in the $100 - $150 USD range and the models would cost much more than that purchased new.

You're limited in what you get obviously but most armies that are sold will have a lot of the basics you'll be after. You may have some broken models in there, but it's usually only a fraction and they are often easy to fix (a weapon that needs to be glued back on or a horse broken off at the hoof). You will need to clean the models most likely so this can be time consuming. Basically you'll soak a few models in a cleaner and work at it with a soft toothbrush. But if the original painter did their job well you won't have any mold lines to take off so there's a little trade off there. You're basically exchanging your time (cleaning and possibly repairing) for the discounted price. So it depends on which you are more flexible on.

If you do go this route be sure you already have a good idea what the cost of the models new would be and check on shipping as well. If the total gets close (maybe 75% - 80% of new) then it may not be worth it. But you may get lucky and walk away with a bargain.

_________________
Wait ye the finish! The fight is not yours.
Beowulf

http://TacticsInMiniature.com

Easterlings are a good start but Haradrimsneed cavalry or a mumakil to be good at play.

_________________
I am a ranger of the north.

Actually, I don't think they do. They work just fine with elites and full numbers.

Thats what i am saying but sorry its my fault i didnt make it...to be understanding to you.Sorry.

_________________
I am a ranger of the north.

It's Ok, bro.

Ok.Just choose the one you want and build up the army strngth just dont forget....when you lose you learn what you need to improve.

_________________
I am a ranger of the north.

Thanks for the replies thus far!

Which books have rules for which factions? And which one is the main rulebook? Its so confusing...

The main rulebook is the big blue one ofte just refered to as the main rulebook. The harad book has profles for harad and the shadow i the east has profiles for easterlings and khand.

But to get the rules you will need the main rulebook.

_________________
I am a ranger of the north.

Getting the smaller Mines of Moria rulebook off Ebay (or somewhere else online) would be much cheaper than getting the hardback rulebook--they have basically the same thing and I picked up the smaller rulebook for about $7 on Ebay a couple of years ago.

_________________
"Not all those who wander are lost"

"With hope in our hearts, and wings on our heels" - Chariots of Fire

Easterlings are fun, but as mentioned before they don't really have a lot of variety. I have a mix of Easterling/Harad troops that make a nice combo team. Particularly if you layer the harad spears behind Easterling shields to give the pikes some added punch. And Haradrim archers are the best that evil has to offer - hitting on a 4+ with poisoned arrows.

As for heros, Amdur is nice - basically a 75pt hero with a banner, and if your looking for damage dealers check out Dalamyr or a Hasharin. tuck a spear behind them and you're looking at 8 re-rollable Str4 wounding dice on trapped opponents (even Gimli can't stand up to that!)

And you must, must, _must_ throw in a blister or two of Abrakhan Merchant Guards. These guys are _amazing_ - able to punch through D6 troops on a 4+ (with no fight penalty) for only 8pts each! Protect them behind your lines to survive the initial volleys, and then watch even dwarven lines crumple within a couple rounds.

_________________
Travel beyond the Sea of Rhûn at your own peril...

For more projects and batreps:http://tellmeatalegreatorsmall.blogspot.com