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 Post subject: 1500pt Rohan WotR Army
PostPosted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 4:43 pm 
Craftsman
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I am looking for some advice on a Rohan Army that I'm building for a 1500pt tournament run by my local gaming group in late April-early May. I've played Rohan many times before but rarely as a stand-alone army, usually acting as reinforcements for Gondor. I'm guaranteed to be fighting against Moria, Elves(particularly Wood Elves) and Gondor/Arnor while having the very high probability of fighting Fallen Realms, Mordor or Isengard.

Here's the list:

Epic Heroes:
Theoden 125pts
Theodred 125pts
Erkenbrand 75pts
Merry 75pts
Deorwine 50pts

Battle Host:
Theoden's Guard Battle Host 75pts
6 co. King's Guard(mnt w/ Royal Banner) 325pts
6 co. Royal Knights 210pts
6 co. Royal Knights 210pts

Non-Battle Host:
4 co. Royal Guards 140pts

Deciding between Eomer or Faramir for the final 90pts.

My plan with this army is to move up as quickly as possible with the Battle Host and declare a series of Epic Charges(which we've houseruled to also act as a Heroic Charge) along the entire line. If the heavy calvary runs into enemy calvary, Legolas or Wraith-led troops, monsters or large blocks of infantry (>5 companies) I'll declare an Epic Sacrifice with one of my Heroes (preferably the cheaper ones first). I have used this combo before against Goblins, Dragons, Khamul-led Black Guard and enemy calvary with great effect. Typically, this leads me to win the fight allowing me to roll for the Earth-Shattering Charge on a 4+ so I can charge again, either finishing off the original unit or moving onto fresh fights with my Epic Sacrifice still taking the hits for the second fight as well.

Admittedly, I will need to guarantee that I'm charging, not being charged, and one wrong move means my entire army is in shambles, as the Royal Guard will be acting as a mop-up crew/backup and will not be winning the day once the heavy calvary is destroyed. As well, if the enemy decides to hide in defensive terrain the heavy calvary is not going to dislodge them. I'm not sure who would be a better fit with my army, Eomer or Faramir. Faramir has Epic Sacrifice which means I can cover all the calvary fairly well with that protection as well as Epic Strike for enemy champions. However, Eomer has Epic Rage which means I can use Str 7 attack with +1 bonuses from lances which would be good for taking on monsters or really well-armoured troops as well as Epic Strike for enemy heroes.

What do you guys think?

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 Post subject: Re: 1500pt Rohan WotR Army
PostPosted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 7:49 pm 
Loremaster
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Merry is overpriced; I'd drop him for a start. I'd then try to get another formation.

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 Post subject: Re: 1500pt Rohan WotR Army
PostPosted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:53 pm 
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It's very similar to what I'm working my Rohan force up to, trying to get enough for Theoden's Battlehost. That 4+ Earth Shattering charge is amazing, and Royal Knights are very tough for a cavalry unit. But that's a LOT of metal figures :( (unless you are being allowed to proxy RoR). I'm starting with one company of Royal Knights and the rest RoR going to Erkenbrand's Riders (strike as Monsters to get around that pesky Legolas or other Cav)

Rohan has some nice Epics, even though some would see a lack of ES Heroes a serious drawback. I think it matters, but maybe not too bad as your base fight values are ok.

I would consider dropping some of the Heroes (especially your un-allocated 90points and Merry) in favor of some RoR to operate in 2-3 Company harassment forces. You want to keep other Formations from interfering with your main hitters, maybe tie units up or get in a Flank/Rear to weaken their return strike. I understand the benefit Epic Sacrifice could give but that's a lot of points you are investing in basically sacrificial models.

Your core Formation with Theoden will be your major thrusting force as you know. Theoden gives the whole Formation his Fight and if he calls an Epic Charge (free with Touched by Destiny 8) ) then they are F7. Against Infantry this higher Fight, plus Cav charge bonus, will mean you're throwing a LOT of dice, and you're S4 with +1 lances. You already have a good Defense but if you have Theoden call Epic Defense (I'm pretty sure he has it) then you are now a very survivable D7(8)...and he may even get his Might back if the dice treat you fair. Unless they are hitting you back as Cav you could do a lot of damage with this and with a low Earth Shattering Charge target now you will probably hit them a second time. :yay:

Another option would be to free up some of the points in your current Heroes to pull in Gandalf the Gray. He also has Epic Defense (and Touched By Destiny) so every turn they are alive you can get a free +2 Defense and +2 Fight (if you charge). He can also use his special spell to guarantee the enemy is at F0 when you hit them. With Theoden's special rules this means all the Cav in his Formation would hit Infantry with 15 dice per company, at S4 +1 lance and with an Earth Shattering Charge on 4+. You may wipe out a major Formation in one turn if you can set it up well. Theodred can duplicate another's Epic Action similar to Gothmog so if someone calls Epic Strike on you then you can counter.

Typical threats are easy to spot: Running into Khamul's formation would probably be a very bad thing as the bouncebacks will likely wipe you out faster than his force so he's the biggest to avoid. But as for any other Formation with some Epic Strike models in it just use your Royal Knights. No Hero so noone to ES against. :P They still benefit from the 4+ Earth Shattering charge and if you have Gandalf in the Royal Guard blast them down to F0 in advance (yeah, they could Will of Iron but that's still a Might burn they may not think of in time) then Royal Guard would still be rolling 10+ dice per company that hits and then 50% likely to do it again while your Royal Guard stays slightly back to avoid an ES risk to your key Heroes.

Other weak points exist and WILL be exploited so you want to play test the force as much as possible in advance. I was slaughtered with my first several games with my Wood Elves until I learned how to play them better and now they serve me well. I'm going to get slaughtered when I start to play Rohan as well. :-D

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 Post subject: Re: 1500pt Rohan WotR Army
PostPosted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 9:13 pm 
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Sorry...my mention of Epic Defense earlier was meant to reference Theodred, not Theoden.

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 Post subject: Re: 1500pt Rohan WotR Army
PostPosted: Thu Apr 14, 2011 8:38 pm 
Craftsman
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Thanks guys. To Beowulf03809, thanks for pointing out Theodred's Epic Defense ability. I've never used him before so I wasn't really paying attention to his Epic Actions besides Epic Sacrifice. :roll:

I did notice that Rohan has very few Epic Strike Heroes, but I've never cared much for Epic Strike save as a defence against other Epic Strike Heroes. I might drop Merry and Erkenbrand(First Rohan Epic Hero) for Gandalf for a little magic and Epic Defense. Its a right PITA when everyone else has five or six spells a turn and I've got nothing to fire back, but I'm also trying to find a balance as I went overboard on Magic with my original Fallen Realms army (4 Wraiths, Saruman and a War Priest). I might also decrease one of the Royal Knight formations by two companies so I can add two formations of RoR as back up.

Riders of the Westfold was my first Battlehost too, and it treated me well when I was using it. It was quite humourous when I watched my opponent's expression as I revealed my Riders were still striking before his Legolas-led Wood Elves. :P

I'm not too worried about possibly being slaughtered. I just want to put up a better fight than my first WotR tourney where my Fallen Realms army came in dead last after being tabled every battle. :lol:

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 Post subject: Re: 1500pt Rohan WotR Army
PostPosted: Sun May 01, 2011 12:19 am 
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I'd drop Merry; he's about the only overpriced Epic Rohan has. And if you want magic, I'd recommend Radagast, simply because Gandalf (in my experience) is too expensive for a fragile army like Rohan.

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 Post subject: Re: 1500pt Rohan WotR Army
PostPosted: Sun May 01, 2011 12:59 pm 
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1.Many heroes means less warriors.I advise ot get out some heroes.
2.No six companies0believe me is better to take ore formations with less companies(I suggest around 3-4)
3.If you want may take an Legendary formation.
I hope this help you.

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 Post subject: Re: 1500pt Rohan WotR Army
PostPosted: Mon May 02, 2011 4:39 pm 
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The only large formations I'm considering for my Rohan force are with the Royal Knights. They have a good enough Defense and nice enough damage where they can do well as a 5 or 6 company formation I think. But for any others I think 3-4 companies per Formation will be most effective.

And with these smaller formation sizes you can probably get away with a few Captains sprinkled in there. An opponent may be hesitant to burn Might for a Duel if he's only going to succeed in eliminating a nameless Captain and 4 companies of Common cavalry. But that Captain's ability to At the Double and call an Heroic Charge or Heroic Fight for you may well pay for itself.

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 Post subject: Re: 1500pt Rohan WotR Army
PostPosted: Tue May 03, 2011 12:12 am 
Kinsman
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Beowulf03809 wrote:
The only large formations I'm considering for my Rohan force are with the Royal Knights. They have a good enough Defense and nice enough damage where they can do well as a 5 or 6 company formation I think. But for any others I think 3-4 companies per Formation will be most effective.

And with these smaller formation sizes you can probably get away with a few Captains sprinkled in there. An opponent may be hesitant to burn Might for a Duel if he's only going to succeed in eliminating a nameless Captain and 4 companies of Common cavalry. But that Captain's ability to At the Double and call an Heroic Charge or Heroic Fight for you may well pay for itself.


This is all good advice. I must say, I generally don't stick Captains in those small little 3-company Rider of Rohan Eoreds... But now you've got me thinking.

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