As referred to in other posts over the past few months, I've been looking to build a Shire army for a while now.. and having just purchased the last models required, I think it's about time to look at the many possibilities of this unusual list.

The planned 500pts horde truly is the core of any subsequent army, having all the Hobbit heroes capable of leading troops (aside from Bandobras).

Frodo of the Nine Fingers, pony
Samwise the Brave, pony
Peregrin, Captain of the Shire, pony
Meriadoc, Captain of the Shire, shield, pony
Paladin Took

Fredegar Bolger
Lobelia Sackville-Baggins

28 Battlin' Brandybucks
12 Shirriffs
20 Tookish Hunters

At 67 models, its main tactic would be to overwhelm the enemy with arrows, a round of stones and huge numbers in melee (which they'll need). Some of the elements discussed later on may be included instead of all these hobbits, to allow for some diversity and tactical options. Besides, it may well be tricky to bring the full force to bear against many opponents (hobbits having no spear support, and being slow to flank the enemy lines, let alone break through), so including some quality instead of just quantity may be useful.
Fraction of Shirrifs and Militia depends on some trials, I figure that some F3 is useful, but not too much (all upgraded archers have it already) while S3 will be quite essential against D5 (let alone D7) enemy models. Of course, many Militia have axes, so when playing with those rules...

At 700pts, only a single model would be added: Gandalf the Grey - on his Cart of course. Blinding Light would be essential to protect the soft hobbits from enemy missiles. Furthermore, he'll of course add some powerful magic to counter monsters and enemy heroes, as well as some actually damaging potential with sorcerous blast. With the five spare points, I could drop Lobelia and Fatty while adding a Horn to an archer - the effect seems cumulative with Merry's horn, so all Hobbits gain +2 Courage - making normal Warriors the equal of Elves, and meaning that neither Gandalf nor Frodo can actually fail their test (both C8).

While not having looked much beyond 700pts, I can see the use of the following (thematically fitting) models as well - or, as said before, perhaps at lower points levels, to get some additional options.
Farmer Maggot: looks great, some fast(er) models in the shape of his dogs (which are an 'amazing' F3 S3), another point of Might too.
Bill the Pony. A banner for all Hobbits, quite useful since the only other one is Frodo. Special rule not of effect on my Hobbit heroes, but potentially quite nice with Gandalf: get Blinding Light Channelled in Turn 1, and hopefully have that Might back by the time the enemy has closed in on you.
Dúnedain/RotN: even more bows, but especially at least some F4 S4 models. The Shire is lacking in Might, so these are quite handy there too. Probably put them on horseback to get some more than decent cavalry.
Halbarad: cheapish combat hero (first one in the list), with roles similar to Dúnedain, but better. Probably without the banner, because of both theme and the facts that: 1) I could have two banners already and 2) Courage isn't exactly a problem. Would be the only banner to count for To the Death though... If he's included, some Rangers of Arnor can be as well.. more bows, some F4 and spears.
Aragorn: probably not in my lists, as I'd rather take Gandalf, but perhaps at hight points levels, to really get a properly powerful hero in there.

As quickly calculated example 1000pts list:

Gandalf the Grey on Cart
Bill the Pony

Halbarad on horseback with spear
4 Rangers of the North, mounted, with spears

Frodo of the Nine Fingers, pony
Samwise the Brave, pony
Peregrin, Captain of the Shire, pony
Meriadoc, Captain of the Shire, shield, pony
Paladin Took

Farmer Maggot and his dogs
Fredegar Bolger
Lobelia Sackville-Baggins

28 Battlin' Brandybucks
12 Shirriffs
20 Tookish Hunters (1 with a horn)

For some 78 models, 17 Might and all kinds of Hobbity fun.

So, enough rambling from me for now: any thoughts on any of the above?
How lowly would you rank the described forces in a tournament setting?

i vsed a hobbit army just 2 weeks ago with 500 pts the numbers were overwhelming. i played gondor at the time and boromir was the only surviver left (dident end up dyeing though) my mistake for bringing expensive troop but meh. its effective as in numbers but when u come across a monster u have to be careful since the hurl can really damage you.

Sadly, Gandalf cannot use his cart anymore as per the Hobbit FAQ.

Where is this FAQ

I like your list. It looks fun. I don't have enough painted yet to try it out. I picked a few up in a trade so it won't be that long.

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

But i thought frodo the nine fingers was no good as he cant even wound anything

frodo works like a banner and your not going to send your banners into fights any way. and having might will and fate for a banner is quite good and hes not that expensive

Always liked the idea of a Hobbit "army", and I think you've given me the inspiration that I need this Christmas to finally get them up and running (but very slowly because Hobbits can't run very fast)!

The hobbit list surfaces again

Sadly, bill the pony cannot be used unless you take fellowship sam.

Gandalf may take his cart if he is being used from the fellowship warband but not if he is being used in a hobbit white council warband. The FAQ is misleading that way.

Frodo of the nine is ok. I think people take him only to get the maximum amount of hobbits. But a banner is always handy.

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12th GBHL 2013.
13th GBHL 2014
9th GBHL 2015


Mid Sussex Wargamers

Aye, the FAQ is a bit vague there: it says that newer publications take precedence for profiles (i.e.: Gandalf the Grey in the Hobbit book, where he can't have his Cart), but also tells that Gandalf the Grey from the Fellowship list can take Shadowfax, implying that the rules should differ between the different lists. My interpretation, as that of SD above, is that he can Shadowfax/his Cart, but only in the Fellowship list, while in the White Council or Thorin's Company lists, he can't.
Still, I'll send GW an email for clarification.

Good point about Bill SD, hadn't spotted that before. Strange wording though, as it says that a Fellowship warband including Samwise can take him to increase the maximum size to 10 heroes.. but Bill is and independent pony, so won't be part of the actual warband itself anyway. Still, not Bill then...

As for Frodo, he wouldn't be my first choice (Master Meriadoc, obviously), but just because he won't do much damage in melee (neither will Galadriel or a Shade), doesn't mean he can't be useful. For example, he:
1) Is simply a Shire hero that can lead troops. Essential.
2) Is a banner. The only one the Shire list has access to. No spear support either, so any extra dice are welcome.
3) Is actually sculpted to have Nine Fingers (true to the movies instead of the books with regards to the actual missing finger if I'm not mistaken). Pretty cool.
4) Can, in combination with Merry and an archer with horn, get C8 and thus never fail a courage test - automatic Stand Fast!.
5) Can, funnily enough, still throw stones.

I need to sort my hobbit army out! I have all the heroes and 6 warbands of hobbits, I too wanted Sam and bill - as well as gandalf on cart, I have the figures so might paint them up and worry about the army list later!!!

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Leonardis
Army blog:Http://www.thewarofthering.blogspot.co.uk/

Wouldn't mind seeing those turn up in one (or more) of your battle reports, Leonardis!

Although 1000pts is very far away, still couldn't resist thinking about a possible list a bit more, this time dropping Bill, Farmer Maggot and a RotN in exchange for Rangers of Arnor:

Gandalf on Cart

Halbarad, spear, horse
12 Rangers of Arnor, spear

3 Rangers of the North, spear, horse

Frodo of the Nine Fingers, Elven cloak (probably safer/more useful than pony)
Samwise, pony
Meriadoc, pony, shield
Peregrin, pony
Paladin

Lobelia
Fatty

20 Tookish Hunters, 1 with horn
40 Shirrifs/Battlin' Brandybucks

For a total of 86 models, 15 Might, 36 3+ bow shots, up to 67 stones

Great advantage with all those independent heroes is of course that you get to place 5 'warbands' while not actually deploying much yet, which can be quite an advantage in many scenarios.

Or how about this for a 500pts 'army': no Frodo because he simply is lowest on my list of priorities (Meriadoc is just amazing for his points, Peregrin has some similiar combat abilities, Samwise provides Might and Paladin simply is cheap), but still four full warbands, as well as Halbarad for some actual damage potential - as well as speed and Might:

Halbarad, horse
2 Rangers of the North, horse

Samwise, pony
Meriadoc, pony
Peregrin, pony
Paladin

8 Shirriffs
24 Battlin' Brandybucks
16 Tookish Hunters

Still a more than decent 55 models, 10 Might and 19 bows (compared to 67 models, 6 Might and 20 bows of the first list). Frodo's banner effect is nice enough, but 4 more Might seems rather useful, and Halbarad will definitely cause more damage than he does. :P As said in the opening post, getting to use all 67 Hobbits will be tricky anyway, so a slighty smaller army, but one including some better models seems like a good choice.