500pt Thranduils Halls

Noddwyr · **Posted:** Tue Jul 13, 2010 1:50 am

So I am planning a good army for SBG and have decided to go with wood elves:

1 Thranduil -90
1 Wood elf warrior with banner -42
33 wood elf warriors ( 10 w/elf bow, 11 w/spear and throwing daggers, 12 w/elven blade and throwing daggers) - 320
2 wood elf sentinels - 50

502 points, 37 models, 12 bows, 3 might

All I have so far is a box of wood elves. Let me know what you think.

ncea · **Posted:** Tue Jul 13, 2010 7:47 am

Well i can't find anything wrong with the list or anything thats a "must have". So yeah that lists fine, If you want you can swap thranduil for legolas but that just depends on who you like better.

spuds4ever · **Posted:** Tue Jul 13, 2010 10:37 am

I would take the throwing daggers off the wood elves with spears as they're not going to get much of a chance to use them. Then with the spare points I would drop 1 warrior with bow and get another sentinel.

whafrog · **Posted:** Tue Jul 13, 2010 3:36 pm

I'd agree with spuds. Your numbers are really good, and having another Sentinel in there can help. Since you only have one hero, you need your Sentinels to create tactical opportunities in other ways.

Noddwyr · **Posted:** Tue Jul 13, 2010 6:22 pm

Thanks for the replies guys. I like Thranduil better, though I might swap between him and Legolas, but Thranduil 2+ to shoot and higher defense make him better IMHO.
Right so here is an updated list:
1 Thranduil -90
1 Wood elf warrior with banner -42
32 wood elf warriors ( 9 w/elf bow, 11 w/spear, 12 w/elven blade and throwing daggers) - 289
3 wood elf sentinels - 75

496 points, 37 models, 12 bows, 3 might

Though I guess there wont be much to change, since I have pretty much changed everything you guys said already.

Beowulf03809 · **Posted:** Tue Jul 13, 2010 8:00 pm

I think it looks very good and after a couple games you'll know how well it works for you. I personally don't play Banners in my WE force at this point level but many here recommend them strongly. I have played 3-Sentinel forces at 500 points though and it can really be fun to send multiple key enemy models scampering off in random directions (very effective against Trolls...don't try it against Heroes).

If you're finding that you're having trouble after a few games, try dropping the Banner and one Sentinel and put those points to additional Warriors (keep your bows at 33%) before any other changes.

You could also try swapping out the Banner and two Sentinels and have both Thranduil and Legolas in the force (prob need to tweak the warriors just a bit to max 33% and keep points right to 500). Your shooting will be more deadly and having two strong combat Heroes to call Heroic Fights can be a major tactical advantage.

I have played both of those last two configurations quite a bit with a lot of success. Always team up your Elves; use Spear models to delay enemy or effect Zones of Control, shoot mercilessly and never forget your Throwing Daggers.

whafrog · **Posted:** Tue Jul 13, 2010 8:24 pm

Beowulf03809 wrote:

...use Spear models to delay enemy or effect Zones of Control...

Just to clarify in case Noddwyr isn't aware: wood elf spears can be used for shielding. So one wood elf has pretty good odds of holding a gap: even if they can't strike back they can hold a tactical position. Also, if they get priority the next turn they're nicely positioned for throwing dagger shots. That would be my only quibble with spud's suggestion, since taking away the throwing daggers from the spears removes that possibility.

I guess while I'm at it...personally I don't find elven blades all that useful, and if I had a choice it would be mostly spears, with maybe a few blades around to take advantage of the odd situation where they might be handy. I find they're more useful around heroes or Sentinels, eg: a couple as guards around Thranduil...let him win the fight, and let the blades do the hacking. But YMMV.

Some people even add spears to their bowmen, which makes your force really flexible...but at the cost of a couple models. (And I'm not sure what's the best way to make that WYSIWYG.)

Beowulf03809 · **Posted:** Tue Jul 13, 2010 8:41 pm

I do sometimes give my WE's with Spears TDs (and converted 4 models to help WYSIWYG in that area) because they can be flexible for holding positions. But generally I was finding that my WE Spear units were throwing their daggers probably less than 25% of the turns in most games and that wasn't worth it.

A WE w/ Spear that "shields" can often hold off multiple foes due to their high Fight value. I often will tag up a few enemy models with Spears and then have them defend until other models can arrive and provide a numeric superiority.

Regarding the Elf Blades, heavily armored Uruk Hai, Morannon Orc or Easterlings are very common SBG foes for me to face, not to mention Trolls, Dragons and any number of strong Heroes. Elf strength isn't that great when facing D6 enemies and that +1 can be critical. Even against the more common D4/D5 models it would mean the difference between a Wound on 5+ or Wound on 4+. Leaving dead models in your wake is also required if you want to leverage some Heroic Combat calls to really tear an enemy to shreds in one turn (hopefully the same turn you used Thranduil's Circlet

to torque off your foe's plans even more). When you only have a D3 yourself you do NOT want to miss any opportunity you have for eliminating enemy models. :rofl:

Again though, it comes down to preferences and play style. I don't use Banners much (they are too short lived in nearly all our games and I would rather have 3-4 extra models), but others really like them. I try to leverage a small mix of Elf Blades in my force, but others find them a waste of points. You really need to try options yourself and see what works best for you against the people you cast dice with.

whafrog · **Posted:** Tue Jul 13, 2010 9:21 pm

Good points, as usual

Noddwyr · **Posted:** Tue Jul 13, 2010 9:31 pm

Hmm.. thanks guys. you have given me a lot to think about. Very good points.

I like the idea of giving the bowmen spear also, i like the flexibility that offers, i might toy with that. Ill let you guys know what I come up with.

EDIT: right so here is what I got.

1 Thranduil -90
1 Wood elf warrior with banner -42
32 wood elf warriors ( 9 w/elf bow and spear, 14 w/spear, 9 w/elven blade and throwing daggers) - 292
3 wood elf sentinels - 75

499 points, 37 models, 12 bows, 3 might

I have decided to keep the banner for now and try it out, though I did take out some elf blades and I gave the guys with bows spears. Though if I took out the banner i could get 4 more models, 1 of which could be a bow, which would give e the option to volley. That might be useful at this points level, what do you think?

whafrog · **Posted:** Wed Jul 14, 2010 12:05 am

That looks pretty good. You can already volley by putting at least 1 sentinel in the lineup, or Thranduil.

Noddwyr · **Posted:** Wed Jul 14, 2010 12:23 am

Right!!

Somehow I forgot about the sentinels. hahah ooops. Thanks.

Mor-galad of Greenwood · **Joined:** Sun Jun 13, 2010 3:51 am **Posts:** 108

My 500pt army looks like this:

Wood Elf Captian w/ Spear 65
2 Sentinels 50
Banner 42
Galadriel, Protectress of Lothlorien 125
8 WEW w/ Elven Blade & TW 80
8 WEW w/ Wood elf spear 7 TW 80
7 WEW w/ Elven Bow 63

505 pts. 28 warriors, 9 Bows.

It looks top heavy (and it is) but it is a wonderful thing to see the look on your opponent's face when he is trying to pass courage tests and you remind him that Galadriel causes -1 to courage. Especially when you're casting Eldamar Madrigal on Wargs, Spiders, Shades, Camel Riders... etc. Lots o' fun! :twisted:

Beowulf03809 · **Posted:** Wed Jul 14, 2010 1:34 pm

Yep. In both SBG and WotR Galadriel, Protectress is one of my top Love To Have models for Elf armies. Her -1 Courage in SBG is a fantastic complement not only to the Sentinels but also, once you have your enemy breaking, almost guarantees a fast collapse of your foe if you can tag up the Heroes to prevent Stand Fast calls. She is also a very powerful fighter on her own and I have used her to cut thru hosts of general troops with ease, especially if you give her any support. I often sent her one-on-one against Cave and Mordor Trolls "just to see" and she came out on top each time.

In WotR she's equally strong, though in different ways. I wish SO MUCH that her -1 Courage would have come along with her, but at least she remains an Epic Hero to equal almost any other.

spuds4ever · **Posted:** Wed Jul 14, 2010 6:53 pm

The list looks fun but I don't think the captain's necesarry. Get a couple more sentinels and you can box in important enemy troops with ease coupled with Galadriel's -1 courage (did that on a troll chieftan once, boxed it in with omg-I-just-wet-myself morranon orcs, he wasn't a happy cookie. :-D

).

Mor-galad of Greenwood · **Joined:** Sun Jun 13, 2010 3:51 am **Posts:** 108

But the captain is necessary. Galadriel is on the Lothlorien list and Sentinels are on the Thranduil's halls list. Don't you have to have a Captain from each allied force? Or perhaps I have that rule wrong again.

whafrog · **Posted:** Thu Jul 15, 2010 1:03 am

Mor-galad, you are correct.

Beowulf03809 · **Posted:** Thu Jul 15, 2010 3:11 pm

If all of your army (Wood Elves, Sentinels, Captain, etc.) are from Thranduil's Halls then you can bring over a Hero from a legal ally list. So You do need the Captain for the main force and then Galadriel comes along by herself from the Golden Wood.

spuds4ever · **Posted:** Thu Jul 15, 2010 5:38 pm

Mor-galad of Greenwood wrote:

But the captain is necessary. Galadriel is on the Lothlorien list and Sentinels are on the Thranduil's halls list. Don't you have to have a Captain from each allied force? Or perhaps I have that rule wrong again.

Ah, very true. But I think this would be the wrong points level to practice this technique.

Noddwyr · **Posted:** Thu Jul 15, 2010 6:34 pm

yeah i agree with spuds, I think I would consider putting Galadriel into my Thranduils army force at the 750 point level, where I could still get good numbers, which seem important to me given the low defense of the wood elves.

Given your list i would have at least dropped the banner to get the 3 extra guys.

500pt Thranduils Halls

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