Hey guys. I have got the rulebook and just finished reading the core rules. I origionally wanted to go Rohan, but the price of the force I wanted was way too much for my budget. So I decided to change to Gondor. This is my first 500 point list for LotR SBG. Comments and Critiscism from you veterans are welcome.

Hero
Captain of Gondor w/ Sword, Shield

Warriors
30 Warriors of Minas Tirith w/ Hand weapons, Shields
15 Warriors of Minas Tirith w/ Bows

6 Knights of Minas Tirith

Just a note: I'm writing this at school from memory. So if something doesn't add up or is wrong, I'll fix it later today.
Thanks again,
SaN

1/2 of your warriors with shield also come with spears out of the box. You will find them essential, so you'll want to factor that into the cost. Also, you will definitely want to give your knights shields, they will last twice as long against S3 foes. I know the main rulebook doesn't show this option, but if you're building Gondor you might want the Gondor in Flames sourcebook, which is more recent and does allow shields.

As for the army, looks like you're two over the 50 model limit at 500 points. Rather than a basic captain, you might find Faramir a better deal: more might, fate, better Fight, etc. A minor hero like Beregond can also be useful.

Get spearsmen they are very useful. Also add for sure shields. You have passed the bow limit, you must take less archers. Yes Faramir is a good chose.

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I am a ranger of the north.

how has he passed the bow limit?
Anyway go for the spears and shields etc. But i wouldn't say you need the gondor in flames source book just yet, just build you're army then when you feel like expanding into more elite units that aren't in the rulebook get gondor in flames. Yes faramir is a good choice, but so is boromir however there are also many other decent named heroes for gondor but prince imrahil is probably the best "big" hero for a beginner, he has 1 very simple special rule, he is very powerful and he is very straightforward to use. Also if you have you're mind set on using a generic hero like a captain, why not use the model as a king of men with heavy armour and shield so he is a bit more durable? A final comment is swan knights of dol amaroth, these guys are better than knights of minas tirith, and they come in a plastic box set, which, unlike the knights of minas tirith box, contains all the pieces necessary to make a captain and a banner bearer, this means on top of the awesome cavalry bonuses, they get a captain leading them (6 dice to wound on the charge), can re reroll failed fighting dice because of the banner and if you choose to include imrahil they don't need a banner if he's within 12", because he counts as one!!

Another tip may be to get hold of one of the three wizards once you've built you're army, gandalf the white is the most powerful (and most expensive points wise) however radagast is probably the most useful for new players, he can ruin enemy cavalry charges and can heal you're heroes, not only that but with him you can volley anywhere on the map due to his "Master of birds" special rule. Combining radagast with a hero like faramir means that faramir will stay in the game for a very long time and he can take many wounds without using up any fate.

Also, once you have built you're force don't feel like its a crime to ally in other models, the whole point of the game is that each force has its own strengths and weaknesses and allying is the cure to this. Not only does it allow you to have a more versatile force, it really doesn't cost much money to do so, legolas, arguably the best model in the game for his point value, is probably on ebay for £2 right now, meaning you can have a one man scout force creeping round the side of the board picking off your opponents stragglers and protecting you're models (he can shoot 1 arrow into combat)

I hope this is all useful and good luck building you're army, make sure to look for the items you want to buy on ebay, its so much cheaper and there are tons of minas tirith warriors on ebay Newer models such as duinhir or cirion and madril will not be found on ebay but most of what you listed is available for a bargain on ebay

Oh sorry i counte with 1 to 4 not 1 to 3...

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I am a ranger of the north.

I think that SuicidalMarsbar has a point regarding the Swann Knight instead of the Knights. I would also take another hero on foot, so you would have 2 heroes on foot and 1 with you cavalry. Heroes on horses with your cavalry is very useful if you lose priority to make heroic movements (p.38 in the rulebook) or make a heroic combat (p.39). And, like Whafrog said, use the spears, they are really useful.

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Isengard - 1500+
Gondor - 1000+
Imperial Guard - 1000+
Blood Angels - 850+

@SuicidalMarsbar: some good points, but he did mention price being an object, so I'm not sure fiefdoms is the way to go. Mounted knights are plastic, but everything else is metal, and you'd want a good number of fiefdoms troops to take advantage of Imrahil's rule, otherwise it's kind of a waste. The Tower or Minas Tirith lists are easy to build with the cheaper plastic kits.

Also, at 500 points it's hard to justify a bigger hero than Faramir. Boromir and even Imrahil might be too expensive (though Imrahil would be worth it in a 500 point fiefdoms army). Just MHO...

About the Fiefdoms in general is true, but if he only takes the SKoDA from the Fiefdoms, price isnt too much of a problem I think, and you can make a captain with the box. On the other hand, the KoMT are cheaper (money-wise) and if you are buying the Faramir you also get him mounted (I think) so you would still have a captain on horse.

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Isengard - 1500+
Gondor - 1000+
Imperial Guard - 1000+
Blood Angels - 850+

I didnt mean make an army of dol amaroth i simply meant use the swan knights as allied cavalry since their better and have more customization optons than knight of minas tirith.

I totally understand you're point completely but if he's a beginner then most of his friends are probably gonna be beginners and will be eager to include big heroes in their armies, besides imrahil + a captain is only 205 points (far less than the ridiculous amount of points gw think we should spend on heroes), meaning there is still a decent 295 points left for troops

Imrahil 135 pts
faramir 70 pts
12 warriors of minas tirith with spear and shield 108 pts
11 warriors of minas tirith with bow 88 pts
12 warriors of minas tirith with shield 96 pts
Total: 497 pts, 6 might, 12 bows

That would be a good list against the majority of players but whafrog knows what he's on about so when up against more tournament-esque players you may want to drop imrahil for more numbers.

Interesting you should say that. I've had mixed experience with mounted Knights of Dol Amroth. They have sometimes been very effective but they rarely seem to justify there enormous points cost. I would generally recommend Knights of Minas Tirith instead; they're relatively cheap, and still hit hard and are pretty durable.

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"There are few left in Middle Earth like Aragorn, son of Arathorn." - Gandalf, Many Meetings

Yeah i don't really have mush experience gondor+fiefdoms but its nice to be able to flesh out you're army with varied and "elite" units when you begin playing, whether or not they are worth their points cost.

Just curious why you went for SBG compared to WoTR?

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Dave / Aurielia (game name)
Blog http://pippins-window.blogspot.com/
WoTR: Lothlorien Army. From the UK leeds; PM me for a game

Probably because it's easier to start a collection and it's a more balanced system tbh. I also find it more fun personally.

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"War does not determine who is right, only who is left."
- Bertrand Russel

SBG is a much less daunting system and the personal reason why i prefer it is that if i want to have some half trolls or whatever in my force, i dont have to spend £30 on getting 4 boxes so i can use them like in WOTR. But i suppose it works both ways in that i have to buy a mahud chieftan so i can use them in sbg. Also models that are like gods in the sbg are so much easier to kill in wotr, like giant spiders; in the sbg 4 giant spiders are complete beats but in wotr they can be easily destroyed...