Hello all,

Ive been playing with a smaller version of this force at 500 points and I am trying to expand it to a viable tournament army for the SBG. Here is what I have worked up.

Source: Woodland Realms
Leader: Haldir or Rumil (Undecided)
Total Points: 699

Warband 1
Rumil
Guards of the Galhadrim Court x3
Galhadrim Warrior w/ Banner x1
Galhadrim Warrior w/ Elf Blade x4
Galhadrim Warrior w/ Elf Bow x4

Warband 2
Haldir w/ Armor, Elf Bow
Galhadrim Warrior w/ Shield and Spear x4
Galhadrim Warrior w/ Elf Blade x4
Galhadrim Warrior w/ Elf Bow x4

Warband 3
Stormcaller
x1 Galhadrim Knight w/ Elf Bow
x4 Galhadrim Knights w/ Shield

Warband 4
Gwaihir, The Windlord

If the army is expanded to 750 points, the Stormcaller's warband changes to the following:

Warband 3 (Alternate)
Stormcaller
x2 Galhadrim Knight w/ Elf Bow
x3 Galhadrim Knights w/ Shield
x2 Wood Elf Sentinels


I like the look, feel, and play-style of the army. Its great looking on the tabletop. It has a very solid core of warriors. The Heroes are very good and adaptable but not too many points each so its not as devastating if i lose one. It also has some great monster support from Gwaihir, who is more than capable of tying up an enemy warband, taking out enemy cavalry, or killing some evil monsters like trolls, dwellers, etc.

My question is, what are its disadvantages? Evil players, looking at this force, what would you gun for first, where is its breaking point, and how might I be able to address them? Good players, what have I missed? Are there any glaring faults with this that my lack of tournament play has not allowed me to see?

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This is the Ring of Fire, and herewith, maybe, thou shalt rekindle hearts to the valour of old in a world that grows chill.'

I'd skip the elf blades (or maybe take 2) and replace the rest with either spear+shield, or wood elves with spear + TD. Generally you don't have enough support IMHO.

I was wondering why people here on the One Ring seem to avoid taking the Elf Blade. I've always found it useful to have a few in each warband to help deal with monsters and tougher heroes. Is there some big disadvantage to it I am not seeing?

_________________
This is the Ring of Fire, and herewith, maybe, thou shalt rekindle hearts to the valour of old in a world that grows chill.'

Take 2 in each warband not 4 then

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"I am the Flying Spagetti Monster. Thou shall have no other monsters before me"
-FSM.

Yes, the argument would come down to what is "a few" The biggest disadvantage is that they come with elves...generally you a) don't have high enough numbers to risk suffering the -1, and b) you can't support a model that's wielding it two-handed. For these reasons, I prefer to use them as "hero support"...if a hero is in the fight, especially against another hero or monster, then I will pile on as many blades as I can (the hero will not use his own two-handed). But this means maybe 1 or 2 per warband. Any more and they'll be pulled into their own fights, which means I'll probably want them supported if possible, or they'll be alone so I wouldn't risk it, so it's a waste of points better spent on a shield or wood elf spear.

Other people describe regularly pairing a blade with some other warrior, so that the blade takes the -1 and the other wins the fight, but this seems too dangerous to me: 50% chance the blade will be the highest die, and then what?

In short, in many ways the most critical part of the game is winning fights. If you win, you do not die, even if you fail to wound. It's the same principle that allows Wood Elves to win, despite their D3.

Anyway, just my 2 cents. YMMV...

Okay that makes sense now. So they are a decent weapon but you want to be careful in their use. Now for my next question. How critical is a banner to an elven force? Winning the fight means you dont get hit which is good for elves (Well, good for anyone but particularly for elves.) However, their fight is higher than any other base infantry in the game. I'm assuming that it is a pretty key piece of wargear, particularly for the warband I've attached it to. However, it is a lot of points that I could spend elsewhere if its not vital. The reason I ask is because it is not in my 500 point list and I've only played with a banner once. (On a Mordor Orc force, so nice but not really game changing in any of the fights I was in.)

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This is the Ring of Fire, and herewith, maybe, thou shalt rekindle hearts to the valour of old in a world that grows chill.'

In the LoME days I never would have taken a banner with elves. It was a choice between 4 capable troops, or 1 hamstrung troop having minimal effect, and I always went with numbers.

But with warbands, the victory conditions (you get 1VP per surviving banner), and the fact that they all cost the same regardless of who carries them, banners are more appealing. Instead of 4:1 ratio it's 3:1 for elves. I don't know that they're essential, but I'd consider 1 in 500 points, or 2 in 1000.

I'd get 4 elves with spears&bows for the support, 2 with shields&spears for your flanks, and 4 with just shields in the front row in each warband

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Ours is the fury!

Okay. After the suggestions here I can see the need for a bit of reorganization. How does this new list look:

Source: Woodland Realms
Leader: Haldir
Total Points: 700

Warband 1
Rumil
Guards of the Galhadrim Court x3
Galhadrim Warrior w/ Shield and Spear x1
Galhadrim Warrior w/ Elf Blade x2
Galhadrim Warrior w/ Shield x2
Galhadrim Warrior w/ Elf Bow and Spear x4

Warband 2
Haldir w/ Armor, Elf Bow
Galhadrim Warrior w/ Shield x4
Galhadrim Warrior w/ Elf Blade x2
Galhadrim Warrior w/ Shield and Spear x2
Galhadrim Warrior w/ Elf Bow and Spear x4

Warband 3
Stormcaller
x1 Galhadrim Knight w/ Elf Bow
x3 Galhadrim Knights w/ Shield
x1 Galhadrim Knight w/ Elf Blade
x1 Wood Elf Sentinel

Warband 4
Gwaihir, The Windlord

If Expanded to 750 the Stormcaller's warband changes to:

Warband 3
Stormcaller
x1 Galhadrim Knight w/ Elf Bow
x3 Galhadrim Knights w/ Shield
x1 Galhadrim Knight w/ Elf Blade
x3 Wood Elf Sentinel

_________________
This is the Ring of Fire, and herewith, maybe, thou shalt rekindle hearts to the valour of old in a world that grows chill.'