I am owning a windlance bard model and I am trying to figure out if this is going to work. I am playing survivors of lake town alongside a green alliance with halls of thranduil, I own almost everything from those elves and I have about 24 lake town militia and a captain.

Bard is irreplaceable in Survivors army but I have him only with windlance. Is anyone having any experience with it in the new edition?

From what I see, if you are in a scenario that you can sit back where bard's siege engine deploys you can shoot A LOT, considering Lake Town numbers and the assistance of a 100% elven archery. The Black Arrow may take down the enemy's leader early before engagement. I mean, it is a wound almost for sure for 75 points and can make 2-3 easy shots while enemy is between 24-48" before he starts using his bow. When work is done Bard can leave his siege engine and provide his 6" banner to his soldiers, while elf may even fight outnumbered. So, in ideal circumstances that are possible in most of the scenarios, it seems to me that in this kind of army 75pts worth it for the windlance.

What's your thoughts?

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This Weekend I was looking up the special rules for Bard's windlance in the armybook, and You are right, he is free to leave his siege machine.

So in a game, it may go the way You described, but it's a risk. It all depends on successful shooting. I had a game some years ago, in which Bard' tried to shoot my plain Moria goblins using his bow with no success. Of Course, that's unusal, but it happens.

Another thought: If You give Bard a windlance, You cannot give him an horse, which would be an advantage in combat as well as in speed.

But if You take the risk, it could be fun to use the windlance. The Position of the windlance will be important. If the board gives a lot of shelter to your opponent, the risk is bigger.

A (new?) rule requires you place the siege engine within 6" of your board edge. The Windlance cannot be moved. Unless you can place it elevated within that six inches, then In The Way can be a real pain. Our tournements have tables that are scenery heavy, which also compromises an unelevated siege bow.

The big plus, of course is Alfred. Load up Bard with extra Might, and that Windlance can be a nightmare on expensive enemies. Knock out a troll, and it has earned its points. I even came close to killing ShadowLord, the bane of bows. I burned a lot of Might instead of rolling lucky.

That said, I would favor Gandalf if I had to choose... But armies over 700 points, no choice necessary.