Kili wrote:
That makes the dwarves a lot more expensive (in real life
), with all those metal elites I have to buy then. I'll probably take Gondor then.
I think it's easier to make an optimized list with the basic dwarf kit than the basic Gondor kits.
You can make a functional 500 point dwarf army with 2 boxes of warriors, a command set and, say, Balin or Gimli. Dwarves are all elite in terms of Fight score, and have high defence (which is the trade off for lack of spears). Then you can slowly add blisters of Khazad Guard or Iron Guard as you see fit. The only real problem with dwarves is they move slow. (Personally not a fan of the dwarf ranger concept, so I don't use them.)
For Gondor, the plastic kits are either average Fight (WoMT/KoMT), or low defence (Rangers). Maybe the cheapest starting list would be with the Rangers of Ithilien LoME list, for which you'd need a box of WoMT and a box of Rangers, and the Faramir/Damrod blister. However, you'll probably be in the situation where you have more than 1/3rd Rangers in your army, so not all of them will be able to shoot, which means to make an optimized list you'd need 2 boxes of WoMT + a box of Rangers. You get spear support and good shooting, but your front line can be chewed by Morannons, and Rangers will be chewed by Uruks.
You could 2 boxes of WoMT + command blister + Faramir, but I don't think it would be as effective as the dwarf list for the same $$.