How to play Galadhrim?

samoht · **Posted:** Mon Oct 07, 2013 3:10 am

Hey gang,

I am going to start a small galadhrim force (on foot only) and am wondering how best to play them?

My main question is, is it a good idea to give them elven blades? Two handed weapons have always been a very dodgy weapon to play with and I don't want my elves to lose fights because of the penalty and consequently get butchered on a 4+. Doesn't seem worth it.

LordElrond · **Posted:** Mon Oct 07, 2013 6:00 am

Elven blades are good for your captains and heroes who have s4 and are supported by other troops in the same fight.
Galadhrim with shields are the way to go, because they are less vulnerable to s2 (most shooting).
You could also play with the unarmoured galadhrim seen in FotR, but I presume you mean the armoured ones?

Bilbo · **Posted:** Mon Oct 07, 2013 9:06 am

My main question is, is it a good idea to give them elven blades? Two handed weapons have always been a very dodgy weapon to play with and I don't want my elves to lose fights because of the penalty and consequently get butchered on a 4+. Doesn't seem worth it.[/quote]

I would equip them with armour where possible to avoid being killed on a 4+
and would not worry about Elven Blades as they can be used single or double handed depending on whats best for you. They also win duel rolls on a 3,4,5 or 6, so they are far from dodgy to play with!

samoht · **Posted:** Mon Oct 07, 2013 10:02 am

Bilbo wrote:

They also win duel rolls on a 3,4,5 or 6, so they are far from dodgy to play with!

What do you mean by this?

Bilbo · **Posted:** Mon Oct 07, 2013 10:27 am

samoht wrote:

Bilbo wrote:

They also win duel rolls on a 3,4,5 or 6, so they are far from dodgy to play with!

What do you mean by this?

Oops, bad explaination on my part! If a model with an Elven blade draws in a duel roll, rather than winning the fight on a draw roll of 4,5 or 6, the model will win on a 3+!

whafrog · **Posted:** Mon Oct 07, 2013 11:41 am

Blades don't give you a penalty unless you use them two handed. I wouldn't give them to heroes because you want them to do everything they can to win the fight, but giving them to the hero's escort works pretty well. In 500 points I wouldn't have more than a few (up to five), but some people do fine with more.

IMHO the most effective Galadhrim armies are really a mix of Galadhrim and wood elves. The Galadhrim should carry shields, and spears or just hand weapons (a blade is wasted if they have a shield). The WE should carry bows (plus spears if you want to model it), or spears plus throwing daggers, with a few WE with blades plus TD. The reason for this is that the armour sweet spots are D3 and D5, due to S4 being very common among evil armies.

In bigger armies I'd include a whole warband of Guards...since the pike rules changed you either need lots or none.

Beowulf03809 · **Posted:** Mon Oct 07, 2013 4:44 pm

I'm really curious if GW will come up with something actually new with regard to armored Mirkwood Elves to separate them from the armored Elves of Lothlorien and Rivendell. As whafrog posted, Galadrhim with Wood Elf support can be very potent. I usually play all or mostly unarmored Mirkwood Elves, but I do often include a small group of Galadrhim, if only to justify theme when I have Galadriel in the list. But I know a lot of people do the opposite with mostly armored Galadrhim and a smaller number of unarmored Elves.

With armored Mirkwood Elves coming soon (thanks to second movie) I am curious if they would simply be in game terms what we already have with armored Galadrim (perhaps a little different wargear options) or if GW has something stat creep in mind to justify the sale of new 'middle ground' Elves.

That side note out of the way, as mentioned the typical Strength value of your most common foes should have a big factor on your decision. With a value of S4 an armored Galadrim without shield doesn't really buy you anything over a D3 Wood Elf. So if you're not getting the shield you probably don't need to bother with the armor at all.

I can't recall off the top of my head if there are any restrictions in the new book on unarmored Galadrhim wood elves using the Wood Elf Spear. It's one of my favorite pieces of wargear. You only have to worry about D3 if you loose the Fight (or someone shoots at you!). Being able to Shield with a high Fight value can make a single model very survivable and I have often had one or two Spear-armed WEs hold off large groups of enemy models for a few turns until help can arrive or an objective secured just by not loosing the Fight roll and winning ties.

The biggest gap with Elves in melee is simply the fact that Evil has had Defense creep so bad. The Elf Blades are almost mandatory to help make up for this. As mentioned you usually don't want to give 2H weapons to Heroes (well...some people have success with this but I usually don't do it...YMMV). But for basic troops if you can have a scattering of the Elf Blades in the force and pair up those models with others you will have a lot more luck. Let the others win the Fight and then get the +1 Wound for the 2H. Nothing more frustrating than winning all Fights in a turn and not able to cause a single casualty.

I haven't invested yet in any of the Guards but with the pike change I can see why whafrog suggests a sort of "either many or none" plan.

Never discount your ranged fire either. Max out your bows and strongly consider throwing daggers for some of your Wood Elves (with spears!) to get even more shots. Likewise magic is usually a big factor in success with Elves to help balance the typical numbers issue. A well timed Natures Wrath (and maybe Heroic Combats the same turn!!!) can help secure a win.

Ranged Fire (bows and daggers)
Numbers to win Fight (X:1 combat, spear support, Shileding)
Elf Blades to secure Wound
Leverage magic, special rules and Heroics available

Manadar · **Joined:** Fri Apr 13, 2012 4:22 pm **Posts:** 180

Key Heroes : Legolas/Thranduil/Rumil/Stormcaller
Max out bows and minis, take a maximum of spears too as they may be used as shield too. Forget armor there are too many S4 warriors in this game now.
Use your bows, nature wraths and terror bubble (Thranduil's crown) to build an advantage that your opponent won't be able to catch up.
Win the game

SouthernDunedain · **Posted:** Mon Oct 07, 2013 5:10 pm

Ringwraith saps thranduils will, you loose terror bubble and watch as the evil side eats elves for breakfast

JamesR · **Posted:** Mon Oct 07, 2013 5:32 pm

SouthernDunedain wrote:

Ringwraith saps thranduils will, you loose terror bubble and watch as the evil side eats elves for breakfast

That is under the assumption that the Ringwraith survived the arrow barrages sent his way

Manadar · **Joined:** Fri Apr 13, 2012 4:22 pm **Posts:** 180

Always wait for Legolas to snipe the nazgul first, using his might if necessary. It's his main purpose actually as you will deal with many ringwraiths against evil armies.

Bilbo · **Posted:** Mon Oct 07, 2013 8:54 pm

Manadar wrote:

Always wait for Legolas to snipe the nazgul first, using his might if necessary. It's his main purpose actually as you will deal with many ringwraiths against evil armies.

I have seen him used to great effect in this manner but, last time my cousin tried it against me the dice must have had it in for him!

Leonardis · **Joined:** Wed Oct 05, 2011 4:06 pm **Posts:** 891

Any regular galadhrim players ? I am really interest in their tactics as I have a large galadhrim and wood elf army I am about to paint and would love to know some decent tactics!
I have all the heroes, 24 pikes, 18 knights and tonnes of warriors!!!

2500 points of galadhrim
1250 points of wood elves

WhoelsebutHaldir · **Posted:** Sat Dec 07, 2013 6:41 pm

Is this thread necromancy? If so my bad, I haven't been on here in a while.

Anyway, back to the point. If you are still looking for help with Galadhrim just ask. They are my primary force, and ide love to help.

Leonardis · **Joined:** Wed Oct 05, 2011 4:06 pm **Posts:** 891

WhoelsebutHaldir wrote:

Is this thread necromancy? If so my bad, I haven't been on here in a while.

Anyway, back to the point. If you are still looking for help with Galadhrim just ask. They are my primary force, and ide love to help.

Yes please!!!!!
Either post or PM - I've just painted 6 warbands of wood elves and about the paint 2500 points of galadhrim (check out my WIP).

Many thanks

WhoelsebutHaldir · **Posted:** Sun Dec 08, 2013 12:09 am

What's your most pressing concern about them? Or do you just want info in general?

Leonardis · **Joined:** Wed Oct 05, 2011 4:06 pm **Posts:** 891

I have never played with them - I am painting my Galadhrim army now (to join my recently finished wood elf army) and will hopefully be finished by Christmas! So would like to field them in a battle and I guess any good suggestions about what works and what doesn't would be great!

Cheers :-)

black1blade · **Joined:** Tue Jul 30, 2013 12:10 pm **Posts:** 225

For the battle line, Galadhrim warriors backed up by woodelves with spears and throwing dagger are a good combo. The D5 can hold up reasonably well and the wood elves can pepper the enemy with throwing daggers as they advance, hopefully getting a few kills. if the front line is smashed in that area, the woodelves can shield and hopefully get a few kills with the daggers. The main 2 list builds at 1000pts are 4 heroes maxed out warriors and quite a few GOTGC and sentiels, or 5 cheaper heroes, thanduil ect, with a lot of warriors. The second is probably the favourable option but The first is for if you want to run heroes like Celeborn, who can a beast. Rumil is a pretty much an auto include as is thranduil.

Bilbo · **Posted:** Sun Dec 08, 2013 10:39 pm

Having lost against Galdrim at a tournament a few years ago, my main problem with an army of Black Guards, Uruk Hai and Morannon orcs lead by Shagrat, a Black Guard Captain and a Task Master was how many Galadrim I was up against. The Galadrim player had a surprisingly large force of Haradrim swordsmen backed up by spearmen which you can field a lot of at 9 or 10 points a pop. They were lead by Haldir and Rumil who are capable but bothe well under 100 points each. Being somewhat swamped by F5 warriors with spear support, even my heroes had serious problems winning fights.

WhoelsebutHaldir · **Posted:** Mon Dec 09, 2013 1:34 am

I generally like to include a warband of spear/shield galadhrim with rumil and a banner as my centre. Then Haldir/Thranduil with some archers. After that I do Thranduil/storm caller with a mix of GOTGC and galadhrim with glaives. That would be from 500-700pts
After that at around 1000pts I prefer to go with 5 warbands because the heroes a re really good and almost all under 100pts.

Using GOTGC as pike support isn't really worth it because of the risk of trapping the first model, however you shouldn't be losing many fights with 2F6 and 1F5 attacks, I just don't usually use them like that. I prefer to use them to hold an area or objective because they can use the shielding rule.

Generally Galadhrim cavalry arnt worth it unless you have a few forests on the board. But still good at higher points when you have a decent infantry base.

How to play Galadhrim?

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