Hello all, so after awhile and much deliberation I've finally decided to give the hobbit material a chance ( after returning to my beloved game, I was quite hesitant to accept the hobbit material at first glance as it just seemed like serious rule/ Stat creep) but I'm more accepting towards it now as juat enriching our game.

That being said I would like to inquiry the community on their thoughts on some of the models/ units of interest to me from said hobbit updates

- Bilbo, is he worth the price tag ? He has the un awoken ring, sting and Mithril, but still mainly hobbit hero stats with 1 Atk, am I missing something or is he just mediocre?

- Beorn, how is he compartively to tree beard? Is he worth including due to his Beserker rules and such? ( was thinking adding him to my shire list, but treebeard is also equally on my thoughts)

- Thorins Company, how do they stack up? Both in Goblin town forms and the Armored Botfa profiles? ( i know dwalin is a wrecking ball, but he's all I really hear about them)

Think that's the things I'm pondering at the current moment, any comments/ help is greatly appreciated !

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I think bombur is actually literally more of a wrecking ball hahaha. But seriouesly the dwarfs are pretty good when used in pairs/trios as some have rules that work good with others

Azog and Bolg are serious powerhouses but never take them unless you can afford to have them mounted
Monsters are now very deadly, As for the Treebeard/beorn conundrum treebeard is more reliable and versatile what with being able to shoot S10 boulders from 18" away beorn is really a model you need to support with some troops or mounted heroes to stop him being waylaid by "the donkey carrot" model so to speak.

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With that being said Grungehog, what does Beorn bring to the table to just not make him second rate to treebeard in every case?

a Unique Brutal attack and a +1 to wound (even though, I'm not sure that he could benefit from this in his bear form). If I remember correctly, Beorn is also faster then treebeard.

Beorn does bring extra movement to the table, fearless, resistant to magic, the ability to squeeze through small gaps when not in bear form the ability to take a bow, burly with a 2h axe
he definitely has his uses

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That would defintely open up different possiblties with beorn , with the ability to change sizes and being 2 inches faster.

Did anyone have any insight on new bilbo by chance ?

I never used Bilbo, but I think that he can be very strong when you use him correctly. In an all hero army, he can be extremly strong: Attack a big hero with Bilbo with his ring and one or two strong heroes. Your enemy will have a lower F, whereas it is very difficult to charge Bilbo. I dont know if the BOFA Bilbo is worth his points but the other one can be very strong.

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bofa bilbo is the only Hobbit in the game with 3 might, so yeah he's pretty damn good, his only down side is he cannot have a pony that way

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That's right but why do you need a hobbit with 3M? He has the point costs of Gimli or Legolas. He is only five points cheaper than Dwalin. Bilbo still needs support in a fight but he is quite expensive. Isildur is only 10 points cheaper, has the ring and is a good fighter.

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can Isildur throw stones at people whilst wearing the ring, can isildur just wear the ring and do what he wants?
Also Bilbo is more themed for more armies than isildur.
don't get me wrong isildur is truly terrifying with the ring on but bilbo is still damn useful

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Are we sure that a model wearing the ring can attack?
We know he can be attacked by an opponent, but the rules say nothing about it. In the Italian rulebook there's not a single line saying "model wearing the ring can attack". Even in the lore, Bilbo only used the ring for offence once, against the spiders.

How is this played in tournaments? is there any official answer?

@Grungehog: You are absolutely right. I never wanted to say that Bilbo is not good. However, I am not sure why and when I should take the BOFA version. Because all the positive things that you mentioned are also true for the cheaper version. I think that Bilbo is a supporter and in my opinion, a supporter should cost not a lot points (maybe between 40 and 70 Pts.)

@Dikey: First of all, I think that every miniature is allowed to charge as long as nothing else is mentioned. So I don't know why he should not be allowed to do it. You mentioned that Bilbo used the ring against the spiders, which means that he can attack but he doesn't do it very often. Have a look at Grima: He only charged Saruman but he is allowed to attack his enemies.

In line 3-4 on page 73 in the second paragraph of "Sauron's will", in the German rulebook, there's written: "This means that the evil player is only allowed to move and attack...". This means that Bilbo is allowed to attack.

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I'm thinking about Isildur. With F6, the ability to charge while wearing the ring is incredibly powerful because he will "outfight" anyone but Sauron.
I haven't the DoS sourcebook, but I heard it says that in the spider's scenario there's a special scenario rule that enables Bilbo to charge. If there's a need for a scenario rule, probably in common games a ringbearer cannot charge but only pass through enemies.

As for Grima, as soon as he charges, his cover drops. Has sense: he's not someone you'll use for charging.

I just read the scenario special rule and I have to say that you are right. However, as long as there is no rule, which forbiddes me to charge with a miniature, I think it is allowed to charge. Otherwise, there would have to be a special rule for every minaiature in the game which tells us what it is allowed to do. Maybe this scenario special rule is related to the next sentence, which says that he gets +1 F&A on the charge.
You also have to look at Bilbos points. His profile is very bad, but he is still more expensive than the other supporters in Thorin´s company. I dont think that he would be that expensive when he is not allowed to charge anybody. In comparison with Isildur, you have to notice, that his ring is alive, so there is a 33,33...% chance that your opponent is allowed to charge you with a strong hero.
Watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwJjlaHB6VU
I think that he is a very experienced player and he says that he uses Gollum as an assassine, which would be impossible when he is not allowed to charge.

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Having not seen new gollums profile until you mentioned it, he is extremely potent for his points having f5 is crazy.

Sam on Pony seems like a good base to start for converting a mounted Bilbo, though I probably will be picking up the Thorin + Bilbo 2 pack, and although he's really costly, brings a chunk of might to the table

You should have a look at the shadow and flame dwarf on pony. This is designed for converting the dwarfs on pony. Maybe it works for Bilbo, too.

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I will have to take a closer look at them, looked like it could be somewhat costly to get one over here in the states.

reading through the Botfa supplement, am I correct in thinking that Thorin, King under the Mountain ( and any and all Champions of Erebor dwarves) can only be all hero warband ? Shame Thorin can't lead troops if true.

Oh, I did not know that you are living in the US; this could make it expensive.

Yes, they are an all hero army.

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