what armies perform best with no allies?

I'm not sure who to take. I have Durin's Folk, Thranduil hall and Mordor.

Thanks for any advice.

Lmao........I had this EXACT discussion with many people many times.

I'd be inclined to agree that those armies are probably the top three, yes.

Sad thing is I have no other answer. There are various combinations of each you can come up with, and you can also ally independents correct?


My question to you is.....what armies are you most comfortable with usually besides these regulations?

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BLACKHAWK 2010 2013 2015 DYNASTY

Are dwarves good even without spears? I was thinking about lots of vault warden teams. I love the models but they are expensive points wise.

My Mirkwood is my newest army and I've only played it a couple times.

Thranduil (BOFA)
6 palace guard shield/spear
5 palace guard shield
1 palace guard banner

Legolas (Hobbit)
8 Mirkwood Rangers

Palace guard captain
Palace banner
9 Mirkwood Glaives/shields
2 Mirkwood bows

Any suggestions on this list?

Did you see my question is what you're usually playing with on a normal basis? Because it's better to play with an army you know than to try to force something you're uncomfortable with.

Your numbers are low and I'd only take one banner.

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BLACKHAWK 2010 2013 2015 DYNASTY

Good advice.

What would you put in if I took the banner away?

Have you seen these Glaives in action at all?

More troops. Mirkwood Elves.

I've used the glaives. They're good. Very useful in many situations.

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BLACKHAWK 2010 2013 2015 DYNASTY

in a 800 points tournament with no allies, I would probably go for Mordor. Is the only list with literaly every kind of unit. Spellcasters, Monsters, heavy infantry, elité infantry, spam units, light cavalry, heavy cavalry, powerhouse heroes...the only things Mordors lacks is pikes and archery, but you can spam a ton of trackers to make up for their average shoot value. I believe that Mordor suits any kind of playing stile

We are not sure if you are referring to our Grand Tournament at NOVA Open this year but if you are, just remember that there is a list of exceptions to the no allies rule. They are generally in favor of Good armies since they need these exceptions to remain competitive vs armies like Mordor.

With that being said, it is easy to see how armies like Mordor would be accepted as a great answer. Really it is their options of Ringwraiths that always make them competitive. Armies like Moria actually have more Troop options than Mordor, but thier lack of Ringwraiths make them seem less attractive of an option.

So when looking at how to make other armies competitive, you really need an answer to wraiths. This would be White Council members, Fellowship members, etc. If you dont have any options to these, then really only a few armies will be any good without allies.

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www.dchobbitleague.com

That's the tournament. I know it's a long way out but not sure when list is to be turned in. It sounds like a lot of fun. I live in Northern Virginia so it's close.

I want to have fun but don't wanna get stomped every game.
I've never played a tournament so I mostly want to have fun and not look like a moron.
I like my Thranduil army but haven't played it much. I'm used to the shield wall dwarves and black guard Mordor.

Elves are a different style of play I assume.

Would adding Galadriel lady of light to Thranduil be smart?

Honestly man if your used to the dwarves or mordor army you have play that.

With the army you're taking its very important to play perfectly with your plans and they quickly can fall apart against a good competitive player. There will be plenty at Nova.

If you're going to your first tournament you really should play a forgiving army like mordor.

Not only have you already practiced with it but it also lets you make more mistakes than an elven army especially when you're playing against such quality players with a great scheme they have.


Like Mike Tyson said basically everyone has a plan until they get hit.


If you are dead set on playing elves then that Galadriel will be pretty good but if you play an army that does not have any magic against you especially ringwraiths she's not very useful.

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BLACKHAWK 2010 2013 2015 DYNASTY

I did put together a few nice Mordor lists. I'll post a couple for feedback.

Is mouth of Sauron a waste versus a budget wraith?

Yes. The mouth is awful. If you want a caster, take a wraith, and if you want a combat hero or captain kinda guy, take Gorbag, Grishnak or Shagrat.

Yeah. I know he's craptastic.

I was thinking of a budget wraith but thought mouth was more fluffy.

Don't know how much theme is valued at these tournaments.

I guess having very limited allies prevents a lot of cheese.

Dammit. And I just bought that Alfred.

Guys, the OP gave me a general list of what he might do. I basically eliminated a number of trackers and put in more morannons.

Leader-
Dark Marshall on horse
8 black numenoreans

Shagrat, War leader
6 black guard one with banner(you dont really need this with the dark marshall I simply added it because you did. Id put in two more troops for it)
6 morannons spear shield

Black Guard Captain
6 black guard
6 morannons spear shield

Now, with that you have 684 points. You can either take a second wraith(and not really any more troops) which I think is bad because you only have around 35 troops. Low for bad guys.
Or, you can take Kardush, and Id suggest more Morannons if you have them. With him, you can add:

Kardush
3 Morannons shield
3 Morannons shield spear
1 orc tracker


I think my one mistake was probably I would take out that banner, add a few trackers for kardush's spell

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BLACKHAWK 2010 2013 2015 DYNASTY

I know the black guard banner is pretty expensive compared to a Mordor Orc banner. I just like the model. I'll retool the list. I've used trackers with Kardush for cheap eats and they can shoot a turn sometimes.

The model is awesome.

Maybe you can put him on a board or display with your army between games. Others do that.

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BLACKHAWK 2010 2013 2015 DYNASTY

Okay, how's this one?

I know I have Dark Marshall Banner but he can't cover everyone.

So I'd be without a banner for a splinter group. Not sure how improtant it is though.
48 models 10 points of might not a lot of bows zero cav

Warband 1 8/12
Dark Marshall
8 Black Númenórean
----
Warband 2 9/12
Shagrat, War Leader of Cirith Ungol
5 Morannon Orc with Shield; Spear;
4 Black Guard of Barad-dûr
----
Warband 3 9/12
Captain of the Black Guard
5 Morannon Orc with Shield; Spear;
4 Black Guard of Barad-dûr
----
Warband 4 9/12
Captain of the Black Guard
5 Morannon Orc with Shield; Spear;
4 Black Guard of Barad-dûr
----
Warband 5 8/12
Kardûsh the Firecaller
8 Orc Tracker
----

I like this list. I think it is a great all around list that offers a lot regardless of the Scenario. Just remember though that you need to play it, alot! I've been to NOVA and other tournaments before and I can say that even a tournament list is useless in the hands of a person without practice. But that is what I love about Lord of the Rings - no such thing as a broken list if the scenarios are done right.

Which brings me to my advice - definetly practice the scenarios for NOVA. The new ones for this year are all ones no one has ever seen before. They look great, but they are different. Just have a game plan for how you are handling each one.

Yeah man nice army! I agree with Legion. I practiced the scenarios and although I have gone 4-0 it was just locally and I still made countless mistakes. A lot to learn.

In those 4 games I only captured the max vps 1 time and got only a couple once :/

Legion-What army did you use for the first NOVA?

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BLACKHAWK 2010 2013 2015 DYNASTY

Thanks. The best part of this list is its already painted.

I look forward to hearing what you say about scenarios.

Is not having a true banner a problem?