I'm finally painting up my Rohirrim, and I am hoping to get some critiques on this list! Thanks for any comments:

Eomer, Knight of the Pelennor on Armored House
10 Riders of Rohan with Throwing Spears (w/ Westfold Redshield upgrade)

Erkenbrand on Horse
10 Riders of Rohan (w/ Westfold Redshield upgrade)

Captain of Rohan with shield and horse
6 Riders of Rohan (w/ Westfold Redshield upgrade).

650 points

This list leaves me with only 29 models, which I fear at 650 points may leave me outnumbered by 10 against many armies. Everyone but the heroes have bows, but I do worry that the lack of Sons of Eorl will hurt me. That S4, D6, A2(+1) would be really helpful, especially if charging with Eomer as part of a heroic combat.

Thoughts?

It's a pretty solid list. I played a 500 point game against a similar all mounted Rohan force last night, that did a good job of keeping it's distance and shooting against my Isengard force of Vrasku, Shaman, X-Bows, Berserkers, Ferals. Then the Rohirrim charged in after I'd been thinned out a bit. It was a very tough force to play against.

If you are looking for some room to upgrade a few models to Sons of Eorl, replace one of your heroes (NOT Erkenbrand) with Eowyn. She's cheaper, and while she's not a combat monster, she's got 2 points of might, which are useful, as you need to declare a lot of heroic moves with this force, to keep up your charge bonuses when you finally do make the cavalry charge. And she's F5, so even with 1 att, she's decent on the charge. Or downgrade Eomer to his Marshall of the Riddermark profile, which is still solid, but fewer points.

Also, even a couple of Rohan outriders are helpful, as they can grab objectives late game with good mobility and the fact that they benefit from a hero's stand fast, regardless of distance from the hero.

Thanks for the tips, Men are Weak! I might drop the captain down to Eowyn, but I do worry about her Defense 5 vs the captain's D6. The play style you mention is certainly what I have been thinking, but I am going to have to get a lot of practice in to try to figure out how to actually do it correctly!

Out of curiosity, given that I've never used this army or a similar one before, what targets did you opponent prioritize? Did he focus heroes first? or crossbows? Berserkers?

Thanks for the guidance!

His priority was crossbows, then berserkers, then ferals. His force included Legolas as an ally, who mostly tried to snipe my shaman, so without someone like Legolas, you definitely want to look for opportunities against a shaman, but mine was fairly well blocked. And yes - it will take some practice.

On a side note, Legolas was more of a psych weapon than a real weapon. I was pretty worried about him, but honestly, he wasn't a huge facto, other than my own moving to try to kill him.. I think just taking more riders may have actually been more effective.

Thanks again for the input.

Anyone have opinions regarding the usefulness of the throwing spears? If I take them out I can get an additional model in the form of a Son of Eorl.

Throwing spears are usually worth it, you can sit your cav just outside of the enemy's infantry charge range and get a free turn of throwing. Even with the penalty for moving, a throwing spear is more likely to kill a defense 5 unit than a bowman that hasn't moved. 1/3 chance to hit and 1/3 to wound w/ spear, which gives a 1/9 chance vs 1/2 to hit and 1/6 to kill for the bow, which gives a 1/12 chance.

I think I will keep the throwing spears. That's a pretty convincing set of numbers, Luizasso. Thanks.

I have two modifications I could make:

1. Swap captain for Eowyn w/ shield, armor, and horse (frees up 14 points). I could add another rider OR drop 1 throwing spear to upgrade 2 Redshields to Sons of Eorl.
-Or-
2. Drop Eomer down to Eorl the Young and convert 5 Redshields to Sons of Eorl.

I guess I'm asking: Is Eomer, knight of the Pelennor essential?
or could I buff my guys and take Eorl instead?
My main concern is that I would be forfeiting 5 bow shots each turn, and the main strategy of the army seems to be to harass and shoot while staying out of charge range until the numbers are more favorable. With 5 Sons of Eorl running around without bows, they could be useless for a long time. I just worry about dealing with things like Mordor Trolls and --heaven forbid-- a troll chieftain.

Thoughts?

I think when it comes down to it for me:

-Knight of the Pellanor one of the best offensive models in the game for a man sized model
-Eowyn slightly outvalues a captain-That fight five can might combo can win you a couple critical fights that mean the difference between you winning a fight and losing to a hurling monster where youre army may then be stranded. She also saves you points for another model
-Redshields fight 4 is mandatory. You need to win fights
-Skirmish until absolutely necessary where youre either surrounded or time is in the later half of the match

Sons of Eorl are nice but I dont think 1 will help. I think armies need 3+ of them in a force this size for them to matter. One lucky shot and hes done.

_________________
BLACKHAWK 2010 2013 2015 DYNASTY