Hello all,

I'm new to the game and I am starting a small force to play a Rivendell army. I was wondering what your experiences have been playing this faction? What are some pros, and what are the glaring cons?

So far I have Gil Galad and some warriors for him to lead.

Hey Hew, I'm in a similar boat. I broke out my Rivendelves from 17 years ago, unpainted and got them done up. I currently have Elrond, Gil Galad, 12 Sword Warriors and 6 Archer Warriors done up.

I've played 4 games so far, 3 with my Elves.

Because of the limitations of my models, I've used both Elrond and Gil Galad (on foot) in those 3 games, but I don't recommend it. They are both studs but it's too much character and not enough board presence.

In my last game I swarmed by Moria Goblins while he committed one guy to go secure the Ancient Heirloom.

In the game before that, I got into a war of attrition with the Dead, and I just couldn't beat down their Defense 8. Elrond did good but eventually he got into fight with King of the Dead and failed his Fate saves and was autoslain.

I highly recommend a banner bearer; the reroll per fight is great, especially when you want to use your swords 2 handed and get the bonus to wound (but take the penalty to your duel roll), although I'm starting to find that the -1 penalty to duels is not worth the bonus to wound rolls (you need to win the duel in order to strike blows).

I'm getting some knights later this week, hopefully that will get me some speed and punching power.

Cons are, as hinted at above, lack of board presence (will be outnumbered but that's the price of a great statline) which will make you vulnerable to getting swarmed or being blocked in terms of access to objectives.

I have been playing High Elves for three editions now and they really have not changed all that much to be honest. In my opinion the biggest pros of the army at its high fight value troops (kings guard in particular), its high class heroes (Gil Galad, Elrond, and Glorfindel), its cavalry, and its access to movement 8 infantry with the exiles. I would also add that the magic the list has access to is pretty good to if you can work it in. Even the storm callers have a good use. The biggest cons are, as was stated above, the small numbers, limited board control against most armies, the lack of strength 4 units which necessitates resting on two-handed weapons or heroes to do most of the killing against high defense armies, and a boring troop roster.

The main trouble I have had with the list over the years has been when I fought against armies with str. 4 and defense 6. I found that I would lose the infantry fights because I could never turn wins into kills when dueling. I switched to a sword only front line a few years back to make use of the two-handed weapons and have found the drawbacks to bearable if you use the rule wisely. I have had a love/hate relationship with the bowmen but I think that they are worth bringing in force if you are not afraid to use them in combat too.

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"Draw your sword with a heavy heart, but swing it with a heavy hand"

Hey Wan, thanks for chiming in.

What do you think about allying in some Lorien stuff?

The main reason I'm interested in this is because the lack of availability of High Elf models, specifically guys with shields (I'd like to have some Def6 infantry for hammer and anvil style approach). The Lorien kit gets me a better range of guys. I also like those sentries. I also like the Lorien army bonus.

That being said, spears with shields seem like a waste. It seems smarter to put shields on swordsman and let them hang out front, while spearmen hang behind them without shields. That's ideal engagement type stuff though, so maybe it doesn't play that way enough.

Another way of looking at it: giving shields to your spearmen, rather than to your frontline, allows the spearman to shield when the model in front of him dies (which, arguably, is exactly when you want to be shielding).

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"There are few left in Middle Earth like Aragorn, son of Arathorn." - Gandalf, Many Meetings

Rocmistro, it sounds to me like you would be better served by buying into a Lorien army and leaving Rivendell to be the ally for its cavalry. From the list of models in your other post I would imagine that your present Rivendell army does not have anything to offer a Lorien force it terms of units. The basic warriors have the same stats and heavy armor and if you bought and painted a box of Galadhrim warriors you'd have have spearmen, shieldmen, and 1/3 archers. Rivendell only has swordmen you don't want to use and archers that require the swordsmen to bring. Is there any reason, aside from already having the models, that you want to play Rivendell over any other army? And I am not trying to be snarky about this. I am asking because I want help you get the most fun out of your investment in the models. It sounds like you've got to do some buying either way so I would really look at how much you'd spend to get your Rivendell with a Lorien ally running vs. just a Lorien army alone. Also, have you considered buying some generic looking kite shields and just gluing them to the backs of some of your swordsmen?

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"Draw your sword with a heavy heart, but swing it with a heavy hand"

I started with Rivendell because that's what I had the most of. In fairness, I do like the look of the High Elf armor (specifically the helmets) more than the Lorien armor, but it's not a huge asehetic preference, and I like the Rivendell heroes; Gil, El, and Glorf more than the pansy Celeborn and Galadriel.

I have thought about generic kite shields, but I haven't found anything I like. Got any links?

Press-cast knight shields with green stuff? It's a cheap way to do it and get the correct look.

Unfortunately, I cannot say that I have seen any shields that I would recommend. I have seen some people use pressed shields though but I have not ever attempted it myself. You will definitely be wanting some shield and spear men if you are set on keeping Rivendell. Gildor, or a suitable proxy, and his wood elves also might be a worthwhile addition for some cheaper spears and as a way to raise your total model count for more bows.

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"Draw your sword with a heavy heart, but swing it with a heavy hand"