I was looking at the rulebook a while ago, and i noticed something. Gandalf's special rule makes every formation within 6'' +1 courage right? well, what if Sarumon the White was within 6''? Sarumon's courage of 7 would go up to 8 and then his formation wouldn't be able to fail a courage test

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One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, one ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

Hmm.. It seems so! But spells of dismay could reduce this, so it's not completely invincible.

And using Gandalf the White (the Grey doesn't have Voice of Command) with Saruman the White wouldn't go with a themed army, especially as Saruman had turned evil when Gandalf became the White.

But Saruman's the only guy this will work with though, because even the Elf heroes have less courage!

It would be a good tactic, but you'd sacrifice the theme of your army for it.

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Better, though difficult, the right way to go, than wrong, though easy, where the end is woe. John Bunyan - Pilgrim's Progress

Same as SBG when heroes call Stand Fast - so kill the hero.

Is there nothing about a double one being an automatic failure? In which case, GW have made an automatic failure.

As to the theme issue: not everybody cares and so you are likely to find it in competitive (as opposed to friendly/fluffy based) tournaments. Having said that, it's surely a fair few points... And they both have to be taken as allies. And you may prefer to spread it around to increase multiple formations' chances of passing, rather than ensuring a couple do. Having them both in one area also allows them to be taken out more easily. It also prevents them from being flexible as they must always be a pair when splitting htem could be more useful.

At least it has some downides

Do you know what is even more scary???? The Host of Erebor (Battlehost) cannot be affect by courage reduction spells if 12 inches from Dain. It also "will of irons" on a 3+

Magic Invulnerablilty Away!!!

I saw that, it looked great . That's got to be one of the best battlehosts.

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

Uh oh! My friend uses Dwarves and if he uses this, Saruman will no longer be the Dwarf-buster he used to be!

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Better, though difficult, the right way to go, than wrong, though easy, where the end is woe. John Bunyan - Pilgrim's Progress