I am looking to create a 600 pt Gondor Armor centered around Boromir Captain of the White tower (on foot with banner) for Bilbo's Birthday Bash. I am primarily a painter and thus have never created an army, I just paint the minatures that I find appealing or I have a good idea for. Thus I have only played the game a few times at the Battle Bunker or Gamesdays. I am looking for help on what would make a good 600 pt army and maybe somebody to help me with some strategy. Thanks!

Ok so Boromir with banner costs 225 points, so you have 475 points left (easily enough to make a solid army) The best way to make an army is to have it as one big unit, as opposed to having lots of different troop types all over the place not synergizing with eachother, Gondor can create an excellent force very easily.

This is my suggestion for your force;

Boromir with banner
Darmrod
Forlong the fat
11 citadel guard
11 rangers of gondor with spear
12 men at arms of dol amaroth with pike

While the numbers do look very small, the entire force fights with fight value 5 (except for the men at arms who have fight 4) In addition, everything benefits from having 3 attacks thanks to the spears and pikes from the rangers and men-at-arms. The army itself should be able to survive long enough for boromir to pay his points back.

Thank you that sounds very nice and gives me a few other heroes to create as focal points. The 11 citadel guard are they with bows? What might be some ways in which I can maximize the effect of the army, i.e. am I looking to maintain distance or close combat . . . etc. Thank you for you advice. Looking very forward to creating my first army.

I just seem to have the worst luck with my gondor army...

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Current Projects: Minas Tirith force; 36 WoMT, Officer, Standardbearer, Boromir, and 6 KoMT

for a 600 point, that would leave him with 375, not 475. Also, with Boromir, captain and banner, a second hero (unless a 25 point or less) is going to impact numbers too much. Also, that list is illegal for LoME games. There aren't enough warriors without bows to support the 11 rangers.

Here's my recommendation:

Tower of Ecthelion:
Boromir CotWT/banner
Beregond
10 guard of the fountain court (those within range become FV 5)
5 knights w/shield
16 warriors of Minas Tirith w/shield
10 warriors of Minas Tirith w/bow
8 Citadel Guard/spear

600 points, 51 models, 7 might.

Woo, controversy. Elland, what would be the strengths of this army and what would be some of its weaknesses?

You've got cavalry (always a threat to infantry on the charge), ranged, good defense, excellent fight values, Bodyguard special rule, spears and a good amount of troops. You are, however, Strength 3. While not great, you'll see it come into play against D6 or higher troops. Those under the effects of the banner - especially the Guards are going to be the equal of elves in close combat. However, with Boromir - you've got a lot of eggs in one basket.

edit: You'll also be at FV 3 for most of the army - those away from the banner (see my post below). So while it's NICE for troops near it, you're going to have to plan ahead on how you're going to use it and the troops that you want to benefit from it.

Also, remember that there is a short range for the effects of the banner - it's not going to affect your entire army.

If you give those Fountain Court guards some shields it's a nice buffer against the increasingly common S4 troops.

EDIT: should also mention that 600 points is kind of a tough level for Good, especially if you include major heroes like Boromir. Evil can easily field 75 models, along with potent heroes that can neutralize yours. I don't know if you picked that number for fun or whether you're limited by a tournament, but 700 points is a more fair point level.

My list isn't illegal, there are 11 citadel guard from the rangers of ithilien (and thus 5 ranges from the rangers of osgiliath) and 12 men at arms from dol amaroth (who allow for 6 more rangers) But you are right about the amount of points left for the army. Whafrog is right about 700 ebing a much nicer points level, my advice is to drop the banner, mount boromir and make an all hero army, but Elland's list has nice numbers for an army with boromir, only thing i would say is drop beregond for eowyn, and get spears on the WoMt so that the fountain court blokes/citadel guard can be in combat instead of WoMt

My apologies SMB, I am incorrect - your list is legal, just not broken down clearly which is why I thought it was. The list is for a tournament set at 600 points, so no wiggle room there. I disagree about Eowyn - while a good character, theme-wise, she does not fit.

Spears on the warriors isn't a bad idea either - it's just a bit more expensive points wise and hurts a little more when the FC/CG start taking casualties from missile fire.

Broken down, I'm assuming it would look like this:

Fountain guard have a higher defence, but true dat about the citadels.

What awesome advice and discussion thanks guys. I am putting things together and studying up a bit. Who receives the greatest benefit from the banner and how should I group the troops. I want to stick with Boromir w/ banner for pure aesthetic reasons, being primarily a painter he's going to serve as focal point and theme for the rest of the army. As Elland stated, the point total is set by the tournament, though its interesting to hear that at lower points the balances skews toward the evil. Thanks everyone for the help and discussion, I will bring back any questions I have.

2 options that I see for banner - equalize the fight against F4 troops near Boromir, or go FV5 and win the ties against just about anything but elves...