Hi everyone. So the Games Workshop in my area is putting on a two-month LOTR Ranking Circuit where we play several games and our win-draw-loss record determines who we will play against in the Tournament at the end. We're using the new Warband rules which I'm still fairly unfamiliar with at 750pts which is a army size I'm not used to. I'm not using Rohan this time because I really don't want to play with a mostly-unpainted force, so I'm using my Haradrim-Easterling army. Here's my list as it currently stands.

Warband One (176pts)
Easterling Captain
6 Black Dragons with Shields
6 Black Dragons with Shields and Pikes

Warband Two (222pts)
The Betrayer (on foot)
6 Abrakhan Warriors with Spears
6 Warriors of Karna with Bows

Warband Three (203pts)
The Knight of Umbar (Armoured Horse)
2 Abrakhan Raiders with War Spears
3 Abrakhan Raiders with Bows and War Spears

Warband Four (148pts)
Haradrim Chieftain with Spear
6 Abrakhan Warriors with Spears
6 Warriors of Karna with Bows

Any advice you can provide on force composition, deployment or tactics would be much appreciated.

- James

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http://knightscharge.wordpress.com/
- My miniature gaming blog, sorry for lack of LOTR content right now.

Don't give the Easterlings wih pikes the Black Dragon upgrade, its pointless.

Abrakhan Warrior / Raisder upgrades are dreadful, heroes need courage, warriors do not, big waste.

Don't give a Chieftain a spear unless you have 1 spare point and have used every available alternative.

Warriors of Karna are alo a bad upgrade, they cost 1 pt less than a Watcher of Karna which has an extra attack and better fight, plus 2 special rules.

If you are using the Betrayer on foot, you want the front line to have poisoned attack weapons eg Serpent Guards / Venomblade Knights, and the sexcond rank to have Haradrim with spears and bows.

Deployment is simple for a Harad army.
If you can swap the Chieftain for a King or Taskmaster.

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"I am the Flying Spagetti Monster. Thou shall have no other monsters before me"
-FSM.

I agree. Shieldwall with BNs+haradrim spears&bows+easterling pikes. For hardhitting, use Abrakhan guards or watchers, and that's it. Maybe use Suladan?

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Ours is the fury!

Warriors of Karna are a bad upgrade unless you don't have watchers, in which case upgrade the archers. The Warriors of Abrakhan upgrade should, imo, not be taken. Black Dragon pikemen are not needed.

Add a Hasharin if you can (I don't remember if they are independants), and if you want something with a better fight, go with black Numenoreans, and if you do so, remove the Easterlings without pikes. And Watchers of Karna are wonderful, add them if you can.

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"...in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”

But that's basically with everyone else said, excepting the Hasharin, so, to add some spice, theme it around Umbar itself, throw out the Hasharin, bring Dalamyr instead, bring one unit of Easterling pikes for the back of the shieldwall, have Black Numenoreans for your main warriors, and add spearmen to fill the second rank, and bring out Watchers of Karna as skirmisher's and Dalamyr's bodyguard. And then have the Knight of Umbar be the main fighting hero. If you like the idea- take it or leave it!

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"...in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”

Unfortunately I don't have any Watchers of Karna or Black Numenoreans, but I definitely dropping the Karna and Abrakhan upgrades for some additional troops. I would have thought the Betrayer would be better with Haradrim Poisoned Arrows though I do see the value the Bretrayer would have for melee units such as those mentioned.

Only reason I took the spear upgrade was that all my Chieftain models have a spear so I assumed I had to follow WYSIWYG. I'm not 100% sure why having Black Dragon pikemen would be a bad choice over regular pikemen. The bonus to both Fight and Courage could be quite handy if I get outflanked or my phalanx formation dissolves in melee. I'll mull that over for a bit longer before I decide.

What are the thoughts on the Knight of Umbar's Warband? Should I bother with this light cavalry unit or should I replace it with more warriors?

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http://knightscharge.wordpress.com/
- My miniature gaming blog, sorry for lack of LOTR content right now.

As for the Knight of Umbar's warband, my main thought is, yes, you can keep it, but be very gentle when you try to hit something with it- pick your fights very wisely. And do not let them get shot.

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"...in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”

Courage is unimportant an Warriors, and pikemen do not need high fight.

I agree with Valamir in the case of the Raiders. They do at least have (the equivelent of) lances.

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"I am the Flying Spagetti Monster. Thou shall have no other monsters before me"
-FSM.

But don't let that warband get stuck in a cavalry duel or in a situation where it is cut off from foot support, or your opponent will happily stomp all over a couple hundred points of wraith and cavalry.

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"...in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”