Beginner needs help building a Gondor army.:)

MorganT · **Joined:** Sat Dec 29, 2012 9:14 pm **Posts:** 19

I'm new to the gaming side of the lotr sbg and was wondering what would be a good starting point would be for a Gondorian themed army.

I have toyed about with the idea of either Aragorn or Faramir for a main leader but was wondering what would be a good army to back up these characters?

I know I probably shouldn't theme my army around a hero but I like the idea of having some of the bigger named characters lead my force.

LordElrond · **Posted:** Mon Dec 31, 2012 12:25 am

I depends which faramir you mean
The ranger or the knight?

mad_dan · **Posted:** Mon Dec 31, 2012 12:36 am

Good question

In many respects it depends on the era of your battles. Aragorn would only lead forces of Gondor after the Siege of Gondor, (unless you were using him under the guise of Thorongil, but that would be a really specialist scenario).

So I would go for Faramir or Boromir (or both), if realism is your aim.

If accuracy is unimportant, use Aragorn, there are some great models of him available.

Hope this helps

KiliandFili · **Joined:** Sun Dec 16, 2012 8:47 pm **Posts:** 12

LordElrond wrote:

I depends which faramir you mean
The ranger or the knight?

Unless my Kingdoms of Men sourcebook is wrong, there is only one profile for Faramir

mad_dan · **Posted:** Mon Dec 31, 2012 12:45 am

I think Lord Elrond may be thinking about the actual models and how they may appear visually, all ways a consideration.

Valamir · **Posted:** Mon Dec 31, 2012 4:24 am

Welcome to the One Ring!

Here are a couple of ideas for you. First, if you are playing a smaller points battle (think 500 or so), I would lean toward Faramir with either heavy armor or with the bow. For theme, having Faramir, Damrod, Madril, Cirion, and Rangers of Gondor and Warriors of Minas Tirith is a decent starting area. If you go with Heavy Armor, substitute Guard of the Citadel for the Rangers, Beregond for Damrod, and captains for Madril and Cirion. Or Guard of the Fountain Court- whichever appeals to you more.

If you are playing a slightly larger battle using Boromir, Captain of the White Tower as your primary hero, adding Faramir, and then a couple of Captains along with, frankly, whatever forces from Gondor you happen to like is a very viable option.

Personally, I would avoid the siege equipment, as cool as it looks- it tends not to be as effective as one would hope on the battlefield. Also, including some Knights of Minas Tirith wouldn't hurt, just use them wisely on the battlefield, as their profiles are rather fragile.

Best of luck!

LordElrond · **Posted:** Mon Dec 31, 2012 7:47 am

I meant the one with the bow (with rangers) or the one with heavy armour (womt or komt)

MorganT · **Joined:** Sat Dec 29, 2012 9:14 pm **Posts:** 19

Thanks for the advice.

I like the idea of Faramir with the bow but I am also very aware that archery in lotr sbg isn't the greatest from what I'm told.:/
If I was to go with the core of Citadel Guard and Boromir/Faramir in heavy armour, then what is the difference between Citadel Guard and Fountain Guard??:S

whafrog · **Posted:** Mon Dec 31, 2012 2:52 pm

Citadel Guard can be mounted and take elf bow equivalents. Fountain Guard can have shields for very high defence. Otherwise their stats are similar. Both have the handy Bodyguard rule, useful when facing terrifying creatures.

MorganT · **Joined:** Sat Dec 29, 2012 9:14 pm **Posts:** 19

Okay so, I like the sound of the fountain guards with shields just for the higher defense, especially if they are going to be with my main hero in a solid core unit I use to lay waste to my enemies heavy hitters.

What are peoples thoughts on archery??:)
I've heard that it is very unlikely that anything other than elven or uruk-hai crossbows will kill people but with the new warbands rules and setup, the days of a squad of archers sitting back in some hard to reach region and firing for 5/6 turns until charged is over.

Valamir · **Posted:** Tue Jan 01, 2013 4:07 am

Actually, I have found that Rangers can be very effective. If you want particularly helpful archers for the army you have in mind do either the rangers or the guard of the Citadel.

Personally, I make sure to include the archers- you need to remember to focus firepower and pick targets of opportunity. While shooting is not as deadly as it used to be, when used correctly it can be highly effective.

SuicidalMarsbar · **Joined:** Sun Apr 24, 2011 1:14 am **Posts:** 1712

If your playing with warbands then get Madril and whack him in with some rangers, that way you'll be able to deploy them pretty much wherever you want on the board and get some skillshotzz.

If i were you, i'd be concerned about magic though, Boromir and Aragorn might be good at killing people but they're pretty big targets to ringwraiths or other casters. Legolas' autoshot is a good counter to ringwraiths, and he can always lead some elves if you want. The wizards are obviously good against magic but not as good as leggy is against armies without magic, so it's your choice. Magic can be countered if your army itself is tough enough to mess up the enemy without needing your heroes working 100% of the time.

MorganT · **Joined:** Sat Dec 29, 2012 9:14 pm **Posts:** 19

so in a choice between Madril and his rangers and legolas and his wood elves with bows, I'd be better of picking the latter option??:)

whafrog · **Posted:** Tue Jan 01, 2013 6:03 pm

MorganT wrote:

so in a choice between Madril and his rangers and legolas and his wood elves with bows, I'd be better of picking the latter option??:)

If you're playing warbands, no, because only 1/3rd of the wood elves could have bows.

MorganT · **Joined:** Sat Dec 29, 2012 9:14 pm **Posts:** 19

But don't the Rangers have bows too??

whafrog · **Posted:** Tue Jan 01, 2013 7:09 pm

Yes, but if your army is Gondor then you can make all your bows the rangers, and 2/3rds other warriors. Each allied contingent in an army has its own 1/3rd bow limit, so if you have to ally in Legolas and wood elves you only get 1/3rd of them with bows.

Gildor_Inglorion · **Posted:** Tue Jan 01, 2013 7:42 pm

Hi,

I've used a Gondor army for some time now, and use Faramir. If you're just starting off you don't need to worry about smashing anyone off the table, and you'd be suprised how a balanced force can stand up to a really min/maxed force:

Heres a 300pt army to get you going!

Faramir
- Bow

4 WoMT
-Shield
4 WoMT
-Spear
-Shield
4 WoMT
- Bow

Damrod

4 WoMT
- Shield
4 WoMT
- Spear
- Shield
4 WoMT
- Bow

You rely on your high(ish) defence to carry you through, not your high strength / hard hitters. This will be an easy one to start as you need two boxes and one blister.

If you start looking to 500 points you could maybe look to Knights of Minas Tirith for a bit of speed and lance power. A mounted captain and 10 knights is roughly 200pts and will give you a bit of a punch. When you get above that, maybe swap the captain for Boromir and go from there!

Good luck

LordElrond · **Posted:** Tue Jan 01, 2013 7:47 pm

Citadel guards have elf bows. Surely they would be nearly as effective as elves?

MorganT · **Joined:** Sat Dec 29, 2012 9:14 pm **Posts:** 19

whafrog wrote:

Each allied contingent in an army has its own 1/3rd bow limit, so if you have to ally in Legolas and wood elves you only get 1/3rd of them with bows.

Oh, I was under the impression that it was the overall army that the bow limit applied to. :oops:

Thanks whafrog.

RangerofTheNorth · **Joined:** Tue Feb 15, 2011 6:54 pm **Posts:** 483

I wouldn't take any swordsmen unless you plan on using the feint rule, I'd give all the Rangers spears and the WOMT.

Beginner needs help building a Gondor army.:)

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