So I have been thinking about leader selection for a while now. I have heard a couple of arguments.

1. Make your biggest badest hero a leader as they can take the punishment
2. Make a low point hero your leader (ie. captain) as this will allow you to put your big hiter into heavy combat without worrying about giving away victory points (obviously ensuring you keep the leader much safer as they are a lot softer)


Following on from this I plan to use a ring wraith in my army and have been told it's great to avoid having then as a leader because you can take then all the way down to 0 will. I hate really needing magic in the late phases of a game but can't because I don't want to banish my leader and give away points.

Would love to hear everyone's thoughts on this???

Makes sense that this can be a tough choice. For myself a captain is a bit helpless for a leader. I prefer mid - level heroes like Erestor or the Hasharin as they've got lots of Fate but can still hold their own in combat. I think Wizards like Radagast and Gandalf are probably the best choices. They're very survivable and with their magic they're hardly defenseless but you're not losing combat punch by being cautions with them

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Don't choose for leader someone that you will need to keep away from battle to stay alive (except mages ofc)

For example Boromir oWT is a good choice (700 pts+ game), he has M/W/F enought to stay alive and get victorious. So choose the toughest one if you need for sure to stay alive... Otherwise a fast model is an option. The best in this case is a nazgul on fell beast. Tremendous ^^

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I believe that the heroes who are tough to kill but pose no immediate threat are the best heroes, especially if you have some more threatening targets.

Heroes like Durburz, Groblog etc make good heroes as they will take some investment to kill however lets say you have, in that goblin army, druhzag with batswarms and a Spiderqueen. Then your opponent has to deal with those threats before targetting the general. Groblog and Durburz aren't exactly combat monsters but their might can still be used for Heroic Moves so they aren't wasted. At the most recent tournament I attended over 6 games Groblog was only in combat twice...because I wanted him to be, one of which resulted in Dwalin's death.

On the flipside other great heroes are Archer heros such as Legolas and Vrasku they can contribute to the battle without getting in the thick of it. Legolas is a great general with armour and an elven cloak as he's pretty invulnerable to shooting and has a bucket load of fate.

As you mentioned (and have others) Wizards and Wraiths make good generals as well. Wraiths are tough to take down as they will usually be behind the shieldwall, and if you're on Fell Beast then I'd suggest using a minor hero as your general so that you can be less cautious with the wraith (see the first paragraph). Similarly Wizards have a bunch of fate and a bunch of wounds so will rarely concede VPs and if any it should be one. Of course the biggest boon to these heroes are that they have a great courage value so don't rely on Fury or good dice rolling to stay around.

Thanks for the feedback guys, very interesting indeed. I am currently using a harad army so I find none of their Heros are very durable (except the nazgul)

For the force I have built i only have captains, suladan or the betrayer to choose from when it comes to leadership.

I have been using the nazgul as my leader but find it very frustrating when he becomes paralyzed when down to just 1 will. Is this pretty common? Or are there effective ways to work around it?

I guess the master said it before I can chime in. Thats exactly what I was going to say. Things like range, and the intangibles make me choose my leaders.

For example Thranduil can be in deep trouble and then keep the enemy at bay for many rounds with his special rule. At the one serious tournament I attended, my leader Vrasku survived every single game because of the way I used him.

And if need be, heros like that who have high might can get out of sticky situations even if they are soft like Vrasku.....low fate and average wounds with a soft 5 defense for a hero....

Basically with me believe it or not, its not so much choose a beefy hero or plan around it. Its more about building the base of the army.....obviously most of which you use not one character.....then after I do that, I look at that lists heros, balance spending points on them over less troops. Time and again Ive seen low number count armies with huge heros fail. Im not saying spam troops, but I meant if you build an army with Gothmog and a wraith youre going to have a lot less warbands then if you take Shagrat and some captains.....

Idk....Basically, you can find plenty of good troops for 60-90 points is what Im getting at, so I never think its necessary to have a Boromir or even like a 100 pt + hero whos unkillable.

Id say think what you want in your army in general, and then figure out your leader after....



There are ways you have to use him only when necessary in my opinion. And otherwise let him scare the enemy.

Either way though the idea of harad is to have cheap leaders and masses of troops in my mind. I ran an army at 750 pts with Suladan as the leader whos not bad. Especially on horse......but then I had like 4 captains and a ton of troops. I think 4-5 warbands with Suladans Serpent riders.....they did well even though some bad luck happened to me.

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BLACKHAWK 2010 2013 2015 DYNASTY

I also play harad. Suladan is a great pick for a general. He is a solid choice. The betrayer is probably a better choice as his poison stuff is super effective. If you choose suludan, make sure he is on a horse with a warband of cavalry models.

Very true man I took Suladan mounted with 8 serpent guard. If you can afford them money wise, theyre great troops. And well, my budy put an eagle too far past his lines first round and I swarmed and killed him with the guard immediately.

Plus he can lead charges with his 3 might and they support keeping him alive. A nice group there.

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BLACKHAWK 2010 2013 2015 DYNASTY

I've just been using regular haradrim cavalry to proxy the serpent guard. Just let your opponent know before the match. I've been doing that a lot lately (using "regular" units to proxy as elites).

Yeah as long as its a proxy no big deal assuming its not a tournament. Ive let my opponent proxy a warhammer elf as Tauriel lol and one of their griffins as an eagle. And tons of other whacky stuff haha.

But one thing you cant forget. If you wanna get your hands on the actual serpent guard mounts like I have 8.....since they are oop, you can proxy ALL the serpent guard foot units now. So if you do wanna try to get the real ones, at least you dont have to worry about rider and mount. Id have to figure out how to modify some unit to look good enough though....

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BLACKHAWK 2010 2013 2015 DYNASTY

I've never played in a tourney. Just with fiends. If I were to proxy in a tourney, I'd make an effort to green stuff my cavalry so it was clear they weren't regular units. Or I'd field them as regular guys and stick in a few more infantry to make up for the points.

Just make Gil-Galad your leader and be done with it.

Agreed

I choose my leader based on what I want each of my heroes to do.

So for instance, in my hunter orc army, Narzug will often be the leader as he is more likely to hang back and shoot. This also frees up Fimbul to go charging in with his higher FV without worrying about him dying.

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Smart move.....I'm taking Hunter Orcs to the biggest tournament I go to next year and I'll probably do that now. I did the same with vrasku last time he didn't die the whole tournament.

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BLACKHAWK 2010 2013 2015 DYNASTY