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Power List or Fluffy List...?
https://ww.one-ring.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=29689		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  Rangefinder [ Mon Nov 03, 2014 4:14 pm ]
Post subject:  Power List or Fluffy List...?
Yeahhhh...! The most decisive question ever.
Should your lists be as thematic as possible?
Should your lists be built to destroy, dang them making any sense?

Comments welcome, ...encouraged.
This would be for a casual setting and not for a tournament.


my $0.02 is I like my lists to have cohesion and be thematic.
Author:  JamesR [ Mon Nov 03, 2014 4:19 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Power List or Fluffy List...?
As a faction purist I believe my opinion is fairly obvious lol
Author:  Creaky [ Mon Nov 03, 2014 4:30 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Power List or Fluffy List...?
Fluff, always. I play this game for love of middle earth - if I wanted to seriously play in a competitive environment I'd play a videogame, or a sport or something like chess where balance and other such things are striven for.

I even get a slight twinge of "What's all this about then?" when opponents who never actually fought one another fight - say Isengard and Dwarves.

(Although, being primarily a solo gamer, it occurs to me that trying to compete with myself would be a bit counter productive. Far more fun to use the game as a means to immerse myself in middle earth for a few hours.)
Author:  Coenus Scaldingus [ Mon Nov 03, 2014 5:01 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Power List or Fluffy List...?
Creaky wrote:
Fluff, always. I play this game for love of middle earth
Aye, that.
I pick factions based on what I like (aesthetics, background), and the only optimising will be within those parameters (i.e. when playing Harad, I'll take the best number of heroes and bows as possible, but won't include weird allies or even any Nazgûl - can't remember those being there, nor seeing them in anything but anonymous black clothing).

Besides, it's much more satisfying and fun to do well (or not-as-bad-as-expected) with a thematic list than it would be with any other army.
Author:  Isilduhrr [ Mon Nov 03, 2014 5:15 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Power List or Fluffy List...?
If you're playing this game for a love of grinding your opponents' face in the dust and destroying them with no semblance of fairness, you're playing it wrong. you want to powergame? try 40k, plenty of options there. I'll always try to include themed lists and enemies as far as possible. i play for the love of LOTR, so i'll always include something fun such as a monster, big named hero or spellcaster in my lists too.
Author:  Alatar of Rhun [ Mon Nov 03, 2014 6:16 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Power List or Fluffy List...?
Got to go with fluff lists. Personally I like the look of a of a themed force and that's what i like to paint and field. As I don't often get a chance to battle i have more time to decide on an idea and work a list to that idea.

Its easier to win if you pick a power list but removes some of the skill needed, and the fun, in taking down a monster, expensive hero or pain in the ass spellcaster with ''weaker'' forces.

Who doesn't love the look on someones face when the underdog ends up on top
Author:  LordElrond [ Mon Nov 03, 2014 7:30 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Power List or Fluffy List...?
I always use the models that I like the look of, which aren't always themed, and try to make a competitive list with them. Not powergaming, but not fluff either.
Author:  Constantine [ Tue Nov 04, 2014 1:53 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Power List or Fluffy List...?
I find that I have more fun with fluffy lists, than with power ones; yet I have not tried any excessively powerful lists, plus Moria is a strong faction regardless.
Author:  LordoftheBrownRing [ Mon Nov 24, 2014 12:56 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Power List or Fluffy List...?
Im admittedly right in the middle.

If I start a generic mordor force for example, Ill say, hmm....I want a wraith and a strong hero.

Then Ill say, ok. Ill take the Dark Marshall on horse. I have no clue where in middle earth he if ever fought an actual battle, but its not going to stop me.

Then Ill say, alright, I need warband leaders. Shagrat, Captain of Cirith Ungol is awesome. His model is sweet, his stats are great, and I wanna play in an era where he was a powerful war chief instead of the miserable civil war ridden uruk he was in the films.


So Ill take them. Then I say, hmmm....Morannon orcs....I love their stats, and more importantly they look a hell of a lot cooler than regular orcs. Im taking them in some warbands.

Then this is where the power gaming comes in.

From here I can make like two more warbands to fill my force. I say to myself, I can take a morannon orc captain, or for the same points basically, I can take Gorbag or Grishnakh with an extra might.
To me, its stupid to not take the model if you have it, especially if he was in the movies, because it gives me fond memories.

But I take them and use them with the xtra might.

Then I say, what else does this army need, not to be themed but to be competitive. Maybe Ill throw in some Serpent Raiders to not only have mobility, and cavalry, but because it kind does tie in with a Pelannor fields evil force.


To me in general, Armies should be at the least 40% competitive and 60% theme. Once you start caring little about playing with a decent army, your army starts to suck. I dont play the game just for fun. I have fun looking at the movie characters and fighting with them in a battle that can go either way.

If I wanted to make a themed army as opposed to that one^ it would be like the Dark Marshall on wraith, Morannon Captains, all morannon orcs, a troll Chieftan maybe and it would be a black gate army. For me, I pretty much want to have the option to do anything I want within the warbands limits in this game.....So mixing and matching for sure etc. I dont play a fantasy game to just be boxed in with decision making.


The furthest Ill make theme wise is a battle of the five armies, helms deep, etc army. But I dont find losing fun even if I play Lord of the Rings. I dont want to break my armies back and see them scatter miserably just because its fluffy.

Whos to define fluffy anyway. If you make a Defender of Helms Deep army for example, would I be wrong to put a warband led by Eomer and Riders of Rohan, and another with Legolas leading 12 Mirkwood Rangers?

Because in the film every single elf had a bow, and in the game the Galadhrim dont, and never had a special rule to signify.

So where some people would say I had a power list, Id say it was just as fluffy as the game can dictate. Its a grey line.

Other than a rare example, I dont mind my opponents using anything against me other than egregious misuses of the system like putting forces together from like the Iron Hills, Grey Company, and High Elves to make a power list. Stuff like that is ok if its the only models you own, but thats about it.
Author:  the marshal [ Sun Dec 07, 2014 9:42 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Power List or Fluffy List...?
it's not terribly hard to make a good list with strong theme. the most unfluffy list I've taken in recent times were more based off what I had available and painted then what would make a powerful combination.

I like my armies to look aesthetically pleasing, which will usually require some sort of proper theme to achieve
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