Hello all,

First time posting here, so don't know if I'm posting this in the correct place. Please feel free to yell and scream if I'm in the wrong place.

A bunch of friends and I are planning to have a mini tournament in which we can bring homebrew legendary legions and models. For example, one friend might be bringing a homebrew legendary legion based upon what if Saruman had gained The One Ring.

For me, I'm considering making a homebrew Legendary Legion based upon the variags that were part of the battle of Pelenor fields (books version of course). Unfortunately, there's very little written about them so I'm basically shooting blind as to what a Legendary Legion of Variags might contain.

I'm thinking of keeping it Khand centred, and focussing on their mounted abilities. Hence these are my thoughts for now:

Skilled riders of the Steppes - All models in this Legendary Legion gain the Expert Rider special rule

Devastating charge - Chariots inflict 2 strength 6 hits against models that the chariots come into contact with while moving

Armoured bulk - While mounted all Khandish Chieftains, Khandish horsemen, and Khandish Charioteers gain +1 defence

The Khandish Host - Khandish horsemen and Khandish Charioteers do not count towards the forces bow limit

Thoughts and critique much appreciated.

When it comes to building homebrew legions, much like with stat lines, I think there is a grave risk of letting your desire for your own creation to be cool and useful lead to jumps in power that are unwise.

Your legion, for the most part, seems to avoid that trap. I think the expert rider rule is a nice addition: a protection from thrown rider tests and a way to pick up objects in objective games. The exclusion from the bow limit is necessary for the army to work as an all-mounted force and is something the regular list already gets for its army bonus, so that’s good.

I think you do fall into the overpowering trap with the rules for devastating charge and armored bulk. Firstly, I don’t see any reason (fluff-wise) why these two rules would exist. Why does the army, at this moment in time, suddenly have better chariots then at any other time? Why is there armor suddenly, just better? Secondly, I think these are additions that you’d like to see because Khand has low armor, and the chariots impact hits are not terribly reliable at strength four. Undoubtedly these rules would make the army stronger, but they also really mess with the balance of the units by being generally applicable during the whole game. Looking at other legions, getting +1 to wound (from whichever of the rules that generates it) isn’t just a flat bonus, but requires specific conditions that the player has to work to bring about and that can be thwarted by the opponent in some cases. The bonuses that are just constant are less direct in dealing damages, like the fearless being granted in Men of the West and Theodred’s Guard.

I think devastating charge flatly makes the chariots too powerful compared to there base impact hits at strength four. I would suggest making the better impact hits being conditional on the chariot taking part in a heroic move or march. Perhaps in combination with a rule that gives every hero in the army the option to call that action for free once per game in the same way Death! works in Riders of Theoden. Something the King can call at the start of the move phase and then every hero gets to make, say, a free march. That would tie into their theme of being fast cavalry too.

I would drop the armored bulk all together since it plays against the style of the army. Maybe if you wanted to do a rule that let all infantry count as having heavy armor, that would be something to make them stand out from the cav. But you said you wanted to keep in cavalry focused, so I’d just leave it off all together and play into the speed and maneuvering.

The last thing I’ll say is that I think it would be worth considering giving the legion a buffed-up leader in the same manner as the Assault on Helmsdeep or the Blackgate Opens. A rule that makes the legion must be led by a king and that only one can be taken in the list. But gives that king is given a +1 to his fight and might to make him more of a match for the other big gun heroes that are running around. Maybe call it the Anointed of the Lidless Eye or something.
That’s may thinking on it anyways. Hope this tournament comes out well and we get to hear about everything that people decide to bring. Sounds like a fun event.

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"Draw your sword with a heavy heart, but swing it with a heavy hand"

Always love to read about Khand =)

I think Wan Shin Tong summarized it quite good.

I like the idea of having just one king but giving better stats. The banner effect could be increased as well as his might storage. Since movement is extremly important for Khand, maybe he could do 2 free heroic movements per game?
And or giving Khand Chieftains a 3" banner effect. Or that you declare one of them as the armies banner bearer.

While i think that heavy armour does not fit the horsemen (although i would like to see this army fleshed out and receive heavy lancers or something), I do think the armies shooting should be improved in general. Mongols or asian nomadic tribes were supberb bowmen and had superior bows. So the LL could feature the possibility that chariots and riders can buy a better bow with either more range or +1 strenght.

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https://castellan-of-the-ring.blogspot.com/

Thanks for your comments guys. Very much appreciated.

I also chatted about this idea with a friend of mine and he also suggested dropping the Armoured Bulk, since it, as you mentioned, it doesn't make sense fluff wise for their armour to suddenly get better while being on a chariot.

We've kept the devastating charge idea, and added that if a chariot moves 5" or more in a straight line the models have a chance to be knocked prone on a 4+ if they survive the impact hits. Since being run into by what is essentially a horse drawn brick, would definitely give you the chance of being knocked prone.

We've also added the rule: Riders of the windswept Steppes - Khandish Horsemen can move full and still fire their bows, and only suffer 1/2 movement when moving through difficult terrain comprised of fields and tall grass, but still take all other penalties for moving through difficult terrain. All other terrain apply the normal penalties. The idea being keeping in line with a folk that are nomadic and live off the plains and surrounding environs. Light cavalry, esthetic

I also added that Khandish Horsemen don't suffer the penalty for using their Hand-and-a-half axe on the turn in which they charge, just to give them a bit of a bonus, but I'm while I was writing this, I think that this might be a bit on the powerful side.

Defo agree about making a homebrew leader character for the LL. In this regard we came up with: Khandish Warlord.
The Khandish Warlord is a King that was ruthless, arrogant and cunning enough to rise high enough to unite the different clans of Khand together under his banner. However, in order to hold his position he has to show off his martial prowess, while remaining very paranoid of the kings that still love under his rule.
The Khandish Warlord is a Khandish King, with an additional Might, Will, and Fate. Has Heroic Challenge, Strength, and Strike as their heroic actions, and has the following special rule.
Arrogance: the Khandish Warlord may declare a Heroic Challenge for free if they are in combat with and enemy hero. In addition they must charge if they have the ability to do so, and they may not take part in a Khandish King's heroic actions, and vice versa.
They don't have the Commanding Presence special Rule.

Gonna be play testing all this stuff in a day or so, will defo let you know how it goes!