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 Post subject: Starting an army: Beginners builders guide for a 500pt list
PostPosted: Thu Oct 10, 2013 10:39 pm 
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Starting an army - A beginners guide to building a 500pt list

Welcome to a series of posts that aims to encourage new players to embrace the wonderful wargaming world of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit Strategy Battle Game.

The purpose of this beginners guide is not to over explore the meta game or evaluate the competitiveness of lists, but to instead give a potential strategy battle gamer a good foundation and platform from which to launch their journey into Middle-Earth a la Games Workshop style!

With a hobby an expensive as ours, making the decision to start an army is a tough one. What faction should I collect? Which models do I like? How do they perform? How much do they cost? What should I be buying? How do I build an army and how many points should I purchase?

This guide invites all One Ringers to contribute (if they would like to, of course) suggested, straightforward 500 point lists of various factions (no allied lists) that would give the new strategy battle gamer an idea of what they can purchase to start playing their desired faction. Whilst just starting with a couple of hundred points is fine for learning the system, 500 points should allow you to start really engaging with the community, particularly for tournaments or gaming nights.

Getting Started

1) Which faction should I choose? This is one of the most common questions posed by new strategy battle gamers on this forum. There is no right or wrong answer to this question, as with most things it is completely subjective! But the soundest advice, advice which I too received upon joining this community, is to start with an army where you like the models most. Don't worry about being competitive or not for now. Choose a model/hero/faction you like the look of and start your SBG journey there :)

2) Buy the Sourcebook... Once you have decided which army you like the look of, I cannot stress enough the importance in investing in one of the following sourcebooks, even if you plan on using this thread to get advice on the foundations of your army.

Kingdom of Men - for Rohan, Gondor, Arnor, Fiefdoms and Numenor
Free Peoples - for Eregion (Rivendell), Lothlorien and Mirkwood, The Shire, The Fellowship, Wanderers in the Wild, Durin's Folk (Dwarves), The White Council.
Fallen Realms - Umbar and Harad, Easterlings and Khand, Isengard.
Mordor - ....erm Mordor!!
Angmar and Moria - ... Angmar and Moria!

For the Hobbit army lists, you will need to buy the Big Hobbit Rulebook.

Building army lists is one of the true joys of being part of this hobby and a sourcebook will give you everything you need to get started, including how to structure a legal list and the points values of every unit in your army. Each army is different but remember, maximum of 12 warriors per warband which must be led by a hero and most armies adhere to a strict 1/3rd bow limit rule. Heroes must lead warbands from their own lists but you can ally in warband from other armies, so long as they are also "good" or also "evil."

3) Buy your army - Try your best to support your local gaming store if you can or alternatively, ebay can be great for picking up models at a good price. Or of course you can order direct from GW!

Having a clear idea of what you want/need to get your army started will make it much easier for you to make some clear decisions on what you need to purchase. Hopefully this thread will give some good ideas/inspiration of some basic lists that will help a beginner get started!

Good luck! Remember, this community is here to help, support and encourage you to start this hobby, engage with us and get the most from it.

Whilst we won't list individual points values or spell out rules word by word (you'll need sourcebooks and rule books for those) hopefully this guide can at least give some basic ideas on how to structure armies of various factions.

Welcome to the Strategy Battle Game community!

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 Post subject: Starter List - 500pt Numenor
PostPosted: Thu Oct 10, 2013 10:43 pm 
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Numenor (Kingdoms of Men) - A basic 500 point list

Warband 1 -
Isildur (horse, shield)
4 x Warriors of Numenor (shield)
4 x Warriors of Numenor (spear)
4 x Warriors of Numenor (bow)

Warband 2 -
Captain of Numenor
4 x Warriors of Numenor (shield)
4 x Warriors of Numenor (spear)
4 x Warriors of Numenor (bow)

Warband 3 -
Captain of Numenor
4 x Warriors of Numenor
4 x Warriors of Numenor (spear)
4 x Warriors of Numenor (bow)

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 Post subject: Starter List - 500pt Arnor
PostPosted: Thu Oct 10, 2013 10:46 pm 
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Arnor (Kingdoms of Men) - A basic 500 point list

Warband 1 -
Arathorn (or Halbarad with horse)
12 Warriors of Arnor

Warband 2 -
Malbeth
12 Warriors of Arnor

Warband 3 -
Captain of Arnor
6 Rangers of Arnor
6 Rangers of Arnor (spears)

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 Post subject: Re: Starting an army: Beginners builders guide for a 500pt l
PostPosted: Thu Oct 10, 2013 10:52 pm 
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Arnor - Grey Company theme (Kingdoms of Men) - A basic 500 point list

Warband 1 -
Halbarad
6 Rangers of Arnor
6 Rangers of Arnor (spears)

Warband 2 -
Arathorn
6 Rangers of Arnor
6 Rangers of Arnor (spears)

Warband 3 -
Ranger of the North (spear)

Warband 4 -
Ranger of the North (spear)

Warband 5 -
Ranger of the North (spear)

Warband 6 -
Ranger of the North (spear)

Warband 7 -
Ranger of the North (spear)

Warband 8 -
Ranger of the North (spear)

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 Post subject: Starter List - 500pt Durin's Folk (Dwarves)
PostPosted: Thu Oct 10, 2013 11:59 pm 
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Durin's Folk (Free Peoples) - A basic 500 point list

Warband 1 -
King's Champion (2 Heralds) or Dain Ironfoot
10 Khazad Guard

Warband 2 -
Balin, Son of Fundin (with Durin's Axe)
10 Khazad Guard

Warband 3
Dwarf Captain (shield) or Shieldbearer or remove Durin's Axe for Floi Stonehand or Dwarf King

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 Post subject: Starter List - 500pt Eagles (WitW)
PostPosted: Fri Oct 11, 2013 12:05 am 
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Eagles - Wanderers in the Wild (Free Peoples) - A basic 500 point list

Warband 1 -
Gwaihir
4 Eagles

or

Eagles - Radagast's Alliance (The Hobbit) - A basic 500 point list

Warband 1 -
Radagast (horse)
4 Eagles

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 Post subject: Re: Starting an army: Beginners builders guide for a 500pt l
PostPosted: Fri Oct 11, 2013 7:15 am 
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Wow this is really good & helpful! Can't wait until you get to Elves :D

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 Post subject: Re: Starting an army: Beginners builders guide for a 500pt l
PostPosted: Fri Oct 11, 2013 11:01 am 
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Great idea Thermo, your first post answers a load of questions that new players always ask. Could well be worth pinning this post.

Thorin's Company (The Hobbit rulebook) - A basic 500 point list

You can get the plastic sprue with all 13 dwarves, Gandalf and Bilbo (an army of around 1000 points!) off ebay for about £25 making this one of the most affordable and fun armies out there.

Start out by painting:

Gandalf
Thorin (with the Oakenshield)
Dwalin
Gloin
Oin

That gives you a 500 point army that's surprisingly competitive and could well give people a run for their money at Lord of Battle, Hold Ground, High Ground or To the Death.

After that, every time you paint a dwarf you essentially add 50 points to your army.

Superb models, loads of fun to use on the table and incredibly fluffy - what's not to like? :D

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 Post subject: Re: Starting an army: Beginners builders guide for a 500pt l
PostPosted: Fri Oct 11, 2013 10:35 pm 
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Thanks Dr Grant! Think we all need to make a conscious and concerted effort to help new players and swell the accessibility to this fabulous universe and game we indulge in!

Good list there too. Hope to see more contributions to this thread for basic, 500pt lists!

Dol Amroth - Fiefdoms (Kingdoms of Men) - A basic 500 point list

Warband 1 -
Prince Imrahil (armoured horse, lance)
2 Knights of Dol Amroth (armoured horse, lance)
5 Knights of Dol Amroth

Warband 2 -
Captain of Dol Amroth
3 Knights of Dol Amroth
6 Men-at-arms of Dol Amroth (pike)

Warband 3 -
Captain of Dol Amroth
3 Knights of Dol Amroth
6 Men-at-arms of Dol Amroth (pike)

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 Post subject: Re: Starting an army: Beginners builders guide for a 500pt l
PostPosted: Sat Oct 12, 2013 7:48 am 
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A standard Rohan all-cavalry list often used by my friend:
Erkenbrand, Captain of Rohan with Horse
12 Westfold Redshields

Captain of Rohan with Heavy Armour, Shield and Horse
12 Westfold Redshields with Thorwing spears

And my own High Elf list:
Erestor
6 High Elf Warriors
3 High Elf Warriors with Elf Bows

Gildor Inglorion
8 Wood Elf Warriors with Wood Elf Spears
3 Wood Elf Warriors with Elf Bows

High Elf Captain
6 High Elf Warriors
3 High Elf Warriors with Elf Bows

500pts, 32 Models, 9 Bows, 4 Might
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 Post subject: Re: Starting an army: Beginners builders guide for a 500pt l
PostPosted: Sat Oct 12, 2013 10:02 am 
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Erebor Army List @ 500pts

Warband 1
Dwalin
11 Erebor Dwarves (5 w/ shield, 6 w/ spear)

Warband 2
Thorin Oakenshield w/ Oakenshield
11 Erebor Dwarves (5 w/ shield, 6 w/ spear + shield)

Warband 3
Balin
6 Erebor Dwarves (3 w/ shield, 3 w/ spear + Shield)

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 Post subject: Re: Starting an army: Beginners builders guide for a 500pt l
PostPosted: Sun Oct 13, 2013 10:04 pm 
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Rivendell List (Free Peoples) - a basic 500 point list

Warband 1 - Glorfindel (armour of gondolin, horse)
8 x High Elves (spear and shield)
4 x High Elves (elf bows, shield)

Warband 2 - Gildor
8 x High Elves (spear and shield)
4 x High Elves (elf bows)

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 Post subject: Re: Starting an army: Beginners builders guide for a 500pt l
PostPosted: Mon Oct 14, 2013 12:05 pm 
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I have many 500 points lists I made for the TOS qualy recently. I have a Lothlorien, an Isengard, harad, Minas Tirith, Moria...As soon as I got my computer running again I will share them.
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 Post subject: Re: Starting an army: Beginners builders guide for a 500pt l
PostPosted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 11:56 am 
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Harad and Umbar List (Fallen Realms) - a basic 500 point list

Warband 1 -
Corsair Captain (shield)
6 x Corsair Reavers
6 x Corsairs of Umbar (spear)

Warband 2 -
Corsair Bo'sun (spear)
7 x Corsair Reavers
5 x Corsairs of Umbar (spear)

Warband 3 -
Haradrim Taskmaster
12 x Watchers of Karna (bow)

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 Post subject: Re: Starting an army: Beginners builders guide for a 500pt l
PostPosted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 4:49 pm 
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I woundn't take the taskmaster, you have not enough might in this list to take advantage of his special rule, but good list nonetheless.
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 Post subject: Re: Starting an army: Beginners builders guide for a 500pt l
PostPosted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 9:21 pm 
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Manadar wrote:
I woundn't take the taskmaster, you have not enough might in this list to take advantage of his special rule, but good list nonetheless.


Just some basic faction lists out there to give beginners food for thought :)

Look forward to more contributions from our community!

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 Post subject: Re: Starting an army: Beginners builders guide for a 500pt l
PostPosted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 11:03 am 
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Mirkwood Elves (Free Peoples) - a basic 500 point list

Warband 1 -
Legolas
4 x Wood Elf Warriors (Wood Elf Spear)
4 x Mirkwood Guard (Wood Elf Spears, throwing daggers)
4 x Mirkwood Guard (Elf Bows)

Warband 2 -
Thranduil
1 x Wood Elf Warrior (Wood Elf Spear)
7 x Mirkwood Guard (Wood Elf Spears, throwing daggers)
4 x Mirkwood Guard (Elf Bows)

Warband 3 -
Galadhrim Stormcaller

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 Post subject: Re: Starting an army: Beginners builders guide for a 500pt l
PostPosted: Wed Oct 30, 2013 2:03 pm 
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The Rohan List I played against Jamie's Goblins last Thursday (battle report link below)

Warband 1 - Erkenbrand
4 x Sons of Eorl
4 x Outriders on foot

Warband 2 - Grimbold
9 x Helmingas (shield, throwing spears)
3 x Helmingas (throwing spears)

Warband 3 - Gwaihir

To see it in actions, check out the battle report
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gL9ABe4MqrY

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 Post subject: Re: Starting an army: Beginners builders guide for a 500pt l
PostPosted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 11:02 pm 
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Owen's (Cereal_Theif) 500pt tournament Goblin Town/Hunter Orc List :)

Azog's Hunters

Warband 1 -
Fimbul with Fell warg
5 Hunter Orc with Fell warg;
1 Hunter Orc with War horn;
----
Goblin Town

Warband 2 -
The Goblin King
10 Goblin Warrior
----
Warband 3 -
Grinnah
9 Goblin Warrior
----
Warband 4 -
The Goblin Scribe
9 Goblin Warrior

Want to hear Cereal_Theif discuss his list in more detail? Click here for more!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAjcQj_LSqY

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 Post subject: Re: Starting an army: Beginners builders guide for a 500pt l
PostPosted: Fri Nov 01, 2013 4:07 pm 
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Sam Page (Southerndunedain)'s 500 point Army of Thror list

Warband 1 -
Thorin w/ Orcrist & Oakenshield
4 Erebor Dwarves w/ shield
5 Erebor Dwarves w/ spear

Warband 2 -
Dwalin
4 Erebor Dwarves w/ shield
5 Erebor Dwarves w/ spear & shield

Warband 3 -
Balin
4 Erebor Dwarves w/ shield
4 Erebor Dwarves w/ spear & shield

To hear southy discuss this list, it's strengths and weaknesses, check out his interview from the 500 point tournament in Preston last weekend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PKl5WUYbMo

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