Hi all,
I'm looking forward to getting involved in the GBHL tournament scene this summer, and the first one I'm aiming for is the 800pt GT style event in Mansfield. It requires both a good and evil force, and I'm currently torn between Isengard/Harad and Minas Tirith/All hero. Any feedback or criticism would be much appreciated

List 1-Harad

Warband 1: Betrayer on FB + 11 Serpent Riders

Warband 2: Chieftain with Bow + 12 Abrakhan Guard

Warband 3: Chieftain with Bow + 12 Watchers of Karna

Warband 4: Chieftain with Bow + 12 Watchers of Karna

Pros: All fight 4, Watchers unleash a withering level of bowfire, as well as the entire army punching above its weight in combat. However, the best bit is that if the Serpent riders charge within range of the betrayer, they are killing DWARVES at a 45% rate, stronger even than dol amroth knights.
Cons: Low defence, lack of spears, may struggle against high defence horde armies.
List 2: Isengard

Warband 1: Lurtz +12 Berserkers

Warband 2: Vrasku +12 X-bowmen

Warband 3: Ugluk + 12 Warriors (mix of shield and pike, probably 7-5)

Warband 4: Captain with HA and shield + 12 warriors, 4 with X-bow

Pure and simple strong horde army. High strength and defence all round with a stupid level of shooting damage. Loads of might, although may struggle with magic and strong monsters.

List 1: Minas Tirith

4 identical warbands of 8 GotFC with shield and 4 Citadel Guard Longbowmen. Heroes and Beregond, Damrod, Madril and Boromir CotWT with Shield.

Dead solid army, which will never run away while Bozza is alive. Plenty of bowfire, strong numbers, spear blocks and might points to keep it on the move. Possible change would be to drop Madril to Denethor and give Boromir a horse and lance. Would also be worried about wraiths neutralising him, although terror causing enemies don't mean anything against this army.

List 2: All Hero

Strider on Horse with Armour
Saruman the White on Horse
Elrond on Horse
Glorfindel, Lord of the West on Horse
Thranduil, King of the Woodland Realm on Horse

Classic all hero army, huge stores of might, all mounted, magic capability, all got massive FV and can wreak carnage on their own. More of a fun army than anything I've tested so that I know is competitive. Even so, who wouldn't fancy having a go at a collection of heroes this powerful?!

Sorry for the long post, and I thank you in advance for any comments,
King

consider a taskmaster to save might and shadow lord on fb instead of betrayer to stop them shooting your defence 4 troops. replace some karnas with Reavers.

Even consider banner or use a shade. Cavalry is very difficult to use and I find they will not beat dwarves if they have spear support. Replace riders with camels if possible.

I would take Isengard and Minas Tirith.

I think your Harad army does have too much bows. you do have 23 warriors without bows, but 24 with bows. You are only allowed to have 50% (heroes do not count).
All hero can be very strong, but there are some scenarios where you dont have a chance (for example reconnoitre). I dont know how experienced you are, but you have to practice a lot (however, it is fun to play an all hero army).

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@Trickrick: Although I did think about a taskmaster, they can't carry bows, and I'd rather have the extra man than his special rule. That's not to say they have no place, but in this army I think the higher general profile of the chieftain would be more effective. I can't use the Shadow Lord because he's not in the army list, and it would cut into my numbers BIG TIME to have an allied warband, plus the Betrayer is an absolute combat monster. Next if I use reavers then I lose the 50% bow limit, and as more general troops, I actually prefer the watchers. I will consider using a banner in the Abrakhan warband, but again, it does cut into numbers a fair amount. I am well aware that cavalry is tricky to use properly, but having played the game since RotK, I do have some experience I wasn't necessarily saying that I would charge headlong into a dwarven shieldwall, I just just pointing out than with Lances and the betrayer's poison rule combined, they hit REALLY hard.

@badner: the bow limit rounds up, so in this particular case it is perfectly legal. Also, reconnoitre wouldn't be that bad! If you focus your attacks on parts of your enemy, then with the speed of your horses it is incredible how much damage you can put out, FAST.

bows against defence 7 won't work, even with betrayer, I have tried it.

They only need mirkwood elves and you will be cut to pieces.

All you will do is watch your men drop.

You need to win by combat so drop the 50% bow limit and take F5 reavers.

Bows only win with 100% bow limit.

Use the Taskmaster to save might, might is key to winning all games.

Use the fell beast to hurl, then cut them to pieces with reavers and watchers. So get in their and fight:)

I can smell the stinky bishop from here

If I'm honest, none of those armies sound particularly fun to play with or against. You are just spamming elite units which IMO is a tad boring. With the gondor list your heroes will let you down. If Bozza falls, you lack a second hero to take up the mantle of butt-kicker.

In the end, you have to decide what you want out the tournament. if you want to win, then All Hero and harad will be your best bet. if you want to have a bit of fun, maybe mix up the gondor with some rangers or knights.

@trickrick, Mirkwood elves aren't common on the GBHL scene. They are no way near as effective as people seem to think they are.

Also, I may be bringing my Smaug so whatever you bring I'll just set on fire

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Mid Sussex Wargamers

@SouthernDunedain

Okay, I'll admit, I'm a truly disgusting human being, but hey, I'm guessing most tournament winning armies have some element of cheese involved in them.

In the Harad force I will probably replace one of the chieftains with Suladan on horse, just for variety and to get some F5 and Might in there.

Both armies are the basic theme of what I want, which is, as you put it 'spamming elites'. For Gondor the alternative is having a warband of Faramir with a few Knights, but I just can't see them justifying their cost in the same way as one of the standard warbands. I wouldn't mind having some cavalry, but bringing in allies reduces my ranged abilities. I did think about Dol Amroth, but the cost of Imrahil and 6 knights is almost 300 points, and cuts into my numbers hugely.

Thank you for the feedback though, and if you have any ally ideas that would be amazing!