Hey everybody,
With the new releases for the Haradrim, I thought that Rohan was a bit underpowered nowadays. Newcomers to the game who like all or mostly cavalry armies will be dissuaded by the lack of oomph in a mounted Rohan army for two things. Too weak a profile for the Riders, and too little variety. So, here's some house rules to make up for it.

NEW Rider of Rohan

Same profile, EXCEPT they have the option of a warhorse at 2 extra points (if mounted) and are 8 pts on their own.(explained below) and the new special rules.

Finest Horsemen in Middle Earth. When fighting other enemy cavalry, the Rohirrim gain a 1+ bonus to wound.
Warhorse. The Rohirrim have the finest horses in Middle Earth, and are braver than standard horses, as well as being tougher and faster.

Warhorse
F S D A W C
2/- 4 4 1 1 4 pts. 8

Theoden

Same profile, except witht these special rules, and an increased point value of 10 pts.

Forth Eorlingas! When in base contact with at least 5 other mounted Rohirrim models, Theoden can declare a heroic move without using his store of Might.

Snowmane

F S D A W C pts. 15
4/- 4 6 1 1 4


There. What do people think? Too powerful? In my opinion, it does the greatest horsemen in Middle Earth justice. Feel free to leave C n' C.

Sometimes its hard to conceptualize how new "rules" would affect gameplay. However, in general I would agree that Rohan is underpowered compared to other armies. Its probably wishful thinking but I hope that in the future when a Rohan "Codex" is released (similar to Gondor in Flames or KD) their rules will be adjusted. Its a shame that the horselords aren't the most effective cavalry in the game. Or maybe thats just a Rohan player whining

I sometimes feel they're just not intimidating enough either. As a regular Isengard player I don't panic when I see them. They are dangerous but if an enemy plays well and has even a little luck with bow-fire they are not too bad. I think it's an interresting idea for boosting them.

I hate the thought of increasing Theoden's cost at all though since he is already never played. His lack of Will makes him too much a liability for your main leader and Eomer and Eorl are far superiour fighters.

Perhaps instead of the "free Might" (which could justify another 10 pts on his score and still not make him appealing enough compared to Eomer / Eorl) try playtesting this:

"If Theoden calls a Heroic Move, all Riders of Rohan in continuous base contact with Theoden may benefit from the Heroic Move."

In other words, if you have a long line across the board of 20 Riders then they can all make the Heroic Move. This could help simulate the mighty formation charges from the movies. It would not necessarily unbalance everything because there are usually only be a few times in the game when an Heroic Move is called and in those there will be fewer still where there are many models that can achieve continusous base contact to Theoden. But it could make the first charge very devestating and would give reason for him to call "Reform the lines!", get everyone together and do it again.

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Wait ye the finish! The fight is not yours.
Beowulf

http://TacticsInMiniature.com

Well, that sounds like a great idea Beowulf, I think Ill stick with that. It keeps Theoden nice n cheap, while making him better at the same time.

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DOUBLE WOOTAGE....erm, yeah.

I like that idea, Beowulf. Very themed, not overpowered, but gives Rohan a boost on the initial contact, which is fitting. And as I am, to my knowledge, the only Rohan player you face, I can attest that your lack of panic is justified! I think my mounted tactics are slowly getting better, but once Riders lose priority in combat they are usually sunk, especially against Isengard Uruks. I don't think Riders are way underpowered for their cost, just a little bit. Something small might help, such as letting Riders move full and shoot, or increasing the range of mounted throwing spears to 8", or give Riders S4 on the charge. They either need to be able to take advantage of their shooty mobility more, or get a little more oomph on the charge somehow.

I really like this idea! The new horses are a good call, since the Rohirrim are supposed to be able to breed and train better horses than anyone else in Middle-Earth.

As for Theoden, I experimented for a while with making an entirely new profile for him called "Theoden Ednew, the Renewed" that would only be suitable for battle on the Pelennor (or, I suppose, if you wanted to have a little raid against the King's host while he was at Dunharrow or something) I feel it would be justified because after Gandalf heals him and Saruman is cast down, Theoden is said to have regained his past strength. This is also shown in the New Line Film, where Theoden's hair is back to being blonde at the BoPF, as opposed to the white hair he had just after his healing.

For the new Theoden profile, I was thinking of just giving him a couple Will and an extra Might, to make him more Heroic. His stats are fine, but his cost is pretty expensive. In my mind, he costs now what he should with heavy armour INCLUDED. Why does Theoden cost nearly as much as Eomer when he's similarly equipped? He's significantly less potent!

As I said, basically bring him up to Eomer's standard, although I feel Eomer should be better than he is currently anyway. In the books he was described as being equal in strength and skill to Aragorn or Imrahil. Many disagree with that view, however.

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Gondor: 2339pts
Rohan: 1318pts
Dwarves: 2482pts
Elves: 1091pts
Mordor: 2305pts
Isengard: 1762pts
Moria: 1463pts
Evil Men: 381pts

Please don't take offense, John. Nothing against your tactics at all. As you said though, once that initial engagement is done if Priority goes against you they can be easily outclassed by stronger and more numerous foot troops, and for that reason you can assume the enemy force will loose a good chunk of its strength on each attack. Attrition is NOT good when your base troops cost so much.

Now, a mixed Mounted / Unmounted Rohan force is more balanced and the larger numbers of troops helps compensate, but you no longer have what we all feel should be the most powerful form of Rohan - all mounted. Eorl's special ability helps a lot, but he belongs to "an earlier time". Eomer is indeed powerful but Theoden should be the heart of Rohan, but not a centralized "killing machine". I would prefer to have seen him have some special abilities that help bring together a force of Rohan better.

In addition to the suggestion above, maybe this:

"While Thoeden is mounted his Stand Fast range is 12" and all other mounted Rohan models within 6" gain a +1 to thier Courage rolls"

Finally, some minor combat increase for the Riders, such as S4 on the charge, or the ability to treat thier Spears like Lances if they move at least 4" on the charge, or full move + shoot would make them a very viable army on thier own.

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Wait ye the finish! The fight is not yours.
Beowulf

http://TacticsInMiniature.com

Mixed feelings here really: if you are going to beef up the Rider and the horse, then really the points value must go up or the games will become too unbalanced in favour of the Rohirrim. Swings and roundabouts - a tougher individual but a smaller army for the same points, so each loss will be have a bigger impact.

Try test playing it against a variety of opponents / scenarios and see what happens.

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Published ebooks:
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More to come!

I always thought that the it was too easy for the horses to get killed if a rider loses a combat. What if the warhorse also had an incresed defense?

I think that GW made them underpowered because of the way they were portrayed in The Two Towers (film).

I agree, I'd love to see Rohan get some sort of punch when their supplement finally arrives, but I'd like to see the Riders and Warrior profiles remain the same. So I'm uncertain where the boost should come from. GW could create more fluff, thus creating more elite units such as the Outriders, however I'm not a huge fan of fluff and I think they need to tread carefully when going in that direction.

So to sum it up, I'm confused and of little help to the situation.

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No one feels as helpless as the owner of a sick goldfish.

Good tips everyone,
I think that the most fighty-Imrahil-style hero should be Eomer, and the mighty leader-style hero should be Theoden. So, here's some new special rules for Theoden, as well as new house rules.


Theoden
Same profile, except with 3 Might (does he have that already?)
Increase of 10pts.

Special Rules.
Forth Eorlingas! Any mounted Rohirrim in base contact with Theoden on Snowmane, whether directly or through another model, may be counted if Theoden declares a Heroic Move.

Rohan Royal Guard

F S D A W C
4/- 3 6 1 1 4 pts.9

Rohan Royal Guard have heavy armor and shields.

Throwing Spears-1pt
Warhorse-8pts

Special Rules
Bodyguard.

Eomer's eored

These are the personal warriors of Eomer, and are hardy fighters, as well as being fanatically loyal to Eomer.

Rider
F S D A W C
3/4 3 4 1 1 4 pts.14

Eomer's Riders carry armor and hand weapons, and ride warhorses.
Bow-1pt
Javelins-1pt
Shield-1pt

Special Rules.
Unyielding Faith in Eomer. If Eomer is present on the battlefield, all of Eomers Riders count as being Fearless.



OVERALL SPECIAL RULES FOR ROHAN.
If 5 or more mounted Rohirrim are in base contact, they gain 1+ courage.
If a Rider charges more than 4" and has throwing spears, the rider counts as having a lance in combat

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DOUBLE WOOTAGE....erm, yeah.

I would keep this rule, but I wouldn't give the royal guard lances, doesn't seem rohan-ie to me.

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"You tit! I soiled my armor, I was that scared!" - Sir Robin the Brave, Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail"

As an relative newbie to the game... I'm curious, do you think there is precedence for this? That is, a tweaking of the statlines or special abilities to make a particular army type "more competitive"?

Absolutely!
I think they (Rohan) should be enhanced and some to the ideas put forth are good ones. Maybe stronger horses, or better charging rules or such. Only thing is I would probably keep the base profile for the man the same, and then add better elite units to flesh out the army. Outriders are a nice way to beef up the Rohan masses and I think that adding more units like that will help balance the army nicely.

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No one feels as helpless as the owner of a sick goldfish.

Yeah, the base profile is going to be the same, its just Im adding these new warriors, like beefed up royal guard, and eomer's riders, just to flesh rohan out a bit. The special rules reflect their horsemanship.

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DOUBLE WOOTAGE....erm, yeah.

My version of Theoden...

Theoden, King of Rohan
Same stats, heavy armor is included. 20 more points.

Inspiring presence.
Theoden is well known and loved in the world of men, especially to his kinsmen. His arrival at the Pellanor fields filled the defenders with hope. Theoden counts as having a 12" stand fast to all the free peoples, and all warriors, riders and royal guard of Rohan within 12" count as being +1 courage.

Furious Charge!
Theoden and his riders have spent decades fighting the forces of the dark lord, and all have much experience in the art of mounted combat, and the devastating cavalry charges that often turn battles. If Theoden declares a heroic move, all models with continuous base contact with him gain the heroic move. Also, all the models included in the charge may choose to move the entire group an additional D6 inches including the original movement. (note this can only be used during the charger's movement phase, and not after combat, and throwing spears may not be used.)


Rohan special rules:

Expert rider: same as before, only archers may move full and still shoot.

Rohan Spear: Counts as a throwing spear, but may be used as a lance if not thrown that turn, and moved more than half distance.

Rohan Shortbow Archers: 18" range. Due to the increased speed of the movement of the riders, if rider moves more than 5", It is a -1 penalty to hit, but +1 to wound.*

(*Rohan was supposed to be more archery-based, but it is not heroic enough to be put into the movie...)

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OR's secret stealth poster since 9/09.

I must be the only one that thinks rohan are good enough already! When used correctly the throwing spears can devastate an enemy formation. there free bows can be used to great effect with hit and run tactics. maybe they should get a plus 1 fight skill when mounted bonus. And theoden should have his special horse and maybe a special heroic action thing. i just think people don't use them to there full potential. Also if you want stronger riders of rohan, get the royal guard!

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The darkness of Moria you say? Nothing compared to the mess in my bedroom!

The 2 races i loved from the films and books were the Rohirrim and Elves.They were also the 2 types of warriors i liked best and who i think work together best.Cavalry and Archers.The only reason why i havent bought any Rohan yet is because they are quite expensive to get an army of them(points and £) and they are not very strong.I think they shold be made stronger but also have their point value lowered only slightly.

House Rule:
The two main times you see Rohan in a battle they all charge in together as one and destroy the front line.I think there should be a rule to represent that.A bit like volley,when there are 10 horsemen and they are all in base contact,they can charge and have +1 Attack and +2 Strength.The extra attack because you have the horse mowing them down when your charging and extra strength because you are charging in at high momentum and you have the whole force ect.


TheElvenLord

also both times we see a main rohan charge there is a hench hill. so perhaps when rohan (or perhaps any horseman) charges downhill they get some kind of bonus

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The darkness of Moria you say? Nothing compared to the mess in my bedroom!

Cavalry already has a +1 attack one charge. And the fact that you smash into your opponent, including with your horse is already taken as a rule, namely that when you win a fight, you throw your opponent on the ground. Also, I think it alreday hurts enough when 10 riders of rohan smash into your lines at teh same time.




i don't know about you, but this would be getting warhammerish. The same could be considered for all troops, because you allways have an advantage when on high ground.

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"You tit! I soiled my armor, I was that scared!" - Sir Robin the Brave, Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail"