I played the following list at NOVA. It plays well and it got me to the top table before being absolutely thrashed twice by Angmar lists. The magic from Angmar was devastating and I'm hoping to shore it up against magic for future tournaments.

Durin
14 Hearthguard
3 Iron Guard
1 Dwarf Warriors w/Shield

Elrond
11 Warriors, shields, spears
1 warrior, shield, spear, banner
6 warriors, bows

If I replace Elrond with Glorfindel I at least get one hero who won't be paralyzed or transfixed all game so I could just do a straight swap there.

I was also thinking about the possibility of incorporating my own caster---possibly Galadriel, Gandalf, or Saruman from The White Council. This would require cutting Elrond/Glorfindel or Durin and replacing with a cheaper hero---maybe Erestor or Kings Champion and removing a handful of warriors. Possibly one of the following:

Gandalf the Grey

Kings Champion
8 Khazad Guard
2 Iron Guard

Glorfindel, Gondolin Armour, Asfolath
3 Rivendell Knights, shields
10 High Elves, Shield, Spear
2 High Elves, Bows, Spears

OR

Gandalf the Grey

Durin
13 Hearthguard
4 Warriors, Shields

Erestor
3 Rivendell Knights, Shields
1 High Elf warrior, shield, spear, banner
7 High Elf Warriors, shield, spear

I think you're kinda right. At the higher points values I think you need to be able to either provide enough threats that casters can't control them all or you need your troops to be doing the heavy lifting, or of course, your own caster.

I just saw some folks talking about High elf and Galadrim alliance lists doing well. I also think Numenor and Rivendell can be pretty good. Isildur and Elendil both get ways to resist magic and can run rampant and chop through stuff. If you went Glorfindel with elves and Numenor with Elendil or Isildur is super resistant to magic without fighting fire with fire or magic with magic :p

If you're committed to dwarves and elves, I think some combo of Erebor reclaimed, Thranduils halls and then picking up Gandalf out of Laketown is pretty strong. You get all the army bonuses cause they're historical allies and you can fill out your points with Gandalf leading troops.
I've just built up a list that is just Erebor reclaimed and Laketown but if you wanted elves you could slot in a warband of each pretty easily, which I actually think might be stronger in general, not sure. But I've played a couple games, planning to take it to an 800 point event locally next month. Its kicking around on here if you'd like more info on it.

If you're committed to Durin's folk dwarves and Rivendell, I think you do need to go cheaper heroes to afford the caster. I know the new edition has buffed the big heroes and they seem really powerful and they are and if you can't manage them they will run through your whole army, but, I think that strong, well costed mid range heroes and strong troops is just as good if not better. Kings champ seems like a good pick, maybe even go just a captain from Rivendell with horse and lance and then caster?

I think you should also look at the other wizards and caster options though. Gandalf gets slotted in a lot cause he's kind of a catch all but I think Radaghast and Saruman the white are just as good if not better in many situations. The only thing Gandalf has that they don't is blinding light but if your playing dwarves I wouldnt be to scared of shooting? Unless you see like a ton of crossbows or something. Radaghast is cheaper, skirmishes a bit better and has some really good support skills and natures wrath which, even with the nerf is a pretty good offensive spell and Saruman has lower casting values, free reoll and longer range so is way better at blasting stuff then Gandalf. They are both take horses for extra mobility. Biggest down side might be they're squisher since they dont get the fate rerolls but they probably aren't going to your leaders anyways so giving up a wound or two isnt too big of a deal and 3 fate is still nothing to scoff at.

Of your lists I think the King's champ and Glorfindel is the best list? Maybe? The numbers feel really low though so scenarios to hold objectives will be a struggle. I think in general you might drop the knights out of any of those? I dunno, the mobility is always good but it tends to be the first thing I end up cutting cause while its great if youre gonna get broken and swamped in the fights racing to grab an objective at the end or score a couple point in recon may not matter that much? Hard to say.

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Cheers,

P

Personally, I like the one with the kings champ better. Its a very solid model and having 2 banners in there means your whole line should be rolling 3 dice at F5, a very hard nut to crack. Plus, depending on the scenario pack you can choose to have either Glorfindel or Gandalf as your leader (very handy if you don’t have contest of champions to worry about).

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Fight! Fight to the last man!

If this was to be our end then I would have them make SUCH AN END as to be worthy of remembrance

I agree, I like the first altered list better as well. The killing power is split between the heroes and troops pretty well and you've got Gandalf. It is very low in numbers but that can't be gotten around with so many large heroes.

If you were going to bring Galadriel I don't see why it wouldn't be more economical to bring her from Lorien leading Galadhrim elves in place of Rivendell. She is cheaper than the wizards, though with less utility, and the Galadhrim and Rivendell spear troops are identical stat-wise.

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

Thanks for all of your thoughts--very insightful. The model count is very low but not much can done about that while still fitting in Kings Champion + Caster. Best I can think of for increasing model count would be dropping Glorfindel and a Knight for a Captain on Horse and then adding a Shieldbearer for a few more bodies:

Gandalf or Saruman

Kings Champion
10 Khazad Guard

High Elf Captain, Horse, Shield, Lance
2 Rivendell Knights, Shields
8 High Elves, Shield, Spear
2 High Elf, Bow, Spear

Shieldbearer
4 Dwarf Warriors, Bows
2 Iron Guard

This gets me 34 models instead of 30 but also means that the Wizard must be the leader now, even if I play Gandalf. This isn't ideal.

I only own Khazad-Dum & Rivendell and have no intention of buying other armies.

For now, I'm leaning towards the Kings Champ/Glorfindel combo. Will play test it tomorrow. I'll also fiddle with some lists without a caster but that trade out the two big heroes for 3-4 mid-tier ones. At least then it's less problematic if any one or two get shut out by magic. Could be something like this:

Kings Champion
10 Khazad Guard

Shieldbearer
4 Warriors, Shields
2 Iron Guard

Erestor
11 High Elves, Shield, Spear
1 High Elves, Spear, Bow

Captain, Horse, Shield, Lance
5 Rivendell Knights, Shield

Don't forget elledan and elrohir , they are beasts and would be good with your cavalry.

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richmondwarmancers we play Lord of The Rings, Battlefleet Gothic, Infinity, some board games, and really whatever tickles our fancy..

I need to paint these guys! Very cost effective models.