Tolkien Army Lists
for George Gush Renaissance Rules
After discovering George Gush's 2nd
edition Renaissance rules, published by WRG, in the mid-1980s, I was inspired
by a conversation with some role-playing friends to modify them for use with fantasy
armies, specifically with the armies from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings,
by Tolkien. Below you will find Dwarves,
Elves, Battle of the Five Armies, Hobbits, Minas Tirith,
Orcs and Rohan plus some notes on how Heroes
work.
If you'd like to know they worked out on the battlefield,
read the battle reports.
Dwarves of Erebor, Ered
Lindon, Moria and the Iron
Hills
Troops Type Order Cost Number
Dwarf King's
Guard Bfan HI DHC Any 8 0
to 16
Extra to upgrade to EHI (M) +2 0 or all
Extra to replace DHC with DHCT (M) +½ 0 or all
Extra to upgrade to B fanatic+ if Line Axe and
Skirmishers fanatic +2 0 or all
Line Axe B
HI DHC Any 7 72
to 240
Extra to upgrade all Line Axe to fanatic if facing
Elves or Orcs or pursuing vengeance +1 0 or all
Skirmishers C
HI Bow Any 6 0
to 120
Reduction to downgrade to MI (E) -1
0 to all
Extra to make swordsman +1
0 or all
Extra to upgrade to B-class (M) +1
0 or all
Extra to upgrade to fanatic if Line Axe fanatic +1
0 or all
Extra to give Shields to all Dwarves +1
0 or all
Heavy Bolt
Thrower with 3 HI B-class crew, all with
axes 40 0 to 2
Light Bolt
Thrower with 2 HI B-class crew, all with
axes 25 0 to 6
Extra to make artillery crew fanatic if line axe are +1 0 or all
Allied
Cavalry A MC Swordsman Spear
Shield (E) L 14 0 to 5
Extra to replace Spear with Lance as Knights +2
0 or all
Extra to upgrade Lance armed Knights to HCM +2 0 to all
Allied Hobilars D LC
Javelin Shield (E) O 9 0
to 10
Allied
Spearmen D LI Spear Shield (E) C
or L 4 0 to 48
Allied
Bowmen D LI Longbow (E) C
or L 3 0 to 48
Extra to upgrade Spearmen and Bowmen to C-class +1
0 or all
Allied
Peasant Slingers E LI Sling (E) O 2 0
to 24
Extra to upgrade to D-class +1
0 or all
Allied Elvish Cavalry B HCM Spear
Swordsman Shield (M) L or O 17 0
to 5
Extra to upgrade to EHC +2 0 to all
Allied Elvish Spearmen B HI Spear
Swordsman Shield (M) C or L 9 0
to 24
Allied Elvish Bowmen B HI Noldorin Longbow Swordsman Shield (M) Any 11 12
to 24 *
Extra to allow Bowmen to shoot in salvo +1 0 or all
Extra to give Bowmen extra ammunition +1 0 or all
Extra to give any Elf a second parrying weapon +½ 0 to all
E = Dwarves of Erebor, Ered Lindon and the Iron Hills; M
= Dwarves of Moria. Dwarves always count as HI
infantry for movement, regardless of their true armour type, and they are never
slowed by steep hills. The ability to deploy in any order is necessary because
they need to form up as close order on the flat and still manoeuvre in broken
terrain when fighting Orcs in the mountains. They
should be allowed to change their order freely during a battle (use the change
of formation rules).
Dwarven 'swordsmen' may use hand-axes by preference,
though they're equally at home with swords, but in this case it reflects an
ability to 'fence' regardless of the weapon type itself. Dwarven
bowmen should never exceed those armed with DHC.
The EHI option, in Tolkienesque
fantasy, could possibly be full plate but this is incredibly rare (a single
reference to Prince Imrahil's vambrace
is all I've found to justify it) but Elven and Dwarven mail can in some instances have mystical qualities
that make it worth treating as EHI. On the other hand, if anyone had full
plate, it would have to be the dwarves.
The B fanatic+ morale class is exactly like the Swiss
only put on to a formal footing. The option costs 2pts but makes the King's
Guard unbelievably hard.
Allied troops reflect other communities living close
by, such as Dale or Hollin, of which there are always
some as Dwarves live by trading the work of their hands for foodstuffs grown
above ground. Minimums apply only if used; Elvish spearmen must never outnumber bowmen and Elvish bowmen cost 1 point more thanks to the Elves' +1
when shooting bows.
The original version of this list gave the Dwarves crossbows
instead of bows because the only Dwarf figures with missiles available to us at
the time had crossbows, but the crossbow is a weapon alien to Tolkien and I've replaced it with the humble bow in this
revised list. Thorin shot a bow of horn when challenged
at the Gate of Erebor. Later, messengers to the Gate
were chased away by arrows plural, so it seems several of Thorin's
companions were at home with the weapon. Since most Dwarvish
battles were fought without allies, I cannot see how they could win against Orcs without either cavalry or significant missile power.
Other un-Tolkien weapons are
the Dwarf King's Guard's halberds. I've kept the option of these in as they are
basically just very large axes and it is believable that elite Dwarf guards
might use such weapons. They differ from axes in that mounted troops suffer a
-1 on charging them frontally as long as the wielders are not disordered.
Finally, the artillery: this is something that makes
sense to me but again is not true to Tolkien, where
anything resembling 'engines of destruction' are necessarily 'machines of
evil'. But Dwarves, as artificers and pragmatists, must surely use such things.
Of course, what they lack is transport, so perhaps they should be confined to
battles close to Dwarvish places of strength.
Heavy Bolt Throwers have a maximum range of 300 yards,
short range of 150; Light Bolt Throwers of 200 and 100 yards. Factors are 2 at
short range, 1 at long. Costs are 10 points for Heavy and 5 points for Light,
artillerymen bought separately remember the 'gunners' are expensive, as
B-class HI with DHC, 10 points each! They will, of course, fight in defence of
their weapons.
I like this army; a wall of axe-armed iron, there's
nothing else quite like it. You can field an army entirely of HI B fanatic axemen and order them to charge in open order at enemy in
broken terrain and expect them to win!
Elves of the Grey Havens, Hollin, Lothlorien, Mirkwood and Rivendell
Troops Type Order Cost Number
Noble
Cavalry B HCM Spear Swordsman
(M) L
or O 16 0 to 5
(L R) 0
to 12
(H) 5
to 24
Reduction to downgrade to A-class (M) -1 0 or all
Reduction to downgrade to MC (M L) -2 0 to all
Extra to upgrade to give bard to horses (H R) +2 0 to all
Spearmen C
HI Spear Swordsman C
or L 7 48 to 96 *
Reduction to downgrade to MI (L) -1 0 to all
(R) 0
to half
(M) All
Bowmen C
MI Longbow Swordsman Any 7 96
to 192
Reduction to downgrade to LI (L M) -1 0 to all
Reduction to downgrade Spearmen and Bowmen to D-class
(M) -1 0 to all
Option to replace Longbow with Bow (M) -1 All
Extra to upgrade Longbow to Noldorin
Longbow (H) +1 0 to all
Extra to allow Bowmen to shoot in salvo (L M) +1 0 or all
(H R) All
Extra to give Bowmen extra ammunition (H L M) +1 0 or all
Extra to upgrade Spearmen and Bowmen to B-class (L) +1 0 to all
(H R) All
Extra to equip Lorien troops
with cloaks (L) +2 0 to all
Extra to upgrade MI Bowmen to HI if Spearmen are HI or
there are no Spearmen (H) +1 0 to all
(R) 0
to half
Extra to give any Elf a second parrying weapon +½ 0 to all
H = Hollin; L = Lorien; M = Mirkwood; and R = Rivendell and the Grey Havens. Minimum marked * applies
only if any Spearmen are used.
Hollin, also known as Eregion, was
Celebrimbor's home where the Elves forged close links
with the Dwarves of Moria; it is the only army of all
these lists from the 2nd Age.
Elves of Lorien and Mirkwood, in open order, can move at full speed through
woods; in loose order at three quarter speed. Elves of these nations cannot be
disordered by woods. Furthermore Elves move swiftly so add 20 yards to all
infantry movement.
All Elves are very light-footed and treat any soft
terrain as normal; obviously, this does not apply to their cavalry. They also
all receive a +1 on weapon factor when shooting with bows of any variety so Elvish archers are valued a point dearer than non-Elves.
Lorien cloaks let their wearers be hidden in any terrain as
long as they are in open order; treat as concealed in cover until revealed, contacted
or they shoot. Troops so concealed may not be shot at or charged, nor may they
shoot, charge or move before revealing themselves. They may not reconceal themselves until all enemy are out of sight. All
troops so equipped double their scouting value.
Elves of Lothlorien and Mirkwood both use boats but only the Grey Havens has a
significant number of seagoing vessels.
The Noldorin Longbow is a
more powerful version of the ordinary Longbow; its virtue is to downgrade the
armour class of the target by one (eg HI becomes MI).
It was also used by the armies of Numenor in their
heyday and, of course, by all Noldorin archers. I
have assumed the mainly Sindarin Elves of the Grey
Havens and Rivendell approximate more to the Noldor than the Sindar after
aeons of close contact. The Elves of Lothlorien used
a longbow but those of Mirkwood only ordinary self
bows, if Legolas is typical. Extra ammunition is only
available if fighting in defence of either Lorien or Mirkwood.
Elves do not seem to have much use for shields but
their general nimbleness and dexterity suggests the second parrying weapon
option. Such troops count shielded in melee but not against missiles.
Massed cavalry charges do not seem to have been used
by anyone until the advent of the Third Age, possibly as a result of the
influence of the Riders of Rohan. Also, such evidence
as there is (Legolas taking a Rohan
horse T2T p. 429) shows Elves preferring to ride without saddles or reins and
would seem to rule out charging with couched lance so I've given them Spear
instead. (However, some Elvish
armies of Beleriand Aegnor
and Angrod's if I recall correctly were dominated
by cavalry and may have been more shock-oriented, but it must be remembered
that the Numenoreans, who modelled themselves on High
Elvish society, eschewed the use of horses in
warfare.) Various narratives refer to Elven war
leaders (Gil-Galad, Oropher,
Malgalad) fighting on foot, so it seems likely that
the cavalry often dismounted in a similar fashion to 14th/15th
Century English knights. Dismounted Elvish cavalry
use spear and swordsman factors. The A-class option for Mirkwood's
nobility is because of Oropher '
rushing forward at
the head of his most doughty warriors before Gil-Galad
had given the signal for the advance'.
All-in-all, we found the Elves in these lists a little vanilla and they never seemed to live up to
expectation so perhaps you'd like to try this to spice them up: let them shoot
in salvo, like Swedish musketeers. There are some references to opponents being
thrown in to confusion by the first vollies of Elvish archers and it also matches
how they perform on the cinema screen. If you ever get to try it let me know
how it works out but remember to make them pay the extra point for the
privilege.
Troops Type Order Cost Number
Line Dwarves B
HI DHC Shield Any 8 25
Extra to upgrade to fanatic as Dain's
Guard +1
1 to 9
Extra to upgrade non-guard to fanatic (if facing Orcs or pursuing vengeance) +1
0 or all
Extra to upgrade Dain's
Guard to fanatic+ if Line Dwarves are fanatic +2
0 or all
Elvish Cavalry B
HCM Spear Swordsman, L
or O 16 1 to 5
Elvish Spearmen C MI
Spear Swordsman C
or L 6 50 to 72
Elvish Bowmen C
MI Bow Swordsman Any 7 50
to 72
Reduction to downgrade to LI -1 0 to all
Reduction to downgrade Spearmen and Bowmen to D-class -1 0 to all
Extra to allow Bowmen to shoot in volley +1 0 or all
Extra to give any Elf a second parrying weapon +½ 0 to all
Laketown Cavalry M MC
Swordsman Spear Shield L 12 0 to 5
Extra to replace Spear with Lance as Knights +2
0 or all
Extra to upgrade Knights to HC +1 0 or all
Laketown Hobilars D
LC Javelin Shield O 9 0
to 5
Extra to upgrade to MC +1 0 or all
Laketown Spearmen D LI Spear
Shield C
or L 4 50 to 120
Extra to upgrade to MI +1 0 to all
Extra to upgrade to C-class +1
0 or all
Laketown Bowmen C LI
Longbow C
or L 4 50 to 120
Extra to upgrade to B-class as Bard's company +1 0 to 12
Werebear A
HI Warg Teeth Troll Other Weapons O 10* 0 to 1
Extra to make fanatic if fighting Orcs
and/or Wargs +1
0 or 1
Eagles Field
Effect over all battlefield (O S) 200 0 or 1
We know the numbers and equipment of Dain's Dwarves from the Iron Hills but almost everything
else is obscure. Bard used a longbow and we must assume this was typical of Laketown. The Mirkwood Elves used
ordinary bows but have the Elvish +1 bonus on
archery, hence are more expensive. It seems likely that Laketown
also had spearmen and we know the Elves fielded at least 1000 spear
specialists. Remember that Elves must field at least as many Bow as Spear. The Elvish King was mounted so at least the Elvish
general must be cavalry and it seems likely that a handful of his courtiers
would also be horsed. Human cavalry is not mentioned but it's possible some of Laketown's survived Smaug's
onslaught. The three races should each have their own generals.
The werebear is, of course, Beorn. He cannot be harmed save by an orcish
hero, who may have a werebear slaying weapon if the
player wishes. Beorn himself counts as a hero, as
does Bard, Dain, Thorin and
Co, but not Gandalf or the Elf King, as they seem to have kept out of things a
fair bit. Add hero costs to the figure costs but command points are subsumed in
heroism.
The Eagles function like Nazgul
only for the good guys. They automatically drive off Orcish
bats or Crebain and can counter the area effect of Nazgul. Like Nazgul, they can
force one enemy unit per turn to test reaction at -2.
This army can deploy enough boats to transport all the
Laketown troops but not the Dwarves or Elves.
This army's opponent should be an army of the Orcs of the
If you seek to replay the
The battle should develop with Orcs
dicing as if for a flank march after the 4th turn for overwhelming
reinforcements (say, as many points again, or even more) to arrive. Once these
are present or have definitely failed to come, the Men, Elves and Dwarves may
start dicing to gain Eagles (they appear on a 5-6 on a D6, 3 attempts). Once
the Eagles are present, they drive off the bats and start attacking Orcs as above. The Men, Elves and Dwarves then dice again
for Beorn to arrive (he turns up on a 4-6, 3
attempts). Remember, once the bats are driven off, all Orcs
and Goblins are at a permanent -1 on morale for fighting in sunlight and may no
longer count as fanatics.
Alternatively, just set up the battle as normal. One
possibility for a campaign might be to have each contingent manoeuvring
separately against a common opponent. In a set piece battle, sending one race
of the three on a flank march could prove very effective.
Remember there should be a subordinate general for
each of the Dwarves, Elves and Men (Dain, Thranduil and Bard) plus a lot of heroes. Don't ask me who
the commander-in-chief should be.
Troops Type Order Cost Number
Took Militia C
LI Swordsman, Shield C or L 5 0
to 40
Extra to upgrade to MI +1
0 to half
Extra to give Javelin +1 0 to all
Extra to
Extra to upgrade mounted Hobbits to MC in loose or
open order +3 0 to 1
Took Hunters C
LI Bow O 4 0
to 40
Town Hobbits D
LI Sidearm C
or L 2 0 to 100
Extra to give DHC as Bucklanders +1 0 to 12
Extra to give Bow +1 0 to half
Extra to give Javelin to Town Hobbits without Bow +1 0 to half
Country
Hobbits D LI half Bow/half Sling O 3 120
to 500
Lads E
LI Sling No Sidearm O 1 0
to 20
Allied Bree Cavalry D MC Javelin
Shield L or O 11 0
to 5
Allied Bree Peasants E LI C
or L 1 0 to 24
Extra to upgrade to D-class +1
0 to all
Extra to give Spear +1
0 to all
All Hobbit figures take 30 rather than 20 casualties,
simulating their resilience, as they can fit more people in to a smaller space
while presenting smaller targets.
All Hobbits receive a -1 penalty in melee combat
(except for the single MC figure) but gain an automatic +1 on all missile fire.
Javelin subsumes all hand-held missiles, including conventional thrown light
spears. The Hobbit force that took on the half-orcs
and shirrifs at Bywater
were equipped with a mixture of 'axes, heavy hammers, long knives and stout
staves' but this was an impromptu skirmish and it is probable that better
equipment might be available for a formal battle. Shields do not seem to be
mentioned anywhere but I assume the more warlike Tooks
would use them at least. The Battle of Bywater had
about equal numbers of Took Militia, Town Hobbits and Country Hobbits (the Took
Hunters being deployed elsewhere) but it is assumed that the rural contingents
were under-represented, especially as 'thousands of willing hands' took part in
the rebuilding of the Shire, as opposed to the few hundreds that fought the
battle.
The single MC figure is an obvious candidate for a
hero, representing either Bandobras Bullroarer Took
or Meriadoc Brandybuck and
Pippin Took. If used, the MC figure must be CiC.
Bucklanders can use boats if the terrain includes any water
features. 'Lads' are Hobbits technically under-aged but of full physical
development. Because they are regarded as non-combatants by their elders, they
lack any form of sidearm. They must evade if charged and automatically break if
contacted.
We never got a chance to try this army, which is a
pity because it looks quite fun, probably awesomely expensive to buy enough
figures and they'd be very fiddly to paint.
Gondor/Minas Tirith: Wars of the Ring period
Troops Type Order Cost Number
City Knights B
HCM Swordsman Lance Shield L 19 5 to 24
Knights of Pelargir B
HCM Swordsman Lance Shield L 19 5 to 12 *
Knights of Dol Amroth Bfan HCM Swordsman Lance Shield L 20 5 to 12 *
Extra to upgrade to EHC +2 0 to all
Extra to give any Knightly mount horse bard +2 0 to all
Golasgil's Household A HCM Swordsman
Lance Shield L 18 5 to 6 *
Tower Guard Bfan HI half Spear/half Longbow C 8 10 to 24 *
Extra to upgrade to EHI +2
0 or all
Extra to replace Spear with DHCT +½
0 or all
City Militia C
HI half Spear/half Longbow Shield C 7 48
to 96
Reduction to downgrade City Militia Bowmen to MI -1
0 to all
Extra to make all City Militia Swordsmen +1 0 or all
Reduction to make all City Militia M-class -1 0 or all
Rangers of Ithilien B MI half
Spear/half Longbow Swordsman Shield Any 8 0 to 24
Extra to mount on horses as mounted infantry +2 0 to all
Extra to upgrade mounted Ranger spear to MC as Ranger
cavalry +5 0 to 6
Men-at-Arms
of Dol Amroth B HI DHC Shield C 8 35
to 80 *
Lossarnach Axemen C
HI DHC Shield C 7 10
to 100 *
Morthond Bowmen C MI
Longbow C
or L 5 25 to 120 *
Extra to upgrade to HI +1 0 to half
Extra to make Swordsmen +1 0 or all
Lebennin Infantry C MI
Swordsman Shield C 6 0
to 150
Extra to give Javelin +1 0 or all
Ringlo Vale Infantry C HI Spear
Swordsman Shield C 8 15
to 60 *
Anfalas Hunters D LI
Lt Crossbow O 3 10
to 20 *
Anfalas Herdsmen D LI Sling O 3 10
to 20 *
Lamedon Hillmen D
LI Javelin L
or O 3 5 to 40 *
Ethir Fishermen D LI
Shield L 3 5
to 60 *
Extra to give Javelin +1 0 or all
Pinnath Gelin Gallants C
MI Bow L
or O 5 15 to 60 *
Pelargir Foot C
HI Longbow C
or L 6 0 to 50
Belfalas Spear C
MI Spear Shield C
or L 6 0 to 30
Belfalas Archers C LI
Bow L
or O 4 0 to 30
Dor-en-Ernil Foot D LI
Javelin Shield L
or O 4 0 to 40
South Ithilien Foot D
LI Longbow O 3 0
to 20
Riders of Rohan A HCM
Lance Swordsman Shield L 18 24 to 48 *
Extra to upgrade to B fanatic as Lord of the Riddermark's personal guard +2 0 to 3 eoreds
Extra to upgrade B fanatics to EHC as King's Guard +2 0 to 1 eored
Rohan Light Cavalry C MC Bow
Shield L/O 14 0
to 12
Dismounted
Riders C HI Spear Swordsman Shield C 8 0
to 25
This list is based on three main sources: The Return
of the King p. 753/4 (where all the provincial troops parade past Merry and Bergil); The Return of the King p. 863/4 (The Last Debate);
Unfinished Tales p. 170 (for the Numenorean bows).
All minima marked * apply only if those particular
troops are used. Maxima and equipment levels are calculated roughly on the area
and likely fertility of provinces of origin. The army that was actually
besieged in Minas Tirith had only minima of
provincial troops. Troops in Italics were not at the siege but some contingents
from these areas did arrive in time to join the company that rode for the Black
Gate. Still others arrived after it had gone. I have deliberately tried to vary
equipment wherever possible.
The prominence of longbows is due to an assumption
that Numenorean weapons would have continued in use
to the late Third Age. The Rangers of Ithilien were
definitely armed with an even mix of longbows and spears and I've assumed that
other troops follow a similar pattern. The City Militia are assumed to be
decadent; 2 rank formations of spear and bow seem likely for them.
The Tower Guard's halberd option is taken from 'A Tolkien Bestiary' though Tolkien
never mentions them. Pippin's hauberk was a mail shirt made for a Royal child
but the Guards themselves are described as wearing black surcoats
bearing the design of the White Tree. Since similar surcoats
covered the emergence of plate armour in 14th Century Europe, I've
given the option of upgrading them to EHI. Similarly Prince Imrahil
wears a vambrace so his knights may also be upgraded.
However, if plate is regarded as non-existent in Middle-Earth, then perhaps EHI
can be used to refer to full mail armour. It's up to you.
Rohan troops must be allies. See the Riders of Rohan list for details of their organisation. 5500 riders
charged on the Pelennor Fields but they represent
nearly 5000 points by themselves and would effectively make the City troops
mere adjuncts to Rohan.
Numenor did not use horses in battle so lance-armed shock
cavalry must be a more recent development, possibly learned from the Riders of Rohan, who were shock cavalry since before Cirion and Eorl. Note: in terms
of Tolkien, maces are only ever used by the 'bad
guys' and axes are never used from horseback at all. Since extra punch is
needed, let 'Swordsman' function on horseback with mace factors though an
extra point should still be paid for the privilege (ie,
they can buy 'mace' but call it 'swordsman').
Orcish:
Misty Mountains, Mordor and Saruman
Troops Type Order Cost Number
Goblin
King's Guard A MI Swordsman or DHC Javelin
Shield (O) C or L 8 6 to 12 *
Extra to upgrade to HI +1 0 to all
Extra to make fanatic +1
0 or all
Uruk-Hai C
MI Swordsman Longbow Shield (S) C
or L 7 0 to 48
Extra to upgrade to HI +1 0 to all
Extra to upgrade to B-class as Saruman's
Guard +1
0 to 12
Extra to make fanatic +1
0 or all
Line Orcs D
LI Javelin Shield C
or L 4 36 to 172
Extra to make Swordsman +1
0 or all
Extra to upgrade to MI +1
0 to half
Skirmisher Orcs D LI Bow O 3 36
to 172 §
Line Goblins E
LI Javelin Shield C
or L 3 36 to 172 §
Skirmisher
Goblins E LI Sling O 2 36
to 172
Option to replace Sling with Bow if no Orc Skirmishers 0
to all
Wargs D
LC (Warg) Javelin Shield (O S) O 11 0
to 24
Extra to make Swordsman (only if all line Orcs are) +1
0 or all
Extra to make all Orcs and
Goblins fanatic if the One Ring is on the battlefield +1
0 or all
Orc Petardiers A
LI Gunner with Petard (M S) O 12 0
to 4
Southron Cavalry A MC
Spear Swordsman Shield (M) L 14 0
to 10
Extra to upgrade to HCM +2 0 to all
Southron Infantry M MI
Spear Shield (M) C 5 0
to 72
Extra to make Swordsman +1
0 or all
Southron Archers M LI Bow
Shield (M) O 4 0
to 36
Southron Oliphaunts Elephant
with Giant Feet, armed driver and 6 crew with bows (M) 65 0 to 6
Extra to give Elephant Bard +10
0 to all
Extra to give Armoured Howdah +10
0 to all
Easterling Nobles A HCM
Spear Swordsman Javelin Shield (M) L or O 17 0
to 5
Easterling Cavalry D LC
Javelin Shield (M) O 9 12
to 50
Easterling Infantry D LI DHC
Shield (M) L 4 0
to 36
Variags D
MI DHC Shield (M) C
or L 5 12 to 48
Extra to upgrade to A-class +2
0 to all
Extra to make fanatic +1
0 to 6
Black Men of
Far Harad Dfan
LI DHC or Swordsman Shield L 3 12
to 36
Dunlending Horse E LC
Javelin Shield (S) O 7 0
to 6
Extra to upgrade to D-class +2
0 or all
Dunlendings E
LI Spear Shield (S) C/L 3 0
to 48
Extra to upgrade to D-class (only if Dunlending Horse are) +1
0 to all
Half-Orc Pike C
MI Pike (S) C 5 0
to 48
Half-Orc Axe C
MI DHC (S) C 5 0
to 48
Extra to upgrade Half Orcs
to HI +1 0 to half
Trolls A
EHI DHC (M O) L
or O 9 0 to 6
Allied Balrog A
SG Giant Flaming Sword & Whip Giant Feet Fire Breath (O) 1000 0 or 1
Allied Stone
Giants A SG Giant Club Giant Feet
Thrown Rock (O) 75 0 to 2
Bats or Crebain Darkness
Field Effect over all battlefield (O S) 100 0 or 1
Winged Nazgul Darkness
Field Effect over all battlefield plus morale effect on 1 unit (M) 200 0 or 1
Ditch or
Trench 30 yards of pre-prepared
field fortification (M S) 6 0 to 6
M = Army of Mordor; O = standard Orcish
army of the
§ = Orc armies have the
option of making all line troops Orcs and all
skirmishers Goblins, in which case combine the numbers and let Goblin skirmishers
exchange their slings for bows.
All Orcs receive a -1
penalty on morale in daylight. Goblins cannot be fanatic unless Orcs are also fanatic and neither can be fanatics during
daylight unless Bats, Crebain or Nazgul
are employed to darken the sky. Uruk Hai are not dependant on this. The
field effect Nazgul reflects the eight lesser Nazgul. It can be used regardless of whether the Nazgul chief is present. As well as the darkness effect,
one single enemy unit per turn can be forced to make a morale test at -2. All
other reaction tests are made at a -1 penalty. Bats, Crebain
or Nazgul also grant aerial reconnaissance allowing
opponents to be automatically outscouted.
Orc Petardiers are one way of
viewing the use of 'blasting fire' at Helm's Deep. It was definitely used at
the siege of Helm's Deep and it's implied that it was used to break Rammas Echor, the wall that
encircled the Fields of Pelennor, so both Mordor and Saruman should have it
though it should only be used in sieges.
Giants are based as elephants; their weapons and feet
ignore all armour but are -1 vs loose order and -3 vs open order. They throw rocks like stone-throwing siege
engines.
Trolls must be in loose or open order but their
weapons downgrade the opponent's armour class by 1 (eg
HI is treated as MI). They can only be fielded in darkness, either in a night
action close enough to the mountains so they can get underground before dawn or
under the aegis of a field-effect darkness: Bats, Crebain or Nazgul. If caught in
sunlight they instantly turn to stone.
Wargs cost +2 points, have warg teeth as well as the rider's weapons and disorder
horses and camels within 50 yards. Elephants disorder Wargs
within 50 yards.
Oliphaunts disorder all other mounts within 50 yards. Otherwise
they are simply outsized elephants (you could try using 25mm elephants in a
15mm army) with Giant Feet, costed at a base 30
points. Unlike standard elephants, Oliphaunts are
large enough to house all crew within armoured howdahs (count as protected
wagon for cover factors). Bard and Howdah cost 10 points rather than the 8 for
Elephants. For all their size and majesty, they seem to have proven as
vulnerable in battle as their lesser brethren.
We know more about Saruman's
army than any other Orc-based force but Saruman himself was a rank coward and never emerged to lead
his army in battle or support it with magic; no lightning bolts here, I'm
afraid. On the other hand, the selection of allies and auxiliary troops should
provide plenty of evil nastiness for those that like that sort of thing.
Special weapon factors: Warg
Teeth use elephant crew factors vs infantry but are
factor 4 vs all unbarded
mounts and factor 3 vs horse bard.
Giant Weapons and Feet are both factor 5 vs everything (treat separately because some things can't
be hurt by the feet); add +3 if flaming. All Giant figures should fight as if
'crewed' by the number of actual giants present in the figure (5 to start
with). Their effectiveness drops as they take casualties. Any Giant class
creature can use Giant Feet with one other weapon in any one turn, usually
either Thrown Rock or a stone club. Normal Giants (GG, cost 55pts) take
casualties as Elephants but Stone Giants (SG, cost 75pts) are tougher and take
casualties as EHI. Giants are best countered by artillery.
The Balrog's breath weapon
is best treated as an artillery attack of range 30 yards with weapon factor of
3, minus 1 for loose order targets, - minus 3 for open order. It automatically
disorders all mounted troops and all foot not led by a hero. A Balrog is immune to all missiles and should only be harmed
by a hero (but this makes them too powerful for use on a battlefield we did
actually playtest a dragon once and we reckoned just
one could take out an entire army by itself, which is basically what happens in
the Silmarillion. I couldn't resist adding the Balrog to the list but regretfully it is probably
unplayable, even at a thousand points).
You might like to consider how a Giant Spider might
operate; if you think it's possible for Shelob to be
recruited by Mordor.
Troops Type Order Cost Number
Riders of Rohan A LC
Lance Swordsman Shield L 14 24
to 144
Extra to upgrade LC to MC as Lord of the Riddermark's personal eored (E) +2 0-3 eoreds
Extra to upgrade LC to MC (M L) +2 All
Extra to upgrade MC to HCM +2 0 to all
Extra to upgrade HCM to B-class fanatic as a Lord of
the Riddermark's personal eored
(M L) +2 0-3 eoreds
Extra to give B-class fanatics barded horses as King's
own eored (L) +2 0 or 1 eored
Extra to give Bow to 1 figure in each lance-armed eored +1 0 to all eoreds
Rohan Horse Archers D LC Bow Shield L
or O 9 0 to 24
Extra to upgrade to MC (M) +1 0 to all
(L) +1 all
Extra to upgrade to C-class (L) +1 0 to all
Levy
Spearmen (M L) E
LI Spear Shield C/L 3 0-6
units x 10-12
Extra to upgrade to MI (L) +1 0 to all
Extra to make swordsman (L) +1 0 to all
Levy Bowmen (M L) E LI Bow O 2 0-2
units x 10-12
Levy
Slingers (M L) E
LI Sling O 2 0-2
units x 10-12
Extra to upgrade Levy infantry to D-class (L) +1 0 to all
Allied Dunlendings (M L) E
dis LI Spear Shield C/L 1 0-4
units x 10-12
Extra to upgrade to D-class disaffected (L) +1 0 to all
Allied Huorns Special
terrain feature 50 0 to 1
E = the Riders prior to their settling in Calenardhon, when they were barbarian horsemen from the
northern reaches of the Anduin. M = the Riders some time after they had settled, creating a unique
horse-oriented culture. L = the
latest period after a significant amount of cross-fertilisation between Rohan and Gondor.
Rohan cavalry units are called 'eoreds'.
When about to ride to Gondor's aid, Theoden counts his army in hundreds but Legolas
counted 105 men in Eomer's eored
after their encounter with the Orcs so 5 to 6 figures
seems a good fit (see also Unfinished Tales p.315 n.36). Horse-archers can be
grouped in specialist eoreds and one figure per lance
eored can be given a bow in addition to lance but no
more than a third of all riders may have bows and frankly this is probably an
overestimate. When Theodred probed the west bank of
the Anduin before the First Battle of the Fords of Isen, he took 8 eoreds of lancers
and 1 of archers and this seems a more likely ratio (1 in 4 if each lance eored had 1 archer). Eorl himself
led 7000 lancers and only 'some hundreds of horsed archers'.
Allied Huorns take the form
of an ordinary terrain feature identical to any wood. However, all troops that
enter never emerge. This is not known until entered. Obviously, this works best
if several ordinary woods are also present. Huorns
can only be used if the enemy are Orcs but can be
placed at the start of the battle wherever the Rohan
player wishes; once placed they are stationary.
The morale class 'dis' means
'disaffected'; treat as the opposite of fanatic. All troops so marked receive
an automatic -2 on all reaction tests and if broken or retired disordered will
not rally or return.
This army is the one most carefully described by Tolkien and perhaps because of that the least satisfactory.
Essentially it's the opposite of real life cavalry armies such as the Mongols
and Huns, in that it is composed almost entirely of lance-armed shock cavalry
leavened with a handful of horse-archers. They do have some infantry, as
described in 'The Battles of the Fords of Isen'
(Unfinished Tales p. 355) and these can be supplemented by dismounted riders,
yet without adequate missile support I have to question the utility of the army
overall. What do you do if your opponent has spears?
We never play-tested this army, partly because no one
had enough lance-armed cavalry but also because the lack of tactical variety
did not appeal basically, it all boils down to whether your opponent can stop
your charge. Of course, as allies, they can be a very powerful addition to Gondor indeed and any Orc army
without Wargs is probably in serious trouble.
Heroes: special figures that include named 'personalities',
persons who had a disproportionate influence on the men around them. Examples
are the main characters in the Lord of the Rings: Aragorn and Gandalf, of course,
also lesser lights such as Faramir and Merry and
Pippin (definitely after they return to the Shire, but remember that Merry was
instrumental in defeating the Nazgul Chief, together
with Eowyn). Heroes can be composed of more than one
'character' so Merry and Eowyn would almost certainly
be a single figure. Heroes are often generals but they can be hidden within
ordinary units to surprise an enemy, again Merry and Eowyn
are a good example of this. Heroes in opposing units must duel if their units
meet in melee.
Each
hero is rated 1 3; this modifier can be used to bolster reaction tests of a
unit led by the hero or to improve its random dice roll in melee and their own
death check. Heroes can rally units like generals and can assume command if the
general or other command figure is killed. Heroes should be costed
as follows: level 1 hero, 50 points; level 2, 75 points; level 3, 100 points.
Reduce costs by 25 points if the hero is also a general paid for by the usual
rules eg a level 1 hero costs 50 points, a
subordinate general also costs 50 points but a subordinate general who is also
a level 1 hero costs 75 points.
For
an extra 25 points, any one hero can be equipped with a specialist ability to
slay one particular class of unnatural creature. This may be due to a weapon or
other circumstances (gosh, we do keep coming back to Merry and Eowyn, don't we). If the hero meets such a creature, it
dies any turn it rolls a 1-3 on a d6, even if it kills him in the process
(which happens too often in Tolkien to list).
Heroes
need not be good guys; the Nazgul Chief should be a
level 3 hero, or perhaps that should be anti-hero.
Wizards
must be heroes but cost an additional 50 points per wizard level. A wizard can
force one enemy unit within 50 yards per wizardry level to test reaction at
minus1 per wizardry level. Gandalf and the Nazgul
Chief are both level 3 wizards, (Gandalf should be level 1 or 2 prior to his
'reincarnation'). This is an abstract way of doing magic, try something more
detailed if you prefer.