The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game/Tactics/Arnor

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Arnor with its mustered troops.

Why Play Arnor

Because you want to play a army that has above average fight, a metric ton of spears, and its troop choices are cheap and worth the points value. Sadly, Arnor's list was split in half with the new Middle Earth rules, with them losing a metric ton of heroes and the ability to ignore the bow limit while also becoming impossible allies with virtually everyone. This doesn't make them useless, just difficult to play with.

Pros

• Above average fight meaning you will be winning most fights
• You average captain has above average fight
• Lots of spears, so you don't have to stress positioning quite as much
• You have a 1/3 chance of keeping your troops alive if you have Malbeth

Cons

• Only 3 troop choices and goblin level courage
• Only 3 heroes to choose from and 2 of them are named heroes.
• Even with a metric ton of bows, they are still only normal bows, so you will be wounding on 5-6 on everything but the softest targest.
• No mounted units
• Lacks all...No strong combat heroes, no 311 heroes, no Cavalry, no siege weapons, no Monsters/hard hitting troops, no s3 ranged weapons, magic? DO NOT PLAY THIS LIST if you want to win a tournament, but use it you like its lore or just to have fun, which I REPEAT, is it is the most important rule in the game: HAVE FUN.

Army Bonus

While within 6 of Arvedui, all friendly Arnor models automatically pass courage tests. Very helpful when your base line troops are courage 2.

Unit Analysis

Heroes

• Arvedui, Last king of Arnor: Arvedui is one of those character's who's just... okay. He has average stats except for his 3 Attack and 3 Might, but his low cost and access to Heroic Strike, Heroic Strength and Heroic Defence makes him one of those models you're going to take in pretty much every single game you play, and that's before you remember that Arnor's Army Bonus requires him to be on the field. Because of this he ends up being one of your two support Heroes, since every model within 6" of himself is Fearless (yes, including himself) so your Courage 2 Warriors will happily charge Angmar's Spirits for good old fashioned revenge, while his Stand Fast! extends to 12". Considering the abysmal Courage of everyone in your force except for Arvedui and Malbeth, this is a blessing and it means you should protect Arvedui at all costs since the second he goes, the rest of your force is likely to follow. Station him behind other models at all times to benefit from In the Way rolls, since your 1 Fate isn't likely to save him if your opponent rolls some lucky 6's, and only pull him up to the front if you absolutely need his Heroic Strike and Heroic Strength. Keep a Might Point saved for Heroic Defence as well, just in case a Monster somehow comes in close enough to get him, and a Captain of Arnor nearby to march him away from threats wouldn't go amiss. His Will Points are naturally going to be used on enemy magic, and if you're fighting a Ringwraith, save them for Black Dart. If you spend them resisting Transfix (which turns off his Stand Fast!) you don't have the right to be shocked when they spend their Might to get Black Dart off, and snipe Arvedui off the field.
  • Always use Arvedui's Stand Fast! first when your army is broken, even if you don't plan on moving him. Not only will this keep all your Warriors within 12" from running away, but since you only need to take Courage tests once per turn, this will cause them to automatically pass any other Courage tests your opponent might force upon them.
    • Do be aware that if your opponent has Priority, and they happen to be using a list with Ringwraiths such as Angmar (as a completely random example) then you should watch out for the Compel spell. Arvedui has a decent amount of Will, but its generally a bad idea to remain there while your opponent is trying to take control of Arvedui since if they succeed, they can move him away from Captains/Malbeth, and if they've used Drain Courage a few times on Malbeth, there's a good chance both of them will run away from the field. If this happens you might as well concede, and to counter this you can save a point of Might for Heroic Moves (which will cause all Heroes within 6" to auto-pass their test), as well as Heroic Combats to force your way through to try to kill the Ringwraith ASAP.
  • Always keep Arvedui by Malbeth once the main fighting starts. With only one Fate you're going to want every extra bit of durability you can get, and Gift of Foresight will likely save him from taking at least one wound.

• Malbeth the Seer: Malbeth hates the idea of close combat and has middle of the road stats, however this is more than made up for with one of the single best rules in the entire rulebook. Malbeth gives every model with the 'Arnor' keyword a 5+ save against wounds! This makes anything stationed near him a massive pain to remove, as these sorts of saves are usually reserved for heroes and the like, not your run of the mill soldiers. This is one point better than Fury and it costs nothing for it to be cast, its just automatic! Unfortunately it doesn't affect Hobbit Archers, although it probably wouldn't have saved them for more than one turn anyway. In short, Malbeth is a fantastic Hero and like Arvedui, he should be taken in every Arnor list.
  • Note that because Gift of Foresight is an active ability, there's plenty in the game that can turn it off. The most common one is Immobilise/Transfix, and if this happens you'll notice you're going to take a lot more casualties. Malbeth's Will and Heroic Resolve can prevent this for a time, but it won't last and unless you get Arvedui or a Captain within range of the Ringwraith using it (in an attempt to kill them), Malbeth could be caught in a game-ending stunlock.
  • Even though he's Courage 5, you really want to keep Malbeth within range of Arvedui. Not only does this give Arvedui his Gift of Foresight save, but Malbeth will become Fearless in turn. This is especially important if your opponent is casting Drain Courage on Malbeth, since the second Malbeth runs the rest of your army is likely to fall.

• Captain of Arnor: These guys are your standard Captains, sporting a good Fight 5, great Defence 7 and Heroic March, Captains of Arnor are going to be seen in nearly every Arnor list, and not just because you need them if you want more Warriors than what Arvedui and Malbeth can provide. Heroic March both helps models into position and away from threats, the Hatred (Angmar) lets them hit surprisingly hard against certain Evil Spirits, and their might gives them and your other characters easy access to Heroic Moves and Heroic Combats. Considering how vulnerable your force is to Ringwraiths, Heroic Combats are going to be very important if you happen to be fighting against them, since if you don't kill them they will ruin you. As for their options, don't swap the shield for the bow, Captains of Arnor are better with Defence 7 since Evil armies have no shortage of Strength 4, and Angmar armies in particular can easily field Strength 6 models.
  • If you suspect your Captains of Arnor will be out of range of Arvedui's 6" Fearless aura, always get a Hobbit with a war horn, even if they're the only Hobbit in your force. A Courage 4 Captain with 1 Will Point is far more preferable than a Courage 3 Hero, and any bonus you can get for your Courage is one you should be happy to take.

Warriors

• Warrior of Arnor: Higher fight than Warriors of Minas Tirith, with spear and shields these guys are one point cheaper than a Warrior of Minas Tirith with the same gear and have a higher chance of winning a fight. Oh, and their Defence is the same at Defence 6, though they don't have Shieldwall. Spears on everyone means they can support each other like crazy, so it's entirely your fault if you're rolling less than two dice for each Duel roll, but this unfortunately comes at the cost of having courage on par with goblins. This means you're going to need to support them with Arvedui or Malbeth when your army breaks, otherwise they'll all be running away extremely quickly.
  • A special note if you're having a battle against Angmar: despite having Fight 4 (better than Orcs) and Hatred (Angmar), the Warriors of Arnor are really bad at fighting them. The reason why is because they'll have Terror on most of their force, and if a Ringwraith is nearby you'll be taking that Terror test on Courage 1. Because of this, always get a Captain for each group of Warriors, Heroic March will help move you onto objectives as fast as possible (or away from larger groups of enemies) and you don't need to take the Terror test if your opponent is the one charging you. So long as you're preventing them from getting what they need and/or you're plinking away with your Rangers, your enemy will have to meet your spears and that's the only real way for you to get through Terror if Arvedui isn’t around, or you don't have your Army Bonus.

• Ranger of Arnor: Meet your bow limit. Not only are these guys always going to fill it out, but you're going to want as many of them in your army as possible since your Warriors of Arnor are very vulnerable to Cavalry and Monsters. They can wound unarmoured horses on 5+, and while you don't want them to take on Monsters, it's not like Arnor has many other options. In any case just remember to target enemy ranged threats first and find some cover. At Defence 4 the last thing the Rangers want is to be given return fire without In the Way rolls.
  • Given the cost of things in an Arnor list, you might want to keep at least one Captain of Arnor sitting back with your Rangers so he can use Heroic Shoot on them. Keep in mind he doesn't need a bow to do this, and Heroic Shoots will help you take out enemy ranged threats as soon as possible, as well as hamper most Cavalry. Arnor needs every advantage it can get and the sooner you lock down the board in your favour, the better.
  • To help secure dominance in the ranged game, you could consider sitting Malbeth by the Rangers while they're firing their bows, and then marching him away with a Captain once the rangers have dealt with most of the enemy's ranged assets. Not only should you be able to do this before you hit your Break Point (and before your battleline clashes with the enemy) but giving his 5+ not-Fate to all the rangers around him will ensure you not only have bows for later, but that it'll take you longer to hit your Break Point.

• Hobbit Archer: The cheapest archers in the game, and unfortunately their stats reflect this reality. Hobbit Archers are much easier to kill than Rangers (especially to Strength 3 ranged tools), have much less Movement, are far worse in the event they're caught in a fight and cannot be buffed by Malbeth's not-Fate save, however they do still have one useful utility that should be brought in every Arnor list: a war horn. Considering the general garbage Courage of Arnor troops this is a lifesaver, it'll make your Captains Courage 4 which when combined with a Will Point means you're not entirely screwed if Arvedui dies (you're only mostly screwed) and it will also make it harder for Malbeth to run away in the event your opponent uses Compel on Arvedui to move his Fearless aura away from the seer. At least one of these should be in every Arnor list, even if you hide it in the back, out of Line of Sight. As for shooting, leave that to the Rangers; they can reposition faster if they need to move, they can fight better in the event they're forced to, and their bows have an extra 6" on the Hobbits.
  • If you still want to use Hobbits instead of Rangers for some reason, then give them a Captain of Arnor. The sooner they're in position the better, and his Heroic March will help with their poor 4" Movement value. So long as you keep them near the middle of the board they should still be able to shoot some things despite the range, and the cost you save on them should allow you to increase your Bow Limit, which will let you buy even more Hobbit Archers.

Allies

None. For some reason, Arnor is impossible allies with everyone, even Gondor who fluff wise, they are allied with. Why GW decided to do this, no one knows. So if you take a army as allies, you will loose the army bonus and due to Malbeth you will be wanting to take as many of your own troops as possible. They have no historical allies, however, they can be allied by convenience with some of the factions:

Convenient Allies

Fangorn

Lothlórien

Rivendell

The Kingdom of Khazad-dûm

The Misty Mountains

Thranduil's Hall

Impossible Allies

Minas Tirith

Númenor

Rohan

The Dead of Dunharrow

The Fellowship

The Fiefdoms

The Shire

The Wanderers in the Wild

The Rangers

Wildmen of Druádan

Thorin's Company

Radagast's Alliance

Army of Thrór

Garrison of Dale

The White Council

Army of Laketown

Survivors of Laketown

Iron Hills Dwarves

Erebor Reclaimed

Building your Army

Arvedui defending the ruined palace of Fornost, against the foulness of Angmar.

Arnors heroes and troops are back! After years of not being on the GW online store they have returned so grab them while you can! However, Warriors of Arnor are nearly $25 for three of them, so few people will complain if you grab a box of Warriors of Minas Tirith and convert them. Rangers are available as always. For a 800 point match though, you will be bring to the field nearly 50 troops (2/3 of which will be metal so have a good carry case ready). If you don't want to spend $25 for 4 hobbit archers, go scour eBay or one of the many buy/swap/sell pages on FB. There are plenty of Fellowship hobbits for sale, usually for $3-$5 each and in various states of disrepair. Using the useless bows and quivers chopped off from your Warriors of Minas Tirith who have been converted into Warriors of Arnor, you can quickly convert quite a few hobbit archers who actually look like they have had to march across fields and through inhospitable places, not like they've just popped nextdoor for tea and have suddenly come under attack.

Tactics

Arnor isn't really the most complex army to get an understanding of. You'll be keeping your troops close to Melbeth and the King to ensure you can exploit their special rules. A thing to remember is that there is no order which you have to move models, just once you have finished moving them you can't move them again. So when it comes to charging terror units and your line is long, move the ones closest to the king first, then move the king down the line so everyone else is in range, and move them out. You will want to be careful with Malbeths positioning due to the 5+ save he gives out. Don't be afraid to have him close to a enemy hero in combat with one or two Warriors of Arnor. The 5+ save can end a heroic combat much to the annoyance of your opponent.

One of the best tactics is to literally sit back and shoot as much as you can. That's it. Hide your rangers in the terrain so there are in the way check rolls to hit them with shooting and turn your enemy into a pin cushion. You're greater numbers should allow you to create one or 2 large battlelines supported by a hero or two with a couple of banners between them. Sit back, shoot the enemy's flank to pieces and then flank your enemy with your two battlelines. With some cunning maneuvering and skill you should be able to maximize Malbeths special rule keeping you in the fight while you don't need to stress position of your troops too much due to the number of spears that you will have.

A great army to play if you are a beginner or if you don't want to worry too much about tactics. However the price of models is a major turn-off for playing this army (36 Warriors of Arnor will cost you around $250 depending on where you are)

Example Armies

• 39 models, 500 points
  • Arvedui, 80 pts
  • Malbeth the Seer, 70 pts
  • Captain of Arnor, 55 pts
  • Warrior of Arnor with Banner, 33 pts
  • 23 Warriors of Arnor, 184 pts
  • 6 Rangers of Arnor, 48 pts
  • 6 Hobbit Archers, 30 pts