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

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Why Play Lothlorien?

Pros

• Amazing shooting no matter which theme you go for
• Solid close combat, assuming you win the duel roll
• One of the most cost effective spell casters in the game
• Reasonably diverse warrior list

Cons

• Low defense if you're going pure wood elves
• Traditional Elvish high point cost
• No named mounted Heroes

Army Bonus

They Say a Great Sorceress Lives in These Woods: Resistant to Magic across your entire army. Fantastic against some armies, useless against others.

Unit Analysis

like the high elves, wood elves carry elven blades, which count as both a normal weapon and 2 handed weapon (assuming you don't hold a shield). Additionally, Wood elves tend to carry wood elf spears, which act just like normal spears, but give you the ability to use the shielding rule, with or without a shield. wood elves, more than most any other faction, have access to elven cloaks, with make you invisible, meaning you cannot be shot, spelled at, or charged from any distance greater than 6" Another thing most all elves have in common is the 'woodland creature' rule which, depending on the local boards, can be a huge boon when it comes to moving through trees and woods.

Heroes

• Galadriel: With a normal caster stat line, sans 3 M/F and 6(!) will Galadriel is a caster that's irritating to deal with to say the least. Much like other major casters, Galadriel gets to spend 1 will free per turn, and, thanks to her ring of power, can reroll her fate dice making her that much more annoying to kill, despite her paltry defense 3. For a few extra points, you can lug her mirror to the field, which gives you the ability to restore any good hero within a few inches of the mirror's fate back to it's starting value, making whoever is nearby infinitely more irritating to finish off. Her real value is that spell casting, which allows you to sideline or paralyze an important enemy hero each turn more or less effortlessly, which can really screw with your opponent. Plus you can theoretically use her to control an enemy Mumak, which is terrifying to think about.

She's also your only hero of Legend meaning she'll have to be your armies Leader (so much for joint lordship of Lothlorien eh Celeborn?), unfortunately with only 1 unarmed, strength three attack the chances of her killing enemies is pretty low meaning some scenarios are going to be impossible to win.

• Celeborn: Celeborn when fully kitted out is a melee monster with a lot of M/W/F and the ability to sling spells. On top of his own prowess, he unlocks the ability to upgrade galadhrim warriors and knights to have higher courage AND knows the aura of command and Immobilise spells, making him a great buff machine and excellent at sniping high fight/attack monsters and heroes. Trouble is he only has three will points so he's not worth taking for spells alone (especially compared to Galadriel) and to use him in combat you have going to have pay extra for his sword armour and shield.
• Haldir: The two versions of Haldir have been combined into one model, for the same price. Gets the double shot ability, the ability to punch the dudes who killed him one last time, the weird bonus if he's within 12 of Theoden or Aragorn, and all the options (Armor and Elf Bow are what you want), plus solid stats and 3 might, 1 will and 1 fate. He can't Heroic March like a Galadhrim Captain, but he can use Heroic Accuracy, Strike and Strength. Being able to double tap with bow shots is useful, and he's only 10 points than a Galadrim Captain with the same loadout, for all his special abilities, plus a point of Might. Worth taking.Haldir, like his brother below, is a standard elf captain, but instead of being able to take a spear, he gets the ability to fire his bow twice per turn. All in all a solid choice of Hero if you're looking for a named hero to bring instead of the generic captain

• Rumil: Rumil has a standard statline for an elf hero for only marginally more than a captain. What really makes him stand out is the fact that he forces enemy models fighting him to reroll 1 dice in their duel roll, making him irritatingly hard to hit.

• Wood Elf Captain: Though softer than the other elf captains, the wood elf captain makes up for it in variety of ranged weapons, and the ability to take an elven cloak to make him harder to deal with until someone gets close to him.

• Galadhrim Stormcaller: Pound for pound identical to his high elf cousin. he has theoretically unlimited will (as on any 6 during a casting attempt, he counts as not having spent any will at all). with a support spell and a "move enemy models" spell, he is a good supporting hero, so long as you keep him out of close combat.

• Galadhrim Captain: Just like the other captains, he is the baseline for the rest of the faction. with access to Defense 7, a high fight, and solid choice of wargear, he is not someone to treat at lightly you would captains of other races. all in all a solid choice on his own merits, but misses out on the increased Might and special rules of Haldir/Rumil, so should only really be considered if you need a horse mounted character (as he's the only Lothlorien character with access to a mount) or if you already have both Haldir and Rumil (in which case you might want to take a look at Celeborn or Galadriel).

Troops

• Wood Elf Warrior: The squishy elves we all know and love from D&D. with access to multiple shooting weapons, elven cloaks for durrability, and better spears than other races, these guys make great second-line infantry as well as wonderful skirmishing units due to the cloak buffs. It is important to note that going all out with throwing knives and bows makes these guys extremely expensive, so gear wisely.

• Galadhrim Warrior: your better front line elf infantry. with elf-standard defense 5, and the normal elf equipment they are a solid core troop. they should avoid spears (the wood elves like them more) unless you're running a pure Galadhrim force, but overall good for their rather high point cost.

• Wood Elf Sentinel: Wood Elves with an extra attack and the ability to sing a song which buffs/debuffs nearby models. While their rules are amazing, their incredibly high cost of 25 points makes them not auto includes in lower point levels, but a unit that should really be considered for high point games.

• Guard of the Galadhrim Court: Gal. Warriors with pikes and heavy armour, with a hero level fight 6. These guys are amazing front line fighters, but even better second and third line supporting infantry to bestow that Fight 6 onto any allies or regular warriors infront of them, forcing even named heroes like Aragorn and Imrahil to use Heroic Strikes to be sure of winning fights with basic infantry. In addition to all of this, like wood elves, their pikes allow them to use the shielding rule, just incase they get flanked or dive into something too big.

Cavalry

• Galadhrim Knight: Faster Galadhrim warriors on faster-than-normal horses. Though they lack lance options, giving them an elf bow and upgrading them to guards through Celeborn means you have guys who can move 6" a turn and still shoot (albeit hitting on on 4's), meaning you can keep moving all game shooting and never be caught by basic infantry.

Allies

Historical Allies

The Fellowship: Primarily useful if you want to grab a specific hero (read: Aragorn) without losing your allegiance ability. So if you want to take Aragorn, here is the way to do it.

Rivendell: Galadhrim Warriors and High Elf Warriors are exactly identical, as are your Stormcallers and High Elf vs. Galadhrim Captains (except Galadrhim Captains have Fleetfoot). Rivendell has much much better cavalry but you have a wider variety of infantry available, so a Warband filled with Rivendell Knights led by a powerful hero is definitely an option, but don't take them for their infantry.

Rohan: You have great magic and fantastic infantry, but underwhelming cavalry. Rohan has fantastic cavalry but no magic and underwhelming infantry. Theoden can lead a small group of Cavalry to form the spearhead of your attack.

Convenient Allies

Arnor

Minas Tirith

The Dead of Dunharrow

Numenor

The Kingdom of Khazad-Dum

The Fiefdoms

The Shire

The Misty Mountains

The Wanderers in the Wild

Fangorn

Thorin's Company

Radagast's Alliance

Army of Thror

Garrison of Dale

The White Council

Thranduil's Hall

Army of Laketown

Survivors of Laketown

Iron Hills Dwarves

Erebor Reclaimed