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

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Why Play Rohan

there's 2 real reasons: You like the visuals of a mounted anglo-saxon force charging into the gross hordes of evil, and if you gotta go fast. The entire army can (and should) be mostly mounted on horses, lots of decent archers, and a nice selection of models on GW's web store, they are a good starting point for a man-based good army.

Pros

• Lots of Cavalry, meaning lots of prone enemy models and a stupidly high movement across the army
• the 'expert rider' trait on all of their mounted units makes them hard to slow down and hard to throw off their mounts.
• They have one of the better army bonuses if used correctly

Cons

• You have a tendency to be outnumbered by a fair margin due to the point cost of a bunch of mounted warriors
• while you have lots of throwing weapons, those will rarely be hitting on better than a 5, so don't rely on them
• A lot of our heroes tend to be standard at best, if not worse

Unit Analysis

Heroes

• Theoden, King of Rohan: Theoden, like a lot of the Rohirrim characters, is cheap and versatile. With access to armoured horses and a respectable Defense of 7, Theoden makes for a solid choice of first hero. His only downside, however, is his average stat line, but his low point cost balances that out. The fact he can take up to 18 followers is a plus, his sword , herugrim, allows him to feint even if his enemy's fight value is higher than his. He also has a 12" inch stand fast, but only a single fate point, so he can become quite vulnerable to hard hitting enemies. But his real value is the fact that he boosts the Fight Value of a lot of your stuff (Captains of Rohan, Riders of Rohan and Rohan Royal Guard) if they charge within 12 inches of him, which could be the fight winner against a lot of human armies. Should probably be the core of your army.

• Theodred, Heir of Rohan: Much like his Father, Theodred is a prime example of Rohan's characters. Standard stat line, relatively low cost, and multiple upgrades. A hero of valour, he no longer has access to a bow, but can still take throwing spears. Like his father he only has one fate point, but due to his reckless charge rule he must always charge, so take at your own peril.

• Hama, Captain of Rohan: Hama is, interesting, to say the least. For a normal hero price you get a bog standard hero with no frills. He has no fate so wants to avoid enemy heroes, has a low fight value, and standard hero courage. What makes him interesting (and not trash) is his "King's man" ability, which lets him auto pass all courage tests if Theoden is on the board. What makes this good is his 2 might let him 'stand fast' more than once, meaning that this body guard is more of a support than an actual body guard. If you use him right, however, he can be a game changer once terror or break tests come into play.

• Eomer, Marshal of the Riddermark: Beast in close combat, with 3 attacks, 3 wounds, Fight Value 5, S4, D7 (with a shield) and 3 points of Might, Will and Fate. Also has a special rule where he goes crazy if Theoden or Eowyn die. He's not cheap though, running 125 points with Shield, Armored Horse and Throwing Spears, and doesn't give the bonus to Riders of Rohan Theoden does. Should be considered carefully.

• Eowyn, Shield Maiden of Rohan: Now you too can play with your "macbeth plot twist" but in high fantasy! at 30 points base she's one of your cheapest 'effective' heroes (more on that later), though with no base armour and only a hand weapon to speak of, she's more realistically priced at a 40 point minimum with access to throwing spears and horse. with okay M/W/F and an all around terrible stat line, she's best used as a key to unlock 12 more troop models.

• Meriadoc, Knight of the Mark: Unlike his cousin in Minas Tirith, Merry may actually have the occasional use in a list. Like Peregrin, he's a cheap 25 points base, but unlike Peregrin he has access to a shield for a nice Defense 5 and the Horn of the Riddermark, which increases the courage of all Hobbits (friend or foe) by 1. while he's nice for a hobbit list, 50 points for a hobbit hero is not cheap, so think carefully before fielding him all nice and kitted out. Just like his Cousin, he's an independent hero, so he doesn't unlock any troops.

• Gamling, Captain of Rohan: With a stat line that is nothing to write home about and no real upgrades beyond a horse, Gamling should only be brought for one reason: the Royal Standard of Rohan. At the cost of doubling your point value, you get the ability to regenerate might on all heroes near Gamling, which can be a game changer in the final fourth of a match.

• Erkengrand, Captain of Rohan: With the ability to make your riders better fighters, a suped up warhorn, and a solid fighter stat line, Erkengrand is one of the better names heroes Rohan has access to. Fast, tough, hard hitting, AND a solid support hero, he does it all for a fair price at that.

• Captain of Rohan: You standard captain with access to a little bit of everything for maximum variety. Funnily enough one of your better options when you look at the point total: 75 points for a hero that can and will rival most of your named men (and woman)

• King's Huntsman: An interesting choice. with a standard archer statline and an elf bow base for that glorious strength 3, the huntsman is already a solid hero, but he only gets better. the 'master archer' rule makes him pass any 'in the way' roll on a 2+ and gives him the ability to restore all his might whenever he shoots at a hero or monster. factor in his cheap price, and you have a solid hero for making your enemy sweat. Like a few similar characters, he's an independent hero so he doesn't unlock any troop slots in his warband.

• Eorl the Young: The founder of Rohan with a faster-than-average horse and a solid hero stat line. what really makes him different from the other Rohirrim characters is his ability to be a mini-Aragorn and not spend a might on a 4+, giving him on average, 5 might instead of 3, more if you're lucky. Note that if you take him, you can't take any other named heroes and can't ally with any other factions other than Minas Tirith (also with no named heroes).

Troops

• Rohan Outrider: better at shooting but more spooked by close combat, outriders are Rohan's ranger equivalent. They have access to horses, and get to benefit from 'stand fasts' even if they are out of range for it. They do suffer from the same problem as riders in that the bow limit severely hinders how many you could opt to bring.

• Rohan Royal Guard: passable defense, a standard stat line, access to horses, throwing spears, and the bodyguard special rule Royal guard will end up being one of, if not the most common unit in your army, though they come at the downside of being incredibly expensive fully kitted out.

• warrior of Rohan: your cheapest, but most unfortunate troop. A 'standard' human stat line, though with a lower defense these guys are intended to be your normal unit, but even at their cheap point value they are greatly out performed by most other units. They are solid if you're wanting to try and swarm your enemy or are playing a certain themed battle (because helms deep is cool), otherwise go for your other troops.

Cavalry

• Rider of Rohan: Your bread and butter unit. with access to throwing spears, and a bow and horse base, riders make for an interesting core choice, and since the faction ability of Rohan makes Riders of Rohan immune to the bow limit, you can take as many as you want.

• Son of Eorl: For six points more than a Rider of Rohan, you lose the bow, and access to Throwing Spears (and Horns/Banners, if that's important to you) but gain a point of Fight, Strength, Defense, Courage and get armor for their horse. They also lose the ability to get +1 Fight when charging near Theoden, but get +1 fight at all times when close to Eorl. They certainly fight harder, and S5 on the charge is nothing to sneeze at, but it's up to you if the increase in points is worth it.