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

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Why Play The Rangers

The ranger is your favorite class in D&D and you want to keep the legacy of Arnor alive. You loved the scene during the books where the Grey Company came to help Aragorn during the battle of Pelennor Fields.

Pros

• Ranged: Your entire army can field bows since heroes do not count towards the bow limit
• Reconnaissance: Since majority of your army is Independent Heroes that leads to a lot of one drops where you can see what your opponent is placing first before you deploy your war band
• Heroes: While your Rangers of the North and Dunedain can fight independently your real strength is your heroes with access to Aragorn, Halbarad and Arathorn as well as one of the best banners in the game
• Allies: Your historical allies are The Shire and the Dead of Dunharrow are armies that can cover your weaknesses excellently

Cons

• Numbers: Since you are an army made up of entirely heroes, while not Thorin's Company, Fellowship or White Council level of elite you will be outnumbered in games against cheaper factions
• Models: Most of your models with exception to Aragorn are old metal fincast, but there is a way around this
• Durability: Even though your army is entirely heroes your Rangers of the North and Dunedain are quite squishy for there point cost with only one might, fate, and will each
• No Magic: Other than your allies you yourself can not field magic

Army Bonus

• The army bonus provides Woodland Creature to all models in this army, Rangers of the North and Dunedain benefit from the stand fast of Arathorn, Halbarad, and Aragorn, and all Rangers/Dunedain get 2 attacks having the infantry keyword.

Unit Analysis

• Arathorn: Arathorn is great choice in lower point games where you can't afford Aragorn or as a means to maximize your numbers. Low defense and 1 fate, don't expect him to move mountains. He does have heroic strike, 3A, & 3M for taking on enemy heroes.
• Aragorn:
• Halbarad: An excellent choice, Halbarad provides a 6 inch banner that makes you fearless. The re-rolls are indispensable for this army since your Rangers & Dunedain will die if they lose a fight. His downside is low D and and only 2 wounds and 1 fate. Be careful to keep him out of combats he can't win.
• Dunedain Rangers:
• Rangers of the NorthRangers are almost always worth the extra points over Dunedain. The +1 defense means they are being wounded by S2 bows on 6s instead of 5s and they are being wounded by S4 on 5s instead of 4s. There are a lot of S2 bows in the game and there are a lot of S4 warriors in the game.

Tactics

Key Tactics

• The army bonus is strong and you need to retain it. That leaves three ways of playing this army: a) Pure, b) allied with The Shire, or c) allied with Dead of Dunharrow, who are historical allies. The latter does limit your list building since you must take the King of the Dead and Aragorn.

• Heroic Accuracy: All of the models in this list have heroic accuracy. This can be used to snipe enemy characters. It’s best used on Aragorn with his free point of might. Otherwise, use on Arathorn/Halbarad. The Rangers and Dunedain will desperately need their might while in combat and you should generally refrain from spending their might on shooting.

• Heroic Combats: Because all models in this army list have might, you are able to stack heroic combats to increase your killing potential and gain extra movement for key positioning during the fight phase. This is how you will prevent yourself from being surrounded.

Benefits of The Shire as Historical Allies

1) Gandalf (Hero of Valour). He's brilliant for his ability to cast blinding light to prevent your squishy Rangers/Dunedain from being massacred by armies with moderate numbers of bow wielding models. If you have Aragorn, Protection of the Valar will be useful to keep Aragorn from being shut down by enemy magic, transfix can help shut down powerful enemy heroes, compel can help set up multi charges on key targets, and sorcerous blast will send enemy heroes off their mounts to reduce their damage output.

2) Farmer Maggot: For scenarios that require movement (e.g., Reconnoiter), the three hounds with 8" movement can be very useful, especially since mounting your Rangers of the North comes at the expense of the +1A from the army bonus.