Aragorn (best)
3 Attacks, tick. Solid all-around stats, tick. Capacity to
pick up useful equipment later in the campaign, tick. Free Might point per turn
to spend on Heroic Marches, Moves or Combats, or just on boosting duel rolls, TICK
TICK TICK! Aragorn is a lot of points for his raw stats, and he’s not as
dangerous in combat as some cheaper models, but the ability to keep the
Fellowship moving every single turn is amazing. March makes a huge difference
in Moria and beyond, free Heroic Combats help him pull double weight as a Saviour,
and even just turtling with a free Might point for duel or Wound rolls is
amazing. He won’t always fit into a Fellowship, but he’s exceptional when he
does.
Gandalf (worst)
Sadly, Gandalf isn’t quite as impressive. Yes, he gets a free Will every turn, which is useful over a long campaign. Yes, he gets some useful campaign bonuses like Shadowfax. And yes, he can regenerate resources with Strengthen Will. But ultimately, you just don’t care about much of this. He’s a deadweight in combat, he’s extremely expensive, and he has a critical absence of spells you really want from him. Boosting the Will points or magical resistance of models is basically irrelevant, Blinding Light requires a Might point expenditure to make permanent, and Immobilise and Command are irrelevant in most games. Sorcerous Blast is useful, but casting on a 5+ means you’ll need to spend valuable Heroic resources to get it off reliably. Similarly, Channelled Collapse Rocks can be powerful, but it’s going to cost you a lot to use it. Over a long campaign, having your two most useful spells requiring extensive resource expenditure is not a good position to be in. I think Gandalf is easily the worst of the Wizard equivalent models available, unfortunately. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take him, but make sure you fit in some useful models to back him up or you might find yourself struggling to compete.
Radagast (best)
I included Radagast in my first Fellowship in the hopes that
he would balance out the inclusion of some truly brutal heroes. That, uh,
didn’t work. This guy is amazing. He brings good stats, including an extra
Attack from Sebastien that combos with a White (Lighter-Brown) transformation,
and has an extraordinary spell suite. As covered last week, Aura of Dismay is
absurdly over the top in Fantasy Fellowship, and being able to Renew anyone who
does get hurt is similarly busted. He still has no-LoS Immobilise to harass
Trolls, and when none of the above need casting? He can Knockdown anyone within
3”, keeping your models safe and doubling your damage output in one! Despite
his more limited spell suite relative to Gandalf, literally everything except
Panic Steed is better than what the Grey Pilgrim is bringing. So if you take
Radagast, make sure that the rest of your Fellowship is powered down a lot,
because he is absolutely bonkers.
Círdan and Galadriel (with Mirror and a Burly companion) can
perform as off-brand Radagast alternatives, with the latter bringing
regeneration and the former bringing Aura of Dismay. Both are worse, but still
very strong, and Círdan at least is a full 75 points cheaper.
Sam (worst)
Sorry master Gamgee, you’re just not that great at your job.
Sam is a delightful character, and he’s not atrocious, but he has absolutely
appalling stats for his cost. Moreover, his unique special rule is one that
doesn’t come up as often as you’d expect because of the harsh conditions on it.
Firstly, Frodo has to be in combat nearby, which is something that hopefully
only happens once or twice a game. Secondly, Sam has to be in combat with
something he can kill, or in a combat that also includes a powerful hero that
can do the killing for him. There is almost nothing that Sam can kill with any
degree of reliability, at least not until Cirith Ungol, and being in a 2:1 combat
including a big hero requires you to somehow have a numerical advantage over
the enemy in this area. That’s not impossible, but it’s certainly against the
run of most Fellowship scenarios. And if you do have a numerical edge, why is
Frodo in combat? Thirdly, you have to actually succeed in killing the enemy,
and then have room to move into Frodo’s fight (or a viable second combat for
the hero you’re tag-teaming with). In closely packed combat, getting this room
is often very hard, so you’ll probably end up just moving as close as possible
to him instead. That’s not necessarily useless, but it also doesn’t necessarily
accomplish anything.
Overall, Sam’s unique special rule just has a few too many
conditions to be consistently useful, and he really doesn’t bring anything else
to the table. He’s obviously great for theme, but don’t be surprised if you end
up with some rough encounters on the way to Mount Doom.
Dori (best)
In contrast, Dori is absurdly good. Being able to stick a F5
A3 hero into your Companion slot is absolutely bonkers, and there is no
scenario in which he’s not amazing. He’s a little less Resistant to Magic than
the Hobbits, true, but he’s also incredibly reliable at killing
Ringwraiths. In my first campaign, Dori earned the moniker Wraithbane
for banishing no less than 6 Ringwraiths across all games. There’s not much
more to say about Dori, except that he almost singlehandedly makes Young Bilbo
the best Ringbearer. Being able to swing Heroic stats over to Bilbo is also
unexpectedly useful, and can really pay off atop Mount Doom in particular.
Farmer Maggot (best)
The only alternative to halfway compete with Dori, Maggot
brings a lot to the table. Well, he brings 3 Dogs, and that’s all he really needs to
bring. Being forced to go two-handed with his pick is pretty annoying, and
makes him a potential Damsel model, but having three Dogs to throw in front of
scary enemies and block gaps in your line is amazing. They move fast, they come
back on a 2+ if they get killed (or automatically if you won the scenario!),
and they’re absurdly brave for those initial Ringwraith missions. Even their
fragility is an advantage, as it incentivises your opponent to slaughter them
instead of attacking your actual character models. Plus, Maggot has two
Attacks, which makes him already better than Sam.
Basically any other Hobbit (worst)
Sadly, the other Hobbit heroes just aren’t very good. In
Matched Play they make up for this by surrounding themselves with dozens of
friends, but that isn’t possible here. You can certainly bring them along, and
it’s often a really good way to balance out your stronger models with some
ready-made Damsels. But there is no denying that they can’t compete with the
alternatives, even within the 50-point limitations. As we’ll cover a bit below,
Thorin’s Company is packed full of excellent 40 to 50-point alternatives, and
even a Fellowship eschewing Hobbit-era models can look to Rohan
or Gondor for better options. Éowyn, Haleth, Aldor, Beregond, Denethor and
several of the minor Rangers of Ithilien characters are all better options than
the Hobbits. They move faster, they’re almost always tougher, and they’re
better equipped to fend off an enemy for a few turns. Arguably the only
exception is the Rohan version of Merry, whose capacity to hide behind a shield
can be invaluable. Even then, however, Éowyn is clearly much better at the
role, so it’s a very meagre justification. Field some Hobbits, but remember
that the rest of your team needs to compensate for them. And if you field
non-Hobbits, make sure there’s still someone for your Saviours to save.
Bifur and Bofur (best)
If you're looking to really optimise your Fellowship, these two make the ultimate
Merry and Pippin replacements. They are both surprisingly durable, with
multiple Wounds, Fate, and non-Hobbit Defence, and Bombur can be an absolute
rock with Heroic Defence. They are quite dangerous for 45-point models, with 2
Attacks, F4 and S4, and Bifur even brings a spear for when that’s relevant. But
it’s their special rules where they absolutely shine. Bombur’s capacity to keep
your Hobbits’ Will stores topped up in the early missions is excellent, and he
then gets to transition to boosting your Guide’s spellcasting once you reach
Rivendell. It’s particularly useful in the last few missions, where they are
often devoid of their Staff of Power and reliant on him to keep them casting.
Bifur, on the other hand, gives you nothing until you get his axehead out. In
my campaign, that took until the Warg Attack to accomplish, but once it was gone
he was incredible. Free Heroic Moves are brilliant on Aragorn, let alone on a
45-point Hobbit swap. It means you get to decide who’s moving first basically
every turn of every game, as your opponent won’t want to spend Might contesting
your free Moves. These two alone bring so much to a Fellowship that I really
advise you to be careful about including them; make sure your Saviours aren’t
too powerful, because they won’t need to do much saving.
The other 40- to 50-point Thorin’s company models are also reasonably strong. Óin brings healing and banner rerolls, both very strong (although note that he can't move when healing), and he comboes well with Bombur. Ori is okay, although he only grants Might back to Thorin’s Company models and he won’t get many shots off with his slingshot. Bofur is good at Resisting magic, which can come in handy, but is stuck going two-handed. And Fili and Kili are F5 A2, which is very generically solid, especially against Ringwraiths. No matter who you bring, remember to take into account the boost you get from not having Hobbits to save.
Glóin (best)
Speaking of Hobbit-era Dwarves , Glóin is especially unstoppable, especially in his Champion of Erebor form. 3 Attacks at F6 is amazing for 90 points, he’s extremely durable with D8, and he hits absurdly hard with a Master-Forged axe and rerolling ones to Wound. He doesn’t really look like much, but this guy puts his son to absolute shame. Once he gets his weird gift from Galadriel, he becomes an absolute nightmare to take on.
Champions of Erebor Nori and Dori are also pretty incredible value if you're not fielding them from Thorin's Company already, and Thorin is amazing with his free Heroic Combats every turn. Dwalin is obviously great too, but he's surprisingly overshadowed by these last few characters.
Faramir (worst)
Faramir, Haldir, Erestor and a whole bunch of other similar heroes
fall into an unhappy medium: they’re relatively expensive, taking one of your 4
Saviour slots, but they lack the offensive power to really pull off the role.
A2 just sucks in Fantasy Fellowship, and the often-excellent Fight value and
Heroic stats of these models just don’t make up for it. Erestor and Haldir at
least bring some ranged prowess, but Faramir just doesn’t offer anything you’re
interested in. If you’re taking these guys, you probably want to trade up some
of your Hobbits.
Thandruil (best)
Now, Thandruil has a lot of disadvantages at first glance.
He’s only D4, which we’ve mentioned as a serious impediment. He normally relies
on his auric buffs to bring value to an army list, and you won’t get any
benefit from his Army Bonus here. And he can be a lot of points if you fully
load him up, which is annoying for a model with no bonuses to Wound. So what
does he have?
The answer lies in his two upgrade options. The most
essential of these are the twin swords, which elevate him from a character who
doesn’t need saving too often into one who can take on any foe and win. F7 A4
is absolutely bonkers, and he’s often at least A5. Plus, your opponent won’t
want to swarm him, effectively adding a lot to his durability. His Circlet is
also excellent, because free casts are amazing and both of those spells are
very powerful in Fantasy Fellowship. Aura of Dismay in particular, as we noted
last week, can make for some very imbalanced games. For this reason I normally
only field him with the swords, but a weaker Fellowship could rely on the
Circlet to offset their lack of punch. Either way, Thandruil is a relatively
inexpensive and phenomenally deadly model. Plus, if you make him your Aragorn, he gets Anduril at the Black Gate. F7 A4-5 with the best weapon in the
game? Where’s that Troll Chieftain, I think a rematch is in order.
Treebeard (worst)
Treebeard, like Béorn and
the other Ents, suffers from three key issues: he is ridiculously expensive; he
doesn’t do anything that cheaper heroes don’t do equally well; and he is
absolutely enormous. Even someone as cheap as Glóin is likely to do an
equivalent job of killing Goblins and the like for literally half the price,
while that enormous base makes Treebeard hard to integrate into a defensive
circle. When you compare the utility that you get from heroes like Aragorn,
these big monsters really don’t stand a chance.
Obviously, I could go on for hours, listing the characters
that can elevate or tone-down a Fellowship. Overall though, the most important
thing is to look at the models you’re bringing and ask where they fall on the
Saviour/Damsel divide. A Damsel like Radagast or Círdan can still be powering
up your Fellowship enormously, but generally speaking you won’t go too far
wrong if you fall back on that distinction.
Next week I’ll be back with my final article on this
discussion (for the moment), this time listing a number of example Fellowships
and analysing whether they’re likely to romp unhindered to Mount Doom or get
slaughtered by the first Wargs they meet.
Until then, may your Fellowship always be fun to play!
Comments
Post a Comment