All-hero LLs don't have to be an awful play experience: here's how to fix them, with Thorin's Company

Some delightful members of the Company from Louis Vanhecke

In today’s article we’re engaging in some shameless wishlisting, with a fun Thorin’s Company Legendary Legion idea. As part of that, we’re exploring exactly what has worked (and more importantly, what hasn’t) for the previous all-hero Legendary Legions, and stepping through the general steps involved in designing a Legendary Legion.

How to design a Legendary Legion

Unfortunately, these guys are a great example of what not to do when designing these Legions

From a balance perspective, Legendary Legions basically operate from the simple premise that you give up unit options (and thus, a degree of listbuilding flexibility) and then get compensated for that loss of options with some useful special rules. The power of those rules should be proportionate to how restrictive the unit options are, in terms of preventing you from making an otherwise-competitive list. That last point is critical: imagine a Legendary Legion that was just the Angmar faction, but without Shamans, Cave Trolls, Burdur, Warg Chieftains, Shades, the Dwimmerlâik or the Tainted. It’s theoretically giving up heaps of options, but realistically it still has access to all the tools it needs to make a competitive list, and any bonuses would need to be pretty minimal (at least relative to the excellent Angmar army bonus). The classic non-hypothetical example is Riders of Théoden, which realistically is just how you’d play vanilla Rohan anyway (minus Théodred, RIP). That’s not great design, and can be contrasted with something like Pits of Dol Guldur where you give up important options in exchange for useful buffs.

Let's be honest, you're not running mounted Rohan without fielding this Legion

For all-hero armies, this all translates into a requirement for strong bonuses because the base army is pretty awful. Unmounted White Council, Fellowship or (in this case) Thorin’s Company make for some of the weakest armies you could possibly field, so they need some powerful bonuses to produce a balanced Legion.

However, this does introduce a new risk that’s largely not present with ‘normal’ Legendary Legions: creating bonuses that just feel bad to play against. This was the fundamental issue with the Vanquishers pre-nerf (and, to a lesser extent, is still their problem): the army was relatively balanced, but just wasn’t fun to face. This is possible for other Legions (and the Beornings probably do fall into this trap), but it’s much more of a risk for skew Legions that are relying on powerful bonuses to lift them up from a weak starting point.

 

The good, the bad and the extra bad

With 5 all-hero Legions in the wild– plus the Beornings as a pseudo-all-hero Legion to boot– we have a few data points available to us for what kinds of rules work well for all-hero Legions and which produce negative play experiences.

Starting with rules that work well, we have:

-        Rules that support spreading out. By default, all-hero lists want to clump up to avoid their opponent being able to swamp and overwhelm them. This makes them hard to grind through, but also makes for boring games that are often decided on objectives without either player really doing anything. The Breaking of the Fellowship’s banner reroll for any other member within 3”, on the other hand, allows the Fellowship to spread out more, sending little pairs or trios off to objectives and key locations.

My Fellowship spreading out to hold back the Gondorians

-        Free Heroics. Heroic actions are fun, and getting to call lots of them is fun. It’s also less prone to feeling game-breaking, because opponents are always planning around you calling Heroics anyway. It helps all-hero lists leverage their strength, without doing anything especially unique or hard to shut down.

-        Rules that speed up the game. All-hero Legions are at their absolute worst when they’re slowly grinding through the enemy over several hours. Watching a Vanquishers list walk through wave after wave of helpless opponents isn’t fun for anyone. On the other hand, when heroes get to carve rapidly through enemy lines without becoming any harder to kill then it’s much easier to feel good about how the game is progressing. For all the faults of the Black Riders, the fact that they’re so front-loaded means that things happen quickly. You might suffer devastating damage early, but you often then rapidly take out or dismount several Wraiths. The Breaking of the Fellowship, on the other hand, is generally a slow grind for all involved.

-        Rules that give the Legion reach. Breaking of the Fellowship is also miserable to play with because you can’t affect enemies beyond the immediate front rank of dudes you’re fighting. Magic fixes this for some Legions, while lots of Heroic Combats or Brutal Power Attacks fix it for others. In general, it just doesn’t feel good to get pinned in without real ways to impact the game, and reach goes a long way to mitigating this risk.

Say one thing for these guys, say that they can definitely affect enemies behind the battleline (52 Weeks 52 Games)

-        Unique rules for each hero. Legolas getting a cool new bow while Gimli is inspired by Galadriel’s hairs is just fun. Elrond getting free Heroic Strikes while Saruman casts twice per turn is extremely cool. Anything that leans into the feeling that this is a group of powerful and unique individuals goes a long way to capturing the feel of all-hero Legions.

Some stunning Fellowship models, all showing off their cool Legion-specific wargear (u/Sarges)

On the other hand, some rules are naturally prone to producing feels-bad moments. These include:

-        Big durability boosts. I’ve taken the Vanquishers to two tournaments, and never lost a model. Similarly, Grimbeorn and Beorn are nearly indestructible (even post-FAQ), and tend to laugh off opponents’ best efforts to take them out. When you stack up durability buffs and/or healing on already-powerful models, you run the risk of opponents never actually being able to kill them. That, you may be surprised to hear, is not enjoyable.

-        Tools that shut down enemy agency. When the Black Riders roll up to your C2-4 warriors, charging ends up feeling like a special treat that you occasionally get to do. Similarly, the Vanquishers can shut down warriors with Channelled Terrifying Aura, and then shut down heroes by casting into them even after moving second. For these two Legions in particular, getting to actually kill enemies can feel like it depends on your opponent making mistakes rather than you doing anything positive to set it up. Even the free Fortify Spirit on everyone in Breaking of the Fellowship (or the many, many anti-magic rules in the Vanquishers) can feel pretty awful to play against if you invested heavily in magic. Players want to use their toys, and when a Legion shuts that down it feels bad.

-        Rules that incentivise clumping up. The Vanquishers have approximately one million special rules that key off being within 3” of everyone else, so that’s exactly how they fight: as one little ball of death. That means that they do excellently in missions where they can stay clumped up (killing scenarios, generally) and really suffer when they have to spread out for objectives. This is a huge issue from a game balance perspective, because when an army does much better in some scenarios than others it’s impossible to have them be balanced in both. Put another way, if the Vanquishers win 90% of killing games and 30% of objective games then it’s nearly impossible to nerf them without making them auto-lose Domination and nearly impossible to buff them without making them even more insane in Lords of Battle. In general, rules that incentivise clumping make the game more likely to be decided by which scenario gets drawn.

My Vanquishers hide in a clump and whittle down the Orcs and Trolls in Contest of Champions

Putting it into practice: Across the Misty Mountains

Participants

Thorin Oakenshield (can take Orcrist and/or the Oakenshield)                     100

Dwalin the Dwarf                       95

Balin the Dwarf                40

Fíli the Dwarf                                   50

Kíli the Dwarf                                   50

Bifur the Dwarf                 45

Bofur the Dwarf               45

Bombur the Dwarf                          45

Ori the Dwarf                                   40

Nori the Dwarf                                55

Dori the Dwarf                                 55

Òin the Dwarf                                  45

Glòin the Dwarf                85

Gandalf the Grey                             170

Bilbo Baggins with Sting     30

(Apologies for the formatting of the pricing here; it frustrates my perfectionism to no end, but Blogger is endlessly frustrating)

Additional Rules

Thorin Oakenshield must be taken and must be the Army Leader.

All models must deploy in one warband led by Thorin Oakenshield.

 

Special Rules

Company of Friends

All models in this Legendary Legion count as within range of a banner when within 3” of another friendly model from this Legendary Legion.

There is one I could follow

Thorin Oakenshield gains access to Heroic March. Additionally, Thorin Oakenshield and Balin the Dwarf may each select one friendly model within 3” of them at the start of the Combat Phase. Those models may declare a Heroic Combat this turn without expending any Might.

Combat coordination

While in base contact with each other, Fíli the Dwarf and Kíli the Dwarf may support each other’s combats as if they were equipped with a spear. They may do so even while themselves engaged in combat, although not if they are both engaged in combat with the same enemy model.

Strongest of the Company

If Dwalin the Dwarf is within 3” of Balin the Dwarf and opts to use the Bash special strike, then he may also make one strike against the same enemy. Note that this is doubled to two strikes as normal if the Bash is successful (and/or the enemy is otherwise trapped).

Sturdy and steadfast

Bombur the Dwarf counts as three models at the end of the game for the purposes of determining control of objectives, determining the number of models within certain areas of the board, or determining how many models have made it off a board edge.

Fierce fighter

While Bifur the Dwarf is spear-supporting Bombur the Dwarf or Bofur the Dwarf, he may roll two dice instead of one.

Encouraging words

If Bofur the Dwarf is within 3” of Bombur the Dwarf or Bifur the Dwarf at the end of the Priority phase, he may select one friendly model within 3” to receive the benefits of his Boundless Optimism special rule until the end of the turn.

Protective brother

Once per turn, one of Nori the Dwarf, Ori the Dwarf or Bilbo Baggins may expend a Might point to adjust a dice roll in combat for free, as long as they are within 3” of Dori the Dwarf when doing so.

Weapon expert

While within 3” of Dori the Dwarf or Ori the Dwarf, Nori the Dwarf may reroll one duel roll and one roll to wound per combat.

Lucky shot

While within 3” of Nori the Dwarf or Dori the Dwarf, Ori the Dwarf counts as having remained stationary in the Shooting Phase. This effect does not apply if he moved more than half his Move value in the preceding Movement Phase.

Wisdom and portents

Friendly models within 3” of Óin the Dwarf at the end of the game count as being a number of models equal to their remaining Wounds for the purposes of determining control of objectives and determining the number of models within certain areas of the board.

Deadly warrior

While within 3” of Óin the Dwarf, Glóin the Dwarf may reroll all failed to-Wound rolls when making strikes.

Quick to anger

Gandalf the Grey treats his Attacks characteristic as equal to his remaining Wounds.

Natural burglar

Bilbo Baggins receives the Stalk Unseen rule. Additionally, this rule limits visibility to a maximum distance of 4” instead of 6” when Bilbo Baggins is partially obscured by a terrain feature. Note that Bilbo Baggins cannot purchase the One Ring in this Legendary Legion. 

Another beautiful Thorin's Company from Swords and Brushes 

Designer's Notes

This Legion functions around small family groupings of Dwarves, with most of the Company getting powered up when near their brothers.

Thorin and Balin are two exceptions to this, each able to boost any other Company member to get some dynamic Heroic Combats happening. Leveraging these abilities will be key to making the most of the rest of the Company.

Dwalin, Glóin and Nori all get simple damage buffs when near their siblings, with Dwalin’s being particularly interesting when combined with another hero: knock the enemy down and beat them up, then your second hero piles on with doubled strikes.

Fíli and Kíli get to become pseudo-A3 heroes in this Legion if they stick together, while Gandalf gets to experience the highs of three Attacks outside of the Vanquishers. Ori becomes a lot more flexible with his slingshot, while Dori provides a noticeable reliability boost to any of the Companions he’s taken under his wing.

That leaves four ‘utility’ Dwarves, starting with Bofur and his powerful (but very limited) magic defence. Bifur is as good at calling free Heroic Moves as ever, but also gets to provide a noticeable damage boost from the rear rank with his boat-spear. Finally, Óin and Bombur give the list some answers to objective missions, helping to potentially flip the scoring in the lategame.  

Last of all is Bilbo Baggins, who canonically doesn’t have the Ring while the Company is together in Goblintown. Given that his profile is entirely balanced around access to the Ring, I decided to cut his points in half and make him extra-sneaky, giving him a niche as the cheapest backfield holder and source of Heroic resources. He’s the worst fighter in the Company, but that’s a lot more acceptable at 30 points than 60.

 

Avoiding the Legion-design traps

Thorin's Company getting ready to chew through some poor Hunter Orcs 

The rules here hopefully fit in with the guidelines I suggested for all-hero Legendary Legions.

Firstly, every buff that gets handed out in this Legion is to an individual model, so players won’t get compounding bonuses from layering them all together in one big clump. This makes it more viable to spread out and contest multiple objectives with small groups of heroes, without feeling like you’re missing half your buffs on half your army.

Secondly, the many buffs provided are generally unique to each model, mirroring the most exciting aspects of Breaking of the Fellowship, Vanquishers and Rise of the Necromancer. By tying them into groupings of brothers, players are given tough choices about which heroes to fit in and which to leave behind.

Thirdly, the rules are heavily skewed towards offence, with lots of damage buffs and 1-2 free Heroic Combats per turn. That encourages killing the enemy fast and gives the army dynamism, with lots happening every turn and a fast-paced game. Moreover, very few of the buffs help out on the durability front, so it should still be quite possible for enemies to take out some squishy Dwarves and have some fun themselves.

Finally, the Legion has no real ways to shut down enemy tools (except Gandalf if you choose to bring him along). If an opponent brings along magic, then they’ll have plenty of good targets for it. Shooting can do some solid damage, and big heroes can carve through the weaker Company members. Even hordes will be able to get into combat and wear down the Companions, with only very limited access to Terror in the Legion. The list has lots of ways to crack back and deal damage, but at least players won’t be having their own tools taken away from them.

Hopefully this version of Thorin's Company won't play anything like these guys

If the Legion did end up being too powerful after testing (which hasn't been the case from the games I've played so far), then I’d be inclined to drop the free banner rerolls. It adds to their damage output, but also makes them a lot more reliable and less vulnerable to enemy warriors. Watching heroes slowly grind through warriors is never exciting, and this rule is the one most inclined towards assisting that. It’s also the only rule that isn’t unique, and I always want to prioritise interesting rules over more generic boosts.

I hope you enjoyed this exploration of what makes for interesting all-hero Legions. Let me know in the comments or on socials what you think of these Legions generally, and of this Thorin’s Company Legendary Legion in particular. Is it too strong, too weak, or just too inclined to the kind of boring games produced by the Vanquishers or Beornings?

Until next time, may your lists always produce interesting games!