Rekindling the eveningstars of Gil-Galad

[Neknoh]

So, I've had long plans on making a real elven army of the second age, and, as my local retailer just got two blisters of Spearelves in... needless to say, those blisters didn't belong to him for long, payed for, opened and one of them nearly completely painted, I've gotten my hopes up once aggain.

So, here they are, the Evening Stars of Gil-Galad (gonna look up Silmarillion aggain or talk to one of my former classmates and see what Sindarin name would be better).

500 points.

Gil-Galad... 140 pts

Elven Captain, Elven Blade, Heavy Armour, Shield... 80 pts

Elven Warrior, Heavy Armour, Standard Bearer... 42 pts

6 Elven Warriors, Heavy Armour, Spears, Shields... 66 pts
8 Elven Warriors, Heavy Armour, Elven Blade... 80 pts
8 Elven Warriors, Heavy Armour, Bows... 88 pts

Pts Total ... 496 points
Models in army... 25
Route testing at... 12 models
Less than 25% at... 6 models


Now, the banner could be dropped in favour of even more troops (he would be enough to get 2 Spear/Bow elves and 2 Blade elves), however, I've had huge success with Standard Bearers, especially if I can get him protected inside a unit or something.

Of course, a very good idea from my side would be to give the Archers Spears so that I could have double battle-line with speararmed archers at the back and elves with shields up front, this would indeed make for an impenetrable line, however, I do like to have the options of some elves toting two-handed weapons when I need it.

I am also slightly unsure on wether or not to give my Elven Captain a Shield, this does cause him to loose his abillity to use his Elven Blade as a two-handed weapon, however, it does give him D7... what do you think?

The main plan with this army would actually differ from time to time, but, I think I'll split the Archers up into two groups of 4 quite often whilst sending the Spearelves with Gil-Galad to take on nastier stuff and sending the Blade-elves with the Captain to bring down orcs.

My big enemy would be cavalry, however, I have to rely on my Banner and high Fight Value to wether the onslaught brought upon my lines by Warg Riders.

So... that is the eveningstars of Gil-Galad, black robed with golden armour, gold ornament on black shields and deep blue Hakama (or whatever you want to call those strange skirts)

If I am to play games set in the Third Age, I can either use Gil-Galad or swap him for Glorfindel/The Twins and have it called The Watchmen of Rivendell.

I am also contemplating including some converted Elnaith, either using the semi-official rules for Elnaith found on GW Uk's webpage, or, using the rules for the Knights of Dol Amroth, however, I am not sure on wether or not to include cavalry at all, might be a good idea and might not be a good idea, seeing as I am rather troop light as it now stands.

I have had the suggestion of dropping the Elven Captain, however, this would mean that I would have less might and less area for heroic actions.

[Neknoh]

I never thought that Lotr qualified as a Specialist Game...

[Ansob.]

It does, since it doesn't qualify as anything else on this site. GW ought to give the damn license to SG instead of losing money, but there.

As far as the list is concerned, no, don't change anything. It's fine as it is. The banner is a nice added plus that comes in handy very often, and you don't really need more warriors.

As far as your captain's equipment is concerned, it's your call, but I would say you're better off with him not using the elven blade two-handed on the odd chance it might prove fatal. Since he should be supported with at least one warrior with a blade, he's fine with his shield, which contributes to making him more solid.

[Raziel02]

I would agree with nuetral shade of black, in my experince two handed weapons rarely make a difference within battles but are you shure you actually need the captain, Gil-galad is a great hero and can stand up to the mightest of enemies the only problem with elven armies in my opinion is they are to samll perhaps trading in the captain for more troops is a better option, but if you are going to keep it give it the shield.

[Alkkrision]

Neknoh:It does, but please don't one line post that soon after making a thread. People need longer than overnight to reply .

Right, formalities over, lets have a quick look at the list.
The Elven Captain is good as he is, the shield should ensure he lasts longer when either being shot at or indeed in combat. Try and whittle down the opponent with the bows then get into fighting once it looks like your Elves can handle it, don't throw them away too soon.

[Mennorach]

You don't need a heavy armour on the standard bearer...
If he is needing it you have allready lost.
On the archer question: I have found out that giving some of them spears helps enough. You can keep the rest on one side shooting enemy banners (or eanything else not ment for the front line).

[Neknoh]

I know very well that Gil-Galad is a great hero, however, he only does sport 3 Might, which I would need if he ended up in combat with something nasty like the Balrog, a Mordor Troll or Shelob (course, the Balrog is very rare to face at this points level).

The Watcher, I might well need it if an Orc Archer or Uruk Crossbow manages to draw LoS, heck, I need it if Gobblins use Volley-firing, D5 helps a lot better than D3 aggainst strength 2 arrows (and strength 4 for that part as well).

It also does help him to stay allive longer if he would wind up in CC, Heavy Armour have been a very good investment this far, so I hope it will keep on being one.

Alkkrision, I am sorry for that one-liner, I just got a bit curius as to why this was moved, but, as said, you answered that question, so it won't happen aggain.

For 750 pts... I could drop the captain and add Elrond along with another 4 or 5 of each elven type, what do you think of that?

[Shadowblade the ultimate]

I havent used my LoTR in a while but this list sounds nice i never got round to making a Elf army though(too expensive). It should do ok.

[Raziel02]

Elrond and Gil-galad are an almost unbeatable team obviously everything is going to be targeted againt them but to be fair there arnt many things than can do this easily, you could include Galadriel for some magical power and her mirrio could make Gilgald even more dangerous.

[Mennorach]

If you take both Elrond and Gil-Galad Your enemy will horribly outnumber you (newsflash?).
IMO all heroes in LOTR are overprized so my advice is to max out in troops and take as many bows as possible cos they are going to win you the game.

[The liger]

It looks quite good, but to me seems a bit small. Personally, I think Gil Galad might be able to lead the force on his own, so you could dump the captain for a few more warriors. However, if you think that he gives the force more than a few more elves, then keep him - I'm just more of a troops person myself (being mainly evil and not having the great characters that good have). It looks nice though, with quite balanced shooting and combat.

The banner is good, and you should keep it. As for the captain, I think that perhaps D7 is better, as you can use his high fight value for winning combats (although all elves can generally do this), but perhaps the elven blade is probably better, because then he is wounding Uruk Hai and other D5/D6 things on 4s.

[Raziel02]

thats the thing about elves they will always be out numbered and if the evil player is orcs or goblins nearly all of the time they are going to be out number any army at least 2 to 1, yes most hereos are over priced but when used correctly they can win the battle.

[Arquinsiel]

Do your bowmen have elven blades? I find the best way to protect them from melee combat is to give them blades and get them stuck in, there's less chance of them suffering if you're inlcuding them as part of the main battleline and they'll always have LoS.