Rohan has long been in a position of prominence within MESBG, if not in strength then at least in popularity. This hasn't changed in the new edition either, with eleven Rohan lists available, plus three soupy lists (Realms of Men, Defenders of the Pelennor and Men of the West) that feature them prominently, and even here you could run them as basically all Rohan if you so desired. You can also run them in nearly every flavour; full cav, full infantry, mixed-arms, all heroes, with elven allies, with Gondor allies, with forest-people allies... an exhaustive list, and it can be overwhelming on choosing what to actually run.
I've been slowly making my way through the different lists, but with the starter box being focused on the War of the Rohirrim in the time of Helm Hammerhand, my latest is the Army of the Edoras. (Defender's of the Hornburg is fine, but I like the greater options available). Part of my reason for writing this blog is because I've not really seen this list covered anywhere, and whilst I'm not a strategic genius by any stretch, I think this list as some great options and the legs to do real well competitively.
So without further ado, let's have a look at the list, starting with the Heroes. Grab a cuppa, this might be a long one.
HEROES
Heroes of Legend
Helm Hammerhand, King of Rohan
The big guy himself is the only Hero of Legend in this list, and comes in at a cool 160pts (185 with his horse, which obviously you're taking. For this you're getting an F6, S5 Burly combat hero with 3's in all the right places, plus Strike and Strength where you need it. He can also call Heroic Combats for free, which is very nice for hero that is so clearly designed to splatter things. Strength 5 with a two-handed weapon is going to see him killing most things on 3's which makes him incredibly reliable on the charge. This strength is also fantastic for taking on the tougher high-defence monsters that are running around everywhere where other mere Strength 4 heroes may struggle.
He does have downsides to this combat prowess however. F6 isn't quite what it was, so he may be reliant on Strike against other heroes of his calibre or the monsters you want his Strength to deal with. He likely will lose the odd combat, but thankfully he has D7, 3W and 3F to keep him alive, plus an armoured horse.
His Into The Fray rule also will be forcing him to charge once he's made his first kill of the game, leaving him vulnerable to kiting and getting trapped. He's not quite as bad as Theodred or a grieving Eomer, as you can at least choose when to have him start charging and killing, but you will have to be mindful of when and where to commit him.
Helm comes with some extra more minor rules. Being the King of Rohan he of course has Expert Rider and Horse Lord, always nice for keeping his mount alive and staying mobile. He also has The Hammerhand which means he is never considered unarmed, nice for those rare times an opponent may look to steal or break his weapon.
Finally, for more army-wide benefits, he has Leader (Rohan Royal Guard), being the only hero in the list who can include them in his warband. He is also carrying the Horn of the Hammerhand which is not only nice for it's Courage bonus (much more useful this edition with all the monsters and Blades of the Dead about), it also has a once-per-game 24" -1 Courage bubble. Assuming you can break the opponent that could be very useful for ensuring more of them run away.
All in all Helm is an impressive profile, but not necessarily a top tier hero. He's got a good chance of killing whatever he hits, but it requires careful play and careful support to ensure he gets to actually hit what you want him to. You probably won't take him in every list either, as he'll be much more comfortable at the higher points levels (700+) where you can bring a couple of extra heroes.
Speaking of...
Heroes of Valour
Frealaf, First Marshal of the Riddermark
Frealaf is one of those heroes I expect to be F5 and 2A, so I'm always pleasantly surprised when I remember he's actually F6 and 3A. At just 100 points with the option for a horse, he makes a decent candidate to be your general at lower points levels. Defensively, he's slightly lacking at only D5, but he does have 3W and 3F to keep him going there at least. He's also perhaps best hiding behind his warband and popping around the flanks, which should keep him safe, as the main reason you'll be wanting to bring him along is his Lord of Harrowdale rule.
With Royal Guard limited to Helm's Warband, having a free upgrade for Warriors of Rohan in Frealaf's warband to Warriors of Harrowdale is a nice way to get a D6 frontline, thanks to Shieldwall (assuming he's in Line of Sight). A maxed-out warband can give you a seven-man-wide shieldwall with throwing spears in the back rank and a banner, all for 243pts (unless you want him on a horse, though I don't think that's overly necessary in most lists). Warriors of Harrowdale also get to re-roll failed Intelligence tests, nice for when you're facing Spectres or Sentinels that may want to ruin your Shieldwall.
Whilst Frealaf does only have 2 Might, if Hera is within 6" of him, he does get Master of Battle for countering your opponent's Heroics. On a 4+ you have a 50/50 chance of it working (plus the 50/50 roll off), but it could mean countering a key Heroic Move that allows you to take the initiative on the charge or even back away for another round of thrown spears.
This rule does kinda make Hera a 70pt upgrade for Frealaf, but more on her later.
Haleth, Prince of Rohan
The brother that follows in his father's footsteps, Haleth is ostensibly built to fight. At 125pts on an Armoured Horse with the option of Throwing Spears, he brings F6, S4, 3A and 3M to the table, plus Heroic Strike, which is the standard for a beatstick hero. Haleth is rather simple as it goes, and his job is clearly to be mowing through warriors. With Defender of Edoras, you want him in combat with a minimum of two enemies every turn, as he gets to re-roll any failed To Wound rolls when outnumbered.
Haleth actually works as a nice escort for Helm, the pair's natural killing ability should mean they are not going to end up surrounded, and with Heroic Combats could theoretically kill 16 models in a single turn (not that I expect to see that ever happen). Even without Helm, Haleth is a fantastic fighter for flanking enemy battlelines and levelling the playing field against high-model count lists.
He is a little fragile however, D6 and 3W whilst on an Armoured Horse with Horse Lord is always nice, but he only has a single fate point, so care should be taken to keep him alive.
Hama, Prince of Rohan
Hama is the Legolas to Haleth's Aragorn... sort of. He has a bow, a 3+ Shoot Value, Sharpshooter and Heroic Accuracy. Whilst he's not going to be winning any archery contests (his opponents are Elves, so fair enough), he does have the skills to snipe out the horses of dangerous heroes or potentially important support pieces like banners. At 90pts mounted, he's an excellent candidate for leading a small skirmish detachment of Riders of Rohan, kiting enemies with half moves, or tearing off to grab objectives whilst still contributing.
Combat-wise, he's a more standard Rohan hero; F5, S4, 2A, 2M, enough again for dealing with Warriors and maybe Captains or Minor Heroes. With D6, 2W, 2F and Heroic Defence, he could also make a serviceable roadblock against other more capable fighters.
Despite the temptation to maybe keep him on the outskirts where he can shoot, he does also bring The Warrior Poet, which for a point of Will gives friendly Rohan models re-rolls on 1's when wounding for that turn. Whilst not groundbreaking, this could really bolster turns where the hammer meets the anvil to ensure an extra kill or two. He can do this three times per game, which coupled with the Army Rule Forth Eorlingas could make the army surprisingly killy for four whole turns of combat, or ensure Helm's Heroic Combats keep rolling.
Heroes of Fortitude
Hera, Daughter of Helm
As star of War of the Rohirrim, Hera doesn't necessarily get a star profile, but she does have some solid stats and some useful special rules. The aforementioned buff to Frealaf from Mutual Respect encourages you to keep her near him so he can counter enemy Heroics, and she is a solid candidate for helping him guard the flanks of that Warrior of Harrowdale shieldwall.
That's not to say she needs to be there, and Hera works well as a hunter, aiming to take out key supporting units in the opponents list (banners, horns, Shamen etc). At F5, S4, 2A and 3M she's yet another standard Rohan named hero, and Heroic Strike and Heroic Defence give her options depending on what she's facing. The key rule for her is Daughter of Rohan however. Assuming you can get her into one-on-one combats (no spear-supports either), she goes up to 3 Attacks and can re-roll natural ones when wounding. A nice healthy boost that can let her do her job, especially when mounted, assuming you can get her there. I struggled in a recent game and she never found herself in any one-on-one combats despite singling out Captains more than once, but there were an awful lot of goblins making that tricky for me.
To help get her where she needs to be, she gets the unique mount Ashere. Ashere gets Swift Gallop, an activatable rule that give a bonus 2" to her move distance and Woodland Creature. Whilst this does mean that Hera can't charge whilst using it, it's very nice for helping to set up unexpected flanks and get into positions to charge what you want to. It also could be the difference in reaching objectives or getting off of the board in several scenarios.
Finally, she does also have Spyglass, allowing her to see through Stalk Unseen which is situationly useful.
Olwyn, Shieldmaiden of Rohan
Olywn is built to be a budget roadblock. Whilst she brings a slight alteration on the standard Rohan statblock (F5, S4, 3A and 2M), she has Heroic Defence and Stalwart Fighter. This latter rule means she can only be wounded in combat on 6's, making up a little for her D5. Whilst this isn't natural 6's (so +1 bonuses and the like take affect), it does give her that extra little bit of survivability to go along with her 2W and 3F.
Light Armour also brings her up to D6 against shooting, and like most Rohan heroes she can take a horse, but at 80pts (100 with said horse) she's a solid edition to any list.
Finally she has Sworn Protector (Hera), to make up for her average 5+ courage stat.
Captain of Rohan
At anywhere from 45-75pts depending on gear, Rohan Captains are still your bog-standard Captain profile with the standard Rohan special rules, and as with any list they are nice way to get extra warband slots and Might, but mostly importantly Heroic March. This last one is especially important as it is the only way to get March in the Army of Edoras, a useful niche where you may otherwise consider just bring Hera, Olwyn or Hama instead for the points.
With the combined-arms feel of this list, they could be very important for ensuring your infantry gets to where it needs to be in time. Even in a more cavalry-heavy or hero-heavy variant, Captains are still useful sources of Might and March and just simply being another body that's more expendable that the rest.
Minor Heroes
Lief, Page of Helm
Lief is the final hero profile available to the Army of Edoras and takes the role of Support Hero. F3, S3, 1A, plus his shorter stature isn't going to have him beating allegations of being a Hobbit in disguise. He at least has 2W and 1F to go with Heroic Defence in an emergency, despite only being D4, but don't expect him to be winning many fights, even on his horse.
Instead Lief's value comes from Orders from Edoras, and this is where his 50pts cost is being spent. With his 5 Will points, he has 5 once-per-game, single-turn 3" auras he can activate; Heroes getting free Heroic Combats, friendly Rohan models getting Fearless, removal of the -1 to hit for moving and shooting and a re-roll on To Hit, friendly Rohan models gaining Woodland Creature and Mountain Dweller, and last but not least, friendly Rohan models gaining 2" Move.
This gives you a lot of options, despite it's smaller 3" range (a reason to mount him however for the larger base size). Skill is everything however, you'll need timing and positioning to be immaculate to get the most out of him. One turn he'll be using his Pseudo-March, then he'll have to run over to your riders/archers to give them a boost so they can make a hole in the enemy's formation, then back to the battleline to give them Fearless so they can charge something with Terror, then moving again to group with your Heroes to get off a big Heroic Combat chain.
Somewhere amongst all that, the terrain aura could be used to ensure you can reach an awkward objective, or make a run for the board edge.
Expect to see Lief running all over the board, but at the same time being the target of heroes (especially in assassination) and bowfire (Light Armour is nice for the S2 and S4 archery at least, bringing him to D5).
He might be a key piece in Army of Edoras lists and the secret sauce needed to elevate it.
Legacy - The King's Huntsman
With the Legacy document hitting just yesterday, I'd be remiss not to mention how they affect the list. It is a minor one, but the King's Huntsman is back! Whilst not the most popular option, I always quite liked the profile. He has a weird niche as a horseless Rohan hero, but focused instead on archery. Whilst it just made more sense to take Legolas or Haldir in most lists, he did have a place in the Theodred and Helm's legions, as both were limited on hero options.
With Army of Edoras, his niche is somewhat challenged by Hama, as both have Heroic Accuracy and Sharpshooter. However, Hama wants to be skirmishing and buffing the front-line, whilst the Huntsman works better as a backline sniper, preferably guarding an objective. He'll do that job much better than an regular Rohan Warrior or Rider as well thanks to his D5, 2W and 1F. Just don't expect him to fight too much, despite having 2 Might and S4, he's only F3 with 1 attack.
More than that, he also wields a Longbow for that juicy S3 and only fails In-the-Ways on a 1, making him a much more reliable sniper. Whilst it's situational, if he ever manages to land the final shot on a Monster (something that should happen more regularly this edition), he recovers all of his Might. 2 Might doesn't exactly go far, but spending all of it to guarantee the kill is FREE and that's awesome.
Any list where you have a spare 55pts he's worth a consideration, though he does compete there with a Captain on foot, so it depends if you need March or a dedicated Archer/Objective Holder. He's a minor hero also, so he could bring along a half dozen bowmen or a couple extra fighters for the battleline.
So, a fairly solid roster of heroes that includes a couple of synergies as well. With every single one of them able to be mounted this is a rival to the old hero-heavy Riders of Theoden legion (or even Kingdom of Rohan if you want Theodred), though with Eomer's buffs and Gamling's banner, Helm's boys might still be in second place here.
Rather, I think here that Army of Edoras is a prime foot-Rohan list that still allows you to bring a cavalry hammer for hitting power that lists like Defender's of Helm's Deep may lack. Your standard spear-supported battleline is made much better by the inclusion of Throwing Spears that not only forces the opponent to come to you, but also gives flexibility and skirmishing potential. Frealaf's warband with Shieldwall is a lovely defensive boost for D6 saving your from needing to use the more expensive Royal Guard as your frontline, which is great with them being limited to Helm's warband where they are much more useful as F5 charging cavalry. Or bring two shieldwalls, why not?
You may be limited with S3 warriors and S2 bows on the killing front, but there are several re-roll auras from the army bonus, Hama and Lief to subtly boost that killing power. Failing that, cavalry has always been great at stacking dice for more wounds, and Helm, Haleth and Hera are incredibly killy in the right circumstances.
There's enough Strike to challenge monsters and other F7+ heroes, but you don't always have to fight those. Your heroes are much better geared towards mowing through Warriors or taking down Minor Heroes and Captains. You have roadblock options and can also kite fairly well with cavalry, so playing to objectives is much more in your favour, though if you're feeling lucky, back Helm or Haleth up with a banner and see what they can do.
Warriors
I'm not going to go into depth on the warrior options, as it's your normal Rohan spread of Warriors of Rohan, Riders of Rohan and Rohan Royal Guard. Outriders and Sons of Eorl from Legacy didn't make it into the list unfortunately. In either case, they the Warriors we've known and loved for many years now, so there's not much to cover. The Warriors are fairly cheap with solid profiles, Riders are the flexible skirmish cavalry they've always been and the Royal Guard are solid shock cavalry. You can get solid numbers with just the first two, and I think it's well worth bringing a decent group of them.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Solid hero roster.
- Well-rounded troops.
- Some synergy and good auric bonuses.
- The Hammerhand!
- Flexible Heroes and Warriors.
- Great cavalry.
Cons:
- Heroes can be pricey.
- No F7+
- Troops limited to S3 (mitigated somewhat with re-rolls).
- Warrior F4+ limited.
- No magic or magic resistance.
Finally they are an army of most F3, D5 Men in a world of F4 and Hatred, some of it specifically pointed at Rohan as a faction. These opponents are fairly common these days, so it could be a bit of an uphill battle in any competitive setting, but an canny player may be able to push past this handicap.
Army List
I of course have a few lists that may work to show just what the Army of Edoras can do:
Starting at 350pts:
I've gone here with the Frealaf/Hera combo, as I really do like what Frealaf brings to the table. He's a solid hero for this points level and the near-full warband gives a good number of bodies to avoid being outnumbered. Hera brings the supporting pieces with an archery triangle and a couple of Riders that can flank or run off to grab objectives. Hera herself can also hunt down the usual, such as banners, but also minor heroes that are more common at this points level.
We're relying on the throwing spears and Master of Battle here to help us dictate when the battle starts, with plenty of shooting to (hopefully) get the numbers advantage.
There is the option for swapping Hera out for a mounted Captain, which gives March and another mounted fighter, but this is down to personal taste.
This is the list I've run most recently. Once again I've brought that core of Frealaf/Hera with a full shieldwall and some extra bodies, archers and cavalry to form the core of the list. Accompanying them I've brought Haleth for some combat power with a cavalry entourage and a couple of extra archers. Otherwise, it works much as the previous list did.
It's a bit of an all-rounder, able to skirmish and shoot well, with a solid hammer-and-anvil setup. You want to whittle the enemy down with spears, whilst also plopping yourself down on an objective or blocking routes through terrain with the shieldwalls. Haleth really wants to be getting stuck in as he can very quickly chop through enemy warriors, but you still have to be careful not to let him get overwhelmed.
With more points, getting Hera on Ashere is an option for flexibility and once again consideration can be made for a Captain. You could also downgrade Haleth, perhaps to Olywn or Hama, giving much less combat prowess, but more bodies and either staying power or accurate shooting and combat aura. I may experiment with this later.
For the final "standard list" I want to run one that included Helm himself, but otherwise I've stayed consistent with the feel of the previous lists. Helm is a little less flexible than his son, but is backed up nicely by a pair of Royal Guard, and even Hama could run over to support him and ensure he gets off a big Heroic Combat with Warrior Poet.
For adjustments, you really have the choice between Hama's horse and Ashere. Hama can support Helm well and skirmish better whilst mounted, whilst Hera gets more proficient at her hunting role with Ashere. Once again, personal choice and who your opponent is matters here.
You don't have to run Helm of course, Haleth suits as a good substitute, though you lose the Royal Guard you can just bring more Riders, who are still F4 on the charge if near enough to either Haleth or Frealaf (depending on who is the General). Hama could be substituted for Olwyn if you don't feel you need the archery, but there is consideration for Lief here too. With more bodies on the field, his auras have more chance to have a greater affect, and without a Captain, his March-like ability pays well for getting early positions. I don't personally feel like I have the skill to pull off his abilities yet, but it's worth a try.
For the final list, I figured I'd build something Hero-heavy in the style of Riders of Theoden, and I have two:
This one does feel like an outing of the Royal family of Rohan (Frealaf being a cousin of course). We lack a hero banner, so a Rider has to bring one, then a second Rider and a some Royal Guard bring up the points and act as screening bodies.
Helm and Haleth here are your focus, both of them are powerful combatants and with Helm's raw strength and free Heroic Combats and Haleth's wound re-rolls, you want them stuck in and mowing through warriors supported by the banner and Lief/Hama's auras.
Frealaf and Hera are there to watch the flanks, and whilst they are both solid fighters they're more fragile and have to picking their combats well. Targetting Minor Heroes is also key, to remove counter Heroics, but you'll be wanting to keep them close to each other to call your own Heroics and counter with Master of Battle. Everybody knows it by now, but this is key with all Cavalry and hero-heavy armies to keep momentum.
Obviously there is a choice here between Hama and Lief, both of which are great supports with slight variations. Hama is focused on his wounding aura and sniping opposing horses that may want to remove your cavalry bonuses, he can also fight decently well. Lief has some movement auras, plus the nice free Heroic Combat turn that pairs well with Forth Eorlingas for a potentially very powerful alpha strike turn. Again, personal choice at play here, and I can see arguments for either.
So that's a look at the Army of Edoras and by no means a fully exhaustive one, as it has plenty of options as you can well see. Potentially a bit of a sleeper pick compared to many of the other lists in the game, it really only lacks a top tier hero on the level or Aragorn or Glorfindel, but Helm by no means is far behind them in the rankings, and he has plenty of support to do the job.
If you enjoyed this, or have any thoughts, feel free to leave a comment. If you want to see what I'm doing hobby-wise, I have an Instagram @Manic.Hobbying.
Until next time, Forth Eorlingas!