It's February again and that means one thing for MESBG; FAQ time. With over a year of the new edition, there's been plenty of time for the game developers to gather data and make some balance changes. Going into this, the GBHL marks some clear targets with the lists that are topping the tables and many podiums, or otherwise looming large in many a player's mind, so let's see what we got...
FAQ February 2026
Army of the White Hand
The FAQ targets two of the pain points for opponents of this list; Saruman's Lightning spell and Grima Wormtongue. The former is quite simple, and is tied to the latter. Saruman can't target his lightning within 12" of Grima. Not a bad change, and one that doesn't reduce the potency of the ability. Rather, the player now has to consider positioning a little more, as 12" isn't an unsubstantial radius. The optimum position for the lightning likely does have some overlap with Grima's optimum position.
We may find Grima deploying with his own side much more often now, or conversely much less lightning usage, as the opponent can clump around Wormtongue simply to prevent the lightning.
Much in the same vein, we've had multiple clarifications on Grima himself. First, for Reconnoitre and Maelstrom deployment, he must pre-select the warband he is joining and move on after that warband has completely moved on. Simple and clear.
He's also had his movement clarified, with how he interacts with control zones and how both he and the opposing forces can move through each other so long as they do not overlap bases at the end of a move, or remain in base contact. This adds a bit to the mind game of playing with and against Grima. Careful planning and spacing could see him blocking key areas of a formation, or alternatively, a canny player could block him from being able to get close enough to use his Wormtongue ability on a specific hero.
Finally, the rule that specified that Grima would no longer be considered "Friendly" when Saruman was slain has took a nerf to instead occur when Saruman takes a unsaved wound. A much simpler task, though smart players are already keeping Saruman safely sequestered in the back line, you can aim to hit with a sneaky arrow or two simply to rid yourself of Grima.
It's a fair bit, and I would say it ultimately increases Grima's skill ceiling whilst also make him much more manageable for an opposing player to deal with. It had long been a thing where he was basically impossible to deal with unless you had magic like of your own, so this is a welcome way to level the playing field without completely neutering Grima.
Unfortunately, no changes to the Crebain spam, maybe next time...
Dragons
The Dragons saw one simple nerf, and it's a nice one in my opinion. The Breathe Fire ability still does a Str10 Insta-kill hit to the main target, but rather than also doing the same to everything within 2", it now gives them the Set Ablaze status instead. It vastly reduces the sheer power of the attack, but in a way that you'll still want to avoid clumping up. Str 5 hits will still hurt most things on a 4 or a 5+ and that will do so every turn unless you can afford two turns of reduced movement and the risk of being caught prone just to put it out.
A good change I think. Dragons aren't nearly as popular as some of the other options, but they remain devastating without being oppressively so.
Eagles
The other big monsters on the FAQ docket, Eagles have been the big bad boogeymen of MESBG since the new edition launched. No other list has been so consistently ruled against, with many tournaments levelling the points to put them at a disadvantage. The salt this single list has caused in the community is legendary and perhaps slightly overblown, but they were a tough list to beat and the big bird screech ability was the core to this with how it affected the opponent's ability to act.
The Piercing Cry rule has been specified to being those models that activate within 6" of Gwaihir on the turn it was used, and to only prevent charges, not movement entirely. There had been some community confusion as to at what point in Gwaihir's move the cry took affect, so this is a clear state of that now. How this affects the feel of what is still a fairly impactful ability, I'm not sure. It will always feel bad to be locked in place against a hyper-mobile army of monsters, but I wouldn't be surprised if the community continues to regulate the Eagles out of the majority of tournaments, especially with the (quite frankly ridiculous) reaction against players who choose to take them in spite of the restrictions.
It's not the only change to Eagles however, but the other is indirect and we'll get to it in a bit.
Depths of Moria
Perhaps the strongest list in the leagues going right now is the Depths of Moria, almost always being fielded with a Balrog. One of the big reasons for this is the board-wide banner affect from Drums in the Deep. Even with the Balrog's fairly steep points-cost, Moria Goblins are cheap enough to field in a fairly decent horde and were essentially all two-attacks base, vastly improving their combat reliability. The courage bonus didn't hurt either.
With what is perhaps the single biggest nerf in the FAQ, this has gone from a permanent passive ability for the list to a single-turn activatable buff much akin to For Frodo as an example.
On the surface this feels good. The ability completely removed any need for the old Goblin drums in the list and brings the ability very much in line with other lists' abilities. It's still available to the list at a 75pts tax and reduced range as well, which will cut into the horde a little, but retain the feel of the list.
That said, a counterpoint is that it removes the reliability that Goblins did have enough that now the list is much more reliant on the Balrog (and to a lesser extent the Watcher) for list power.
I will be watching with interest to see if we get a spike of Drum usage or if the list continues to top the tables simple due to the power of Durin's Bane...
Army of Thror
Surprise of surprises the FAQ includes a buff! Whilst the top lists needed addressing, it heartens me to see one of the lesser used lists have something to hopefully bring it closer to the median. It's a small change, but it's something, and the list now can have 50% throwing weapons instead of the typical 33%. Nothing ground-breaking, but I wonder if the new list-building flexibility it affords will see more Thrors on the tables.
Barge
There are a couple of other small changes and clarifications, but the last thing I want to cover is the update to the Barge Brutal Power Attack. This is the other change that affects Eagles.
Boiling it down, if models are forced to Make Way for models Backing Away from the monster's Barge, they can now move up to 3" in a direction of the monster player's choosing, but must move only the minimum distance required to make the space required, and won't be knocked prone if it is able to do so.
This change really reduces the affects of the Barge, preventing monsters from scattering whole battlelines to the winds, without also stopping them from moving as they want to. This is solidly a good change, and monsters will remain powerful regardless.
Final Thoughts on the FAQ and Wishlisting
Despite the incredibly long wait, I really feel this FAQ hit the sweet spot of subtle yet impactful changes to the meta. Nothing has been absolutely destroyed or neutered, but power has been reduced just enough to have an effect. Hitting four of the biggest threats in the competitive scene has been brilliant.
My first wish is that it would have been great to see this FAQ's more than twice a year. Even once every three months if this is the scale would perhaps be better, and it's not as if the game designers have to do all the data gathering themselves, as the MESBG community has weekly updates in blogs, videos and tournament stats to pour through and assess. We're unlikely to ever see it, so instead I simply hope that we continue to see FAQs like this one.
Next is that Men of the West and Khazad-Dum seem almost glaring in its omission from being addressed. How either list would be altered (or even if they would be needed) is a whole discussion in itself, but when I think of the top lists, they're up there. Hopefully the changes don't see either list move too clearly into the top spot and instead we see a more balanced spread of podium lists.
Finally, I would like to see more of the changes like what the Army of Thror got. Small little buffs that make the more attractive, or improve list building options.
My first on that list would be swapping Rohan Throwing Spears from 2pts to 1pt. Whilst they can be used as both throwing weapons and spears, they can never do both in a single turn, and it hugely increases the cost of what are otherwise fairly average troops. It would bring down the cost of Royal Guard, who are fairly overpriced as it is. For Rohan Warriors it makes those foot-battlelines more feasibly priced whilst also perhaps giving them an affordable niche in Men of the West, which let's face it, is essentially the tin-can brigade with maybe the odd Rohan bowman thrown in.
I don't think this would make Rohan a power-list in any circumstance, they're still F3, D5 men in a world of Hatred Men/Rohan and much more F4, but it will be less restricted at least.
The other would be to make Rangers of the North 2A base across the board instead of a just a portion of lists. They're good for what they are, but in a world of Beornings and Werewolves, I don't think being 2A in Defenders of the Pelennor or Arnor is going to be making them overpowered, and they'll feel much more cost-effective.
Let me know what other lists you think need that tiny boost to improve their competitiveness, and what that boost should be.
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Until next time!
