Rohan Combined Arms

So I'm a lying liar who lies, but it wasn't 17 months at least, just 8...

I've been looking more recently at Army Lists, and specifically my favourite faction in Rohan (if that wasn't obvious). When people think of Rohan, they think mass cavalry, because of course they do. They're known as the Horse Lords, and some of thier most iconic scenes include riding down the enemy on horseback. King Theoden's men are capable of much more however, and I like the idea of running Rohan as mixed forces to the point I'm building a full contingent of Helmingas and have plenty of Outwalkers on the bench.

Representing this on tabletop is a requires a little thought. There are two options you'd typically see, Allies and Legendary Legions. For the former, Seeing a Rohirrim cavalry detachment supporting a main infantry force from Lothlorien or Minas Tirith would be quite typical. Both factions have thier own cavalry already, but Rohan gives something a little more at a lower cost. The other option, Legendary Legions, is what got me started on this thought track in the first place. Rohan has two options for an infantry force in these, Defenders of Helm's Deep, which is pure infantry with elves, and Theodred's Guard. This second one is a recreation of the force that met Saruman's at that fateful battle at the Fords of Isen where Theodred lost his life. Both Legions come with a special rule allowing Rohan infantry to use thier Throwing Spears as regular spears for supporting thier fellows, something not possible without allies in the native Rohan list.

For the longest time, I was drawn towards using Theodred's Guard. It's a powerful list and fulfills that combined arms option, but is limited in it's hero choices and lacks the Army Bonus. So I looked to other options with the core list. I knew I wanted an traditional infantry block with spear supports, which meant I had to use allies, but I also wanted to retain Rohan's particular flavour. This ruled out the use of Elves and the heavy armour clad Warriors of Minas Tirith. Outside of the two factions I've already mentioned that are Historic Allies (and therefore retain Army Bonuses), the other option available is The Fiefdoms.

In my (admittedly limited) experience, The Fiefdoms don't get much showing. There might be a few reasons for this. That they don't appear in the movies, that they have a relatively small role in the books, and that the models are a little harder to obtain, and at higher prices. The faction has it's strengths, with powerful heroes and some great synergy, but I'm not interested in the whole list right now. Instead, my attention has gone towards Forlong and Axemen of Lossarnarch. 

Zorpazorp used Forlong in his "Riders of Thengel" list, which is what prompted the idea. The other is that the Axemen themselves fit the Rohan aesthetic with thier axe-like polearms (in my opinion anyway), whilst also being able to act as spear-supports for a shieldwall.

Coupling Forlong's men with Grimbold's Helmingas gives and incredibly hard-hitting shieldwall (F4/S4 abound, with axes for Piercing Strike) that can still skirmish pretty well with throwing spears as needed. The two heroes accompanying them are no slouch either.

List-wise at 650pts I'd be running:

Theoden (Horse, Heavy Armour, Shield) - 95pts

- 2x Rohan Royal Guard (Throwing Spears, Horses) - 34pts

- 2x Rider of Rohan - 32pts

- Outrider (Horse) - 13pts

Warband Total: 174pts

Deorwine (Horse) - 85pts

- 2x Rohan Royal Guard (Horses) - 30pts

- 2x Rider of Rohan - 28pts

- Outrider (Horse) - 13pts

Warband Total: 160pts

Grimbold - 60pts

- 3x Helminga (Shields) - 32pts

- 2x Helminga (Throwing Spears, Shields) - 20pts

- Royal Guard (Banner, Throwing Spears) - 37pts

- 2 Outriders - 16pts

- Aldor - 20pts

Warband Total: 185pts

Forlong the Fat (Horse) - 90pts

- 5 Axemen of Lossarnarch - 45pts

Warband Total: 135pts

Army Totals

650pts

10 Might, 28 Models, 5 Throwing Spears, 9 Bows

The army is built around using Grimbold and Forlong's warbands as an anvil, but one with a ton of punch, thanks to F4, S4, two-handed axes, a banner and two throwing spears. It may be small and relatively weak on defence but with a good anchor and the support of the two heroes, it should do a decent job.

Originally the list had the King's Huntsman with a full warband of Outriders, but that felt too fragile for some scenarios. I love a sniper hero, but Aldor felt slightly more cost effective, and having Outriders in multiple warbands should allow for better objective control. A pair with Aldor works as a skirmisher triangle to support the shieldwall and force opponents to engage or get shot.

After that, two solid cavalry warbands that can skirmish or engage with some F5/S4 and a free heroic combat.

The smattering of Bodyguard, Outriders and a warhorn caps off the survivability and anti-terror.

It has been mentioned to me that this might be a touch cavalry heavy for what I'm looking to acheive, and that I could drop several of the Riders, but my counter is that this is still a Rohan force and I like the versatility they give me. That said, I do have an alternative list:

Theoden (Horse, Heavy Armour, Shield) - 95pts

- 2x Rohan Royal Guard (Throwing Spears, Horses) - 34pts

- 2x Rider of Rohan (Throwing Spears) - 36pts

- Outrider (Horse) - 13pts

Warband Total: 174pts

Deorwine (Horse) - 85pts

- 2x Rohan Royal Guard (Throwing Spears, Horses) - 34pts

- Outrider (Horse) - 13pts

Warband Total: 128pts

Grimbold - 60pts

- 3x Helminga (Shields) - 24pts

- 3x Helminga (Throwing Spears, Shields) - 30pts

- Royal Guard (Banner, Throwing Spears) - 37pts

- 2 Outriders - 16pts

- Aldor - 20pts

Warband Total: 187pts

Forlong the Fat (Horse) - 90pts

- 7 Axemen of Lossarnarch - 63pts

Warband Total: 153pts

Army Totals

650pts

10 Might, 29 Models, 10 Throwing Spears, 7 Bows

 

This second list merely drops the two Riders in Deorwine's group for an extra Helminga and two Axemen, extending the battleline, but that small difference could be a big one in certain situations, since I've also been able to add a number of extra throwing spears at the cost of two bows. Only by playing the army would time tell.

The next part is to work out lore-wise how to explain Forlong's men as "Rohirrim".