Face-off 2016 teams and analysis

Face-off time!

This time there is an extra team and three more battles than normal. Moria have re-entered along with the Fiefdoms, while the last winners (Tower of Ecthelion) are absent.

The force composition rules are similar to last time:

• Must include one hero
• Must be no more than 150pts
• The force must not include more than 15 models, that are non-heroes (such that each side represents a warband not an army)

Here are the teams:

Cirth Ungol

The same force as last time around. The banner will hopefully be used to win more of the combats, meanwhile Shagrat is a solid hero that should be able to fight against most of the enemy heroes.



The Serpent horde

Again this force is the same as last time around, Suladan leads half a dozen infantry from horseback. The Serpent lord will provide the main threat and killing power while his guards go off and secure objectives.

Erebor

The dwarf captain with shield leads the side again, however the number of dwarf warriors has been changed to 9, three of them have shields. The main aim here is to use the two-handed axes to be able to kill better armoured enemy warriors.

Théoden's host

Erkenbrand gets another go at leading the Rohan forces, last time they left despite clearing the field of Haradrim. They must have done something right so the same force will be used here again. His supporting cast are 4 royal guard and 5 warriors with throwing weapons.

 

The Fiefdoms

After the debut success of this force, there are no changes. Duinhur is in command, and is supported by 6 knights of Dol Amroth and 4 clansmen of Lamedon.

Isengard raiders

Lurtz is the leader of the pack here, providing a stalwart melee and ranged capabilities, while the ten warriors have higher strength values that will be utilised to break down higher defence enemies.



The Easterlings

These Easterlings actually managed to get into the final battle last time around, so this force remains unchanged. They'll utilise the high defence warriors to phalanx their way to an ambitious third place.

Moria

The goblins have gone for a different approach, the captain and his 13 warriors will be attacking everything. Failing this the shaman will add some of his furious magic to help them along the way. This force could either flabbergast or flop in my opinion.

Rivendell

The heavily armoured elven captain leads the 7 heavily armoured elf warriors, 5 of whom have shields. This forces has the advantage for very long battles where courage values become important.

More of the same as last time apparently is the theme. Each force seems to be very well rounded, and no clear side stands out as being a favourite. Although the fiefdoms and the Serpent horde may edge the odds in both of their favours.

As mentioned previously the scenarios used for each of the first three battles are:

Rivendell Vs Moria (Reconnoitre)

Erebor Vs Rivendell (A Clash of Piquets)

Moria Vs Erebor (The High Ground)

And these three shall become two that'll go into the knockout stages.

Until then

Fish