The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game/Tactics/Fiefdoms

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Why Play Fiefdoms

Fiefdoms are a collection of all the misc. allies Gondor called to it's aid in book 2. Ranging from Scottish swordsmen, typical knights, and a dozen things between these guys are the army you want to play if you want to have a truly unique looking army, or you want to show off your superiority over those movie watchers. It's also a great faction to play if you love hunting Ebay and/or converting most of your units. Beyond that, you get a wide variety of cool factions to play:

Dol Amroth: Cool guys who live in a castle by the sea. Lots of great Cavalry and pikes. Lamedon: Scottish people, but in lord of the rings. Best used with a brave heart impression to irritate history buffs. Blackroot Vale: A barely defined area near the white mountains that make dudes who are great archers, the least entertaining fluff of the lot. Lossarnach: A place called the field of flowers which is inhabited by a bunch of bald men with beards or men with ponytails and beards armed with giant axes while wearing chainmail coats.

Pros

• the variety of units make you hard to counter build
• everything excels at it's assigned job
• the variety of models is great
• you get to convert most of your characters and units

Cons

• if your units get caught outside of where they excel, they fall apart quickly
• This list relies heavily on it's heroes. If they die, your troops lose their bonuses.
• you have to convert most of your characters and units Maybe not, Forge World now offers Knights of Dol Amroth on foot and all the named characters are back on GW, so presumably the rest of the infantry will be back soon too. It's all back now

Army Bonus

"For the White City!" - All of your abilities that traditionally only affect one type of trooper (IE Imrahil's banner ability which usually only affects Dol Amroth models) now affect everyone from the Fiefdoms. This should not be underestimated, as it lets you overlap bubbles to create truly brutal troopers.

Unit Analysis

Note that this list assumes you intend to keep your Army Bonus. In the event you do not want to, the Heroes will have all the names of the factions they affect in either their name, or it will be the first couple words in their unit entry. Imrahil of Dol Amroth for example will boost everyone with "Dol Amroth" in their name, whereas Forlong the Fat will be mentioned as the Lord of Lossarnach, because he buffs Axemen of Lossarnach. Generally it's highly recommended you keep your army bonuses so that these buffs apply to every Warrior in your army.

Heroes

• Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth: The single coolest guy that Jackson chose to ignore. Imrahil is essentially another Boromir, he's a guy who specialises in close combat, but where Boromir has a ridiculous amount of Might and boosts the Fight of nearby Warriors, Imrahil has a Stand Fast! that's 12" instead of 6", and everyone within 12" of him counts as being in range of a banner, including himself so long as you keep your Army Bonus. Just remember that Imrahil costs an arm and a leg; with his armoured horse and lance, two things you absolutely must get him, he comes to 160 staggering points. That being said, he makes a very scary, very elite deathstar when supported by Knights, and he can easily run down most things in the game with them. His massive banner bonus also allows him to reach Infantry that are being marched up by a Captain, allowing you to avoid the need for traditional banners in your force so long as you keep Imrahil relatively close by.
  • Do not get Imrahil in combat with Monsters with the Monstrous Charge rule, at least not without heavy support from other Knights of Dol Amroth. Against them his Defence means nothing since they'll knock him off his horse and use Rend, and Imrahil will need Heroic Strike to even the odds and have a chance of not losing the Duel roll. If worst comes to worst you can use Heroic Defence and his Fate Points to keep him safe, but it's best to not let him get in that position in the first place. If he's knocked off his horse he's a lot less deadly, and afterwards is best focused on providing his massive banner buff than trying to go troll hunting. To prevent him from getting knocked off the horse in the first place, make sure you keep an escort of Knights around him; not only can they block Strength 3 shots that might kill his horse, but they will also block models with the Monstrous Charge rule.
  • If you're really worried about it, you can get a Captain to go with Imrahil since he lacks Heroic March; this will allow you to get into position and charge into the enemy lines a lot faster, but just be aware this is putting the cost of Imrahil and his escort up by a lot, and it comes at the expense of the rest of your army.

• Forlong the Fat:The Lord of Lossarnach is much like a miniature Imrahil, costing far less but having very respectable stats for his price. Forlong is another great choice for fielding with an escort of Knights, since his war spear allows him to use it like a lance on horseback, and then as a spear if he has the misfortune to lose his horse. Naturally with Strength 5 he gets a massive bonus on a horse since Defence 5 is the starting point for a lot of enemy troops, even certain elite ones such as Mordor Uruk-hai, so Forlong will wound them on 3+ while re-rolling 1's. His additional Strength, lance and Heroic Strength also make him a bit more ideal to kill Monsters if you need to, not to mention his war horn acts as a great boost to your Courage. If you're taking Imrahil this isn't so important, but without him it's a blessing considering your average Courage is between 3 and 4. If you're not taking Imrahil or going Infantry heavy with Angbor, then it's recommended to use Forlong.
  • While it's not recommended, you can combo his bubble with Imrahil's bubble to make some Knights of Dol Amroth who will eat anything they touch, though this comes at the expense of the rest of your army since they'll be 250 points even before you buy them Knights, and after the Knights half your army will be invested in your army in most games. While this can be great for Contest of Champions, for the other more objective focused games this will likely be detrimental, especially if the opponent has Strength 3 bows to shoot out your steeds.
  • Like Imrahil, you want to protect Forlong from Monsters with the Monstrous Charge rule as, while he and a few Knights are more than capable of killing them, he's pretty bad at taking their charges. Even at Strength 5 he's vulnerable to rend from anything stronger than a Cave Troll, and even those will find him relatively easy to kill thanks to Forlong having only one Fate Point. To prevent this, do the same thing you do for Imrahil, keep Knights around him to block charges from these models, and then counter-charge with Forlong to deal with them.
  • Like Imrahil you can also go with a Captain to use Heroic March with Forlong to get him and the knights into position, but since his cost is significantly lower this is much easier to do. You can get both Forlong and a Captain at nearly the same cost as Imrahil on his own, but you don't often need one, so first consider what you'd need to kill in your opponent's list to make the points back, consider which scenarios you most often play, and decide based on that whether or not you need the extra mobility.

• Angbor the Fearless: The Chief of Lamedon is William Wallace... IN FANTASY! He's also a relatively cheap Hero of Valour with a very high Will Point total, giving you a solid bunker of troops while also providing Angbor decent magical resistance against sniping spells such as Black Dart (since he doesn't need the Will for anything else). Despite being the Chief of Lamedon, he's best combined with only a few Clansmen of Lamedon, while the majority of his warband is Men-at-arms of Dol Amroth. Angbor's 2 Attacks and no horse make it difficult for him to roll the natural 6 he needs (so they can win the fight for him), and with Fearless he makes them a very solid bunker, especially since his Heroic Strike will benefit everyone in the fight. Just be aware that his relatively low Defence and Fate means you should field him with either Knights of Dol Amroth or Blackroot Vale Archers (both in somebody else's warband) so that you can target the enemy's ranged assets, especially if they're Strength 3, while Angbor and his men move up to engage the enemy or claim objectives. If he gets wounded, don't be afraid to pull him behind all the other Warriors he brought; he's much more useful as a Fearless bubble than he is in combat, especially when you might lose him.
  • If you can't whittle down the opponent's ranged weapons, always keep models in between Angbor and enemy bows so you benefit from In the Way rolls. It's preferable to lose several Clansmen than it is to lose Angbor.
  • Angbor combines very nicely with either Imrahil or Forlong since he provides a lot of Infantry while they go parading around with Knights. You might also consider getting him a Captain, especially if you're going with Forlong (so that you have the points to spare), as Heroic March will help you keep up with the rest of your force. Do be aware this isn't entirely necessary, as your opponent is much more likely to shoot your Cavalry than they are to try sniping out Angbor.

• Duinhir: The Lord of Blackroot Vale is best described as an expensive Ranger of Arnor, but with a bonus against Monsters. This is very hit-or-miss, with a Strength 2 bow he'll be struggling To Wound Defence 6 Cave Trolls, and anything tougher will require two separate (successful) To Wound rolls. This doesn't mean you can't make it work, the issue is that you'll likely need to save your Might for your To Wound rolls, and even then you might roll poorly on the D3 result for how many Wounds you cause. This interferes with his Heroic Accuracy skill, which in turn interferes with the fact that Blackroot Vale Archers are buffed by Heroic Shoot actions. Still, he is a Hero of Valour, and you can still make him work by using him to get a bunch of Warriors on the table before sitting back and plinking away with the Blackroot Vale Archers. Don't expect miracles, and try focusing out the supporting elements of the enemy's force (Shamans and the like) before you begin trying to slay Monsters. If you think you might need somebody to kill Monsters, then just go for Forlong the Fat with a group of Knights instead.
  • Of all the named characters in the army, Duinhir has the least synergy with anyone. Blackroot Vale Archers are the only ones that can benefit from his skill, even with the Army Bonus, but this also means that if you don't care about keeping your Army Bonus he and the Blackroot Vale Archers make for prime candidates to bring to another force. They're some of the more effective bows in the game and while they won't be outshooting Elves, they do have uses when you factor in the pikes you can also bring along.

• Captain of Dol Amroth: Dol Amroth's answer to the Captain of Minas Tirith/Arnor. Stat-wise he's nearly identical with a similar wargear selection, and unfortunately his special rule isn't very good. An Imrahil battalion with a Captain and Knights, while it's very effective, is also very expensive, and at minimum you'll be investing almost half your points into it. This makes it much harder to hold down objectives, and if your opponent has Strength 3 bows capable of shooting out your armoured steeds, this strategy will fall apart. This means that they're best used to support units with Heroic March, much like the game's other Captains, and while they are good on their armoured horse with a lance, your named characters are much better at killing than the Captains will ever be.
  • Highly consider getting other named characters before even considering where you're putting your Captain(s). If you're taking Imrahil or Angbor then your Infantry will heavily benefit from their Heroic March for instance, whereas if you take Forlong you'll have the spare points you saved on not taking Imrahil to spend on a Captain to ride around with the fat man.
  • If you're taking Blackroot Vale Archers, then do remember that Captains of Dol Amroth can call Heroic Shoots even if they're not armed with a bow. While this won't normally come up, there might be a situation where you need to take just one more Wound of an enemy Hero, and in that case you might want to use Heroic Shoot to give the Archers their buff.

Warriors

• Knight of Dol Amroth: The Knights are a solid Infantry unit, but they only shine when you spring points for the armoured horse and lance. On foot they struggle to keep up with Imrahil, so they'll be stuck at Fight 4 most of the time, and at Strength 3 they'll struggle to kill anything, but when they're mounted, the Knights of Dol Amroth are a force to be reckoned with. They bowl over Infantry and can crush Duels thanks to their Fight 5 if they're supporting Imrahil, though even without him (if they're escorting Forlong for instance) they'll still happily ride down Warriors, just be careful if Monsters with the Monstrous Charge are on the field since they'll knock them off their horse, and be careful if they're up against other shock Cavalry. If they don't get the charge it's very possible they could lose the ensuing engagement.
  • Despite only being great on an armoured horse, there are still a few ways you can use Infantry Knights of Dol Amroth. The first is that they have the highest Defence of any of your Warriors, which makes them prime candidates for carrying banners. They're much harder to snipe out, even Strength 3 ranged weapons will need 6's to take them out, and that's if they pass the In the Way roll because you're keeping the banners behind your other Warriors. The second use for the Knights on foot is to get a war horn, and then hide it somewhere. This is generally a good idea even if you take Angbor, since if he's dead your Pikes will be testing at Courage 3 and even your Captains will be testing at Courage 4. A war horn makes it much more likely to get your Stand Fast! aura, which will keep your models fighting.
  • Strongly consider allying in Gandalf the White, since he can use Sorcerous Blast. If he uses it to knock over Monsters, the charging Knights plus whoever they're escorting should be more than enough to finish it off.

• Man-at-arms of Dol Amroth: Dol Amroth's actual infantry unit, the Men-at-arms make for some amazing support when paired with their fight 4, and they have plenty of synergy in this army list. They support Clansmen of Lamedon very well, being able to win engagements for them in case they fail to roll that natural 6 they need which in turn lets the Clansmen carve up whoever they're fighting. Don't worry about their special rule though, Imrahil is best on horse and will most likely be leaving the pikes behind unless he gets his horse shot out from under him. Also be aware that if you use Men-at-arms of Dol Amroth, you'll need to buy a lot of them; this might be problematic if you also wanted Imrahil and a unit of Knights riding around the field, since most of your army will be in two units which are relatively easy to outmaneuver by a mobile opponent. Because of this, if you're not able to put in enough points to get a respectable amount of pikes to support your Clansmen of Lamedon, you might want to go with Axemen of Lossarnach instead, as they're more versatile.
  • Note that although you can support up to three ranks deep, you generally don't want to do this on everyone since only one model can Make Way in the event you lose a duel. This can easily result in your Warriors being Trapped, and unfortunately at their Defence a trapped Clansmen/Man-at-arms is likely dead. To ensure this doesn't happen, you can stagger your formation to always make sure your models have room to retreat, just be aware that this will cause some models to only be supported by one pike instead of two.
  • Never replace their pike with a banner, instead you should always get a Knight to carry it. The reason why is purely because of the Knight's higher Defence, and without it they're vulnerable to enemy Strength 3 ranged assets, and losing the banner hurts a lot.
  • Like the Blackroot Vale Archers, the Man-at-arms make for great allies to other forces, even if you don't get your Army Bonus. There's plenty of models that would love to get their pike support, as well as their Fight 4, just be aware that at Courage 3 they'll be one of the first to run away if you lose your Captain's Stand Fast!

• Axeman of Lossarnach: Another model with Fight 4, the Axemen are a surprisingly versatile unit. They can back up Clansmen of Lamedon with their spears, and when the Clasmen start dying, they can step up to fill that role as their spears double as two-handed axes (so you can benefit from Piercing Strike as well). This is on top of being able to support each other, and if you're worried about that -1 penalty on the Duel roll you can always use your dagger instead. Just be aware they have a relatively low Defence value, just like the Clansmen, and their spears cannot be further supported by pikes, so if you want to use them you'll likely be cutting Men-at-arms of Dol Amroth out from your list since they have poor synergy. Generally it also takes less to make the Axemen work than it does the Men-at-arms, so if you're going with heavy Cavalry, you'll probably want Clansmen backed by Axemen rather than pike formations.
  • Never replace their axe of Lossarnach with a banner, instead you should always get a Knight to carry it. The reason why is purely because of the Knight's higher Defence, and without it they're vulnerable to enemy Strength 3 ranged assets, and losing the banner hurts a lot.

• Clansmen of Lamedon: An army of 'scottish' stereotypes. They have decent fight 4 like nearly all the other Warriors in this army, but with hero-level Courage 5 all in a cheap bundle armed with a two-handed weapon. They also count as being in range of a banner so long as they're within 6" of Angbor, and since this is also the range of Angbor's Fearless bubble, the Clansmen will happily dive in to fight anything. Their true gimmick however is their Broadsword: it's a two-handed sword, but on a 6 they don't take the -1 penalty to the Duel roll. This makes them prime frontline fighters for your Infantry, and if they're backed up by Axemen of Lossarnach or Men-at-arms of Dol Amroth they'll punch well above their weight class. To go a bit further into it however, which models you choose to support them with depend on how many points you have to spare. Axemen require fewer points to support the Clansmen since they're only armed with spears, and when the Clansmen die they can step up to use their own two-handed weapons, whereas pikes require significantly more models (and as such, more points) to get the best bang for your buck. Furthermore, pikes will help prevent you from losing Duels, while the axes can help fill in when they fall, but you generally don't want to support Clansmen with both. Spears can't be further supported by pikes, and you want everyone in the unit fighting if you can manage it.
  • Because they have a lower Defence value, consider keeping the Clansmen behind your other Warriors. Pikes can march up in front of them and then separate slightly so that the Clansmen can charge in to get the fighting started, and the same goes with the Axemen. Both of those supporting models are only wounded on 6's by most bows whereas Clansmen get wounded on 5+, and nothing sucks more than watching all your Clansmen get shot down before they're able to reach the enemy.
  • If you want to hold a backfield objective, it's not a bad idea to get one or two Clansmen specifically for it since with a war horn from your Knights of Dol Amroth, they'll be taking Courage tests at Courage 6 after you hit your Break Point. This makes it incredibly unlikely they'll run away, giving you value even if they're not able to kill anything.
  • Generally it's not a bad idea to bring a Knight of Dol Amroth with a banner for your Clansmen, even if you're bringing Angbor. The Lord of Lossarnach is a big target and you can guarantee your opponent will be trying to kill him, especially when your army is broken. Should that happen it'll become much harder to win your Duels, and every opportunity you can take to get that natural 6 is a good one.

• Blackroot Vale Archers: Rangers of Gondor who sold their Fight 4 for the ability to re-roll To Wound rolls when benefiting from a Heroic Shoot. Generally the only upgrade that might be good on them is a war horn, the banner will be put down pretty quickly even by regular bows (and is much better carried by a Knight) and the spear is near useless since you could get Axemen of Lossarnach instead, who have a dual-role weapon, higher Defence and higher Fight. With that out of the way, keep them in the back, keep them near Duinhir for the re-roll he gives them (they'll re-roll half their misses) and use them to snipe out more vulnerable supporting elements in enemy units, especially Shamans, banners and the like.
  • Remember that they have Mountain Dweller; while this won't come up much, it will allow them to escape certain enemies, especially Cavalry depending on the terrain you use. Never forget you have it, just don't deliberately fill the board with rocky terrain you're classifying as difficult terrain or else you're going to be that guy.
  • Do remember that models do not need a bow in order to call a Heroic Shoot, in effect, anyone can cause these guys to re-roll failed To Wound rolls, but as mentioned above, unless they're shooting a Defence 4 or less, or enemy bows, it's a waste to do so.

Allies

These guys are designed to ally to anyone and everyone, but more specifically with Minas Tirith in mind. Warriors of the Dead are straight up the hardest to kill 'human' armies in the game, if not one of the hardest to kill period. It's worth noting that outside of blackroot vale, all Fiefdom armies greatly benefit from allying to elves or Arnor for ranged support.

Building your Army

As you can probably guess by looking at their profiles and army bonuses, heroes are going to be front and center for making your army. As soon as you start putting together a list, Imrahil frankly should be in it; a 12" banner effect and stand fast on top of the always-impressive beatstick profile F6 3 A/W/M/W/F, plus a lance and armored horse, is just too good to ever pass up. On top of this, forlong provides fantastic army-wide bonuses (war horn and rerolling 1's to wound) on top of a strong profile that does well on attack and defense.

After that, you have a little more freedom. If you're worried about terror tests hurting your army, Angbor the Fearless makes a great spearhead for an anti-nazgul attack squad, and 2 might for heroic strikes also means he's pretty handy should a troll come along. If you aren't worried about that, duinhir is cheap and provides fantastic bonuses to the archers you'll inevitably be taking.

To the warriors themselves, the natural inclination to castle up with a battle line of high-defense troops backed by spear-wielding archers is wise, but should NOT be the focal point of your force. Putting a legion of knights of Dol Amroth front and center is going to cost you a pretty penny (both cash and points) and moreover isn't really going to be doing anything more effectively than some schmucks from Minas Tirith. If you're looking for foot knights, think of them only as an anvil, not your main weapon. Good news is, you have plenty of great hammers to choose from. mounted knights with imrahil and forlong are an absolute terror on the charge, and even just a batch of axemen can pretty efficiently stomp an enemy offensive.

there's merits for all the troops, but the main low-cost punchers will lean towards axemen, men-at-arms, and clansmen; axemen are fantastic in their flexibility and synergize with just about everyone, on top of this packing a strong punch of their own. D5 means they aren't invincible, but a 2-in-1 spear and 2-handed axe (giving equivalent of strength 6 when you need it) means they can go pretty much anywhere and (especially with some heroic help) do pretty much anything. men-at-arms are a little more nuanced; while they cost the same as axemen and have the same base stats, they trade higher damage potential for pike support. They also have the ability to get fight 5, and while nice it's only within 3" of imrahil, so don't plan on routinely matching elves- it's not great, but it can make a difference against dwarves, uruks, and fellow men when you need it. lastly are clansmen, who trade their armor for big fucking swords. 2-handed (as opposed to hand-and-a-half) swords means they hit very hard and, on a nat6, don't suffer the pesky -1 to their duel rolls. combined with angbor they also get a banner effect (and ofc fearless), meaning they make a nice skirmish force that can move freely, BUT be careful of their armor. those kilts may let the air flow nicely, but they don't protect shit, so be very cautious of arrows and enemy strength 4 (uruks, wargs, angry rohirrim) cause it can mean heavy casualties. don't try to use them as an all-purpose ingredient, but against foes that kill a few men and require heavier weapons to take down (that is to say, trolls) they're a very strong choice, particularly combined with the fearless, rerolls, and potential high fight value of their chieftain.

In short, you're not playing isengard- to win with fiefdoms, you need to find a workable variety of troops, capitalize on the buffs of heroes, and play the battlefield as it is in order to win. bring imrahil, forlong, five or so mounted knights, and you have a strong basic punch- then build something that can take some blows, draw enemy heat, and bait your opponent out until the reinforcements come in and clean house

Tactics

Fiefdoms is an army that relies on its heroes to be great. All bar one of its warriors has D6 and they are generally quite pricey in terms of points. In fact, 2/5 of your warrior choices are D4. Therefore, you need to be on the attack and ensure that your hero bubbles overlap one another to make sure that your troops are getting nearly every bonus. F4 will mean you will win most fights but when it comes to those pesky pointed ear elves or short and stubborn dwarfs, do not be surprised if you bounce off them missing half a dozen troops.

A good wedge to lead the attack is 5-10 Knights of Dol Amroth led by Imrahil alongside Forlong on a horse as well. This wedge will chew through nearly everything standing in its way and ensure that you have a few Men at Arms and Axemen to support the charge. Clansmen of Lamedon are a good choice alongside Angbar if you know there will be scary armies to face as the special rule makes them fearless and their broadswords keep natural 6's (meaning that they are actually better than Fountain Guard for trapping and wounding Monsters) Also remember Forlongs warhorn. This means that many of your units will be Courage 5 (or take Angbar and not worry about courage) Remember, Knights, Captains of Dol Amroth and Men at Arms get +1 to their fight so don't be afraid to charge them into some heroes.

A word of warning however. All of your heroes, with the exception of Imrahil, are weak. Their fate and will (aside from Angbars) is bitterly low making them vulnerable to magic and shooting. Once you start to lose heroes, your army list will stop being awesome. Be careful with the fights that you put your heroes into and if you are worried about your wedge of Knights (that takes up nearly half your army list in terms of points) is going to be shot up, take Gondor as allies and bring Gandalf to protect the wedge and to supply you with a tough as nails anvil. If you want to be really mean bring along Ingold and have a bunch of Men At Arms support his anvil, and laugh as your opponent suddenly finds out that your troops aren't trapped due to them not having to back away when they lose the fight. (units within 3" of Ingold still count as trapped if they can't back away 1" even though they don't have to as stated in an early FAQ) Another good thing to take if you have Gondor as an ally, is the Avenger Bolt Thrower. This S7 sniper will allow you to thin your enemies ranks and even kill a hero or two before the charge hits home.

Remember, if you lose one priority and get charged, be prepared to see casualties pile up unless you keep the infantry close by. F4 doesn't matter when you rolled a 1 (even after the re-roll) and your F2 enemy rolled a 2. Fiefdoms can be best described as a glass cannon, they hit damn hard, but they can easily be broken if you play them poorly.

If you want to stay all Fiefdom however, Men at Arms and Axemen of Lossarnach are your best choice for foot troops. Why do you ask? Do piercing strike with the Axemen and two handed weapon as well, make sure that they have a couple of pikemen supporting them while keeping them close to Forlong and Imrahil. Against anything that is D6 they are wounding on a 4+ and re-rolling a 1 to wound (while also being able to re-roll 1's with the Men at Arms) this means that very few enemy troops are going to be able to stand up to you while the Axemen have a better rate of survival (and killing power) than the Clansmen (who against D6 will be wounding on 5's and re-rolling 1's) Clansmen are best for swarming anything that is pretty scary and due to them being pretty cheap in terms of price and can keep the natural 6's (annoying your opponent like hell when his troll gets 3 5's and you get a 6)