The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game/Tactics/Thorin's Company

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Why Play Thorin's Company

Because you want to play as the OG gang that's story made the Middle Earth legendarium happen, or maybe you like the Fellowship but wished they had more dwarf members. Well here you can have Thirteen of them and you can have Gandalf and Bilbo too. Most of the Dwarves are pretty good fighters and those that are lacking in that department make up for it with their special rules on supporting other units or helping you get an advantage on your turn.

Pros

• A good selection of mixed heroes, all specialising in certain skills to support the rest of the company.
• Everyone can take a Pony or Horse in Gandalf's case.
• Very Strong Fighters.
• No downsides on bringing the one ring.
• All around high courage values.

Cons

• Every unit is a hero so you will be badly outnumbered by most armies you face.
• While you have some excellent heroes most of the dwarves are at best middling, with few defence values above a 5 and no 3 Might heroes other than Thorin and Gandalf. They're all worth their points, just don't expect many of them to stand toe to toe with big hitters like Lurtz or a troll.

Army Bonus

"I would take each and every one of these Dwarves over an army from the Iron Hills, for when I called upon them, they answered" - while within 3 of Thorin every hero from this list can re-roll to wound rolls of 1. Also, according to the Errata, every hero in the army gains heroic march.

Unit Analysis

Heroes

• Thorin Oakenshield: The leader of the dwarves and the most expensive of them. Strangely, he is the only one without any special rules if he doesn't buy any upgrades but fortunately his stats are great. Always buy the Oakenshield to up his defence, but Orcrist is less auto. It's amazing against orcs, goblins and Uruk-hais, but otherwise it's just an elven-made hand-and-a-half sword for 10 points.

• Gandalf the Grey: A great but expensive support hero. Blinding light makes shooting armies cry, immobilise/command shuts down enemy heroes and monsters and sorcerous blast is useful for dismounting enemies or just for some general damage. He is also the only one in the company who can take a horse. Since he and Thorin are both heroes of legend you can choose which of them leads the company, although in most instances you'll want Thorin because of his offensive capabilities.

• Bilbo: The expert burglar, Bilbo is pretty weak and cant move all that fast. however he can take sting for 5 points which gives him +1 strength but he can also take the one Rings for absolutely no cost and with no penalties that other ring bearers might suffers since he has the special rule it has not yet awoken. he can also throw stones for all that's worth.

• Fili: A cheap but decent fighter that comes with throwing axes and the bodyguard rule to protect Thorin, he also has "Combatant synergy" this allows him to switch positions with his brother Kili at any start of a phase so long as they're in base contact with each other. This ability can help if one of them takes a wound and needs to get out of fight quickly.

• Kili: Exactly like his brother in stats but instead of throwing weapons he brings a Dwarf bow, with a shoot value of 3+ a bow is not a bad thing to have. He also has "Combatant synergy" so he can support his brother when he gets into trouble.

• Dwalin: The second most expensive Dwarf to bring, Dwalin is one of your best fighters, he has Burly and fearless but also has weapons master which takes away the -1 penalty for using a two handed weapon (which is a two handed hammer by the way), it also mean he's never considered unarmed. This effectivly gives him +1 to wound, combined with his natural strength 5 and acces to Heroic Strength he's easily the hardest hitting Hero in the Company. At Defence 6 and with a fight value of 6 he can take on most things thrown at him.

• Balin: Much cheaper in points than his brother, Balin's stats aren't anything too special but he does come with a unique weapon the sword-mace, this gives him the option to use either feint or bash special strikes. Where he comes in worth taking is his special rule Longbeard, this allows him to spend a will point to give his side a re-roll for priority, this is very good for ruining your opponents plan on getting first into combat or nabbing an objective before you could get to it first.

• Oin: Like any good party of adventurers on a quest you should never leave without a healer, that's where Oin comes in. His stats don't say much and he comes equipped with a two handed staff, but has a whopping 4 Will points, this is where his special rule Prognostication comes in handy. Oin can spend one point of will to enable a friendly model within 3 of him to re-roll a single dice in a fight, something that Thorins Company is otherwise lacking. As previously mentioned he's also the healer so when he's in base contact with a friendly unit he can attempt to heal them by rolling a D6, on a 1-3 nothing happens, 4-5 the model regains a wound and on a 6 they regain all their wounds. The downside is that you can't move when you do this so if you can get your injured model to Oin so he can heal them instead of Oin trying to get to him.

• Gloin: Gimli's Dad is a pretty decent fighter with second best defence in the company at 7, he comes with axes and throwing axes (you can never have to many axes) and an automatic reroll of 1s to wound. He's definitely one of your front line fighters, stick him with Dwalin and watch them cut down most things sent at them, or Have his brother Oin stay close and heal every time your opponent manages to wound him, it sure to drive them mad.

• Dori: For only 55 points Dori can bring a lot in terms of combat as he has 3 attacks at strength 4 and fight value 5. Also, his special rule A Good Sort Really allows Bilbo to use Dori's Might, Will and Fate as if it was his own if he is within 3. One of the rare instances where you'll want to take him for is stat line alone rather than his special rules.

• Nori: A decent fighter with a two handed mace, dagger and armour, unlike his brother Dori he only has 2 attacks but he instead has the Weapon Master rule meaning he wont be given the -1 to his roll when he fights with his two-handed mace. Aside from that nothing much else makes Nori stand out, he's a reliable fighter for his cost but certainly not a must have.

• Ori: The runt of the Company, Ori is not much of a fighter and while this makes him cheap to bring he does have two abilities that make him helpful for the other members of the company. Ori's first special rule Chronicler allows him to restore any member of Thorins Company a point of Might, Will or Fate if they slay an enemy hero or monster and are within 3 of him. His second rule Deadeye means that if you roll a 6 to hit then he automatically passes in the way tests and the target automatically suffers a single wound, it likely wont happen often but this could be hilarious when aiming at trolls, fell beasts, other heroes (if they fail their fate roll) and even Mumakil. Remember he can shoot twice if he doesn't move.

• Bifur: Your only Dwarf with A spear, well a boar spear actually, which allows him to use it as a spear or a two handed axe so at least he has options. Bifur has an unusually good shoot value of a +3 but sadly can only throw stones. His Special rule Embedded Axe-blade allows him to make a single strike should he win combat. If the strike wounds his opponent then Bifur can call a free heroic move each turn for the rest of the game.

• Bofur: This guy is your counter to magic, Bofur is armed with a mattock and has the special rule steadfast which allows him to try and ignore the effects on magic by rolling a D6, if it's a 2+ then the effects do not take affect and the result can be modified by might if you rolled a 1. You can still attempt to resist magic but you must do this first before using Bofur's Steadfast rule.

• Bombur: He may be fat but at least that gives him an extra wound, he's also good at helping other hero's regain will points they have spent, as long as he's in base contact he can roll a D6 and if its a 4+ then that hero regains a point of Will. This can be really useful for Balin and Oin who use Will for their special rules. He can also use the Bash special when fighting use this to knock an opponent prone and then let one of the better fighters finish them off.

Allies

Historical Allies

Army of Laketown

The Misty Mountains

Convenient Allies

Iron Hills Dwarves

Rivendell

Lothlorien

Thranduil's Hall

Impossible Allies

Arnor

Minas Tirith

The Dead of Dunharrow

Numenor

Rohan

The Kingdom of Khazad-Dum

The Fellowship

The Fiefdoms

The Shire

The Wanderers in the Wild

Fangorn

Radagast's Alliance

Army of Thror

Garrison of Dale

The White Council

Survivors of Laketown

Erebor Reclaimed