Build Me an Army Worthy of... Numenor (ish)

Hello readers, today we are going to look at 2 armies lists I would look to bring to an EAHC event, one at 500pts and one at 800pts. As mentioned previously, the EAHC is a growing community and, despite a clear focus on fun and fluff, we have a number of skilled players so these lists are designed to compete effectively in a reasonably competitive environment. Now last week we looked at 2 lists for my first Evil army in the game in Angmar. This week, I have built to lists around the Good army I first played when joining the EAHC at the beginning of last year: Numenor. My first list is 500pts pure Numenor but my 800pts list drafts in some support from Numenor's only Green Alliance, Rivendell.

Isildur, the Invisible King - 500pts

Isildur with horse, shield and The One Ring
6 Warriors of Numenor with shield
4 Warriors of Numenor with spear and shield
5 Warriors of Numenor with bow and spear

Captain of Numenor with horse, heavy armour, shield and lance

11 Warriors of Numenor with spear and shield

1 Warrior of Numenor with spear, shield and banner

With 29 models, this list achieves good numbers for 500pts but those numbers are needed when you factor in that the warriors with shields are only D5 and the ones with bows are D4! Warriors of Numenor are great at killing the enemy thanks to their innate S4 and F4 to win fights but, when they lose a fight, they die very easily. By bringing higher numbers, you can mitigate a few losses and ensure you have a good number of dice in each fight.

Looking at the first warband, we have Isildur. Now we could have gone for his powerhouse father, Elendil, who is quite frankly insane. However, he is very expensive and would have left us very short on numbers. Equally, thanks to his father, Isildur is often overlooked but could possibly be the best value hero in the game. He saves enough points to bring an extra 6 warriors over his father but also brings a host of other perks to the tabletop. At FV6, he is comfortably winning most fights on FV, although a particularly small, shiny piece of wargear makes his FV6 unbeatable but we will get to that later! Built in S5 with 3 attacks, 4 on the charge whilst mounted, and 3 Might points to use will melt most enemies, however he can also go 2-handed with his hand and a half sword should he feel the need to. I don't think I have ever done so but I can see there are a few niche occasions where the flexibility comes in handy. Offensively he is a bit of a monster, however things continue to impress when looking at his defensive capabilities. With a shield, Isildur reaches a mightily impressive D8 and has 3 Wounds and 2 Fate to fall back on if he is ever bested in combat or targeted at range. Further, his 2 Will give him a solid chance of brushing off pesky spellcasters but he improves this further by giving himself, and those Numenoreans within 6", Resistant to Magic thanks to his Numenorean blood. 

Isildur is a great leader thanks to his stat line but things only get better when you take him without his father as this allows you to get The One Ring. Representing the time period after the fall of Sauron when Isildur is the High King of Gondor and Arnor, having access to The One Ring makes Isildur the ultimate assassin. Costing 0pts, The One Ring lets Isildur turn invisible, walk through the control zones of opponents and target their key models. Not only that, the Ring halves the FV of all opponents, other than the Ringwraiths, after any Heroic Strikes meaning Isildur's FV6 will always be the highest. Not only that but it means that models must pass a Courage check at -1 per inch away from Isildur to test whether they can see him to charge him and makes sure he can't be targeted by ranged attacks. All together, that is immensely hard to deal with! There are some drawbacks, for example Isildur can't put the Ring on whilst mounted otherwise the horse bolts but you can stay mounted for most of the game and dismount to use the Ring if it is required. The biggest issue happens at the start of the turn where Isildur rolls a D6 and on a 1-2 is lost to the Ring for one turn, giving control to your opponent. You can use Might to alter this roll however I find it is useful to use the Ring when needed and then, next turn, remove the Ring with a Courage test (at C7 with the Numenor army bonus) to continue as normal until it is required again. All in all, particularly at 500pts, Isildur is a boss.

Backing up Isildur are a host of Numenorean Warriors. At F4, S4 they are strong troops, particularly for a Good army. Arming most with spears allows them to support where required and having a small number of bows applies a but of pressure to the opponent. The bow armed warriors are great for objective holding but don't forget, just because they have bows, they are strong combat warriors so get them stuck in if you don't need them to hang back.

In the second warband, we have a further 12 Numenoreans, 1 armed with a banner to add an extra dice to duel rolls where required. They are following the lead of a Captain of Numenor. Captains in a Numenor list are very well-costed and add much needed mobility. With no cavalry warriors, the Captains get to ride on horseback and gives access to Heroic March to help with positioning. However, the Captain really shines as a troop killer. At FV5, S4 and 2 Attacks, he is already good on the charge whilst mounted but giving him a lance means he is mowing down D6 troops on 4s. Add heavy armour and a shield for a strong D7, the Captain works his way through enemy troops and low-cost heroes whilst Isildur cuts of the head of the snake by hunting the enemy big boys. 

The list certainly has its concerns but has proven to be very effective at cutting through opposing armies. Try to save Isildur's Might for key combats or The One Ring rolls and use the Captain's Might for Marches if needed, otherwise key Heroic Moves. Once in combat, this army kills quickly but dies quickly too so try to push the odds in your favour where possible with the banner and spear support and don't be afraid to shield if it buys you time to outmanoeuvre the enemy. Isildur is the big trick in the army and can be relied upon to pull his weight, you just have to make sure you use him to his fullest. Sometimes staying mounted and not putting the Ring on is the better option.

The Last Alliance Reforged - 800pts

Isildur with horse, shield and The One Ring
10 Warriors of Numenor with spear and shield
2 Warriors of Numenor with bow

Captain of Numenor with horse, heavy armour, shield and lance

7 Warriors of Numenor with spear and shield

1 Warrior of Numenor with spear, shield and banner

2 Warriors of Numenor with bow

Glorfindel with Asfaloth and Armour of Gondolin

11 elves with shield

2 elves with bow

2 Rivendell Knights with shield

Certainly not the fluffiest of lists but a very strong one! Adding in Glorfindel and as many elves as possible adds a lot to a Numenor army. It is possible to play a pure Numenor army at 800pts but it struggles a lot and so, by adding in a Rivendell contingent, you compliment the strengths of Numenor and plug a few weakness. Isildur and the Captain, along with their warbands, fulfill the same roles as above, although you want to make Glorfindel the leader so that Isildur can do his invisible butchering without giving up VPs if things go south. So what do the elf boys bring?

Glorfindel is amazing. Straight up baller of an elf lord. F7, 3s in all the right places and on a 12" horse that ignores forests. Where can I sign up?! With D7 and an elven blade, on the rare occasions he loses a fight, he is pretty safe. But what if the enemy have spellcasters? Well, with Unbending Resolve giving Glorfindel 2 free resist dice a turn to supplement his 3 Will, he laughs at the petty magic thrown at him. Oh but what about those big scary monsters that can Rend? With the Armour of Gondolin, Glorfindel cannot be subject to Rend, or any other Brutal Power Attack which targets him, so get him stuck against those Fell Beasts and Troll Chieftains. Coming in at cheaper than Gil-Galad and Elrond, the other two big elven lords, Glorfindel is arguable the best all-rounder and definitely the best value for his points cost. Having him and Isildur together is a real headache for an opponent.

Backing up the glorious pointy-eared legend that is Glorfindel, we have a couple of High Elf bowmen who can sit on objectives and try to snipe enemy heroes' horses and 11 elves with shields. They don't need spears as they will become your front line. Having the FV5, D6 elf with an elven-made sword at the front supported by the S4 Numenorean at the back creates a mini deathball combination. You are rarely ever going to lose a fight due to having higher FV and an elven-made weapon and you have a S4 attack to kill your opponent. Further, if you are up against FV3 opponents, you can faint with the elf to help with killing or risk going 2-handed for plus one to wound. It is a great combo which has won me many a battle. The final piece to the puzzle are 2 Rivendell Knights. The Knights add much needed mobility, an extra killing power punch where required with their lances and cavalry charge denial to further plug the gaps of Numenor.

This army is rather elite but stills clocks in at 40 models so won't find itself massively outnumbered in most circumstances. The backbone of this army are the elf/Numenorean SWAT team pairings as they will hold their own and grind down the opponent. However the combination of Glorfindel and Isildur is a huge threat and, even before factoring in The One Ring, they can go toe to toe with the best heroes of Middle Earth. Use your warriors to win the attrition war and your heroes to strike at enemy heroes where possible. Remember, use The One Ring at the right time for maximum effect.

So there you have it, two lists based largely around Numenor, although one with a little Elvish twist. There are plenty of other ways to play Numenor, Elendil being an obvious route, but I enjoy building around Isildur. Further, the other elven lords are fun to use, in fact at 800pts you can have a very fun Last Alliance army with Elendil and Gil-Galad with full warbands which I have greatly enjoyed in the past. Thanks for reading!