Build Me an Army Worthy of... Rohan

Welcome to the next in our Build Me an Army Worthy of... blog posts. Once again, I will be sharing 2 lists which I would bring to an EAHC tournament so the lists are competitive but not super filthy! This week, we move on to my army of the moment: Rohan. At the start of 2020 I decided to change up the army I played for the EAHC league events and Rohan was my chosen Good army, replacing my favoured Last Alliance themed forces. The much-loved pony lords have since taken me to 3 1st place tournament finishes, with their furious charge only blunted by the arrival of a global pandemic! 

Before I move on to the list, I think it is important to mention that both lists use the Riders of Theoden LL. There are a number of Rohan LLs now available but, in my opinion, the Riders of Theoden is clearly the best and is a top tier SBG army. Other army styles and builds are certainly viable but the Riders of Theoden allows you to recreate an iconic movie scene whilst improving on the strengths of a Rohan list. In short, all of the things you would include in a standard competitive Rohan list are available to the LL with the added bonus of the Death! special rule, so running the legion is a no-brainer!

The Rohan Bulldozer - 500pts

Theoden with heavy armour, shield and armoured horse

3 RRG with horse and throwing spears

Rohan Captain with heavy armour, shield and horse

2 RRG with horse and throwing spears

Deorwine with horse

3 RRG with horse and throwing spears

Dernhelm with horse

2 RRG with horse and throwing spears

15 models

This force is rather small for 500pts but with all models mounted, a strong core of D6, FV5 on the charge troops and 3 heroes with Strike, boy does it hit like a freight train! For those who prefer a few more bodies, you can get 3 more models in exchange for your Captain but I feel he is too valuable and 3 extra bodies end up being rather insignificant. The first few times I played lists like this one the model count did make me apprehensive but, after a few games, it was clear it wasn't a concern!

Leading the force we have Theoden King. The lynchpin of almost all Rohan forces, the King of the Horse Lords offers a lot for his points but should be used more as a force multiplier and support hero than a big hitter. With 2W and 1F, the King is a little frail, although D7 is nice, and he offers far too much to risk losing him in a tricky combat. Theoden is hugely important to the list due to the fact that all the RRG and the Captain become F5 on the charge within 12" of him which is amazing. Not only that, but you need Theoden on the battlefield to call the insanely good Death! rule! At the start of any Fight phase, once per battle, Theoden can shout Death! which allows every Rohan hero within 12" call Heroic Combat or Strike (if on their profile) for free. With this list, this rule is used to great effect as you can call 4 Heroic Combats and can easily average 3 kills per hero. 12 dead enemies, not including any your throwing spears or RRG may get, is enough to almost break a lot of 500pts armies in 1 turn! In short, keep Theoden alive and profit.

The troops accompanying the King are repeated in every other warband, Rohan Royal Guard. I love RRG! They are incredibly good for their points and are a clear improvement on the already decent Rider of Rohan. These shinier, more armoured pony boys can easily get to FV5, 2 Attacks, S4 on the charge which is enough to win most fights and, by giving them throwing spears, they will be picking up an odd kill on the charge too. Couple that with D6, helping the RRG stick around against S3 attacks, they kill things easily and are hard to be killed themselves. All in all, they are already a impressive package but they get even better with their Bodyguard special rule. Being fearless whilst Theoden is still alive, who of course should be given how important I have told you he is, is invaluable against Terror causing armies or auto-passing Courage tests late game to keep hold of objectives. RRG are superb and you won't regret adding them to your Rohan forces, although your wallet will take a bit of a beating!

So what about the other heroes? The Captain first. He is cheap in terms of points, has Heroic March (I know Theoden does too but the Captain saves Theoden's Might for when it's important) which allows you to close with any static enemy gun lines you might come up against and, with 3A at FV5 (within 12" of Theoden), S5 on the charge, he's pretty good at chewing through troops. Altogether a strong, if unspectacular, choice but he is another hero who benefits from Death! and that is why I favour him over more bodies. 

Next up, my boy Deorwine. What a gangster! F5, S5 with 3A on the charge, D7 for good staying power and Bodyguard to auto-pass Courage checks whilst Theoden lives (again, seriously, make sure Theoden stays alive!), he has a great stat line. With Heroic Strike and 3 Might to round of his profile, he is a steal for his points already. However, Deorwine has a special rule which makes him a top tier Rohan hero. For Theoden! allows Deorwine call a free Heroic Combat if Theoden is in combat within 12" of Deorwine. He must use that to join Theoden's combat, or as close as possible to Theoden if this isn't possible. With 11 Might in the list, 4 free Might from Death! and now Deorwine burning through more free Might, most opponents won't be able to cope.

The final hero in the list isn't just 1 hero, it is 2! Dernhelm, the combined Eowyn and Merry profile introduced in Gondor at War, is amazing. Costing less points than Eowyn and Merry would separately, Dernhelm is an incredibly well-costed FV5, 3 Attack (4 on the charge) hero with 3 Might points (2 on Eowyn, 1 on Merry) and access to Strike. She can reliably hunt down enemy heroes and is hard to kill as your opponent has to choose who to focus on in combat, with both heroes sporting 2 Fate. All in all, she is a fantastic addition and regularly recoups her points during the course of a battle.

At 500pts, with so much Might on the table, your opponent will struggle to cope with the threats in this list. Tactically, wait until your lose priority (whilst staying out of your opponent's charge range) and then charge with everyone, focusing on mid-level heroes (without Strike) and troops. Call Death! Combat through half their army, spending Might where needed, and push home the advantage in the following turns. 

An even Mightier Rohan Bulldozer - 800pts

Theoden with heavy armour, shield and armoured horse

3 RRG with horse and throwing spears

Rohan Captain with heavy armour, shield and horse

2 RRG with horse and throwing spears

Deorwine with horse

2 RRG with horse and throwing spears

Eomer with heavy armour, shield and armoured horse

3 RRG with horse and throwing spears

Dernhelm with horse

2 RRG with horse and throwing spears

Gamling with Royal Standard of Rohan and horse

2 RRG with horse and throwing spears

21 models

This list takes the strengths of the previous list and doubles down on them. Now the model count here is very low but you have so many threats on the table that it can overwhelm most opponents. With a strong core of my favourite RRG with throwing spears, you can block your heroes from ranged threats until combat is reached. When combat is joined, then your heroes just tear a bloody hole through the the enemies lines. The list has a crazy 17 Might, not accounting for free Might from Deorwine's combats, the Death! rule and an addition to the list in Gamling and his banner! You can easily spend 30+ Might with this list over the course of a game! So what do the new heroes bring to the Theoden and his crew?

We can start with Gamling. Gamling's stat line leaves a lot to be desired, at FV4, D6 and only 2W with 1F, he won't kill much and will die pretty easy (although Heroic Defence can help with this). So why bring him? It's all about the Rohan Royal Standard. Firstly, it gives the army a banner which is always useful. However, it is the extra benefit it gives which makes Gamling fantastic: at the start of a turn, 1 Rohan hero who is out of Might within 3" of Gamling gets 1 Might point back. More free Might! Now this effect is superb! It allows you to burn through the already insane amount of Might without worrying about running low. Late game this is crucial as, after your opponent has run out of Might, you can guarantee Heroic Moves for your charging Horse Lords. Amazingly, as I'm sure many of you are aware, Gamling's Royal Standard has been recently nerfed and used to provide a Might point to every Rohan Hero out of Might within 3" of the banner. Now that was stupidly insane! However, despite Rohan's answer to Oprah (You have a Might point, and you have a Might point!) being significantly less generous, he is still a valuable addition to the army.

The only other addition, besides more RRG, in the jump from 500 to 800pts is the real beatstick of the Rohirrim, Eomer. The beneficiary of a snazzy new sculpt, Eomer represents the pinnacle of the Horse Lords' fighters. 3s in all the right places, the chance to go crazy and get +1 to wound if Eowyn or Theoden die (with S5 on the charge, +1 to wound is incredible) and D7, Eomer is an offensive powerhouse, a defensive rock and a constant thorn for your opponent. Send him after your opponent's biggest threat and watch him prove himself an impressive future King of Rohan!

Just like the 500pts list, this army is built around Theoden's synergies, abusing Might advantage and that first, perfect charge. With 6 heroes reliably killing around 3 models each, your throwing spears and FV5 RRG, you can easily cut through 20+ models in the first turn of combat. Not many armies can stand up against that!

Both the lists above are hard-hitting, elite forces which can be very effective on the tabletop. The Riders of Theoden are my favourite flavour of Rohan. Let me know what Rohan builds you prefer.

Thanks for reading, 

Kieran