With my birthday falling just after Christmas, and the Lincoln Slow Grow traditionally beginning the year, my family have begun asking questions to find what kind of gift I would like. A new year means new armies for me, so here is a sneak preview.
How Do I Choose An Army?
As my current favorite armies are The Fellowship, The Grey Company, and a comedy mix of Sauron with two wraiths on fell-beasts, I tend to favour armies that are hero-heavy, somewhat "janky", and quick to use to maximise time at the bar. But there is method to the madness. What I do is this: I look at what the bottom performing lists in the previous year on Longshanks are, and go up until I find one that sounds fun. Using this method, for 2024 I will be using:
- The Rangers Of Mirkwood Legendary Legion
- Thorin's Company
Both have the required coolness. The Mirkwood elves are inexpensive. They have a selection of the things people hate - namely Tauriel - and a selection of fun rules. They are also lauded as complete junk on the tabletop which is just what I like. The Thorin's Company is mainly because I have spent the last month badgering my family to buy me the Barrels Out Of Bond set.
What Have I Asked Santa For?
So, the Barrels Out Of Bond set features the dwarves and Bilbo. I already have Gandalf on a horse, which pretty much covers all my options. Fully equipped this lot comes to a vexing 1010 points. So totally useable at a variety of points levels....and more importantly, for when the inevitable "Barrels Out Of Bond" legendary legion comes out. You know, the one where you loose heroic march; gain an in-the-way due to being in a barrel; gain a speed boost when within or near water. That one. You heard it here first.
Building lists for The Elves is made trickier because it seems that if you give Legolas the elven cloak (which I want as otherwise he would feel left out) then making a list that uses all your points is difficult. So I'm going to prepare for all eventualities up to 806 points. For some reason. For which I will need Leggy and Tauriel, two of the resin captains (elf potato head, and "have to buy in a pack with something I don't want" lady elf), 30 Rangers and 3 sentinels.
Building lists for The Elves is made trickier because it seems that if you give Legolas the elven cloak (which I want as otherwise he would feel left out) then making a list that uses all your points is difficult. So I'm going to prepare for all eventualities up to 806 points. For some reason. For which I will need Leggy and Tauriel, two of the resin captains (elf potato head, and "have to buy in a pack with something I don't want" lady elf), 30 Rangers and 3 sentinels.
What Am I Going To Do With Them?
Leggy with cloak for 100. Tauriel. Then add captains and rangers and sentinels. I think I need one sentinel for each 200pts. So that's the plan. I've downloaded some fairly cool spooky forest bases for £2 on MyMiniFactory so you can have a look. The idea is to paint them a blue and green spooky colour scheme, either with Avatar-blue flesh, or hyper-pale elf flesh. And then slop on the gloss gel nail varnish for the slimy forest floor.
