If you haven’t heard of the Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game (MESGB) from Games Workshop you are missing out on the most thematic well-written rule system in their entire line up! Those of you who know me, know that I am mainly an Age of Sigmar player who dabbles in 40k, but MESBG is truly a hidden gem amongst the Games Workshop lineup. While being incredibly balanced the game truly captures the thematic nature of the movies and the extended Tolkien universe.
This is my completely subjective list of heroes, both good and evil, that I love seeing on the battlefield and that are fun to play, not necessarily the top tier meta-heroes that need to be played to win. This only includes heroes from the Lord of the Rings side of the game and not The Hobbit. Come along the winding road with me!
10. Boromir, Captain of the White Tower
I promise Boromir won’t die on you immediately (usually). He is an amazing support piece for Gondor and can boost all your warriors around him. Not only is he chunky with 6 might, 3 will, and 3 fate and some heavy armor, he has two great utility abilities that make him worth his 200 points with his banner. The first is the famous Horn of Gondor. This allows Boromir to automatically win fights when outnumbered if the enemies fail a courage test. The biggest thing that Boromir does on the battlefield is utilize his Banner of Minas Tirith. This allows Gondor Warriors to increase their fight value by one and re-roll a dice on their duel roll. This is massive and the economy of scale is huge when placing Boromir correctly behind your front lines.
9. The Balrog
Who doesn’t want to plop down the Balrog surrounded by an army of goblins. The Balrog’s stat line is massive. 4 attacks with 10 wounds and huge strength and defense scores make him a beast on the battlefield. Some of his rules include his whip weapon which lets you pull enemies to you and allows all goblins near him to pass the courage test automatically. However, I love that he can set models on fire near him, and call heroic combats each turn allowing him to fight and move and fight again. Truly a great model that is a wrecking ball on the battlefield.
8. Elrond, Master of Rivendell
Elrond, while a lot of points, has one of the most influential abilities that you can use on the battlefield. Some of his more minor rules include a sword that is dangerous to spirits and his ring of power which allows him to re-roll his dice when trying to prevent wounds when spending fate. He, of course, has the powerful Lord of the West rule as well, making him more dangerous in combat by letting him re-roll a dice during duel and wound rolls. But the highlight of his profile is the Foresight of the Eldar. This ability allows for him to adjust priority rolls at the start of each turn letting the controlling player control the rest of the turn structure which late game could be extremely effective in pushing for final objectives and points before your opponent can.
7. The Witch King of Angmar
The Witch King is the deadliest of the Nazgul and when given his crown he becomes a terrible foe in both close combat and at range with his repertoire of magic. Like all Nazgul he must spend Will to fight, so knowing when to engage is extremely important. His crown allows him to increase his attacks to 3 and lets him re-roll a dice when casting spells or resisting magic. He can be given a Morgul Blade for a chance of an instant kill to almost any model as well. If you really want to sink points into his build he can also ride into combat on an armored fell beast, flying across the battlefield unleashing magic where needed.
6. Tom Bombadil
With his blue jacket and yellow boots, I definitely had to include Tom Bombadil in my list. He has no stat line in the game but has 15 Will to assist with some magic while dancing around the battlefield. He automatically wins fights, and he gets to choose when he engages since no one can charge into him or get within an inch of him. A massive utility piece that helps control his section of the battlefield, his only downfall is that he must expend Will to “fight” and if he runs out he runs back off home and becomes a casualty. A fun piece that brings his whimsy to the battlefield with him for sure.
5. Galadriel
Galadriel, while not a great fighter, is another utility piece that not only has a great selection of spells but lets heroes heal Fate points when near her mirror. Galadriel lets you upgrade your Galadrim warrior models to Galadrim guard increasing their courage. She can also use a free point of Will per turn to assist with her spellcasting as well letting her manipulate enemy models with ease. When she is paired with other elite elf models she creates a scary good synergy.
4. Treebeard
Treebeard is a strong monster piece for a Good army to implement into its forces. With a solid stat line treebeard is a solid combat piece but he truly excels with his throwing of stones and his bludgeon power attack is super thematic. The bludgeon attack lets him pick up an enemy model and smash another target with it! If the target is slain, he can continue smashing models until he fails to kill something, which makes charging him into the fray a lot of fun. Merry and Pippin can also be passengers on him to add their small profiles into the fight as well.
3. The King of the Dead
The army of the dead is something truly scary to behold on the battlefield in a game of Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game. They strike against a foe’s courage instead of their defense, making a heavy army useless against them. On top of that, any wounds that The King of the Dead inflicts on an enemy model automatically slay that model! For only 100 points he is a bargain on the battlefield and a great option to utilize as allies with certain good armies.
2. Aragorn, King Elessar
Probably one of the most powerful Good models in the game Aragorn, King Elessar is a staple with Gondor armies and an expensive but effective combat powerhouse. Coming in at 240 points with his horse, he brings his amazing stat line along with his sword Anduril to the battlefield. Aragorn can expend a free point of Might per turn as usual, but he shines with his sword. The sword allows him to always wound on a roll of a 4 or higher, which turns into a 3 or higher when wielding it as a two hander making him a lethal foe to engage with on the battlefield.
1. The Dark Lord Sauron
The big man himself. Nothing feels better as an Evil player than to wield Sauron with all his glory (including the one ring) against an enemy. I want to highlight his rules as they are unique and quite fun. Sauron comes in with a 10 defense, 8 strength, 4 attacks, and 5 wounds for his stat line! He also comes in with an array of spells and a free point of Will per turn to cast them. In combat, Sauron can make a sweeping blow against all enemies that are fighting him and anyone he decides to touch with a brutal power attack is automatically set on fire. I of course must talk about the One Ring as well. When Sauron would be removed from the battlefield as a casualty the One Ring kicks in. The controlling player rolls dice and on a 2 or higher the ring saves Sauron, and he continues to fight. This roll can be adjusted with his 3 points of might which guarantees him to survive up to 8 wounds of damage if not more! Sauron is also the most expensive model in the game (besides Smaug) clocking in at a whopping 400 points to play. Truly a fun and thematic model to see on the battlefield.
I know my list is quite subjective and there are even more models I would love to highlight (looking at you Glorfindel), but those are my top ten Lord of the Rings models to use in the Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game. Do you agree or disagree with the rankings? What are some of your favorite models to utilize in Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game? Let us know in the comments!
Source: Board Game Quest
