In this video I go through my picks for the 5 best and worst heroes in Middle Earth SBG! Disagree with me? Let me know in the comments! Conquest Creations: www.conquestcreations.net/
I remember when personalities of Bree came out just thinking ‘If I was a kid just getting into the hobby I’d be pretty disappointed getting that for Christmas’ 😂
The Angmar shaman is definitely a serious consideration for the top 5 worst but I think it has some cool options. If you take one along side the Witch King then big heroes will want to use their will to resist the Witch King and the Shaman can sort of safely cast wither against a hero 3 times bringing them down to strength 1
Never used one, but the storm caller's value probably comes more from knocking cav off their mounts, setting up charges for other models to ensure they cant strike, and pushing away nuisance models off objectives or spear supports if you moved second.
Stormcaller used to be much better when ringwraiths on fellbeasts were all over the meta. Unfortunately his primary spell got nerfed and the meta changed so now he's ridiculously expensive in an army list that already struggles to bring even half of what it wants.
Great Video Jacob and lots of models I have never seen or knew much about. Was nice that you put both the top 5 and top worst in the same vid as well, which made it unique to watch. Interesting to see the new models of Beorn and Dragon Emperor in the video, and glad Boromir made the list. Now should I take Boromir with banner or no banner.... hmmm well Henry from your CC Championship is now making me lean one way and its great that he singlehandedly has re-opened the debate on this topic. Thanks for the vid maybe you could do a Batrep with some of your top 5 (and worst) in play.
@@ConquestCreations haha would have said it sooner but i only found your channel a few days ago. Really impressed at how you’ve managed to grow your passion into your work.
I like the Isengard shaman in 600 points games. But in bigger games he is just bad because he can only lead 6 units. In small games he fits perfect as the a third hero.
Oh I expected that the witchking would be on the top 5 best. He is very flexible with his upgrades and M/W/F, pretty decend caster, high defence, -1 courage within 6" (very usefull if you take him in an Angmar list), ... The only sad thing is that he loses a will he is in combat and that he has only one wound.
If judged on their profiles alone I do not agree with the Bears being on the list of strongest models since, outside the legendary legion, they DO NOT get Monstrous Charge. That alone knocks them right off the list in my mind. Also shocked that the Witch King did not get a spot, he is prolific in the game, perhaps the most menacing caster, and unlike the bears he can actually get Monstrous Charge when mounted on a fell beast.
This is a fair point I considered the bears in their legendary Legion which boosts them up a tier. Lots of people have been mentioning the Witch King which has surprised me a bit. I haven't played using the Witch King much yet but the fight 5 and 1 wound seems to hold him back. Do you recommend playing him on horse or fell beast?
The bears with all the buffs from the legion are another story, both of them are nuts and in that context are easily among the strongest heroes in the game. Witch King sees a tremendous amount of play on both horse and fell beast, either are viable depending on what you want from the list. F5 can be rough, but he is fortunate enough to have 3 Might and access to Heroic Strike to offset that a bit, and can conditionally chose to charge only after a successful Transfix if he wishes. The 1 wound can be scary, but that is something all the Ringwraith have to deal with, doesn't stop them from seeing play, and WK is one of few evil heroes who can have 3 Fate points. I think the fact that the WK has these drawbacks and still sees such widespread play, and tournament success, is a testament to just how good he is.
How to run the High Elf Stormcaller: channel strengthen will on himself and roll a 6 to cast regaining the will point in the process (powers of nature Special Rule; obviously applying the straight-up Henry Kerr strategy found in the GDP tactical dictionary). The Stormcaller now has 6 will (because he rolled another 6 to determine the D3 will points gained by this Magical power). The Stormcaller now has 6 turns in which to blow the Enemy leader back off his own board edge in reconnoitre (it is important to win priority for each of these rounds). Alternatively just use him as a one-man grinding station against the enemy's anvil or hammer. But maybe his true purpose could be found to deny up to 2 objectives from single enemy models late game.....nah probably wouldn't work. :D Thanks for the fun video! Keep it up!
Nice to see my boy the kings champion get a mention. However i do have to disagree that he's in the top 5, his greatest weakness is movement and positioning. He got merked by cave troll and bat swarm once. That being said the bat swarm and cave drake for moria are such underrated models that when i usually take them to tournaments they do very well.
Thanks for the comment! I 100% stand by the King's Champ in the top 5. He is insanely cheap for what he brings. A dwarf with a banner and shield is 34 points. Chucking two fate points and a will point easily brings them up to worth 50ish points. Sure he is only move 5 but that isn't that big of a deal once the line clashes. For 140 points getting two banners, a very very solid dwarf hero, and the ability to make them all insanely durable by being in base contact he is amazingly points efficient
I have used both Gil Galad and the Balrog a lot. They are absolutely fantastic heroes but both have big weaknesses as well. Gil Galad is very prone to being transfixed every turn and isn't anywhere near as scary if you manage to take down his horse. The Balrog is a heap of fun but without might it doesn't actually have great odd of winning a fight and even with the free heroic combat can still be contained to only killing a few models a turn. Both are incredibly powerful just not as strong as the other 5
Iv never played in a tournament in fact not played a game for years so I live out my warhammer hobby through yourself and others, so happy to learn and see who are strong these days! Always enjoy the content
That's a very solid choice for the ranking but I think that the WK and Suladan are missing (although it's hard to decide if Suladan or the Dragon Emperor is the better profile).
Lots of people have said Witch King, Suladan is also great for how cheap he is. His down side that kept him out of the top 5 in my opinion is that he is a hero of legend and very low defence which means its very easy to get victory points for wounding of killing the leader.
@@ConquestCreations You can easily play him with the WK and make the WK your leader. But if can't afford to take the WK he's vulnerable to black darts and potentially shooting if you aren't hiding him properly.
Dear Conquest creations, great channel especially the batreps and the recent tournament summary! Talking about good and bad heroes, I have a question concerning the Dwimmerlaik's special ability: If the Dwimmerlaik succeeds with his 4+ roll and the opposing hero decides to pay the additional point of Might/Will/Fate, can the dwimmerlike spend another will point to try and prevent this additional point? So, for example, if boromir wants to do an heroic move and the dwimmerlaik rolls well enough, can he prevent the heroic move by countering all 6 points of might with 6 points of his will? In addition, I assume the dwimmerlaik can only try once per might/will/fate point, he cannot use additional points of will to prevent the same point if he fails his first 4+ roll? The confusion might be caused by the German translation of the rules. Unfortunately, I don't have an English version available.
Thanks for the comment! I have just had a look at the rules. I belive that he can only do it once because it states that when a hero declares a heroic he may spend a point of will.
great video as always but I have to point out two things, beorn only gets monstrous charges in his legendary legion and secondly 11:04 ghulavar is strength 8 not 7 ^^ but I think you know that , it was probably just a mistake while recording the video
The Dragon Emperor is pretty cool, however I did find out it has a pretty big weakness in my last tournament. Hit him with a paralyze, then the entire model is effected.
Thanks for the comment A paralyse will however not knock him over. With 3 will, resistant to magic and such a large base that lots of friendly models could help him stand up he is much more resistant the paralysis than most other heroes.
@@ConquestCreations Agreed, getting hit from a paralyse from a spell is easier to resist. But I hit one with with webbing from a mirkwood spider. Also I am pretty sure that if he is paralyzed, then the model itself isn't knocked prone, they all just become separated and are all individually paralyzed
When paralysed he stays on the Palaquin. I had a big look at this in a recent tournament and their is nothing to indicate otherwise. If you have found something that says he is please let me know!
Hi Jacob, I follow your channel loyally and I really like your army reviews and character profiles. (and of course the batreps!!) This video is very interesting for a new player like myself. It helps me to understand what Heroes I might consider to play in my armies. Thanks a lot for all your hard work producing these videos. Your input and insight has really helped me to enhance my gaming and strategies of how to play various models. See you again soon.
Hey folks. I'm pretty new to MESBG so please forgive my ignorance but with models like the Dragon Emperor, would those six dudes carrying his throne count as the first six troops in his warband or does it still only count as one?
This model confuses a lot of ppl. I think they don't count as part of his warband, but part of his model, but I havent read his rules since he came out.
New to the game and got a question if anyone could help me out, does fight value only come into play when a duel roll is a tie? Or does it directly affect the duel roll dice
Thanks for the comment welcome to the game! Fight value only impacts when the duel roll is a tie. Lots of new players think that means that fight value isn't a big deal but once you get some experience in game you will realise how big of a deal it is
Call Winds knocks over enemies. He forgot to mention that. Not that it saves them, but at least the Lothlorien Stormcaller serves a bit of a purpose when comboing with Galadriel.
Might be wrong but since the new rulebook came out the other day Gulavhar is no longer available on GW, Forgeworld or no longer in stock on 3rd party sites in the UK
@@ConquestCreations except this isn't a case of it has a out of stock sticker slapped on the page, it's been out right removed. which if aos and 40k are anything to go by means the model is either getting a makeover or being made a legacy unit and left behind with the old rule book. I could be wrong as I've only just got back into the game and I last played when it was just LotR prior to the hobbit add on and the change to middle earth
@@j-roll2264 Games Workshop has had things entirely removed and come back several times with Middle Earth. Mahud is a great example of this. They were entierly removed from GW for several years and are now back. With the way the expansions are being released I am expecting at some point in the future to get a "Fall of Arnor" source book which will be accompanied by Arnor warriors being released again and other key models like Gulavhar coming back.
Hello conquest champion I have question regarding rules. Rule question 1: I would like to know if a monstrous charge will knock down a model during the movement phase if my eagle charges a infantry orc/human/elf/dwarf. I was in a tournament and my Fell beast charge a Moria shaman and the referee told me that no model will be knock down (prone) on the charge you need to win the combat to knock him prone. But the rule seems to say on the charge you knock prone a model. Rule question 2: Also, I was not able to find this rule, Aragorn use is two handed weapon. During fight phase, we roll for combat Spider of Mirkwood roll a 6 and Aragorn roll a 6 but the two handed weapon makes it -1 that means 5 can the player might it to become 6? Rule question 3: Can a transfix model can be supported? Can a Paralyse model can be supported? Rule question 4: The captain of the Chariot of Iron hills becomes paralyse. Does he fall down the chariot.
Thank for for the comment! On your first point I can see your confusion. The rule for monstrous charge states that anything it charges will be knocked prone however in the cavalry rules it is stated that the fight must be won to knock the opponent over. The rules isn't exceptionally well written. You are able to use might if Aragon two hands so you would be able to boost your roll to a 6. Both can be spear supported In the errata which can be found here: www.warhammer-community.com/faqs/#middle-earth-strategy-battle-game It states this about paralysing the driver of the iron hill chariot "Q: What happens if the driver of an Iron Hills Chariot is Paralysed? (p.32) A: The driver will be Paralysed as normal. Whilst the driver is Paralysed, the chariot cannot move, however, any friendly model also in the chariot that did not make a Shooting attack that turn may attempt to aid the driver in recovering from the effects of the Paralyse Magical Power."
The lists make sense, but how crazy is it that we aren’t seeing Sauron and Balrog in the top 5? I suppose if point value wasn’t considered we’d see them and Smaug as top 3 no contest 😅
Thanks for the comment! The points cost is the most important attribute for a model. For Smaug, the Balrog, and Sauron they are incredible but they cost so many points!
I have to say I agree with Bill Ferny - but I'd probably put him at the bottom. Making him good would actually be easy: in the books, he directs the Shirriffs of the Shire, and if you could bring Shirriffs in his warband (like you can bring Hobbit Militia with Ted Sandyman), he'd be really good. But he's the worst - full stop. I've used Uruk-Hai Shamans in my Assault Upon Helm's Deep lists so I don't have to use the Berserker from the bomb team to blow up the bomb. I actually think Barliman is much better than Bill Ferny - Heroic Defense once/game with the ability to bring a 10pt banner for Hobbits is pretty good (but then again, I run him with Tom and Goldberry, so he can heal a lot longer). Siege Captain upgrades might be worse than Bill Ferny, but most Siege Vets are hard to kill (while Bill is not). The High Elf Stormcaller is pretty garbage too, but you're taking him for Call Winds, which can knock someone Prone (cast on a 3+ now, by the way) BEFORE someone big charges in. I know a top-five list across both good and evil is hard to make, but I do have to ask where Azog and Aragorn are . . . and Gwaihir and the Balrog. And your boy, Gil-Galad. :)
I love my boy Gil Galad but he probably still wouldn't be in the top 10. He is amazing all round but is prone to getting transfixed every turn against some armies. That paired with the general low might in the army because he takes up so many points means that there are match ups where he really doesn't do a lot. Azog is pretty high up there. Either in Azog's legion or the Pits of Dol Guldur he is incredible. There isn't much that matches his killing capacity his probably fits into my top 10. Gwahir is super popular but actually not my favourite hero out there. The base two attacks makes it hard for him to win a fight if he isn't on the charge this is paired with him usually being out of range of a banner because he is flying around trying to snipe heroes. Balrog is amazing and I have played so many games with mine. He is super good but tends to loose the fight a lot because of his lack of might. I find that good players are able to limit his hitting power severely. I still put him very high up for his whip and being an unkillable shaman. And finally Aragorn. The free might every turn is awesome and can totally change how an army plays and access to every heroic action gives him a lot of utility. He does get shut down by magic but as the King Ellesar also having a 6" banner is awesome
Well the Uruk Shaman is useful in some cases: 1) he gives fury, a 6+ save to all of the Isengard uruks (that can be influenced by might, that saved my Lurtz in the past) so he can save some Uruks, 2) You would need him against some much ups against the Ents, eagles, heroes that cause terror, armies of the dead, monsters, Cirdan, evil models that cause terror. Because the normal Uruks have C3 and ur heroes 4... Not the best and if ur enemy has Harbinger of evil that's even worse. So if u have a Shaman ur Uruk army is fearless. You can even kitte him in the battlefield to give courage to every1 within 12" range and 3) he has a spear so his's not strong but he can lend a hand to friendly model. So i wouldnt' put him in this list.
Knowing all those strengths that he had I still keep him in this list. For his point cost every other hero in Isengard provides significantly more. The 6+ save us very unreliable and for the cost of a point of might is expensive. Having fury is a shamans main role but in Isengard you already have Berserkers, great shooting, and pikes. All of which help counter terror so adding more anti terror is excessive. Overall if you like playing him and find you get value absolutely keep using him!
How is the Dragon Emperor two spots beneath Bannermir? Assuming you are playing the "Host of the Dragon Emperor" LL the Dragon Emperor is way more value for points than Bannermir.
The Dragon Emperor is great but has some massive limitations. Firstly he is on a massive base making it hard to manuver him and very easy to avoid him killing your important units, it caps his movement at 6" and if his Palaquin gets wounded it can slow down. This also means that if he looses a fight there are so many attacks coming back at him that you can do a lot of damage to him in one turn. He is a big target for shooting and its hard to keep him out of line of sight. Borromir on the other hand doesn't have these limitations. You also have several options on how to play him.
Stormcaller can dismount models, including wraiths on fellbeasts ect. Don't get me wrong, they're bad, but that's because the elf lists are so good, which creates that problem. Worse than Bill Ferny? Worse than Fatty bolger? Angmar shaman? I also think the mordor shaman is worse than the uruk. Mostly because Kardush exists, but going down that rabbit hole the easterling shaman is now useless because Brogir exists. At least the Uruk shaman has no competition, and a legendary legion where he is taken often enough in. Fellowship merry and pippin, Damrod, and a few hobbit characters all spring to mind too.
Thanks for the comment. You make an interesting point about certain units not being good because a better option exists but I very strongly disagree with the logic there. Yes Kardush is better in every way than a Mordor shaman but that doesn't make the mordor shaman bad at all. For their points they are a great unit so not bad at all. Same logic applies to Borgir. Angmar shaman I actually think isn't as bad as people think. He has certainly been mentioned a lot as the list for worst hero. My thinking behind him is that in Angmar there are so many other spell casters that a hero wont want to spend their will to resist a whither which gives you a decent chance of throwing 3 whithers on the same big hero taking them to strength 1 and if they do choose to resist it that's great then the witch king or a barrow wight can cast for free. Just regarding some of the other ones that you mentioned Fellowship Merry and Pippin play a very important role in the army allowing you to leave low value models on objecives in the back of the field. Damrod for 25 points is great! He can lead 6 troops and has a point of might. He is essentially half a captain. Fatty bolger is a meme but he is only 10 points so how bad can he really be?
Did you consider Tom Bombadil ? Don't think I have ever seen him used. When I read the book as a teenager I really didn't like him, now I embrace the " merry dol Dingle".
This is a super interesting comment. Are you questioning if he should have been in the top 5 or the bottom 5? He is very powerful and lots of people don't like him because they think he breaks the game. I very strongly disagree with people he is just a really unique profile who has a lot of uses
@@ConquestCreations not sure if he was good or bad, I am trying him out in some solo games. With a 3+ banishment he destroys spirit models and chased ringwraiths around the table. I imagine he would shut down big heroes and can be placed in front of your battle line to intercept them. My reservation would be that three cheap models can surround him or block him off , and he has no might. As I mainly solo game I am probably missing something. Would love to see a a game with him in. Thanks for great videos.
Aragorn is expensive and gets utterly shut down by magic. I think its hard to argue the inclusion of any hero into the "top 5" that dont have an answer against Witch King who is like the most common evil hero to face.
I can see cases of taking Isengard shaman, but I never ever thought "hmmmm that list doesnt have Peregrim Took, Guard of the Citadel, the list is shit" I see not even single point in taking him in that list, he's somehow worse than his 10p version in Fellowship
I couldn't put my boy Peregrin on the list he is too good at singing! He certainly is terrible and I can't disagree with him being in contention for this list. At least with heroic defence and 2 fate he is sorta hard to kill?
I’ve never had souron rlly lose a 1 on 1, but I don’t think he’d make this list cos with the one ring he’s like over 400. So IMO he is the strongest hero at least in fighting but he defo isn’t the best.
I think you forgot about Gothmog's enforcer. The Dude is just Bad. He cost like 10p to much and even then his main skill ist that Gothmog ( an hero who has 3 might + master of battle )can use his will to call heroic move. AND ONLY HEROIC MOVE! HE ALSO HAS TO BE IN 3" OF GOTHMOG FOR THIS EVEN TO USED. Now tell me how often does Gothmog has to call heroic move? Right ! Only if the enemy has priority . he does not even have S5 like the other Morannon captains.
All three captain options in Mirkwood are great. The Ranger captains have low defence but can get lots of attacks, the palace guard captain get get an insane fight value of 7, and the regular captain is just all round decent. Angmar shaman isn't great but is still useable. If the Witch King takes the will off big heroes and the shaman can cast wither on them every turn you could get a hero down to strength 1 or 2 pretty easily
@@ConquestCreations by the 2 of the 3 captens I am on your side, but the Ranger captan wihtout a Heroic march. ... the I play a generic captain mainly because I want to get a heroic march for some reaseon in the armee :D. Ok, on the Angmar shaman, never take this line of play wither a hero down, I preferred barrow-with with paralysis heros to stone age. Still think a Shaman without fury has the wrong job ;-)
I’m honestly surprised that denethor, Steward of Gondor didn’t make it onto the list. He has to be your leader and has the potential to go under your opponents control… that’s it.
Thanks for the comment! Denethor is actually a great model I'll be using him in my Gondor army. He is only 35 points and can lead 15 troops so he can help boost your numbers massively. Becuase he is your leader you can just have him in the back of the board every game and keep him safe so he is never killed. Otherwise if your leader was a hero like Faramir who is likely to die then you will give your opponent victory points. He has the potential to go under your opponents control but he is courage 5 with an extra +1 courage from the army bonus meaning that he almost never fails and when he does he has 3 will to use to make him pass.
gualavhar can only regain one wound at the time, because he regains them by rend brutal power attack, but it changes nothing. Hes still the best hero in the game
Thanks for the comment! He still regains them if he kills models using regular strikes rather than brutal power attacks. The rule just states that of all the brutal power attacks that is the only one that he can get wounds back with.
Given that an Autralian won Ardacon Doubles this year and in the past an Australian has won the Ardacon Invitational I reckon our track record is pretty good. Especially keeping in mind how few Australians have been able to make the long journey to Europe
