Numenor Army Review

Numenor, the most powerful human civilization to ever exist in the world of Middle-earth. Humans that lived longer, were stronger, wiser and taller than all the other humans.  Great seafarers, warriors and builders. So mighty in fact, that at their peak of power, they easily defeated Sauron at his strongest, even with the One ring. And even after their island sunk beneath the waves, when their numbers were greatly dwindled and their strength nowhere near were it had been, they were still able to form the Last Alliance with the High Elves and together, throw down Sauron again, by sheer power of their armies and leaders.

Their appearance is one of my favourite parts of the first LOTR movie and I can still remember how captivated I was by this first impression. In fact it was this feeling, that motivated me to start MESBG and begin with building up a Numenor army for this game. 

Sadly, when its about variation and strength, the MESBG version of Numenor does not really represent the impression the books and movies give them. Being one of the smallest factions miniature-wise, your options are pretty limited. Or so it seems.
In my last post I wrote about my experience with building and buying this army. Now its time to talk about my experience and a personal review of this army.

Note of the Castellan: I actually think that "Numenor" is the wrong name for this faction. Since this army actually represents the armies of the Numenor realms in exile (Arnor, Gondor), at the the time of the Last Alliance. So we can assume that the colors, armour, equipment etc are still pretty close to what the original Numenor army had. At this point, the realms had only existed for some time - they were formed in the year 3320 S.A. and Sauron attacked at 3329 (and triggering the war of the Last Alliance). Also the reason for their limited options is the representation in the movies. We only see infantry (sword, shield, bows) and our heroes. So my point is: Numenor Exiles or something similar would be more appropriate. Not to mention that they would deserve some love and hopefully get it at some point - Amazon show, i keep my fingers crossed^^

Profiles

Named Heroes

Elendil, High King of Gondor and Arnor

The man who escaped the fall of Numenor, founded the realms in exile and fought Saurons face to face! Through his profile he is a beast and the only other human hero to rival him is his late ancestor Aragorn in his King Elessar version. He is a hero of legend. The only drawback is the single available point of fate (which makes sense in order to reflect his old age and death at the hands of Sauron) and his high costs of nearly 200 points. 

Additionally he receives a master-forged hand-and-a-half sword that enables him to call one free heroic combat per turn. Also he has an improved "Stand Fast!" and has always an improved magic resistance.

He has the option to buy a horse and shield. The shield is nearly an auto-buy - first because of the low fate and therefore required additional protection, second because you have no drawbacks due to the master-forged weapon.

Elendil also has a list of four available heroic actions - Strike, Strength and Defence being the more useful ones.

All this equips Elendil to go toe to toe with big heroes, monsters and wade through mere enemy warriors. Just make sure to always support him - his single point of fate can make him squishier than you might think, when being surrounded.

Regarding his usage there are basically two approaches I encountered:

1. Due to his high point costs, he makes only sense at higher point costs (e.g. > 500). Below its hard to bring in his costs.
2. Always bring him since he is a great hero and you will always have fun with him, while its pretty sure he will kill a lot.

Well, I tried both and in my opinion there is no hard line. There is truth in both thoughts. On low point games, using your other heroes will bring in more warriors and you might have more tactical options. And I would say that you should definitely bring him in points above 500 points. You will not regret it ;)

Isildur

The son of Elendil and his profile shows it. A hero of Valour, he is not as impressive as his father but not only is he a fair bunch cheaper than him, he also brings a different set of interesting options.

To start with the profile, the non-heroic part has only one difference in being of one point in F  - great! Besides that, Isildur has one less point in Will but one more point in Fate, making him more durable than his father.

The only special rule for Isildur is Blood of Numenor, which is a situational but interesting one. Everyone with this rule and within 6" in range of Elendil, Isildur or Anarion, gains resistance to magic. This means your named heroes and their surrounding warriors have an extra natural protection against magic - no other army has something comparable!

He too has heavy armour and a hand-and-a-half sword - although it is not master-forged. The other options are the same.

A big difference is the third equipment option - The Ring! You can only take it if Elendil is not part of your army - which makes sense since when Isildur claims the ring, his father died already.

The ring has a whole page of the rule-set for itself and it is neither a must have nor a guaranteed game changer. But it is a very interesting option and essentially an auto-include if you do not have Elendil. I will talk more about it in the tactics section. 

All in all, Isildur is a very good hero with interesting options and a solid leader for your army or back up for his father. Some even claim that he is one of the most cost effective and balanced heroes of the game.

Unnamed Heroes

Captain of Numenor

Your only unnamed hero option, coming in at  reasonable points. But that is ok since he is pretty solid with an above average profile. He has quite a lot of options that make him versatile - especially making him basically a knight is super strong. I would always give him at least increased protection which will ensure he will be as solid as a rock against enemy tides.  Also making him a knight, provides you with one of your few fast model options, although its a bit pricey. 

The Captain too has the Blood of Numenor rule but it if he is not riding alongside one of his leaders, this will barely come into play. 

The last important thing is his availability of Heroic March - something the other heroes do not have! This predesignates him to lead warbands with the ability to move faster than the rest of the army and giving you the much needed possibility to reach important points earlier, to flank enemies etc. 

Warriors

Warrior of Numenor

Being your only warrior option, they form the backbone of the army. However due to their numerous equipment options, you can bring a surprisingly big amount of variation.

But lets start with their profile, which is above average humans in F and S. All this comes in at one point more than MT warriors but without the better armour.. On first glance it looks like your standard human warrior profile. Until you realize that better F and S  are one point higher than for most other basic warrior choices. And that is a big thing! You will also see that they only have armour and therefore only low defense. So what does this combination tell us?

Your warriors are much better at winning fights and dealing out damage in close combat than most basic warrior choices in other factions. However when they do lose fights, they are very vulnerable. 

This leads us to equipment options and how to deal with our limited profile selection:

1. Banners: Always try to bring one, no matter at which point limit you play. The ability to re-roll one die is essential in securing your survivability by winning fights.
2. Bows: Only basic strength but at least a good range. Situational - for me so far they rarely had much effect on the outcome of a game. Also most other shooters (except for orcs) will outclass you.
3. Shield: A must have for all your warriors except bowmen. Increasing your defense value and giving you the possibility to shield and survive longer.
4. Spears: Also a must have to some of your warriors do support from the second line. Another advantage in securing your wins in fights. 

Baseline about warriors: You are an elite force (points and fight wise) that tends to be a little vulnerable for their points cost. Your main goal is to support your heroes and survive as long as possible. Also they are so cool that even a simple warrior has a cape as standard equipment ;P

Army Bonus

Not the most original one, this army bonus is still ok. While your heroes hardly will  have problems with courage, your warriors - despite being better than the standard human version - still are only standard courage. Making use of this bonus will greatly diminish the biggest assets of armies like Angmar, Dead of Dunharrow or in general the problems with attacking terror wielding enemies.

So is it a must have, or worth sacrificing for a yellow alliance? The good news is we will find out already in the next section ;)

Alliances

Green: Rivendell

Yellow: Fangorn, Halls of Thranduil, Lothlorien, The  Misty Mountains

As we can see, our alliance options are pretty limited but not bad. Lets go through them:

• Rivendell: The natural ally of Numenor and a good one. Bringing in better shooting, a lot of heroes to choose and cavalry. More on the good combination in the tactics section
• Halls of Thranduil & Lothlorien: I am sure there are possible good combinations and I did not see or play together with these factions. But on first glance there is not much that would draw me into choosing these two alliances. Being elvish factions they have too much in common with Rivendell to justify having a yellow alliance over a green one.
• Fangorn:  Replacing one of your named heroes, you could choose Treebeard. You get a walking tank for your army - shrugging off most incoming damage while also throwing stones. Making them the center piece of your army could redirect the attention to it while the rest can concentrate on objectives. I neither saw nor played this combination myself but it sounds like an unconventional and fun idea =) 
• Misty Mountains: Another way to bring in monsters with options you naturally do not have. While eagles are not so strong compared to Ents, they still hit hard and bring another advantage - they are the fastest monsters in game. Replacing one of your named heroes with Gwaihir gives you basically an attack bomber, being able to swoop in and hit where ever you need him. I am not sure if it pays off to add an eagle warrior as support and having the eagle lord himself is probably already enough ;) I neither saw nor played this combination myself but it sounds like an unconventional and fun idea =) 

Note of the Castellan: I can agree with Lorien and Thranduil only being yellow allies (they were more in the alliance for Rivendell than Numenor and so only secondarily bundled with the humans). Fangorn and Misty Mountains also makes sense - the tale mentions that all species were present on both sides of the war. But this is at the same time the reason why I cannot understand that the Kingdom of Khazad-Dum is not a possible alliance. They are explicitly mentioned in the Silmarillion to have supported the elves and Numenoreans before the war and in the battles till the end. Yes they are not shown in the movies but so do the other factions miss. Also Rivendell is yellow allies with the dwarfs, so why not Numenor?

Look & Feel

The look references the original paint scheme (although I have seen a lot of awesome alternatives). I felt intrigued from the first moment and enjoyed paint this very dark army with a lot of black. All the more the subtle blue, silver and gold is able to shine and catch the eye. And your heroes colors are a stark contrast to support their importance.

The feeling when playing them is twofold. For once your heroes and the point cost of your warriors make them feel elite. On the other hand your warriors die pretty easy when losing fights and against shooting. So you can watch your army shrink faster than you might like it. It is in the end really important to know how to make the most of your heroes and keep your warriors alive long enough to support them.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Nice looking army colors
• Elite warriors
• Strong heroes
• Interesting and complementing alliance options
• Not many people play it
• Very resistant to magic
• One of the strongest human heroes (Elendil)
• One of the most cost-effective human heroes (Isildur)
• Easy to collect - all models are still available and a lot circulate on the second-hand market

Cons

• Squishy warriors when losing fights and against shooting
• Only very basic shooting option
• Very limited hero and warrior selection
• No fast units except heroes on horses
• Only infantry
• No magic
• Only one green alliance option
• Models are pretty dated and haven't aged well (named heroes are ok though)

General Tactics and Thoughts

Isildur and the Ring

Using only Isildur instead of Elendil offers you a quite unique possibility and play-style - access to the one ring! Wearing the ring gives you a bunch of advantages:

• Its harder to get targeted
• More free movement
• Advantage in fights
• High probability that you can keep the ring, if there is more than one ring bearer

There are however some pitfalls to be aware of:

• No more cavalry when you want to put on the ring
• You cannot simply remove the ring
• Saurons will
• No advantage against Nazgul

All in all is Isildur probably the best hero to make use of the ring - beside Sauron of course. The advantages make him into a pretty effective assassin of enemy heroes and protects against magic and shootign heavy armies. 

However do not underestimate the pitfalls either! Don't be afraid to remove the ring. I lost a game because I did not remove the ring and in four consecutive rounds, my enemy moved Isildur into nowhere land while his warrior band got slaughtered.

Use either Elendil or Isildur

This is not a must have and rather a thought I received while discussing with others. Elendil is a heavy hitter and will carry your army when included. Now even at higher point levels, if you then add Isildur, this eats a lot of points away that you could use better in more warriors lead by Captains. Also using both in one army, more or less negates all the advantages Isildur can bring to the table. 

Support your heroes

This army requires its heroes to do the heavy lifting. All of them are equipped to deal with big threats but they need support. Ensure that they can move forward to slash left and right while their sides and back are always covered by your warriors. A good thing that your warriors are equipped for this job. Although they sadly neither have heavy armour nor the shield wall rule (which is something I think they should have), they do have wonderful F 4 which helps them win fights better than most other basic warrior choices. Your problem is more that when you lose the fight. So really think before each fight if it might not be better to use a shield block and survive one more round and wait for your hero.

Forge the Last Alliance

Numenor can be played on its own but it has its problematic areas that can only be mitigated to a small degree. But your historical ally is ready to stand by your side! Rivendell is tailor made to compliment where you need it. 

• Make use of the supreme shooting power of elves
• Use the higher Fight value of elve warriors on the front to win fights and support with your higher strength value spears from the back
• And or - use your cheaper warriors to provide numbers and to protect elvish bows
• Historical Ally - both of you keep the army bonus!
• Magic!
• Mighty Rivendell knights to provide the speed you lack
• Plenty of heroes to choose from

Do not underestimate your warriors

It is true that once your warriors do lose fights, they easily die due to missing heavy armour. Same problem appears when you face shooting. 

BUT better F and S are nothing to be easily ignored. Having both values elevates you above most basic warrior choices of other factions. And especially mere Orcs will fall before you. It is however important to do good positioning and have spear support since most of the time you will have the lower numbers. During my games I saw both - good positioned warriors of Numenor holding and breaking enemy Orc hordes AND a small group of warriors getting swarmed by Orcs and hacked to pieces. Don't get me started with Uruk-Hai xD

Do not underestimate your Captains

Featuring a solid profile and equipment options to to further improve him, your Captain is a good option to bring in more troops. He might have a limited heroic action choice, but what he does have (Heroic March) is important for this faction to get some speed. I would always give him heavy armour and a shield. This way in all my games so far - even if I lost - my Captains stood solid as rock against enemies and were always to last one to fall if I lost.

Mount your heroes

I haven't done this one (since I do not own mounted versions) but it is a recurring subject in discussions. Mounting your heroes definitely does improve their killing power and flexibility. For some it is an auto decision.

List Ideas

WARNING: I gained a lot of experience since writing this post and I would no longer use the following lists ;)

Isildurs return home from Mordor - 593 Points

Isildur - Ring, Shield 

1 Warrior - Banner 

5 Warriors - Shield, Sword 

6 Warriors - Spear, Shield 

Captain of Numenor - Heavy Armour, Shield 

5 Warriors - Shield, Sword 

6 Warriors - Shield, Spear 

Captain of Numenor - Heavy Armour, Shield 

5 Warriors - Shield, Sword 

6 Warriors - Shield, Spear 

A list to make use of the ring with Isildur and bringing a maximum of warriors with Captains.

The full might of Numenor - 797 Points

Elendil - Shield 

1 Warrior - Banner 

10 Warriors - Shield, Sword

10 Warriors - Shield, Spear

Isildur - Ring, Shield

5 Warriors - Shield, Sword 

5 Warriors - Bow, Spear

Captain of Numenor - Heavy Armour, Shield

6 Warriors - Shield, Sword 

5 Warriors - Bow, Spear 

Not so much a list with a specific thought but just containing my full available Numenor army. At that many points I think it is ok to bring Elendil and Isildur together.

The Last Alliance - Full Cavalry - 780 Points

Elendil - Shield , Horse-

3 Captains of Numenor - Heavy Armour, Shield, Lance, Horse 

Elrond - Heavy Armour, Horse 

1 Rivendell Knight - Banner , Warhorn, Shield-

4 Rivendell Knights - Shield 

A pretty unusual list for sure, but one with a lot of mobility and packing a hard punch. I do not think too many people played or faced this so far, so you could catch them by surprise =)

Conclusion

Puh this review turned out to be pretty long for an army with so few profiles^^ But as you might have guessed from reading, I love my Numenoreans. I think it is a wonderful army and I love playing them. And I think it is underestimated by a lot of people - as you have seen it offers more options than you might think and has some pretty unique mechanics.

Maybe some of my motivation was able to catch you and we will see this army more often again =)

In one of my next posts I wanna bring the Numenor trilogy to a conclusion by delving into unit ideas to extend the faction.