Hi! I just joined and have taken a quick hiatus from 40k and fantasy after a friend gave me khamul, the easterling command box, and the old 24 man easterling box. I have a couple of friends who play, so I will probably be able to get a number of games in, and I need to get the paperback hobbit book and the fallen realms book on ebay. After that, what do recommend that I get? I like the look of amdur, and am thinking of getting another box of easterlings.

I don't know too much about the Easterlings, But what I do know is the Kataphraks (sorry if i've mispelt it) are very good

So I wouldn't grab Amdur just yet unless you plan on using him instead of Khamul (which might be a good idea anyways)- you ideally want to have 12 warriors per hero as that forms a warband. Now if you have the old Easterling command, all you have is a bearer and a captain but if you have the new one you also have the dragon knight and easterling which are both excellent heroes. The Dragon Knight cannot lead troops so ideally you will have

Khamul + 12 guys
War Priest + 12 guys
Captain + 12 guys
Dragon Knight

Since you only have 24 warriors, you could either buy 12 more foot soldiers. Now this isn't strictly how you need to make your army, you could always buy kataphracts (which come with a mounted captain) and now have your captain with 5 other kataphracts or you could skip the captain bits and give Khamul (who im assuming has a mount) 6 kataphracts to lead, either way is good. Personally I recomend the kataphracts as they come with another banner, which you could also convert onto a foot soldier if you wanted.

After you buy foot troops or cavalry, I would ideally buy the mounted dragon knight but its pretty expensive so maybe not. You could always convert another foot soldier into another captain, give him foot soldiers, or you could take Amdur and give him foot soldiers but this is more expensive. Basically just any time you take a hero other than a dragon knight try to give them 12 warriors or at least 5 cavalry.

Another option is take some Monster, either taking a ringwraith on a fellbeast (count as khamul/convert), spider queen, or even a troll.

Also I would definitely recommend buying your fallen empires book and the mini rulebook, however for models outside of those you can consult this army builder:

http://lonelyknight.0fees.net/

It doesn't mention starting wargear so it really cannot replace buying the army book but its incredibly useful. Have fun!

After the books, I think (from a starter army perspective) another hero or the command box would be good followed by a box of warriors and/or a box of cavalry. Once you have the book, it will be easier to figure out what YOU want to get to make an army that you like. Because its really up o you, but having the things that I mentioned make a very good base of soldiers to use for making any easterling army.

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Fight! Fight to the last man!

If this was to be our end then I would have them make SUCH AN END as to be worthy of remembrance

Welcome, and hope you enjoy the game! You'll definitely need another couple boxes of Easterlings. Unfortunately, one of their best assets (the pike) has the least quantity in the box, so it may take a few boxes to build up to something optimal. Amdur is great, the main reason being he acts as a banner. I don't find Kataphracts that good, the only thing they have going for them is heavy armour, but they lack the punch of cavalry with lances, and lack the flexibility of mounted archers. However, they can be upgraded to be above average Fight, which can be useful.

Thanks for the replies! I really like the idea of an all foot army, but khamul is both foot and mounted. I have a good friend who plays gondor, but runs almost all rangers, and someone who is joining soon, and probably playing elves. I think I will get another box of easterlings after the books, which I will ebay. Definitely ebay. Thanks trezzy! that link looks excellent and will check that out right now.

Never take Khamul without a horse. For 10 points you make him SO much more effective.

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"Leave Sauron to me."
If you're in the Raleigh, NC area, let me know.

Indeed - it gives him double attacks (without spending Will) and the chance for double wounds (without spending Will), so if he gets into a fight of your choice, he generally has 4 attempts (or more against multiple opponents) to earn back the point of Will from fighting or even gain some he's spent earlier. Armoured horses are 15pts and a little more durable as well.

If you're wanting more foot Easterlings, I have a box of 20 I'm trying to offload.

Now I'm intrigued...what are the benefits of an armored horse, and what are the cons of a horse. Is it just you lose out against spears and pikes?

Cavalry gives an extra attack and knockdown if you charge and win the fight. An armoured horse has slightly higher defence, but it's only high enough to matter against normal bows. The only con of a horse is that you're higher up and more visible, but that's rarely an issue. They don't lose more against spears and pikes, it's just that spears and pikes allow you to bring more attacks (dice) to a contact point without the risk of being hurt in the fight.