So this is about an intriguing thought I had about how different people like to use their heroes. For the poll I'll provide the basic options attack strategies that I came up with although feel free to comment more.

By combat hero I'm generally talking about 3 attack models such as gothmog or boromir.

By Mid Tier hero I'm referring to captains or similar 2 attack models such as rumil or sharku.

By Non combat, I'm talking 1 attack models such as shamans and wizards etc.

Feel free to select one option for each hero type. Obviously I realise this is vastly dependent on the situation but perhaps you find you lean more towards one style?

Personally I find myself leaning more towards using combat heroes to guarantee kills against single models (unless I'm hugely confident that Dwalin can kill those two orcs!), for mid-tier heroes I like to have them fighting multiple opponents (provided they have spear support or a banner) in order to allow my other troops better fights, and for the non-combat heroes I generally use them in combat if my force starts to crumble and their ability becomes less effective.

Non-combat heroes, unless their fight values are needed in that one pivotal combat, stay the **** away. Mid-tier heroes charge single models, and big heroes I like to send into single models before they heroic combat into a couple more. That's generally how I do it anyway.

I should really have thought of the single model then heroic fight option, I use that myself from time to time, oops

Single model followed by a heroic fight as often as possible. Unless I'm using Boromir, then it is straight into the thick of the fray.

There is also something to be said for gandalf on horse. Magic missile!

Then there is Legolas, in a realm all on his own. Sniper of snipers, "I see you stuck your banner bearer in the back." <pew!> "I see you are flying on a fell beast." <pew!> "I see you are attempting to mob my combat hero." <pew!>... you get the idea.

I'm a Fiefdoms player, so I don't really have non-combat heroes as such, but the way I use my characters is very situational.

Imrahil is the only big hero in the list. He's usually mounted, so against other heroes, he goes in usually 1-on-1, possibly with support if the situation calls. Against horse, he should be ok to charge one or two, but against foot he'll likely outflank and get in amongst as many as possible.

Mid-tier heroes, like Captains, go in against multiple enemies and just shield. I've never used Forlong, but I suspect he'd be for killing with that S5. Duinhir is a joke and should never appear on the table. King of the Dead can either be a ballistic missile or entirely useless. I don't have any dead models, so I don't use them.

Non-combat heroes I have very little experience with. Saruman and Shamen are really my only options (not that I've ever used them in a game yet), but I suspect they'll be hidden, with Saruman revealing himself for his offensive magic only.

Depending on how the rest of my army is built, it can be surprising just how many kills the mid-tier heroes can get. Maybe it's psychological, there's a lot less pressure to make a cheap hero's points back, which means I'll just plug him into combats he needs to be in (as opposed to wading him into as many enemies as he can possibly kill in a turn). The flip side of that is that they're less outwardly threatening, which means your opponent might not expend as much energy into neutralizing them. They're rarely game-changing, but they're steady and reliable, and very easy to use well.

This is an intriguing question because there is not one way to answer it.

Generally, to answer....first of all any heroes I can put on a horse, I do. I cringe every time I see a hero people spend a lot of points on go unmounted. Especially if its in the range of Boromirs, Thorins, etc. The sheer mathematics behind it is huge.

Any of those large combat heroes with the threes in all the right places MUST be charged into multiple foot models if they arent the likes of half trolls or something like two hunter orcs with spears. Basically any run of the mill troops youre not too afraid of.

The only time I take them one on one is for a heroic combat, when they cant reach two without being counter charged aggressively, etc. Or of course if theyre fighting another hero.


As for mid tier I like to use them with spears against multiple opponents, but often I like to use them to pick on one or two enemies when they have the advantage.

As for one attack heroes.....almost never use them in combat. But there are some games I use them a TON in combat....it really depends.....One such example was my witch King I used at Nova. One game I took him and three or four warg riders. My opponent was lightly armored harad troops and I took him into combat behind the enemy lines again and again and when he's win a combat, thats four dice needing 4's to kill.....even if they won, they needed a 6 by 4 and I had three fate....so I killed a few with him.

Overall its extremely situational.

Legolas is another prime example where you dont want him in combat but he can really pick on enemy line troops.


It depends.

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