SBG: All hero forces, are they still viable?

[Spiney Norman]

I've got a game coming up and I'd really like to use a white council force composed entirely of heroes, partly because of the coolness, and partly because it will take a fraction of the time to paint.

I've got some doubts about how a force like that would perform in certain scenarios (domination and reconnoiter will be a problem), but is it possible to make them work?

[brain_dead_1st]

I would want a few no bodies, like fat freddy and Lobelia to give you a few free turns of deployment

Saruman
Gandalf
Glorfindel
A superb 500pt force!

Recon and Domination... domination you can smash them, all ringwraiths has won at this mission several times.
recon is harder but if you play as far up the table as you can and maybe have legolas picking off stragglers??

[Spiney Norman]

I would want a few no bodies, like fat freddy and Lobelia to give you a few free turns of deployment

Saruman
Gandalf
Glorfindel
A superb 500pt force!

Recon and Domination... domination you can smash them, all ringwraiths has won at this mission several times.
recon is harder but if you play as far up the table as you can and maybe have legolas picking off stragglers??

I was thinking Gandalf, Glorfindel, Thranduil & Legolas at 500pts

[Whitwort Stormbringer]

In my experience all-hero forces are very fiddly, and can be exceptionally difficult to do well with. This is especially true of a force of several high-cost heroes, since you will be woefully outnumbered.

I think of the White Council members that you could take, your list looks pretty good. Legolas is obviously a beast at archery, Thranduil is also a decent archer and the Aura of Dismay ability from his crown can come in very handy. Glorfindel will obviously be your "tank" since he has high defense, causes terror, and can cut a swathe through a swarm of baddies. All three elves also have plenty of Might. Given how strongly you're likely to be outnumbered, and how few models you have, positioning really isn't going to be as big a deal for you so you can dedicate some Might which might normally be saved for heroic actions to wounding instead.

Gandalf is good, but pretty pricey. It will be nice to have the magic but to be honest I'm a tad tempted, in an all-hero force, to suggest Radagast instead on account of his Renew spell. Panic Steed is also exceptionally handy if you're facing enemy cavalry. Neither one is going to be especially effective in melee, so to me it comes down to whether you want Renew or Sorcerous Blast.

FWIW in an all-hero force that's not restricted to The White Council, I find that dwarves tend to be a good choice on account of their high survivability. You're going to be outnumbered and therefore you'll likely get surrounded too. Once surrounded it only takes one bad combat roll for most human or elf heroes to lose the combat and fall victim to the swarm due to the sheer number of dice, but many dwarf heroes are only wounded on a 6/4+ or even 6/5+ and can potentially weather one or two losses while being surrounded.

[Spiney Norman]

In my experience all-hero forces are very fiddly, and can be exceptionally difficult to do well with. This is especially true of a force of several high-cost heroes, since you will be woefully outnumbered.

I think of the White Council members that you could take, your list looks pretty good. Legolas is obviously a beast at archery, Thranduil is also a decent archer and the Aura of Dismay ability from his crown can come in very handy. Glorfindel will obviously be your "tank" since he has high defense, causes terror, and can cut a swathe through a swarm of baddies. All three elves also have plenty of Might. Given how strongly you're likely to be outnumbered, and how few models you have, positioning really isn't going to be as big a deal for you so you can dedicate some Might which might normally be saved for heroic actions to wounding instead.

Gandalf is good, but pretty pricey. It will be nice to have the magic but to be honest I'm a tad tempted, in an all-hero force, to suggest Radagast instead on account of his Renew spell. Panic Steed is also exceptionally handy if you're facing enemy cavalry. Neither one is going to be especially effective in melee, so to me it comes down to whether you want Renew or Sorcerous Blast.

FWIW in an all-hero force that's not restricted to The White Council, I find that dwarves tend to be a good choice on account of their high survivability. You're going to be outnumbered and therefore you'll likely get surrounded too. Once surrounded it only takes one bad combat roll for most human or elf heroes to lose the combat and fall victim to the swarm due to the sheer number of dice, but many dwarf heroes are only wounded on a 6/4+ or even 6/5+ and can potentially weather one or two losses while being surrounded.

Actually the reason I chose Gandalf was because of cast blinding light, I don't want to have all my heroes machine-gunned to death from half the table away, I don't have that much faith in the combined archery of Legolas and Thranduil. Also Glorfindel doesn't cause terror (at least not in the free peoples book I have) so terrifying aura is another great reason to bring Gandy, sorc blast is great, but for the hardcore utility spells I need Gandy, not Raddy.

[Whitwort Stormbringer]

Oh that's right, I'd forgotten that Glorfindel doesn't cause terror anymore (in fact now that I flip through my copy of Fall of the Necromancer he didn't have it then either-looks like it was just that very first profile from Shadow and Flame and my info is way, way outdated). Shame, but in light of that and definitely for the protection from blinding light I can see the rationale for Gandalf.

[brain_dead_1st]

Oh that's right, I'd forgotten that Glorfindel doesn't cause terror anymore (in fact now that I flip through my copy of Fall of the Necromancer he didn't have it then either-looks like it was just that very first profile from Shadow and Flame and my info is way, way outdated). Shame, but in light of that and definitely for the protection from blinding light I can see the rationale for Gandalf.

He had lineage of the firstborn... hence terror

[Whitwort Stormbringer]

He had lineage of the firstborn... hence terror

Ha, I'd also forgotten that Lineag of the Firstborn caused Terror, since initially it was akin to a wizard's staff of power (1 free will per turn). Man, I really need to brush up on SBG, it's been way too long since I've played!

looks like my info is outdated and incorrect on more than one count!