Once again I’ve been diving back into the Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game. This seems to happen about every couple of years or so. This time, I ended up picking up a bunch of models I had always wanted but never got, including the twin sons of Elrond and Glorfindel.

As I was putting together an order from Games Workshop’s website, I was realizing how incredibly inexpensive the game is to get into.

You can generally pick up two boxes of miniatures (for between 35-50 bucks each), and a leader of some sort, and you’re ready to go. The forces of good are probably your cheapest way to go, as their models are higher in points, so you need less models. Evil tends to use swarm tactics.

I’m going to break down my favorite few sets you can collect for around 100 bucks or so to get you started, assembled by me from Games Workshop’s site. Naturally, you’ll want to pick up the rulebook, and you can use an army builder like Battlescribe until you can pick up Armies of LotR or Armies of The Hobbit.

In addition, these armies aren’t necessarily the best performing armies, they’re the armies I like the best based on appearance and how much I love them in-universe.

I’m starting with the servants of Galadriel because it’s what I’m painting up at the moment. The Galadhrim Warriors are gorgeous models, and wonderfully detailed. These are the elves who showed up at Helm’s Deep. My paint scheme is silver with white clothing.

The Galadhrim Knights are also fantastic. Essentially just the Warriors but on horseback, they provide the mobility you need on the battlefield.

You’ll want some commanders to lead your troops, so picking up the Galadhrim Commanders will push you right over the $100 mark. This provides you with a banner, a commander, a storm caller (to provide you with some magic), and a horn blower.

If you want some named heroes, you can go with Haldir or Celeborn and Galadriel.

If you want less armored Wood Elf Warriors, you can go with Lothlorien elves, but they just aren’t as pretty as the Galadhrim.

You can make a full force that looks great at the table even if you aren’t a good painter with a pair of boxes of the Warriors of the Dead along with the Three Hunters.

It’s thematic, pretty cheap, and the Warriors are VERY easy to paint. You can pick up the King of the Dead as well, but I’m going to just convert over one of my plastic Warriors of the Dead for that job.

The Dwarves of Khazad-Dum are GORGEOUS models. I would start with a box of Dwarf Rangers, just because of how GOOD they look.

Then to beef up your forces, pick up some Dwarf Warriors.

This entry was mostly just to show off the beautiful heroes for the army, though. I’ll start with my favorite: The King’s Champion:

Of course, what’s a King’s Champion without a king? You’ve got two options: Durin, of whom the Balrog Durin’s Bane is named:

And then you’ve got the tragic Balin, king of Moria.

Now let’s get into some evil armies!

The perfect counter to the Dwarves. They’re low cost, so you’ll want a couple of boxes of the Moria Goblins.

You can pick up the Goblin Commanders, to give you some drummers and necessary leaders.

Of course, you could end it there, but why WOULDN’T you pick up Durin’s Bane himself, the Flame of Udun?

I own three boxes of the mounted Hunter Orcs, because I love the idea of a swarm of warg-mounted orcs tearing through good armies. Start with one box, though.

On top of that, the Hunter Orcs on foot are also very cool.

You can stop there right at about $90, but picking up the Pale Orc will round out the force with a powerful leader.

Mordor has one of the biggest variety of options for models, but I like the Morannon Orcs. They’re heavily armored, and can make a good wall to protect your weaker troops.

Most important of all, however, is the Dark Marshal. He’s my favorite looking Nazgul, and his armor matches well with the Morannon Orcs.

The Mordor Orcs are your arrow sponges, allowing you to get your other troops into place, and are good for swarming the battlefield.

So that’s a few of the armies I really like. I didn’t even get into Rohan or Gondor, who have gorgeous armies.

For those of you who play MESBG, what’s your favorite army? Lemme know in the comments.

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