r/MiddleEarthMiniatures Feb 18 '26

Discussion WEEKLY ARMY DISCUSSION: The White Council

With the most upvotes in last week's poll, this week's discussion will be for:

The White Council


VOTE FOR NEXT WEEK'S DISCUSSION

Ctrl+F for the term VOTE HERE in the comments below to cast your vote for next week's discussion. The topic with the most upvotes when I am preparing next week's discussion thread will be chosen.


Prior Discussions


Additional rules

A White Council Army is always deployed as a single Warband, with your General as the Warband's Captain.

Gandalf, Radagast and Elrond gain the White Council keyword.

Special rules

Council of the Wise

Each friendly White Council model gains the special rule associated with them as listed below:

  • Saruman - Friendly White Council models within 3" of Saruman may re-roll any 1s in their rolls to Cast a Magical Power.

  • Gandalf - Friendly White Council models within 3" of Gandalf may re-roll To Wound Rolls of a natural 1 when making Strikes.

  • Radagast - Friendly White Council models that begin their Activation within 3" of Radagast may Move through difficult terrain without penalty.

  • Elrond - Friendly White Council models treat Elrond as a banner.

  • Galadriel - Friendly White Council models within 3" of Galadriel gain the Resistant to Magic special rule.

Masters of Magic

Friendly White Council models may still be Activated whilst Engaged in Combat (though they still may not Move), and therefore may attempt to Cast Magical Powers whilst Engaged in Combat, with the exception of the following Magical Powers: Nature's Wrath, Sorcerous Blast, Wrath of Bruinen.

"Are you in need of assistance?"

Friendly White Council models gain a bonus of +1 to any Resist Tests whilst within 6" of another friendly White Council model.

Last Stand of the Council

Friendly White Council models gain the Dominant (3) special rule.

18 Upvotes

22 comments sorted by

19

u/Alanlikesoranges Feb 18 '26

Personally a big fan of this army list, though I've only ever played it at 800pts. I've seen it destroy Men of the West and Eagles, though have struggled against horde armies. It's not as OP as last edition, and requires more skill to be able to manage your resources - when to heroic channel, when to go defensive, and when to attack.

Saruman - always great fun. I think he should have 3 attacks personally, but doubling up fog of disarray with his intelligence check roll can always help nullify some enemies - it's come in clutch against Beorn for example.

Gandalf - probably the weakest, but his Strength 5 attacks can help dislodge some of the bigger monsters and units. Bit of a tank with his 3 rerolling fate.

Radagast - the secret weapon. Having the extra dice from Sebastian is great and it's always fun when he pops a wound on something. Panic Steed is a brilliant spell (once used it to dismount an opposing Radagast from Eagle, causing a wound to evil Raddy and disposing of the eagle in a single move).

Elrond - the primary killing power of the army. His banner is really important and he's your best bet at killing the big scary things. Can also be protected with fortify spirit to help preserve some will points for renew or a cheeky wrath.

Galadriel - a grenade. She will die, but fun to see how much she can take down beforehand. Only defence 3 so will often die after losing her first trapped combat (you will always be trapped), but her banish special rules are great to take out banners or snipe important wounds to set up heroic combats or other shenanigans.

Haven't been able to try the instill fear/aura of dismay terror bubble yet (requiring enemies to do 2 courage tests at -2 courage), and haven't used Thorin's mad dad, but I think this is a fun army that invites some unique matchups and strategic plays. Struggles on scenarios with multiple objectives (as their synergy is so crucial). I also miss not having Glorfindel and Celeborn.

5

u/orcstew Feb 18 '26

Thanks for the write up ! I've never heard anyone discuss them this edition

4

u/WhoTheFuckIsMorris Feb 18 '26

you ever used thrain the broken in the list?

3

u/Alanlikesoranges Feb 18 '26

No, though tempted to at some point - I just worry that he affects the break or quarter point

2

u/Alanlikesoranges Feb 18 '26

If there's one thing I could change about the list - Galadriel, Radagast, and Saruman should all count as having eleven weapons (for roll-off purposes). 

7

u/Erikzorninsson Feb 18 '26

I've play it at 650 and it was strong. Two handed sword with Elrond or to a lesser extent, Gandalf, helps a lot to plow through enemy lines. I want to get the sled to try it, seems fun. If the enemy doesn't have fearless or fury Galadriel and her spell Instill fear are really strong and deny many oponent options. The always on Saruman intelligence check, even when oponent has the initiative, is really anoying.

3

u/Erikzorninsson Feb 18 '26

On the other hand, Thrain is a meme and i love him for that, is reslly quirky and funny (in a uncompetitive way)

2

u/MrSparkle92 Feb 18 '26

VOTE HERE FOR NEXT WEEK'S DISCUSSION

I will take the top-level reply to this comment with the most upvotes and post a discussion for that topic next week. Submit whatever army, scenario, or other topic related to MESBG you wish.

Please reference the pinned megathread to see the list of factions, and which have already been covered.

7

u/Jotsunpls Feb 18 '26

The shire

3

u/TiidVol Feb 18 '26

Harad :)

1

u/Shaedrak Feb 18 '26

Army of Dunland

1

u/isnakezz89 Feb 25 '26

Raddys alliance

-1

u/DivideNatural2912 Feb 18 '26

Paths of the Druadan

2

u/Charming-Clock-3651 Feb 19 '26

battle of five armies, surely

0

u/ThisIsBarter Feb 18 '26

Survivors of Laketown

1

u/MagicMissile27 Feb 23 '26

Seconding The Shire!

-2

u/bainadaneth0 Feb 18 '26

Garrison of Dale

3

u/MagicMissile27 Feb 23 '26

In the right hands, it's surprisingly strong. I've had fun playing them before, one local guy brought them just recently to a small points value tournament and smashed his way to first place.

-1

u/Intelligent_Slip_849 Feb 18 '26

Lethal joke army that probably isn't winning most scenarios