A guest post by my son, William, age 12

Recently, I have taken an interest in Games Workshop’s Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game (often abbreviated to MESBG), this is a tabletop wargame inspired by J.R.R Tolkien’s fantasy universe, in which The Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit are set. Having received The Fellowship Of The Ring figures for Christmas, I then received the Rules Manual for my birthday and since then I have been exploring all the different elements of the game. Now, inspired by The Green Dragon Podcast, I have decided to share some of my thoughts on the game. I thought I would start by comparing some of the heroes available to the White Council army list, one of my favourite armies in the game.

The White Council are one of the most feared fighting forces in Middle-Earth, but have you ever wondered which of its members is the most powerful? Well, in this post I will attempt to answer this question. To do so I will analyse and rank each member of the Council’s skills in six different categories, before combining the rankings at the end in order to decide which of the Council’s members are the best. The heroes I’m comparing today are: Saruman The White; Gandalf The Grey; Radagast The Brown; Elrond, Master Of Rivendell and Galadriel, Lady Of Light.

Category 1: Offensive Spells
Saruman The White
Gandalf The Grey
Radagast The Brown
Galadriel, Lady Of Light
Elrond, Master Of Rivendell

This category is about how well the heroes use magic to wound, disrupt and even slay enemy troops and heroes.

Reasons:
In first place is Saruman; who has similar spells to Gandalf, casts them on a longer range and with more ease. He can knock enemy models out of combat with Sorcerous Blast or Command models and send them into his allies’ charge or bow range.

Gandalf is a close second because his spells are powerful, but not quite as long-ranged or as easy to cast as Saruman’s.

Radagast is third thanks to his Panic Steed; Nature’s Wrath and Immobilise, all of which are highly disruptive spells that can neutralise entire warbands if used correctly.

In fourth is Galadriel, whose Banishment magical power means that she can slay Spirit Warrior models with ease, and even, over several turns, dispatch the dreaded Nazgul of Dol Guldur, as well as Instill Fear, which causes all enemies in range to flee for their lives.

Last and (probably) least is Elrond, who has Wrath of Bruinen (basically an upgraded Nature’s Wrath), which allows him to knock entire warbands to the ground, however with no other spells to speak of in this category, he falls behind the rest of the Council.

Category 2: Supportive Spells
Gandalf The Grey
Galadriel, Lady Of Light
Radagast The Brown
Saruman The White
Elrond, Master Of Rivendell

This category ranks the heroes by the quality of their spells that help and protect their allies.

Reasons:
In first place is Gandalf, who’s supportive spells include Blinding Light, Protection Of The Valar, Strengthen Will and Terrifying Aura. These spells mean he can shield friendly models, rendering them immune to the likes of Black Dart and Chill Soul. He can also keep friendly models casting and resisting magic for longer than they could alone, as well as protecting them from enemy archery.

Second place goes to Galadriel, who can cast Fortify Spirit on a 2+, allowing her allies to easily Resist magic without spending any Will points to do so.

In third place is Radagast, a wizard capable of healing his allies with Renew and protecting them – and himself – from cowardly foes through a combination of Terrifying Aura and Aura of Dismay.

In fourth place is Saruman, the Lord of the Istari is, surprisingly, the worst of the order at supporting his allies, his supportive spells are numbered at only two, Aura of Command and Terrifying Aura, these spell make nearby allies Fearless and grant Saruman the Terror special rule.

Elrond comes fifth as his only supportive spell is Renew, which allows him to heal friendly models, but nothing else.

Category 3: Resisting Magic
Saruman The White
Gandalf The Grey
Radagast The Brown / Galadriel, Lady Of Light
Elrond, Master Of Rivendell

This category is not about how good each hero is at using magic, but how good they are at stopping it.

Reasons:
In first place is Saruman, thanks to his 6 Will points, his Lord of the Istari special, which means that he can re-roll one when making Casting or Resist tests.

In second is Gandalf because of his 6 Will points, Heroic Resolve and a Staff of Power.

Radagast and Galadriel come third as they are essentially identical to the other Wizards in this category, just without the Heroic Resolve or the re-roll.

Elrond is fourth due to the fact that he has no free Will point and his Will store is half the size of the others’. Elrond’s one redeeming characteristic is his Heroic Resolve.

Category 4: Killing Power
Elrond, Master Of Rivendell
Gandalf The Grey
Galadriel, Lady Of Light
Radagast The Brown
Saruman The White

This category ranks the heroes by their martial prowess and deadliness in combat.

Reasons:
In first place is Elrond, thanks to his Fight 6, Hadhafang, Terror special rule and Heroic Strike. These factors mean he can reliably hold his own against the likes of Amdur, The Goblin King and Bolg.

Gandalf comes second because of his Heroic Strike and Glamdring, which is an elven-mad hand-and-a-half sword that increases the wielder’s Strength by 1 when making strikes. Allowing Ganalf to slay his foes with frightening ease.

Third is Galadriel because of her Fight 6 and Heroic Strike and the Terror special rule.

Radagast is fourth due to his dagger, which allows him to use the Feint and Stab special strikes.

Saruman is fifth because he is identical to Radagast in combat, just without the dagger.

Category 5: Survivability
Elrond, Master Of Rivendell
Gandalf The Grey
Radagast The Brown / Saruman The White
Galadriel, Lady Of Light

This category showcases how hard it is to wound or kill each hero.

Reasons:
Elrond is first because of his Defence 5, 3 Wounds, 3 Fate Points, Heroic Defence and an Elven Ring, these factors mean that Elrond can be incredibly hard to bring down in game.

Gandalf has won second place thanks to Defence 5, 3 Wounds, 3 Fate and an Elven Ring.

Saruman and Radagast are joint third thanks to Heroic Defence, Defence 5 and 3 Fate, this means they are almost as survivable as Elrond, just without the Fate re-roll.

Galadriel comes in last with Defence 3, 3 Fate and an Elven Ring. She is the most easily slain of the Council, but not by much. That is, of course, if you manage to beat her in combat.

Category 6: Army Integrity
Elrond, Master Of Rivendell [Rivendell]
Saruman The White [White Council]
Gandalf The Grey [The Fellowship]
Radagast The Brown [Radagast’s Alliance]
Galadriel, Lady Of Light [White Council]

This category is about how well each hero fits into their respective army lists, shown in square brackets next to the hero above.

Reasons:
Elrond comes first because of his Foresight points, allowing him to swing the tide in his allies’ favour. Additionally, if Elrond is included in a Rivendell force then Rivendell Knights in the same army don’t count towards your bow limit.

In second place is Saruman, as his Stand Fast! has a range of 12” and affects other Hero models as well as warriors. This allows him to keep other heroes fighting, although this is not as important as it could be, because the every model in a White Council force has Courage 7, rendering them effectively Fearless.

Gandalf is third, as the Fellowship’s only magical support, he is key to their victory as his spells will take out enemy models and make the opponents easier for the other heroes to deal with.

Radagast is fourth as he plays a similar role in Radagast’s Alliance armies, however his role is less important due to the larger capability of the warriors in his force.

Galadriel is fifth as she is very useful in a White Council army, but she is certainly not essential.

Scores and Rankings
Spellcaster Rating
Gandalf The Grey [67]
Saruman The White [60]
Galadriel, Lady Of Light [40]
Radagast The Brown [40]
Elrond, Master Of Rivendell [7]

Combat and Strategy Rating
Elrond, Master Of Rivendell [80]
Gandalf The Grey [53]
Saruman The White [33]
Radagast The Brown [27]
Galadriel, Lady Of Light [20]

Average Score
Gandalf The Grey [60]
Saruman The White [47]
Elrond, Master Of Rivendell [44]
Radagast The Brown [34]
Galadriel, Lady Of Light [30]

In conclusion, the greatest Warrior-General of the White Council is Elrond, while Gandalf is the best Spellcaster and All-rounder. I hope you enjoyed this comparison of the Heroes of the White Council. These heroes are some of the strongest in the game, and when you use them together, they are almost unstoppable, unless intercepted by other heroes of similar power levels.

Links
Games Workshop Middle Earth Range https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Middle-earth
The Green Dragon Podcast