Strategy of the Lions

Strengths and Weakness?

The Lions do not have the best combatants of Aarklash, just average troops, present to support the Champions or to finish off the damage caused by Magic. Certain troops are to be played specifically against some armies: your composition will therefore depend on your opponent. The Courage of Barhans, and the associated Bravery ability, is generally sufficient to resist all armies which aren't optimized to cause Fear.

The Troops and Other Armies:

The skeleton of the Barhan army is often the same: Paladins and Swordsmen. They are honest troops (the Paladin is a little expensive in A.P. but can cause a surprise) and rather resilient; field between 3 and 6 examples.

Against slow armies like the Mid-Nor dwarves, Tir-Na-Bor or the Living Dead, Reapers are welcome since they bring an excellent Initiative and are difficult to detect considering the weak movement of these races. Reapers must do a maximum of damage in their first salvo, then, by taking the Initiative, must rely greatly on luck to make good Wounds Rolls. They must also be disengaged as soon as possible to harass the enemy with their shooting! A Bard is a welcome addition in order to cast the Premonitory Vision spell to be able to activate them at the right time! On the other hand, arrange the Scouts against Dirz (the tigers will only make a mouthful of them), Wolfen or Kelts which will be able easily to control them thanks to their Movement. To be played in a theme army or with a maximum of 2 examples!

The Valkyries are not worth their 15 Army Points because their Swashbuckler ability is useless with their Attack of 4. On the other hand, with this same Attack and Defense of 4, they can succeed in blocking an average character or an elite troop for several turns. But with the least mistake, with a Resilience of 4, they'll be off the table and back in their box. Their Swashbuckler is not even useful against big characters who will just counter-attack and rip them to shreds. However, Mutagenic in Defense is useless against them!
So instead of the beautiful Valkyries prefer the Swordsmen, stronger and more resilient.

For 14 A.P., always play 2 or 3 archers, redoubtable against the Wolfen and very fast armies, and always very useful strategically!

The Royal Guards at 40 A.P. are walking tin cans and difficult to topple over, but do not misuse them: they can cut down enemy after enemy, but could also remain stuck against a basic troop for the entire game. By playing more than one, you risk a numerical inferiority which can be dangerous!

The Standard Bearer will be little use in normal games, the Courage of the Lions of Alahan being generally sufficient to resist armies which are not optimized for Fear. He can be useful against the Living Dead (against The Gorgon) but more for the ability Rallying Cry than for the transferred Courage.

Lastly, the Spearmen are expendable units, which must protect your centre pieces and which can quite simply limit the unfavourable outnumbering.

Characters

The two really valid combatants in the Lion camp are the Red Lioness and Alahel the Messenger.

Alahel is the general-purpose figurine par excellence: Movement of 12.5, good Initiative, Attacks and Defense of 5 and an Aim of 4! Against Wolfen or Kelts, equip him with the Armour of Allmoon to limit the number of enemy dice. Protected by the spell Guardian Angel, his Defense of 7 associated with his Ambidextrous ability make him truly a very good Champion. Do not forget Delivrance either, his sword which always strikes in the Torso (a Light Wound at least!) which will compensate for his Strength of 5. Furthermore the figurine is one of most beautiful, truly a very good investment.

With the Red Lioness, one goes up to a higher level! Naturally an excellent fighter, she is the central element of the Lions against all Fear causing armies, and especially against the Living Dead. Because with a Courage of 9 and a Leadership of 15 cm, she's truly the unbeatable weapon against Fear. Equipped with the ability Righteous, she will never flee, and is particularly tough in combat (that's the case with her version on foot or on horseback) with her Characteristics enabling her to take 3 additional dice. Don't forget either her ability Bane/Achéron: frightening! But the Red Lioness is rather expensive and is thus reserved for large games (starting from 500 army points).

Magic or Miracles?

Magic!
The currently available Miracles for the Lions do not have enough powerful effects to make the cost of the priest concerned worthwhile, and the difficulties are too high. Magic, on the other hand, is very powerful for Barhans, with some spells of destruction, and in particular numerous spells of Protection.

Bards : play them with the spell Premonitory Vision (and take advantage of it in the drawing phase), the classic Bow of Mana (excellent damaging spell, combined with shooting or hand to hand), the Aura of Light (boost spell), Illusory Double (makes enemies lose defense dice) or the Song of Glory to increase the Leadership of the Red Lioness to 30 cm!

Migaïl the Selenite : mastering Water, do not hesitate to equip him with healing spells (Nymph) as well as the Celestial Robes to prevent his enemies from attacking him and to look after him. The spells of Light can also be healers ("Pillar of Energy" coupled with "As the Light carries my Voice" cast by a Bard) or protect effectively (Guardian Angel). For attack spells, give him Beams of Light, which from now on has an unlimited frequency, but causes one only wound (and no longer three), while remaining cost effective!

Méliador the Celestial : it's difficult to depart from the classic composition: Storm of Light, Carrying Wind, Celestial Robes and Sphere of Power. Méliador then becomes a difficult to approach figurine and one which can move 50 cm per turn, recovering a maximum number of gems thanks to his Sphere, which he uses while casting flash after flash. A combination difficult for the opponent to control, his troops arriving in combat already wounded before anything has been achieved.

Standard Armies:

Nasthyr