Erkenbrand, Lord of the Westfold

Getting back to some LOTR painting, and I have recently completed Erkenbrand, Lord of the Westfold of Rohan, to compliment my growing Rohan force.

Erkenbrand's name is possibly derived from the Old English 'eorcan' meaning precious, and 'brand' meaning sword.

Erkenbrand was the Lord of the Westfold of Rohan at the time of the War of the Ring, at the end of the Third Age.

He is largely missed from the movie trilogy by Peter Jackson, with a brief appearance in Return of the King.

In the books, during the battle of Helms Deep, it is he and his Eored, that Gandalf seeks out as reinforcements to the beleaguered defenders of the Hornburg, and not Eomer, as in the movie. In the books, Eomer is already in the Hornburg, as one of the defenders...

Again, in the books, after the battle of Helms Deep, when Theoden leads the forces of Rohan to Gondor's aid, Erkenbrand remains behind to manage the Dunlending prisoners and make repairs to the fortress.

After the War of the Ring comes to an end, Éomer makes Erkenbrand Marshal of the West-mark

In the game, Erkenbrand is a potent hero of Rohan, allowing me to field another warband of 12 Riders of Rohan. What attracts me to using him though is his special rule "Red Shields". For 1pt per model, Warriors and Riders of Rohan can have their Fight skill increased from 3 to 4.

That doesn't sound much but when their traditional foes are Uruks with Fight 4, that brings the Riders back to parity... and with the extra mounted attacks a cavalry charge brings, that should start scattering the evil forces, especially against any lowly Fight 3 orcs in their forces...

Looking forward to giving Erkenbrand a whirl, alongside Eomer and Theodred...