Hall-watchers

* Portrait
* In Game
* Upgraded
* Shield Wall

"Down, heedless of order, rushed all the Dwarves of Dáin to his help. Down too came many of the Lake-men, for Bard could not restrain them; and out upon the other side came many of the spearmen of the Elves. Once again the Goblins were stricken in the valley; and they were piled in heaps till Dale was dark and hideous with their corpses."
—The Hobbit, The Clouds Burst

The soldiers of the Elvenking's army were highly proficient with almost any weapon: from sword, glaive and bow. Greenwood Spearmen were less numerous within the Elvenking's ranks but were by no means less deadly; they answered to Feren, Captain of the Kingsguard and were responsible for inflicting heavy losses against the Orcs during the Battle of the Five Armies.

While the Greenwood Spearmen are typically a summonable unit by Feren in standard play for the Woodland Realm faction, they also appear as a recruitable elite Pikemen unit for the Adventure: Battle of the Five Armies subfaction. Here, they are renamed as the Hall-watchers or Tamastirnyr, sharing the same name as the Guards of the Palace, and are recruitable from a Lvl 2 Elvenking's Barracks.

*For their temporary summon variant in standard play, see the Greenwood Spearmen page.*

## Abilities and Formations

**Shield Wall Formation (W)** - The units form a Spear Wall. Units lose 40% speed, gain resistance to knockback, decelerate crush, and gain +33% armour.

**Level 4: Elven Endurance (R)** - Greenwood Spearmen gain a +50% armour and are resistant to knockback, but lose 40% speed for 30 seconds. Left click to activate.

## Upgrades

**Silvan Steel (C)** - When equipped, increases damage dealt by melee weapons. Research the Armouries of Thrór fortress upgrade and cast its ability to upgrade this battalion with Silvan Steel.

**Thrór's Banners (V)** - When equipped, increases this battalion to level 2. Research upgrade at Dalish Ruin to enable this equipment. Cost: 100

**Sindarin Armour** - When equipped, units gain +20% armour. Can be equipped via either Thranduil's Love of Silver and Jewels ability or by researching the Armouries of Thrór fortress upgrade and casting its ability to upgrade this battalion with Sindarin Armour.

## Strategy

The Hall-watchers serve a similar function to the Guards of the Palace in standard play, being an elite Pikemen unit for the Adventure: Battle of the Five Armies subfaction. They have more health compared to the Guards of the Palace while possessing the same armour, but do not possess the ability to passively increase the armour of Thranduil or Legolas. Despite this, they remain a powerful and dangerous mid-late game Pikemen unit that should be utilized by the player once their economy has stabilized. Like the Guards of the Palace, they can increase their durability even further with **Shield Wall Formation** and **Elven Endurance**, which allows them to dispatch enemy cavalry and monsters with ease while giving them the staying power necessary to survive prolonged encounters. The Hall-watchers can be upgraded with Sindarin Armour via either the Fortress' Armouries of Thrór upgrade or via Thranduil's **Love of Silver and Jewels** ability; however, only the former will upgrade the unit with both Sindarin Armour and Silvan Steel. Thus, one should consider whether to utilize the Armouries of Thrór to fully upgrade the Hall-watchers or upgrade only their armor with Thranduil for the time being while leaving the Armouries of Thrór to a different unit instead.