Armies of Middle Earth SBG: Barad-Dur in the Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game

Someone has to wear the black hat. In the Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game, the blackest of hats (or helms) is worn by Sauron and his fell forces. If you like Sauron's baddies, you have two options. Mordor recreates Sauron's forces during the War of the Ring, but doesn't feature the big bad himself. If you prefer Sauron in bodily form, you're looking at Barad-Dur, which features Sauron and his hordes at the time of the Last Alliance. If you love slaughter and fire, detest all things green and beautiful (at least some of the time), and want Evil to have a face, you’ve come to the right place.

 Army Quick(ish) Hits

·       Strength: Sauron. The Dark Lord Sauron boasts one of the strongest profiles in the game. He’s a combat beast (4 Attacks, Fight 9, Strength 8) who is incredibly difficult to charge (Ancient Evil, Terror) and wound (Defense 10, 5 Wounds), plus he sports the One Ring which gives him a 2+ save anytime he would be removed as a casualty (and you can modify the 2+ save with Might). He’s also at the very top of any short-list you compile of top-tier casters, with a free Will point each turn, 6 Will in his store, Resistant to Magic, and a bevy of powerful spells that hit on a 2+ to a 4+, almost all of which have an 18” range (Instill Fear being the principal exception). A 3+ Compel or 4+ Chill Soul from 18” away makes him a real threat at range, where most models will struggle to wound him (his armor makes him almost immune to all ranged fire, and even large siege engines have to score two direct hits on him to force him to start taking Ring saves). He also has three Might (with the option to Heroic Strike, Heroic Strength, Heroic Channel, and Heroic Challenge), and as a Monster, he not only has access to the three basic Brutal Power Attacks (Rend, Barge, Hurl) but also picks up two of his own: The Flames of Evil (he makes one strike against a model at S8, then if the model survives, it is Set Ablaze, which means it takes another immediate S9 hit, and then a S5 hit at the end of each round it remains ablaze) and Unstoppable! (Sauron can make one S8 hit on every model in his fight, including spear and pike supports).

·       Strength: Army Bonus. Sauron has to be your army leader if you take him (not a bad thing), but in return, you get a ton of buffs. Not only can Sauron take 24 troops with him (excellent given he likely costs half your points total, or more), but whilst he has 3 or more Wounds remaining, your army is never considered Broken; this doubles as VP denial in scenarios that award points for breaking the enemy, and it also prevents your orcs (who have low courage) from having to take break tests. You can still be quartered (an end condition in some scenarios), but it means you can take grunt troops if you like, and still be confident that your opponent will be forced to do something to deal with Sauron at some point in every game.

·       Strength: Hero Options. Barad-Dur doesn’t have access to the same breadth of heroes that Mordor does, but that’s okay—in a list that almost always wants to include Sauron, you don’t usually have that many points left over for subordinate heroes. What you do have is a decent range of supporting heroes to choose from, who can fill various roles. The Witch-King of Angmar is an exceptionally good model in his own right, and there are very models who can stand against both he and Sauron in a wizard’s duel. Unnamed Nazgul are also phenomenal as supporting casters, with good durability and a flexible statline that you can buff or strip depending on how the rest of your army looks (and how many points you have available). You also have access to cheap orc captains, orc taskmasters, or the Black Numenorean Marshall, all of whom offer cheap Might and the option to call Heroic March (along with the unnamed Nazgul) so the army can keep moving (plus Orc Drummers if you really want your orcs to be moving fast).

·       Strength: Monster Heroes. If you prefer a supporting hero with a little more oomph, Barad-Dur has those, too. Shelob isn’t great at fighting on her own (just a single attack and no Might), but if you can pair her with a friendly banner and some friends, her Fight 7, Swift Movement, and Venom make her an excellent assassin, especially if you can get her to Monstrous Charge. Her Caught in a Web brutal power attack also gives Barad-Dur an option to paralyze a poor hero, so Sauron can deal with it as his leisure (or your ordinary orc grunts can bludgeon him to death). The Mordor Troll Chieftain bludgeons everything all the time. At Fight 7, 3 Attacks, Strength 7, and Defense 8 with 3 wounds, 2 Might, Heroic Strike, and access to the Rend brutal power attack, most enemy heroes will be very cautious approaching him. As with Shelob, if you can get him into a fight with friends and a banner, his odds of winning the duel (and then wounding whatever he’s fighting) are phenomenal.

·       Strength: Terror. In addition to Sauron, the Witch-King, Nazgul, trolls, and Shelob, you can also get terror-causing infantry (Black Numenoreans) or terror-causing heavy cavalry (Morgul Knights) who benefit immensely from Ancient Evil / Harbinger of Evil. If your opponent isn’t lucky enough to have Bodyguard troops (or even if he has only a small contingent of Bodyguard troops), you’ll find that even high-courage armies like Elves will whiff on some charge tests once you start applying -1 courage modifiers. Since you’ll be low on Might after sinking so many points into Sauron, you need some way to weather the storm if your opponent wins priority or calls Heroic Moves all the time. Terror offers you a way. Plus, models with Terror make phenomenal models for holding objectives, as well as bodyguards for Sauron and your other heroes; throwing another courage test into the mix makes it that much harder for your opponent to remove their control zones, so they can charge the big heroes, monsters, and spell-casters they have to tie down.

·       Strength: Cheap core troops. Barad-Dur has a decent selection of specialty troops, but the core of any Barad-Dur force is usually the lowly orc. They don’t get any potential combat buffs (like they do in Mordor, or in the Army of Gothmog / The Black Gate Opens legendary legions), but they’re a very cheap 1 attack, with average Fight (3), Strength (3), and Defense (5 with shields). Most enemies will still need a 5+ to wound them, and they’ll only need a 5+ or a 6 to wound most enemies—plus you have options for shields, spears, bows, two-handed weapons, and even banners. For the points they cost, they’re good value.

·       Strength: Hard-Hitting Cavalry. Warg Riders are brutally efficient for what they do: Fight 3, Strength 4, with two attacks on the charge (and double dice to wound if they win against infantry). You can also mount Orc Trackers on wargs for a decent skirmish force (and very good skirmish force for evil, as their ranged shots hit on a 5+ after movement), and they’re just as dangerous when they charge as their Warg Rider cousins. If you find orc cavalry a little light for your taste, you have the option for Morgul Knights, who are Defense 6 (Defense 5 mounts) with Strength 3 lances on the charge for some good damage. Plus they can be difficult to counter-charge, due to Terror, which makes them ideal for capturing and holding objectives (especially if they have a Nazgul in-tow).

·       Weakness: Courage. For an army that can utilize Terror so well, Barad-Dur struggles with its own courage. While Sauron, the Nazgul, and even your Black Numenoreans / Morgul Knights have good-to-very-good courage, your basic orcs are a lowly Courage 2 (Courage 1 if your opponent has Harbinger), so they’ll run in a pinch. The army bonus really helps out here, as does the option to take an orc Shaman. They aren’t as good as they use to be, and they can only lead 6 models in their warband, but Fury (even without the 6+ save from channeling it) is still very good at helping your army charge Terror-causing models, and at keeping your army together if Sauron and/or your Nazgul are slain. Unfortunately they don’t help your trolls stick around, so watch out for that. You can also bring a War Horn on your Morgul Knights/Black Numenoreans to boost your courage if you like—Courage 5 on a Mordor Troll is nothing to sneeze at.

·       Weakness: Relatively low defense. You can front a force of Black Numenoreans and get a healthy Defense 6, but that gets pretty expensive pretty quickly, plus they can’t take spears. If you want any chance at conventional Shield-Spear formations, you’ll need to ally in orcs at Defense 4 (or Defense 5 if they take shields, too). Any army with Blades of the Dead will also cut through you pretty quickly, so watch out for that.

·       Weakness: You (basically) have to take Sauron. Between the army bonus and the units in the list (and not in the list), you’re strongly encouraged to take Sauron in a Barad-Dur list. But not everyone likes him (or playing against him). If you do opt against taking him, consider running a Mordor list, as you’ll get access to virtually all the other profiles in the Barad-Dur list (minus Sauron), plus a ton more.

Hero Profiles: Sauron and his Dark Lieutenants

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·       The Dark Lord Sauron: The biggest bad of big bads (depending on how you feel about Smaug or the Balrog), Sauron can do it all. He’s even better when buffed by your army bonus: if you can keep him on 3+ health, your force is never considered broken, and he can bring 24 models with him in a Barad-Dur force. There isn’t much you can’t tank in a brawl, there isn’t any hero you can’t rip apart, there isn’t any wizard you can’t out-duel. Just make sure you keep some expendable orcs within 3” of him (to scatter Siege Weapon shots onto) and some bodyguard troops so he doesn’t get surrounded and trapped. Back him up with a banner, and he’s a machine at winning fights; then watch him maul through the enemy with his Unstoppable! Brutal power attack.

·       The Witch-King of Angmar: Almost as good at spell-casting as Sauron, when you factor in his significantly larger Will store (up to 20 Will), the Crown of Morgul (reroll 1 die when casting or resisting spells, plus he gets 3 Attacks), and the wizard-killing trifecta of spells: Compel (4+), Your Staff is Broken (4+), and Sap Will (5+). The Morgul Blade can insta-kill any hero who is low on Fate (or doesn’t have any). As with the unnamed wraiths, you can customize his stat-line to fit your points budget. You can take him light on Will with the crown (probably mounted) for a dangerous mobile spellcaster, or you can deck him out in full combat garb on the Fell Beast and make him a terrifying running-mate for Sauron.

·       Unnamed Ringwraiths: Good supporting spellcasters with some very good spells (Drain Courage (2+), Transfix (3+), Compel (4+)). Their stats are largely customizable, plus you can mount them (on horse or Fell Beast). With up to 2 Might and the option to Heroic March, they’re very good supporting heroes (especially in pairs or groups of three), and with Courage 6, they can hold any force that breaks well after any respectable orc captain would have bailed. Like the Witch-King, they have Harbinger of Evil.

·       Black Numenorean Marshall: An armored captain who can tank most enemy heroes (Fight 5, Strength 4, Defense 7, 2 Attacks, 2 wounds, and a shield). Take him mounted with a lance, and he can be devastating. Add Terror to make him difficult to charge, and he’s a thorn in your opponent’s side. Keep him near(ish) Sauron or a Nazgul, and he benefits from their Harbinger of Evil special rule.

Hero Profiles: Orcses

·       Orc Captain: Cheap and surprisingly stout (Defense 6 with a Shield, 2 Attacks, and 2 Wounds), they can pack a punch in combat if you’re not careful (Strength 4, 2 Attacks). Fight 4 is their weakness, but if they’re supported by a friendly Transfix, it shouldn’t result in their death. Your best bet if you want cheap Might around, and an ideal cheap bodyguard for Sauron (so he can save his own Might for Heroic Strikes and Ring saves instead of Heroic Moves and Heroic Combats) or, even better, a heavy-hitter like Shelob or the Troll Chieftain. If your opponent does manage to wound Sauron, watch out for their courage: it isn’t good.

·       Orc Shaman: As long as you can keep Fury up, he’s your answer to the low courage on your orcs (but not your trolls). A 6+ save across the army isn’t super-reliable, but every little bit helps, especially since your opponent has to deal wounds to Sauron to break your force, and every pesky orc you manage to save is another roadblock between your opponent and Sauron. You can also mount him on a warg for more speed and punch in combat (just watch out for enemy fire). Plus he has a spear so he can stand safely in the back and still participate in combats. Note that he’s a minor hero (can lead only 6 warriors), so if you’re looking to horde out, he’s going to hurt those efforts.

·       Orc Taskmaster: A Hero of Fortitude with 1 Might and the option to call Heroic March. His best trait is Whip of the Masters, where he and any friendly hero within 6” of him, has a 50/50 chance (4+) to recover Might spent to call a Heroic Move, Heroic March, or Heroic Shoot. Saving Might is always good, and if you can save it on someone like Sauron or a ringwraith, it’s even better.

·       Orc Drummer: A minor hero who can’t lead troops, but can be slotted into another warband. His War Drum allows all Mordor orcs within 12” of him to move up to 3” more (or 5” if mounted on wargs), without spending any Might. Just be sure to read the rules on war drums carefully: you can’t charge with your extra movement, all models within 12” of the drum either can’t charge or must stay stationary, and it only affects models with the Mordor and Orc keyword (so no Black Numenoreans, Morgul Knights, Trolls, Ringwraiths, Nazgul, or Sauron).

Hero Profiles: Monsters

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·       Mordor Troll Chieftain: He’s a Fight 7, Strength 7, Defense 8 troll with 3 Attacks, Might, and the option to Heroic Strike. For what you get, he’s very good value for the points, plus he can lead 12 troops in his warband. Even top-tier heroes will think twice about going near him, especially if he’s in close proximity to a Nazgul (who can transfix) or better yet the Witch-King or Sauron.

·       Shelob: The silent assassin. She’s not great on her own (Fight 7, Strength 7, Defense 7, but only 1 Attack), but if you can get her into fights on the charge she can be devastating, with 2 Attacks and Monstrous Charge, giving her 4 dice to-wound infantry models of Strength 6 and below, plus Venom to reroll failed wounds. Her Survival Instinct gives her a chance to run before she’s slain, but with 6 Will she tends to hang around. And if she wins a duel after being charged, she has a chance to paralyze her attacker (a nasty surprise, that). Like the Troll Chieftain, she is also very, very good value for her points.

Warrior Profiles: Men and Orcs

·       Orc Warriors: The tried-and-true grunt orc. Fight 3, Strength 3, and Defense 5 are nothing to write home about, but they’re very cheap to field, even if you kit out with shield, spear, and hand-weapon. Speaking of which, they have a ton of wargear options so you can customize them to taste: sword (stab/feint) or pick (piercing strike) for free, spears, shields, bows (on a 5+ shoot), and banners (definitely take one of these on someone). Nothing screams “evil” like hordes of orcs, and with you dumping so many points into Sauron, these are your best-bet to get something approximating a “horde.”

·       Orc Trackers: Cheaper ranged firepower than traditional orcs, trading 1 defense (Defense 3 instead of 4) for a better chance to hit (4+ shoot instead of 5+). Their bows are only Strength 2 with a range of 18,” so they’re not prolific marksmen and they will go down to sustained enemy fire pretty rapidly (especially Strength 3+ archery, which wounds them on 4s). But at 800 points you can take almost 20 of them with Sauron, a couple Orc captains, and 35+ orc infantry, and pelt your opponent with ranged firepower the entire game (plus 18” Chill Souls from Sauron), secure in the knowledge that your opponent can’t score VPs for breaking you no matter how many casualties you take, unless they deal 3+ wounds to Sauron. Fire with impunity, boys!

·       Warg Riders: Hard-hitting and fast moving. Two attacks at Strength 4 on the charge (with double-dice to wound infantry) is nothing to sneeze at, and they present a conundrum if you lose fights. If the enemy goes for the warg, the orc is almost certainly staying around to cause trouble later; if the enemy goes for the rider, the warg may stay around anyway to cause havoc later. You can also do sneaky things like marching with a drum 20”, then dismounting around the enemy while almost doubling your model-count. 

·       Black Numenoreans: At a semi-elite cost, they offer a very good statline: Fight 4, Strength 3, and Defense 6. Their bread-and-butter buff is Terror, which can make them a nightmare to engage (which means you may not need to call Heroic Moves every turn in order to ensure you get a good combat position). They also have the option for a war horn (to buff your own meagre courage values) and a banner (because Fight 4 / Defense 6 Banner-bearers who have shields and cause Terror tend to be pretty survivable).

·       Morgul Knights: Fight 4 cavalry who fix the only “meh” thing about Black Numenoreans: their average Strength 3. With a lance, Morgul Knights pack a whallop on the charge, and their Defense 5 mounts offer a challenge to bring down before they’re upon you (5+ to wound for Strength 3 bows/crossbows, 6s to wound for standard bows, blowpipes, and stones). If you do dismount them, they revert back to Numenoreans, they can take banners and war horns as well, and they cause Terror which makes them exceptional at capturing and holding objectives. If you can keep them in Sauron’s Ancient Evil range (or pair them with their own Nazgul leader for Harbinger of Evil), even Elves and Dwarves will fail courage tests trying to charge them.

Warrior Profiles: Monsters and Siege Weapons

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·       Mordor Trolls: They’re not as impressive as they used to be before Gundabad Trolls, but they still pack a whallop: Fight 7 is amazing in a world where most heroes can’t call Heroic Strike, and 3 Attacks at Strength 7 means they can rend most heroes with ease if they win combats. As with any 3 Attack, high-Fight model, they really benefit from having a friendly banner around, and if you add a couple friendly Attacks to the mix as well, they’ll have a significant fight advantage against almost any hero they face. Just watch out for Fight 6+ beat-stick heroes with Heroic Strike—they’ll need some help (or a friendly Transfix) to deal with those.

·       Mordor Siege Bow: This is a Strength 9 siege weapon that can knock back enemy models similar to the Isengard Ballista (plus deals Strength 6 hits to anything that enemy model gets knocked into). They also have a reduced scatter (3” instead of 6”), so on the likely chance you roll a 2-5 on the scatter chart, your opponent will have fewer options as to who takes the hit. Unfortunately the issue is hitting: the crew only hit on a 5+ normally, and there are no options to reroll failed shots. It’s also a small siege engine, so it doesn’t insta-kill multi-wound models who take damage (although you can take the Flaming Ammunition upgrade to reroll 1s to wound, which helps some). EDIT: So it turns out there's no general rule about small siege engines not insta-killing, although some profile rules for small siege engines do specify they don't auto-ill). There's no rule like that in the Siege Bow's profile, which is pretty sweet. Thanks to reader Memento for pointing this out to us! The good news is that it’s dirt cheap for a siege weapon (plus you get 3 orcs to fire it, one of whom is a Siege Veteran with a point of Might, Will, and Fate) and since you’re evil, you can use it to shoot into a big hero’s combat; if the hero is fighting a fairly isolated fight (and you manage to hit) you have a pretty good chance of knocking the hero prone (and maybe chipping in a cheeky wound) due to the reduced scatter.

·       Mordor War Catapult: An expensive large siege weapon if you’re looking at the raw points cost, but if you fact in the fact that you get a Mordor Troll included (plus three orcs, one of whom is a Siege Veteran), it’s actually dirt cheap. This one will insta-kill multi-wound models if they suffer any damage (bye-bye Fellowship Boromir), and while it scatters the full 6,” it does Strength 5 hits to any models within 2” of whatever target is chosen, which makes it phenomenal at breaking-up clustered enemy formations like shieldwalls. (Unfortunately it doesn’t knock these models prone, so it’s not a troll-stopper.) EDIT: Saved by this morning's errata! There's a designer's note here (p. 4) that clarifies a model struck by the Catapult's area of effect damage is knocked prone, with no apparent size restriction on the models you knock down, which is phenomenal. The crew and troll both it on a 4+ which is great, and the troll lets you re-roll to-hit, scatter, and to-wound rolls for free; that’s all rolls, not just failed rolls, so you can go hunting for that “6” on a scatter chart (or, if you have a Siege Vet or a Siege Captain, that “5+” or “4+” on the scatter chart). It’s also a very good deterrent to enemies who would usually try to rush your catapult to disable it.

For Further Reading

Thanks for checking out our summary of the Army of Barad-Dur in the Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game. If you're on the fence between Barad-Dur and Mordor, don't forget to check out our summary of Mordor (upcoming). If your curiosity has been piqued, here's some more resources on Barad-Dur we'd recommend from the TMAT team and other members of the Middle Earth SBG Community. And if you've had a particularly memorable encounter with Sauron (or are thinking of fielding him for the first time), let us know in the comments!

More from the TMAT Team:

• The Bare Necessities, Part XXIV: Barad-Dur (June 2020)
• Top 10 Wraiths, Revisited (May 2019)
• Revisiting Magic: Magic in the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game (February 2019)
• New Rules - Part II: Mordor (October 2018)
• Revisiting Magic: Ringwraiths in LOTR SBG (October 2013, *Pre-MESBG)
• Riders in Black: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 (February 2013, *Pre-MESBG)

Support your Hobby!

• The Dark Lord Sauron (Games Workshop)
• The Witch-King of Angmar (Games Workshop)
• Witch-King/Nazgul on Fell Beast (Games Workshop)
• Witch-King/Nazgul on foot (Games Workshop)
• Orc Commanders (Orc Captain, Taskmaster, Shaman, Banner-Bearer) (Games Workshop)
• Shelob (Games Workshop)
• Mordor Troll Chieftain (Games Workshop)
• Orc Warriors (Games Workshop)
• Orc Trackers (Games Workshop)
• Warg Riders (Games Workshop)
• Black Numenoreans and Marshall (dismounted) (Games Workshop)
• Morgul Knights and Marshall (mounted) (Games Workshop)
• Mordor Troll (Games Workshop)
• Mordor Siege Bow (Games Workshop)
• Mordor Catapult (Games Workshop)

Audio/Video Resources:

• PODCAST: Episode 54: Barad-Dur (The Green Dragon Podcast)
• VIDEO: How to Play and Buy Barad-Dur (DCHL)
• VIDEO: Armies of the Lord of the Rings: Barad-Dur Review (STF Wargaming)
• VIDEO: Das 3. Zeitalter: Barad Dur / Mordor (Der Wurfelorden)
• VIDEO: Barad-Dur - Analisi della lista (Ferdi Hobby)
• VIDEO: Mordor Sourcebook Review Part One - Sauron and the Nine, Shelob plus Warriors, Monsters and Siege Engines (GBHL, *Pre-MESBG)
• PODCAST: Know Thine Enemy: Witch-King, Ringwraiths, Shelob, Mordor Troll Chieftain  (The Green Dragon Podcast, *Pre-MESBG)
• VIDEO: Smaug v. Sauron Monster Mash (ERRA Cuin Caladrim)
• VIDEO: Balrog vs. Sauron Battle Report (Front Room Gamers, *Pre-MESBG)
• VIDEO: Brawlin' at Barliman's: Gil-Galad v. Sauron (GBHL, *Pre-MESBG)