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

Deep beneath the misty mountains lie the caverns of Moria. In ages past, the greatest kingdom of the dwarves gave way to foul goblin invaders. After the fall of Azog, the land lay quiet for years, until Balin's ill-fated expedition, and the Fellowship's own venture into this forsaken land, awoke an ancient malice...

Few armies in the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game have such a diverse list as Moria. From spammable cheap troops to elite, monstrous heroes, there is no such thing as a "standard" Moria force. So grab your torch, brush up on your elvish passcodes, and venture with us into the long dark of Moria.

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Army Quick(ish) Hits

• Strength: Monsters... Monsters for days. Moria has a reputation as a "goblin faction," which it is, but it's a lot more than that. The list boasts the greatest selection of monster warriors and heroes, of all sizes, shapes, and power levels. Foremost among them is the Balrog, who boasts one of the heartiest combat profiles in the game, free heroic combats, and the only base Fight 10 around. Dragons and Cave Drakes are scary to deal with, the Watcher in the Water can wreak havoc on a battle line, Burly cave trolls hit like a truck, and it's hard to finish off a Fight 7 Dweller in the Dark when they can replenish their health by chewing on a couple of grunts. And that's without talking about Warg Marauders and Bat Swarms, or Giant Venomous Spiders, who can be incredibly disruptive to your opponent (especially if a certain Moria shaman starts enraging them). Most conventional armies can deal with one or at most two monsters at a time, and rarely have to deal with more than that at once. Moria can stretch those armies to their breaking point, especially since...
• Strength: Numbers (even when elite). In terms of raw numbers and point costs, Moria Goblins aren't the kings of spam any more (mostly because they have to pay points to support each other with spears), but they're still cheap, surprisingly hearty, and pretty good at killing things. You can still get a good-size horde with them, especially if you take the cheap Goblin heroes: Durburz is a Hero of Valor, Groblog is a cheap Hero of Fortitude, and Goblin Captains are cheap Heroes of Fortitude who can March your troops where they need to be. Throw in a couple of cave trolls, and you have a good mix of heavy-hitters with plenty of core troops to prevent them from being surrounded and trapped. Alternatively, you could bring along the Balrog (Hero of Legend) or some Dragons (Heroes of Valor) and still have points left over for a decent-sized force. And even your elite troops (Prowlers, Blackshields) are on-par when it comes to points with the base troops of most other factions (with favorable stats and upgrade options).
• Strength: Surprisingly Tanky heroes. The Balrog is the gold standard, of course: with four Attacks at Fight 10, his lack of Heroic Strike (or Might in general) rarely holds him back in combat, and with Defense 9 and 10 Wounds (plus 10 Will, plus Resistant to Magic, plus Ancient Evil / Terror), he's hard to bring down without a sustained, concerted effort. You also have a sneaky amount of heroes who have access to Heroic Defense: Dragons are the obvious choice, but both Durburz and Groblog have it as well (and 3 Might to spend on it). Groblog in particular is a nice candidate for Heroic Defense, as he's dirt-cheap and wants to be near the thick of things anyway so the +1 Fight buff from his Mithril Crown can have maximum impact. And while you probably want to play more conservatively with Durburz (in case you need that 12" Stand Fast!), with 3 Might, 2 Wounds, 2 Fate, and Heroic Defense, he can tank someone like an Aragorn or a Gil-Galad for longer than you'd expect, especially if you have troops nearby to peel off those heroes' supporting warriors. Last, don't forget about the Dwellers in the Dark, who can replenish wounds lost by feasting on troops. A Fight 7 monster with 3 Wounds is hard enough to kill in a couple of rounds; having to take one out in just one go before it self-heals is that much harder
• Strength: Shamans! Shamans got a bit of a nerf overall in the new rules set, but there are some factions with exceptions. Mordor is one (thanks to my main man, Kardush the Fire Caller), and the Easterling War Priest is somehow still a heavy-armored Hero of Fortitude with two decent spells. Moria also escaped the hammer, with both a ton of Shamans to choose from (four in total), all of whom do different things and have pretty good spell suites. I'm not as down as Tiberius was on the generic Moria Goblin Shaman, who still has the Fury you've come to expect (albeit losing the 5+ channeled save and restricted only to Moria Goblins) and a 5+ Transfix that you are unlikely to ever use (successfully, at least). Blackshield Shamans have the annoying (and potentially game-altering) Shatter spell, sufficient to keep a combat hero with low Will (like Gil-Galad) far away from your Shaman for way longer than he has any right to. And then there are the creature-buffers: Druzhag's signature Enrage Beast spell can turn any lowly warg into a Wild Warg Chieftain, and Ashrak can make Venom spiders invisible. Both are Heroes of Fortitude, so you can bring them along and still field a full warband of troops.
• Strength: Dependable Core Troops. Blackshields (Defense 6) are great, and Prowlers (throwing weapons, two-handed weapons, and Backstabbers) can pack a real wallop, but a run-of-the-mill Moria Goblin is more than dependable. Yes, their Fight Value is poor, but their army bonus ("We cannot get out, they are coming") can boost them to Fight 3 if their opponents are trapped, Strength 3 is perfectly serviceable, and Fight 2 means nothing if you have a Fight 6+ Monster on your side. When all else fails, they're base Defense 4 and Defense 5 with a shield, which offer significant advantages over Goblin-Town's core troops (5+ to-wound against Strength 3 and Strength 4). Throw in a 12-18" banner effect from a Moria or Blackshield Drum, Fearless within 12" of the Balrog, and the ability to take spears, and they can be dependable troops who can hold space while your big bads chew through the enemy.
• Strength / Weakness: Troop Options. In addition to cheap and dependable Moria Goblins, Moria also has access to other goblin troops who can perform other roles. The aforementioned Moria Blackshields get a stat upgrade from Defense 5 to Defense 6 (with shields, which come standard), which means you can shield-wall as well as most conventional armies. Unfortunately they still only 5" (so 6" move armies can play keep-away with them more easily, and cavalry armies can run circles around them), and if you want spears, those cost extra points (a back-line of standard Moria Goblins with spears is usually sufficient). They're more worth their points if you're likely to face dwarves, because a +1 to-wound (Hatred (Dwarf)) on top of Strength 3 will wound Defense 6 or 7 on a 5+, which his pretty good, and Defense 8 on a 5+/3+, which is fantastic). Then there are Moria Prowlers, who are Fight 3, Defense 4, with Strength 3 two-handed axes and Backstabbers (+1 to wound trapped models), and have throwing knives with a 4+ shoot value.
• Weakness: Limited troop upgrades. Unfortunately, while Moria has several basic troop types, most of them offer little in the way of customization. Blackshields have the option to take spears, but that's it. Moria Goblins can choose between shields, spears, and an orc bow (Strength 2, 18" range). This isn't great when paired with a 5+ shoot value, but it's your only long-range option unless you ally in something with more ranged firepower. And then there are prowlers, who used to be able to take bows (but now can't, even though they have a 4+ shoot value) and now come with only a two-handed axe (no single-handed weapon), which means they always suffer the -1 duel penalty (their only other alternative is to fight unarmed, which is a -1 duel penalty and a -1 to-wound penalty... might as well keep the two-handed weapon at that point).
• Weakness: Courage (sometimes). If you run goblins and creatures (cave trolls, bat swarms, wargs) this can be an issue, as you'll rarely see higher than Courage 3 on any of these models. A War Drum can boost your goblins' courage by +1, but anything else will require a war horn (which you'll have to ally-in, and are relatively rare on the evil side). Alternatively, the Balrog makes all Moria Goblins Fearless within 12" of him (it applies to heroes, too, which is pretty sweet), or you could go with one (or several) of Moria's (several) Shamans. A generic Moria Goblin Shaman has Fury (Moria Goblin) in case the Balrog is out of your price-range, while Druhzag the Beast Caller's Fury will cover your bats, spiders, and wargs (no trolls, though). Courage isn't always important, but if it's important to you, Moria can build around it (most of the time, anyway).
• Weakness: Allies. Moria is one of several factions who have no historic allies. This is fine, because Moria's army bonus (+1 Fight Value to Moria Goblins if fighting a trapped model) is fine, but not a major loss (especially if your goblins are principally there to support your higher fight monsters). Convenient allies include every evil faction except Barad-Dur (and Sharkey's Rogues, ironically enough), so you have a lot of freedom here (as long as you're willing to sacrifice your ally's army bonus, that is).
• Strength / Weakness: Start-up Cost. If you run generic goblins, you can get them in plastic for a decent price (and there are tons on the secondary market). Durburz and Groblog are also available (as of the time of this writing) in the GW store, and you can pick up a Moria Goblin Captain, Shaman, and War Drum in the commanders pack (they're also easy enough to convert out of regular Moria Goblins if your gaming group / TO allows such a thing). Monsters (the Balrog, the Watcher, Dragons, Cave Drakes, Cave Trolls, and Dwellers) will run you quite a bit more, but the real outlay is likely to come if you want their specialty troops (Blackshields, Prowlers, Warg Marauders) and their specialty shamans (Druzhag, Ashrak, and the Blackshield Shaman), none of whom are available from GW. Fingers crossed that will change, though...

Named Hero Profiles

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• The Balrog. I initially thought about letting Tiberius do this write-up, but the risk of effusive gushing was so great that I ultimately decided against it. Let's just say that the new rules set has paired an iconic model (the thing is huge, and immediately recognizable) with a killer rule set. The centerpiece of his stat profile is Fight 10, which was always awesome, then less awesome (when everything could strike) and is now back to being more awesome (now that Heroic Strike is limited to just a few heroes, almost all of whom are named, and thus not spammable--Minas Tirith and Far Harad having notable exceptions, of course). Add Strength 9, Defense 9, and a beefy 10 wounds, and he's both tanky-as and incredibly dangerous. Then there are the stat boosts: four Attacks brings him in-line with the biggest, baddest monsters in the game (Sauron, Smaug, Ghulavar at full-health), for a 51% chance of rolling at least one "6" (increased to almost 60% if you have a banner nearby), as a Monster he gets access to all the brutal power attacks (Rend, Barge, Hurl), and he now has Fearless to go with Courage 7. Then there are the other special rules. Terror and Ancient Evil aren't really surprises, but Resistant to Magic (to go with 10 Will points) means he can be surprisingly difficult to spell-lock with a Transfix, even against multiple casters. Goblin Mastery pairs nicely with his status as a Hero of Legend, as the Balrog can bring 18 Moria Goblin warriors with him, who suddenly automatically pass all courage tests within 12" of the Balrog. Last are two unique special rules that are really five special rules: Flame of Udun and Demon of the Ancient World. Most of the time, Moria's the one bringing Shatter (more on that below), but if your opponent has a Shatter shaman, too, your Balrog at least will be fine thanks to Flame of Udun (can never be unarmed). Plus he's completely immune to fire-based attacks or special rules (nice, dat). Plus he has a chance to Set Ablaze an enemy model he wounds but doesn't kill. Then there's Demon of the Ancient World. The obvious bonus is clearly the free heroic combat every turn, which is a big deal considering the Balrog has no Might store, and works fantastically with the Balrog's Fiery lash (Strength 7 throwing weapon with an 8" range, that pulls any model not slain into base contact with the Balrog--perfect for triggering that free heroic combat every turn). The underrated bonus is that the Balrog can't be auto-killed by special rules that usually one-shot a big baddie with no Fate (like Drain Soul or the Morgul Blade): those special rules only deal half of the Balrog's wounds instead. Take that puny witch man! If there is a weakness in the Balrog's stat line (and goodness knows, there should be few of those, given how many points he is), it's the lack of Might, which makes him highly dependent on rolling those natural 6s. But you can mitigate that danger by keeping a banner in range, or any goblin captain with Might (who are extremely cheap to field, plus have March, which you can use to sneaky effect in combination with the fiery lash to get a Heroic Combat off on the Balrog on a turn in which you Marched), or just by keeping him near your Fearless goblin grunts so he isn't swarmed (and to pull Striking heroes out of his combat). Odds are the Balrog will chew through all before him, and even if he doesn't, he's got enough survivability stats to take a couple lost duels with minimal damage.
• Durburz, the Goblin King of Moria. The first of several fantastic goblin heroes. He's quite cheap for a Hero of Valor with 3 Might, Heroic Strike, Heroic Defense, and Heroic Resolve. His combat profile is fine--Fight 4, Strength 4, Defense 6, 2 Attacks, and 2 Wounds (with 2 Will and 2 Fate)--but the Strike and Defense mean he can take on--or hold up--a significantly bigger hero for a while. Don't sleep on Heroic Resolve, either: yes, Moria boasts four separate shaman profiles, but you don't want to use any of their precious Will stores to resist spells, and apart from them (and the Balrog, of course) there's not much in your army that can hold enemy spellcasters at bay. Courage 4 isn't fantastic, but he is a Moria Goblin, so if you pair him with the Balrog he auto-passes all courage tests, which means he can auto-pass his 12" stand-fast (Iron Fist). A 12" auto-pass from the Balrog, stacked on top of a 12" auto-pass from Durburz, should cover most of the table in a standard-sized game (4' x 4'). Last but not least, he has Cave Dweller (like all his Moria Goblin brethren), which gives a +1 to all jump, leap, and climb results. This means he has a 33% chance of getting a "6" result (which means he can continue moving after jumping or leaping) and has a 0% chance of falling prone. In other words, while a 5" move range isn't fantastic, this army can still move surprisingly fast if you're playing on a board where there's dense ruins or terrain features.
• Groblog. An even cheaper Goblin Hero with 3 Might (plus Heroic Strike and Heroic Defense). His Fight 3 becomes Fight 4 about half the time if you can remember to roll a 4+ on the Mithril Crown each turn (the 3" buff to nearby Moria Goblins is nice when it fires, but probably not something you should count on each turn), and with just a single point of Will and Fate, he's not as resilient as Groblog. Courage 3 is bad for a hero, so keep him near the Balrog (or a Fury Shaman) if you're worried about keeping your troops together.
• Druzhag the Beastcaller. The most expensive shaman in the game, with what is mostly a standard Shaman stat line: Fight 3, Strength 3, Defense 4, 1 Attack, 2 Wounds, and Courage 3, with Heroic Channel. Where he stands out are his heroic stats (2 Might, 5 Will, 2 Fate), his ability as a Hero of Fortitude to ally in Wild Wargs, Fell Wargs, Giant Spiders, and Bat Swarms into his warband (even if they're not found in the Moria list), and his spell selection: Fury (3+) that affects friendly Bat, Warg, and Spider models (all of which typically struggle with charging Terror models) and Enrage Beast (3+), which can turn any ordinary warg, spider, or bat into a super-warg, -spider, or -bat (+2 Fight, Attacks, Strength, and Courage until the End phase; +3 if channeled). Last is Master of the Dark Wild, which allows friendly Bats, Wargs, and Spiders to use Druzhag's Courage 4 instead of their own. It's somewhat redundant if you have Fury up, but if you prefer to cast 3-4 Enrage Beast spells a turn it's nice to have. 
• Ashrak. Another beast-friendly shaman, this one with a penchant for buffing spiders. He's got reduced heroic stats (1/4/1, though the 4 Will is still high for a Shaman) but is quite a bit cheaper than Druzhag, while remaining a Hero of Fortitude. In addition to Fury (Spider) (3+)--if channeled, that's the potential for 6+ saves on 2-wound spiders--he has Shroud of Shadows (4+), which is essentially a ringbearer effect (can't be targeted by ranged attacks or magical powers, -1 penalty for charging enemies for each 1" of distance between them), though it only affects spiders. Death Touch is a nice disincentive against enemy models going after Ashrak (roll a D6 after wounding or being wounded by Ashrak; on a 4+, the model is paralyzed), but the real magic is in Poison Blood, which allows Ashrak to give any Giant Spiders in his warband the Venom keyword for some additional points per model. A Strength 5 spider with two attacks has a pretty good chance at killing most troops on its own (they do have poisoned fangs, so they're rerolling 1s to-wound anyway), so rerolling all failed to-wound rolls when you need only a single 4+ or 5+ to wound is nasty.

Unnamed Hero Profiles

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• Moria Goblin Captain. Named captains are fun and all, but if you're looking for a sturdy, dependable, and above all cheap hero to lead your goblin spam forces, the Moria Goblin Captain is your man (or woman I suppose, goblins are plentiful enough some of them could be female). Apart from their Fight and Courage (both a below-average 3) they have a pretty standard Captain stat line: Strength 4, Defense 5 (6 with Shield), 2 Attacks, 2 Wounds, with 2 / 1 / 1 heroic stats and good ol' Heroic March. The selling-point is the points cost: you can take one and a full warband of Moria Goblins for 100 points without decent equipment, and a fully-kitted out warband (spear/shields on all your goblins, shield and bow on your captain) for around 120, even if you throw in some prowlers or even blackshields. It's not quite Goblin-Town levels of spam, but your troops and heroes (at Defense 5/6) are quite a bit heartier.
• Moria Goblin Shaman. In most armies he'd be fine, but after looking at Druhzag and Ashrak, he's a bit of a let-down. He has your standard shaman profile (Strength 3, Defense 4, 1 Attack, 2 Wounds, 1 / 3 / 1 heroic stats) and a spear, but only Fight 2. His major selling point is Fury (Moria Goblin), which an army like Angmar would kill for, and which is still pretty good if you only run Durburz as your army leader (with the Balrog in tow, it borders on redundant). Transfix is a nice utility spell to have access to, but it's only cast on a 5+ (with a single Might point and only 3 Will points total), so it's really more of a Hail Mary. Last, he's a minor hero who's significantly more expensive than a Moria Goblin Captain, with nowhere near the offensive capabilities. Other than a cheaper way than the Balrog to make your goblins Fearless, there's not much to recommend him.
• Moria Blackshield Captain. This guy has the same stats as a Moria Goblin Captain with Shield (Fight 3, Strength 4, Defense 6, 2 Attacks, 2 Wounds) and slightly improved Courage (4). Instead of a shield, he sports a two-handed sword (which he has to use, unless he's going to fight unarmed... which is way worse than fighting with a two-handed weapon). This is great for damage (see White Tower, Knight of) but better if he has other dice in the fight that aren't suffering the -1 duel penalty (preferably supported by a banner), so they're better as supported heroes fighting in the midst of your battle line, rather than heroes you want fighting off on their own. He also has Hatred (Dwarf) (+1 to-wound against models with the Dwarf keyword), which means he's potentially getting +2 to-wound, enough to wound Defense 8 on a 4+ (which is pretty great).
• Moria Blackshield Shaman. An even more expensive generic minor-hero Shaman than the Moria Goblin Shaman, with an identical stat line. You take him for one reason and one reason only: his two magical powers, Shatter (3+) and Tremor (5+). Tremor suffers from the same issue as Transfix: it's cast value is so high, that with just 3 Will and a single Might, you don't have good odds of ever casting it, and very poor odds of successfully casting it more than once. But Shatter on a 3+ can be game-altering, especially against heroes who have only a single weapon in their profile: a big, beefy hero like Gil-Galad or Elendil really suffers from Shatter, as they not only lose their +1 to-wound bonus (and, in Elendil's case, his free Heroic Combat each turn from Narsil) but also drop to -1 to-wound from being Unarmed (which means they'd go from wounding a Defense 6 model on a 4+ to wounding a Defense model on 6s--yipes!). The best feature of the spell, however is its extended 12" range. While most big heroes want to be up in your face so they can do maximum damage, having a Shatter Shaman lurking in the background can make them think twice about engaging you. The mere threat of a Shatter (much like the threat of Paralyze from a Barrow Wight) can dictate where your opponent goes and doesn't go, so I'd always consider keeping at least 1 Will on your Blackshield Shaman for as long as possible.

Monster Hero Profiles

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• Dragon. No, they're not quite on the level as their Fire Drake cousin from up north, but they're still very nasty. Like the Balrog, they also got an Attack upgrade in the new rules (4 Attacks base) which, combined with Monstrous Charge, can give them five dice to win the fight (six with a banner). Fight 7, Strength 7, Defense 7, 7 Wounds, and 3 / 3 / 3 Heroic Stats are a fantastic baseline, plus they're Heroes of Valor, so they can bring 15 plebs along to bulk up your numbers. Heroic Strike, Strength, and Defense is a nice suite of heroic actions, plus you have the option to Heroic Channel if you take the Wyrmtongue upgrade. Speaking of upgrades, Tiberius has catalogued pretty much all the combinations in his series on dragons from several years back (not much has changed; the full series is linked below in our recommended resources), but it's hard to get past Fly (12" movement over terrain) and if you're worried about Survival Instinct and Courage 4, the Tough Hide upgrade from Defense 7 to Defense 9 (to pair with 9 wounds instead of 7) is a nice buy. Wyrmtongue has pretty good value, too--not so much for the spells (though a 3+ Transfix and a 4+ Compel aren't bad), but because you get a free Will point each turn which you can spend for dealing with a poor Survival Instinct roll (hopefully allowing you to save your 3 Will store for real emergencies). [Edit: As Tiberius points out, the free Will each turn from Wyrmtongue can only be used to cast spells... which seems to drop it in the pecking order a fair bit]. Last is Breathe Fire, which is not bad (12" range, Strength 10 hit with a 2" blast radius and insta-death if a wound is not saved with Fate) but would be better if (1) it didn't cost you a Will point each time you breathed fire, (2) you didn't need Will in your store for Survival Instinct, and (3) you weren't limited to just two upgrades (so you could take Breathe Fire and Wyrmtongue without locking yourself out of Fly... which sucks). The nice thing is at least he picked up Resistant to Magic (along with Harbinger of Evil and Terror), so at least you don't also need to spend Will each time you have to shrug off a lame spell cast on a 3. And, of course, as a Monster, he has access to brutal power attacks as well.
• Cave Drake. I've recently started converting one of these for my son's battle companies (they're almost done with the narrative campaign), and while he's not as nasty as the Dragon, he's still going to be a tough take-down. Fight 6, Strength / Defense 7, 3 Attacks, and Six Wounds is a pretty good base combat profile, though with just a single Might point and no access to Heroic Strike, he's not nearly the same threat to big-time enemy heroes that the Dragon is. He also has Monstrous Charge (so slamming him into cavalry models is fun), and is both a Mountain Dweller and a Woodland Creature (though not a Cave Dweller, oddly enough), so most terrain has no effect on him. He also has Terror (but no Harbinger) and Resistant to Magic to keep enemy spellcasters at bay. Then there are his two special rules. Protect the Nest makes the drake Fearless within 3" of its nest (a 25mm marker placed on the board before any models are deployed), while Gaping Maw allows the drake to swallow a single man-sized model whole on a 3+ if the drake wins a duel. Fate can save the unfortunate model, but that's about it. Plus Rend, Barge, and Hurl shenanigans. Note as well that while a Dragon is a Hero fo Valor, a Drake is only a Minor Hero.
• The Watcher in the Water. The only model in the game (so far) with the Kraken keyword, and a gorgeous (if somewhat obnoxious to maneuver on the table-top) model. Before getting to his rule-set (which takes up an entire page), we start with a decent combat profile with lots of 6s: Fight 6, Strength 6, Defense 6, 6 Wounds, and 6 Attacks (more on that in a minute), Courage 3, and 1 / 5 / 1 heroic stats. Resistant to Magic helps against enemy spellcasters, and he has the Harbinger / Terror double-play going on. As an Independent Hero, the Watcher is forced to start in his own warband, which is important because he deploys separately (if you roll a 3+ on a priority phase of your choice), and can wreak havoc on your opponent's battle line when he does so (From the Deep). Once he deploys, movement can be a problem on land (4"), but that goes away if you're in a water feature: 8" move, plus it gains Monstrous Charge (Water Dweller). His Dragged to the Depths brutal power attack is essentially the same as the Drake's Gaping Maw (3+ chance to insta-kill a man-sized model unless saved by Fate). His two defining special rules are Tentacles and (surprise, surprise) Many Tentacles! Tentacles gives the Watcher D6 Strength 3 shooting attacks at 6" range, but they never require in the way rolls and, if they successfully hit, drag the targeted model into base contact with the Watcher. You probably don't want to do this against combat heroes who can Heroic Strike (the Watcher only has Heroic Strength with a single Might point), but it's great for getting troops into contact with the Watcher prior to the Fight Phase. Even better, the Watcher can make these attacks even if it is engaged in combat (a great way to get in-the-ways if you're playing against an evil army, like Isengard or the Corsairs, who have hard-hitting ranged firepower). Of course, fighting all these models in close proximity is likely to result in the loss of many tentacles (when the Watcher is reduced to 3 wounds or less, his Attacks are also reduced to 3), so make sure you still have some support for your Watcher so he's not overwhelmed and trapped.

Goblin Warrior Profiles

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• Moria Goblin Warrior. The original spam troops. While Goblin Town now swarms better and cheaper (thanks to Chittering Hordes), these guys have more staying power at base Defense 4 (5+ to wound against Strength 3) and Defense 5 with a shield (5+ to wound against Strength 4). They're largely there to take up space and peel of combats so your big baddies can munch on manageable opponents (which shielding will help with). An Orc Bow with a 5+ shoot value isn't great, but is your only real long-range archer option now that prowlers can't take bows. Last upgrade is spears, which are great if you plan to run them in more of a basic shieldwall formation, or if you have lots of 25mm base heroes where you can get an extra die into the fight. If you run more monsters, spiders, or wargs, though, you might forego them (as they can't spear support a model with a larger base size than they have). Courage 2 is the weak line in their stats, but nothing a Goblin Shaman with Fury (Mordor Orc) won't solve (or the Balrog). Fight 2 only matters if you don't have higher Fight monsters in the fight (which you will often have), but they can be boosted to as high as Fight 4 if you have Groblog nearby and/or the target trapped. 
• Moria Blackshield. Pseudo-elite troops who pick up an extra Defense (6, with a shield included in their profile) and Courage (3), and the option for spears. If you intend to run a generic shield wall, the Defense 6 on these guys will improve your staying power against most (Strength 3) armies. If you play against a lot of dwarves, they also have Hatred (Dwarf) which makes them surprisingly effective (wounding Defense 6/7 on a 5+). Unfortunately they don't have a two-handed weapon option. Speaking of which...
• Moria Goblin Prowler. These are fun. They're elite goblin skirmishers who have an above-average (for goblins) Fight 3, throwing daggers with a 4+ shoot value, and the Backstabbers special rule (+1 to wound trapped models, plus they become Fight 4 if your army bonus is active, and up to Fight 5 if Groblog is also nearby). Their defense is not great (4), but still good enough to make Strength 3 armies work for kills. And like all goblins, they're Cave Dwellers, giving them a 33% chance to hurdle walls, fences, or toppled pillars on the charge. As with the Blackshield captain, Prowlers only have a two-handed weapon, so you'll want some spear-supporting goblins (or other melee goblins engaged in their combat) to make sure you're getting duel dice without that -1 duel penalty. But if you do win combats, a two-handed weapon + Backstabbers (+2 to-wound) will kill a lot of things very quickly.
• Moria Goblin Drum. Apparently banners aren't all that useful in the dark, so Moria runs with war drums. These not-inexpensive profiles feature two goblins (this one features traditional Moria goblins) who bang a drum (this one happens to be a stationary heavy object, which explains its hearty Defense 10 with 3 Wounds) that takes up two slots in a warband. If at least one goblin drummer (they're replaceable by other moria goblins if you find ourself succeptible to sniping) starts the turn in base contact with the drum, and is not engaged in a fight, you can play the drum to give all Moria Goblin models within 18" the benefit of a banner bonus (reroll 1 D6 in their duel). In addition, all Moria Goblins get +1 courage, and all enemy models battlefield-wide get -1 courage (neither bonus is cumulative, so no +2 courage buffs if you ally in a War Horn and no -2 courage penalty if enemies are also within 12"-18" of Moria's many Ancient Evil/Harbinger of Evil monsters. The banner effect doesn't trigger if you have no Goblin models in the fight, so be sure to sneak a pesky goblin into your Balrog fight, so the Flame of Udun can reroll one of his four attacks. 
• Moria Blackshield Drummers. This drum costs the same points as the Moria Goblin Drum, but is crewed by slightly more resiliant warriors (Defense 5 instead of 4) and is strapped to one of the two crewmen's backs. That improves mobility quite a bit (a single goblin can move the drum a full 5", instead of having to work in teams of two to move the Heavy Object drum that far), but it also requires you to have both drummers in base contact with each other. Curiously, the rule doesn't specify that either or both have to be unengaged in combat, although I'm inclined to think most Moria players would try to keep them so. You have to balance those concerns with a reduced banner-effect range of just 12". A 12" banner is still plenty good, although there may be some scenarios (Domination with very far flung objectives, for instance) where it may not quite cover everything you need it to cover.

Monster Warrior Profiles

Photo Credit: imaginarywars.com

• Cave Trolls. Their profile is buried in the Angmar list, but don't worry, these guys are available to Moria, too. They got a bit of a buff now that generic captains can't Heroic Strike, making their Fight 6 decently scary once more (although Fight 6 is pretty much the low end of the spectrum in Moria's monster suite). They seem somewhat overcosted now that we've seen the monsters in Azog's Legion, but Strength 6, Defense 6, 3 Attacks, and 3 Wounds are great monster stats (plus access to Rend, Barge, and Hurl). Courage 3 is not great, and unfortuntely there's no way to get around that low Courage value because they're not Moria Goblins (no Fury, even from Druhzag, and no +1 Courage buff from a war drum) unless you ally in a war horn from somewhere else. The star of the show is Burly (which Mordor Trolls don't have, despite being higher strength... not that I'm bitter or anything...), although you have to upgrade their spear to a hand-and-a-half hammer for a small points tax to take advantage of it (which I'd always do, by the way--a Burly Strength 6 monster is that good). I probably wouldn't swing for the Troll Chain upgrade given that it only has a 5+ shoot value, but if you want an extra chance at a Strength 5 throwing weapon on the charge, by all means do what makes you happy. If you don't feel like paying the points for the chain, there's always a 12", Strength 8 rock you can chuck. As always, keep some Moria goblins nearby to prevent them from getting trapped, and to get you that option to reroll a duel die from a friendly war drum (or you could ally in a banner, too, of course).
• Bat Swarms. If Prowlers are fun to play, these guys are just pain annoying. They're not cheap, but any time you can get two attacks on a cheap model with Fly, you're doing okay. The kicker is Blinding Swarm, which reduces the Fight Value of any enemy model engaged with the Bat Swarm by half, rounded down (one of the few situations in the game where the round down occurs). A Bat Swarm and a Cave Troll will have a higher Fight Value than anything in the game (even Sauron with his One Ring), although of course you'd probably want someone in the fight who as Might to boost a dud duel roll, just to be safe (dragons, if they also have Fly, can be particularly nasty assassins when supported by a Bat Swarm). They don't like being in combat themselves (they're only Fight 1, so even with the round-down, anything Fight 4 or higher will still have the advantage against them), so be sure to protect them (if you have hordes of goblins with you, be sure you keep some around to run interference with your bats).
• Warg Marauders. Another monster model with almost a full page of rules. Apart from Monstrous Charge monsters, this is your only cavalry troop option, and they're not cheap. Comprised of three ordinary Moria Goblins (who can take either a shield or a bow) astride a generic warg, they get the benefit of the Warg's Strength 4, plus one additional attack for each goblin who hasn't shot during the Shoot Phase (up to 4 attacks at full strength). They're only Fight 3, but do gain Terror and  +1 Courage (taking them to Courage 3, Courage 4 with a drum), and the model isn't defeated until either the warg is slain (in which case the goblins continue onwards on foot, provided they survive their thrown rider check) or all the goblins are slain (at which point it becomes an ordinary warg, but loses the Terror and +1 Courage buffs). If you prfer to skirmish with them, you can, as the warg counts as a stationary platform (no move-and-shoot penalty for the goblins). The goblins still only shoot at 5+ with regular orc bows, but with a 10" move, and up to 3 shots apiece, they can do a good job of harassing your opponent (and are more difficult to deal with than standard archers if your opponent tries to engage them). 
• Dwellers in the Dark. A strong second choice for cheap monster troops, rivaling the cave troll. You keep the 3 Attacks and Wounds, trading Fight / Strength / Defense 6 for Fight 7, Strength 5, Defense 5, and a whopping Courage 7. You lose Burly (which hurts, especially when combined with the Strength drop-off from 6 to 5), but keep Terror and gain Resistant to Magic. Their signature skill is Murderous Power, which allows them to regain a single Wound lost earlier in the battle whenever they slay an enemy model. They can't Fly, but can still get around quicker than you'd expect with an 8" movement (that opponents can forget about, especially if you're just moving them 5-6" through most of the game to keep pace with the rest of your army). You want to protect them from heroes with Heroic Strike who still have Might, but once their Might stores are depleted (or if your opponent leaves a tasty-looking generic captain exposed), they feast.

(Bonus) Monster Warrior Profiles

These aren't native to the Moria list, but you can bring them along if you have Ashrak or Druhzag in-tow, and those are common-enough inclusions in a Moria army that they seemed worth including here:

• Wild Wargs (Druhzag). Like Cave Trolls, their profile is nestled in the Angmar list, although you'll find wargs playing feature roles in Barad-Dur, Mordor, and Isengard as well. They're infantry models (so no knock-down), but they're extremely cheap for Move 10" infantry who are Strength 4, Defense 4, and Fight 3. Their big base sizes can be a problem to work around (no spear-supporting them with 25mm infantry, though any cave trolls with spears could do it), but they can also prove incredibly disruptive to your opponent. And since they're not cavalry models, there's no reason why they have to move first to be effective in combat. Unfortunately they don't have Terror, and their Courage 2 is an issue sometimes (although it's a non-issue if Druzhag has Fury up). Enrange Beast buffs them to Fight 5, Strength 6, with 3 Attacks (or Fight 6, Strength 7, and 4 Attacks if channeled), which will terrify any generic captain.
• Fell Wargs (Druhzag). Slightly more expensive wargs points-wise, with the exact same stat line plus Fell Sight (they can charge models without needing line-of-sight first). That option is always nice to have, and if you play to it, you can get some nice drops on your opponent when combined with their 10" movement range. Again, very dangerous Enrage Beast candidates.
• Giant Spiders (Druhzag, Ashrak). Neither Moria shaman can bring the really nasty spiders from the Dark Denizens of Mirkwood list (Mirkwood Spiders, with their Paralyze Spider Webs), but Giant Spiders are nasty in their own right: Fight 4, Strength 5, Defense 3, with 2 Attacks, 2 Wounds, and Courage 3. In addition to Terror, they also have Swift Movement (climb any surface regardless of angle, move at full speed over any difficult terrain, and ignore almost all obstacles other than water features and chasms that have to be jumped) to go with 10" movement. Then there's Poisoned Fangs to reroll 1s to-wound, plus potentially Ashrak's Venom upgrade (reroll all failed to-wound rolls), plus potentially Enrage Beast (for a base Fight 6, Strength 7, 4 Attacks, or a channelled Fight 7, Strength 8, 5 Attacks, plus a chance to survive the ensuing Strength 10 hit).

Concluding Thoughts

Well, we made it through the long dark of Moria, with only minimal losses (who will probably turn up later, all dressed in White). As always, refresh yourself with some lembas bread, drink a long draft from a cool spring, and let us know what you think in the comments. Hopefully the next leg of the journey will be less frightful... 

Photo Credit: peregrint.tumbler.com

More from the TMAT Team

• Case Study: Goblin Archery Tactica, Revisited (November 2019)
• Workbench Update: Moria (September 2019)
• Using / Fighting Spellcasters: Auxiliary Mages, Revisited (August 2019)
• New Rules - Part III: Angmar and Moria (November 2018)
• Battle Report: To the Death: Easterlings v. Moria (March 2015, *Pre-MESBG)
• Battle Report: The High Ground: Goblins v. Wood Elves (April 2014)
• Beware of Dragon: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5 (November 2014-January 2015, *Pre-MESBG)
• A Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy: Heroes of Moria (January 2014, *Pre-MESBG)
• Detailing Denizens: Goblins, Trolls, and Future Projects (June 2013, *Pre-MESBG)

Support your Hobby

• Moria Model Range (Games Workshop)

Recommended Resources

• VIDEO: Review of the Middle-Earth SBG Armies of the Lord of the Rings - Part 20, Moria (STF Wargaming Studio)
• VIDEO: Middle Earth SBG Faction Review: Moria (Top Table Gaming)
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• PODCAST: Mustering an Army Ep. 22: Moria (The Green Dragon Podcast, *Pre-MESBG)
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• VIDEO: Moria and Angmar Week - Heroes of Moria (GBHL Podcast, *Pre-MESBG)
• BATTLE REPORT: Insane Battle Report: Moria v. Fiefdoms ~ Arda Unleashed Championship Round (Zorpazorp Gaming)
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• BATTLE REPORT: Moria v. Rohan (Copenhagen Middle-Earth Battle Gamers, *Pre-MESBG)
• BATTLE REPORT: Tales of Middle Earth Ep. 35: Thranduil's Halls and Iron Hills Dwarves v. Moria (Blackfyre Productions, *Pre-MESBG)
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