The Bare Necessities, Part IX: Mordor

Good morning gamers,

Today marks the fourth army list that demonstrates how you can build an army with maximum victory points in mind. With Minas Tirith, Isengard, and Rivendell under our belts, we turn our attention to Mordor now and explore the wealth of options you have from the faction with the most profiles in the MESBG game (and many of them are very, VERY good for their cost). There's a lot in the Mordor army list, so make sure you're brushed up on Rythbryt's review of Mordor before continuing.

Mordor: Orcs or Terror?

There are two kinds of Mordor lists that are REALLY scary: the ones that run Gothmog with lots of Orcs (probably with the Army of Gothmog Legendary Legion) and the ones that run Ringwraiths and lots of Terror models (Black Numenoreans in particular, probably backed up by Morannon Orcs since Black Numenoreans can’t get spears). The result is simple: we’ve got two lists that we could be focusing on in order to maximize our points. So how do we choose with one to focus on today?

Well, I don’t own Gothmog and I do own the Nine, so we’ll be looking at the latter. Know that I’ve seen many lists out there that use Gothmog and a host of Morannon Orcs and/or Warg Riders (usually with Mordor Shamans – to include Kardush – Guritz, Gothmog’s Enforcers, Goroth, and Gorbag to lead these groups) in order to get maximum damage from Gothmog’s special rules. What tends to be less straight-forward, however, is how you build an army with Ringwraiths and Terror units at their core.

One final thing I need to add when we talk about the four basic troops options that a Mordor player can take that are “better than Orcs”:

While the price difference between Morannon Orcs (who are not F4), Mordor Uruk-Hai (who are not D6) and Black Numenoreans (who are not S4) is negligible, you could get all three of these great stats (with S5!) on Black Guard of Barad-Dur. For our purposes today, we’re looking for good bodyguards for Ringwaiths – and that means, we’re looking for units that cause Terror. Our list today is based off a list I wrote under the old LOTR SBG rules system that still has some power in it today:

The List

• The Witch-King of Angmar on horse with the Crown of Morgul, 3M/15W/2F [Army Leader]
• 4 Orc Trackers
• 5 Black Numenoreans
• 4 Morannon Orcs with shields and spears
• 1 Morannon Orc with shield, spear, and banner
• The Dark Marshal on horse
• 6 Black Numenoreans
• 6 Morannon Orcs with shields and spears
• Ringwraith on horse with 2M/9W/1F
• 4 Orc Trackers
• 2 Black Numenoreans
• 1 Morannon Orc with shield (axe or mace, not a sword)
• 2 Morannon Orcs with shields and spears
• 1 Morgul Knight

I don't have a Morgul Knight and I don't have anywhere near the number of Black Numenoreans required for this list, but whatever.

39 models, 8 Orc bows hitting on a 4+, 31 D6+ models, 4 cavalry, 7 Might points

With nearly 40 models on the board, we’ve got a decent horde (not as big as some, but bigger than others). While the Mordor army bonus will make our Orcs a more-decent Courage army, it’s really helpful to have the army bonus active so no one needs to Feint or Stab. Even if we never outnumber our opponent (Goblin-town, Shire, Lake-town, Moria-without-the-Balrog), we’ve got some great blocks of units to use.

Unlike the other lists you’ve seen, all of my heroes are mounted and they’re part of the requisite 4 mounted models we want in the list. This is because of one key reason: they’re ringwraiths. In Reconnoitre, having all of your heroes run off the board edge would normally doom your damage output and guarantee that your units would die very, VERY quickly. In an army where almost everyone is D6, however, your infantry might be able to tag people and hold them up for a while (or die slowly enough for your heroes to get off the board). Ringwraiths themselves run out of Will eventually (especially the Dark Marshal), so you’d be wise to get them off before they run out of Will (or hold them back in reserve in scenarios where you don’t need to get them off the board). Since this build of the Witch-King is one of the least resilient army leaders we’ve looked at to date (1 Wound and 2 Fate, albeit with D8 to contend with before you get to those stats), having him escape during a game (which doesn’t count as removing him as a casualty) will also deny your opponent victory points – just make sure he does something before he leaves.

With that prologue, let’s look at each warband and see what they’re intended to do.

Warband #1: The Lord of the Nazgul

The Lord of the Nazgul: 290pts

The Witch-King is a dangerous piece – I prefer horses to Fell Beasts if you’re taking the Crown of Morgul as an auto-include (which you should). While getting S6 with BPAs and a 12” fly can be really useful (as well as more reliable in-the-ways to protect you), generally speaking the horse will be just as serviceable for the Witch-King and will save you 40+ points that you can spend on something else.

Led by the Witch-King is a small block of 10 melee troops (that have a banner to augment their combat capabilities and give us victory points in certain scenarios). The Terror-causing F4 Black Numenoreans aren’t great at dealing damage, though their spear-supporting Morannon Orc friends can help with that. The archers are able to be left behind if required OR provide extra bodies on the flanks to keep the formation from being overwhelmed. The Witch-King is superb at clearing out most warrior models as well as neutralizing many hero models, so this squad should be able to crack through a good bit of your enemy’s force (assuming they can hold out long enough to let the Witch-King shine and keep any big nasty heroes from getting him).

Warband #2: The Heavy-Hitters

The Heavy-Hitters: 238pts

While the Witch-King ranks #1 in my list of Ringwraiths, the Marshal is a very close second in my heart. With the ability to spend his Will to grant a 6” banner rule to friendly warrior models, the Marshal can cover a great deal of ground and make those around him much better at fighting. Add this to Fight 6 with 2 Attacks on the charge and knock-down, and the Marshal is a force to be reckoned with. While a little more expensive and less-killy than Shagrat, the Marshal provides nice auric buffs that are well-worth having, as well as a mount option to make him a late-game scoring piece if you need him to be.

Warband #3: “Bean’s ‘Toon”

Bean's 'Toon: 172pts

If you’re familiar with Ender’s Game, you know that the most brilliant kid in the battle school (nicknamed “Bean”) was given command over a small group of soldiers in Ender's "Dragon Army" in order to do specialized, unexpected tasks that helped the team. The members of this squad “fill in the holes” of your strategy based on what you need. The Ringwraith is essential because he provides March to your team (perfect for getting those heavy infantry engaged quickly), can wear down enemy heroes (either with Drain Courage or Transfix), and is mounted and can be used as a scoring piece in scenarios where you need mounted models (where the Morgul Knight can assist you). The 4 archers can be left at different objectives OR find a position behind cover to shoot at models guarding certain objectives to soften them up before any infantry or Ringwraiths arrive. The 5 melee units can be used to extend either battle line to make them hit a little bit harder.

Scenario Overview

Let’s take a look at each of the available scenarios and see some thoughts/considerations for using this list:

• Domination: With five objectives on the map, you want yours placed as close together as possible so you can get the most out of Harbinger. Pushing your army forward with March will be important, but you want to make sure that your main contingent reaches the central objective and holds it at all costs. The exterior objectives can be targeted by your Orc Trackers and Compels from any of your Ringwraiths. Make sure you arrive at the other objectives before your enemy breaks, since your Ringwraiths could make your foes flee once they break.
• Capture and Control: Your generic Ringwraith and your Morgul Knight can be used to tag important objectives and run away. Your Orc Trackers can provide cover fire for anyone that’s approaching an objective you’ve already taken. Hold the center so that you can extend the Harbinger rule as far across the map as possible.
• Hold Ground: March, March, March! Your infantry can hold the center if you get there quickly, so March twice with the generic Ringwraith early on to make sure you’re off to the center of the table as quickly as possible. If you arrive second, remember that the goal is to have more people within range when the game ends (which will happen sometime after one of the armies breaks). Get around any enemy battlelines where possible so you can slay models faster, use your Ringwraiths to keep the enemy heroes from doing anything.
• Seize the Prize: Your Ringwraiths can race to the center faster than anyone else (with the Morgul Knight providing some screening). Calling 1-2 Marches would probably be helpful to ensure you get there first (second march is optional if the opponent isn’t close). If someone has to dismount, use the generic Ringwraith for the dismount, since he gains the least benefit from being mounted. Have him hand the prize to one of the other mounted models (ideally the Witch-King) and get that model off the board the safest way possible. If you have the Witch-King do it, he won’t count as being killed, which will deny your opponent victory points.
• To The Death: Advance carefully and use the F4 of the Black Numenoreans and S4 of the Morannon Orcs to kill things. The Terror should help you a lot too.
• Lords of Battle: Same song, different orchestra. Advancing carefully is the key, since you don’t want your army picked off in bits. If your opponent has really powerful archery, move in quickly (crossbows are your bane).
• Contest of Champions: The Witch-King is a good killer, but make sure your other Ringwraiths help him out by Transfixing the enemy hero so he can’t kill anything. Let the Witch-King go crazy with 3 Attacks + cavalry bonuses and use your infantry to hold the enemy at bay.
• Reconnoitre: You want to get all four of your mounted models (all three of your heroes and your Morgul Knight) off the board. As noted above, Ringwraiths can’t last a whole game, so getting them off the board will a) make sure you get quartered faster once you break, b) you should be able to make an impenetrable wall between your opponent’s army and your board edge, and c) their high Defense should help them all stay alive longer. Don’t take a direct route to the board edge if it exposes your horses to archery or being charged by skirmishers (though these guys are pretty tough).
• Storm the Camp: Similar to Reconnoitre, you want to get the Witch-King and the Morgul Knight into the enemy camp. The Dark Marshal probably needs to support the main body of troops and the generic Ringwraith should find some hero to annoy, but letting the Witch-King operate on the periphery, then storm the camp and make everyone in there flee will help tremendously towards scoring victory points.
• Heirlooms of Ages Past: Like most Heirlooms games, you want your Heirlooms placed as close to one another as you can so your fast units can discover them quickly (dismount your generic Ringwraith if you have to dismount anyone). If you find the Heirloom with your Ringwraith, get him to the safety of your other Ringwraiths who can make sure enemy heroes aren't able to carve through the Ringwraith.
• Fog of War: Your Morgul Knight (and any of your Ringwraiths) should be able to get to any piece of terrain on the map, but I’d recommend picking something close to the center, just because you want the Marshal and the Witch-King near the rest of your troops. The hero that will probably be the target will be the Ringwraith (though the Marshal wouldn’t be a bad choice either), so just keep him away from enemy heroes and make sure he’s not directly in the path of enemy archery. You should choose to protect the Marshal, since his auric buff is really, REALLY good. Since you’re protecting him, I’d only cast magic to neutralize enemy heroes nearby – don’t fight (you need the Will to stay alive and keep the banner boost up). You can be as reckless as you want with the Witch-King in this battle, though if possible, you’ll want to go hunting for the scrawniest hero they have who isn’t the army leader.
• Clash By Moonlight: You barely have any archers, so the trick to this scenario is just to get into combat as quickly as you can and hope your opponent doesn’t shoot you to death on your approach.

Modifications

While I’ve already addressed some of this, let’s just recap on the modifications I wouldn’t be surprised to see:

• Drop the Dark Marshal – While the Marshal’s banner rule is great, you could get more killing power out of Shagrat and an additional banner for his squad than from the Marshal himself. This would require us to probably demote the Morgul Knight to a Warg Rider and upgrade the Morannon Orc with shield to become a Warg Rider too just to keep the requisite 4 mounted models in the list, but you could do it and get a lot more damage coming out. While you’re at it, you don’t need Black Numenoreans (necessarily) to escort Shagrat, so consider down-grading them all to either Mordor Uruk-Hai with two-handers (more Strength, less Defense) or Morannon Orcs with shields and axes/maces (no swords).
• Drop the Ringwraith(s) – While losing the Marshal would free up a good bit of points for someone like Shagrat, losing the generic Ringwraith as well (and maybe even the Witch-King if you want to go the Gothmog route) would save quite a bit of points too. The primary benefits of running a generic Ringwraith over any of the other named Ringwraiths is in part the modular build (and lower cost), but also because this Ringwraith provides March to your army (something a melee-oriented infantry army needs desperately). Besides Marching, this Ringwraith extends the Harbinger bubble on the map, as well as can slow enemy heroes down through Drain Courage/Transfix. Alternative March options include Guritz (who will help with maelstrom fights), the Mouth of Sauron (who has some short-term casting abilities), and any kind of generic captain (Morannon Orc Captains, Orc Captains, Mordor Uruk-Hai Captains, Black Guard Captains, Black Numenorean Marshals, and Orc Taskmasters). Depending on the unit you choose, you should see a boost in the number of warriors you have.
• Drop the Morgul Knight – We’re running Ringwraiths and we’re playing the Terror game, so it made sense to bring a Morgul Knight. While Morgul Knights have a solid profile (and cost roughly the same $$$ as a similar number of Warg Riders), they’re about twice as expensive in-game as Warg Riders are. While Warg Riders suffer from having lower Fight Value, lower Defense, lower Courage, no lances, and no Terror, their reduced cost (and access to Strength 4) make them pretty decent cavalry – especially if Gothmog is nearby. If you’re trying to boost your numbers, dropping the Morgul Knight for a Warg Rider (or two) wouldn’t be a bad idea.

I’m not sure that this list has ever been run competitively before, but there was a competitor at the most recent Masters tournament who used the Witch-King, the Dark Marshal, and Shagrat, with lots of Black Numenoreans, so the concept is solid. Swapping out the generic Ringwraith for Shagrat is an interesting idea, but you’re giving up a cavalry model with access to March in favor of an infantry hero who’s good at killing things. Useful, to be sure, but tactically for the team, I couldn’t justify it (better to lose the Marshal and get Shagrat and another banner-carrying Morannon Orc, I feel - did I just recommend dropping the Dark Marshal from a list?).

In our next post, we look to one of my oldest and most beloved armies: the Elves of Lothlorien. While their base troops appear to be very similar to their Rivendell cousins, the army has a much lighter selection of heroes and a much deeper selection of warriors. If you think you’ll be seeing a similar list to what you saw when we covered Rivendell, you’d be both right and wrong. Curious? Tune in next time and until then, happy hobbying!