Gondor At War Inspired Lists: Mordor Revisited

Good morning gamers (and happy Halloween),

Last time we talked about Minas Tirith - and Minas Tirith has quite a few options available to it in MESBG. But you can probably double your options with a generic Mordor list - and even with the restricted model selection of Gondor at War, there's still a crushing number of models to choose from (at least for heroes - the warriors are pretty stock-standard). Here are the models we have to work with:

• The Witch-King on Fell Beast with the Crown of Morgul and flail
  
• Gothmog (on foot and mounted)
• Guritz and Gothmog's Enforcer
• Zagdush and Goroth
• The Mouth of Sauron (on foot and mounted)
  
• 2 (technically 3) Ringwraiths on Fell Beasts
  
• 3 Mordor Orc Captains with shields
• 3 Morannon Orc Captains with shields
• 1 Mordor Troll Chieftain
  
• 36 Mordor Orc Warriors (12 shields, 12 spears, 6 two-handed weapons, 6 Orc bows)
• 48 Morannon Orcs (12 vanilla, 12 shields, 12 spears, 12 shields and spears)
• 12 Orc Trackers
  
• 3 Mordor Trolls
  

Photo Credit: Gondor At War

While we could certainly kludge together a 700-point list from this, it would probably reflect a list from our review of the Army of Gothmog or perhaps our list from the Mordor army review in our Bare Necessities series. So today, I've decided to tap into allies again and go for something that gets Orc-level cheapness with a bit more punch - let's look at the list!

The List

The list we have today focuses on what Mordor does well (S4/D6 front line with Morannon Orcs) and adds to that the lethality of bows from the Serpent Horde. Here's the list:

• Gothmog, Lieutenant of Sauron on Warg with shield
• 10 Morannon Orcs with shields
• 2 Morannon Orcs with shields and spears
  
• 3 Orc Trackers
  
• The Mouth of Sauron on armored horse
• 6 Morannon Orcs with shields
  
• 6 Orc Trackers
  
• HISTORICAL ALLY - Suladan the Serpent Lord on armored horse with bow with poisoned arrows [ARMY LEADER]
• 9 Haradrim Warriors with poisoned spears/daggers and bows with poisoned arrows
• 6 Serpent Guard with poisoned spears
  
• 3 Serpent Riders with poisoned war spears
  

700 points, 48 models, 9 Orc bows hitting on a 4+ AND 9 bows with poisoned arrows hitting on a 4+, 20 D6+ models, 6 cavalry models, 8+ Might points

Before anyone rises up in protest, I allowed Serpent Guard in this list (though they're technically absent from Gondor at War) because there's a mission that has 12 Serpent Riders in it - and Serpent Guard models are often used as dismounts for Serpent Riders. Besides that, everything tracks (well, you need to have some extra shields to blue-tack onto your Morannons with no extra gear because we have 16 Morannons with shields and only 12 from the scenarios).

I don't have a passage from the book to inspire this list - though when the Witch-King departs the field after being killed, we're informed that Gothmog takes control of the armies of Mordor and their Easterling, Southron, and Khandish allies. In reference to the Witch-King ("their Captain"), we read the following in the Return of the King, Book 5, Chapter 6:

There [the Southrons] had been mustered for the sack of the City and the rape of Gondor, waiting on the call of their Captain. He now was destroyed; but Gothmog the lieutenant of Morgul had flung them into the fray; Easterlings with axes, and Variags of Khand. Southrons in scarlet, and out of Far Harad black men like half-trolls with white eyes and red tongues.

I didn't exactly take this force from the book - Suladan ("the black serpent") is killed by Theoden before the passage above:

Southward beyond the road lay the main force of the Haradrim, and there their horsemen were gathered about the standard of their chieftain. And he looked out, and in the growing light he saw the banner of the king, and that it was far ahead of the battle with few men about it. Then he was filled with a red wrath and shouted aloud, and displaying his standard, black serpent upon scarlet, he came against the white horse and the green with great press of men; and the drawing of the scimitars of the Southrons was like a glitter of stars.

Then Theoden was aware of him, and would not wait for his onset, but crying to Snowmane he charged headlong to greet him. Great was the clash of their meeting. But the white fury of the Northmen burned the hotter, and more skilled was their knighthood with long spears and bitter. Fewer were they but they clove through the Southrons like a fire-bolt in a forest. Right through the press drove Theoden Thengel's son, and his spear was shivered as he threw down their chieftain. Out swept his sword, and he spurred to the standard, hewed staff and bearer; and the black serpent foundered. Then all that was left unslain of their cavalry turned and fled far away.

No, instead my inspiration comes from an Ardacon list that Mik from the Veni Vidi blog (and the Unexpected Podcast team) took to Ardacon two years ago - with some liberties/edits made by me. Mik's list was a 600-point list that had Shelob and a few Serpent Guard/Orc Warriors instead of the Mouth of Sauron, some Serpent Riders, and a bunch more Morannons and Orc Trackers. Let's see what the list does!

Army Theory

Let's start with the following thought: we don't want Gothmog as our army leader. As Mik noted in the article linked to above, Gothmog provides a strong tactical benefit in Master of Battle (and it's not something you roll for - you just get it), but as an army leader, he's really not that great. Suladan doesn't SEEM much better (both are F5/S4/3A with mounts and 3-Might-and-Strike and 3 Wounds/1 Fate), but Suladan comes with a banner that doesn't impact his dueling roll, has a bow for dealing damage while far away, and has a sometimes-harder-to-kill mount. Neither are very resilient heroes, but they're also both cheap (I got both into this list for just over 250pts), so we're glad to take Suladan.

We haven't gone with just Serpent Riders in Suladan's warband (something I've seen done in some lists posted online) - we've maxed out his warband with Haradrim Warriors with bows and spears (all of which have poison thanks to the army bonus) and Serpent Guard (who have poisoned spears too - and F4 from the second rank). These 15 warriors are intended to form the second rank behind Gothmog's host of Morannon Orcs (8 in Gothmog's warband, 6 in the Mouth's warband).

Using the list is pretty simple: D6 front-line supported by F3 bow-and-spearmen or F4 spearmen. Because of the numbers break-down, it would be easiest to have the 6 Serpent Guard support the Mouth of Sauron's 6 Morannon Orcs (with the 6 Trackers guarding their flanks - perhaps in two skirmish triangles), but unless you plan to advance-while-shooting, it's probably best to have your Serpent Guard interspersed with your Haradrim so you get varied amounts of F4 across your battle lines instead of "all in one block." If you're planning to sit back and shoot (a perfectly valid idea with 19 bow shots once your opponent is within 18" of you), spreading out your Serpent Guard is even better, since you don't have to worry about being slow.

Your heroes just wait - Suladan has a bow and can harass the enemy as they advance alongside the archers, while Gothmog (or the Mouth) provides you with Heroic March if you need to get somewhere. For the most part, they should be saving their resources for when the fighting actually happens (with the exception of Marching if you must get somewhere - and possibly to manipulate Maelstrom rolls so you can come on together). All of your heroes are fragile in their own way, but if they have stats when your opponent is starting to run out, they can be a nasty set of heroes to have to fight. Players who don't want the Mouth of Sauron could go for Goroth if they want potentially better killing power for 5pts less, but I wanted a mounted caster a bit more.

Your Morannons are your workhorses though - they are D6 to avoid taking most damage easily and they're S4 to crack through whatever your opponent has in front of them. What they need help with is their Fight Value (only F3) or the number of dice that they're rolling (spear-supports and banners are great). Gothmog can still pump up their damage output against Men (The Age of Men is Over) and on one round with rerolling all failed To Wounds (The Time of the Orc Has Come), so he and Suladan want to hang around as many of these guys as possible.

Oh, and we shoot. A lot. Like, we have a TON of shooting. 18 bows sounds like a lot - and it is. 18 shots that hit on a 5+ (after moving) are supposed to land 6 hits/turn - and that should translate into 1-2 wounds/turn depending on the Defense of the models we're targeting. If we don't move, we get an expected 9 hits/turn, which should deal 1.5-3 wounds/turn (and roughly 1 wound against D7 foes). This may not appear like much, but if we have a roughly 10-model advantage on our opponent at the start of the game, AND if we're killing 1-2 models/turn as we start chipping away with our archery, we're going to make the model disparity even worse when the enemy finally engages. Oh, and the "18 shots" doesn't include Suladan who has a cheeky 19^th shot that can be backed by Might if the target is really important.

For speed, we have 6 mounted models (including all three of our heroes) - and all three of our heroes have Heroic March. What this means is that if we deploy in a Maelstrom mission, all of our warbands could deploy away from each other and we could March our forces out of danger (or towards the center) if we needed to. In scenarios where we need to get off the board/across the board, we can get there really fast if we have to (whether it's by Heroic Marching or by using sling-shot Heroic Combats). Furthermore, Serpent Riders are the cheapest F4 cavalry you'll find in the game at 13pts/model (edit: as was pointed out in the comments, they're actually tied for the cheapest with Khandish Horsemen) and with war spears that count as lances or spears, they are incredibly points efficient for the offensive damage they pack.

Gameplay Strategy

Maelstrom & Object Missions (Pools 1 & 3)

As I said in the previous section, this list doesn't mind Maelstrom - yes, you have most of your spears in Suladan's warband, but you have March with everyone so if you need to arrive together (or race to the middle and are fine being apart), you can burn Might for it. In Hold Ground, each warband should work on getting to the middle as fast as it can - though to be honest, you don't mind if the Trackers or some of the Haradrim Warriors advance more slowly to whittle down enemy numbers. So long as your units are advancing quickly up the field (Marching is good), you can probably arrive with a lot of units into the center and contest it from your opponent.

In Command the Battlefield, it would be good if Suladan and Gothmog could arrive together, but the Mouth of Sauron can be a bit of a free agent. If he arrives on the center line of the board edge opposite Suladan and Gothmog, the Mouth of Sauron can drop off his 6 Trackers to walk to each of the corners that he arrived in and then lead his Morannons towards the enemy (or tie them up on that board edge/drive a pocket of them out of a corner). Gothmog can then March his troops (and Suladan's if they're close) towards the bulk of the enemy, leaving Orc Trackers (or Haradrim with bows/Serpent Riders) to hold the quadrants they arrived in/near).

Finally, it's good if you're split up in Heirlooms of Ages Past - spread wide, find the Heirloom, and then castle up. If your opponent gets it, consolidate your melee forces while harassing with your archers and then advance towards him, being mindful of the clock and cutting down any of his loose warbands before they can circle up around the Heirloom. Shoot any banners he has and keep Suladan alive - he's worth double-VPs since you get points for both banners and leader wounds!

As we move to object missions, our strategy is pretty similar: have a gun line looking at the center while you carefully approach with your Morannons/Serpent Riders in Seize the Prize (back up your Trackers with your Haradrim so all 18 bows can advance slowly without choking anyone else).

Both Retrieval and Destroy the Supplies requires getting "past the enemy lines," which can be an issue for our Serpent Riders (just a stray arrow can mean one of our objective-seekers goes down). For this, we have two aces in the hole: the Mouth of Sauron (D6 hero with 2 Wounds/1 Fate, a D5 mount, and Terror) and Gothmog (D7 hero with 3 Wounds/1 Fate). Both have March, so if I need to go shrieking to an objective, we can certainly turn the gas on! In Destroy the Supplies, we don't have to worry about dismounting, but in Retrieval we do. If we must dismount one of these guys (and I wouldn't dismount a Serpent Rider to pick it up), it would be the Mouth of Sauron - he's punchy enough to be dangerous if he's on foot and he's harder to charge if he's stuck on the ground trying to move the object.

Control Missions (Pools 2 & 5)

Okay guys, I'm gonna keep this simple: you play all three of the Pool 2 scenarios (Domination, Command and Control, and Breakthrough) the exact same way: deploy on the centerline with Morannons in front, spears in back. Orc Trackers hang to the sides (with 3 racing back to whatever rear objective you have) and shoot anyone who races around your flanks. The Haradrim focus on holding the center while your Serpent Guard/Morannons go with one of your heroes (pick one) to drive the enemy off their rear objective. Keep shooting anyone who can't charge you and hold at least 3 objectives.

When it comes to Domination, deploy your two objectives orthogonally as much as possible so that no matter who chooses the board edges, you'll have one objective to your rear and one in your opponent's rear - if you can force your opponent to split forces, you can use your numbers to overwhelm him and win.

The get-somewhere missions are a bit tricker though. Divide and Conquer requires one of your warbands to be independent of the rest - and in my mind, the short-straw will always go to the Mouth of Sauron. Gothmog's warband really wants those F4 spearmen to back them up - and while the Haradrim could advance slowly from one corner "guns blazing" while the Morannons are pounding towards the center at a forced March, I think a slow-and-steady advance from Gothmog and Suladan will be better overall. The Mouth's warband (6 Morannons with shields standing in front of 6 Trackers) is a perfectly fine warband to come in on its own - and as we've said many times, everyone has March, so no one has to arrive late.

If you're playing Storm the Camp, I'd recommend the Trackers hang back and be ready to defend your camp, while the Haradrim control the mid-field with their archery and spear-supports. Your fast units could make a run for the enemy camp (a good Heroic Combat followed by a Heroic March could shift the game pretty quickly in their favor), but with such low Defense (and D4 on most of the horses), if your opponent is hanging back waiting for you to break free, you could find yourself walking the last few steps and surrounded by foes . . . not the best situation. If you focus on breaking him (and keeping Suladan alive and unbroken), you have a good chance at a low-point victory (with a more secure victory if you can kill his army leader). If an opportunity arises for your cavalry to make a break for it and nothing to threaten you, though, take it and (literally) run with it!

Finally, Reconnoitre has a similar strategy: advance with your archers providing cover around your flanks (keeping the enemy from racing around you and scoring) and look for an opportunity to extract your heroes (especially Suladan) to run for the board edge. While you can certainly try to quarter yourself after you get some models off the board (you do have C2 Orcs and C3 Southrons), I'm not sure this list needs to rely on that approach - you are quartered when there are 12 units left in your army (including anyone who walks off the board), so that's actually quite a lot of guys. Sure, if your heroes all disappear, you can probably just break and go down to 9 guys left on the board, but your opponent could also just charge 10 of your models, start shielding, and race everyone he has left towards your board edge - and if he doesn't kill anyone, you could see a quick win turn into a route.

Killing Missions (Pools 4 & 6)

Well, let's begin by saying that you want to capitalize on your shooting. For To The Death, there is absolutely no reason to advance towards the enemy UNLESS he outshoots you (with 19 bows, that'll be hard to do, but a double-war-catapult Army of Gothmog list would give me pause and concern). Similarly, unless you're facing a big shooting threat, you probably want to NOT start on the center line for Lords of Battle, giving your archery a turn or two to whittle down the enemy a bit before you plunge in with your Orcs and Haradrim.

In Contest of Champions, Suladan will need to start near the center, so Gothmog will be right there with him. Since both of your other heroes are deployed there, the Mouth might as well deploy in the front too - and in this one, you ignore shooting for the most part and just focus on swarming/killing guys. Suladan should look to get a few quick kills - and the Mouth of Sauron should do what he can to Transfix the enemy army leader so he can't kill stuff. Gothmog can be a huge asset to you here - use him as a road block with Heroic Defense to slow down the kill count of the army leader on any turn that he isn't Transfixed. Since all three of your heroes have mounts, I'd recommend using a shorter-fanged variant of the Long Fangs formation so you can keep your offensive options open in the center while giving you protection from being charged straight away. Gothmog should deploy within 6" of the enemy army leader so he can at least Master of Battle any heroics the army leader tries to call.

As we move to the hero-slaying scenarios, we probably want to keep the Mouth of Sauron alive in Fog of War and choose someone that we can shoot to death on the other side. Similarly in Assassination, we probably want to use the Mouth of Sauron as our assassin, which frees up Gothmog to play the management role amongst our troops instead of having to head-hunt someone. It's important to note that while the Mouth of Sauron can be chosen as your assassin, you're kind of okay shooting your target to death if you can - it's fine to get 5VPs in Assassination instead of 7VPs if it means you can keep your heroes safe and you can break the enemy army (and kill his army leader to boot). Suladan in both missions should be leading from behind (so as not to give up VPs in Assassination for wounding/killing the leader and because we need his banner to keep our army going in Fog of War).

Clash by Moonlight is the interesting one in this set, since you a) have lots of shooting, and b) are easily killed by enemy shooting. Your Morannons should be in front of your archers (all of them), but please don't think that this scenario is necessarily a sit-back-and-shoot. You're looking for one good round of shooting as you advance if you are fighting against a shooting army and several rounds of shooting if you're facing an army with little to no shooting. Your primary goal is to keep your heroes out of the line of fire and away from the action - a single dead hero on the other side will see you up 3-0 if you can keep all three heroes alive. If you're able to break the enemy and kill one enemy hero before you're broken and your enemy kills any of your heroes, that puts you up 8-0. If you can kill all the enemy heroes, you boost this up to 10-0. So . . . just keep your heroes alive, try not to be broken, and kill the enemy as quickly as you can.

Conclusion

This list is a lot of fun - I'm looking forward to using it in the coming months. In our next post, we return to the Forces of Good and look at an unconventional way to use your Rohan models in Matched Play based on the limited selection you get (from a Warriors perspective) in Gondor at War. Lest you think we're going to say, "Just run the Riders of Theoden," think again. Join us next time and prepare to be amazed - and until then, happy hobbying!