Why Make This Legion?
Besides having Season 1 of The Rings Of Power in the bucket and riding on the interest of players across the world, the current Barad-Dur list is really cool and has garnered interest among players since the rules revamp - but it has a few critical design flaws. First and foremost, while Sauron is integral to the list, getting him to actually compete with other big heroes is quite difficult since a) he's slow, b) he can only cast one spell each turn, and c) he has no synergies with his army (besides keeping them from counting as being broken - which is better than nothing, but not really a synergy).
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The Barad-Dur list also includes a lot of different things in it - all "old world" stuff, but it gives an eclectic mix of models for us to use. Besides "the Orcs", we have evil Men (Black Numenorean Marshals, Black Numenoreans, and Morgul Knights), Trolls (Mordor Troll Chieftains and Mordor Trolls), siege weapons (Siege Bows and Mordor War Catapults), Nazgul (the Witch-King and generic Ringwraiths), and Shelob. To be honest, if we're looking for a prologue-style list, we really want the Orcs and Numenoreans instead of "all the other stuff". So, we're going to want to chop all that out - but because it reduces our options, we want there to be some kind of benefit to taking this reduced set of profiles (something some Legions forget to do - #MenOfTheWest #IBelieveInYou #NoOneElseDoes).
Since our Last Alliance list doesn't have any cavalry, it seems appropriate to keep the evil force in the all-infantry category too - which means we'll have to do without Morgul Knights, Warg Riders, and mounts for our Black Numenorean Marshals and Orc Captains. Yes, this will mean we'll need to be mindful of getting places with an all-infantry force, but it's alright. In trade for not having fast troops, it would be good if we could get some kind of tactical boost for our troops (or make the infantry we have more appealing).
Finally, the scene in the prologue has a TON of Orcs in it - and while Sauron's 24-model warband in the Barad-Dur list helps with this some, it would be good if he wasn't the only one who could truly horde out. This is probably the easiest fix for us to do - and we have some guidance for it elsewhere. Okay, let's talk about the Legion rules!
Legion Design
In looking at how to make a Legion out of the Barad-Dur army list, our first goal was to fix Sauron's casting issue (especially since we're losing his Ringwraith support). Following the lead of the Rise of the Necromancer Legendary Legion, Sauron may cast two spells each turn, so long as he doesn't cast the same spell more than once and doesn't target the same hero more than once. Since you can't take a Ringwraith to support him in this Legion, being able to cast twice is a huge benefit.
However, this comes at a cost: like Saruman in the Vanquishers of the Necromancer Legion, Sauron only has 6 Will (with his free Will point each turn), so he's on a timer for how long you can cast twice in a turn (especially if he uses more than one Will to cast). Players will be rewarded for knowing when to take a double-cast and when to just cast once. To make up for this, however, Sauron gains the ability to reroll a die when casting/resisting magical powers (like Saruman does), making it more likely that he CAN still cast his difficult magical powers once he's out of Will (and doesn't have to spend more than one die per casting attempt most of the time).
Sauron is also the crux of the army, so like Barad-Dur, we're making the army break based on how wounded he is. Similarly, if Sauron should be killed, he has a nasty parting gift for anyone near him (and a slightly less nasty parting gift for those within 12" of him): everyone within 6" of Sauron when he dies gets hit by the effects of a channelled Wrath of Bruinen as if they're in water, while those between 6" and 12" suffer the effects of a channelled Wrath of Bruinen, taking hits based on the terrain they're actually in. If Sauron does die, you've given up points for being broken, probably more points for losing your army leader, and have lost your only power piece - the least we can do is make sure you get some payback for losing the big man!
While Sauron is the main event, the other models in the list got some useful buffs too. All heroes in the list expand their warband sizes by 6, so you can pack in the models if you want - and with 5-7pt Orcs, you can have tons of models with your Captains, Taskmasters, and Shamans. If you've leaned hard into the Orc Warriors/Trackers, there's a chance that these guys come back onto the board from your starting location (board edge, corner/corners, maelstrom edge closest to Sauron), as Orc casualties can come back into play on a 5+ on the turn following their death. Getting 33% of the Orc Warrior models (not Orc Heroes or Black Numenoreans) who die back into the game can be huge - it can even mean that you can rely on losing models in order to hold rear objectives instead of leaving models behind at the beginning. What this does NOT allow you to do is walk them on from any board edge (like Goblin-town can do when they summon models with the Goblin Scribe) - it's strictly from "wherever Mordor is".
Finally, I included the Black Numenoreans (warriors and Marshals) in the list, not only because it gives you a high-Fight, high-Defense model (with Terror), but because it gives a nice foil to the Numenor/Rivendell pairing in the Last Alliance Legion. Of course, these guys don't come back when they die and their increased cost will take a toll on your numbers, but players are given a choice of what kind of army they want to take - and neither build appears to be a given. I do feel like if I were to tweak the Legion a little, it would be to make the Black Numenoreans more appealing (Bodyguard seems like a decent route), but considering how cost efficient these guys already are, I didn't think adding in yet ANOTHER rule to their profile was a good idea.
Exemplar Lists
Our first list begins at 500pts and . . . well, it's pretty much what you'd expect: Sauron, a banner, and a bunch of Orcs. This list doesn't have a lot of guys (only 14 models), but it's all set to insta-win a lot of the slaying scenarios if Sauron gets his game-face on and your Orcs stay out of the reach of the enemy:
- The Dark Lord Sauron
- 5 Orc Warriors with shields
- 4 Orc Warriors with shields and spears
- 1 Orc Warrior with shield, spear, and banner
- 3 Orc Trackers
- The Dark Lord Sauron
- 10 Orc Warriors with shields
- 9 Orc Warriors with spears
- 1 Orc Warrior with spear and banner
- 4 Orc Trackers
- Orc Captain with shield
- 5 Orc Warriors with shields
- 5 Orc Warriors with spears
- 6 Orc Trackers
- The Dark Lord Sauron
- 11 Black Numenoreans
- 1 Orc Warrior with spear
- 9 Orc Warriors with shields and spears
- 1 Orc Warrior with shield, spear, and banner
- Orc Captain with shield
- 11 Orc Trackers
Conclusion
With Christmas coming this weekend, we hope your days are merry and bright, that your mega-heroes won't be divas at important moments, that you get priority a decent amount of the time, and that your dice would roll a fair amount of 6s when they actually matter in the coming year. Until next time, merry Christmas and happy hobbying!
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