Tactics in Middle Earth SBG, Revisited

A lot has changed since the initial release of The Fellowship of the Ring rulebook in 2001. The core mechanics of the game have been refined over time, a host of new profiles have been added, and the game's designers continue to expand our beloved Middle Earth in miniature. Since the TMAT blog started in March 2011, we've seen four major movements in the game (Legions of Middle-Earth, the "Warband" supplements, the Hobbit Strategy Battle Game, and the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game).

Since the release of the core rule set for the Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game in 2018, the TMAT team has been working to update seven years of tactical discussions and bring them into the modern era. We hope you enjoy a good discussion of tactics as much as we do!

{7th Edition} Armies of Middle Earth SBG: Mordor in the Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game

Photo Credit: nerdist.com

Updated: Seventh Edition (June 2025)

In the Seventh Edition of MESBG, Mordor remains perhaps the most robust faction in the game, with access to a few massive combo lists (especially at the Legacies level) and a host (no pun intended) of smaller, specialized lists. With the exception of the Barad-Dur list, these armies feature Sauron in a supporting role (as an off-screen, disembodied puppet-master, with an occasional wandering eye), so his beefy combat profile is absent. But literally every other profile in Barad-Dur finds its way over to the Mordor army list, along with a ton of named Orc heroes (some from the books, some GW creations), upgraded orcs, genetically modified Uruks, and even a War Beast. So if you still love slaughter and fire, and detest all things green and beautiful (at least some of the time), but prefer to direct the fate of the world from the shadows, Mordor may just be your cup of tea (or at least it's way better than maggoty bread). 

So let's see where things stand, shall we?

Armies of Middle Earth SBG

Are you looking to jump into the Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game, but unsure which force you want to invest in first? Have you ordered your models from Games Workshop, but are unsure how they'll play? Are you a returning player trying to figure out if your former favorite models are still viable? Are you a list-building savant looking for that inspirational spark?

Well, we're just players who enjoy playing the game and enjoy writing about it. So here's our long-form discussions of some of the armies of Middle Earth that we enjoy playing, updated for the new edition. We can't promise you'll leave with your needs satisfied, but at least we tried.

Armies of the Lord the Rings: Good

• The Fellowship (Armies of the Lord of the Rings) (July 2019)
• The Fiefdoms (Armies of the Lord of the Rings) (September 2019)
• Khazad-Dum (Armies of the Lord of the Rings) (August 2023)
• Kingdom of Moria (Armies of the Lord of the Rings) (September 2023)
• Lothlorien (Armies of the Lord of the Rings) (March 2020)
• Minas Tirith (Armies of the Lord of the Rings) (August 2019)
• Shieldwall Tactics (Making it Work) (July 2019)
• Appendix A: Alternate Shieldwall Formations (July 2019)
• Rivendell (Armies of the Lord of the Rings) (February 2020)
• Rohan (Armies of the Lord of the Rings) (August 2019)
• The Rangers (Armies of the Lord of the Rings) (August 2022)

Armies of the Lord of the Rings: Evil

• Angmar (Armies of the Lord of the Rings) (October 2020)
• Barad-Dur (Armies of the Lord of the Rings) (August 2019)
• The Easterlings (Armies of the Lord of the Rings) (September 2019)
• Far Harad (Armies of the Lord of the Rings) (October 2019)
• Isengard (Armies of the Lord of the Rings) (January 2020)
• Mordor (Armies of the Lord of the Rings) (August 2019)
• Moria (Armies of the Lord of the Rings) (October 2019)
• The Serpent Horde (Armies of the Lord of the Rings) (September 2019)
• The Variags of Khand (Armies of the Lord of the Rings) (September 2019)
  

Armies of the Hobbit: Good

• Army of Thror (Armies of the Hobbit) (June 2023)
• Erebor Reclaimed / Iron Hills (Armies of the Hobbit) (June 2019)
• Iron Hills Dwarves (June 2019)
• Iron Hills Goat Riders (June 2019)
• Dain Ironfoot, Lord of the Iron Hills (July 2019)
• Shieldwall Tactics (Making it Work) (July 2019)
• Appendix A: Alternate Shieldwall Formations (July 2019)
• Thranduil's Halls (Armies of the Hobbit) (July 2020)
• Survivors of Lake-Town (Armies of the Hobbit) (July 2020)

Armies of the Hobbit: Evil

• Azog's Hunters (Armies of the Hobbit) (July 2020)
• Azog's Legion (Armies of the Hobbit) (July 2020)
• Dark Powers of Dol Guldur (Armies of the Hobbit) (September 2022)
• Goblin-Town (Armies of the Hobbit) (August 2019)

Using/Fighting Spellcasters: Auxiliary Mages, Revisited

Good morning gamers,

In our last post, we revisited the subject of combat mages in MESBG – how the heroes we covered in a post a long time ago have changed and what other heroes we failed to cover before. In the older post, we lumped in a discussion on Auxiliary mages who do a few niche things to help your army because at the time, the only one I wanted to talk about was the Moria Goblin Shaman. Today, we’ll be taking an in-depth dive on Auxiliary mages across the lists and explore how to get the most out of them. As a reminder, we’re following this taxonomy for casters:

• Multi-Purpose Will Mages: Anyone with the Will of Evil rule (or a similar rule) and has spells (who uses Will to cast magic AND fight AND stay alive…and possibly other things);
• Unlimited Mages: Anyone who gets "free Will," has spells that can be cast, and does not fall in the previous category;
• Combat Mages: Anyone with 2+ Attacks, has spells that can be cast, and does not fall in either of the previous two categories;
• Auxiliary Mages: Catch-all for everyone else, usually limited casting with some kind of immediate/lasting benefit to the army.

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.