The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game/Tactics/Barad-Dur

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Why Play Barad-Dur?

Because you want to recreate the opening to the first movie. Or you want an army of amazing evil characters backed up by an evil men with a big hat.

Pros:

• Sensationally powerful heroes who can be taken in different combinations to fulfil virtually any tactical situation. Will always be a competitive choice.
• Orcs (and their lives) are cheap.
• Best offensive magic in the game.
• Decent variety of monsters at your beck and call, some of which have Might to back up their brawn.

Cons

• Low courage for the majority of your army means that a broken Mordor force is usually a defeated Mordor force. This is somewhat mitigated by the army bonus, although when things start to go wrong they will often carry on that way.
• Those competitive heroes? Prepare to pay a fortune for them in points.
• Basic Orcs do very little very well besides exist in large numbers.

Army Bonus

“The power of the ring could not be undone”- Your army is immune to Breaking while Sauron is above 3 wounds. When he reaches 3 wounds, it breaks as normal, and if he dies, your army immediately counts as being broken. Additionally, Sauron increases his warband size to 24.

• Not too bad overall, fairly straightforward and easy to remember - big bonus for orc spam as their crappy courage 2 is helped by the breaking immunity. However, beware an enemy who focuses all his shooting and all his heroes onto Sauron exclusively; once he’s dead your army falls apart, even if he’s the only model you’ve lost.

Unit Analysis

Heroes

• Sauron, the Dark Lord: The Big Bad Bastard himself - can kill anything in the game as easily as squashing a bug; overpowered, overpriced and oversized. Seriously, he can outfight Aragorn and outcast Gandalf simultaneously. Everything about this big metal dickhead is dialed up to eleven. Few heroes have a chance against him, with the only realistic ones being Gil-galad, Smaug, Balrog and Elessar, and even there the only two that are on relatively even footing are the dragon and demon. Other heroes have no real chance unless dice and luck assist you. Interestingly, he represents both your greatest asset and greatest risk - if he lives, you win. If he dies, you lose. Simple as that. Now that being said, Sauron is going to use up at least half your points in most games, and he is still vulnerable to being knocked down to just one wound by lucky shots from Siege Engines so make sure you take care of those, even if you have to buy a Ringwraith a Fellbeast to do it. Otherwise make sure to a ton of Orcs to go with him, because even with his 12" Stand Fast you're going to find your Orcs near objectives won't stick around once he starts getting hurt.
  • Be sure to save Might Points for The One Ring. So long as Sauron has at least one Might point, he cannot die, and he could conceivably gain some back with Heroic Challenge.
  • Do note that with so much invested in Sauron, and with most of your Infantry being weak, it is very easy for an opponent to reduce your army to below 25% which will usually cause the game to end. There's not a great way to fix this unfortunately, you can invest in pure chaff, but then you'll typically lose every engagement that doesn't involve the Balrog and you'll still reach that game-ending point sooner than later, so just be aware of that, and feel free to hide enough Orcs in the back if you start getting to that point.

• Nazgul/Ringwraiths: One of the most versatile units in the game, there is a Nazgul for every occasion... unless you're playing Barad-Dur. Unfortunately they don't get access to the named Ringwraiths, which heavily limits your options, but we'll still go over what you've got available to you, starting with some key points:
• All Nazgul cause terror, but despite their high defence, Ringwraiths are not durable, with only a single wound each, best to avoid contact and stock up on their fate points. All Ringwraiths must spend 1 point of will at the end of every fight phase that they are involved in, and disappear from the battlefield if their will reaches 0. Be very careful of this, as a canny opponent will likely maneuver your guys into protracted fights that will sap their usefulness and eventually kill them.
• Any model wearing the ring does not become invisible to the Ringwraiths as they do to others, and fighting against the ring bearer does not oblige the Ringwraith to spend will to fight (even if they don't direct their attacks at the Ringbearer).
• All Ringwraiths can choose a Horse, Armoured Horse, Fell Beast or Armoured Fell Beast for their mount. All are good choices, with the Fell Beast variants really boosting the combat potential of the wraiths. Do be careful though, taking them on Fell Beasts against a list that has a Strength 7 monster is a waste of points. They're going to get charged (or kept so far away from the monster that they'll be inefficient), they will be knocked off the Fell Beast, and it will flee the battlefield immediately, costing you 50 points (and leaving your Nazgûl vulnerable).
• All Ringwraiths are spellcasters and can seriously mess with an opponents fOrce through incapacitating their enemies or causing direct damage with their Black Dart spell.

Now with all of that covered, the basic Nazgûl are very cheap for Heroes of their caliber, starting at only 55 points. The actual cost you want them starting at is 75 points however, as you'll want to buy them their full stock of Might and Fate before considering anything else. If you want them as a Commander who'll make sure your troops stay while debuffing the enemy with Harbinger of Evil and the occasional Transfix, then you're good to use them as they are immediately. If you want them casting some more however, then consider stocking up a bit more on Will, going up to 10 points at least. If you're worried about going up against an enemy wizard then don't be afraid to max them out, just remember to stick them behind your Orcs as you move them up, and use their abilities sparingly. Try not to ever let them get in combat, as you'll need your Will and they are not good fighters (aside from the Witch-king below).

• The Witch King: Leader of the Ringwraiths has by far the most number of options. Base cost of 70 points will buy you a potent spellcaster with a reserve of 10 will points, however his actual base cost is 125, since buying him the Crown of Morgul, as well as his Might and Fate points are essential. Afterwards you can buy him some more Will if you want him casting spells more often (aim for 15 Will, making him 150 points if you plan to be casting a bunch). Without Might, Fate and the Crown a single bad dice roll can mess you about horribly, and the Crown of Morgul also boosts his abilities as a spellcaster by allowing him to re-roll one casting or resist tests. The flail is a decent enough upgrade, it's situationally useful but you don't exactly need it. The Morgul Blade is also a good upgrade, but it's not essential. The Witch-king can kill most heroes without it (especially if his mount knocks them prone, giving him 8 attacks on his To Wound rolls against them), however you will find it useful if you know you're up against one of the heavy-hitting heroes like Aragorn or Ents. Make sure you Transfix them first though, you don't want to be losing the Witch-king if you lose the duel and they swing back. A thoroughly solid leader for Mordor, make sure to give him a mount, a good bodyguard unit (ideally Orcs on Wargs so they can keep up with either his horse of Fell Beast) and he'll do well.
• Considering how expensive the Witch-king is, consider bringing along Kardush. In long games the ability to sacrifice Kardush to restore Will to the Witch-king will make all the difference in the world.

• Shelob: A cheap monstrous creature for the armies of Mordor, Shelob is a very situational creature. Charging as a monstrous mount, she can knock down cavalry models and gains an extra attack when charging, she also causes terror and can move her full distance whatever is in her way. However, her paltry 1 attack with no might and a chance to run away after every wound renders her a mediocre choice at best. Yes she gets a lot more attacks on the charge (2 after Monstrous Charge, 4 if attacking a prone model) but if your opponent is smart and charges her (despite her terror) this advantage is wasted. If your opponent isn't bringing cavalry for her to run down, if you can't keep your opponent from charging her, or if you know the board won't be filled with terrain, then give her a pass.
  • Incidentally if your opponent is playing another evil army, then do be aware that with her Strength of 7, she can Knock to the Ground most enemy models, with very few exceptions. She can even charge Ringwraiths on Fell Beasts, which will knock both models to the ground, and cause the Fell Beast to immediately run away, netting you an instant 50 points and possibly killing the Ringwraith (either in the fall or when she attacks). She can also Knock to the Ground Cave Trolls (although not Mordor Trolls), and possibly finish them off in the process.

• Orc captain: Standard captain stat line but with low courage of 3, and is only going to be chosen if you're on a budget and/or you want a generic character on a Warg. There's not much else to say about them really, aside from try not to get them in combat against enemy characters. There are a lot of Good heroes they lose to, and they're more useful in keeping pockets of Orcs on the field with their Stand Fast and moving them about with Heroic March than they are killing stuff in combat. If you don't care about Heroic March, then do consider giving them a pass for an Orc Shaman instead.

• Orc Shaman: A 50pt wizard that seems tailor made to sort out the main weakness of the Barad-Dur armies – low courage. Cast their signature 'Fury' spell and all Orcs within 6" pass courage tests automatically and ignore wounds on a 6+ if channeled. His spear also allows him to support Orcs from the middle of a phalanx. An extremely useful character, just make sure not to expend all his will unless you absolutely must try to use Transfix, as keeping your Orcs around is far more important for your force.

• Mordor Orc Taskmaster: Same stats as an ordinary Orc captain (minus one Might point), but comes equipped with a 2" range throwing weapon, his strength comes with his ability to grant free heroic actions to allied heroes within 6" on a 4+. Thankfully he's now only 10 points more than a regular Orc Captain, so if you were just going to take a normal Infantry Orc Captain, consider taking this guy instead as his special rule will occasionally come in handy.
  • If you use him, remember to play this at full volume

• Orc Drummer: With most of your troops being Infantry he's one of the few ways to boost your movement. Sure you can't charge afterwards, but there's always going to be times in which you have to run around the board, either for objectives or just to close the distance, so if you bring one or two you'll usually find yourself using the extra movement they can give you, just save them for higher point games. An extra 30 points in a lower point game is still quite a few Orcs worth of bodies.

• Back Númenórean Marshal: A captain of Minas Tirith (stat wise) that causes terror. He's okay, but there are better choices in the Mordor army. Seriously, if you want a Model with terror just use a Nazgul. This isn't to say you can't make him work, since he's one of the only models in your army with access to a Lance (and so he hits pretty fucking hard on the charge) but you can't just get him on his own, you pretty much have to buy him his horse and lance to make him worth it, and then you have to invest in other Cavalry to act as support (ideally Morgul Knights to act as a Shock Cav force), and then you're basically playing Evil Rohan. If that's what you like though, then go for it.

• Mordor troll Chieftain: Very dangerous terror causing monster with three S7 attacks and a high Defence. A steal at 140 points, begin your recruitment drive today. Do be careful if you're up against Ents though, they will knock over your Chieftan and then they will kill it, so keep regular Orcs around it to block potential charges.

Warriors

• Orc Warrior: One of the worst Warriors in the game; low Courage, Fight and Defence means that these guys are not going to be around for very long, but that's not why you take them, you take them because they're cheap. One Orc Warrior costs as much as a shield for one of your Leaders, and the sheer number of dice that they can roll make them a dangerous threat. Buy them in blobs for holding positions, providing spear support, meatshields for your characters (march them in front so they soak up the arrows) and don't spend too much on them. Normally six Orcs are better than five Orcs with shields, though with Barad-Dur you might want to consider the shields since sometimes keeping a character or enemy warriors away from your characters (or objectives) with Shielding is more important than trying to kill them with your paltry Strength 3, and you don't have better Orcs to back them up like Mordor does. They can also be a surprisingly effective speed bump when a blob is paired with an Orc shaman.

• Orc Tracker: Worse in combat than other Orcs and with an extremely low Defence of 3, the Orc trackers are a slightly better shot with a 4+ value. These are some of the most cost effective shooting evil players have access to, and they also serve to help you buff up your model count so you keep your army bonus. Don't bother with normal Orcs with bows (unless you're using the Great Beast of Gorgoroth) or giving these Orcs Wargs, just sit them back and pick off a few things.

• Warg Rider: The reason why you don't want to take Wargs for Orc trackers are the Warg riders themselves. Evil cavalry extraordinaire, the Wargs are brutal, hard hitting and versatile. Low courage and rider Defence is bad, but again they are cheaper than their good side equivalents. These are a very good buy with throwing spears and shields, coming to 13 points in total. This paired with the changes to thrown weapons and charges, really makes them quite nasty. Unfortunately you don't have any real ways of boosting their damage output, so if you think you're going to be up against plenty of armour then consider passing these guys for the Morgul Knights.

• Black Númenórean: Costing 9pts apiece the men of Mordor are very limited in their uses. Their low strength and lack of options is a pretty bad feature; which means that their only real use is being the front of a line while being supported by Orc spears. Fight 4 will let you win some engagements you'd otherwise tie, and they're significantly less vulnerable to bows than ordinary Orcs as well. Terror also means you're less likely to be charged by an enemy unit, but this doesn't mean that you should take a lot of them. Generally the more Black Númenóreans you have the less useful they are, so if you're taking them, just use a few of them as a frontline support so that the Orcs behind them benefit from their Fight 4 and Defence 6.
  • Incidentally these guys are one of your only sources for a war horn, and you absolutely should get at least one and hide it somewhere. Courage is a huge issue for your force and anything that buffs it is a good thing. Skip the banner on these guys though, they cost too much and are too expensive with it.

• Morgul Knight: Another Gondor analogue, this time using the Knights of Dol Amroth. Their heavy armour and shields give them a good survivability and 18 points prices them competitively as well. Causing terror is a boon, and the ability to take a war horn is great as it makes your cowardly Orcs less likely to turn tail. On top of this, despite being S3 their Lances, Knock Down and Extra Attack on the charge mean they still hit very hard. Damn good and well worth the points.

• Mordor Troll: High Strength, high Defence, high Fight and three attacks. Now with a full compliment of different weapon upgrades, all hand-and-a-half weapons as well! You get to choose between a hammer, a club and a sword. The bonus from the sword is greatly diminished with the army bonus. Hammer would seem the best, as knocking the target prone is always good. Worth including at least one in every force, although don't bother with the drum upgrade. It's awful. The amount of points you pay is almost enough for an Orc Drummer, which if nothing else, is an extra body for your army bonus and an extra attack even if you never find a time to use the Drum (which is unlikely). Do be careful if you're up against Ents, they will knock over your Troll and then they will kill it, so keep regular Orcs around it to block potential charges.

• Mordor Siege Bow: A good source of high strength shots, but with vulnerable crew and less damage output than the catapult, the siege bow just doesn't cut the mustard. The 5+ shoot is what really kills it, as it's conceivable that some unlucky dice means that it could miss every single shot it has in the game and never cause a problem for your enemy, and 50 points before upgrades is a tad pricey for that.

• Mordor War Catapult: A trap, do not get it. Yes it looks good on paper, but you need to remember something: You're already bringing Sauron. Combined with the Catapult you're already at 560 points, which means you have between 140-240 points to spend on the rest of your army in most games, which is not enough to protect the Catapult. It will get charged or shot at, you will lose it, and you'll struggle to keep enough bodies on the field to take objectives and even protect yourself from the end of the game in many scenarios, since there'll be far fewer bodies in your force, so you'll reach the 25% models left threshold much faster (in some cases this will cause you to lose even if Sauron is at full wounds and your force hasn't broken).

Allies

Historical Allies

·None –

Convenient Allies

·Desolator of the North –

Impossible Allies

·Angmar –

·Azog's Hunter –

·Azog's Legion –

·Barad-Dûr –

·Corsairs of Umbar –

·Dark Denizens of Mirkwood –

·Dark Powers of Dol Guldor –

·The Easterlings –

·Far Harad –

·Goblin Town –

·Isengard –

·Moria –

·The Serpent Horde –

·Sharkey's Rogues –

·Variags of Khand –

·The Trolls –