The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game/Tactics/Mordor

Why Play Mordor? Because you always enjoyed pulling the wings off flies as a child and some people just enjoy watching the world burn… Also flying ghosts. 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. Spend them quickly · Best magic offense in the game · Large 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 · Those competitive heroes? Prepare to pay a fortune for them in points · Basic orc does very little very well besides exist in large numbers

Heroes: · Sauron – The head honcho himself, The Dark Lord Sauron comes as standard with one of the best stat lines in the game. Fight of 9 will ensure that in a practical sense he will win any fight that he is involved in, strength 8 will mean he wounds whatever he fights and defence 10 will protect him even if he loses. 375 points base, with ‘The One Ring’ available for an additional 75. Causes Terror and reduces the courage of good models by one point for 42cm. Comes with 6 will points and can spend another one every turn without reducing his will, which allows him to make use of a barrage of magical powers against opponents. His ‘unstoppable’ rule also allows him to swing his mace in a arc that strikes all models in base contact, all models with speaks and all models with pikes once, which makes up for his lacklustre 3 attacks base. You need to throw Sauron in to the middle of a fight in order to make up for his massive points investment, but used correctly, he should be able to beat anything the good side throws at him. o Always upgrade with ‘The One Ring’, as this allows him to recover his last wound on a 2+ and carry on fighting. Without this upgrade, Sauron actually has no fate points. · The Mouth of Sauron – A pretty ‘meh’ lieutenant character with a captain stat line, low might and fate, and a small collection of support magic spells. Can take an armoured horse, and fully upgraded comes in at a fairly reasonable 75pts. Good for a nice cheap leader, but don’t expect him to move mountains. · Nazgul/Ringwraiths – One of the most versatile units in the game, there is a Nazgul for every occasion. Each individual entry is covered here, but they all share common rules and features which will be covered first: o All Nazgul cause terror o 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 o 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 manoeuvre your guys into protracted fights that will sap their usefulness and eventually kill them o Any model wearing the ring does not become invisible to the Ringwraiths as they do to others, and fighting against the ringbearer does not oblige the Ringwraith to spend will to fight o All Ringwraiths can shoes a Horse, armoured hourse, fell beat, horned 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. o 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. Ø 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. Should never be used in combat in this state as a single bad dice roll can mess you about horribly. You can purchase extra Might, will and fate for 5 pts each making a maxed out Witch-King 150 points. All mounts are effective choices for him and his other close combat options are also decent choices too – the Crown of Morgul bumps his attacks to 3, the Morgul Blade will allow him to kill multi wound enemies with a single unsaved wound and the two handed flail gives hima bit of extra kick in combat. A thoroughly solid leader for Mordor, but though needs to be given as to what exactly he is to be used for, and then tailoring appropriately Ø ‘Vanilla’ Ringwraiths – you can include up to eight generic Ringwraiths in your army (although they can can be fielded alongside the named wraiths the number can never be more than 9 for obvious reasons). 55 points base buys you 7 will points to case spells and 110 buys you two might and fate and seven more will. Not really potent enough to become combat heroes unless mounted on a fell beast, their strength lies in disruption and spellcasting rather than outright power. Ø Khamul the Easterling – Second of the Nine, Khamul is a combat oriented Ringwraith. Causes terror and has to spend 1 will per combat turn as per the others, but recovers one will for every unsaved wound he causes. Can also spend 1 will to increase his fight, strength or attacks for a fight. His spellcasting is actually pretty poor compared to the other wraiths, but he has a comparatively low point cost of 120 points. Needs to be used aggressively, but can be very effective in the centre of a battle with the correct support. Ø The Betrayer – Harad’s Ringwraith comes with 2 extra will than a fully upgraded ‘vanilla’ wraith, can re-roll wounds in close combat and allows models with the ‘poisoned’ special rule to re-roll wounds of 1 and 2 if they are within 14cm of him. Good support choice and 120 points means that he is ahead of the vanilla wraiths simply because of his special abilities. Natuarally compliments other Harad models. Ø The Dark Marshall – Another 120 point named wraith, has a fight value of 6 (one above usual) and the ability to function as a banner to all evil warriors within 14cm. A solid, if unspectacular, choice. Ø The Dwimmerlaik – The Ringwraith most hated in Rohan, comes with no might points to assist him in difficult situations but has a powerful ability to double the cost of every might, will and fate point spent within 28cm on the roll of a 4+. Decidedly not a combat guy, but great at harassing enemy heroes and neutralising powerful abilities like Aragorn’s ‘Mighty Hero’ rule. Ø The Knight of Umbar – One of the more powerful combat oriented ringwriths, three might points and the ability to ignore the fight phase loss of will for every fight that he wins. He can also elect to use the base Fights, strength or attack values (or any combination of these)of his opponent instead of his own. Add in two more will points than standard and a decent array of spalls and The Knight is a superb choice and a steal at 120 points Ø The Shadow lord – Two more will points than a standard wraith and the ability to make shooting within 14cm of him hit only on a 6. Makes the Shadow Lord another solid but unremarkable choice. Best used to harry you opponent and keep you own troops alive. Ø The Tainted – One less might and fate point than standard, the Tainted also denies the stand fast and heroic action benefit for all warriors within 14cm both yours and your opponents. Can also cause additional wounds to models in base contact on a 6. Not the most competitive choice, but situationally powerful Ø The Undying – No fate, but 20 will points make up for it quite nicely. Can spend those same points as fate points and regains one will point for every magical power cast within 14cm. Another good choice, can be very effective but would be best used as accompanying another spellcaster or cadre of orc shamans. · Gollum – Perhaps the most important character in the story of the Lord of the Rings, Gollum comes with a selection of unusual abilities, chief amongst which is his points cost of 0. He can only be included in forces where opponents have fielded the ringbearer. He is always deployed last and close to the ringbearer. To represent the split in Gollum’s personality, he is always controlled by the side which has priority and cannot be harmed while the ringbeaer is still alive. Gollum really is a storytelling character and isn’t a viable choice for competitive armies · Gothmog, Lieutenant of Morgul – The orc equivalent of Aragorn, Gothmog lead the armies of Mordor after the with-Kings defeat. Has a stat line virtually identical to Aragorn’s, and possesses a similar ability in ‘Master of Battle’. A damn good choice to lead any Mordor faction, mounting him on a Warg and giving him a shield will allow him to be even more effective. An extremely effective choice. · 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. 90 pts is nice and cheap for a monster, but there are far better ways to spend your cash. · Shagrat, War Leader of Cirith Ungol – A Mordor uruk-hai with attitude, Shagrat is a fine leader for any Mordor warband. 3 attacks, wounds, might, will and fate combined with a strength of 5 and wargear which knocks opponents to the ground make the war leader to be a formidable opponent for any good army. Well worth the points · Shagrat, Captain of Cirith Ungol – The ‘New coke’ version of Shagrat (even thought this one was first) boasts no advantages over a standard mordor uruk hai captain besides an additional point of might. Nice and cheap at 55 points however, and strength 5 is strength 5 · Grishnakh, Orc captain – As above, offers only a single point of might as an advantage over a standard orc captain. 45 points cost, however, is worth It for the might points and the stand fast alone. · Gorbag, Orc Captain – exactly the same stats, rules and costs as Grishnakh · Orc captain – Standard captain stat line but with low courage of 3. Wins out over named characters in the versatility of the choices available to it. Can be given an orc bow, warg or shield, or indeed an combination of the three. Comes with 2 might points which can be very useful in the right places. Cheap at 40 points, useful when you’re on a points budget · Kardush the Firecaller – A 60pt orc shaman that can fire a strength 6 fireball instead of transfixing an enemy. Can also be sacrificed at the start of any priority phase to resore D6 will to a ringwraith within 14cm. Natural accomplice to The Undying, his single wound makes him a bit of a gamble, but could be a game winner in the right place. · Orc Shaman – A 50pt wizard that seems tailor made to sort out the main weakness of the Mordor armies – low courage. Cast their signature ‘Fury’ spell and all orcs within 14cm pass courage tests automatically and ignore wounds on a 6 (5+ if channelled). His spear also allows him to support orcs from the middle of a phalanx. An extremely useful character. · Morannon Orc Captain – Finally, skully has a model and a statline! Its not brilliant, but 45 points for defence 6 and strength 5 is a worthwhile investment. Fewer options than an ordinary orc captain, but a great combat choice · Captain of the Black Guard – Morrannon orcs on steroids and encased in really really good armour. Defence 7 as standard and courage 6 as long as Sauron or a ringwraith is alive makes him hard as nails and painful to fight. Not as cheap as other servants however, and the difference between D6 and D7 isn’t vast. · Black Guard Drummer – A 45 point 1 wound model which can improve the move stats of his fellow uruk-hai for a turn. Although they can’t charge. Not really worth it, spend the points on something else. · Orc Drummer – same as the Black Guard drummer, but worse if you can imagine it. Cheaper at 40 points, but still not very good. · Castellan of Dol Guldur – 40 point Ringwraiths without the spellcasting and no stand fast for allied warriors. Can be equipped with a morgul blade and are cheap enough to be a cheap character assassin. Again, rather situational but potentially quite useful · Back Numenorean Marshal – A captain of Minas Tirith (stat wise) that causes terror> He’s okay, but there are better choices in the Mordor army.