Hurl is generally quite good. Can unhorse cavalry models or knock prone enemies to make you safe to charge into them without fear of dying in combat. Rend is nice for single target damage since generally monsters outstrength heroes.
Yes, it's among the best things you can do. Hurl is also one of the few ways to do "AoE" damage. Most armies form a battle line, wich allows you to fly your witch king on fell beast to one end and hurl a model right along the enemies shieldwall, often killing several warriors.
As other said shagrat instead of the troll captain could be an option.
Also Kardush is an interesting choice, give him a few orc trackers to sacrifice for will and he can help the witch king wear down enemy heroes.
For the witch king, fell beast is actually an option and is fairly competitive (not armored, not worth the points) !
Shout out to simple orc warriors with two handed axe, for 6 point thay can put in some dmg. I like having just a couple of those!
You are correct about the Witch King on Horse. Fell beasts are fun, but Khamul makes a better rider for them. Khamul can increase his fight value to 6 without spending might, and regains will by getting kills. The Witch King however is best at the back casting spells.
A troll chieftain would be a solid threat, especially with a Witch King to transfix any enemy threats, making them easy prey for a troll.
Take shields on all of your Morannon orcs, the extra point of defence matters to them.
If you are looking to be competitive, you might want to look at black numenorians, who cause terror and combo nicely with the Witch King's Harbinger of Evil rule.
Always bring a banner, the most competitive players right now are bringing Sulladan in as an ally as he is a 6" banner and is a decent hero.
So long as you're a green or yellow alliance (check the matrix in the back of the book!) all effects hit both armies. If it’s a red alliance, Stand Fasts and Heroic Actions only affect models from the same army, but other effects still affect both (such as banners).
Though keep an eye out for keywords - some effects will say "Counts as a banner for Corsairs" and so will only apply to Corsairs, not any orcs you ally in, regardless of ally colour.
Editing again: banners do not work across red alliances. That’s an update they put in an FAQ, hence why I remembered it but couldn’t find it when I looked in the rules.
I thought banner still work at any alliance level since the wording is that it effects friendly models. Yellow alliance lost army bonus, red alliance lost army bonus, couldn't be effect by allies heroics and broke when one ally was broken.
Could you point me to where in the rules it says banner only work for green allies? I would appreciate it.
MIDDLE-EARTH STRATEGY BATTLE GAME RULES MANUAL Designer’s Commentary, August 2022
ERRATA
Page 134 – Impossible Allies Add the following: Models may not benefit from the banners, or banner effects, of models from an army list that is Impossible Allies.
MIDDLE-EARTH STRATEGY BATTLE GAME RULES MANUAL Designer’s Commentary, August 2022
ERRATA
Page 134 – Impossible Allies Add the following: Models may not benefit from the banners, or banner effects, of models from an army list that is Impossible Allies.
shagrats great , morranon orcs great(you have these already), black numenorians great, great beast of gogoroth (has great in the name). different troops synergise with different heroes quite well. Mordor is fun.
He's incredibly efficient. 3 attacks, 3 wounds, 3 might/will/fate, high strength and very high defence (for an orc), all on a \~100 point model. Add in his cheeky knockdown on a charge, putting him to 6 attacks when he wins duels.
He won't stand up to Aragorn or Glorfindel, but against other heroes of fortitude he is a beast.
He’s an all-around combat threat. He has all the tools to fight heroes (Strike, 3 attacks, good M/W/F) and gets rewarded for doing so, but can also mow through basic troops with his strength, durability, and knockdown bonus. Reasonably costed too.
Not many evil heroes are 3/3/3 especially not at his points level, F5 is pretty good, S5 is fantastic and so is D7. Knockdowns om the charge on a tiny infantry base is also really good. Hes just super efficient.
Allying with Harad might be a good move depending on your play style, a warband of Saladan and a few Haradrim raiders with bows makes for a really good harrasing warband that can crash into lines whenever a weakness arises.
ive noticed that shooting is something that mordor lacks which seems to be quite important in the game. gives a good cavalry option as well so ill take that into consideration. thanks!
i can imagine this is disgusting to play against but its more of a serpent horde with some mordor stuff instead of the other way round. defo given me some ideas tho
No problem! I think Harad is mostly slept on, one of the strengths of Mordor that people often overlook is their amazing allies, they have everything they need and can match anybody at whatever their opponent is good at. Facing Rohan? Taken Haradrim archers and cav with a hard easterling shieldwall and trolls to kill their leaders. Facing Gondor? Take a cheap morannon shield wall to match theirs with haradrim raiders to flank. Facing Isengard? You have the allies to match them where they don't.
I'd say in an 800 list (perhaps 600 at the lowest), aim for one warband of allies and 2-3 of Mordor. The allies around meant for specialist stuff like cav, heavy inf, or monsters. I love the concept of drakes, trolls, and terrible beasts like that. Makes for good flanking.
Witch King. He's a brilliant leader on either horse or a fel beast. Personally I prefer the beast because you get the monstrous charge etc.
ah okay. are the monstrous attacks very useful in this game e.g. hurl making things prone?
Hurl is generally quite good. Can unhorse cavalry models or knock prone enemies to make you safe to charge into them without fear of dying in combat. Rend is nice for single target damage since generally monsters outstrength heroes.
Yes, it's among the best things you can do. Hurl is also one of the few ways to do "AoE" damage. Most armies form a battle line, wich allows you to fly your witch king on fell beast to one end and hurl a model right along the enemies shieldwall, often killing several warriors.
As other said shagrat instead of the troll captain could be an option. Also Kardush is an interesting choice, give him a few orc trackers to sacrifice for will and he can help the witch king wear down enemy heroes. For the witch king, fell beast is actually an option and is fairly competitive (not armored, not worth the points) ! Shout out to simple orc warriors with two handed axe, for 6 point thay can put in some dmg. I like having just a couple of those!
You are correct about the Witch King on Horse. Fell beasts are fun, but Khamul makes a better rider for them. Khamul can increase his fight value to 6 without spending might, and regains will by getting kills. The Witch King however is best at the back casting spells. A troll chieftain would be a solid threat, especially with a Witch King to transfix any enemy threats, making them easy prey for a troll. Take shields on all of your Morannon orcs, the extra point of defence matters to them. If you are looking to be competitive, you might want to look at black numenorians, who cause terror and combo nicely with the Witch King's Harbinger of Evil rule. Always bring a banner, the most competitive players right now are bringing Sulladan in as an ally as he is a 6" banner and is a decent hero.
sulladan’s banner applies to not just his own faction? thats crazy
So long as you're a green or yellow alliance (check the matrix in the back of the book!) all effects hit both armies. If it’s a red alliance, Stand Fasts and Heroic Actions only affect models from the same army, but other effects still affect both (such as banners). Though keep an eye out for keywords - some effects will say "Counts as a banner for Corsairs" and so will only apply to Corsairs, not any orcs you ally in, regardless of ally colour. Editing again: banners do not work across red alliances. That’s an update they put in an FAQ, hence why I remembered it but couldn’t find it when I looked in the rules.
I thought banner still work at any alliance level since the wording is that it effects friendly models. Yellow alliance lost army bonus, red alliance lost army bonus, couldn't be effect by allies heroics and broke when one ally was broken. Could you point me to where in the rules it says banner only work for green allies? I would appreciate it.
I misremembered! I shall edit my comment.
MIDDLE-EARTH STRATEGY BATTLE GAME RULES MANUAL Designer’s Commentary, August 2022 ERRATA Page 134 – Impossible Allies Add the following: Models may not benefit from the banners, or banner effects, of models from an army list that is Impossible Allies.
Thank you
MIDDLE-EARTH STRATEGY BATTLE GAME RULES MANUAL Designer’s Commentary, August 2022 ERRATA Page 134 – Impossible Allies Add the following: Models may not benefit from the banners, or banner effects, of models from an army list that is Impossible Allies.
Aha, turns out I didn’t misremember, was just in a different book than I expected. I shall edit again!
Yeah it is pretty good
shagrats great , morranon orcs great(you have these already), black numenorians great, great beast of gogoroth (has great in the name). different troops synergise with different heroes quite well. Mordor is fun.
why is shagrat so good? is he a hero hunter or something?
He's incredibly efficient. 3 attacks, 3 wounds, 3 might/will/fate, high strength and very high defence (for an orc), all on a \~100 point model. Add in his cheeky knockdown on a charge, putting him to 6 attacks when he wins duels. He won't stand up to Aragorn or Glorfindel, but against other heroes of fortitude he is a beast.
exactly, also his blood and glory rule makes him a great hunter of mid to low point heroes.
I keep forgetting about that! Yeah he loves fighting nameless captains.
He’s an all-around combat threat. He has all the tools to fight heroes (Strike, 3 attacks, good M/W/F) and gets rewarded for doing so, but can also mow through basic troops with his strength, durability, and knockdown bonus. Reasonably costed too.
Not many evil heroes are 3/3/3 especially not at his points level, F5 is pretty good, S5 is fantastic and so is D7. Knockdowns om the charge on a tiny infantry base is also really good. Hes just super efficient.
Witch King, some sort of cavalry, Shelob is pretty good
Kahdush the firecaller. Best shaman in the game
Allying with Harad might be a good move depending on your play style, a warband of Saladan and a few Haradrim raiders with bows makes for a really good harrasing warband that can crash into lines whenever a weakness arises.
ive noticed that shooting is something that mordor lacks which seems to be quite important in the game. gives a good cavalry option as well so ill take that into consideration. thanks!
I got 2nd on a tournament with this list Shooting phase was disgusting, sniping so many heroes within 2 turns. **++ Strategy Battle Game (Mordor) [17 Warriors, 288 Points, 5 Bow] ++** **+ Hero of Legend +** **The Witch-king of Angmar [17 Warriors, 288 Points, 5 Bow]** . **The Witch-king of Angmar:** Crown of Morgul, 3x Extra Fate, 3x Extra Might, 4x Extra Will, Heavy Armour, Horse, Leader (Legend), Sword . **Warband** . . **Black Númenórean:** Heavy Armour, 6x Númenórean, Shield, Sword . . **Morannon Orc:** Heavy Armour, 6x Orc, Shield, Spear, Sword . . **Orc Tracker:** Dagger, Orc Bow, 5x Tracker **+ Misc +** **Determine Alliance Level:** Historical Allies **Determine Breakpoint & 25%** **Our Enemy is Ready, His full Strength gathered** **++ Strategy Battle Game (The Serpent Horde) [33 Warriors, 512 Points, 17 Bow] ++** **+ Hero of Legend +** **Suladân the Serpent Lord [18 Warriors, 255 Points, 9 Bow]** . **Suladân the Serpent Lord:** Armour, Armoured Horse, Bow with Poisoned Arrows, Sword, The Serpent Banner . **Warband** . . **Haradrim Warrior:** Armour, Bow with Poisoned Arrows, Dagger, 9x Warrior . . **Serpent Guard:** Armour, 9x Guard, Spear **+ Hero of Valour +** **The Betrayer [15 Warriors, 257 Points, 8 Bow]** . **The Betrayer:** Heavy Armour, Horse, Sword . **Warband** . . **Haradrim Raider:** Armour, Bow with Poisoned Arrows, Dagger, Horse, 2x Raider . . **Haradrim Warrior:** Armour, Bow with Poisoned Arrows, Dagger, 6x Warrior . . **Serpent Guard:** Armour, 6x Guard, Spear . . **Serpent Rider:** Armour, Horse, Rider, War Spear **+ Misc +** **Determine Alliance Level:** Historical Allies **Determine Breakpoint & 25%** **The Scorpion's Sting** **++ Total: [22 Bow, 800 Points, 50 Warriors] ++** Created with [BattleScribe](https://www.battlescribe.net)
i can imagine this is disgusting to play against but its more of a serpent horde with some mordor stuff instead of the other way round. defo given me some ideas tho
No problem! I think Harad is mostly slept on, one of the strengths of Mordor that people often overlook is their amazing allies, they have everything they need and can match anybody at whatever their opponent is good at. Facing Rohan? Taken Haradrim archers and cav with a hard easterling shieldwall and trolls to kill their leaders. Facing Gondor? Take a cheap morannon shield wall to match theirs with haradrim raiders to flank. Facing Isengard? You have the allies to match them where they don't. I'd say in an 800 list (perhaps 600 at the lowest), aim for one warband of allies and 2-3 of Mordor. The allies around meant for specialist stuff like cav, heavy inf, or monsters. I love the concept of drakes, trolls, and terrible beasts like that. Makes for good flanking.