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

Back to the list

Why Play Angmar

Pros

• Powerful heroes and units.
• Well costed unis across the army, nothing is OP as hell (shades still maybe?)
• Magic, terror and a lot sinergies can be planned to make this army perform well.
• If you play with a well planned strategy, you can even win Ardacon if you run this list. This army has a huge potential.

Cons

• Those shades UGH...nasty and powerful units to take into account even with the nerfs* he got.
• Gulavhar is a high risk/reward model, use it carefully. And remember that orcs are simply that: orcs, even with the benefit of the army bonus.
• The current rules designer lost to this army in Ardacon final in 2019 so...Nerfs to the shades and possible allies for this list, and maybe even more in the future...I wonder if he will dare to nerf Azog,Bolg or other stupidly OP Hobbit era profiles...Maybe if he losses to them in a tournament next time? He did it again with the winner of the Grand Tournament 2020 demolition team-suicide tactic...

Army Bonus

Any Angmar Orcs within 3 of a spirit hero gain the terror special rule, especially effective against low courage armies.

Unit Analysis

Heroes

<tabs> <tab name="Nazgûl/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:

• 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.

</tab> <tab name="The Witch-king">

Leader of the Ringwraiths, and a Hero of Legend in an Angmar army. 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 Angmar, 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. </tab> <tab name="The Tainted">

If The Shadow Lord was the best unit buffer in the Mordor roster, the Tainted is the best unit debuffer. The Tainted's two gimmicks are first to cause non-Spirit models (friendly and enemy) in base contact to suffer a wound on a D6 roll of 6, which isn't very good, however his other ability is great, spending a will point to deny Stand Fast! and Heroic Actions to all Warrior models within 12" of him. This combines with his Harbinger of Evil rule to brutal effect, making it so that most soldiers have even odds of fleeing (or worse). Like The Shadow Lord, The Tainted is one of those Ringwraiths to consider if you want one going on foot, since his ability is a late-game one and in the meantime you can use him to support fights since he's got good a good casting roll for Transfix (needing only 3+ where some Ringwraiths need 4+).

• Do be aware that his ability does effect every Warrior model around him, including your own. It's something to keep in mind because you do not want your regular Orcs suffering a panic attack in the late game... normally anyway. If you're already ahead on Victory Points and you want to bring the game to an end immediately, you absolutely can use his ability around a bunch of Orcs, causing enough Orcs to flee that you pass the 25% threshold for ending the game.

</tab> <tab name="The Dwimmerlaik">

Another debuff Ringwraith, and the Ringwraith most hated in Rohan, The Dwimmerlaik 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 12" on the roll of a 4+. You don't have to stop with just one however, if you're feeling lucky and your opponent spends another point of Might/Will/Fate, you can then spend another Will point and do the same roll (and keep spending Will to keep trying to neutralize his opponent). This allows his side to successfully end Heroes who survived by passing Fate rolls, win fights by stopping Heroes from using Might to win, and prevent Heroes from staying on the table with Will when they're broken and roll badly. He's the second best debuffer next to The Tainted, but try to save his ability for when it really matters, or you'll notice his Will points vanishing quickly (despite starting with 16). </tab> </tabs>

• Gûlavhar, The Terror of Arnor: Gûlavhar is one of the most polarizing models in the range. If you use him well, he's amazing and you'll completely table your opponent (as much as you can until they get to 25% casualties anyway) and if you use him wrong you'll have pissed 200 points away. The reason why he varies so much is because his Strength is 8, enough to Knock to the Ground Mordor Trolls so that he can rip them apart (and statistically he will kill a Mordor Troll Chieftan in one round on the charge so long as he still has at least 3 Wounds left) however he also only has a Defence of 5, with no Fate. This means that your opponent will shoot him out of the sky with bows, and even Infantry will wound him on 5's unless you're fighting Hobbits. Because of this, taking him is a gamble; he's one of the best duelists in the game and he can shred Aragorn (and prevent getting hurt himself with Heroic Defence) but the worse your opponent's general army is, the worse he'll perform. He is not worth it to try and break down a Gondor shield wall for example, but he can do decently among Warg Riders hunting down Rohan Cavalry/characters, so save him for more elite matchups where he'll shine.

• Buhrdûr, Troll Chieftain: Buhrdûr is a sad case. He has a lot of useful skills (Heroic Strike, Strength and Challenge) but he's let down by his stats. He's 35 points more than a Cave Troll (costing nearly 50% more), but with near-identical stats, and lacking the more useful gear like a Spear and a hand-and-a-half hammer (not to mention a decent throwing weapon). About the only thing he does get right is a good store of Might, and his special skill isn't very good either. In short, he fights about as well as a Cave Troll, his banner effect is too conditional, his Courage of 4 can be gained by getting Golfimbul, and so there's no real reason to take him.
  • If you do plan on taking him anyway, make sure to keep him behind Orcs until it's time to fight. It's very easy for him to be Knocked to the Ground by other monsters (Mordor Trolls and even Shelob will absolutely destroy him in a fight, and Shelob costs less) so you want Orcs in front of him to prevent him from getting charged by those types of threats. Be smart, like Buhrdûr.

• Golfimbul, Orc Chieftain: Despite being killed by a Hobbit (an act which invented the game of Golf at the same time), Golfimbul is an decent to good choice for an Angmar army. He costs the same as an Orc Captain, swapping a point of Fight for a point of Courage and Will (honestly a good trade seeing how badly Angmar struggles with Courage tests) and swapping his Fate for essentially unlimited Fate, tested on 5+ instead of 4+ (statistically it's better). Heroic Strike also allows him to beat most Warriors and his Mace lets him break down shield walls, so it's worth taking him just for how much your regular army lacks Heroic Strike and decent enough Courage and Will.

• Shade: Nerfed in a FAQ but still quite good, Shades are one of the few tools at your disposal to win Duels. Chill aura should not be underestimated, and with the high Defence of your Spirit models, they'll prevent your opponents from winning Duels and two-handed weapons to wound them, while also giving your Orcs a much better chance at winning their fights (which is essential since you have very few ways of boosting Fight values, so you have to rely on these tricks). One look at their statline should make it clear that they should not be allowed in combat though, keep them around your Warriors and use your debuff to help your Orcs win.

• Barrow-Wight: The only model in the game with access to the Paralyse power (no, they cannot Channel it, so the Channeled version of Paralyse can never be used by anyone). Don't let that get you down however, they're really good at supporting a fight with Paralyse; casting it on a Hero in range of a few Orcs, or better yet, a troll, basically deletes that Hero from the game. On top of this their excellent Courage and high Defence means they can hold up enemy troops, not to mention the fact they have more Wounds than a Ringwraith. Don't expect them to kill models though, they have only one attack that you cannot boost and with no Might and a Fight of 3, they're not going to do wonders in a Duel.

• Angmar 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 if you have to choose, Orc Captains will serve you better as a Stand Fast bubble than as a duelist (especially with your army bonus and combined with a War Horn).
  • Because of their higher Fight and Strength, as well as their Might and lower cost, you could use these guys as linebreakers if you really wanted to. They have the ability to break down Shieldwalls better than regular Orcs and Uruk-hai do, not to mention the Might to boost their score, so if you're not investing in Spirits for some reason (or you want to support the Captains with the Shades) then you can use them to as mediocre beatsticks.

• Angmar Orc Shaman: A 50pt wizard that seems tailor made to sort out the main weakness of the Angmar 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. If you think you're going to need to knock out a hero, then consider bringing along a Barrow Wight instead.

• Wild Warg Chieftain: Your designated combat character, Warg Chieftans are practically made for ripping apart heavier armour. They're not so good at dealing with non-generic Heroes as they lack Heroic Strike, but otherwise they'll rip apart whatever you put them up against. Do be aware however that the Warg Chieftans are Infantry, not Cavalry, so they will not Knock to the Ground any enemies and will not gain an extra attack on the charge, not that they need it. Incidentally you do not need to get them Wild Wargs, it's perfectly acceptable to take them alongside your Orcs and charge them into shield walls to rip them open before your Orcs strike. They function as perfectly acceptable hammers to the Orcs' anvils.

Warriors

• Dead Marsh Spectre: The premier unit for Angmar, Dead Marsh Spectres specialise in fucking with your opponent. They can move models out of formation, make them run away from the fight leaving their comrades vulnerable (which combos well with a Barrow Wight's paralyse for the now exposed enemy Heroes) and they disrupt shield walls. Do note while they cannot normally make models hurt themselves, they can make models run into water and possibly drown via their Swim test (and they'll then light candles of their own). On top of this, they disable Active abilities that your opponent might be using, so long as enemy models fail the Courage tests of course. To make sure that happens, combo them with a Ringwraith or the Witch-king and you'll be able to control plenty of your opponent's models.
  • Unfortunately Dead Marsh Spectres, while they make for great disruption units, are pretty poor in a fight. Despite being Spirits they have pretty poor Defence, having a base of 3 with Heavy Armour for 5, and their fighting ability is abysmal, one attack at Fight 2. If you are going to use them, either keep a spear/spear troll near them to help out if needed, or keep them tucked behind your Orcs.
  • Note too that with their great Courage of 6, Dead Marsh Spectres are also useful in holding far off objectives without Hero support keeping them there once your army breaks.

• Angmar 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 Spirits (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.

• Angmar Warg Rider: 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 an elite list with plenty of armour then consider giving these guys a pass a Warg Chieftan.

• Wild Warg: Wild Wargs are in an awkward spot, they're infantry; they do not get an extra attack or Knock to the Ground infantry models when they charge, and that alone makes them significantly weaker than Warg Riders. That being said they do offer quantity over quality, since you can nearly get two of them for one Warg Rider, but in general they're not worth it.
  • If you do plan on using them anyway, don't send them into the front of the enemy. Run them around the back of targets to either get at lightly armoured bows, or run them into the back of enemy models to make it significantly easier to trap your enemies.

• Cave Troll: At 25 points cheaper than a Mordor troll you still get a scary monster that can do most things its big brother can can but he is slightly weaker with having Defence 6, Strength 6, Fight value 6 and Courage 3. This is still impressive, however he will get Knocked to the Ground by a monsters like Shelob or a Cave Drake and then absolutely murdered, so keep him surrounded by Orcs so that he won't get charged. To help in this endeavor, he has access to a few different weapons, coming stock with a spear, which is one of the few ways you can give support to your Spirits or Orcs and boost the Fight value in their combats, but can be upgraded to bring a troll chain as well. The chain is classed as a throwing weapon that has a range of 3" and hits at strength 5. Given its price there's little reason not to get it, and of course he can be upgraded to bring a good old hand-and-a-half hammer if you really want to make things dead. For the price you can get them for they can work in small games and then you can bring two for the bigger 700 point games.

Allies

Convenient Allies

Moria

Smaug

Impossible Allies

The Serpent Horde

Far Harad

Corsairs of Umbar

Isengard

Sharkey's Rogues

Variags of Khand

Mordor

The Eastern Kingdoms

The Nazgul of Dol Guldur

Azog's Hunters

Azog's Legion

Goblin Town

The Trolls