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

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Why Play Moria

Because Goblin are meant to be Green! One of the first armies to get miniature's (its starting show) Moria has/had one of the largest selection of units to bring in games, making it one of the most versatile armies available. At least half of the units in this army are all monsters, from the simple cave troll, the watcher in the water, a Dragon and the Balrog himself. Of Course your main units are cheap goblin infantry with all the options of spears, shields, swords and bows giving them the advantage over their Goblin Town neighbours.

Pros

• The Balrog
• Multiple large monsters to choose from
• Horde Army!
• Cheap units
• Large selection of Units to pick from

Cons

• Weak troops
• Most of the models cannot be found on the store website
• Most of the army bonuses (like the drum) works only on Goblin, while you are expecting your monsters to do the job.

Army Bonus

We Cannot get out, they are coming: Any Moria Goblins involved in a fight where there opponent is trapped receive a +1 bonus to their fight value. being a horde army this should be easy to achive by surronding your opponents.

Unit Analysis

Heroes

• The Balrog: A beast in combat that costs 350 points. He is nearly undestructible, but he will rarely earn its points back. Even at 800 points he represents nearly half of your army, and if he loses a fight, well, for that turn you have half of your army sitting on the sofa. You have to ensure the Balrog isn’t killed by artillery or other instant death attacks. Although the Balrog only takes half damage from those devastating attacks, it is something that could be easily avoided with something very cheap. Goblins! Placing hordes of goblins around the Balrog helps you against scatter from artillery and blocking certain hero’s from harming the Balrog. Besides that he has crazy stats for combat and has many abilities like his whip and a free heroic combat every turn to keep him locked in combat (but for a cunning opponent it's easy to lock him in combat with some cannon fodder. The Balrog also gives his army better magic resistance with his whopping 10 will. Goblins surrounding him are immune to courage test also. Another big downside is his lack of might.

• Durbuz, The Goblin King of Moria: The King has a decent stat line for a Goblin, 3 points of might and 2 points of will and fate gives him plenty of spening options. With defence 6, stregth 4, attacks 2 but only fight value 4 he isnt terrible in a fight but dont expect him to win against some of the bigger names. For a Hero of valor at 70 points he's a bargain to take and to use his special rule which makes his stand fast increase to a range of 12 will surely help with the courage issue Moria goblins face.

• Groblog: Similar stats to Durbuz, but with -1 in courage, fight value, will and fate points, Groblog is better used for supporting his fellow green friends by using his crown. The Mithril crown is a special rule that allows him to roll one D6, on a 4+ all friendly goblins within 3 get +1 to their fight value, a much needed bonus to help win one or two more fights.

• Druzhag, The Beastcaller: As his name states Drushag can allow you to take wild wargs, fell wargs, giant spiders and bat swarms as long as they are in his warband, also every beast in his warband that is within 12 of him can use his Courage value instead of their own. He has two Powers Enrage beast and Fury which affects all the beasts he can take in his warband. if you want to bring Ashrak in your army too save the giant spider for him and have Druzhag bring all the wargs and bats.

• Ashrak: Like Druzhag (but cheaper coming in at 45 points less) Ashrak gives you the option to take Giant Spiders in your Moria Army, of course they have to be a part of his warband. The spiders also have the option to gain the Venom special rule at the cost of +2 points. He's also a dangerous to kill, with his special rule death-touch any unit that wounds or is wounded by Ashrak in a fight must roll a D6, on a +4 that units is affected by the paralyse power. Speaking of powers Ashrak has two, Fury that he can only cast on spiders and shroud of shadows. The real downside to Ashrak is that only his giant spiders are affected by hist stand fast and heroic actions so don't count on him to help his own kin out in a fight.

• The Watcher in The Water:

• Dragon: 250 point monster that can decimate enemy armies. A plethora of special rules mean that the Dragon will be devastating to the armies of good, by causing terror, resisting magic, lowering enemy courage and knocking everything to the floor. Can be upgraded with up to two abilities that allow it to fly, breathe fire, cast magic or raise its defence for 50 points each. Fire and magic are dependant upon the will points of the dragon and as these are in fairly limited supply then its going to be situational at best, although the sheer damage of the fire attack is scary for enemies. Tough hide will raise the defence to Sauron levels of durability so its worth investing in. Beware of leaving the dragon unsupported however, as a courage test after every wound suffered combined with a lacklustre courage of 4 leaves him vulnerable to a lucky first shot

• Cave Drake: Probably one of the few effective choices for this army, costing 150 points. Although fight value of 6 and lack of Heroic Strike are not the best combo, with 4 attacks and strenght 7 he may have something to say before Aragorn tears him in pieces with Anduril. He suffers also for the big dimension of the base, and if your opponent manages to encircle him, he won't survive.

• Moria Goblin Captain: A cheap hero that should always be upgraded to bring a shield to make him more survivable, he can use Heroic march to get his goblin underlings to move faster. Don't bother with the orc bow since his shoot value is 5 and it's not worth spending the might point to improve the result.

• Moria Goblin Shaman: Good support for your goblins, being able to use transfix and Fury will help your goblins out in a fight. No available upgrades but he does bring a spear so you can hide him in the second line.

• Moria Blackshield Captain: For ten extra points than a Goblin captain you get a slightly better fighter (especially against dwarves) that's equipped with a two handed sword and heavy armour.

• Moria Blackshield Shaman: Exactly the same stats as a usual shaman but comes with a staff instead of a spear. He can use the Shatter and Tremor Spells. This is probably the best hero of the army, with his magic power that allows him to destroy all weapons of a target on a 3+.

Troops

• Moria Goblin Warrior: These little greenish guys are some of the cheapest fighters you will ever get, even when your upgrade them to have a shield, spear or Orc bow they'll still be cheaper than an Orc. Of Course they don't have very good courage (2), strength (3), movement (5) or fight and shoot values (2/5+) but that wont matter because you will be bringing a lot of these guys. Against most armies you will be outnumbering your opponent two to one or even three to one if they're bringing an elite army.

• Moria Goblin Drum: These act as your long range Banner, anything within 18 of them get the single re-roll while in a duel. Goblins also get +1 to their courage while your opponent get -1 Courage to their units as long as the drums are being played, these effect is particularly nasty since this affects all models on the battlefield. Make sure to keep two or three goblin close by so they can pick up the clubs and start playing if the original guy get killed, and if it has to move then you do not get the above bonuses for that turn.

• Moria Blackshield: They cost twice as much as a regular goblin but have almost identical stats. What they have that is better than a regular Goblin is Defence 6 and Courage 3 but at the cost of having one goblin rather than two just doesn't seem worth it. That is of course until you see that they have the Hatred Dwarf special rule, so as long as you know your playing someone bringing Dwarfs they're then worth taking.

• Moria Blackshield Drummers: They do the exact same thing as the normal drum however one guy carries it and one guy plays it so you don't suffer any penalties from moving it. You also gate the Hatred rule against Dwarfs since they're Blackshields, this also makes them a little bit more survivable at defence 5.

• Moria Goblin Prowler: With a fight and shooting value at 3/4+, being equipped with Two-handed axes and throwing daggers these guys can hit pretty hard at range, on the charge, and in combat. However, they are only Defence 4 and do not come with any other options to improve this so do not put them on the front line. Prowlers come with the Backstabber special rule which gives them +1 to wound while you make strikes against a model that is trapped, having two handed axes with this rule will really make them dangerous, so in games want these guys to flank your opponents units and get them caught between your Warrior Goblins and Prowlers, if you pull this off you will have made a murder sandwich.

• Bat Swarm: Being bats they therefore have the Fly special rule, useful for when you need to get past your opponents units and get to objectives or silencing archers and siege equipment. They have 4 Wounds but only defence 3 so they can be hit rather easily but not killed too quickly, Just don't throw them at a large group of elves with bows. while in Combat they only have a fight value of 1 but they have the special rule blinding swarm which makes any enemy model half it's own fight value, so these guys can help debuff enemy units to make yours have a better chance at winning draws.

Cavalry

• Warg Marauder: One mount and three riders, each goblin gets to pick from a sword, a sword and shield or a bow (funny thing is, all three can bring bows but it only counts as one model to the bow limit instead of three). If you bring at least one goblin with a shield then the Warg marauders Defence is raised to 5. There are two special rules for this unit, the first is On the Hunt which allows any Goblins armed with a bow to shoot as normal even if they have made a full movement or are in combat. Lethal unions is the second special rule where the Marauder gains the terror special rule and +! to its courage value as long as their are Goblins still mounted on the Warg, you also get one additional attack for each mounted goblin (unless they shot with theirs bows in the shooting phase then they don't get to make an attack).

Monsters

• 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. He has access to a few different weapons though, he comes stock with a spear 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. 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.

• Dweller in The Dark: Described as a mini Balrog, a Dweller can hold is own in most fights with 3 attacks and fight value 7 but he only has defence 5 so he is very susceptible to weapons with the piercing rule. He's resistant to magic and has the terror special rule but also has the Murderous Power rule, this allows him to regain a wound (Not to exceed his starting amount) after slaying an enemy model while using the rend brutal attack. When it comes down to if he is worth taking over a cave troll then that's where he starts to look less impressive, sure he can regain wounds and move fast at Movement 8, he is weaker and isn't as strong, although he is less likely to run away at courage 7.

Allies

Convenient Allies

Angmar

The Serpent Horde

Far Harad

Corsairs of Umbar

Isengard

Variags of Khand

Mordor

The Eastern Kingdoms

The Nazgul of Dol Guldur

Azog's Hunters

Azog's Legion

Goblin Town

The Trolls

Smaug

Building your Army

Building your Army is fairly simple. You have loads of choices. Each having it strengths and weaknesses. Here u can see a few concept's. (500 Pts & 750 Points)

1) Pure Horde with(un)named Heroes

Horde 500 Points

Warband 1 + 2 + 3, each 104 pts

1 Generic Captain + Shield 40

5 Goblins + Shield 25

5 Goblins + Spears 25

2 Goblin Prowlers 14

WB 4 190 pts

1 Shaman 45

2 Drummers with Drum 75

2 Bat-Swarms 70

Easy hordlist. On 500 Points, you will field 44 Models (!!). Batswarms to trap enemy lines and handycap enemy Heroes, Prowlers for nasty wounds on the charge or slashing the enemys down in melee with enough support. If u fight those pesky D8 Dwarfs, you´ll make them die already on a 4+ if trapped. (2Handed + Piercing-Strike + Backstabber)If stronger Heroes are incomming, let your Batswarms attack them, to half their FV, then overwhelm then with Captains, Prowlers (will go up to F4 if enemy is trapped) and then normal Goblins + Supporters. If paired against the Death of Dunnharow or anything who generates Terror, your Shaman will create a 6" auto-pass Bubble. Surprise, you will fit a lot of those goblins in those 6 inches. However, not strong against pure Bow-Lists. They can & will hurt you a lot. Feel free to exchange the captains for Durburz & Groblog. Keep in mind that those changes will immediatly tear down your model count. You don't care about the ightvalue or the defence. Just rush in melee, and let your small green friends do the work for you.

Horde 750 Points

Warband 1 151 pts

1 Durburz 70

6 Goblins + Shield 30

6 Goblins + Spears 30

3 Goblin Prowlers 21

Warband 2 pts 114 pts

1 Groblog 50

5 Goblins + Shield 25

5 Goblins + Spears 25

2 Goblin Prowlers 14

Warband 3 265 pts

1 Shaman 45

2 Drummers with Drum 75

1 Dweller in the Dark 75

2 Bat-Swarms 70

Warband 4 + 5, each 104 pts, 208pts in total

1 Generic Captain + Shield 40

5 Goblins + Shield 25

5 Goblins + Spears 25

2 Goblin Prowlers 14

Nothing shows more love then a massive horde army with 61 Models.

2) Horde/Monster Mix

3) Pure Monster