The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game/Tactics/Azog's Hunters

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Why Play Azog's Hunters

Need a fast, hard hitting Orc army army? then you might have found what you're looking for, these guys can be your ultimate raiding force of Orcs, easily closing the gap between them and their target. Azog and Bolg in a list together are a force to be reckoned with, together they can easily take on some of the stronger heroes.

Pros

• Plenty of Heroes to choose from
• Can bring more bows than usual.
• Morgul Arrows
• Even when dismounted the Orcs are still deadly
• One of the later released armies so they are all very nicely designed and detailed.
• New FAQ allows Orcs on Fell Wargs to charge without LoS (Fimbul benefits the most)

Cons

• No shields
• No Spears
• Pricey in points for lightly armoured Orcs.

Army Bonus

Your bow limit is increased to 50% and your Orcs Shoot Value is improved by +1. This is very, very good. This bonus also affects all your heroes as well making Bolg and Narzug extremely deadly with their Morgal arrows.

Unit Analysis

Heroes

• Azog: The Defiler himself. He may not have been your favourite Orc from the movies but he could very well be your favourite Orc on the table top. Where Bolg can take on large numbers Azog is best of headhunting your opponents heroes, his special rule "I am the Master" makes every wounding strike a +3 against an enemy Hero Regardless of their Defence, making any points your opponent paid in making their hero more survivable has now been made completely useless. His stand fast has a range of 12 that also affects other Orc Heroes. Of Course Azog wouldn't be getting very far if he didn't bring along his best friend the White Warg. Bringing this pup along adds three new special rules. the first is "Deadly Union" as long as Azog is mounted they can use each others Might, Will and Fate points. second comes "Pack Master" wild wargs, fell wargs and chieftain wargs may use the white wargs stand fast and benefit from Heroic Actions. Thirdly and finally is "Raging Beast", the White Warg automatically passes courage tests to stay in the fight after Azog dismounts. It then passes all courage tests for the rest of the battle. Now If Azog is taken in this army list he cannot be equipped with heavy armour (which is a downside because he is only defence 5), stone flail or the signal tower as that is his Azog Legion army list Options.

• Bolg: Your Combat Monster, with Fight Value 7 and 3 attacks he's sure to do some damage especially to Elves and Dwarves given his ancient enemies rule. Bolg can also be dangerous at range with an Orc bow and Morgul arrows. using these are perfect for softening up an enemy hero before finishing them of in combat, he also gives all other Hunter Orcs and captains the option of using Morgul arrows. You want to get Bolg into combat to rake up his kill count as fast as possible. Two kills gives him the Terror special rule, after five kills he gets Harbinger of Evil, After Ten he can spend a point of might each turn without depleting it.

• Yazneg: The only Orc who can take a lance so make sure he gets the charge into combat. aside form that his stats are almost identical to Fimbul, he does have lower courage though. He is best bought along in list with Azog as the sacrificial Lamb. If he's in base contact with Azog, and your army is about to be broken, remove Yazneg from play. Azog is treated as if he's passed his courage test and his stand fast, which affects the entire battlefield. From then all Orcs and heroes (excluding Bolg) get to re-roll failed courage tests.

• Fimbul: He's very much a bog standard captain with a higher courage and fight value with 1 extra point of might, he comes with a sword and orc bow too but his special rule "Hunt Master" allows him to go over difficult terrain without suffering any penalties, this applies for when he is charging too. Use him to catch anything that's trying to hide from you.

• Narzug: Your Sharpshooter, with a shoot value of 4 (but then increased to 3 for the army bonus) he can pick of a few soldiers on the side. Nazrug also gets to use Morgul arrows, with these you can start aiming at the heroes and watch them slowly die. Best of all he has a special rule giving him one free might point a turn to spend on his hit/in the way/ wound rolls with ranged weapons, effectively giving him either a shoot value of +2 or +1 to wound with arrows.

• Hunter Orc Captain: A slightly improved upon hunter Orc, he has the option to bring a two-handed weapon, this would work well with the many blades special rule giving you three attacks. Aside form that you should only bring him if you can't bring the much better heroes mentioned above.

Troops

• Hunter Orc: These Orcs are a lot more savage compared to their Mordor cousins, though they cant bring shields or spears, they make up for it with strength 4 and their ability to have two attacks (while on foot) in a fight. They can also shoot much better than most Orcs if you keep your army bonus. You're best of mounting these guys on wargs to get them moving even faster, speaking of Wargs...

• Fell Warg: Murder Doggos, a fell warg can charge into units without having line of sight this makes them perfect for ambushes. They have low courage but they can easily get into fight pretty quickly, i'd recommend charging them into the flanks while your Orcs deal with th vanguard, or even better take on some unprepared archers.

Allies

Historical Allies

The Nazgul of Dol Guldur

Azog's Legion

Convenient Allies

Goblin Town

The Trolls

Smaug

Moria

Impossible Allies

Angmar

The Serpent Horde

Far Harad

Corsairs of Umbar

Isengard

Sharkey's Rogues

Variags of Khand

Mordor

The Eastern Kingdoms