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 Post subject: orcs as the body of an army
PostPosted: Sun Feb 09, 2014 6:07 am 
Kinsman
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Recently i played a 1000pt game mordor with a troll chieftain, gothmog and 3 ringwraiths with just orcs as the troops (with 12 warg riders). I ended up getting destroyed by isengard. Can you actually take orcs as troops as an army? Or do you need something spevial there to turn the tables. First time playing mordor, so im really not sure about everything.

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 Post subject: Re: orcs as the body of an army
PostPosted: Sun Feb 09, 2014 8:53 am 
Craftsman
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With mordor I suspect that you can build a mainly orc force, but I think you should have some morrannons and such to add hitting power. Against uruk-hai, I would add them into the second line; their defense will provide no more protection against uruk attacks than that of the regular orcs, but with spears they can crack the Uruks own defence with high strength.

How did the battle play out? That might provide some insight into your problem.

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 Post subject: Re: orcs as the body of an army
PostPosted: Sun Feb 09, 2014 9:54 am 
Kinsman
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You most certainly can. They do have the same problem as Goblins, they die easily and don't kill so fast.
Adding Shamans helps a lot. Just as adding a Shade (but don't if you don't need to, it just isn't fun).

Were any of these Ringwraiths on Fellbeast? The lack of killing power from the Orcs can be solved by adding Monsters who can Hurl. Fellbeasts being the best option here.

Gothmog on Warg with a Taskmaster behind/as passenger is also a very nice combo. Unlimited might if you're lucky.

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 Post subject: Re: orcs as the body of an army
PostPosted: Sun Feb 09, 2014 11:39 am 
Elven Warrior
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2 answers - you need something special, but you also need lots of orcs. Most of the Mordor heroes i would class as support. If you take a look through the list, its trolls, Gothmog, Shagrat war captain, and Kardush that would get you kills to a reliable degree. Nazgul don't get kills but they make it much easier for orcs or trolls.

3 wraiths might be an issue, particularly if they were all upgraded or named. I can't imagine there were too many targets for them to hit. They are most efficient when they are able to bring down same points or more enemies through transifx. With one upgraded wraith you should be able to take out 2 characters or just about. You can't expect everything to earn their points back, but this was probably an influence. Just spend a turn or 2 casting Sap Will then start transfixing. I normally use just one dice because you should be able to get about 2 turns of casting in before lines close (why would you want to engage powerful heroes earlier than needed?) If you don't have the troops in place to be able to deal with it, sap will then got for a channeled black dart on 2 if not 3 dice that's 5 will out of 7-14, you might not get lucky, but the odds are against him more.

Crossbows I imagine could have been a big pain, but that's what wargs are for. How did they go?

You can definitely use orcs as the core of your army but you have to outnumber them just like the movies. Out flanking is the best strategy as you won't beat them in a head on battle, so you have to take away any pike support. It's easier to break through on the outside than the inside because you can get more models into the fight. I generally choose to use a few might points to get some kills or call heroic combats when doing this as it normally creates a snow-ball effect provided you keep shuffling down the line to fill in gaps and use shielding where appropriate.

As a rough rule, you would want about 25% more orcs than he has troops whatever the faction, then add your power heroes or magic.

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 Post subject: Re: orcs as the body of an army
PostPosted: Sun Feb 09, 2014 11:57 am 
Ringwraith
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Weight of numbers can wear any opponent down, but it is always better to have more than one way of hurting them, and come at them from more directions than they can cope with.
Deployment, strategy and tactics are important, not just troop selection. If you can locally outnumber them 2:1 or more, you will defeat almost anything (heroes excluded). Try variations with a troll or two in the mix, maybe have trolls operating together as a 'door-opener'. Morannon orcs and Mordor uruks, orc trackers... warg riders. Experiment!

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 Post subject: Re: orcs as the body of an army
PostPosted: Sun Feb 09, 2014 2:38 pm 
Loremaster
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Like vandal said morannons morannons and more-annons. Theyre awesome and cheap.

Also, Dark Marshall is a banner for much needed re rolls. Also, an idea is to put like 2 trolls in there. They can barge or throw and knock down a bunch of guys. Then this means either the uruk onslaught is slower, or you can swarm em when their lines break.

Good luck.

Main thing though I think I forgot to say-morannons.

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 Post subject: Re: orcs as the body of an army
PostPosted: Sun Feb 09, 2014 3:24 pm 
Ringwraith
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You could take Morannons, but that changes the flavour of your theme, and is also points spent on armour that are wasted. You can certainly win with basic Orcs. Were all your ring wraiths named? Even if not, in 1000 points the main problem I see is too many points spent on heroes.

Orcs can win, but it has to be a true horde. Troll Chief is good, as is a wraith on a fell beast, and maybe another budget wraith for the spell support, terror bubble, and standfast (a steal at 55 points)...but after that use cheap heroes like Gorbag, shamans, and basic captains.

IOW, in 1000 points you want no more than 1 or 2 major heroes, and the rest should just be swarm leaders.
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