Hello Gents.

First post, so here goes.

I have recently been rather enticed by the idea of creating a Mahud themed army/force; the trouble is, Mahud warriors don't seem hugely competitive; my question is how to make them work in a competitive(ish) environment?

As best I see it, their strengths are S4, High (for Harad) defence, and access to blowpipes. Their weaknesses are their low fight value, and high cost (with respect to the rest of the Harad units).

Short of not taking them (but I'd like to), how do you/could you make Mahud Warriors work? I've heard of people supporting them with Corsairs with spears for that fight 4, or even sticking a shade behind them. The primary issue seems to be winning fights with that pesky F3, but even if you can mitigate that, it seems that they need to work hard to earn their points. Blowpipes ignore the bow limit (right?) so taking massed blowpipes could be a way to earn back a few points here and there.

I'd be delighted to hear your thoughts.

I've used and been disappointed by Mahud, but what I found is to concentrate of their strengths. The Camel Raiders might be good, not sure, but your strengths are the Mahud King and Half Trolls.

Hi there. Let me preface this post by stating that, while I have never personally used the Mahud, 90% of the games I play are against them in some form or fashion. My brother has an unhealthy obsession with Harad, and uses the Mahud often. We've even been building entire Far Harad theme lists, which is actually quite fun. So I'd say I have better experience than most dealing with them.

First off, let's talk about their strengths. Strength 4 minimum on troops, war camels, and half trolls. The thing about the Mahud, and Far Harad in general, is that they hit incredibly hard. When they win fights, they are probably killing their targets. Couple that strength 4 with a war spear while mounted, and suddenly Defense 6 armies don't bother you. Gondor or Uruk shield wall giving you trouble? The Mahud laugh at them.

The key is actually winning the fights. F3 is not great. That's why, in my opinion, banners are essential in these army lists. Maybe even 2 if you are running pure Mahud. If you use them in conjunction with other Haradrim with access to F4 then you're pretty well set.

The basic warriors are also fragile, and don't like elves or anything with access to S3 shooting. Their other glaring weakness is courage. Courage 2 is horrendous. You'd be wise to use a haradrim warrior with warhorn to help out a bit. Terror armies excel against these guys.

Back to the strengths though. Mahud Raiders are very destructive when used properly. Enemy mounted heroes causing you trouble? Charge 1-2 of these bad boys into that hero and watch his mount get impaled. Heck, you might even get off a cheeky wound on the hero too since impale wounds both mount and rider. Camels really do make excellent anti-cavalry options.

Half trolls are brutal. No other way to say that. While expensive, tossing 2-3 of these in each warband gives you some immense killing power. Wanna have a lot of fun? Run a warband of these guys. Having infantry that rival elves, but get 2 attacks, 2 wounds, and wound half the armies out there on 4's. Its madness.

You're best friend in this list though is the Mahud King. If there is one model in this game I hate more than anything it's a mounted, fully kitted King. This guy just obliterates things. High Fight, immense strength, with a war camel and war spear. My god it's horrifying. This guy loves killing enemy troops. He rides into the ranks with reckless abandon, bloody club in hand, playing polo with the heads of your soldiers while his camel turns them into a shish kabob. Keep a few radiers with him and conserve his might for heroic moves so that you are always getting the charge and maximizing the use of impale. I'd also recommended charging two guys at once minimum. Since impale only strikes one target; nothing is worse than charging a single guys, killing him on the charge, and not getting to do anything else that turn.

I have to cut the rest of this post short as my train is almost to work. Hopefully this helps a bit.

Thanks, this is really helpfull! I will experiment with some Mahud next game, and I'll let you know how it goes!