uruks in moria

Eaothen-the-brave · **Posted:** Wed Jan 11, 2012 6:59 am

hi all,
a time ago I was reading the first book, when the fellowship was in Moria, I read something I was wondering about ever since

when they're in Balin's tomb, I think it was Boromir who was describing the enemy, he was talking about goblins and also a troll IIRC, but he also said something about 'Uruks of Mordor'.
what about them? there really were uruk-hai in Moria sent by Sauron himself? I was curious what you guys think about it, also, should I maybe convert some orcs together with goblins, so that they re-present these Uruks of Mordor and giving them some house rules?

please let me know what you think about it,
kind regards,
Jorn.

theOneRider · **Posted:** Wed Jan 11, 2012 9:58 am

Uruk just means orc. It could mean uruk hai (literally "orc folk"), it could mean the sleazy/"more evil" ones like Grishnakh, it could even mean a tracker or gobbo-type (if Mordor used gobbos). Really the only thing that's definitive is that this one was from Mordor. Probably as an emissary to the rulers under the mountain.
In an LoME game, I'd probably use a Captain or Shaman from the Barad-dur list that suited me at the time. But you can pretty much do whatever, as long as your opponent doesn't cry foul.

Eaothen-the-brave · **Posted:** Wed Jan 11, 2012 12:01 pm

Thanks for the quick reply!

usually I just play a game with my friends, so they won't mind if I'd use them I suppose.. for real tournaments, I won't take them obviously, since they'd be illigal (:

But what about their profiles? I did some converting, and it seems alright, just adding some more details etc, I used a combination of mordor and morannon orcs and added some goblin shields/helmets etc.

Perhaps I could give 'em a combination of the moria and mordor orcs profiles to create their own profile.. or maybe a uruk-scout or something..

what about this:

Orc of Moria.....................................6/7?
F / S / D / A / W / C
3/4? / 3 / 4 / 1 / 1 / 2/3?

you can give them a shield or two-handed weapon for +1 to cost.

where the '?' are, I'm not sure yet.. should I give them more courage? but it'd would be a sort of combination of orcs and gobs.. and the only others are the Uruk-Hai.. maybe that's to much? so, should I give them more fightvalue? Or maybe even more strenght..

what would you take? Please give me your ideas
If you'd like to see some pictures, just tell me

theOneRider · **Posted:** Wed Jan 11, 2012 12:14 pm

Nah, for a tournament, just keep it to a captain or something that can be included as an allied force.

And I wouldn't mix/match the stats, either. The Eye isn't going to bother sending anything but his most reliable :lol:

servants on important missions to call in his allies from other lands. From the hobbying aspect you might combine parts from different minis, but this Uruk would make sure that whatever he was using would be up to spec with what he's had back in the Black Lands, so the rules should just stay the same.
Keep it simple and it'll be easy to remember and to play.

Eaothen-the-brave · **Posted:** Wed Jan 11, 2012 4:37 pm

Alright, thank you!

Yet, which profile should I pick? Mordor/ Morannon Orcs, Uruk-Hai (armoured ones), scouts or Mordor Uruks? That's the only question still bothering me.. :oops:

Telchar · **Posted:** Wed Jan 11, 2012 7:13 pm

theOneRider wrote:

Uruk just means orc. It could mean uruk hai (literally "orc folk"), it could mean the sleazy/"more evil" ones like Grishnakh, it could even mean a tracker or gobbo-type (if Mordor used gobbos). Really the only thing that's definitive is that this one was from Mordor. Probably as an emissary to the rulers under the mountain.
In an LoME game, I'd probably use a Captain or Shaman from the Barad-dur list that suited me at the time. But you can pretty much do whatever, as long as your opponent doesn't cry foul.

This is not completely true in two ways. Firstly, Uruks of Mordor were the big fighting Uruks like Grishnakh. Though the name means "Orc-folk", it was only used for the fighting Orcs of Sauron (who couldn't stand sunlight) and Saruman (who could stand the sun), while these called the others "snaga", meaning "slave". Among these are the trackers, laborers and lesser "spammed" warrior Orcs of Mordor, Isengard and Moria (and Angband, in the 1st age).
Secondly, the quote states "black Uruks of Mordor". Uruks, plural. So it wasn't just a single emissary (I don't think an emissary would come to fight just 9 intruders), but a company of sorts, probably sent to give the Goblins some spine for their invasion of Lothlorien.

Eaothen-the-brave wrote:

Alright, thank you!

Yet, which profile should I pick? Mordor/ Morannon Orcs, Uruk-Hai (armoured ones), scouts or Mordor Uruks? That's the only question still bothering me.. :oops:

Well, as stated before, they are Mordor Uruks, so just use a Mordor Uruk captain with some Mordor Uruks/Morannon Orcs.

Zogash · **Posted:** Thu Jan 12, 2012 10:34 am

Well, actually, it is stated in the Appendix of LoTR, in the Tale of Years, that in c. 2480 TA, "Sauron begins to people Moria with his creatures." Seeing as that's about 539 years before the arrival of the fellowship, it is unlikely that the black Uruks are merely an embassy just happening to be there at the time...
The depiction in the movie of Moria being populated solely by diminuitive goblins is off, it is far more probable that there are quite a few standard orcs (Mordor Orcs in game terms) permanently living there, as well as at least some "black Uruks" (Mordor Uruk-hai or Morannon Orcs, or both), probably as some sort of "ruling caste". Heck, it's even possible that the Great Goblin was particularly bad-tempered Uruk captain. ^^ Remember that in the book, goblin and orc are synonyms, and that they are all the same race, black Uruks just being the largest specimens.
The relationship between Sauron and Moria (via Dol Guldur) was far more active than what the movie implies, not to mention that in the book the Balrog doesn't scare the bejesus out of the orcs (or maybe he does...) but is actually in league with them, which means he possibly is under Sauron's control as well or at least willing to help! Makes sense, too, seeing as Sauron was Morgoth's second-in-command back in the First Age and thus the Balrogs' superior.

Draugluin · **Posted:** Thu Jan 12, 2012 9:38 pm

The orcs of Moria were sent there to serve the Balrog by Sauron. Sauron also sent some of his elites, the Uruk-hai, to lead the mobs of orcs. These orcs eventually degraded to fear the sun even more than normal orcs. GW represents this by making them weaker than normal orcs, but also cheaper. GW also made the Blackshields, who I would consider the Uruk-hai mentioned in the book, they're just degraded roughly the same as the rest of the orcs.
Also, Grishnahk was NOT an Uruk-hai. He was just a high ranking orc.

theOneRider · **Posted:** Fri Jan 13, 2012 10:27 am

I always figured Grishnakh was the Mordor equivalent of a Political Officer, or a Shaman in gaming terms. :roll:

WayUnderTheMountain · **Posted:** Fri Jan 13, 2012 6:18 pm

theOneRider wrote:

I always figured Grishnakh was the Mordor equivalent of a Political Officer, or a Shaman in gaming terms. :roll:

Haha, the moment you said Political officer I was thinking "Comissars". Oops. Missed the boat that time.

GodlessM · **Posted:** Tue Apr 03, 2012 2:56 am

Aside from Uruk simply meaning Orc as others have pointed out, it is mentioned in appendices and notes that it was Sauron who sent the Goblins and Trolls into Moria in the first place as he seeked to keep watch on the Balrog as it made a potential ally (they did used to serve the same master after all and are of the same 'race').

uruks in moria

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