Hey guys, while im new to the forum i am an experienced player and its nice to finally find an active community for this great game. Here is my very best army, i would like some feedback on what you think of it. Thanks

Main force (dol-guldor)
Spider queen-75pts
Castellan of dol-guldor with morgul blade-70pts
4 giant spiders-100pts
6 wargs-48pts

Allies (moria)
Durburz-60pts
Bat swarm-35pts
11 goblins with sheilds-55pts
12 goblins with spears-50pts
In total 503 points.

The spider queen is a beast of a model, she is the perfect leader for cavalry models and amazingly cheap, a MUST have in any evil army. She is better than shelob because there is a risk that shelob will pussy out of the game if she loses a wound.
The castellan is an amazing assassin model, huges amounts of defence and 12 "fate" points. The morgul blade is brilliant for killing your enemies most pesky heroes, especially hasharii, its funny to watch an assassin become instantly slain by a cheaper model.
The giant spiders are so underrated, i have won games using pretty much nothing but the spiders, they truly are the best cavaly in the game.
The wargs are a meatsheild for the spiders against archery and brilliant cavalry themselves.
Durburz is the only worthwhile goblin hero and is actually bloody good at keeping his army together.
Bat swarms are amazing support models, with four wounds they will not go down easy and are brilliant at backing up your heroes when they do battle with powerful enemies (bat swarms half the fight value of all enemies in base contact) this makes them useful for keeping the spiders alive once they have finished their initial charge and can provide the castellan with a guaranteed victory for when he goes in for the kill with his morgul blade!
Goblins get little fighting in this army as by the time the spiders and wargs are done, there is not as much left to kill, but they make sure the force is very difficult to break so the elite soldiers wont flee as easy.

I am thinking of somehow putting ugluk in the army so he can hold the goblins together by killing them....

Maybe you don't mean it this way, but you're using the term "cavalry" for wargs and spiders, which implies the special cavalry rules. They are not cavalry, they do not get the extra attack, nor knockdown, on a charge.

Otherwise, looks interesting. I've never used a castellan, they don't seem that useful on paper. I'd rather have a shaman and more goblins.

Do they not get the knowckdown and extra attack? thats ridiculous i've been playing games against gw staff and they haven't pointed anything out, nonetheless i believe you because i have always had doubts myself. The castellans are very useful as they can survive for quite a long time provided you don't put them in every fight you come across a warrior, they are much better at dealing with heroes (morgul blade) their also rather immune to archery in comparison to the rest of the force (defence 7) only big drawback is that they don't have a stand fast, which is quite useful among goblins.

I would LOVE for spiders and wargs to have cavalry bonus

_________________
++ THE VANUS TEMPLE ++
Contact for commissions!

I would kill for it.

BoT: Your list looks very interesting but a shaman is kind of a must. You can't really count on the SQ or Durburz for Stand fast!. Remember that the shamans fury affects Durburz as well so he has an auto-12 inch stand fast!.

Yeah, GW staff are not exactly known for their knowledge of the rules Cavalry is defined as a rider + mount, unless the model has a special rule, eg SQ. So I'm sure that will change the power equation of your list As for the Castellan, it looks interesting, but also like something I'd feed one warrior at a time to to keep away from heroes. I think even a budget wraith would be more effective at hero killing with Transfix.

Well i suppose the staff can't be expected to know the rules for 3 games. oh wait yes they can, its their job! Im only joking but yeah i doubt it will be as killer as it was, im sure my regular opponents will be rather annoyed at this revelation....
Whafrog ill try the list out with a budget ringwraith but castellans rarely let me down when it comes down to it, then yet again i will have to rethink my strategies due to the cavalry revelation.
And Horde lord, i hadn't thought of that the shaman and durbuz comboing together but in a relatively small force keeping both heroes together could be considered a mistake? But yeah i will deinatles get a shaman, i think i have a D&D troglodyte lying around that would make a good shaman....

you dont need the shaman, despite durburz having C 4, he has 2 will and 3 might, more than enough to get him by (ive never had him run on me)

Yeah, i could just be a tool and ally ugluk and some uruk hai hornblowers to keep the army in line...

Actually, if You have Ugluk you won't need the hornblower because Ugluk can use his special rule before/instead of taking his courage test.

Yeah but it would just be handy for attempting to charge terrifying enemies and people outside ugluks stand fast range

The Casetellans in SBG are decent if you have the extra points. I usually used them at 750 and above though..only occasionally at 500 and never below that. That's a LOT of points to sink into a single model the doesn't even have any Might, magic or Stand Fast. The normal infantry size base does let you get around ZoC issues easier than a troll, for example, and they are a good addition to important fights. I often use them in a sort of body-guard role.

Just to be sure you are on it, the Morgul Blade is a one-time use weapon. Yes, it is an auto kill if you cause at least one Wound, but you only get one shot at it and must declare at the beginning of the Fight you're using it. So you had better either hit someone that has no Fate available or else be sure you're dealing enough Wounds in that turn to burn thru it. I have generally found it is more of a psychological weapon that sometimes "encourages" players to keep their main Heroes away from the Castellan...just in case.

Durburz + Shaman is a very good combo for low Goblin courage as you can put the two at near max-range to each other so your Goblin King gets the auto-pass, and they will cover a very wide range of the table between the two of them. Just be sure you keep both of them alive. I usually try to make Shaman a primary target early on, and when I play against our Moria players Durburz rarely makes it to the end of the game either. But if you can keep them close enough together and well supported (Goblin spears are a must in any Dwellers / Moria army) then you'll probably do well.

Even without the Cav bonuses, btw, Giant Spiders and Wild Wargs are effective troops. Wargs are cheap in points and the mobility options of Giant Spiders should mean you can keep them covered fairly well until you're ready to use them unless you are on a wide open playing field. In a case such as that cover them with the Wargs and rush the whole mess of multi-legged fast models over to the weakest flank while your Gobos charge forward at full speed.

_________________
Wait ye the finish! The fight is not yours.
Beowulf

http://TacticsInMiniature.com

Im fully aware that a morgul blade is a use once high chance of failure weapon but as you said spearmen are a must and they often ensure i will cause one wound or more, generally i surround a hero with goblins while wargs can distract whatever troops are with them, mainly because of their large base. The goblins can often use up their fate and three S5 rolls (including a spear) to wound make me pretty confident i will wound at least once after that point. Also if im really desperate to win the fight i just use the bat swarm which i keep close to my infantry heroes.

But yeah i totally agree that it is a phycological weapon, i primarily play against harad and since their best heroes (hasharii and dalamyr) cant be surrounded it is very difficult to put them down with a horde army, atleast the threat of an insta-kill keeps them away from durbuz (occasionally :p)

So you guys reckon i should get a shaman and a budget wraith yes?