Hey all, after realizing that my Angmar army would be woefully underpowered I've decided to do a Moria one instead. I love the idea of monsters and critters, I just hate Buhrdur and Gulavhar.


Durburz - 70pts
Druzhag - 100pts

The Barazinbar Horde - 235pts
8 Companies of Goblins; Shields & Drum

Host of Methedras - 235pts
8 Companies of Goblins; Shields & Drum

Wolves of the Northern Waste - 130pts
4 Companies of Wargs; Chieftain

Trollshaw Spiders - 140pts
4 Companies of Giant Spiders

Ungoldur - 145pts
Spider Queen

Army of Gundabad - 345pts
6 Companies of Blackshields; Full Command


That all comes to 1400 points total. For the last 100 points, I'm not sure what to do. I was thinking of adding a Cave Troll and another Warg Company.

To take it up to 2K, I'm conflicted. I have the Balrog (still not assembled) that I could use, but I also want to try out Bats, Prowlers, Spider Swarms, etc.

It worries me slightly how much better the Blackshields are than Goblins for the same friggin' cost. Obviously I should have 3 Formations of Blackshields rather than the Gobbos, but the models are a lot more expensive and I have most of the Goblins already. Suggestions?

_________________
Gondor: 2339pts
Rohan: 1318pts
Dwarves: 2482pts
Elves: 1091pts
Mordor: 2305pts
Isengard: 1762pts
Moria: 1463pts
Evil Men: 381pts

I would definitely try out some prowlers. I use smaller formations of them to be more maneuverable and try to hit the flanks.

There are so many things in the LotR range that don't have models yet, my group at least has no problem with me using the regular plastic goblins with shields as blackshields. I don't use any regular goblins though so that might be an issue for you. The major difference between the two is the fur cape on the blackshields. If using unmodified goblins won't work for you then I would think they could be converted to have cloaks fairly inexpensively.

Regardless, I like putting the Fate "Cursed Armor of Udun" on my Blackshields. 8-9 companies of Def 7 goblins generally can last the entire game.

Other fates you might consider are Morgul Blades for some prowlers, Crown of Carn Dum for Druzhag, or the Sigil of Fallen Kings for some goblins.

If it were me I would split one formation of goblins into 2 formations of 4 comps of prowlers and upgrade the other goblins to more blackshields, but that is just me.

Cave Trolls don't work real well on their own. You kinda need several of them to be effective, so I wouldn't recommend taking a troll.

Balrog would be a fire magnet. I play with the dragon sometimes and he tends to distract the enemy more than the damage he causes. If you don't use him, you might consider Shelob as a very fluffy ally and/or a Stone Giant. My giant has done wonders for me (swatting a winged Khamul like a little bug on the first turn was priceless).

Bats and broodling swarms don't really impress me much. Too expensive, though the bats flight and terror might be useful. I haven't really used either of them before. It did occur to me that a formation of broodling swarms could be used in a "Seize the Prize" mission to collect a couple objectives and then just run around hiding and being almost immune to ranged attacks.

That's my collected wisdom for the Misty Mountain list. Hope it's useful to you.

How much larger are the Blackshields than standard Goblins?

See, this is the problem I have. There is literally NO reason to take Goblins. Sure the Blackshields are a Rare Formation, but there are enough good Common Formations to even out with them.

Has the discrepancy in cost been addressed in any FAQ's or anything?

_________________
Gondor: 2339pts
Rohan: 1318pts
Dwarves: 2482pts
Elves: 1091pts
Mordor: 2305pts
Isengard: 1762pts
Moria: 1463pts
Evil Men: 381pts

They are slightly larger I think but not really noticeable unless you stand them next to each other (like I said, I'm not even positive how different the sizes are so it can't be too much).

Yes, Blackshields are in everyway superior to regular goblins with shields. I can't imagine taking regular goblins unless I have 15 points left over and nothing else to spend it on than a single company of shieldless goblins. Mordor gets super cheap nazgul, fallen realms has arbelestors and pikemen, many many units in the game are poorly costed, I don't feel bad taking our bargain unit.

No, the FAQ has not addressed any of the imbalance issues, just clarified some vague rules (and muddled some rules that otherwise worked).