500 Under 50: Army of Gothmog/Mordor

Dave: When I started this small series, my aim was to try and keep as close to £50 for a 500 point list as possible, whilst I think I'm still close enough to that restriction, I'm starting to see that £60 is much more a reasonable price goal. There may have been a price increase from Games Workshop that I didn't notice, but I swear some stuff seems more expensive than usual... Either way, the following list should set you back no more that £60, and the Hero models are all from Games Workshop, whereas the Orcs themselves come from eBay, so some searching may yield better prices. You could also save £24 if you are handy with conversions/Green Stuff and make the Commanders yourself!

For this list you will need to purchase:
Gothmog (Foot and Mounted) - £22 (Games Workshop)
Morannon Orc Commanders - £24 (Games Workshop)
Morannon Orcs - £7 for 12 on eBay. You will need 2 sets, so £14 for 24 Orcs
Total Costs: £60

This list is as follows:

Gothmog on Warg with Shield.
1 Morannon Orc with Banner.
9 Morannon Orcs with Shields.
5 Morannon Orcs with Spears.

Morannon Orc Captain with Two-Handed Axe.
5 Morannon Orcs with Shields.
4 Morannon Orcs with Spears.

Orc Shaman

Orc Drummer

500 Points, 28 Models, 6 Might

If you don't own the Gondor at War Supplement, you can run this list as a Mordor army list instead of an “Army of Gothmog” Legendary Legion, even if you own the book, the choice is yours. The list also clocks in just shy of 500, at 496, as I've left shields off of the Orcs with Spears. Some of them are moulded onto them, 2 on each of the sprues, 4 total amongst the Orcs you'll have. If you want to include those Orcs with shields, that takes you up to a neat 500, but will require you to remember that only the ones with shields actually have them, not too hard, but if you're completely new to the game, its another small piece of information on top of all of the rules. Anyway...

Where the last list I wrote for this series (“The Rangers of Ithilien”) was all about shooting, you may notice a complete lack of it in this list! This list wants to get in your opponents face as quickly as it can. Having an Orc drummer in there can help, as sounding the drum during your movement phase will grant valuable extra inches to your whole army's movement and let them all keep up with  Gothmog on his Warg.

Speaking of Gothmog, he's an absolute monster. Boasting the “Master of Battle” rule, he can keep up with any hero in combat if they try to get their leg over him with a Heroic Action. On top of that, he's bringing 3 Might to the table, as well as 3 attacks, with a 4th when he charges due to his mount. He's really not a fan of Men at all either, so you'll find a very flavourful pair of rules to deal with them, and set in stone that “the age of men is over, the time of the Orc has come”. These grant Hatred (Men) permanently and rerolls to wound for one turn. If you are using this as the Legendary Legion then the ranges of these buffs are greatly increased! His warband also features a banner, giving you the edge in a duel for all your Orcs within it's range.

There's not much to say about the generic Captain, he's a cheap way for you to be able to field more Orcs, as well as granting more Might and Heroic March to the army, ensuring that you won't just spend the whole game chasing after cavalry models to no avail.

The Shaman is great addition in this list, being able to grant Fury, which is even better if you spend his Might for Heroic Channelling. It grants a very generous buff of Fearless, and, if Channelled, a 1/6 chance to ignore a wound, just as if a fate had been spent for all Orcs within 6". From my experience (and much to the frustration of my opponent) I've had Orcs stick around for far longer than they should do thanks to this guy!

Dan: Thanks Dave! I have personally witnessed Dave's Fury saves and they are a sight to behold! If you have saved a load of money thanks to these articles, consider buying Dave's Rohan dice off him, those Horsies show up a lot! 😉 Let us know what you think of this list or if you have any experience with Army of Gothmog/Mordor and would make any changes! Thanks for reading!