The Council of Evil

Listening to the excellent Entmoot podcast recently, Harry replayed one of his older interviews where he played an opponent who was taking a 'Council of Evil' list. This consisted of an all Character list of some of the biggest Evil threats in the game. This got me thinking, The Fellowship costs about 800 points to field every character with a few upgrades thrown in, so what could we conjure up on the Evil side as an equivalent? I threw it out to the Drawn Combat team with the following caveats: the list must be all characters, must be 800 points and must be legal to play (so must follow the allies rules). It can also have a maximum of 9 characters but doesn't have to have that many. I let them pick their line up however they wanted: theme, gamey-ness, or just the characters they like best! Here is what we came up with:

Dan Slob:

The Witch King (3/15/3), Crown of Morgul, Morgul Blade, Horse
The Shadow Lord, Horse
Ringwraith (2/7/2), Horse
Amdur, Armoured Horse
Khandish King, Chariot
Mahud King, War Camel, Shield, War Spear
Orc Captain, Shield, Warg

7 Models, 16 Might

I almost always write lists with gameplay in mind, so I knew straight away that I wanted to do an all mounted force and I didn't want any repeated models. I also knew that I wanted at least 7 models for the theme (I had found trying to get 9 was too hard as they have to average under 90 points each). So what have I got? Three Ringwraiths for Magic dominance, two characters with impact hits for mowing through troops, Amdur to deal with Heroes, and a Captain as support/objective grabber. The Witch King is a machine, I have used him a fair bit and I couldn't not have him in the list. The Shadow Lord is mostly there to protect the horses! With so few models those cavalry bonuses are too important to be shot out from under me so his main job is to make it hard for them to be killed! The Ringwraith is mainly for casting Transfix and calling Moves/Marches without depleting the stores of the bigger characters. As I said before, Amdur is to deal with Heroes as he is just about the best duelist that Evil has. The Kings are there for their impact hits and because they are relatively cheap! Finally the support Captain will also call Moves and Marches whenever needed and scoot of to grab objectives if he is still alive at the end! Overall I think it is straight up bad but it does look like fun at least!


Colm: 

The driving factors behind my Evil Fellowship were to discard the idea of in-game effectiveness and make something I think would be somewhat thematic and likely to lead to interesting stories (and I’m opting out of the easy thematic choice of the Black Riders), whilst slightly mirroring the Good Fellowship by representing various factions within Middle Earth.  Without further ado my selected nine are as follows:

Saruman

Grima

Lurtz

Gothmog

Goblin King

Gollum

Grishnakh

Wild Warg Chieftan

Witch King

Saruman is a powerful wizard, much like Gandalf, and Sauron believes him to be a trusted lieutenant. By embarking on a quest to find and attain the ring Saruman is taking a more direct approach than in canon, but he will be a valuable asset on the road able to compel the denizens of Middle Earth with his powerful voice and obviously able to abley assist in any fights they come across. Saruman, however, is consumed with avarice and a lust for power. He will surely betray Sauron and spark conflict within the factions of his 8 companions. Grima and Lurtz accompany Saruman to aid and defend him however they can. Saruman has a history of using spies and Grima can be dispatched to villages/towns to pursue their quest in a way that won’t attract much attention. Lurtz is a powerful fighter who can act as bodyguard and a hunter.

Gothmog is another member of this Fellowship that Sauron trusts, but rather than directing forces at the assault on Minis Tirith, Gothmog will travel through Middle Earth on his behalf. Gothmog also has his own motives . . . perhaps by getting hold of the ring he can bring about the time of the orc in a way that he sees fit. Grishnakh is another Mordor Orc, but with a different set of skills to Gothmog. He has experience in working with the forces of Isengard and the role entrusted to him by Sauron is to keep a watchful eye for any suspicious activity from Saruman or his disciples. After all, Saruman seems loyal, but Sauron has become paranoid.

The Witch King and the Wild Warg Chieftain both come from the Angmar list. I put the Wild Warg in the list first as he would be able to range far and wide and speed and would be a powerful hunter. I was going to add a generic Ringwraith to lead him as the Witch King would surely be entrusted to leading Sauron’s forces against Gondor, but as Dan (editor/tyrant-in-chief) asked for a legal list I needed a hero of valour or higher. The Witch King is a Hero of Legend and also very cheap if you don’t buy him many items, so he was added to the list (but lets pretend he’s not quite who he seems). A Ringwraith is obviously a fitting choice to hunt for the ring due to their ability to sense and see ring bearers when the ring is worn and will work unceasingly to accomplish Sauron’s goals.

The last additions to the Fellowship come as something as a duo. Gollum knows of The Shire and has met Bilbo, it makes perfect sense for him to join the hunt. He of course has his own, ulterior motives. The Goblin King allows for Gollum to join the fray, but is also a powerful figure and will hold sway with the Goblins of the mountains and influence them to assist and is also a powerful fighter who can take on the best the world of men has to offer. He was all too happy to join in  in order to gain Sauron’s favour.

It ended up a motley crew of goblins, men and more, but they are all powerful models in their own way. They all also have their own reasons for joining the quest for the ring and will surely clash along the way. It seems to me that it would be doomed to fail due to competition and a lack of trust, but it would doubtlessly be entertaining to see them forge their way across Middle Earth.

Will: 

So what I tried to do with this list is collect some of the iconic models and leaders that the Fellowship encounter throughout their journey. This was difficult assembling different parts. If I had 1000 points to work with I was golden. As it is 800 I needed to sacrifice my list in places, much to my dismay at leaving out some of my favorite models.

My list:

Witch king on Fellbeast 1/10/3  - This is one of the all time most iconic characters and images for me. The screech of the Fell Beast and the visual dominance of the Witch King striking fear in everyone on the receiving end.

Cave Troll -  One of the first biggest threats to the Fellowship was this monster crashing through Balin’s tomb door and is such a bargain I couldn’t not put this in. (Balrog was far too expensive!)

Saruman  - Sauron's trusted commander of Isenguard. As another strong caster he was a definite addition to my list. If he can get some magic off it could leave the WK to get stuck in and do some of the heavy lifting in terms of combat

Grima - He’s here to add up the numbers but more importantly be that sneaky little lizard who could pop up at the right time and turn on an opponent.

Lurtz - I know all you book readers won’t like this one but in the films this is the Uruk that kills Boromir and for this reason alone deserves a spot in my list (I’m not a fan of Boromir).

Sharku on Warg with Shield - He is here for some maneuverability and March and because I couldn’t afford my beloved Shelob. To be fair though his special rule is pretty good when hitting other heroes and the shield helps get it triggered.

Gothmog on Warg  - I mean come on, how can you not put in the Big G, with his Master of Battle on the field this could be a game changer and if you look to our previous blog you can see he is an all round great hero. I have opted to go without shield, I know it’s a brave move but I think the 5 points was better spent on the WK.

Gorbag with Shield - I had to get one character in from Cirith Ungol. Due to the size of this group he is more than likely going to be outnumbered. Also the fact he is pretty much the only one that survives the mass brawl he deserves a worthy spot.

So there we have it coming in at exactly 800 pts. Is it any good? Probably not, but it seems like it would be a lot of fun. I could have filled it out with some lesser models or gone superbig with the likes of Balrog etc but I wanted to be a bit themey and try and diverse across the options.


Dave: 

When it came to making my Evil Fellowship, I thought it'd be cool to just see if I could find an Evil equivalent of each member. More so in how they look, rather than their rules, for example all 4 of the Hobbits are Goblins in my list.

My Gandalf is Saruman since they're both Wizards.
Aragorn is Gothmog, both are good fighters and leaders!
Gimli is Mauhur... They both have two weapons!
Legolas is Vraksku because shootyshooty
Boromir is Lurtz because I couldn't resist!
Merry and Pippin are lowly Goblin Captains
Sam is Durburz, since he's the real hero.
And finally, Frodo is Groblog since they both have Mithril.


Steve:  Witchking's Nine.

Like every good caper, you've got to have a team. A team with very specific skills in order to pull the job off and it just so happens that ol'WK has put the right team together for just such a job - reclaiming the One Ring.

First up, the brains and mastermind of the operation - the WitchKing of Angmar. Willing to do anything to get the job done.

His partner in crime and old friend with the handsome face? The Mouth of Sauron can sweet talk anyone. We wouldn't be anywhere without a conman though, would we? Good old faithful Grima 'Wormtongue' Wormtongue knows just how to smooth talk all the court into his favour. Who's going to back him up though when a little muscle is needed? Buhrdur is your troll and he ain't taking no ****.

Whilst they've got the talents, you need the guy who's going to get you whatever you need. A ten thousand strong army? A new race of super orcs? A handy snowfall? Saruman ‘Wizard of Many Colours’ is the man you want to be talking to.  Want  to avoid some rival tricksy thieveses and you go right for Gollum with his sticky fingered ways and knack for climbing. Now the safe cracker or rather city cracker Gothmog may not make a pretty job, but damn he gets results.

So who's the guy you're leaving behind? The guy to take a fall...Well no-one is better to lose their head but Snaga once he goes to plant the knife in your back. Finally, the key part to staying out of fantasy jail - the getaway driver. The team have the Ring, they're running out of Bag End and who should show up but the Khandish King drifting in on his chariot - all to ride off into the Sunset in preparation for the next last job they'll ever need to do.

(Editors Note: Steve is disqualified as this is not technically a legal list (Gollum isn't a Hero of Valour) but we'll let him off as he made such pretty pictures to go with the article)


Sean: 

Khamul The Easterling
The Mouth of Sauron
Saruman
Grima Wormtongue
Lurtz
Amdur
Khandish Chieftain

Suladan

When Dan set the challenge of the Evil fellowship I was instantly drawn to the idea of having nine characters - three from each main evil areas in the films (Moria, Isenguard and Mordor). But sadly due to points it just wasn't possible. I also started to think about having some of the main evil characters they meet, but I really dislike Gothmog both in the films and the game.

In the end I decided to focus on what the fellowship was (a bunch of people of different lands in middle Earth) and with the help of the Allies tables, decide that I would focus on picking fewer people, but from as many different "lands" as possible.

Isengard was the exception as I felt Saruman and Lurtz are general stand out characters with their relationship with the Fellowship. Lurtz is the only character to kill a member of the Fellowship (not getting in the Gandalf debate) and Saruman, because without him we would never have Gandalf and his wonderful leveling up in the book! Wormtongue is just too good to miss out.

Amdur, Suladan and a Khandish Chieftain really represent Boromir, Legolas and Gimli, as well as the other people of the lands of Sauron. Khamul could have been the Witch King, but it's a nice change as the WK is always included, and the Mouth as the representative of Sauron in the party.

There are some points left over for upgrades, but I'm keen for none of them to have horses...mainly as the fellowship didn't.

So there we have it. What would your Council of Evil look like? We'd love to see your suggestions in the comments!