Hi everyone,
So,this is my first time posting and I would appreciate some help with a Mordor list I am currently running. My local GW (Darlington) is running a campaign so I decided to dust off some models and dive back into The Lord of the Rings. The campaign starts at 250 points and jumps to 500 before finishing at 750. The list I have ran at 250 points is as follows-

Warband 1
Orc Captain with shield and warg
5 Warg Riders with shields

Warband 2
Orc Shaman with warg
5 Warg Riders with shields

The army has performed decently so far with a record of 2 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss. However, the jump to 500 points is approaching and I'm wondering which way I should take the army. The idea of an entirely mounted army appeals to me but I have no idea how effective this type of force will be. Ideally I would like to add at least one great beast of Gorgoroth and some more warg riders but other than that I am stumped. A second great beast or one of the named ringwraiths on a fell beast seems like a nice idea but I'm worried this will leave me with insufficient numbers.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Sauron is banned i presume??

_________________
éala éarendel engla beorhtast, ofer middangeard monnum sended

The Great Beast seems like a good idea for this, a quick heavy hitter who won't drain you of a lot of points. And has 9 bows to boot. If you want an all mounted army, you might want to consider some Morgul Knights, they have high defence and good fight, plus lances. At 500 pts, I wouldn't take a FB, though someone like the DM could be a very good Nazgul to lead this army.

_________________
"Leave Sauron to me."
If you're in the Raleigh, NC area, let me know.

Sauron isn't banned but I have been warned that he would make the game 'boring' and discouraged from using him. From my limited knowledge he does seem rather overpowered and I like my opponent to enjoy our game rather than be frustrated.
Im glad the great beast is a good idea as I love the model but I do have one question. As the model counts as cavalry and the rider is an orc does the beast auto-pass courage tests if in range of fury? Would two beasts at 750 take away from my numbers too much? I haven't played too many games but it already seems that being outnumbered is a bad start.
The reason I was avoiding knights is that I like the army to stay around if broken and I believe that fury only affects models of the same race as the caster. I know the knights are higher courage than orcs but I prefer the army to have no chance of running away over a small chance.
If I was to take a named wraith what are the best choices for an army of this type? The standout choices seem to be the Dark Marshall and the Shadow Lord.
Sorry for all the questions and thank you for your time.

Sauron isn't overpowered, just difficult to beat the first couple times you face him, but once you know how to beat him, he's actually really easy.

I think the Great Beast would work with fury, as it's the rider who takes the test. It wouldn't work to try and avoid wounds though.

The MK don't get to use fury, so I get why you wouldn't want them.

Well, you'll have to choose between the Great Beast and a Nazgul, but don't take both. If you choose the Great Beast, I would advise the Mouth of Sauron. A decent fighter AND a good spell caster for a low cost. He's very versatile, but keep him well away from enemy heros. Durin Heroic Fighted his way to the Mouth in the second turn of a game and killed him before he could actually do anything.

_________________
"Leave Sauron to me."
If you're in the Raleigh, NC area, let me know.

So, sticking to the theme, if I take a great beast at each point jump, fit the Mouth of Sauron in somewhere and fill the rest of my points with Shaman led Warg Riders will I have a decent force? Im a bit clueless at the minute due to my lack of experience.

The two games that I have won I have relied heavily on the bonuses from cavalry charging and the auto pass courage tests from fury. The games I have drawn were a result of losing the shaman and the loss came down to my army's inability to wound high defence dwarves. The thing I am most worried about is my army's ability to survive against high fight, high defence heroes. My Orc Captain managed to kill the King of the Dead but I can't see this happening too often. The great beast has 3 attacks but is only fight 3 meaning he can't survive an extended fight against this type of enemy, especially as a high defence will halt his charge.

My proposed strategy is to run the great beast(s) in a central position with the army leader (probably the Mouth) and then have shaman led riders wrap around the enemy block. I realise not all armies use an infantry block but I am seeing a lot of them in this campaign.

Thanks again.

You could use paralyze them I believe wraiths can and if not steal a shade.

No matter what, get more warg riders. You can have up to 12 in each warband, and it would be more advantageous to have more bodies than shamans.

_________________
"Leave Sauron to me."
If you're in the Raleigh, NC area, let me know.

Personally i think Gothmog is a good investment and it keeps the theme. You can just throw another 12 wargs with him.

I find the downside of full cav armies is the way you have to spread out very far around you opponent to achieve a high number of combats and charging into spear/pike shield walls is just a really bad decision so you may want some morannon orcs just as some ground troops

All mounted looks cool, but could be weak at higher than 250 points level. Mordor has to out number opponents to successfully counter impressive good heroes.

So, here is what I'm thinking for 500 points.

Warband 1-
Orc Captain with warg and shield
5 Warg Riders with shields
Great Beast of Gorgoroth
3 Trackers with wargs

Warband 2-
Shaman with warg
12 Warg Riders with shield

Does this look half decent? I know the numbers aren't brilliant but I'm hoping the beast will help out with this. I'm not expecting to win a lot but I don't want to lose every game either. Any criticism or comment is welcome.
The jump to 750 would bring in the Mouth of Sauron (mounted), 5 more mounted trackers and a second great beast. Would Gothmog be a better addition than a second beast?
Thanks again.

A very interesting list. It's very finesse, but it might work. Draugluin has already suggested this, but I'd consider some Morgul Knights.

_________________
"There are few left in Middle Earth like Aragorn, son of Arathorn." - Gandalf, Many Meetings

If you have the Mouth, you won't need to have Gothmog.

_________________
"Leave Sauron to me."
If you're in the Raleigh, NC area, let me know.

I'm pretty happy with the list at 500 points. However, I'm not too sure about my proposed additions for the jump to 750 and Morgul Knights have been suggested twice now by players who are probably far more experienced than me. Would this be a better plan?

500-750 jump
The Shadow Lord with armoured horse
6 Morgul Knights

This would provide me with a better spellcaster who also gives effective protection from shooting, meaning I can hopefully avoid early losses that would hurt an already low body count. The Knights also fill the need for something with a better fight value than 3. One thing I seem to have overlooked is a banner. How important are they?
Thanks again for all the help.

Banners are good for VPs, but if you want a really good banner, you may want the Dark Marshal. If you want more bodies, you can still take the Mouth (he is an effective spellcaster who can also fight) which will give you an additional 3 MK. That may not seem like alot, but MKs are pretty durable and very powerful.

_________________
"Leave Sauron to me."
If you're in the Raleigh, NC area, let me know.