Whoo Yeah First Post Blah Blah Hello Hello And-so-on And-so-forth.

Right, now that the introductory bit is out of the way (sort of), on to...a more detailed introduction. WotR has sort of suddenly come up in the world at my FLGS, where, having gotten tired as rot of Warhammer Fantasy after way too many months of “meh,” and having (continuously) a need to have something other than Warhammer 40,000 to diddle ourselves with every once in awhile, some poor sod picked up the rulebook for WotR one day and went “Hey! This game looks pretty good, actually!” And now everyone in the store is feverishly painting and building stuff for it because that statement holds true: the rules are actually quite nice, generally speaking.

I've been a great avid fan of the whole Tolkien universe since I was, umm, 8, when I first read The Hobbit. I finished The Return of the King on the morning of my 12th birthday and read The Silmarillion when I was in 8th grade and have picked my way through the Unfinished Tales in the years since. I probably saw each movie in theatres at least 5 times apiece when they came out. So obviously I had to get in on this.

As you might've guessed, I picked up Angmar, as my first choice. The army immediately jumped out at me because with Move 12 Spirit Walking cavalry units I had images of an highly mobile and in-your-face aggressive list where I could be right upon my enemy from the start of the game, and even hitting their flanks and rear with my charges with no limitations on my movement from terrain or even other units. It was a pretty nice thought I had in my head. I also wanted a paint scheme that looked really cool on the table, with some really fantastic, popping colour potential. Ghosts are great for that. I was originally thinking I would paint all the ghosts as if they were made of fire, and do bases and movement trays as ash with burnt, blackened grass and things of that sort. That plus the jet blacks of the Nazgul and Gulavhar and the Fell Beasts and I thought I could make a very striking paint-scheme of the whole thing.

Fast forward just 3 days after I decided on Angmar, and I bump into a friend as I was going to buy just my second box of Ghosts. Turns out he already had a big Angmar army all built up and painted very nicely, but after playtesting he realised how much he didn't like the way the army played. Short story, I ended up buying the whole army from him. So I ended up with:

20 ghosts in box (that I had previously bought)
64 ghosts built and painted with 2 captains and 2 banners
4 Barrow Wights built and painted
1 Shade built and painted
1 Winged Nazgul built, unpainted
1 mounted Witch-King built, unpainted
6 Ghostly Riders (morgul knights painted like ghosts)
1 Twilight Nazgul unpainted

Originally I thought that was about all I'd need. That and a Gulavhar, of course! I first also bought some Morannon Orcs and converted them to have bows, as well as 6 more Morgul Knights, and then I used all this stuff to make and play a game with my first list, at 1500pts:

1 Fate: Watcher in the Shadows (I used an old Chaos Nurgling from Warhammer for this guy)
Epic Hero: Winged Nazgul (The Tainted)
Common: Ghostly Legion (3 companies, Captain, Banner)
Common: Ghostly Legion (3 companies, Captain, Banner)
Common: Ghostly Legion (2 companies, Captain, Banner)
Common: Ghostly Riders (3 companies, Captain, Banner)
Common: Ghostly Riders (3 companies, Captain, Banner)
Common: Angmar Orcs (2 companies, bows, Captain)
Rare: Court of Fallen Kings/Barrow Wights

I played against Mordor Orcs with Sauron. Here's basically how it went down: Very Poorly. His army was 3 formations of Mordor orcs, some Black Guard, some Morgul Knights, and some of those S8 Siege Bows which are so lovely. My deployment was designed to let the Riders hide as needed behind terrain but race up to eat at his right flank/kill those Siege Bow things good and quick, with my Nazgul and Wights to counter his Knights, and the rest to eat up his orcs and Absorb a Courage-depleted Sauron.

He won every priority roll of the game. The S8 Siege Bows shot and killed my Taint (heh, heh) outright on the first turn, before I had done anything at all. I think you can see where this is going. All my Spirit-Grasping Ghosts were now at a huge disadvantage against Sauron's Inspiring Leadership Courage 6.

But there were bright spots! The only two fights that occurred outside the range of Sauron's Courage Boost were pretty lopsided victories for me, which involved my Riders completely wiping each of the flank units they charged. And I came out of the game with this feeling: these ghosts are great when they work, but they don't work when the army linchpin gets shot out of the sky on the first turn. Lesson learned: The Tainted is too important to put up their all alone where he can be easily sniped. Keep him in large infantry blocks so he has lots of nice ablative wounds to take the hits for him.

Problem: Ghostly Legion have We Stand Alone, and so do Ghostly Riders, and so do Barrow Wights. Angmar Orcs are a support/flank guard unit that don't deserve or need The Tainted anywhere nearby. So none of my units are valid options for this lesson that I've learned.

Now, if you recall (which you won't because, I know, this is just way too much reading for the sort of person who trolls an internet forum of any kind) I wanted to paint all my Ghosts like fire. But, the models I bought from my friend were already painted in a more conventional ghostly green wash over white. They were really well done models, and I had quickly warmed to them and decided I liked the way they were and didn't want to change them. So I sort of threw out the red fire-ghosts idea....

Until I found out about Spectral Hosts. Who do not “Stand Alone” like those boorish, stupid Ghosts. Spectres know better than Ghosts, and know it's a good idea to accept a Nazgul into their midst. Now, after the first game I had a few other notions as well: Ghosts rely heavily on the Dismay spells to make them really shine, which makes the Nazgul in the army even more important. And if I want to be able to cast enough spells, I should probably have more than one spellcaster.

Also, I realised a little late that Angmar Orcs were utterly useless. For just 5pts more a company I could take Corsair Arbalesters, who end up less expensive because I don't have to take a Captain and all that with them. Why the hell, then, would I ever use Angmar Orcs, except for a sense of honour to the storyline? I love the story, don't get me wrong, but I play in a competitive environment and I'm a competitive gamer (sometimes, at least). I am not interested in unnecessary hamstrings.

I also still thought Ghostly Riders were the bomb-diggity. They had performed quite up to expectation whenever they caught a unit far enough away from Sauron, so I figured as long as I could manage not to lose my Taint to my own ignorance, in the future they could still do everything I had imagined.

Things I did as a result of all these thoughts: I bought the actual model for The Tainted, got some WHFB Dark Elf crossbows for converting some cheaper Arbalesters, painted up the Twilight Nazgul that I had, and also picked up 6 more Morgul Knights to make into Riders. Finally, I took 32 of my Ghosts (the 20 which were still not painted + 12 who were), sprayed them black, and re-painted them as my Fire Spirits: 2 new formations of Spectres, 2 companies each.

This just about brought me to my second game, also 1500pts, against an Elven Host. My list went something like this:

1 Fate: Watcher in the Shadows (still the Nurgling)
Epic Hero: Nazgul (The Dwimmerlaik-- using the Twilight Nazgul model for now)
Epic Hero: Nazgul (The Tainted)
Common: Spectral Host (2 companies)
Common: Spectral Host (2 companies)
Common: Ghostly Legion (2 companies, Captain)
Common: Ghostly Riders (3 companies, Captain)
Common: Ghostly Riders (3 companies, Captain)
Legendary: Gulavhar
Ally: Grima Wormtongue

Oh yeah, also I got a Gulavhar built and painted by this point. Grima I know doesn't fit the story at all. I like to think of him as that unit just having been particularly horrified by the prospect of their enemy, even more so than usual, probably by some influence of the Witch King or another Nazgul. Grima's just sort of a counter for this fact in my mind, until they overcome their fears.

He just had 3 big units, 2 galadhrim and some rangers, or something along those lines. Unit on his right flank (opposite my left) was on a hill, the rangers, with Arwen and a Stormcaller (I think), and Legolas was in the middle unit, and Galadriel and some other schmucks were in the unit on his left flank, occupying a forest. I deployed to have my knights hammer his rangers on the hill (I don't care about hills), The Tainted was directly opposite Galadriel with Gulavhar out on my right flank (to flank charge Galadriels formation). I put Grima in Galadriels unit and the Watcher between her unit and Legolas'.

I got first turn and just rushed up with everything. Except Mr. Dwimmerfail, who failed his ATD and got left behind, which turned out to matter a good bit. Will of Iron stopped my first attempts to both Sunder Spirit and Transfix Galadriel's unit, which might've been averted by the Dwimmer's presence. I also then had to use him to try again to Transfix them, which worked well enough, but left his other units free to shoot and other things (really bad).

He shot up all my Riders really bad but didn't wipe out anything. In the fights following, my Grima+Watcher+Sunder Spirit allowed flanking Gulavhar and The Tainted to make very short work of Galadriel's unit, as Gulavhar called both Epic Strike and Heroic Fight, giving him 10 Fight to their Terror-failed Fight 0. Unfortunately, the Forest prevented him from pulling a second charge into Legolas' unit. This is were things fall apart.

See, where Galadriel's unit had been under the full effects of all my Dismay spells and other abilities hurting Courage, his other 2 formations were pretty okay, with Legolas' unit only suffering -1 to their natural 5 and, oh by the way, Legolas strikes like cavalry. Once again, Spirit Grasp too far away from the Watcher and The Tainted is very bad news for spirits....I got hammered badly in those combats, and then Gulavhar got shot up and died, and I just never recovered. A good start that just couldn't make it all the way to the finish line.

So, new lesson: concentrate your forces. Stray too far from The Tainted, The Watcher, Grima, or the boons of Dismay spells, and a Ghosts' main advantage can suddenly be a serious disadvantage. Also, damn GW for the following: We Stand Alone on Ghosts, and also not giving regular Nazgul Spirit Walk. What the Hell, guys, really.

Anywho, Problem: Concentrating force like that can frequently be, uh, physically impossible. I may be able to move through other formations, but I can't stop on top of them. So how do I make things so that I can effectively use my forces in tandem across a broad front without diluting the fighting power of my units to an unhealthy degree?

I also came to the realisation that Gulavhar only has Courage 4, and since I can't join him to another unit that's all the Courage he's got to deal with that all important ATD that let's him keep up with my army and get that great first turn charge on a flank.

Solution 1: Even More Spellcasting. The is The Witch-King's army! Lots of “witches.” But Orc Shaman's are just as useless as the Orcs they're attached to. Also, I need something that has regular punch, from a higher Strength stat instead of Courage gimping everything. What's the name of the Witch-King's fortress in Angmar? Carn Dum? And there are Berserking Barbarian Men who live there? Why didn't anyone tell me!

Solution 1.2: Gulvhar needs help with ATD rolls? Didn't you know you can take the Witch-King (of Angmar, you know, that army you play, he's your leader)? More witches!

These thought led to the purchasing and construction of: 32 Carn Dum Barbarians (using the Warzone Historical Germanic Tribesmen models, which were cheap, to scale, and look the part well), the Witch-King to lead them, alongside Thrydan Wolfsbane (why not, counts-as evil king of Carn Dum), and the Mouth of Sauron along for the ride too (counts-as barbarian shaman of some sort, using a nice model from the Warzone set of a guy holding up a severed head and shouting); and Buhrdhur as well. New list, for 2000pts this time:

1 Fate: Watcher in the Shadows (still the Nurgling)
Epic Hero: Nazgul (Witch-King)
Epic Hero: Nazgul (The Dwimmerlaik-- using the Twilight Nazgul model for now)
Epic Hero: Nazgul (The Tainted)
Common: Spectral Host (2 companies)
Common: Spectral Host (2 companies)
Common: Ghostly Legion (3 companies, Captain)
Common: Ghostly Riders (3 companies, Captain)
Common: Carn Dum Warriors (4 companies, Banner, Hornblower)
Legendary: Gulavhar
Legendary: Buhrdhur
Ally: Grima Wormtongue
Ally: Thrydan Wolfsbane
Ally: Mouth of Sauron

So then I played my latest game Friday night against the guy with Sauron (only a few of us have really got our armies built and ready to go as of yet, so the opponents are kind of limited). His list was prett much the same, except he took all Morannon orcs this time, oh and also The Nine Are Abroad. One game, 11 Nazgul. No big deal.

I won deployment and first turn (we're just playing “kill each other” games for now). The terrain cover was pretty good, some forests in the middle, one-partway in his deployment zone and a ruined tower in his left deployment, so Buhrdhur had some options, and terrain was scarce in my deployment zone. I lined up across the 12” line, nothing fancy. As close as I can get, right? Gulavhar a little further out on my right flank, the Witch-King and Carn Dum guys in a block on my left flank, everything else lined up a little heavier on the right, Dwimmerlaik in the middle and Taint's formation just to the right with ghosts between them and Gulavhar.

His deployment put the Siege Bows opposite my Carn Dum in the tower ruins; Sauron and The Nine in his center; and orc units on either side. Morgul Knights grabbed his far outside right flank to support the Black Guard opposite my Carn Dum. Grima with the Black Guard, The Watcher amongst the orcs on his left flank, in range of The Nine.

First turn I moved on up, transfixed his Black Guard and 2 orc units on his right flank and gave Terrifying Aura to my Carn Dum. Sundering Spirit for everybody. Carn Dum guys moved up cautiously (and after everyone else for the Shadow of Terror rule to work), caught between Black Guard and Morgul Knights and not fancying a flank or rear charge from cavalry any time soon, but everyone else just flew forward. Gulavhar to a wound counter from the Siege Bows (at long range), but got a flank charge to support the Ghostly Legion against the orcs farthest out on my right flank, beating them to a complete pulp after they failed their Terror check. Same went for the orcs charged by my Taint's Spectres, who killed so many orcs that even a flank charge by The Nine in response couldn't save him (and of course The Nine panicked....). Both my Spectre units kept just 5 guys alive to prevent them from being wiped out, the second (Dwimmer's formation in the centre) becoming disordered after losing to Sauron. All the way out on my left flank, the Terrifying Aura saved my Carn Dum from a charge by the Morgul Knights, who failed their Courage test at -2!

I won Priority for the second turn as well and went first, hoping to transfix some stuff before he could kill off my Spectres and both Dwimmer and the Taint along with them. Buhdhur appeared now, popping out of the trees currently occupied by The Nine in the middle-front of his deployment, and threatened both a rear charge on the Black Guard and a charge on the Siege Bows. Gulavhar and Ghosts-on-foot moved up for rear and flank charges on the last Morannon Orcs while Riders got in front. Spectres backed away from their fights and I moved heroes around so the Tainted was within range of the Morgul Knights and Black Guard, preventing them from using Sauron's Courage for stuff later if he survived. Sunder Spirit twice on Sauron, transfixed the Black Guard again, Sunder Spirit on the Knights and the Siege Bows, Terrifying Aura again on Carn Dum. Other spells didn't work and Dwimmerlaik doesn't have enough Might to deal with the Dwimmerlaik's ability (pfft GW). The Seige Bows racked up a crazy 5 wound counters on Buhrdhur but still couldn't kill him(!), and both Spectre formations died predictably to spells, but they got their job done.

The Morgul Knights failed once again to pass their Terror test and couldn't pull a rear charge (and having tried heroic charge on both occasions were now out of Might), Buhrdhur smashed the Siege Bows for shooting him up so bad, Carn Dum and friends wiped the Black Guard (more failed Terror), Ghosts and Gulavhar cleaned up the Morannon Orcs. At this point all he had left was Sauron and The Nine, and it was getting really late (past 2AM, our store is open late), so we called it!

So that's where I am just now. I think I've got the army down pretty well, and am working out the kinks as I become aware of them, so it's getting better. I've seen some statements around these forums to the effect that Angmar is not “the easiest” list to play, and I've heard similar statements from people at my FLGS. I'm competitive-minded so I want to turn my list into something that makes the greatest possible advantages out of its strengths and of course finds ways to mitigate and get around its weaknesses. Future additions (possible) still include the Corsair Arbalesters with The Betrayer, but I feel like that might be unnecessarily dirty for the list, even though I thought of a way to make the fit thematically, a way I could model them. Obviously I haven't seen nearly enough games yet to really know if I've got a sound army, but it starts to feel like I've got the issues I've noticed pretty well controlled. Carn Dum at Defense 7 with Berserk and some Epic Heroes attached is a great counterweight/anchor unit that can suck up some hits while your Ghosts go to town on the other stuff and make their way over to help out-- at least this last game makes it look that way.

Admittedly playing a larger game against an army that was half Sauron + Nazgul changes the way I can build my list and the way things happen in the game a lot-- I more competitively geared Mordor list might not place so much weight on Legendary units, as powerful as they are. I was outcasting him with my 4 spellcasters just because I would use each spell twice as many ways as he could with Sauron and The Nine (who may have Mastery 10 and The Undying's special rules, but still count as a single caster! I'll take 3-4 separate Nazgul over that any day.). If he failed a focus test on The Nine, that was it, and my Dwimmer was sucking the Might right out of Sauron even with his free Might, preventing him from both casting and fighting effectively. As a result both Sauron and The Nine couldn't manage enough hits against my spectres to kill my Nazgul off in the first round, so when I won priority for the second turn it gave me the opportunity to really control what was left of his units. With first turn I put all the fighting right in his face and quickly turned his left flank with Ghosts and Gulavhar, and the Carn Dum consistently scared off the Knights on the other side of the board. I don't think it could've worked much better for me that game.

Now I'm off on vacation for three weeks so I won't be playing anything or even checking any forums (no electricity where I'm going). I'll get everything that's left built and painted and properly based (need to put snow on a lot of Ghosts and their trays now), and when I get back I'll get back to this stuff and maybe put some pictures up if there seems to have been any interest (if anyone actually read this far!). In any case I'll keep putting lists and things I come up with on here so anyone else who ever thinks about Angmar can see my progression through this trial-and-error list building, and maybe make use of whatever insights I stumble into through the fog.
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Thanks for reading (most of it)! Comments? Ideas? Help? Insults? Lists other people are building at my FLGS include:

Elves
Elves
Gondor
Rohan
Mordor
Moria
Mordor
Isengard
Moria
Haradrim/Fallen
Rohan

That's the spread to my recollection, but there are some other people whose choices I don't recall. The trend seems to generally point to more Evil armies than Good-- mostly the cool factor of the big models like Mumakil and Balrogs. Another reason I chose an Evil list. I hate armies without big awesome centrepiece potential. Anyhow. I'm not so worried about things like Mumakil, honestly. I laugh at their Courage 4, which will of course be Courage 0 before anything important happens. Unless maybe I should be scared? I could, of course, take those Strength 8 Evil ballistae without trouble as Allies. But I don't think I need it that much. At 2500 I add in enough for the Spirit Legions Battlehost, but I don't want to make my army too dependent upon 2 models (the intrepid duo Taint and Dwimmer) so I'm not using it a lower points levels. At first I didn't like the idea of non-spirit units but as I've gone back into the storyline and “history” of Angmar I've warmed to the Barbarians plenty, and the werewolves too. Things like werewolves and wights are all cool, but We Stand Alone seriously sucks, and hard. I want my army flying forward on the first turn, or at least I want them to be able to do that. And those guys can't, because even with the werewolves at movement 10 they're still effectively 6” behind all my spirits. However, the Wights could make an excellent second anchor unit alongside the Carn Dum, perhaps in lieu of Buhrdhur, or something else (preferably something else, but what?).

END

Welcome
As you have already know Angmar have few but strong heroes...
A disadvantage is that the stronger choises cannot be joined by epic heroes so I sugegst you to take somethign stronger like Uruk-hai...

One thing I contemplated was Uruk Hai Berserkers as counts-as Werewolves, because the Berserkers are just better in every sense. 10pts less, can have epic heroes attached for ATD, Berserk.... It's frankly stupid, the way they did the rules. But they're a definite possibility down the line. The major problem there would be confusion on the part of my opponent, since there are, after all, actual rules for werewolves, using werewolf models and berserker rules could throw some people for more of a loop than I'm interested in dealing with.

Thanks for looking at this, though! I am definitely contemplating Uruk Hai in some fashion. I just want them to fit into the army theme, if possible.

Yeah that's the problem Angmar was destroyed logn ebfore Uruk-hai first appeared...

first, I think you can use the tainted in a spectral host formation and flank the opponents. Then, I should use ghostly riders to spirit walk to the rear of your enemy. second, someone said angmar was destroyed before the uruk hai were made, but there were still ghosts guarding angmar when saruman was attacking rohan. I think for a army with a story I would say saruman was raiding the old lands of arnor, such as Bree, and the ghosts came to aid him.

_________________
Ours is the fury!

1.I have a name
2. Angmar collapsed shortly after Witch king fled as it was left leaderless, the orcs that survived went to Gundabad and there's no reference from Tolkien for spirits expect Barrow-wights which were left at Barrow downs so that men would never stay there...

1.sorry that I didn't used your name, hilbert, but I hadn't much time, so I needed to quick answer.
2.in the wotr rulebook on the frontpage of angmar"At the end of the third age, Angmar lies quiet for most part."
but later:"with sauron's will at work so boadly through middle earth, does angmar stir once more to wakefulness?"
so you can make your own answer on that question!!!!!!!!!!
(another sorry that I didnt used your name, hilbert)

_________________
Ours is the fury!

It's okay I was overreacting
As for the second Angmar never awoke and if she did there weren't spirits expect the Barrow wights... The theme is historic not about the game

I agree, but maybe orkdom can use the berserkers and call them angmar hill trolls for his army list

_________________
Ours is the fury!

Angmar Hill trolls? Do you mean the ones from Bfme 2 ROTWK
House profile will be needed for this

yes, I got an idea for an angmar army from bfme rotwk, I though of using the FR as base list, as my core would be mostly of black numenoreans and morgul knights, and then using half trolls as hill trolls, and I though using a troll chieftain profile and a warhammer yeti model for a snow troll

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Ours is the fury!

Snow trolls aren't so strong as cheiftain's...
ANyway the agme was awesome but un-canon

yes, but if i want to use a yeti model, wich I realy like, i think you need to use a realy strong profile, and since my army stil not is exact the same as angmar in rotwk I it's my own fantasy army, and i don't have to use the strenghts of the game

_________________
Ours is the fury!

It's ok... It may be what we call snow mountain giant

Ooh. I love the idea of using some WFB Yhetees as stand ins for trolls.

Good idea, thanks. Shame they are so blasted expensive.

That's true...

lol, maybe get some yeties converted so they are smaller and use mordor troll profiles for them, or use cave troll profiles for them and stone giant or buhrdur profile for the giant

_________________
Ours is the fury!

When playing amgmar you should use goblins as a screen for your spirits.

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"I am the Flying Spagetti Monster. Thou shall have no other monsters before me"
-FSM.

Yes, in fact I suggest relying on the 'other two' common choices in the list. Carn Dum barbarians and Angmar Orcs are both excellent choices by any list's standards so there is not reason why you can take a perfectly competitive list without touching a single ally. The two monster-heroes are quite useful complements to this and both the Tainted and Dwimmerlaik are awesome just through being 125pt Mastery 3 Darkeness casters, let alone their extra abilites.

That stated, I quite like allied Mordor Siege bows remodelled with Carn-Dum crew. Another way to make the historicals figs stretch further!

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http://www.roughwotr.blogspot.com

EDIT: Okay, pictures aren't working or whatever. Links instead until someone tells me how to work the [img] right.

Hey guys, I'm back! Sort of. It's been a little longer than I thought. I had some RL things to get out of the way, but now that stuff's mostly done with so I can get back to my little plastic menz.

My most frequent opponent in the coming battles will probably be a guy who plays a Galadriel-Gandalf-Radagast-and-Friends super unit. I played my first game against him last Saturday, and, uh, well, let's say it went sorta poorly. I was not quite up on the rules for Epic Tranquility and had somehow decided it was a spell, not an epic ability (the word "Epic" should have been a hint). So I thought I could just Transfix the formation and laugh at him. Obviously that didn't work. In my defense it had been about a month since I had played at all and I had only 3 games to now under my belt.

Anyhow, I'm not going to give you a full report or anything. But, here's basically what he took:

Haldir
Legolas
Thranduil
Cirdan
Celeborn
Galadriel
Gandalf
Radagast
Galadrim Longbows (6 companies)
High Elf Archers (2 companies)
High Elves with Glaives (4ish companies and command)
The Counterspell Fortune

Pretty rough! But, apparently, toned down because I "wasn't using Khamul or The Betrayer or The Knight of Umbar." So it can get worse, I guess? Following some of the advice I got here, my list went like this:

1 Fate: Watcher in the Shadows
Epic Hero: Nazgul (Witch-King)
Epic Hero: Nazgul (The Dwimmerlaik)
Epic Hero: Nazgul (The Tainted)
Common: Spectral Host (2 companies)
Common: Ghostly Legion (2 companies, Captain)
Common: Ghostly Legion (2 companies, Captain)
Common: Ghostly Riders (3 companies, Captain)
Common: Carn Dum Warriors (4 companies)
Common: Angmar Orcs (4 companies)
Legendary: Gulavhar
Legendary: Buhrdhur
Ally: Grima Wormtongue
Ally: Mouth of Sauron
Ally: Uruk-Hai Berserkers

And I have actual models for everything now , too! Sorta. While I was away I ordered up a bunch of different Werewolf models from various other games to use as "counts-as" Berserkers, a Maulifax model to use as the statue for The Watcher fate, and some other stuff besides. Pictures to follow at the bottom of the post.

Anyhow: that list did horribly against the Elf Super Friends Council of Doom. So I'm thinking of ways to improve upon it, and this is the list I've come up with for the moment:

1 Fate: Watcher in the Shadows
Epic Hero: Nazgul (Witch-King)
Epic Hero: Nazgul (The Dwimmerlaik)
Epic Hero: Nazgul (The Tainted)
Common: Spectral Host (2 companies)
Common: Ghostly Legion (2 companies, Captain)
Common: Ghostly Riders (3 companies, Captain)
Common: Carn Dum Warriors (4 companies, Chieftan)
Legendary: Gulavhar
Legendary: Buhrdhur
Ally: Nazgul (Khamul the Easterling)
Ally: Gothmog, Castellan of Minas Morgul
Ally: Uruk-Hai Berserkers
Ally: Gundabad Blackshields (6 companies)

Here's the basic idea: Gothmog and Khamul with the Blackshields. Wings of Terror/AtD, get about 1" in front of the Galadrim Super-Friends formation as fast as possible and just sit there blocking their shooting. With 6 companies I can reliably block his LoS to anything else besides Buhrdur and Gulavhar, so he'll mostly only be able to shoot at the Blackshields with Defense 6 (+2 from Epic Defense on Gothmog if I want it), plus they bounce hits back via Khamul, plus every time Haldir, Legolas, and Thranduil call an Epic Shot on me, I get one back on them for free. This unit feels like a pretty simple and basically foolproof counter to the Super-Friends formation, no?

We'll see how it goes, of course. Probably not quite as simple as I'd like it to be. But with Wings of Terror, the Witch-King behind me, and Pathfinders Master on the Blackshields I can really seriously outmaneuver them, especially if he sets up in much the way he did last game, which was just a line in his backfield with the smaller formations guarding either flank. This unit isn't even the worst option: I could take 5 companies of Corsair Arbalesters with The Betrayer, Khamul, and Gothmog. That would be truly mean. But Mount Gundabad is right next to Angmar, so it's not hard at all to tihnk about some Blackshields being around. Arbalesters are a different matter. Plus, I already have the orc models so I can just count them as blackshields much more easily.

Right now I'm just using a regular Nazgul model for Khamul, but this weekend I intend to buy Malbeth and Arvedui and some Barrow Wights so I can convert Malbeth the Seer as a Wight himself-- the rules for Khamul will just be like a souped-up Evil Malbeth with Evil-Gift-of-Foresight type character I'm calling "The Spiritseer of Rhudaur." It helps make the character fit my army, at least.

Gothmog will probably just be billed as the Orc Captain/Boldog of Angmar, with the Blackshields being the biggest, nastiest Angmar orcs around, his "bodyguard" if you will. Pretty easy to make them fit.

Alright, I talk too much. Here's some pictures, and if anyone has any more ideas or comments or whatever, feel free! They're greatly appreciated! (Warning: pictures are larger than your iPhone)

"Grima Wormtongue," a.k.a. The Nurgling. Grima just doesn't make sense alongside Angmar, so I explain it as a spell cast upon the unit, called The Whispering Doom. This little guy represents it.

http://www.box.net/shared/r67d7vs0ur3t8y8efc8p

And my new Watcher in the Shadows model, from Malifaux:

http://www.box.net/shared/r40sgz3crgljqm7yz7xv

Gulavhar:

http://www.box.net/shared/tzoel19n8bsrhamqbgd2

Buhrdur:

http://www.box.net/shared/frz9rpev84jmb5tcgskv

And some werewolves:

http://www.box.net/shared/190q57hurqi31hpc0kq0

I have a couple more werewolves still coming in the mail from TheWarStore, should be here by the end of the week, then I can finish off the unit. Okay, more pictures as I get them organized on my pc and uploaded. Green Ghosts, Red Ghosts, Ghost Cav, Nazgul, Witch King, etc., and so on, and so forth!

Again, any comments are welcome, on both the army lists and the paint jobs. Until I picked this stuff up I hadn't painted much in the last 5 or so years because of school so I'm a little shifty on some things right now. Mostly Gulavhar. I might want to repaint him, maybe even a different color, like the nice red one online here, or the blue one in the WotR book. Dunno. We'll see.

[/orkdom]