The Evil Army
The Evil side features Goblins, Goblin Wolf Riders and Wargs.
Goblins are stunted, mean-minded, cruel and numerous creatures whose lairs infest the north of the world and the great mountain chains such as the Misty Mountains. They mostly live beneath the earth as they detest sunlight, and when they move above ground their shamans create clouds of darkness to shelter them from the sun. On the whole, they prefer to go about their evil at night or under the shade of dark forests. They hate Elves, Men and Dwarves but also each other, for they are bitter creatures full of mischief, resentment and self-loathing.
Goblins fight in great disorganised hoards made up of creatures of all shapes and sizes, armed with curved scimitars, bows, spears, clubs, etc. They are ill disciplined but savage and take great delight in surrounding and destroying less numerous and helpless enemies. They are not bold or especially powerful warriors but their numbers make them dangerous. Their masters care little whether they live or die, and are prepared to throw away hundreds of Goblins warriors just to wear down the enemy.
Goblins are accompanied by huge and dangerous wolves called Wargs. These are especially large and unusually intelligent creatures who have made common cause with the Goblins. The two races share many things including a test for man-flesh. Wargs live in the wilds around and adjoining the Goblin lairs from where they gather information that they pass on to the Goblin leaders.
Some Goblins even ride Wards into battle – though it is an especially foolhardy and daring Goblin that will hang onto a Warg’s back as it leaps onto its foe, biting throats and goring flesh. These Wolf Riders form an important part of the Evil forces.
Goblin Guard are the best of the fighting Goblins – the biggest, meanest and most fearsome of their foul breed.
Hill Trolls are large, brutish and mostly stupid creatures that waylay, and often eat, travellers.
Storm Giants live amongst the high peaks of the Misty Mountains – they are huge and dangerous but fortunately quite rare.
Spiders of Mirkwood are just that – the gruesome giant spiders that trap Thorin and his companions with their webs.
Gigantic Bats accompany the Goblins as they travel from the north forming a black cloud that shelters the Evil forces from the hateful rays of the sun.
Bolg, son of Azog, is the leader of the Evil army and the greatest of all the chieftains of the Goblins in the north of the world. His father was slain by the Dwarves in a great battle to the south of the Misty Mountains, after which he united all the Goblin tribes under his leadership.
Shamans represent the unnamed shamans that accompany the Goblin horde, summoning and controlling the great swarms of darkness that swirl about the battlefield.
Chieftains represent the unnamed subordinates of Bolg in the great Goblin horde.
Smaug is the greatest of all living Dragons and an intelligent and cunning wyrm. Smaug can fly and breath fire and is the most dangerous of all evil creatures.
The Evil army selector
| Troop | Type | Attacks | Hits | Armour | Command | {unit–size} | {points–per–unit} | Number | {special–rules} |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Goblins |
Infantry |
2/1 |
– |
– |
3 |
30 |
–/– |
||
Goblin Guard |
Infantry |
3 |
3 |
6+ |
– |
3 |
45 |
–/1 |
– |
Wolf Riders |
Cavalry |
2/1 |
3 |
6+ |
– |
3 |
60 |
–/– |
|
Hill Trolls |
Infantry |
5 |
3 |
5+ |
– |
3 |
100 |
–/1 |
|
Wargs |
Cavalry |
3 |
3 |
– |
– |
3 |
60 |
–/4 |
– |
Spiders |
Monster |
3 |
3 |
6+ |
– |
3 |
70 |
–/1 |
|
Gigantic Bats |
Monster |
2 |
3 |
– |
– |
3 |
60 |
–/1 |
|
Storm Giant |
Monster |
8 |
8 |
5+ |
– |
1 |
150 |
–/1 |
|
Smaug |
Monster |
6/3 |
6 |
4+ |
– |
1 |
350 |
0–1 |
|
|
|||||||||
Chieftain |
Hero |
+1 |
– |
– |
8 |
1 |
80 |
–/3 |
– |
Shaman |
Wizard |
+0 |
– |
– |
7 |
1 |
45 |
–/1 |
|
General |
General |
+1 |
– |
– |
+1 |
– |
– |
1 |
– |
Special rules
- 1. Goblins
-
Goblin infantry and cavalry units fight with a variety of weapons including some bows and thrown weapons such as spears and axes. To represent this, Goblins and Wolf Rider units are allowed to shoot as if they had bows but their range is reduced to 15cm.
- 2. Wolf Riders
-
Wolf Riders fight in a swirling mass that is highly mobile if rather ineffective when it comes to close quarter fighting. To represent this extraordinary manoeuvrability, a Wolf Rider stand is assumed to be able to see all the way round – not just to its front as are other stands. This enables Wolf Riders to shoot in any direction, or to charge or evade from the closest enemy within 20cm regardless of their relative position.
- 3. Hill Trolls
-
Hill Trolls are witless creatures that find it hard to remember orders, let alone obey them. To represent this, any Command penalty applied for distance between the character and Hill Troll unit is always doubled.
- 4. Spiders
-
Spiders of Mirkwood can move and see through woods and forest as if the terrain were not there.
Spider stands that are wholly or partially within woods can shoot at troops charging their unit. This represents the sticky webs they have spun from tree to tree. Web ‘shots’ are resolved as one shooting attack for each of the unit’s stands that is within the wood. Spiders do not need to be able to see their attackers to use this ability – so enemies will encounter webs even if they charge from behind.
Note that Spiders cannot shoot otherwise.
- 5. Gigantic Bats
-
Gigantic Bats can fly.
- 6. Storm Giant
-
Storm Giants are rather big and stupid. All Storm Giants have to be given separate orders – they cannot be brigaded with other units, not even with other Storm Giants. If you attempt to give and order to a Storm Giant and fail then you must take a Giant Goes Wild test to see what he does. Ignore potential blunders – these are taken into account by the test.
Storm Giants cause terror in their enemies.
Storm Giants are allowed to charge fortified enemies. They are not tall enough to move over high linear obstacles or city walls – and so cannot pursue retreating fortified enemies.
Storm Giants have a great many hits (8) and we must consider the possibility of hurting the Giant and reducing its effectiveness. Therefore, if a Storm Giant has suffered 4-7 hits by the end of the Shooting phase or Combat phase it is deemed to have been badly hurt. Once badly hurt, the Giant’s outstanding hits are discounted and his Hits and Attacks are halved for the rest of the battle (to 4 Hits and 4 Attacks).
- 7. Smaug
-
Smaug is the greatest of all living Dragons and an intelligent and cunning wyrm.
Smaug can fly, breath fire, and causes terror.
Dragons are large monsters and Smaug has a great many hits (6) to reflect this. We must consider the possibility of hurting a Dragon and reducing its effectiveness in subsequent turns. Therefore, if Smaug has suffered 3-5 hits by the end of the Shooting phase or Combat phase he is deemed to have been badly hurt. Once badly hurt, all Smaug’s outstanding hits are discounted and his Hits and Attacks are halved for the rest of the battle (to 3/3 Hits and 3 Attacks).
Smaug has a special shooting attach – he can breath fire. The fire breath has a range of 20cm. Fire can be directed at one enemy unit in the normal manner and has three attacks worked out in the same way as bowfire and other shooting.
- 8. Shaman
-
Shamans are powerful creatures – so the Evil army can normally include no more than one Shaman. However, the army can include more Shamans if these are substituted for Chieftain choices. For example, a 2,000 point army could have two Shamans and five Chieftains, rather than one Shaman and six Chieftains. However, the army may never include more Shamans than the one per 1,000 point limit indicated.
Shaman’s spells
Goblin magic is a malignant but powerful dark sorcery that gives power over lesser, evil minded creatures.
Foul Frenzy
4+ to cast Range 30cm
The Goblin hordes are driven into a foul frenzy of bloodlust by the intoxicating powers of dark magic.
This spell can be cast on a friendly Goblin infantry or Goblin Wolf Rider unit within range regardless of whether the Wizard has a line of sight or not. The spell can only be cast at a unit that is engaged in combat.
Every stand in the unit, including a character that is fighting with the unit, adds +1 to its Attacks value during the first round of the following Combat phase.
Dark Swarm
5+ to cast Range 30cm
A swarm of dreaded bloodsucking bats and nameless dark horrors swirls about the foe and feasts upon the wounded.
This spell can be cast on an enemy unit within range regardless of whether the Wizard has a line of sight or not. The spell can be cast at a target engaged in combat or at a target that is not engaged in combat – it makes no difference.
The Dark Swarm is worked out exactly like three ordinary shooting attacks. If the target is not engaged in combat, hits inflicted by a Dark Swarm are counted towards drive backs just like ordinary shooting. If the target is engaged in combat, hits inflicted by a Dark Swarm are carried over into the Combat phase and count towards the combat result in the first round.
Faster You Dogs
5+ to cast Range 60cm
The Shaman’s frantic gibbering forces the cowardly Goblin ranks forwards against their will.
This spell can be cast upon a friendly Goblin infantry or Wolf Rider unit within range regardless of whether the Wizard has a line of sight or not. The spell can only be cast at a unit that is not engaged in combat.
If the spell is cast upon a unit, it can move immediately just as if it had received an order in the Command phase. Note that the spell affects only a single unit – it is not a brigade order – and any characters with the unit will not move with it.