Profile Review: Razgush & Muzgur - Time for some Orc mischief

After the news (and early release) of the new Orc heroes featured in the upcoming Sourcebook (Defence of the North), we finally have the public release of the Rules and Models for these heroes. Whilst both are expected to feature in some of the new Legendary Legions in this new Sourcebook, we still have to wait and see what form those will take. In the meantime, in what has become somewhat of a tradition for me now on this blog, let’s have a look at the new Profiles… Razgush, War Leader of the North

As the name suggests, Razgush is intended to be the Leader of the Northern assault against the Elven realms (I suspect a Dragon Emperor is leading the assault on the Dwarves and Men of Dale). To represent this, he is a Hero of Valour - giving Mordor a handy extra non-Wraith option as a Leader, with Gothmog currently being the only other Orc alternative. This can be useful in forming Yellow Alliances, and as a Leader costing all of 110 Points, he certainly doesn’t break the bank. He also falls into a similar Points bracket as Gothmog and Shagrat in the Mordor Army List, so I intend to see assess how he measures up to both of them. Stats-wise, he is identical to Gothmog, which I think (for the most part) is to be expected; one is the Orc Leader in the North, the other is the Orc Leader in the South. I half-thought he might be Strength 5 like many Morannon Orc heroes; he does look beefy after all, but as he is meant to be a Mordor Orc Hero rather than a Morannon Orc Hero, I can understand why he is only Strength 4. This does, however, limit his punch against high Defence units and heroes. Combined with a lack of Knock-down, he certainly falls behind both Gothmog and (especially) Shagrat in terms of Combat-threat potential; that is unless you are facing Elves, in which case he jumps up to around their level or slightly higher - thanks to Elfbane and Hatred (Elf). On the plus side, a Defence 7 Hero for Evil with 3 Wounds is very handy; that bump from 6 really provides so much extra survivability when 95% of troops in the Game will be wounding you on 6s. With 3 Wounds and 1 Fate, he almost matches Gothmog for survivability, but just loses out for a lack of Heroic Defense (that Gothmog has). Shagrat, on the other hand, has an additional 2 Fate compared to the both of them. Fight Value 5 alongside a Special Rule negating the benefits of Elven weapons could be handy, especially as Razgush also has Heroic Strike, meaning the odds aren’t stacked against you in those match-ups. However, it does not give you an advantage in those Fights, but rather it just removes the disadvantage. Nevertheless, he can reliably outfight most troops, and match many heroes with his resilient capability to weather a Turn of bad luck. If we were to purely look at the stats and his individual capabilities in Game, he arguably does fall short of his contemporaries (even though he is a bit cheaper); he lacks the raw power of Shagrat, or the superior Heroics and utility of Gothmog. Nonetheless, this is not where his true contribution as an asset to the Armies of Mordor lies. Razgush’s true strength is that he enables you to take models in the Mordor List you wouldn’t normally be able to take unless you used a Yellow Alliance. Specifically, he gives access to Fell Wargs, both types of Spiders, and most importantly - Bat Swarms. Bat Swarms are arguably one of the most potent units in the Game; all multi-Wound flying Models are incredibly useful in many Scenarios, and these guys are no different. Additionally, the ability to halve the Fight Value of your opponent’s Models is incredible, and alleviates one of the limitations that a Mordor Army faces (in terms of low Fight Value). The only downside to this is that Razgush himself can only lead these troops, as well as normal Orc Warriors and Warg Riders. It is not a major issue, but with Morannon Orcs being arguably one of the best value troops in the Game, it certainly isn’t ideal. These Models will get Elfbane when in your Army, which will probably be useless in 85% of your Games, but amazing in the other 15% (based on current representation of Elven Armies in the GBHL). This potency would increase in a Good vs Evil match-up to a likely 33% of your Games. So to summarise, Razgush, is arguably a solid (if unexceptional) Hero; however, he can do amazing things for your List-building options with Mordor. I think he is a very solid addition to the Game for this reason, with my only reservation being that I feel his introduction weakens the unique nature of the Moria Army List by gifting one of their standout units to another Army. Muzgur, Orc Shaman

The second Hero for review is the Orc Shaman - Muzgur; he presents a rather interesting Profile, which at first glance looks like a cross between a Shaman and a Captain. However, he has neither of the main benefits of those two Profiles, with no Heroic March, nor the Fury Spell. So, if either of those are what you want, he is not the Orc for the job. In terms of Combat potential, Muzgur is essentially an Orc Captain. This is much better than your normal Orc Shaman, but still not much to rave about. He can get the odd Wound with 2 Attacks at Strength 4, but with Defence 5 and only Fight Value 4, he can also be wounded easily by standard troops. Whilst he does have Heroic Defence at his disposal, you won’t be able to call that every Turn. However, he does have a Spear, so he can provide one of his Strength 4 (and Fight Value 4) Attacks from the relative safety of the second rank. If you are planning on taking Muzgur, it is likely not for his Combat potential, but rather his Magic abilities. Despite lacking Fury, he has an interesting and useful array of Spells in Drain Courage (2+), Wither (3+) and Transfix (4+); most of which are reliable Casting levels. With 4 Will as well, he certainly should be able to Cast most of these without issue, and has a solid 12” Range. All the Spells are pretty good at weakening enemy Hero threats. He can do this fairly well on his own against mid to low level Heroes who only have 1 Will to Resist, but would likely need to combine with another Caster to reliably stop a top tier enemy Hero with 3 Will. Luckily, Mordor has an abundance of available Casters to choose from. Arguably his key selling point is that he can do something that only Kardush and The Undying have previously been able to do - regenerate Will (in this case by killing Models in Combat). Suddenly, the little boost in his Combat potential is very handy. He doesn’t need to be killing 2+ Models a Turn, but rather just killing 1 every other Turn; this will give you a late-Game advantage, and a consistent option for shutting down enemy threats. Personally, I would think about keeping at least 1 of his 2 Might to help wound a Model when you need the Will towards the end of a Game. Coming in at 70 Points, arguably his closest comparison in the current Mordor List is the Mouth of Sauron. Both have a combination of Magic (and Captain-level Combat) abilities, and will likely be fighting for the same spot in your Mordor Army List. Whilst Muzgur likely has more Magic potential, the Mouth of Sauron has more in Combat. The Mouth of Sauron himself often misses out on a lot of Army Lists due to being a jack of all trades, but master of none - he arguably lacks a unique selling point in a List with an abundance of heroes and Green Alliance options. I have a feeling that the same fate awaits Muzgur once any initial hype that the new Models get dies down. His inclusion in a List is unlikely to be a poor option, but he is arguably a potential 3rd or 4th Hero in Army Lists, and that will be dependent on what the Player is looking for. Nevertheless, in the right List he could be just what you need. For me, Muzgur is a solid Profile that gives a little bit more variety to Mordor's Magic options beyond Wraiths and Kardush. For that reason, I like him and believe him to be well-balanced. He can also combine to make a potent Magic-heavy List, and running him alongside Wraiths and Kardush would definitely be interesting.

That's all for now - I look forward to seeing what the Legendary Legions these guys are included in look like, and how they incorporate their profiles.