But then you have knight of Umbar.. the corrupted Numenorian armour, the pose on foot just make him one of the best models.

Here is my theory on playing evil in LotR/Hobbit: we win by cheating. All across the books we have an assortment of rules that will swing the battle in our favour, despite often having lower stats. You don't fight fair and there is nothing that embodies that philosophy more than the Nazgûl.

The Nazgûl, as pointed out, generally come in two flavoured. Cheap budget wraiths and big expensive named wraiths. In general you don't gain much by bumping your generic wraith to the costs of a named wraith. When you look at the M/W/F load out of the names wraiths you find that their abilities are often free for very cheap. Of course, paying for a named wraith isn't always the best idea in a smaller game.

What I look for is the ability to cast spells first. The Witch King has Your Staff is Broken but all the others have the same spells...but at different casting values! I am very hesitant to pay for somebody who doesn't have much of a chance to get a Transfix off reliably. This will be the source of much of your 'cheating'. Their heroes are better than ours...don't let that elf hero use his full Fight!

The next thing I look for when I look at the Nazgûl is their ability...if they have poor magic they better have an awesome ability. My personal favourite of the named is also one that has a great ability to 'cheat'. The Dwimmerlaik will make your opponent cry every time he uses M/W/F. Just the threat of Dwimmy robbing the enemy hero of their stores is enough to allow you to control the battle. Pair him with the Taskmaster and you're just being mean, making the enemy pay extra and giving you free Might... Just be careful if the Dwimmerlaik is in combat. He may be able to kill, but he has to win the fight first and that is tricky with a two handed sword. My second favourite is the Dark Marshall: 6" banner, need I say more?

Both these guys excel at either buffing your force or weakening the enemy's. That's aside from their magic. These guys are worth it to keep around on the battlefield with only 1 Will just to keep their effects in play.

The budget wraiths are great, for only slightly more than an orc captain they can ensure said captain kills with a well placed Transfix. Keep them out of combat and several castings really be felt. Especially in a small-medium game. Two budget wraiths can come in for less that a named one and fire out spells at twice the rate. Just...don't be too tempted by Black Dart.

How much M/W/F should you invest? Not much, but luckily you have the choice. Do you have Grishnâk and Gorbag and a Taskmaster as your other heroes? You probably don't need much Might, but have the option. I like to put 1 in Might and Fate both. Wraiths are a great place to dump any extra points!

I'm not sure how much you have played so far but you just started out. Courage is a big deal. When evil reaches a breaking point we will fall fast. Even our captains don't have great Courage. The Nazgûl do though, by that time your enemy should be breaking soon as well. Well that happens your Nazgûl, basic or named, will make it just a little tougher for them to pass. You will need this! For the reason of break tests I would even say it's not a bad idea to have two basic Nazgûl or a named as well as basic Nazgûl.

So which is better? The basic Nazgûl is a lot easier to fit into lists which may make it better right there. If you build your list and are able to put in a named Nazgûl without starving yourself for points, then you will make your opponent gnash his teeth in frustration or you will be doing the same.

Couple side notes: I rather like the Tainted's model! Very sinister rather than muppet-like I think. His rules are pretty terrible though....

I also think it amusing to be giving advice to one from whom I had so long taken advice from and read in the 40k world on blogs and forums.

well let us not forget the dwimerlaik has no might, so is useless when combined with a taskmaster

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http://grungehog.blogspot.co.uk/

Dwimmerlaik .... a fine example of GW's misuse of Tolkien to provide a Tolkien-sounding name for the "should never have been named" Nazgul.

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Wait ye the finish! The fight is not yours.
Beowulf

http://TacticsInMiniature.com

Finally one of you 40k players have stopped crying about riptides and strength D and have come to join the party!Note that balance is real not a myth here.And 2++ rerollables doesn't exist!

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Let's fight in phalanx formation with more swordsmen and archers then pikes!
-Easterlings

And no Riptides!!!

Sing praise to Troke,The one that wrote the hobbit rules with no Strength D!all hail him!

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Let's fight in phalanx formation with more swordsmen and archers then pikes!
-Easterlings