I have been sweating over the 'perfect' Mordor list and i am not so sure about including orc trackers. They have a decent shoot value and are extreamly cheap- but with such a low deffence and FV they have no use at all in combat. If i was to include 12 orc trackers in an army that is about a kill a turn-not so great. If i was to get into a shooting fight i would stand no chance. The 12 of them would only cost 60 pts but i think those points could be spent better elsewhere. And by including 12 of them in a 500pt list i will probly have a smaller line then my enemy-very bad for mordor. So from peoples expierience are orc trackers a good thing or a bad thing to include. Thanks.

I'd personally go with trackers as a normal orc archer is a waste of points as an archery unit. If you need orcs that are going to be shooting, then go with those guys.

_________________
No one feels as helpless as the owner of a sick goldfish.

From personal experience, I used 6 Orc Trackers, and they were so worth it!
I would definitely go with Orc Trackers, maybe not 12, but more of an assassin squad used to pick off the supporting spears, or take out the banner. I would definitely recommend taking them, they can take out their (CHEAP) points value any day.

FM

Yea, i think 6 is a good number just so it gives my opponent a little somthing extra to think about, if the oponents archers decide to target them then it gives a little bit of cover for my Fell beast.

Exactly!
And if he does target your fell beast, then your Trackers should be annoying his foot soldiers, and once (if) your fell beast dies, you are going to have a heck of a lot of troops left over to kill him with

FM

1st off i addes shelob to this thread as i hate cluttering up the boards with my posts

I have a cirith ungol army i just finished painting and basing- all of that. It is just that i think shelob is really the symbol for cirith ungol. The problem is that i dont find her that great... sure she is a decent hero but i think a SQ is much better and costs less to. Does anyone think shelob is in anyway better then a SQ? i could just use shelob and say she is a SQ and that is probly what i will end up doing.

I would generally not go for orc trackers enmasse as they are so vulnerable, from turn 1 they are dying like flies from volley firing S3 bows and unable to return fire, get in a close range shooting match with long bows and they die even quicker and well we know about their uses in combat. They may be cheap but their quick demise more than makes up for getting to break point than their numbers in giving a higher break point - all from GT experience.

I have taken them to the GT due to my army list not being able to field normal orcs, but I was prepared and had a counter - a Troll loading catapult and even then just half a dozen enemy troops had them running for cover.

Shelob - generally not a good model to include in most games, but can be very useful in some scenarios needing to get of table or capture objectives.

To address the original question: Their fight skill and strength isn't any lower than a normal orc - it's only their defense that is weaker.

I'm also considering orc trackers - but I would have them mounted on wargs. This will give them a fighting chance as it will increase their attack strength to 4 - give them charge bonuses - and allow them to move 5" and still shoot, and the warg is only 6pts - 2pts cheaper than a normal warg bonus. The wargs will allow them to quickly move into shoot range - probably in just 1 turn.
Their only weakness is their defense - but at least on wargs half the hits will fall on the wargs who have higher defense.
Trackers are only 1pt less than normal orc bow - but on wargs they are 2pts less making them more appealing. Basically with trackers, you are getting mounted bow with better bow skill for 2pts less than normal warg-bow - so in 3 models you've bought yourself an extra tracker anyway.

I'm gonna give em a go - I'll letcha know how they get on.

_________________
eBob.