Just having a ramble on black guard, I'm going to include some in my 700p mordor army, just want some opinions on them...

overall they are

-expensive-twice the cost of an equipped orc
-high stats with particularly high strength and are classed as ELITES
-roles-they excel at either can-opening using S5 to crack open dwarves or Fountain guards, or wound d5 rohirrim or citadel guard on a ridiculously high roll, otherwise, their S5 is the same as morannon orcs S4 for a fair few points less

As elites they compare to Black numenoreans, mordor uruk-hai and morannon orcs- they are better than all, but also far more expensive-
same fight as mordor uruks and BN, but higher S and higher D in the case of mordor uruks.

Vs the morannons, they have a better FV and the S to kill dwarves and Fountain Guard who are prevalent in todays Gondor armies.

Howver, the other elites should not be overlooked...morannons should always be fielded, as well as BN, due to terror can make enemy models waste turns cowering in fear and mob the models that did pass their test. And they are cheap. Black Guard are too expensive for large numbers.

So they are hack and slashers without peers, a line of these with orc spears and motor through ANY Good shieldwall, be they Fountain Guards,dwarfs or pointy ears of any variety.

And the final thought-how many?
I think 6 or 9 at ther most are enough for 700p, backed up with orc spears. Any more will drop numbers by a large degree.

Thoughts?

I haven't got any BG but I always (unless I have fielded a lot already on heroes and other elites) include a lot of MOs. In fact, I often base my army around morranon orcs as they are cheap enough to base an army around and the S4 and D6 makes them able to outclass almost any enemy wounding wise. 6-9 black guard should do you fine for 700pts. but make sure they have a meat shield or they are going to die very quickly.

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"War does not determine who is right, only who is left."
- Bertrand Russel

alternative to meat shield would be to take the drummer and get them into hth faster. i prefer this route.

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warmancer