Orc Forge as an Army Builder?

[Jimbobulus]

Only because she is the only one who really comes in contact with him. Other than her, Frodo is pretty much able to slip under the radar and go unnoticed to the rest of Sauron's forces. Though he did get stabbed by the Witch King, which I assume did far more damage to him than Shelob as he says his shoulder still hurts from the stabbing more than a year later.

We were talking about Sauron and Shelob having a deal, not Gollum and Shelob. Regardless though, I'm still not seeing how that makes her inherently evil or on the same scale as say Sauron or Sauromon. So she lets Gollum live if he brings food to her cave? Big deal, real world people and animals have the exact same coexistence and have for thousands of years. Dogs sniffing out pray and being rewarded with food, birds traveling long distances and being fed, etc.

Gollum I see more as being mind controlled and that's what lead to his evil actions rather than being inherently evil himself. Had he never came in contact with the one Ring, do you think he would of done anything bad? I don't. The ring is known to twist and control people because that was how it was created. It only has one master and everyone else it just warps as can be seen by how almost everyone reacts to it, no matter how good they originally are. Shelob, as I already stated, just seems to be more worried about killing to feed herself (and her brood?) than anything else, much like a predator. Ok, so she is smarter than your average real world predatory but that doesn't change her motives one bit. You guys keep arguing Shelob is soo evil but have yet to provide a SINGLE example where she kills for any other reason than to feast.

I mean I suppose both these characters can be seen as evil because of their actions and they are antagonist coming in conflict with the protagonist, but I just don't seem them as main evil characters in the LotR trilogy. They are no worse than your common orc grunt. That was my whole point, we don't see any main evil characters. To me that's Sauron and Sauromon (and maybe to a lesser degree the Witch King since he was a high ranking officer). These three all wanted to conquer everyone else and enslave them.

I give up, all I can say is I don't want to meet you in a dark street at night

Although, I will say, and I can find you quotes for this if you like, that Smeagol was not a nice creature many years prior to the ring, he always stole and cheated in games etc, to the extent his own family disowned him. All before the ring. He was completely evil minded I am afraid. The ring perpetuated this and made him worse. As for Shelob not being evil, I really do think you should go read the book properly, it will give you a much better sense of her evilness. She is not an animal. Is the Balrog then not evil? Surely that is no more animalistic than Shelob. And even if she is 'just an animal' why can't she be evil?? The Fell beast and the Fell horse the Ringwraiths use are evil. The are animals.

[Deathleech]

Ehh, this is starting to get WAY off topic and is turning into a discussion about good/evil in LotR now.

I don't recall any of that about Smeagol, but then again it's been forever since I read the books (12+ years) and I never read all the Similarion. All I really remember about Seamgol before he became corrupted by the ring was him living with his grandmother and killing Deagol on his birthday because he wanted the ring as a present. As for the Balrog being an animal like Shelob, it's different because it wasn't chasing the Fellowship to eat them as far as I know. Every time Shelob attacks she is acting like a predator because she is doing it to capture and eat her prey. I can't really comment on the Fel Beast or horses because we don't really see them do anything besides serve as mounts controlled by the Nazgul. People seem to view these creatures as evil solely because they try to stop the protagonist rather than their actual motives (if there even are any). If Faramir wouldn't of let Frodo and Sam go, would he of been evil? Even though he was only fulfilling his orders and doing otherwise would of forfeited his life? It's not always so simple when it comes to good and evil.

I still have yet to see anyone comment on Shelob/Gollum being anywhere as near evil as Sauromon or Sauron, which was my original point in us not getting a main evil character yet. Shelob and Gollum are no more evil than your common orcs and the only reason they stick out is because they are different creatures that are given important roles in the books/movies. If you really wanted to get down to it though, you could argue the orcs and everything else in Tolkien's universe is only being controlled by Melkor/Morgoth since he corrupted and twisted these otherwise decent creatures. Like I said though, that's a whole nother topic in itself...

Edited July 23, 2012 by Deathleech

[The_Chosen_1]

To me, it depends on how you look at it. The minifigure selection certainly falls under the "army builder" category (with the arguable exception of naked Lurtz), but the pricepoint does not. It's a battle pack on steroids - more so than Uruk-hai Army, which is a much better value in terms of minifigs.

[Faefrost]

It could be an army-builder but I don't really think of it that way because the set itself is great and has many excellent parts for MOCs.

This

It's a solo Army Builder. But it is a great and reasonably affordable MOC builder.

[Ardelon]

I see it as an army builder simply because you cant build an army of Mordor Orcs without it.

[legomonk]

This

It's a solo Army Builder. But it is a great and reasonably affordable MOC builder.

It does have great MOC pieces

It does come with a lot of armor and swords compared to most sets and with a price only 10$ over uruk-hai army its kinda a good deal though I think uruk-hai army has some good pieces to build as well. other issue is some people have complained about not being able to get this set as much as other sets since its "exclusive"

Edited July 24, 2012 by legomonk

[Captain BeerBeard]

Ther is no way this set is good for army building. As an army builder, your paying 10 dollars per figure. UHA is the definite choice at 5 dollars per figure and you get a free horse with saddle. I vote no.

[AmperZand]

If...

- You're building an Uruk-Hai army

- Rumours are true about the Sun newspaper

- You can wait until October

- You'll be in the UK then

...you're in luck because the Sun will be running a promo. For the cost of the paper (70p at weekends?), you'll be able to get a polybagged Uruk. Inexpensive way to build a sizeable army.