ARMY OF MORIA

Army List V2 - MASTER

Army List V2 - LATEST
Ross has this Army
 

The "army of Moria" does not refer to a consistent group of protagonists or antagonists throughout the Lord of the Rings books in the same way as the Riders of Rohan or the Uruk-hai of Isengard. Instead, it refers to different groups at different points in history.

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The Dwarves of Khazad-dûm, the original inhabitants of Moria (Khazad-dûm), were a powerful Dwarf kingdom. Over many ages, they mined too deeply for mithril and awoke a powerful, ancient evil known as Durin's Bane, a Balrog of Morgoth. This event led to the abandonment of the city by the Dwarves.

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By the time of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Moria was an abandoned ruin, infested by a large population of Orcs and cave trolls under the sway of the Balrog. This is the "army" that the Fellowship encounters and fights their way through in The Fellowship of the Ring.

Balrog (Durin's Bane)

The true master of the Orcs and trolls was the Balrog. Gandalf ultimately sacrifices himself to allow the Fellowship to escape the Mines of Moria, battling the creature through the depths and up the Endless Stair. 

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After the events of The Lord of the Rings, a Dwarf named Dáin II Ironfoot allowed Balin, a key character from The Hobbit, to lead an expedition to retake Moria. This expedition was ultimately a failure, and Balin's small army was wiped out by the orcs and the Balrog. 

It was not until the Fourth Age, long after the One Ring was destroyed and the Balrog was defeated by Gandalf, that the Dwarves under Durin VII successfully reclaimed Khazad-dûm.