The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game/Tactics/Isengard

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This page is a WIP, the one doing it (Lotrfag) is new to creating pages. And I'm f*cking lazy too, seeing how I left this page in standy for 7 months.

Why Play Isengard

The Two Towers is your favorite movie and book of the series, and it's partly because of these guys. You like quality over quantity but don't want to play High Elves (Eregion & Rivendell). You want your basic troops to kill said armoured elves as if they were Wood Elves, and Wood Elves as if they were Hobbits, and Hobbits like... Well, you got my point. Basically, you want to lead an army worthy of Mordor - and kick Mordor's ass in the process

Pros

  • Uruk Hai warriors are one of the best infantry in the game.
  • Crossbows.
  • Good variety of elite troops (i.e. Berserkers) which can cut swathes through the enemy army if they are not careful
  • Armywide Strength 4 and Fight 4, meaning your basic warrior will almost always wound on a 5+ and will tie at worst against most armies
  • Good selection of heroes with some hilarious special rules.
  • Straight-forward gameplan

Cons

  • Probably the most common Evil army you can find (this is actually a pro as it means more second hand models)
  • Some models you want a lot of are very expensive (crossbow Uruks)
  • Your basic warrior is very expensive compared to other armies, expect to be outnumbered by everybody except other elite armies.
  • Defense 6 is not that tough, some other S4 armies are tougher than you (i.e. the new FW Dwarves)
  • Lacks army multipliers outside of a basic banner and a rage bubble from the Shaman
  • Lacks any high-tier combat heroes - any combat monster is going to be difficult to stop outside of grouping your heroes and burning might for Lurtz's heroic strike.
  • If you take him, Saruman will always be your army leader. While he himself is a good model, his combat stats are subpar, so for scenarios involving your army leader scoring wounds you're going to struggle (maybe you can get away with it if you burn all your Will casting sorcerous blasts and fireballs)

Army Bonus

You Do Not Know Pain, You Do Not Know Fear: You don't take break tests until you've lost 66% of your force. Also Lurtz, Ugluk, Mauhur, Vrasku, Scout Captains and Scouts all gain Woodland Creature.

  • Is this still current?

Unit Analysis

Isengard Heroes

  • Saruman: A potent spellcaster and good army leader. He's a Hero of Legend, has 6 Will points and gets another one for free every turn. He has 2 aggressive spells, cast on a 5+ and 4+, so he's better at supporting your troops with Transfix/Compel. He can also, once per battle, automatically make you win priority; an ability that can, if it is used at the right time, turn the game over (read: save your ass). He also has a 12 inch Stand Fast, his Stand Fast can effect other heroes and he can reroll 1 cast/resist dice per turn. Despite his relatively small list of spells (no blinding light... grrrr), he's one of the best casters in the game thanks to his reroll, even better than Gandalf. With his MASSIVE 12 inch Stand Fast and his large stock of will (+1 free point each turn), your army will NEVER run away as long as Saruman is alive. Protect him at all costs!
    • Also worth considering, he very silently got a huge bonus in the way of his new model; it has him on horse. While that doesn't sound like much by itself, consider his only real weaknesses; one, that D5 isn't exactly heavy armor, and even with 3 W/F he can still get bludgeoned pretty easily. And two, that he only has a single attack on foot. On a horse, the mobility and charge capability make him exponentially more durable against all kinds of opponents, and on top of this boosting up to 10" movement gives a very nice range for his fireballs and sorcerous blasts.
    • Saruman can be one of the best support casters in the game, both by disrupting your opponent's battle line with command (watch your opponents seeth in frustration as their combat monsters walks in the opposite direction of your battle line), and by yeeting enemy models with Sorcerous blast - remember, he gets one re-roll to cast per turn, so his odds of casting the spell is better than the 4+ displayed on his profile. Consider channeling Terrifying Aura to make it difficult for your opponent to charge him - being repeatedly locked in combat is one of the worst things that can happen to Saruman, his power lies in his spells, and if he's constantly getting charged then a significant chunk of your army is going to be locked down.
  • Grima Wormtongue: Can only be taken if Saruman is here. He deploys in the enemy's zone and forces heroes around him to spend 2 Might instead of one every time they used them (fuck you Aragorn). He cannot be shot or wounded as long as Saruman is on the battlefield, or until he charges or tries to wound someone. Very good against hero-heavy lists, not too bad otherwise. He seems unexpensive at only 25 points, but he cannot lead a troop and you need Saruman around, so that's 205 points (without horses).
    • Note, he still keeps his area of control. This can be extremely good if you position him correctly, meaning you keep him in front of your valuable troops and your opponent will have to charge him with at least one model to get past him. This sounds okay at first, until you realize he can cock-block monsters on his own AND THEY CAN'T EVEN SWING AT HIM. Imagine Grima just chilling and then the Balrog comes up to him, beats him in combat, but just has to gently push him backwards because he hasn't been revealed as a traitor yet. He can be incredibly frustrating if used correctly.
  • Lurtz: The guy from the end of the first movie. He is an Uruk Hai Captain with 3 Might, 3 Attacks and 3 wounds (finally). Having both Uruk-Hai bow and a shield means he doesn't get +1 D, but he can still use it in combat. Having the bow is a bit of a downside, you'd rather the +1 Defence, but he can roll with your bow-scouts because of it. His Warband also doesn't need to roll to see where and when it shows up in scenarios that require you to roll such things, which isn't a lot, but it's not nothing. He possess a wide range of choices for heroic actions at a reasonable cost.
    • GW GIVE US A A NEW MODEL PLEASE, HIS CURRENT MODEL IS FROM 2001. YES I AM NOT JOKING. Maybe a new pose for Lurtz and his scout heroes friends or a new Lurtz vs Boromir, Merry and Pippin pack but GIVE US A NEW MODEL. He has his own legendary legion so I gave Gw lots of reasons to do it (2001 model, has a LL, he is a beast and an important secondary character in The fellowship of the ring movie, ask Boromir, oh no, you can't).
  • Vraskû: Another Captain with 3 Might. Also has a crossbow that he is able to shoot twice every Shooting Phase with his 3+ Shooting value. A very good choice if you want to have a hero with your crossbowmen (crossbowuruks?). He costs EXACTLY THE SAME amount of points as a Captain with a crossbow, and he can shoot twice, more accurately. Why the hell would you ever take a crossbow captain to babysit your crossbowuruks when you have this guy?
  • Mauhur: The fourth and last named Uruk Hai Captain. He only has 2 Might (like a regular captain) but he makes up for it by moving 8" and having 3 Attacks. THREE F5 S5 ATTACKS FOR ONLY 60 POINTS! This is enough to let him shred through infantry and skullfuck the occasional hero. Don't expect him to do much against major heroes or massed elite infantry though. He can upgrade your Uruk Hai Scouts to have 8 move for 1 point, but only in his Warband. Still fun to Nascar around the table with and makes your opponent wary of getting to close.
  • Sharku: An Orc Captain with 3 might and a dagger that lets him stab enemy heroes whenever they fail to wound him, which is incidentally hilarious, for 10 points more than an Orc Captain. He can take a Warg for 10 points and Shield for 5, and you should probably go with both to give him a good chance of getting into combat and make you less likely to get wounded. You probably want him leading a warband of wargs, because if you're not taking Mauhur+drummer this list suffers from a lack of mobility.
  • Uruk Hai Captain: Your basic Uruk Hai hero. He is a stronger, tougher and braver Uruk, and he has 2 Might. There are quite a lot of options to equip him with, but you'll probably want to give a shield, which takes this guy up to Defense 7, which is better than your named Uruk heroes. Overall not a bad choice if you want someone that is cheap, tough, and strong to get shit done. Note that, similarly to all your Uruks, he cannot take a mount. You *can* take a crossbow on him, but you may as well take Vraskû if you want a captain with a crossbow.
  • Uruk Hai Scout Captain: Same as above, except he can take a bow instead of a crossbow. The bow is wasted on him (he is Str 5 so you want him in your battle line) and he has less defence than a regular captain, but he's slightly cheaper and benefits from the army special rule that gives him woodland creature.
  • Uruk Hai Shaman: A trickier hero for you to play, he is neither a good fighter like your Captains, nor is he a magical powerhouse like Saruman. But he is cheaper than them and he has a power that Saruman hasn't: frenzy. If you manage to cast it, it create a 6" bubble around that allows Uruk Hais to auto-pass Courage tests and that gives them some sort of 6+ FnP (if you channel it, which you will). A good support hero than will give your battle line more staying power. Try not to get him into too dangerous fights though, as losing one will stop his Frenzy. Keep him behind your shield/pike battleline and he should be golden.
  • Uruk Hai Drummer: Always a good option to get your Uruk-hai into combat faster, if you really want to be mean take a drummer alongside Mauhur's warband and make sure you upgrade them all to move 8, that way with the drummer your Uruk-hai scouts are moving 11 that's faster than most cavalry! Sadly you can't charge while moving at that speed, but it's still fun.
  • Orc Captain: If you -really- want, you can bring one as a cheap hero to unlock more troops, but that's their only redeeming feature when you can instead take Defence 7 Uruk Hai captains. Only take them if you're on a budget.

Dunland Heroes

  • Thrydan Wolfsbane: A strong character with Mighty Blow, for 85 points you get the leader of the Dunleding who can and will hack some damned Rohirrim to pieces. If you are playing straight Dunland he is a near autotake due to the Legendary Legion. Also has a 12" Stand Fast. Otherwise is very similar to the Captain with additional Might, Will, and Fate. Heroic Strike and Heroic Strength; expect to use Strike against real combat heroes. His biggest play is in the Legendary Legion, where he can give an aura of +1 to wound for a round to Dunland models.
  • Dunlending Chieftain: Comes stock with a two handed axe but you have the option to give him a bow or trade the big axe for a smaller axe and shield, though he is best served keeping his two-handed axe. S5 base gives you a world of options with what to do with a two-handed axe, potentially allowing him to threaten anything on the field. A decent fight value won't see him beat real combat heroes and his low(ish) defense of 5 means he can and will be torn up by the stronger enemies, but like much of Dunland he can hit very, very hard. Heroic March can see him leading a surprisingly swift force. Like all other Dunland Heroes he has Courage 4, which is rather low for heroes.
  • Gorulf Ironskin: Continues the Dunland hero tradition of S5 and a good Hero-line of 3-1-1, though he lacks a two-handed option. Has more heroic actions (Strike, Strength, Defense) than the others. An additional attack over Thrydan gives him a beefy profile, though he lacks Mighty Blow. The Dunland Hero Defense of 5 is mitigated when he is in combat with an enemy Hero model, as he can declare a Heroic Defense for free.
  • Frida Tallspear: Lower S than other Dunland Heroes (S4) but a higher Defense (D6), with Heroic Defense and Heroic Strength and a Hero-line of 3 Might, 1 Will, 1 Fate. Her primary use is countering enemy cavalry. Readied Stance negates cavalry special rules in a fight against her or ina fight she is supporting, and she gives off an aura of 3" of re-rolling wounds against mounts in the fight phase.

Isengard Troops

  • Uruk Hai Scout: at 8 points you have a strength 4, fight and shot value of 4, Defence 4 and courage 3 warrior, theyre exactly as Saruman made them to be, superior to orcs in every way. they have the options to bring a shield to up their defence and a banner to help them out in a fight, they can also bring an Uruk-hai bow
  • Uruk Hai Warrior: The same stats as the scout, but with +1 defence, these are your front line and back line troops (ill explain further on). Give them a shield to make them defence 6 and watch them shrug of arrows, or return the favour and equip them with Crossbows to make even Elves cry. Of course they have the option to bring a banner but what all isengard players bring are Pikes! these things are wonderful you can have a three row column of Uruk-hai and have them all fighting. These are a must if you are playing Isengard.
    • Be careful with massed pike formations, you can get your front-line warriors trapped as only one model can make way for him. It is possible to stagger your pike formations so that there's always room for the first pike to back off, but it may mean some of your Uruks will have to be satisfied with one pike, not two.
  • Orc Warrior: Literally the same Orcs mordor gets, however, there are plenty of ways to mitigate their low courage in this list.
    • These guys shouldn't be dismissed off-hand. One of the biggest problems with a Uruk-hai list is you're going to be outnumbered a lot of the time due to how expensive your basic troop choice is. It is important that you keep your formation intact to make the most of those sweet sweet pikes, but since you're outnumbered, it's not uncommon to simply be overwhelmed and have your flanks crumble. A few orcs with shields is a cheap, effective way at guarding your flanks, and you can always back them up with Uruk-Hai pikes to increase their fight value. Seriously, 10 of these guys with shields are cheaper than your basic captain and will secure your flanks.
  • Uruk Hai Demolition Team: Used to be very good until an army with these guys beat the rules designer and they got FAQ nerfed. Still okay but not the terrifying bubble of death they used to be.
  • Uruk Hai Berserker: Super Killy but doesn't play well with others, the berzerker is a good option to wreak some havoc against an opponent who likes to groups his units together, with his berserker blade (which is a hand-and-a-half-sword) you can either make strikes normally or hit every model he is engaged in combat with at strength 4 +1 to hit, sadly this includes your own guys supporting or in base contact so make sure they keep their distance. He has two special rules both making him harder to kill, the first is Oblivious to pain allowing to roll one D6 after receiving a wound if the result is a 6 then the wound is ignored. His second rule is Impervious to Bow-fire (bet you cant guess what this does) when enemy models are shooting at him they have to treat his defence characteristic as 6 and even if they do wound you then have the first special rule to make it even harder to kill them.
    • Don't feel pressured to use the weapon as two handed, as just using them as a 2 attack beast on their own is terrifying enough
    • Orcs are actually a pretty decent backup for these guys, as they're cheap enough for you not to care if you use the "hit every model engaged in combat" thing.
  • Feral Uruk Hai: A subpar Berserker with two swords instead of one big one. They get two attack but only has the oblivious to pain special rule, 3 less courage, and defence 4. At 13 points you might as well take a berserker for two more points

Isengard Cavalry

  • Warg Rider: Evil cavalry extraordinaire, the Wargs are brutal, hard hitting and versatile. Low courage and rider defence is bad, but again they are cheaper than their good side equivalents, but remember their low courage is remedied by your army bonus. These are a very good buy with throwing spears and shields, coming to 13 points in total. This paired with the changes to thrown weapons and charges, really makes them quite nasty. Have Sharku lead a warband full of these guys.
    • They are very cheap for what they are. Even if the orc riding them dies the Warg might stick around to kick more ass (make sure you magnetize your Orcs so you can simply remove them rather than needing a separate Warg model)

Isengard Monsters

  • Isengard Troll: Same stats as the Mordor troll but he comes with a sword and a shield Making him Defence 8! He can't take a hammer or club but can trade his sword for a spear or swap both his weapons out to take drums (both are a waste), he has the terror rule and he can throw big as rocks that his at strength 8 (also a waste of his time). worth taking one to use as a wound absorber, your opponent will waste most of their arrows shooting at this guy

Isengard Siege Weapons

  • Isenguard Assault Ballista:

Dunland Warriors

  • Dunliending Warrior: Strong and with poor defense and otherwise unremarkable, for 7 points they will out a list and will not disappoint. They can hit exceptionally hard for warriors but don't expect much else out of them if you give them the two-handed axe, or you can give them a shield and have somewhat better defense at the cost of that +1 to wound. You can give them a bow but why? A mediocre fight and courage, coupled with the lack of a spear, means they are likely best suited to going two-handed. When you win duels, you want them to count.
  • Wild Man of Dunland: Worse than the Dunlending Warriors in every way except they have Hatred (Rohan). Cheap way to fill out your army, but expect less of them as a result. If you want an army-filler, you may as well go for orcs who can at least take shields.

Allies

Convenient Allies

Variags of Khand

Mordor

Moria

The Eastern Kingdoms

The Serpent Horde

Far Harad

Corsairs of Umbar

Impossible Allies

Angmar

Sharkey's Rogues

The Nazgul of Dol Guldur

Azog's Hunters

Azog's Legion

Goblin Town

The Trolls

Smaug

Building your Army

Sample List

WARBAND #1

Lurtz - Army/Warband leader

6x Uruk-Hai Warriors with Shields

9x Uruk-Hai Warriors with Pikes

Warband total: 240 points

WARBAND #2

Mauhur

6x Uruk-Hai Warriors with Shields

6x Uruk-Hai Berserkers

Warband Total: 210 points

Uruk-Hai Shaman - Minor Hero

Army Total: 500 points


30 models total


The list is simple - it is designed to have a solid front line with plenty of pikes support, with your Shaman channeling his rage power to keep them in the fight longer. The beserkers are there to drive into the flanks of your opponent's battle line to take advantage of their extra attacks. The warbands are designed to work together with the Uruk-Hai Shaman, so in a scenario where they deploy randomly, deploy Mauhur's first and then use Lurtz's special ability to keep him close

Both your heroes are beatsticks who can demolish regular infantry and captains, but against combat monsters like Elrond or Aragon you will need to team them up otherwise they'll get their shit pushed in - SAVE LURTZ'S MIGHT FOR HEROIC STRIKES IF YOUR OPPONENT HAS A HERO WITH A HIGHER FIGHT VALUE THAN HIM. Mauhur can be the one to call heroic moves if this is the case.

Tactics

What is there to say? This army is straightforward - Elite Troops, excellent range power thanks to crossbows, the only downside is it lacks a counter to real combat masters


Legendary Legions

Almost every Legendary Legion is worth looking at for LOTR SBR in general, and Isengard's are no exception

Ugluk's Scouts:

Limitations:

  • The only heroes you can take are (Surprise!) Ugluk (who is mandatory), Mauhur, Grishnakh, Snaga, generic Uruk-Hai Scout Captains, Drummers, and generic Orc Captains.
  • The only warriors you can take are Uruk-Hai Scouts and Orc Warriors.
  • Only Orcs can lead Orcs and only Uruks can lead Uruks, to represent the divide in loyalties between Isengard and Mordor (the Uruks are loyal to Saruman, whilst the Orcs tend towards Sauron)

However, in return for these limitations, you gain the following advantages:

  • All Uruk-Hai scouts can be upgraded to Marauders for free. Ugluk, Scout Captains, and Drummers also benefit from this, meaning all your Uruks move at 8".
  • Friendly models gain the woodland creature special rule
  • Your Uruks and Orcs gain +1 to wound if they're involved in the same fight as one another, to represent each trying to upstage the other

Summary:

You lose access to almost all units of Isengard except for Uruk Scouts and Orc Warriors. However in return your Uruks are super speedy, won't be hampered by trees, and have an absolutely insane bonus of +1 to wound if involved in a fight with Orcs (and vice versa). You're probably going to want to take plenty of Orcs with two handed weapons, because if they're in a fight with Uruks backing them up, the -1 to duel won't matter too much, and will get an absolutely insane +2 to wound if they hit.

This legion is strong, fast, and the only thing it cannot do is deal with magic due to losing access to Saruman. At low point values it absolutely demolishes opponents but struggles at higher point values due to the low defence of it's models and no access to Saruman or Trolls - you're going to have to rely on sheer numbers to get shit done, which if you can abuse the +1 to wound with mixed combats isn't actually as bad as it seems.


Wolves of Isengard:

Limitations:

  • The only heroes you can take are Sharku (mandatory), Orc Shamans on Wargs, and generic Orc Captains on Wargs.
  • The only warriors you can take are Warg Riders and wild wargs


However, in return for these limitations, you gain the following advantages:

  • Sharku is upgraded to a hero of Valour
  • All models gain the Isengard keyword and Shaman's fury changes to (Isengard) instead of (Mordor)
  • Sharku can declare a heroic combat for free
  • In Maelstrom, you choose whether to win or lose priority. You also get to charge the same turn you entre the board.
  • Before the game starts, you get free movement with d6 warriors, and can shoot with them afterwards, but not charge.

Summary:

You lose access to almost all units of Isengard except for Warg Riders but gain the ability to take wild Wargs and Orc Shamans. This list revolves around Sharku and his free heroic combat - the other stuff is nice, and can win mission-based games, but if Sharku dies the point of this Legionary Legion dies with him. Abuse the fuck out of his heroic combats. This legion shines at low point values but dies off at higher values - "more wargs" can only get you so far.

Assault on Helm's Deep:

Limitations:

  • The only heroes you can take are Uruk-Hai Captains and Shamans. No named heroes can be taken.
  • The only warriors you can take are Uruk-Hai Warriors, Isengard Trolls, Beserkers, Demolition Teams, and Assault Balista


However, in return for these limitations, you gain the following advantages:

  • You do not break until 66% of your force is dead
  • Your Uruk-Hai captain leading the army is buffed to 3 Attacks and 3 Wounds for free - this makes him better than most of your named heroes thanks to him being a 3A/S5 3W/D7 monster. Sadly you only get one of him.
  • Your heroes gain +6 to their Warband sizes - Captains can lead bands of 18 Uruks, Shamans can lead 12.
  • Your assault Ballista reroll to hit and scatter rolls in the shoot phase.
  • Your demolition charges roll 2 dice rather than 1 and pick either result if detonated.


Summary:

You lose access to named heroes, Wargs, and Dunland folk. However you get a souped up Captain as your leader, and the ability to take huge hordes of Uruk-Hai. The buffs to the assault Ballista and Demolition charges are also nice. This legion is fine at all point values as it gets a free hero buff for low point ratings and scales well into high point ratings thanks to buffs to the Ballista and charges. It's up to you to decide if you think losing access to Saruman and other named heroes is worth it though.

Army of Dunland:


Limitations:

  • The only heroes you can take are Dunland Heroes
  • The only warriors you can take are Dunland warriors

However, in return for these limitations, you gain the following advantages:

  • Thrydan Wolfsbane is upgraded to a hero of valour
  • Friendly Dunlending models gain Hatred (Rohan)
  • Banners range is increased to 6"
  • Once per game, Thrydan can unleash a Dunlending war cry, giving all Dunlending models within 12" of him +1 to wound

Summary:

You lose access to all units except Dunland models, however you have a nicer choice of warriors due to the supplement having Duneland Huscarls and Horseman you can access so it's not as big of a deal as it seems. The buff to banner is absolutely brilliant, one banner should be able to cover most combats if you place it right. Thrydan's warcry is absolutely game-winning if used at the right time and Rohan players will cry if they see this legion.

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