8/10/2023 - Isengard Overview

 

Hello everyone!

As the name of the blog implies, I am a huge Dunland fan, and by extension, Isengard. I figured I would just dive right into some overview of Isengard today, and split into more detailed breakdowns of units, legendary legions and army composition in the coming weeks, then use that structure to talk about some other armies.

One of my favorite things to say when someone is talking about any army, and I mean any, is "That sounds mighty Huscarlable." My personal way to play Dunland, which I do caution tends to only work at 700+ points, is very heavy on Dunlending Huscarls, with usually 50% of the force comprised of them. I will get more into it when I talk about Dunland in future posts, but suffice to say, I am going to call things Huscarlable many, many, times. 

So lets get into it.

Isengard

Isengard is a jack of all trades faction, and as one of the core four factions, it has received a lot of love with releases, with getting a legendary legion in Quest of the Ringbearer and 4 legions in War in Rohan, along with most of the Dunland profiles. Additionally, it has almost all it's sets constantly in stock with Games Workshop and Forge World.

Isengard can take the gold-standard stat line of an Uruk-Hai Warrior equipped with a shield to the low fodder of a Wild Man of Dunland, with lots in between, along with an assortment of unique heroes that all have a place (mostly) in any list.

For those that do not have the War in Rohan book, which as a true Isengard player, is a must-have, Isengard has the following unit roster:

Saruman, Grima Wormtongue, Lurtz, Ugluk, Sharku, Vrasku, Mauher, Snaga Orc Captain, Thrydan Wolfsbane, Gorulf Ironskin, Frida Tallspear, The Wild Man Oathmaker, Uruk-Hai Captains, Uruk-Hai Scout Captains, Uruk-Hai Shamans, Uruk-Hai Drummers, Orc Captains, Uruk-Hai Shamans, Uruk-Hai Drummers, Orc Captains, Dunlending Chieftains, Uruk-Hai Scouts, Uruk-Hai Warriors, Uruk-Hai Berserkers, Feral Uruk-Hai, Isengard Trolls, Dunlending Warriors, Dunlending Horsemen, Dunlending Huscarls, Wild Men of Dunland, Crebain, Warg Riders, Orc Warriors, Isengard Assault Ballistae and Uruk-Hai Demolition Teams.

Quite the list, coming in at 18 different heroes, 12 different warriors, including 1 monster option, and 2 siege weapons. Outside of Mordor, who has their heroes vastly outnumbering Isengard's due to so many named models, Isengard has the most heroes and warrior options, and ties with a few factions on siege weaponry (at least in terms of numbers).

Isengard has a few different sub-sets of models, the core Fighting Uruk-Hai with Saruman, the Uruk-Hai Scouts with Lurtz and all the named Uruk-Hai, the Orcs with Snaga, the Warg Riders with Sharku and the Dunlendings with Thrydan. Outside of Saruman himself, all of these sub-sets also have their own legendary legions, but can also come together to form "open Isengard" as I put it. I find that each part brings their own strengths.

Saruman and the Fighting Uruk-Hai bring raw power. Saruman is one of the best casters in the game, with a useful list of spells (outside Flameburst), and the ability to reroll when making a cast or resist test, while Grima forces opponents to choose between calling heroics and spending extra might or subjecting themselves to priority and board control. The Uruk-Hai form a strong core of fight 4 strength 4 defense 6 warriors, with the ability to double support via pikes, or shoot at range with strength 4 crossbows. There are not many armies that can match the strength and reliability of Uruk-Hai. The Uruk-Hai have their own legendary legion, Assault Upon Helms Deep, representing the movie assault force, in which there are no named characters, just hordes of Uruk-Hai.

The Uruk-Hai scouts bring a bunch of named heroes, all of which provide good effects at a reasonable cost. They are lightly armored, with most coming in at defense 4 or 5, but for their cost, its not a horrible sacrifice. The scouts bring Uruk Bows, which lose strength and range compared to crossbows, but allow for movement when firing. The Scouts have two legendary legions, Lurtz's Scouts, which represents the forces that attack the Fellowship at Amon Hen, and Ugluk's Scouts, representing the forces that transported Merry and Pippin across the plains of Rohan, ultimately leading to their demise on the border of Fangorn.

The Orcs in Isengard are the forces of Sauron sent to aid Saruman in crafting his army, and while they are the weaker versions, not matching up to Morannan Orcs of Mordor, their cost is very low, at a base of 5, allowing for them to supplement Uruk-Hai or Dunlendings for cheap with supporting spears, or serve as frontline fodder for supporting pikes. They join together with Ugluk in his Scout legion Snaga being the "why cant we have some meat" Orc that others get a mouthful of instead of him getting a mouthful of hobbit. He is the Menu. 

The Warg Riders are the mobility side of Isengard. Warg Riders are fast, cheap, and hit hard, with Wargs lending strength 4 to their rider, they can definitely kill opponents that they get the better of in a duel when charging. Combined with their throwing spears, they can clear out models on the charge, and can make up their points very quickly, along with grabbing objectives rapidly. Sharku is a lighter armored Orc Captain with more might, and his special riding dagger, stabbing those who fail to kill him. He gets upgraded in the Wolves of Isengard legendary legion, being granted free Heroic Combats, along with getting some mounted Orc Shamans that help keep Warg Riders alive and fearless with fury.

Dunland. Or should I say, Funland. Dunland is my favorite part of Isengard, and probably the entire game. Beefy dudes, swinging big axes, cleaving through whatever they can. Dunland has very unique heroes, and while I can go on forever, I will reserve that for future posts where I go in depth. For now I will say this, Thrydan Wolfsbane hits like a freight train due to his Mighty Blow but dies to a stiff breeze. Gorulf Ironskin hits like a truck, and can hold up to most hits due to his Ironskin free defenses (when fighting heroes), Frida Tallspear can shut down any mounted hero with ease, even Azog or Gil Galad, due to her Readied Stance canceling Cavalry Charge bonuses, The Wild Man Oathmaker is a super efficient 55 point hero with 3 might and gives fearless out to nearby Wildmen, and Dunlending Chieftains can hit very hard for their point cost. Dunland normally can be taken as part of Isengard, but also has it's own Legendary Legion that drops you down to the Dunlending keyword units and Crebain, trading Uruk-Hai and the other parts of Isengard for 6" banners, Hatred (Rohan) for all units, and a once per game +1 to wound emanating from Thrydan. As I said, I can go into Dunland forever, but that is for later.

To circle back to Isengard being a jack of all trades faction, here is a non-exhaustive but pretty extensive list of armies you can make for Isengard, myself having played most of them at one point or another, and some being better than others:

1. Saruman led open Isengard
2. Saruman led Bomb Squad Isengard
3. Non-Saruman open Isengard (mix of units, generally Dunland heroes)
4. Burning of the West Fold (lots of Orcs, Wildmen and Uruk-Hai Scouts)
5. Lurtz's Scouts Legendary Legion
6. Ugluk's Scouts Legendary Legion
7. Ugluk's Scouts Legendary Legion - No Orcs
8. Assault Upon Helms Deep Legendary Legion - Uruk-Hai Spam
9. Assault Upon Helms Deep Legendary Legion - Ballistae
10. Assault Upon Helms Deep Legendary Legion - Bombs
11. Assault Upon Helms Deep Legendary Legion - Mixed
12. Wolves of Isengard Legendary Legion
13. Army of Dunland Legendary Legion
14. Army of Dunland Legendary Legion - Huscarl Spam

There are more, these are just the only I can currently think of. 

In the coming posts, I am going to get into more specifics of the heroes and warrior models for Isengard, the different types of army and legendary legion composition, along with matchups, impact of good vs evil or open matchups towards building, thoughts on any changes I would make to Isengard, and more.

Thank you all for taking the time to read, and I will see you next week (or sooner)! Let me know in the comments any thoughts you have on the formatting, if there is anything you wanted me to touch on that I didn't and didn't list that I would in the future, or any general questions about Isengard.

-Scott