3/20/2024 - The Orcs of Isengard
Hello everyone!
Today I am going to cover the Orcs of Isengard!
They're fresh
Snaga is one of the lower tier fortitude heroes of Isengard. He has the typical Orc Captain stats of Move 6, Fight 4/5+, Strength 4, Defense 5, 2 Attacks, 2 Wounds, and 3 Courage, but gets an upgraded third might to have 3 Might, 1 Will, 1 Fate, paying 10 points over a normal captain.. He does not have any option for shield, so is stuck at D5. Similar to the restrictions in the Ugluk's Scouts legion, Snaga can only take Orc models in his warband. Snaga's only heroic is Heroic Challenge, which sees almost no play in the game. Being a hero of fortitude, this does present more opportunities to call it, however most things will accept the challenge and one shot him in return. His key special rule, Cunning Mind, allows Snaga to not take part in friendly Heroic Actions and still act as normal later in the phase, and even when participating he does not have to remain within a specific range of the Heroic Action. While it does not specify which actions this works on, the only ones that I see it applying is Heroic Move and Heroic March. So for 10 points more than a captain, you get to be sneaky... which does not seem all that worth it. It is open ended to where he could technically decline to take part in his own Heroic Challenge, but I do not really see a use case for doing so except to taunt your opponent before Snaga kicks the bucket.
He took a little tumble off the cliff
Sharku is another lower tier fortitude heroes for Isengard. He has identical stats to Snaga and comes in at the same points. He does have the option to buy a shield, and of course his Warg mount. His one heroic is Heroic March, which lets him get himself and others into the action very quickly, bumping his movement up to 15" on the Warg and friendly riders nearby. His special rule is his Riding Dagger wargear. This dagger lets him throw a strength 4 strike against any opposing Hero model that fails to wound him from a strike, which resolves immediately. This will even happen when he takes his last wound, before his death. This has resulted in people using him as a self-bomber, by throwing him (on foot) into a big charging mounted hero, who then statistically will fail to wound on some strikes, letting Sharku throw a bunch back at them. This situation did get an FAQ however. If you choose to resolve your strikes fully one at a time, once Sharku is reduced to 0 wounds, you will not continue to throw strikes since he has died. Therefore, when facing him, always resolve strikes one at a time to limit how much he throws back at you. This is one of the few situations where there is a difference due to a special rule on whether you strike once or all together.
Orc Captains are cheap fortitude heroes. Not amazing, but not terrible, though typically outshined by the Dunland fortitudes. Same situation as Snaga and Sharku on stats, however having only 2 might. They do take along Heroic March, and can buy shields, orc bows and Warg mounts. They also come with Picks or Swords, so you can get piercing for a cheap S5 captain. At only 40 points, they come 20 points under Uruk-Hai Captains, so you can manage a bit of savings.
Ah! A new horde of orcs
Orcs. Fodder. Scum. They have many names. Orcs are cheap bodies that lists can take to pad up their numbers typically to support unique heroes and benefit from buffs. In Isengard, they are most typically seen as part of the Ugluk's scouts legion, but you can also combine them with more expensive Uruk-Hai Berserkers to reduce the cost of the line, and provide extra dice for duels. Orcs are Fight 3/4+, Strength 3, Defense 4, Courage 2, and the typical warrior stats of 1 wound, 1 attack. At only 5 points, they are amazing value. They can buy banners, shields, spears, orc bows and 2 hand weapons. They get to pick between Swords and Picks, usually most opting to buy picks for piercing. They can perform fairly solidly as body blockers and shielders, and are very useful in adding dice to duels.
Send out your Warg Riders
Warg Riders are the cavalry of choice most of the time. Warg Riders have the same stat line as regular Orcs, however cannot choose between Swords and Picks, only being able to take Swords. They are cheap, costing 11 points, which is less than the sum of their parts of an Orc and Wild Warg, at 5 and 7 respectively. Being on the Warg, they are Cavalry, gaining movement 10, and allowing them to use the Strength 4 from the Wild Warg. Warg riders are able to purchase Banners, Orc Bows, Shields and Throwing spears. Throwing spears only being 1 point, in respect of the fact that they hit less often with shoot value of 5+, makes them very worth the value. Warg Riders are great objective takers and kiters, and getting S4 from the Warg, they charge can do some serious damage when they charge with their Cavalry bonuses. Unlike Horseman, who lose the horse if they die, Wargs have a chance to stay on the table when their rider dies or dismounts. With a courage value of 2, they don't stick around that often, but when they do, they can disrupt heroic combats, and can prevent you from breaking, since for a Cavalry model to be fully dead, you have to kill the rider and mount (or some combination of rider and mount between multiple models).
That hits all of the Orcs of Isengard. I am going to work on getting back on a normal schedule, so stay tuned for next time, where I cover the Uruks of Isengard!
-Scott
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