3/27/2024 - The Uruks of Isengard

Hey Everyone!

Today I am going to be going over the Fighting Uruk-Hai of Isengard. We covered the lightly armoured Scouts previously, this time will be the heavy armoured or immune to pain troops that marched forth to strike down Helm's Deep.

March to Helms Deep! Leave none alive!

The Uruk-Hai Captains are pretty imposing profiles, coming in at fight 5, strength 5, defense 6, 2 wounds, 2 attacks, courage 4 and 2 might, 1 will, 1 fate. They can buy shields to upgrade to defense 7 and/or arm themselves with strength 4 crossbows, or 2 handed weapons, of the purchaser's choice. At only 60 points, and paying 5 points for each of their upgrades, they can be very cost efficient. They trade off the third might that most of the other named Uruk-Hai (scout) captains have, but gain a higher defense as trade. These are typically only seen in the Assault Upon Helms Deep Legendary Legion, since Isengard's named heroes are stronger in typical open Isengard lists.

Their armour is thick, and their shields broad

Fighting Uruk-Hai. The centerpiece troop of Isengard. In the past, they were viewed as the "Gold Standard" unit profile. At Fight 4, Strength 4, Defense 5, and Courage 4, and able to buy shields, pikes and/or crossbows (though usually you only buy one, as they take penalties for multiple options), they are a solid profile for line battles. An unequipped profile comes in at 9 points, paying 1 point for shields or pikes, or 2 points for a crossbow. These days, they feel like they underperform compared to other factions, so don't feel as much of the "Gold Standard" profile, but that does not take away how deadly an Uruk-Hai pike block can be. Being able to double up on pikes, and having a banner nearby will net you 4 dice a duel, making them very consistent, and with three strength 4 strikes when they win, they can kill most things they face.

Looks like one of those crazies is here

Uruk-Hai Berserkers are Isengard's elite warriors, at 15 points a piece. Similar to normal Uruk-Hai, they are Fight 4 and Strength 4. Being lightly armoured, they only are Defense 5, but have a special rule, Oblivious to Pain, which lets them roll a D6 when they suffer a wound, ignoring the wound on a 6 in the same manner as if a fate point were spent. It does not stack with other special rules that confer the same effect, likely pointing at channeled Fury (though it is unclear whether magic is considered a special rule, something I have been trying to get the FAQ to address). They also have Impervious to Bow-fire, which treats their defense as 6 when models try and shoot them. This makes Berserkers hard to shoot, and unpredictable on whether they shrug off blows in melee. The real heavy part of their profile comes from them having 2  attacks, and courage 7. This makes them harder to beat in duels, and more reliable to both charge terror and stick around should you break. Their special Berserker Blade is a hand and a half sword. When two handing with it, should they win the duel, they can inflict one Strength 4 hit at +1 to Wound on every model Engaged or supporting the Berserker in base contact (friend and foe), similar to the Whirl special strike. Not an amazing ability, but if the choice is death or kill everything, its an easy choice to make.

Guttural Uruk Noises

Feral Uruk-Hai are... something. They clock in at 13 points, 2 points cheaper than Berserkers, who they share an attack value of 2 with, along with the usual F4 S4 of Uruk-Hai. However their defense drops to 4, and their courage 5, wielding two swords rather than the berserker blade. They also share the Oblivious to Pain special rule, giving them a chance to shrug off wounds. Unfortunately, this profile just does not see play, as its always better to either pay 2 more points for a berserker, or save 3 points for a shielded Uruk-Hai. Courage 5 does let them fight stuff more often, but you could always use a shaman with Fury to make up that gap for regular Uruk-Hai. I own 3 of these, but that is because I bought one of each set of Isengard models when starting. Had I known what they actually do, I likely would never have bought them. I have tried to make a meme list of Ferals backed by Orc Spears, but have not yet tested it on Tabletop Simulator. I suspect the few more numbers over doing the same with Berserkers will not be worth it.

Just a quick few profiles this week. Next time I will be getting in to my favorite part of Isengard, Dunland, starting with the hero profiles.

Thanks for reading!

-Scott