4/17/2024 - The Birds, Monsters and Siege of Isengard

Hey everyone!

So far we have covered almost all of Isengard, but there are a few profiles left, the birds, monsters and siege weaponry of Isengard.

Crebain from Dunland!

Crebain are one of the most powerful profiles in Isengard's roster. They may only come in at Fight 2, Strength 2 and Defense 3, but they have two Attacks, Courage 3 and a whopping 4 Wounds. Sometimes, weight of dice is all you need, and Strength 2 can kill Defense 6 just as easily as Strength 3, and two dice for the duel are pretty reliable if you manage to pick something off outside banner ranges. Helping you do this is that Crebain have Fly, letting them move 12" as long as they don't start in or end in Woodland terrain, or end in a control zone without charging. They are extremely agile, being on 40mm bases. Crebain also are very difficult to shoot, as their Cloud of Birds special rule makes it so that Shooting attacks will only hit Crebain on a natural 6. Offensively, Crebain also have Keen Sight, cancelling out Stalk Unseen for opposing models within 12" of a Crebain. Their mobility makes them very good at picking up objects in object scenarios, flying to opposing objectives in objective scenarios, storming camps, or running off in reconnoitre. Coming in at only 20 points, they are extremely cost effective, and a swarm of 3-4 of them can take on a smaller warband without any support, or tie up an entire opposing backline to maximize traps. I also very much enjoy siccing them after Bard's children. Just watch out for Woodland terrain, as their non-flying movement is only 4", they can get very stuck.

Isengard Troll isn't real, it can't hurt you.

Isengard Trolls are... something. They have the expected troll stats, with a bit of a courage bump, at Fight 7, Shoot 5+, Strength 7, Defense 8 with their default shield, 3 Attacks, 3 Wounds and Courage 4. They get to choose between taking a Sword or a Spear, and can pay 25 Points to swap their shield for a War Drum (Isengard). They have the usual Terror and 12" Strength 8 Throw Stones for if they ever don't move. At 110 points, they definitely are expensive, the equivalent of 11 equipped Uruk-Hai. They are hard to fit in to Isengard for that reason. Too expensive, also equaling almost two heroes, they just do not mesh well with the usual numbers. I have tried to do Saruman and Troll with Wildman + Orc spam, but it has been very hit or miss. I do like the spear more than the sword, as you can surprise something with Fight 7 from the backline, but its very difficult to make up it's point cost with this. The Drum is pretty rough to pay for, dropping you to D7, and covering only slightly more models than the Uruk-Hai Drummer. Many also dislike them because their doesn't seem to be any real indication that Saruman utilized trolls at all in the books or movies.

How?... How can fire undo stone?

Uruk-Hai Demolition Teams are the first of Isengard's siege weaponry. At 80 points, you get an Uruk-Hai Berserker with a Flame Brand, which allows you to detonate the charge), and two Uruk-Hai, who can pay one point per to get a Flame brand, and of course the bomb itself. The team carries the bomb as a heavy object, and can blow it up to damage opponents, and of course, themselves. Once you move the charge into position, you can drop it. Then a model with a Flame Brand in base contact and unengaged, may try and set it off at the start of the Fight phase, passing a courage test to do so. If you pass, you consult the Detonation Table:

On the typical 2-5 result, the charge blows up, inflicting D6 Wounds, which is calculated before fate rolls, to everything within 2" of the bomb, regardless of Defense, and on both mount and rider for Cavalry. While this might seem like a great way to take out a big solo hero, this was errataed to require at least two opposing models to be within range of the explosion in order to set it off, so it requires a bit more thought. If you lose your Flame Brands, you may attempt to detonate without it, allocating as many models in base contact and unengaged as you want, and should they pass their courage test, you roll a D6 for each, detonating if you manage a 6 on any results. 

Opposing models can try and destroy the bomb, as it has a Defense of 7 and 3 wounds, however it does risk detonation, rolling a D6 per wound inflicted on it, and detonating on a 6. If a bomb is wounded by another bomb, it detonates on a 4+ rather than a 6. If the bomb is reduced to 0 wounds without detonating, it is removed from play, and if an opposing model spends a fight phase in base contact with a charge, and unengaged, it may disable it and remove it from play.

Pew Pew

The Isengard Assault Ballista is Isengard's typical Siege Engine. At 65 points, it is a real bargain, inflicting Strength 9 Hits, and has a Defense of 10, Wounds of 4. It comes with three Crew, one with Sword, one with Dagger, one with Ballista Bolt (Pike), one of which is selected as the siege Veteren. Unknown to most, you can pick which of the three, and I often prefer to select the Pike crew member. All the crew are the normal Uruk-Hai warrior profile, and the Veteren is also a minor hero, with 1 might, will and fate. You can pay 50 points to upgrade the Veteren to an Uruk-Hai Engineer Captain, which makes it a normal Uruk-Hai Captain, with any typical wargear purchases allowed, but still restricts you to paying for siege crew for additional models, so is often not worth it for the extra might you get. Each additional crew is a 9 point Uruk-Hai Warrior, but you cannot pay for additional equipment. You may also pay 15 points for Superior Construction, which extends the range from an already enough 48" to an overkill 60", which is just not worth it.

Ballistie are Accurate making their scatter 3" rather than the normal 6". They also come with Piercing Shot. When the Ballista hits a battlefield target, that target suffers a Strength 9 hit, and any Strength 5 or lower models are knocked prone and tossed D6" directly away, inflicting Strength 6 hits and knocking prone and model passed over. If the flung model hits into terrain or a model with Strength 6 or higher, than they will stop, be knocked prone as normal, and inflict a Strength 6 hit on the terrain (if it has defense) or model hit, suffering an additional Strength 6 hit themselves. Note, that the Ballista does not have Volley Fire, so after the final target is determined, you have to check for In the Ways from where the bolt leaves the Ballista. As usual, if the model targeted is in combat, you would have a combat in the way. Siege engines still inflict their normal hit on models in combat with the model hit, however only the model actually hit will be automatically slain if their wound is not fated.

Ballistie also have Raise the Ladders!, a narrative focused way to raise Siege Ladders onto walls, however I won't get into that, as it is more narrative driven, and does not apply to Matched Play.

Ballistie were errated in 2023 to add a minimum shot range of 6".

That wraps up all the profiles for Isengard! There are quite a few as stated in the initial breakdown, but now that we are through them all, we can start going over the different Legendary Legions and non-legion Isengard builds and how all these profiles fit together.

See you!

-Scott