New to Isengard: What's worth taking!

Hello all! I'm new to WotR, but I've played a few practice games, and checked out the rules. I've settled on Isengard as my army of choice for two reasons: I like the look and style of the Uruk Hai Orks, and secondly, I want to be eeeeeevil!

So I want to collect an Uruk Hai themed Army, and would like to know, before spending my hard-earned, what people would consider to be worth taking in a force, and what's best left sitting on the bench. There's always some upgrades in a force that are essential, and some that are junk, always some stuff that looks great on paper but never works out so well in the game, and always some stuff that y'all should never leave home/cave/tower without! Any advice is welcome!

Also, I've purchased Battlehosts, and loooooove the look of all three Isengard-ey hosts that are available. I can't decide which to go for; Saruman's fighting Uruk Hai, Lurtz' scouts or the 'We've got da hobbits!' host. Anyone given 'em a test drive yet?

Your standard sword wielding uruk hai is a solid line trooper. Pikes are nice, but the lower defense means they're also more vulnerable to just about anything and should be used more sparingly. One or two formations of 3-4 companies is great to counter cavalry and monsters. Just remember that despite their superior strength and fight, Uruk's are no better at defense than Gondor Warriors or Morannon Orks (with shields) and will die just as quickly.

Don't overlook basic 2-handed weapon orks. One weakness of the list is that the really nasty damage dealing units like berserkers and trolls are also rare formations and come in limited numbers. 2HW ork units can pump out a lot of damage for very few points, and are therefore cheap enough to be expendable. You can throw them in against the main enemy line to weaken them, and then follow up with your uruk hai. While we're on the subject, Berserkers can be very powerful, or shot up and die very quickly. It all depends on how much attention your opponent focuses onto them and where you use them. Yes, they hit like a ton of bricks and have 2 resiliency, but their defense is just terrible and they still strike at the same time as all other infantry. This means you need to minimize their exposure to enemy shooting and melee. Send them in as part of the 2nd wave, and try to get them in against flanks or into positions where only 1 enemy stand can attack them back.

Some shooting in the form of crossbowmen and ballistas is very, very helpful. Isengard actually has some of the best shooting units in the game, but they're not used as often because the models are metal. Try doubling and then having a captain call an heroic shot. You can easily convert the crossbowmen out of some WHFB parts and basic Uruk-Hai warriors if you take a little bit of time. A google search should come up with some pictures.

Assuming your local group isn't trying to break the game, taking about 1 caster per 1000 points is a nice way to add support to your force. Exicate and Fireball are solid damage dealers, but don't overlook shatter shields and the re-roll spell.

Feral Uruk-Hai can be an awesome anti-support unit, or wasted potential depending on terrain. Ambushing them can be a great way to get rid of opposing artillery and ranged units since they have the strength to carve them up. If your opponent hasn't deployed those units near terrain, then see if you can set the Ferals to come in behind your opponents' main line as part of a combined front/rear charge.


Lux

Thanks for the reply! I hadn't considered ranged units so much, mainly because people don't tend to have much advice or use 'em often, which is likely down to the metal models. I hadn't considered that could be a serious issue!

As for the rest of the advice, much appreciated. I like the ballista models, so may go for one (or two!)

Lux mentioned it, but I feel it ought to be stressed: in terms of balance, this game is Broken (with a capital "B"). You should take a look at the sorts of things being played by the people who will become your regular opponents should you pick up the game.

Some people play with armies built specifically to avoid or minimize the sickeningly overpowered crap with which this game is riddled, while others build for effectiveness (and load up on the overpowered stuff). If you aren't taking the same approach to army building as the others in your gaming group, you aren't going to have much fun.

If you build an army for effectiveness and your opponents don't, you'll routinely walk all over them and they likely won't appreciate it much.

If they build for effectiveness and you don't, you will not win--and you have to be a pretty easygoing guy to get crushed over and over again by stuff that's obviously unbalanced and not be bothered by it.

Also, check to see what house rules your gaming group generally uses. The rules as they are written are pretty dysfunctional, and every group I've ever heard of plays with at least one significant house ruling. These rules generally make the game better, but you don't want to be taken by surprise by a rule that everyone you play against uses, but which is not in the rulebook.

I don't play Isenguard but my main opponent uses the Uruk-hai to good effect.

Some pointers-

As others have said, Uruk hai warbands are great, pikes are more specialist. If you're going to be playing against lots of cavalry then take loads of pikes, otherwise just a few will do.

Warg riders are consistantly disappointing if used for a head on charge. Smaller units in the flanks are much better. Treat them as cheap disposable units if you must take them but in general cavalry is much harder to use well.

Troll Captains are awesome, well worth the extra points over a normal Isenguard troll. The increased fighting skill combined with might and the ability to 'at the double' makes them a great force multiplier. If fighting by themselves it's often a good idea to heroic fight (monsters will win always win a fight against infantry and cavalry unless they are killed).

Uruk-hai scout with bows are a great flanking unit but need a captain to make the most of them (At the double then heroic shoot in the flanks). Ordinary scouts at first seem inferior to the armoured uruk-hai, and are much harder to use well. Basically, if there's lots of woodland terrain around they're useful, otherwise go for the heavily armoured troops. The legendary scout formations are better though.

Saruman is great. Just don't get stuck in a position where he's about to be heroic duelled by a fighting hero. Particularly watch out for epic challenges.


That's just my initial thoughts. Several people don't rate uruk-hai but to be honest I think they're an awesome army with almost every tool they could want (heavy cavalry would be nice). I never face an Isenguard army and think I'm in for an easy game. Plus, they look fantastic.

Good luck.

Wow! thanks for the advice! This is exactly the kinda thing I was looking for. Been a long time since I been here...

So I've started my army. Solid lines of Uruk hai with shields and swords or spears. Plenty of scouts too, 'cos they're easy to paint, and I was gonna use Saruman's scouts battlehost, but now I'm gonna make a custom list.

Glad to hear Trolls are worth a shout; I love these models, and have two of 'em. They're great fun to paint, and I may use both as chiefs for the might and stat boosts. I got an assault ballista, and will possibly have some bow-armed scouts since I don't want to be completely without shooting. I don't want the enemy to really be safe at any distance! And yeah, I'll give 'em a Captain :)

Picking heroes is tough. Lurtz, Saruman, and allies Amdur (HAve you seen what he can do? He's insanely powerful!) and Shagrat (Great stats) are all enticing. It'll depend what game I'm in, but even if he's not Isengard, Amdur looks like THE Close combat beast, and Saruman is the natural choice for inspiration and magic.

I think all in all, a mostly competitive build would be a good idea, so I'll design an army with that in mind.