The Bare Necessities, Part VII: Isengard

Good morning gamers,

In our last post, we looked at how you could build a Minas Tirith army that maximized its victory point potential by including fast units (Knights of Minas Tirith and Gandalf the White), a banner (one on a Warrior of Minas Tirith, though I recommend picking up another if you scale up to 800-points), enough numbers (at least 30 models), ways of neutralizing enemy heroes (predominantly with Gandalf the White), and ways of augmenting/protecting your own heroes (predominantly with Gandalf the White). Today, we turn our attention to Isengard and see a sample list that you can use to maximize your potential for victory points with this army.

Isengard: Seven Versions of the Same Thing?

Like Minas Tirith, Isengard has a lot of hero and warrior choices. Almost all of the named heroes are near-carbon-copies of each other (boasting the same Fight Value, Strength, Defense, Attacks, Wounds, Courage, Might, Will, and Fate) – their only real distinction is in their special rules (where they basically have one each). Beyond these heroes, you have some heroes who are better (Saruman, Lurtz, Thrydan) and some heroes who are worse (Dunlending Chieftains, Orc Captains, Uruk-Hai Shamans, Uruk-Hai Drummers, Snaga, and Grima). As a result, while I’m going to choose certain heroes for this list, I don’t think the heroes you choose (with one exception, maybe two) matter that much – mix and match and see what you like.

For Warriors, you’re in the same quandary: Dunlending Warriors don’t benefit from the Isengard army bonus, but they’re basically the same as Uruk-Hai Scouts (-1FV but a little bit cheaper and with axes in their base profile – see my post on Dunlendings for how they compare), and those same Scouts are basically the same as Uruk-Hai Warriors (-1D but a little bit cheaper). The elite Uruk-Hai troops (Ferals and Berserkers) and Warg Riders aren’t that expensive (12-15 points each) and so you can get a decent horde out of this list if you run a lot of Uruk-Hai Captains (and the named captains are pretty cheap for what they give you – although they only have average Defense/Wounds/Fate). With this in mind, let’s look at the list and see how we can optimize on points.

The List

700pts of Isengard: The Ravagers of Rohan

• Saruman [Army Leader]
• 4  Uruk-Hai Warriors with shields
• 3 Uruk-Hai Warriors with pikes
• 1 Uruk-Hai Warrior with pike and banner
• 5 Uruk-Hai Scouts with Uruk-Hai bows
• INDEPENDENT: Grima Wormtongue
• Thrydan Wolfsbane on horse
• 2 Dunlending Warriors with shields
• 2 Uruk-Hai Warriors with shields
• 4 Uruk-Hai Warriors with pikes
• Mauhur
• 6 Uruk-Hai Marauders with shields
• 6 Uruk-Hai Scouts with Uruk-Hai bows

37 models, 11 Uruk-Hai bows hitting on a 4+ and 1 magic caster, 6 D6+ models, 1 mounted model + 7 fast infantry, 8 Might points

Unlike our last list, we’ve got 8 Might points available to us (which is average for this points level, I’d say). We've got the same number of models as the Minas Tirith list we looked at last time, though it's primarily comprised of D5 models instead of D6-7 models (which could threaten our numbers a lot). That being said, everyone in the list is S4/5, which means we’ll we wounding enemy heavy infantry pretty easily and anything shy of a Dwarf mega-hero or really nasty monster will be wounded on a single die.

If you scale this list up to 800 points, we have 6 more model slots remaining, so you could add some elite units as well – Berserkers would be good, more pikes perhaps, upgrade some Uruk-Hai Scouts with Uruk-Hai bows to crossbows? There are lots of choices available to you – you could even get some Warg Riders and upgrade Mauhur to Lurtz and run normal Scouts instead.

For why I made the decisions I did, let’s look at each warband and see what it’s contributing.

Warband #1: The White Wizard

The White Wizard: 355 pts, lots of 18" threat.

I’ve talked about Saruman before (also in the context of skirmish units) – to me, he’s a must-have for any Isengard army at/above 600 points. Not to rehash everything from the previous post, but our inclusion of Saruman has to do with the need to neutralize enemy heroes. Whether you have one Uruk-Hai hero or five doesn’t really change anything in the damage department – Uruk-Hai heroes will kill stuff. The problem you’ll run into is when you run up against a hero that’s really, REALLY big (Aragorn, Gil-Galad, Dwalin, the Balrog, Sauron, Azog - you get the idea). Against these kinds of heroes, Uruk-Hai heroes just can’t perform reliably. While Saruman will have a rough time against some of these heroes (the Balrog and Sauron are pretty good at shrugging off magical barrages for a few turns), he has a better chance of wearing down these heroes and neutralizing them than throwing Uruk-Hai heroes/warriors at the problem. Against more reasonable foes (Aragorn, Boromir, Gil-Galad, and Dwalin), Saruman is a powerful hero who can deal superb damage or neutralize their combat effectiveness with relative ease (and he can start the work from 18” away).

Supporting (or should I say, protecting) Saruman are 13 Uruk-Hai: an 8-man shieldwall with a banner in the center and 5 Uruk-Hai Scouts with Uruk-Hai bows. I could have dropped two models to upgrade most of my Uruk-Hai Scouts with Uruk-Hai bows in the army to Uruk-Hai Warriors with crossbows. I don’t like crossbows because of their inflexibility and the increased Strength of the Uruk-Hai bows in this edition makes them a more appealing alternative. Their presence in this warband is mostly to force your opponent to come towards your pikes (though they’ll probably already want to do that to get to Saruman). These skirmishers can be abandoned along the way if a good firing lane is available or if you need to hold an objective.

What makes Saruman really helpful, though, isn’t just that he casts magic, but that he’s more resilient than the other Isengard heroes (3 Wounds with 3 Fate points and the standard Isengard D5 with an incentive to be far away from the main fighting) and that he brings the Palantir to the field. Like calling Death on the right turn with the Riders of Theoden Legendary Legion, using the Palantir on the right round is crucial: charging into important fights at the right time to either get the drop on an opponent OR force him to burn resources calling Heroic Moves is worthwhile, especially if Saruman has been working down the Will/Might of the enemy. If your opponent does call a Heroic Move or two, let him do so without counter-calling, as his movement will tell you where Saruman needs to focus (and which heroes are more vulnerable in their positions). Your Uruks can hold out. . . .

Calling Heroic Moves might be really costly, since we included Grima in our army. Normally, I deploy Grima in my opponent's army, but you want to skip that if your opponent has a good magical damage caster (as Grima's D3 with 1 Wound and 0 Will/Fate won't last long). Keeping Grima alive and close to the front lines is key, as he can make calling Heroic Actions (most notably Heroic Moves, Heroic Strikes, Heroic Combats, and Heroic Defenses) more expensive (2 Might to call instead of 1 Might). Early in the game, Heroic Marches are more expensive too, slowing down your opponent's advance OR making his surge towards the middle more costly. Should your opponent try calling Heroic Resolve once Saruman establishes his awesomeness, you can make that more expensive too. Grima can be really nasty...

Warband #2: The Dunland Contingent

The Dunland Contingent: 171 pts, with several ways of dealing with a variety of foes - best deployed right next to Saruman's warband to expand that shieldwall.

As I went over in my Dunland post, Dunlending Warriors are best employed when backed up by Uruk-Hai Warriors with pikes (though the new Dunland Huscarls are a good option as well if you plan on keeping Thrydan nearby – and they’re roughly the same price). While Dunlendings have a lower base Fight Value than Uruk-Hai Scouts (which is made up by the F4 of the pikemen), access to axes in their base profile make Dunlending Warriors superb at fighting against a great mix of odd-Defense foes (be they D7 Dwarf Warriors, D5 Riders of Rohan, or D3 Hobbits). Having the option to employ Piercing Strike is great, as it gives you the ability to utilize your high base Strength of 4 against odd-Defense armies that normally waste that upgrade.

Leading these guys is Thrydan, who got quite a bit of time in the sun in my Dunland post. While he’s a little more expensive than Lurtz after you purchase his horse, his combat abilities are roughly the same, his resiliency is roughly the same, but his potential for damage is increased because of Mighty Blow and his two-handed axe (to allow him to be S6 with +1 To Wound with Piercing Strike) while mounted (to get +1 Attack and Knock Down). If you’re facing multi-wound models, Thrydan is a beastly opponent (heroes with 2 Wounds and 1 Fate beware).

One quick note: I'm on the fence about whether the warriors in this warband should be swapped with the archers in Saruman's warband, not only because the shieldwall would be larger, but Saruman would be better protected. I've stuck with this configuration for theme...

Warband #3: Mauhur’s Raiders

Mauhur's Raiders: 174 pts, with a mixture of fast flankers and strong skirmishers.

I’ve run Marauders for a long time – I often run them with Uruk-Hai bows, but recently, I’ve been turning to melee-armed models for the extra speed because some scenarios require you to book it (and I’d rather be shooting each turn than having my archers moving at the double-quick). With Mauhur around to March his troops forwards, you’ve got a mixed squad of fast melee models and slower archers to lay down fire (or hold objectives as they pass by). Timing your Heroic Marches is key in certain scenarios, as you might want to leave your archers behind somewhere and keep your melee troops running. While this army runs no cavalry warriors, having 6 Uruk-Hai Marauders with shields (and Mauhur and Thrydan) should give you the fast troops you need to score enough victory points in the scenarios that need fast models.

Mauhur himself is a great hero: while he doesn’t have access to Strike (use Thrydan for that), he’s got a base Attack stat of 3 with the desired F5/S5 of an Uruk-Hai hero. While he’s limited to 2 Might points (which might be spent calling a Heroic March or two - see what I did there?), he’s really good at slaying warriors and buying his Marauders space (though you’ll want to use the archers escorting his band to make sure he’s not swarmed).

Scenario Overview

Let’s take a look at each of the available scenarios and see some thoughts/considerations for using this list:

• Domination: Saruman and the Marauders are the key pieces here: Saruman has 18” range on Command, which can easily pull a model left on a far-flung objective out of scoring range while Saruman holds another objective on his own. Using Sorcerous Blast is another key way to get an important scoring model off of an objective (especially one that you’re preparing to attack). Your archers can support Saruman, but they’re probably best employed standing on other objectives or whittling down large enemy formations so that your pike blocks have an easier time of things. Thrydan and Mauhur are more than able to race to lightly-manned objectives and clear their defenders, while you can tuck your Marauders away for part of the game, taking the terrain-protected paths to far-flung objectives that Saruman can’t reach.
• Capture and Control: Capture and Control is a good scenario for you: Mauhur and his Marauders can race from objective to objective, tagging them and leaving them in order to flank-charge enemies. Use your archers to slowly navigate to the farther-off objectives and hold them, offering some resistance so your Marauders have time to come back and help. Saruman can, as described above, pull units away from tagging objectives, neutralize enemy heroes trying to smash through your pike blocks, and knock down enemy cavalry harassing your flanks.
• Hold Ground: Pike blocks are great here – advance them towards the center and use your Marauders/archers to protect the flanks. Your opponent needs to come to you and CANNOT let you stake out a foothold early without some serious work ahead of him (as an example, check out the battle report Rythbryt and I did back in July). Granted, our pike blocks aren't very large, but they should be larger enough to make a good perimeter.
• Seize the Prize: You need fast units in this game and Mauhur and his Marauders (supplemented by Thrydan) will do just fine. While we might have benefited from having a Drum, in most scenarios the Drum helps you for a few turns but then becomes an expensive piece of gear that’s not helping anymore. Without the Drum, Mauhur can push his Marauders up to 11” each turn with Heroic March (and Thyrdan can be pushed 15” if he's in range). For two turns (I recommend turns 1 and 3), Mauhur can push his men forward, keeping pace with enemy cavalry (though you’ll be outstripped by 4” each turn by Marching Cavalry). All told, this isn’t a bad pace to be keeping. Your two squads of archers will need to pelt the enemy approaching with archery, keeping your opponent from racing to the center at his fastest pace in order to shield himself from taking unnecessary casualties. To get maximum movement out of your archers and your Marauders, you want to call a March on the first turn so your archers can move 9”, then move normally on the second turn, allowing your Marauders to distance themselves from the slower infantry. On Turn 3 or 4 (whenever you pick up the prize or take it from your opponent), call a March again so you can get it safely near Saruman. Once your opponent is within 18” of Saruman, use Command on whatever enemy model is closest to the center (or anyone who picks up the prize before you do) and move him away from the objective as far as possible (or closer to you if he's picked it up) and into a good position to be shot at by your archers. Once you have it, screen and run with your fastest troops (Thrydan or Mauhur aren't bad choices either) to get it off the board edge.
• To The Death: Not being broken is going to be hard with this list, since we’ve got average Defense on most of our models. That being said, both Mauhur (if focused on warriors) and Thrydan (if focused on multi-wound models) are very good at killing things. Saruman is deadly in To The Death, since he can focus on shutting down an important hero (first by forcing a dismount with Sorcerous Blast, then by Immobilizing/Sorcerous Blasting said hero) in order to let Thyrdan slay the hero more easily. As you snipe enemy heroes with Saruman, your opponent will need to rely on his grunts beating your grunts. Most Uruk-Hai armies are beaten because there’s a hero that can slay a lot of them – this army shuts heroes down pretty well.
• Lords of Battle: Killing things fast is what this list does: Saruman can rack up kills with Sorcerous Blast, Thrydan can clear Wounds and Fate easily with his knock-down/two-handed axe, Mauhur is one of the cheapest 3A heroes in the game, and your pike blocks lend above-average Fight/Strength to chew through enemy shieldwalls. The trick with this army, however, is to make sure that you’re not relying on shielding to carry the day – Lords of Battle games cannot be won if you’re shielding everywhere.
• Contest of Champions: Saruman’s magical damage won’t contribute to his kill count in this scenario, but he can use Immobilize/Command to keep the enemy army leader from killing anything (and then use Sorcerous Blast when the enemy army leader is unable to resist his spells to deal damage and Knock Down the enemy leader to further keep him from doing damage). Once the enemy army leader goes down, Saruman just needs to get a kill or three with his staff to maximize on points scored.
• Reconnoitre: You have Mauhur’s warband and Thrydan as fast models. If possible, don’t run Mauhur or Thrydan off the board (though either can, if you really need them to). Once the Marauders are on the home stretch to the board edge, have your army focus on tying down units that are racing for your board edge (the Palantir can make sure that on one turn you guarantee no one is making progress towards the board edge) and getting into fights with really bad odds of surviving in the center so your army will be quartered. Getting this scenario to end quickly by getting quartered is a good thing (though be sure you’re stalling units who are trying to race off the edge or you’ll see victory torn from your grasp).
• Storm the Camp: Once again, you need fast units to get to the enemy camp. Your Marauders, while useful, aren’t needed to press the attack (you have two pike blocks for that) – so send them a round-about way to get to the enemy camp (and maybe distract some of your opponent’s units from your main force). Saruman and your archers are more than capable of playing defense, though you don’t need to sit in your base at the beginning. Saruman’s Command spell should keep enemy mega-heroes away from your main body (or wear them out before they get into combat) and your S3 archery should be able to do some good damage to your opponent’s troops (especially any flanking units).
• Heirlooms of Ages Past: Put the objectives as close together as you are able so your Marauders can rush at a cluster of them at once. If you get the Heirloom, get the Marauder who carries it out of sight/charge range as quickly as possible (as mentioned above, these guys aren’t necessary to the playing style of the army). I recommend running him with a bodyguard or two just in case a lucky arrow downs the carrier.
• Fog of War: Because your army doesn’t have great numbers, pick a piece of terrain that is pretty remote and send a few Marauders that way (even stalling at an unimportant piece of terrain along the way). I’d pick Thrydan to keep alive, since he’s a bit more resilient than Mauhur and is likely to be working alongside Saruman for most of the game anyway. If anyone attempts to fight Thrydan, use Immobilize to keep them from being able to Wound him OR use Sorcerous Blast if they haven’t gotten engaged yet. Thrydan should not be going head-to-head against any big heroes this game, as one bad round could mean losing victory points. Use Mauhur and Thrydan to hunt the weakest hero your opponent has - their speed should make catching said hero easy.
• Clash By Moonlight: Your bows already have limited range compared to normal ones, so get into 12” range and let fly! Your other troops should watch out, as S3 bows from the enemy will wound most of your units on 4s, so get into combat as quickly as possible. Marauders should hang out behind the pike blocks and be used as flankers instead of running out in front and getting themselves killed.

Modifications

There are a few major modifications that I can see most generals considering when looking at this list:

• Drop Saruman – While Saruman gives you unparalleled abilities to control the board compared to the other heroes available to Isengard, he’s a lot of points (almost the same cost as Lurtz and mounted Thrydan added together). While taking Lurtz would be a great alternate option, the question of what to do with the other 90 points is a big question (really it's 115pts, since you have to drop Grima too). While you could get 7 Berserkers, you can only field 6 more models. As such, you’d either need to get a cheap hero (like a Drummer) and pick up some elite units OR get a banner and some elite units OR you’d be buying two heroes and a handful more guys. Not much gained in numbers despite the large points drop, but I can see people who get frustrated with magic going this route instead.
• Drop Thrydan – While a swap of Thrydan for Lurtz would be a nearly direct trade (upgrading your Dunlendings to Scouts/Warriors would be good for theme too), swapping him for Ugluk (if you want Heroic Strike) or Vrasku (if you want some crossbow presence) will give you 30 additional points to buy more units (2 Berserkers or 3 Warriors). While I think Thrydan gives you more bang for your buck, I can see why Thrydan would be left at home in favor of an Uruk-Hai hero who gets Woodland Creature and the I-don’t-have-to-test rule from the army bonus (especially if Saruman has been dropped in favor of more Uruk-Hai Scout heroes).
• Drop Mauhur – Lots of people don’t like Mauhur. While I don’t personally understand it (he’s one of the cheapest 3A heroes in the game), you could drop Mauhur to get someone like Sharku if you wanted speed (or Ugluk if you wanted Strike OR Vrasku if you wanted shooting). Losing Mauhur means losing 6 points of upgrades on your Scouts, but you could do a straight trade of the 6 Marauders for 5 Warg Riders with shields. Sharku with a small Warg Pack would be slightly smaller than the Marauder group, but would move faster, potentially give you the potential to have some skirmish power on your fast troops (see my post on throwing weapons for more info), and might allow you to get more models to cross the board edge in Reconnoitre if you dismount your riders off the board edge and your warg passes his Courage test to stay in the fight (he can run off as well).
• Get Some Berserkers – In this list, I use three core Isengard units: Uruk-Hai Scouts, Uruk-Hai Warriors, and Dunlending Warriors. While I’m certain that Berserkers can do more damage than these units, taking Saruman means cutting expenses somewhere (and since we’re not dropping the banner and we need fast troops, that means we don’t take Berserkers). If you swapped Thrydan for Ugluk, you could add a few Berserkers OR add a single Berserker and upgrade some of your Uruk-Hai Warriors with shields to Berserkers (transforming most of Saruman’s squad into Berserkers). Pretty crazy that…

Those are my thoughts with Isengard. Could we have further optimized the list? Probably. Could we have run all-Uruk-Hai (or with the release of War in Rohan, all Dunland)? Possibly (though we’d lose a lot of the control/neutralize part of the list). Could we have increased the elite troops and suffered some from our model count to get better troops? Sure. But I think this list has enough power where it counts and I can’t wait to try it out on in a game sometime. In many ways, choosing a list like this gives you some relief in that you know your army is well-balanced to handle any scenario it draws, so while there might be more optimized lists, I think this one would give a player who is comfortable with Saruman the confidence to go into a game expecting to do alright (if not win).

In our next post, we turn our attention to the Last Homely House and the faction of Rivendell. With a great host of heroes to choose from (though admittedly few warrior options), I’d be curious to see what your go-to list to optimize victory points is (mine might surprise you). Should be fun – until next time, happy hobbying!