First Impressions: Isengard, Part I

Good morning gamers,

One of the first armies I started collecting back in late 2010 was Isengard - specifically, a bucket of used Uruk-Hai Warriors (Captain, banner, 18 shields, 10 pikes). A few purchases and conversions later, and I had a few Captains, a Saruman, and some Uruk-Hai Scouts/Orc Warriors to go with them. All in all, it was a pretty economical way to get started with an army.

And I hated it. I hated running my Isengard army. I looked for all KINDS of ways to use them well and no matter what I did, the Elves, Dwarves, and sometimes Rohan/Gondor/Moria armies in my meta would just seem to run right over me. And don't get me started on those crazy Angmar Orc/Hunter Orc lists that Centaur used to run during the warband era - I was paying far too much for Uruks and not getting nearly the value I felt I should have for their stats.

And that feeling of frustration and despair set me on one of my most important MESBG journeys: the decision to figure out how to get the most out of expensive spellcasters (Saruman in particular - back BEFORE he was super awesome) and how to get the most out of good-stat, expensive troops(Uruk-Hai of all stripes). Fast forward not one but two editions later, and we're seeing Uruk-Hai profiles that have either changed in very subtle ways or haven't changed at all - and in an edition where lots of characters are seeing a new renaissance, it's very tempting to look at the very familiar profiles in the Isengard section of the book and feel like they've been left behind a bit. 

But it's not true - the Uruks of Isengard are still very strong. Let's take a look today and see what the Isengard garden variety of Uruks look like!

Isengard Uruk-Hai Profiles: How Have They "Changed?"

Our first stop is the big man (well, Uruk) himself, Lurtz. Lurtz went from being just barely better than an Uruk-Hai Captain years ago (see my post on it back in 2013) to a macho version of an Uruk-Hai Captain in 2018 and got even better in the new edition. While Isengard seemed to be under the same no-Fight-6-heroes restriction that Rohan used to be under, Lurtz emerges as the first Isengard hero to be Fight 6. He also picked up 3 Will points (always useful on a combat hero), General Hunter (this is definitely NOT a rule you want to take advantage of until you've weakened the enemy General considerably - and without Saruman in Lurtz's list, I don't see this happening before the end of the game in most cases), Sharpshooter (good bye enemy hero horses), and Dominant (3) as the army leader of the Lurtz's Scouts army list. He also got a special rule that gives him a natural 6+ save against wounds (nice to have when it works) and the shield-throw rule that was in his old Legendary Legion is now stapled to his profile (which is great and also doesn't matter because he can only be fielded in the Lurtz's Scouts army list).

Now for the sad news - Lurtz got hit with a minor debuff: his Find the Halflings special rule used to allow him to not only pick his arrival spot in Maelstrom missions (it still does that), but it also used to allow him to choose his roll result for scenarios where you deploy in the forward half of your deployment zone or anymore in your deployment zone. This may not matter - it's unclear how many of these scenarios we're going to have, but it's a debuff if there are scenarios where you might have to deploy in the forward half (not usually an issue for Isengard if it wants to scrap right away, but the Lurtz's Scouts list is more of a skirmish list, so it's not ideal).

A tangential debuff for Lurtz has more to do with the fact that Ugluk "got good" this edition, but Ugluk's best rule can't be used in the Lurtz's Scouts list (more on what this rule is shortly). As we look at Ugluk's profile in a minute, keep in mind what Lurtz would be able to get - and would become absolutely DEVASTATING if he had it - if there was an Orc Warrior profile (or a more relaxed language in the rules) for Ugluk's new special rule.

Still, Lurtz is now always 8" move with Woodland Creature (awesome), will still win fights a bit more reliably than other Uruk-Hai heroes with F6/Strike, and he's "only" 100 points. Oh, and he gets a free Heroic Combat each turn in his army list - BOOM! All told, not the guy you want fighting Aragorn right away, but still plenty good at chopping through troops (and he can do it faster and more reliably now that he's F6 with free Heroic Combats).

The new giga-chad hero of the Isengard Uruks is Ugluk, who can be fielded as Lurtz's secondary hitter in the Lurtz's Scouts list and can be the army general of the Ugluk's Scouts army list. His price went up slightly to 75 points, but I think he's still well worth the include in either of the lists you can field him in. He's got 8" move and Woodland Creature in both lists and will have Dominant (3) in the Ugluk's Scout list as the army's General. As was requested by the Green Dragon years ago, Ugluk got a whip in this edition, which gives him a S1, 2" range throwing weapon with a 4+ shoot value . . . yaye? Also, will definitely take it. :) He also kept his third Might point, which is more than a lot of other lesser heroes can say - so that's good for you Ugluk's Scouts players.

His Head Taker rule is still there, with the ability to automatically pass his Stand Fast test by killing a friendly Warrior within 2" of himself and get a 12" coverage that affects both heroes and warriors. This is still a very useful ability, though you are broken when you use it, so losing another guy can feel bad (but do it anyway!). He also picked up a new rule (the aforementioned awesome thing he gained this edition), which allows him to kill a friendly Orc Warrior within 2" of himself at the start of his activation to grant all friendly Uruk-Hai models within 6" of himself the Fearless special rule and +1 To Wound. Not only is this +1 To Wound cumulative with the Animosity rule, but using this special rule will also trigger Head Taker, so you can have Fearless Uruks (for both sticking around AND charging Terror models) that get +1 To Wound for the low-low price of 1 Orc model.

The value of this cannot be overstated: both Centaur and I lamented that in both of the Scout Legions last edition an Uruk-Hai Shaman was absent - and Courage 3 Uruks have a hard time charging Terror lists (with or without Courage debuffs in place). Ugluk has become the Shaman, but his ability to help friendly units pass Courage tests isn't dependent on casting a spell and keeping it active - you just need to have a disposable body available. If you're in an Ugluk's Scouts list, expect your Uruks near Ugluk to be able to charge what they want to charge and kill what they want to kill . . .

. . . but if you're running Ugluk in a Lurtz's Scouts list, expect your Uruks to field really, really sad that there isn't an Orc Warrior model to munch and make you feel awesome too. Not bitter at all . . . just sad . . . who knew Orc meat tasted that much better than Uruk-Hai meat . . .

Moving on to the Uruk-Hai Drummer, who basically didn't change - he's available to both Scout lists and can grant additional movement to Uruk-Hai models in both lists (which is everyone in the Lurtz's Scouts list and probably a good half of your list at least in the Ugluk's Scouts list). In Ugluk's Scouts, he might have Dominant (2) from one of their army special rules - and as was just discussed, he might also be Fearless with +1 To Wound if he's helping you fight off foes near Ugluk. While he won't be fighting any better in Lurtz's Scouts than the average guy, the ability to get 14" movement with a Heroic March and a Drum from this guy can mean that your army can very rapidly flip the flanks on your opponent and deny them a whole segment of their army for a turn (possibly two if you don't stick around). He's a good, cheap hero - always take him with Lurtz's Scouts (not sure how necessary he is in the Ugluk's Scouts list).

We have two other generic heroes: Uruk-Hai Captains and Uruk-Hai Scout Captains. Uruk-Hai Captains show up in two lists (the Muster of Isengard and the Assault Upon Helm's Deep) and got a mixed bag of boons and debuffs this time around. Regardless of the list they're fielded in, Uruk-Hai Captains have Shieldwall and now have to take shields (no two-handers or crossbows anymore). This does mean that they will be D7-8, which makes them pretty resilient to grunt troop attacks (especially if your opponent can't get to S4). In both lists, they remain a good "rock" hero who tries to roadblock someone much bigger, but can also flex into being damage dealers with their F5/S5/2A profile (3 Attacks for the "uber Captain" in the Assault list).

In the Muster of Isengard list, Uruk-Hai Captains not only provide you with Heroic March, but they also pick up Hatred (Man) for some extra damage against a surprising number of army lists, but can also call a free Heroic March on the first turn of the game and also gain Heroic Strike, which paired with the required taking of Saruman means you can have a F6-8 hero fighting someone who can't call Heroic Actions - that's great if you're trying to head-hunt a target hero in Fog of War (or get a cheeky wound on an enemy General). What makes me sad is that when you go over to the Assault Upon Helm's Deep list where you don't have access to Saruman . . . you don't get any of these things. No free Marches (which would be useful for closing the gap with shooting-heavy lists), no Heroic Strike (you could really use it), and only one of your Uruk-Hai Captains becomes 3 Attacks/3 Wounds . . . oh, and they can no longer lead 18 warriors in that army list (which was a really good element of the Legion last edition).

So yes, the Captains are good - but particularly so in the Legion that they aren't your only hero choice (but my vanilla Isengard lists did look a lot like the Muster of Isengard list does now, so frankly, I don't care that much). :)

We also have Uruk-Hai Scout Captains who lost their option to take a shield or an Uruk-Hai bow (the two options I liked best) and now have to fight two-handed since they lost their hand weapon (which I don't mind - they're good at killing things and should save their Might points for winning fights). These guys get 8" move and Woodland Creature in both of the Scout lists (where they're very, very necessary to making the lists work) and they'll get Hatred (Man) and a free Heroic March in the Muster of Isengard list . . . of course, they're also completely eclipsed by Uruk-Hai Captains in the Muster of Isengard list, since these guys don't get Heroic Strike (or any other special heroic - would it have been broken to give these guys Heroic Defense or something? Anything to make them a competitive choice?). You can also field them in the Army of the White Hand list, but they gain no special rules and are arguably worse than Wild Man Chieftains or Isengard Orc Captains (the Scout Captains are F5, but they also carry a higher price tag for a D5 model that must fight two-handed - which again, I don't mind so much, but depending on what you're leaning into, you may just be short on points).

As we pivot to the warriors, we have Uruk-Hai Scouts, who show up in four lists - they get no bonuses in the Muster of Isengard list (though they are cheaper archers than the crossbowmen - and I've always preferred their mobility over the inflexibility of crossbows) and the Army of the White Hand (where they are better archers and front-line troops than you'll have elsewhere in your list, but are also a lot more expensive than the other units you'll have in your list), but the real lists that they shine in are in the Scout lists (where they pick up 8" move and Woodland Creature). We've already talked about the Scout lists extensively, but suffice it to say that paying 8-9pts for fast infantry who might also have Dominant (2), Fearless, and +1 To Wound is pretty solid. Also, you can field 27 of these guys (with 2 banners!) in the Lurtz's Scouts army list at 500pts . . . that's a lot of fast F4/S4 models, even if their Defense is not great.

Uruk-Hai Warriors received their first change ever (best I can tell - certainly since the One Rulebook came out all those years ago): they're still 10pts with a shield/pike with F4/S4/D5-6/C3, but they picked up the Shieldwall special rule for free. This is both big and not big at the same time. To benefit from the Shieldwall rule, you need to a) have a shield yourself, b) be next to two models that have shield and the shieldwall rule, and c) be standing (not prone). Let's see what this means with a practical example - assume we have the following loose phalanx of Uruk-Hai (something I was very happy to discover during the last edition):

16-model loose phalanx - 8 shields, 7 pikes, 1 banner

Since Uruk-Hai Warriors with pikes don't have shields, Shieldwall can only be gained from having Uruk-Hai Warriors with shields standing shoulder-to-shoulder (so in our example, the six shield guys in the center are D7 and the two guys capping off the ends are D6). 

1 shield guy - third model from one end - is shot by Legolas

If one guys dies to a stray arrow, then the two guys standing next to him lose shieldwall. Additionally, if this guy is three models from the end (as is the case in the example shot above), then the two guys without friends are BOTH without Shieldwall . . . though admittedly, one of them was already without it.

This is not a hard critique - there are formation choices you can make to keep your shieldwall boost up, something we'll cover in a future formations post. Still, if you assume your Uruks will always be D7, please think again - Shieldwall on these units is not going to be like Shieldwall on an Easterling Pike Block would be, but it'll still make S2 bows (and S4 greatbows/crossbows) have a hard time killing your units from afar, which is a big boon in the current edition of the game. Oh, and these guys pick up Hatred (Man) in the Muster list and nothing in the Assault list.

Both the Muster of Isengard list and the Assault Upon Helm's Deep list can take Uruk-Hai Berserkers and these guys are more or less unchanged from the last edition. The question of whether you could take a 6+ save from the Fury magical power after taking the 6+ save from the Oblivious to Pain special rule has been settled since Fury doesn't give a 6+ save anymore (yes, I know a lot of people said the not-cumulative rule didn't allow that - but I still contend that "cumulative" would have translated into one 5+ save, not two 6+ saves). These guys still have a natural 6+ save against all damage, which will not happen very often, but you will remember it (as will your opponent) when it happens. 

Berserkers both lost their special rule that gave them D6 against shooting attacks and kept it at the same time with the introduction of light armor (which they have). Their Berserker Blade special rule changed ever so slightly in that if you have supporting models backing up a Berserker, the "wild swing" of that thing wouldn't risk killing your supporting model as well as enemy models - but the only time you'd want to actually use the Berserker Blade rule is when you're fighting 3+ foes, so I don't expect the rule change to matter much. Since neither the Muster of Isengard or the Assault Upon Helm's Deep have access to units that will help Uruk-Hai Warriors pass Courage test automatically, Berserkers reman an excellent choice for crashing into Terror walls (though their ability to spot Ringbearers is dramatically worse than it used to be in past editions, since they use a fairly bad Intelligence stat instead of their insanely good Courage stat - I'm good with this change, by the way).

I think these guys have a much greater place in the Assault list than in the Muster list since you won't have the tax of Saruman in your list, as well as the awkward way that points levels can force your army to take certain things when you have only one Hero of Fortitude choice and your warriors all cost ~10pts each (with an extra 35pts budgeted for a banner and 11 crossbows). As a long-time Isengard player, I can tell you that we're going back to the "Warband days" with the Assault list and since that means that a full warband of 4 shields, 4 pikes, and 4 crossbows will be shy of 190 points, there may be points levels where you have to take Berserkers because you have 10-20 points left over and no warrior slots left in your warbands.

As an example, if you have the following list from the Assault Upon Helm's Deep army list and you're trying to hit 500 points:

• Uruk-Hai Uber Captain [GENERAL]
• 3 Uruk-Hai Warriors with shields
• 3 Uruk-Hai Warriors with pikes
• 1 Uruk-Hai Warrior with banner
• 5 Uruk-Hai Warriors with crossbows
• Uruk-Hai Captain
• 4 Uruk-Hai Warriors with shields
• 4 Uruk-Hai Warriors with pikes
• 4 Uruk-Hai Warriors with crossbows
• Isengard Assault Ballista (1 siege veteran, 2 crew)

This list has maxed out its warbands and is sitting at 478 points . . . we could drop the Ballista and pick up a Captain (saving ourselves 10pts and netting -2 models) and pick up 3 more Uruk-Hai Warriors (for +1 model) OR we could upgrade 4 of our Uruk-Hai Warriors to Berserkers and throw in the towel a bit on Shieldwall. I'm not sure what the right answer is, but the Berserkers sure are looking tempting!

Speaking of Berserkers, let's chat about the Demolition Team. This "unit" (two vanilla Uruk-Hai Warriors, one Berserker with a birthday candle that does NOT give him Terror (Cavalry) or Terror (Beast) or Dominant (2), and their demolition charge pet) got mostly negative rules changes in this edition. On the positive side, it can only be fielded in the Assault list, which means it always rolls 2 dice for its detonation roll and you get to pick the highest. It's still 80 points, so it's quite pricey, but also well below the price of an enemy hero that it will hopefully blow up. As in the previous edition, you do have to be within range of at least two enemy models or an enemy siege target, so no single-model assassinations. All of this was true of bombs in the previous edition, but only in the Assault Upon Helm's Deep Legendary Legion.

There were several hits to this "unit", though: first and foremost, the bomb handlers can't take torches anymore, so if they want to try to detonate the bomb, they'll need to get the required roll of a natural 6 for a desperate detonation. This is compounded by the fact that no Evil lists have Shamans at the moment, so you'll also have to pass a Courage test BEFORE rolling that natural 6. For 2pts (and the cost of the Shaman) before, you could reliably keep your Berserker from this team alive and just rely on two stooges with candles accidentally lighting the demo charge aflame when you needed it. Now . . . you'd better protect the heck out of that Berserker.

Second, while unlikely to happen, when a demolition charge is detonated, if your highest roll is a 1 (so "snake eyes" on two dice), the bomb is a dud and is removed from play without hurting anyone. This bomb is a good 47pts in value and it's unlikely that you're going to get a dud result - but golly, if you waste 47pts because you couldn't roll a 2+ on two dice, you're gonna be sad. This is the way bombs used to be, by the way, but in the previous edition they changed the detonation table part-way through the edition to give you a +1 to your next attempt to blow it up. Now there's a chance - a very, very, VERY small one - that you don't get value for something you paid for. That's not necessarily bad, but in a list that's heavily handicapped in its tools for dealing with big heroes or large swathes of troops, this feels rough.

Finally, the bomb detonates after Heroic Combats are resolved but before normal fights are resolved, so you not only have to be in range of the hero you want to kill (and at least one of his bodyguards), but you also have to make sure that the hero can't use a Heroic Combat to get to the Berserker with the torch. This might be easy to do, but it's a complication that you didn't have before. Frankly, I'm okay with the change, but it is one more thing to think about (and might also be a good topic for a formations post later this year).

Our last Uruk-Hai profile to review is the Assault Ballista, which is also only available in the Assault Upon Helm's Deep list. This is the long-range anti-hero option, as it has always been. It costs 75 points now and you can't take extra crew for it, so if you can't protect the 2 guys and the siege veteran who come with it, you could be in some trouble. It's still a Large Siege Engine, so it won't be auto-killed by enemy siege weapons - and as part of the Assault list, it gets to reroll To Hit and Scatter rolls of 1, making it incredibly reliable at hitting something that belongs to the enemy (especially while your siege veteran has a Might point). All of this was true before, so I don't think this guy qualifies as getting anything good, but they're still going to be good in this edition, especially if they're supporting a hailstorm of crossbows.

Conclusion

That's a very mixed bag for Isengard, but it should be noted that the bones of Isengard are still very good. Yes, Uruk-Hai are expensive - and yes, being F4/S4 is not unique to Uruk-Hai - but there are plenty of units who are still stuck in the D3-6 realm and some Uruk-Hai units are paying points to get above that, while others aren't paying points to do that. Several of the army lists we passed through today (Lurtz's Scouts, the Muster of Isengard, and the Assault Upon Helm's Deep) only have access to Uruk-Hai for their warrior choices (and for two of those, their hero choices as well), but the other two lists can mix in some chaff units to build out their numbers, give some variety of F3 to their F4 so they don't risk paying for Fight Value they don't need, and can pick up some neat special rules to make their units - including their Uruk-Hai - better.

Next time, we'll look at Isengard's other units and what they're bringing to the table. I still stand by Uruk-Hai as some of the best units for taking down enemy heroes over time - and I've used them a bunch of clear out walls of warriors in my day and I expect to continue that in this edition. If you have thoughts on Isengard's Uruk-Hai contingent especially, let us know in the comments below! Until next time, happy hobbying!