With your characters chosen and arrayed for battle, it's time to think about the warriors you want them to lead. Isengard is blessed with a fairly wide variety of warriors and can draw from Uruk-hai, Orcs, and Dunlendings.

URUK-HAI

Uruk-hai are amongst the toughest and strongest creatures in Middle-earth. Consequently they are quite expensive to field, weighing in at 11 points for each warrior equipped with either a shield, a pike or a crossbow. However, Uruk-hai do repay your investment; Men are no match for them in combat, and only the martial skills of the Elves can defeat them blade against blade. The equipment options available to the Uruk-hai mean that you can choose either to use them in large, ordered groups (shields or crossbows backed up by pikes) or as a more flexible skirmish-line (bows and shields). I generally find that a mixture of the two is generally the most effective. As Uruk-hai are currently the only troops able to be equipped with pikes you can, with some careful manoeuvring, bring three or more Uruk-hai to bear on a single enemy - even mighty Heroes such as Aragorn can be taken out in this way.

Special mention should be given to the Uruk-hai Berserkers. Armed with long swords that they can use either as a single-handed or two-handed weapon, and with a mighty 2 Attacks, Berserkers are your weapons of choice for breaking enemy resistance. With their Uruk-hai Strength of 4 and Defence of 6, they are every bit as hard as your regular Uruk-hai, but hit just that little bit harder. It can be tempting to use your Berserkers to headhunt characters, but they are much better used against regular troops first. When the enemy warriors have been thinned, you can then gang your Berserkers up on an unsuspecting Hero, and by using a mix of single-handed and two-handed attacks, you can easily dispatch them from the battlefield.

ORCS

Though not as numerous in the forces of Isengard as the Uruk-hai, Orcs do have their role to play. Coming somewhere between Dunlendings and Uruk-hai in terms of resilience and strength, Orcs do not immediately appear to add anything of any real value to your Isengard force. However, because Orcs can have quite a high Defence for considerably less cost than Uruk-hai, they can be used to increase the size of your force without compromising its survivability. Where Orcs really come into their own though is when they are fielded as Warg Riders. Warg Riders are almost an essential for your army of Isengard, giving it a fast, hard-hitting force. I've discussed general cavalry tactics in an earlier article, so I won't repeat them here, but at the same cost per warrior as an Uruk-hai, it is always worth fielding at least one or two of these feral creatures.

DUNLENDINGS

Last, but not least, we come to the Dunlendings. Poorly armed and armoured, these warriors are often shunned by Isengard generals, but the truth is that Dunlendings are worth their weight in gold! Unfortunately, because of their low Defence and relatively high points cost, Dunlendings do not make an efficient arrow screen (they generally only stop one arrow before expiring). Instead, I've found the best way to use Dunlendings is to keep them in reserve and throw them into combat wherever an Uruk-hai needs backup or a Hero can be trapped. Alternatively, when you get to grips with your enemy, you can use the Dunlendings to neutralise any control zones that prevent your Uruk-hai from charging your real targets, such as enemy Heroes. I always attempt to pair an Uruk-hai with one or more Dunlendings, just for the extra dice it yields in combat.

Next: Some Useful Tactical Ploys.
Previous: Heroes of Isengard.