Playing Isengard

[Alex-ander]

I am considering playing an evil faction when my High Elves campaign finishes. It looks like the best choice for me is Isengard, the OOMM seems too hard and Mordor may be a bit easy. Isengard looks like a decent challenge and would give me a chance.

Any tips for playing as Isengard?

[Muffer Nl]

Win the battles...
Earn money...
Kill Rohan?

[Kawee]

Don't hesitate to back-stab OotMM especially if they're falling apart. Get a piece of the pie if you can, especially if that piece of pie is Moria.

[Dava2710]

enjoy being raped by balrogs

[Bloodzen]

enjoy being raped by balrogs

Some Uruk reavers and siege weapons will take care of them easily enough.

[Raiven]

What kind of tips you want? (btw Isengard is very fun to play)

[Michael X]

Go for Fangorn, Talsir and Tharbad from the first 5 turns, in exactly that order. Upgrade Duneard as soon as you can, recruit a diplomat and intiate diplomatic relations with HE. Keep good relations with them to keep safe in the North while you'll be busy fighting Rohan south.

Once the war with Rohan begins, try to make them focused on besieging Isengard- sending men from Talsir to Duneard and vice versa when they're besieged will usually discourage them to hold the siege. In Isengard, wait them at the 2nd wall with lots of missile units. That way you'll repel and literally destroy stacks after stacks, and so you'll wear off their initial superiority in numbers.

Don't hold any Rohan settlement for too long. Your financial state will not be good at all and you will not be able to hold settlements and sustain their armies, and then recruit new armies when they're gone. Try to create large armies from Duneard with Dunledings and from there raid Gineard, Adorn, Derwath and Lond Daer. Once you capture a city, destroy all its buildings and then leave it empty and go to the next one. That way you'll make enough money to support you war effort and create fincancial problems to Rohan.

Use spies to counter the garisson script and capture settlements very quickly. Try to hit Rohan in the back, with a combination of small armies and spies (the AI leaves its settlements almost empty when campaigning). For example, while the centre of the war will be around the river Isen, in Isengard and Foldburg, dispatch a small army with a spy through Fangorn to attack Limlight, then Tirith Anduin, and so on. If you need peace to reccuperate (peace for a few turns will be useful) sell them an unimportant town/fort after you destroy everything in it (like Limlight fort).

Eventually, you will be told to attack Foldburg. Get the place, but DON'T HOLD IT! The single wall will make you have lots of casualties and eventually you will lose both your army and the fort. Instead use that army to launch an attack in Helm's Deep. Get Helm's Deep and do not destroy anything in it. Build a Shrine of Melkor and turn the place and the population. The buildings there will already be good enough so that you will be able to soon use them to build excellent armies.

Don't miss the opportunities of calling invasions against Rohan. An invasion army does not cost (that will save you money), and suddenly Rohan will have to deal with large armies in their territory.

Use the river Isen! If the raid I described fails, the only way for Rohan to trsanport armies from East to West and vice versa, is through the 2 bridges of Isengard. An army with 3-4 archer units and enough melee units to keep the enemy stacked in the bridge can win you lots of time.

That's all for now!!

[jinjo]

when i played with isengard (1.3) i destroyed rohan easily, took it's cities and then destroyed eriador and high elves
then i destroyed dwarves, battles against dwarves were harder but i already had bersekers
isengard campaign isn't hard if u destroy rohan soon

[Michael X]

when i played with isengard (1.3) i destroyed rohan easily, took it's cities and then destroyed eriador and high elves
then i destroyed dwarves, battles against dwarves were harder but i already had bersekers
isengard campaign isn't hard if u destroy rohan soon

Where you playing in VH/VH though?

[Alex-ander]

Thanks guys some nice tips

One question i played a couple of turns as Isengard they don't seem to have a family tree. Just something called the Dark servants of Saroun which is blank but says there are 13 empty seats.

What is that and does Isengard not show the family tree

[Lordinquisitor]

The evil guys having a family tree woulnd`t make sense.

[Alex-ander]

The evil guys having a family tree woulnd`t make sense.

Well there must be little Orcs to make big Orcs. Maybe they would eat one now and then if they felt hungry but there should be little Orcs

[Kawee]

Exactly, one you control all of Rohan, you will be of such power hardly anyone can stop you, especially if Gondor is falling apart.

However, if you prefer role-play, like me, I would turtle. Only take rebel settlements, and defend. Wait until I have the uruk-hai before I launch any attack on Rohan. That way it's very much a Saluman-turn-evil thingy. Each to his own though.

[eugenioso]

TIPS AND TRICKS!? WE ARE THE FIGHTING URUK HAI, THE SERVANTS OF THE WHITE HAND WHICH GIVES US MAN FLESH!

i really dislike it when people try to play TATW like a diplomacy game. when in his right mind would Elrond want to have trade rights with orcs?

i also hate it when my council of nobles asks me to go on a mission to make friends with Mordor, Isengard, jesus....

i try to play my role. as gondor ally with all and always war evil factions, no truce asked and none given (though as i keep raping mordor well into gorgoroth they constantly try to ceasefire me hahah)

[Lordinquisitor]

TIPS AND TRICKS!? WE ARE THE FIGHTING URUK HAI, THE SERVANTS OF THE WHITE HAND WHICH GIVES US MAN FLESH!

i really dislike it when people try to play TATW like a diplomacy game. when in his right mind would Elrond want to have trade rights with orcs?

i also hate it when my council of nobles asks me to go on a mission to make friends with Mordor, Isengard, jesus....

i try to play my role. as gondor ally with all and always war evil factions, no truce asked and none given (though as i keep raping mordor well into gorgoroth they constantly try to ceasefire me hahah)

Hear, hear!

This guy is right.

[FOR GONDOR]

TIPS AND TRICKS!? WE ARE THE FIGHTING URUK HAI, THE SERVANTS OF THE WHITE HAND WHICH GIVES US MAN FLESH!

i really dislike it when people try to play TATW like a diplomacy game. when in his right mind would Elrond want to have trade rights with orcs?

i also hate it when my council of nobles asks me to go on a mission to make friends with Mordor, Isengard, jesus....

i try to play my role. as gondor ally with all and always war evil factions, no truce asked and none given (though as i keep raping mordor well into gorgoroth they constantly try to ceasefire me hahah)

good man, hahaha i was playing as HE and was contrlling all of mordor with little a challange took all of it in 5 armies, they lost cuz they lost there general XD i had ents btw

[4nln415]

EVIL FACTION = NO MERCY

KILL EVERYTHING, LEAVE NOTHING ALIVE!!

that's the fun part about being on the dark side

[Muffer Nl]

TIPS AND TRICKS!? WE ARE THE FIGHTING URUK HAI, THE SERVANTS OF THE WHITE HAND WHICH GIVES US MAN FLESH!

i really dislike it when people try to play TATW like a diplomacy game. when in his right mind would Elrond want to have trade rights with orcs?

i also hate it when my council of nobles asks me to go on a mission to make friends with Mordor, Isengard, jesus....

i try to play my role. as gondor ally with all and always war evil factions, no truce asked and none given (though as i keep raping mordor well into gorgoroth they constantly try to ceasefire me hahah)

Hear, hear!

This guy is right.

These guys are right!

[Point Blank]

ISengard is a very fun faction.

[cormagus77]

Any tips for playing as Isengard?

One other tip from me:
Avoid war on two fronts if possible! Go first for the South and West (Rohan&Bandits on the Westcoast), then the North (Eriador&whatever)