Isengard

### Strengths

Excellent economy, affordable upgrades and powerful elite infantry which can all be enhanced via Focus System. Only evil faction that can build walls.

### Weaknesses

Elite Dunlending units are locked behind a Hero.

"The world is changing. Who now has the strength to stand against the armies of **Isengard**... and Mordor? To stand against the might of Sauron and Saruman... and the union of the Two Towers? Together, my Lord Sauron, we shall rule this Middle-earth. The old world will burn in the fires of industry. The forests will fall. A new order will rise. We will drive the machine of war with the sword and the spear and the iron fist of the Orc. We have only to remove those who oppose us."
—Saruman

Isengard was once a Gondorian stronghold located in Nan Curunír of the Misty Mountains that was entrusted, along with the tower of Orthanc, to Saruman the White, the chief of the Wizards, by Beren the Steward of Gondor.

Following his betrayal of the White Council and defection the service of the Dark Lord, the White Wizard started fortifying the ringed walls and called evil creatures to him, constructing machinery to sustain his growing hordes, which were red beneath the surface of the stronghold. As he entered war with Théoden on Sauron's behalf, Saruman defiled the valley around Isengard to strip it of needed resources for industrial purposes and marshalled an army against Rohan's defenders, while an elite force pursued the Fellowship in Saruman's gamble to cheat his master by claiming the One Ring first.

In Age of the Ring, Isengard is a faction that has various methods of boosting its economy and accessing unit upgrades through lumber mills, the Burning Forges fortress upgrade and Fuel the Fires spellbook power. These bonuses allow Isengard to continuously recruit and upgrade large numbers of their elite Uruk Hai units in the mid-late game, which are highly formidable units. In the early game, Isengard is able to raid enemy bases and farms with their Warg and Wild Men units, the latter of which have the ability to steal resources from buildings they attack. If the player researches the Wisdom of Curunír fortress upgrade, they will gain access to the Cunning of Curunír which allows them to research an upgrade that strengthens a certain aspect of the faction, such as Uruk infantry, Warg Riders, Dunlendings, Siege Machines or unit upgrades; only one focus upgrade may be active at a time.

## Heroes

### Wormtongue

Gríma Wormtongue was once a Man of Rohan acting as Théoden's royal counselor. Promised Éowyn as a prize, he sold his services to Saruman and became his mole in the court of Edoras. Poisoning the mind of the King and giving him ill-advice, Wormtongue became the acting steward and ensured that the strength of Rohan faltered so that the the power of Isengard could grow.

### Uglúk

Of the first batch of Uruk-hai, he was part of the elite force sent to hunt down the Fellowship and bring the Ring-bearer back to Saruman; he and his warriors captured Merry and Pippin. His allegiance to the White Wizard paved way to conflict: Uglúk's troop was intercepted by Grishnákh's warband sent by Sauron, the master whom Saruman was trying to betray.

### Lurtz

The firstborn of the Uruk-hai, Lurtz was handpicked for by Saruman for his loyalty and ruthlessness to lead an elite force in an attack on the Fellowship, with orders to capture the Ring-bearer and bring them to the White Wizad alive and unspoiled. It was at Amon Hen that Lurtz slew Boromir, while his warriors took the Merry and Pippin as their prisoners, and proved himself a vicious combatant during his duel with Aragorn.

### Sharku

A veteran of the Goblin Wars, Sharku and his pack of Wolf-riders had long harried Sauron's enemies before joining forces with his treacherous agent, Saruman, against the Rohirrim. As Théoden oversaw the evacuation of Edoras to the stronghold of Helm's Deep, Sharku was commanded by Saruman to lead a Warg attack on the refugees. It was during this skirmish that he almost killed Aragorn, before succumbing to his own wounds.

### Wulfgar

Wulfgar was a Lord of the Dunlendings, descendant of Freca's bloodline. According to the Age of the Ring lore, he was coerced into allying with Saruman against the Théoden after threats and attacks on his people. While he originally desired to work with Rohan against a common foe, he realized that the only way to protect Dunland was to keep to the pact with Isengard and hope that they would prevail.

### Saruman

Saruman was once the chief of the Wizards, sent to Middle-earth to help the Free People resist Sauron in the event of his return. But he grew jealous of his peer, Gandalf, and through his admiration of Sauron allowed himself be overcome by greed and pride. Falling from his high errand, the White Wizard was ensnared by the Dark Lord and became his servant, doing his bidding even as he plotted to usurp his place. From his inner sanctum of Orthanc, Saruman transformed Isengard into a symbol of industry, in imitation of Mordor, and built an army both to try seize the One Ring first, as well as to deliver Rohan to Sauron, appearing a useful vassal if his gamble at Amon Hen failed.

## Spellbook

* Crebain
* War Chant
* Vision of the Palantir
* Scum From Lugbúrz
* Devastation
* Tainted Land
* Fires of Industry
* Fuel the Fires
* Freezing Rain
* Build Me An Army
* Fell Storm
* Wrath Of Caradhras

**Cost**:5PP

**Description**:
Reveals the shroud and detects stealthed units.
Modifier Type: Active Debuff
Nearby enemies suffer -25% damage and -20% armour
Left click icon then left click on target area.

**Cost**:5PP

**Description**:
Modifier Type: Buff
Target allies gain +25% damage and +25% armour
Stacks with leaderships and spells
Left click icon then left click on target units.

**Cost**:5PP

**Description**:
Spy on the enemy forces
Modifier Type: Buff
Gives a temporary +15% speed boost to allies in the target area
Always stacks
Left click icon then left click on target area.

**Cost**:10PP

**Description**:
Summons several hordes of Mordor Orcs and Grishnákh to fight for your side
Left click icon then left click on pathable location.

**Cost**:10PP

**Description**:
Trees are instantly turned into resources
Halves the resource production of any enemy resource structure within the area of effect for 45 seconds.
Left click icon then left click on target location.

**Cost**:10PP

**Description**:
Taints an area of terrain
Modifer Type: Buff.
All allied units gain +50% damage, +50% armour and earn resources per kill.
Stacks with leaderships and spells
Left click icon then left click on target location.

**Cost**:10PP

**Description**:
Selected structure's resource output is raised to 275%
Will only affect Furnaces and Armouries.
Left click icon then left click on target resource structure.

**Cost**:15PP

**Description**:
+70% resources from harvesting trees
Unlocks Heat Blast for Furnaces
Passive Power.

**Cost**:15PP

**Description**:
Temporarily covers the map in rain
Cancels Freezing Rain, White Winter, Blessing of Ulmo, Darkness or Lights Go Out
Modifier Type: Active Debuff
Enemy units suffer -20% armour and -25% damage.
 Nullifies enemy leaderships
Does not stack with other debuffs.
Left click to activate.

**Cost**:15PP

**Description**:
Temporarily summons an Isengard War Camp. Every 45 seconds, a heavily-armoured horde of chosen Uruk-hai is spawned. Respects command point limit.
Limited to 1
Left click on icon then left click on target position

**Cost**:25PP

**Description**:
Casts several bolts on lightning in the target area
Strong vs buildings
Left click on icon then left click on target area

**Cost**:25PP

**Description**:
Summons an avalanche that will damage enemies and put out fires
Strong vs buildings
Modifier Type: Spell
Enemy units that pass through the snowfield suffer -33% speed.
Stacks with buffs, leaderships and other spells
Left click on icon then left click on target area
## Strategy

Similarly to Gondor, Isengard can act as a jack-of-all-trades faction. It is the only evil faction to have walls (although they lack the additional defences that the Free Peoples may have). Isengard's main strength is their economy. Through their fortress, they can obtain multiple discounts and they can also use their spellbook powers (Fires of Industry and Fuel the Fires) to heavily boost their resource production buildings, as well as to instantly earn additional resources from trees with Devastation. Isengard's early game would primarily consist of Wildmen (which act as very strong source of harassment), Wargs and Uruk Scouts. The player can then progress onto the more heavily armoured Uruks and Warg Riders in the later stages of the game. The Berserkers and Uruk Man-Slayers can act as very powerful late-game melee units. An alternative option is to make use of the Dunlending Longhouse to gain access to elite infantry, archers and cavalry, as well as the semi-heroic Huskarls. While the Dunlendings are stronger than the Uruk-hai, they are also more expensive and harder to obtain early as they require Wulfgar to be recruited. Isengard's heroes all have clearly defined roles and so using them well can heavily improve the faction's performance, no matter what strategy the player goes for. Wormtongue is a cheap disruptive hero while Sharku and Wulfgar support the wargs and Dunlendings respectively. Uglúk and Lurtz are both powerful warriors that can support the Uruk-Hai, but while Ugluk is a tanky hero that can heal his allies and summon support, Lurtz can attack from both range and melee to deal with enemy heroes with ease. Finally, Saruman is the faction leader and has a wide variety of spells to devastate enemy forces. Isengard can use the Cunning of Curunír (available from the Isengard Fortress) in the later stages of the game to boost a particular aspect of their army. Not only does this make those aspects of the army far stronger, but it also provides additional discounts to improve the faction's strong economy even further.