Isengard Fortress

* Standard
* Murder of Crows
* Excavations
* Burning Forges
* Orcfire Munitions
* Iron Plating
* Wisdom of Curunír
* Expansions

### Upgrades

Murder of Crows, Excavations, Burning Forges, Orcfire Munitions, Iron Plating, Wisdom of Curunír

### Bonus

n/a

"There stood a tower of marvellous shape. It was fashioned by the builders of old, who smoothed the Ring of Isengard, and yet it seemed a thing not made by the craft of Men, but riven from the bones of the earth in the ancient torment of the hills. A peak and isle of rock it was, black and gleaming hard: four mighty piers of many-sided stone were welded into one, but near the summit they opened into gaping horns. their pinnacles sharp as the points of spears, keen-edged as knives."
—The Two Towers, The Road to Isengard

The stronghold of Isengard and its tower of Orthanc once belonged to Gondor before it was entrusted to Saruman by the Steward Beren. Orthanc was constructed from the same invulnerable material used in the outer wall of Minas Tirith and so was resistant to almost any trauma. During the War of the Ring, Orthanc was the base of Saruman's operations from which he coordinated his attacks on the people of Rohan.

In Age of the Ring, the Fortress is the central building of the faction from which Isengard can recruit Builders and research various upgrades to gain access to the Cunning of Curunír.

## Upgrades

The Fortress can be upgraded with the following upgrades:

**Murder of Crows (W)** - Increases the vision range of the Fortress and provides stealth detection. Cost: 500

**Excavations (E)** - Nearby structures gain +25% Armor. Cost: 600

**Burning Forges (R)** - Reduces cost of Isengard unit upgrades. Cost 1000

* 1  Fortress with forges = 25% cheaper
* 2 Fortresses with forges = 35% cheaper
* 3 Fortresses with forges = 40% cheaper
* 4 Fortresses with forges = 45% cheaper
* 5 Fortresses with forges = 50% cheaper

**Orcfire Munitions (T)** - Arms defensive towers with Fire Arrows. Cost: 1000

**Iron Plating (S)** - Increases Fortress and Wall armour. Prerequisite for Wisdom of Curunír. Cost: 1500

**Wisdom of Curunír (D)** - Gives access to the Cunning of Curunír. Cost: 1000

## Cunning of Curunír

Once Wisdom of Curunír has been researched, Isengard can access the Cunning of Curunír from the Fortress. They can research a permanent map-wide upgrade for a specific facet of Isengard which is only lost if the player researches another Focus, as only one Focus can be active at a time.

**Fighting Uruk-Hai (W)** - Select to activate. Provides bonuses to Uruk-Hai Warriors and Pikemen. +30% Damage, +70% Combat Experience. Decreases price by 20%. Cost: 900

**Fury of Frecalund (E)** - Select to activate. Provides bonuses to Wildmen and Dunlendings. +15% Armour, +70% Combat Experience. Decreases price by 10%. Cost: 900

**Wicked Marksmen (R)** - Select to activate. Provides bonuses to Uruk-hai Scouts and Crossbowmen. +35% damage, +25% range, +80% combat experience. Cost: 900

**Wolves of Isengard (T)** - Select to activate. Provides bonuses to Warg Riders. +30% Damage, +20% Armour and +100% Combat Experience. Decreases price by 25%. Cost: 900

**Metal and Wheels (S)** - Select to activate. Provides bonuses to Siege Equipment. +30% Damage, +5% Speed. Decreases price by 15%. Cost: 900

**Black Steel (D)** - Select to activate. Decreases the cost of upgrades. Also increases global Armor by 3% and Damage by 4%. Decreases upgrade price by 20%. Cost: 900

## Expansions

The Fortress can also have the following expansions on the surrounding build plots:

**Arrow Tower (W)** - Defensive arrow tower that fires at enemies. Damage can be increased with Orcfire Munitions. Cost: 400

**Ballista Expansion (E)** - Long range defensive weapon. Cost: 500

**Mine Launcher Expansion (R)** - Launches explosive mines at nearby enemies. Cost: 750

**Wall Hub (T)** - Allows wall building. Cost: 120

## Function

The fortress shoots at nearby enemies and periodically produces +25 resources.

#### Recruitment

All of Isengard's permanent heroes can be recruited from the Fortress.

## Strategy

As with all fortresses, the Isengard Fortress is vital to the Isengard player's gameplay. Without it, builders and heroes are unable to be recruited, spells are unable to be used and the player would lose a vital defensive structure. The building is therefore an important target for any enemy forces, making the defensive upgrades and expansions very useful.

**Excavations** affects all nearby surrounding structures, making an Isengard base particularly difficult to tackle because the armour buff can only be removed unless the already durable Fortress is destroyed, in contrast to Gondor Stoneworkers which can easily be focused to remove the armour buff they grant. The **Burning Forges** upgrade decreases the cost of unit upgrades, making it less expensive to fully upgrade Isengard's elite Uruk units to make them even more powerful. However, the **Wisdom of Curunír** is easily the most important Fortress upgrade because of the **Cunning of** **Curunír** it unlocks, which significantly strengthens a particular aspect of Isengard, in terms of both stats and cost.