This Article will show the Early game of Isengard, and will give you some great building orders, different strategy choices and PowerPoint ways to chose from. It will improve you’re Early – mid game, and grant you a great late-game.
A description of how an Isengards early game should look like
In case you didn’t know, Isengard has a great early game. There possible ways to go are infinitive, but the effective one’s are talked about later (See “building orders”). The power of an early game in any faction lies on the first pair of units you build, in an general Isengard game, this should be the Swordsmen and crossbow combined. The Uruk swordsmen can hold out a long time while the crossbow’s can shoot there way throughout the enemy’s units. But don’t forget to build pikes fast after, to hold back the trampling of the cavalry of the enemy, because that’s the only weakness of the Swordsmen + crossbow strat.
Since Upgrade’s are crucial to an Isengards game, this is an asset that has to be achieved as fast as possible in any game. But upgrades are only available Mid-game for Isengard, which forces you to survive until then. And this article is going to help you with that! It shows you specific Building orders and PowerPoint's to take, and so on, to make it through mid – late game. When this is achieved, and the Isengards army got Upgrades (and preferably leadership from Lurtz and/or Saruman) the enemy is almost already ‘lost’.
One of the best things that keeps the enemy of you’re back for a while, and gives you the opportunity to expand you’re base, is to attack from different sides. This is best achieved through Fast units, but since Wargs are only available until mid game (except warg rush) Corsairs seem the only one to do this, when having a Inn, be sure to build at least 2 – 3 and attack from different side’s at the same time, this will confuse him, ane force him to defend, let the corsairs use there firebombs to deal some great damage vs buildings. But there aren’t always inns on a map, so when this happens, just attack with some uruks from different side’s to achieve the same effect.
Early game Tips: Tip 1: Don’t forget to always build Lurtz early game, since he Really can make the difference! Tip 2: Don’t forget to creep since this extremely increases the economy. Tip 3: Don’t forget to take Neutral buildings! Tip 4: Attack from different sides at once, you would be surprised to see how much of an impact it has on the game Tip 5: Always clump buildings, this way you can kill lots of buildings before the enemy reaches you
Now lets check to some effective Building orders, and there specific PowerPoint Paths.
Building Orders with there specific PowerPoint’s
Building Order 1:
Furnace Uruk Pit Furnace (while pit is building) Uruk Swordsmen Uruk X-bow Furnace … Description: This Bo will give you a great early game, since you have Swordsmen and an archer to back him up, these two units can kill almost anything the opponent throws at them! The Swordsmen and crossbow strat is one of the most effective one in the game, Especially since the uruk swordsmen are the only one with Shield wall on level 1.
First PowerPoint Way for this Building Order:
“I see you”
Palantir -> Wildmen -> Crebain -> Devastation -> Watcher -> Dragon Strike Description: This PP way will give you a lot of information early game, this will show you if he when he is building cavalry, Hero’s, anything actually. This PP way is the best vs. Tunnel factions (Goblins and Dwarfs) because with Palantir you can scout out his forward tunnel and destroy his early game. And even if he gets his guardians out, you will still have a swordsmen with Shield wall and an crossbow backing him up, and these two will certainly win. Second PowerPoint way for this Building Order:
“Money, money, money, its so funny, in a rich man’s world”
Palantir -> Crebain -> Devastation -> watcher -> Dragon strike Description: This looks a lot like the previous one, and as mentioned above, Palantir is a Great first power to take. In this PP way I didn’t took Wildmen, I went straight for Crebain to devastation because this will grant you a better economy than the first which means more hero’s at start (Saruman). Devastation is always a great power, even if you have enough cash, so this is one of my favorite PP to take Third PowerPoint way for this Building Order:
“Leadership abuse”
Warchant -> Crebain -> Devastation -> Rain -> Dragon Strike Description: This PP give’s you an early advantage over Any army. The swordsmen + crossbow is already a strong combo, but with Warchant its Crazy! This PP way will give you all of Isengards buff/debuff powers, which gives you a huge advantage in any battle! Warchant and Crebain can pretty much handle throughout Early - mid game, but after that the mere +50% attack bonus wont be enough to save you’re army, that’s why Rain is the next best thing which gives the enemy NO leadership at all, backed up with Crebain the units of the enemy will be as easy to brake as a toothpick. And when casted devastation on the army (which freezes them) you an simply slash you’re way throughout his army. This way is a great way to go, when you want to have a Strong Isengard Army.
Building Order 2:
Furnace Furnace Uruk pit Furnace (uruk pit is building) Pikemen Swordsmen/archer (depends on situation) Lurtz (Creeping gives lots of money) … Description: This BO, gives you a great economy, and an early pike! This pike must be used for killing creeps, which gives you a major Economy boost (= Lurtz). Off course, this money can be used for other things than Lurtz, but Lurtz is always my way to go. With Lurtz out early, this will again give you a great leadership (level 5) and money (level 6) So this combines two of Isengards strongest asset which is: Leadership, and Money. Be sure to try this one out.
First PowerPoint Way for this Building Order:
“Chaos, Panic and Destruction … Just the way I like it”
Warchant -> Devastation -> Watcher -> Dragon strike Description: This PP way will give you some great damaging Powers to use. Warchant is a great army booster and gives you’re units the extra power they need to destroy any upcoming enemy unit. Devastation is a great damaging power, this power is mainly used for its economy, but when having enough cash, be sure to cast this on the enemy because this will freeze them and will give you the opportunity to marjorly destroy his army without being harmed yourself. Another great combo is to Devastate his army (freeze them) and cast watcher underneath them, this will totally destroy his army, leaving you with a great army. And at last Dragon strike, This power doesn’t need an explanation, it just owns everything it come’s across, so use this power a lot
Second PowerPoint Way for this Building Order:
“I aint saying I’m a gold digger”
Crebain -> Devastation -> Industry -> Watcher -> Dragon Strike Description: If you want Lots of money, very fast, then this is the PP path you should take with this BO. This PP path mixes High damaging spells with Economy booster spells: Economy boosters: Devastation, Industry Damaging Powers: Crebain (debuff) Devastation (freezes) Watcher and Dragon strike.
Third PowerPoint Way for this Building Order:
“Let’s try something Different”
Palantir -> Wildmen -> Tainted Land -> Rain -> Dragon Strike -> Summon Dragon Description: This is something totally different from the rest of all the PP paths, but this doesn’t mean its less effective! Palantir has been chosen before, but after that its mostly different. First Wildmen and tainted land is a great combo, If you combine these two, than you can expect some great damage combined with a great economy. Considering that Wildmen have “low” health, the Tainted land outbuffes this, and gives them a good armor, which make them last longer, and gather more money during that time. After that I chose rain to debuff all the enemy forces and buff yours (considering you have either Lurtz level 5 or Saruman) with Tainted land, The benefit of Rain is that after that can chose from 2 tier 5 pp spells, this means you can achieve these “relatively” fast. So start unleashing those tier 5 pp spells!
Building Order 3:
Furnace Warg Pit Warg Warg/Furnace Uruk Pit … Description: This is the Most Used strat in 1.04. But don’t think these Wargs got Nerfed Heavily; These lovely “Outgrown” Doggie’s can still put out some great damage! The “Attack – Pull back” strat is still a good one. With the first warg out, you can kill his outer Furnaces and prevent him from expanding his base, with the second warg, you can attack from separate ways which confuses the enemy and give your other warg time to heal (when level 2). But this Attacking and pulling back with wargs can stand long, since the opponent will know where you put you’re wargs and will build some pikes, therefore you should build a Uruk pit with some Swordsmen and crossbows to Immediately attack after you have done attacking with you’re wargs. You’re Wargs cant do everything Early game since his fortress protects his Barracks and close by farms, so build that uruk pit fast after .
*You can Change Devastation with Tainted land if you’re in need of cash, otherwise don’t Description: Since you’re wargs wont be killing his units (mainly) you wont need Crebain to Debuff him, so Warchant is a Great power to Fast kill a building when being shot at by the fortress. After that Tainted land since you’re uruks are coming to kill his fortress because all his other buildings should be killed with you’re wargs, if not, then first kill the other buildings, then cast Tainted land on his fortress which make’s you’re units having more armor. If you haven’t won the game by then go Devastation for that Extra cash or to freeze you’re enemy’s. The Tier 5 PP patch don’t need an Explanation .
Second PowerPoint Way for this Building Order:
“Crystal Ball shows it all”
Palantir -> Tainted Land -> Wildmen -> Rain -> Dragon Strike -> Summon Dragon Description: With Palantir, you can always check what he is doing, and if he is planning some traps for you’re wargs (E.g.: Elves put Pikes in forests) This gives you an advantage to outrun this, and kill his buildings before he reaches you’re pikes. After that: Tainted land, and Wildmen because These two combined do a lot of damage and give great economy!
Third PowerPoint Way for this Building Order:
“The Era of Men is over, The Era of Isengard is about to begin…”
Warchant -> Crebain -> Industry -> Watcher -> Dragon Strike
Description: This PP path again gives you’re wargs a buff in damage for fast taking down his buildings. After that you go for crebain to debuff all his last units, to give you’re Uruks an advantage’, If you haven’t won by then, Industry is a great PP to give you a great economy, and then Watcher to irradicate the left over’s of his army/buildings. And at last, Dragon Strike to finish it .
Description: This is one of my favorite’s to use, Although this isn’t Very good to do vs fast factions like goblins, this is vs others. This strat combines a good early economy with the consistence of a great and large army. The two Uruk pits will (after a loss in army) replenish you’re army extremely fast! This strat (early game) Never keeps you waiting to build another unit (for example: when one is build you can immediately build another one). The only downside of this BO is that the CP cap can be a pain, but this will keep you reminding to expand you’re base, which is a good thing . First PowerPoint Way for this Building Order:
*Industry and Devastation may be switched, Only do this when a huge army is attacking, and you defiantly need the stun, otherwise don’t. Description: The Early Crebain can give you the advantage which is needed in the first encounter with the enemy since this BO is “slow”. After that you can go for devastation and Industry because when cash floating you can upgrade those hordes you have! Watcher and dragon strike are the Damage dealers in this PowerPoint way
Second PowerPoint Way for this Building Order:
“All the strong things, wrapped in one convenient package”
Palantir -> Warchant -> Wildmen -> Tainted Land -> Rain -> Dragon Strike -> Summon Dragon Description: Taking Palantir as you’re first power in this Particular Building order is a great option since this gives you important information on how to counter his first attack. Warchant gives you the extra buff, but when you have Wildmen + Warchant, and some other buff like the tainted land then these warriors get +50% damage +50% armor which make’s them Extremely powerful! The last three powers are very obvious, there chosen to just create some great chaos on the field . Third PowerPoint Way for this Building Order:
“The perfect balance between Money and Power”
Palantir –> Wildman –> Crebain –> Devastation –> Watcher –> Dragon Strike Description: This PowerPoint path gives you early knowledge, and a powerful spell later on (Wildmen) the debuff that you get after that is welcome as well! The devastation is in it for the economy. As is the watcher for its spawning power. The dragon strike is taken to finish the job.
Some Other PowerPoint Paths:
“The Quickie”
Warchant -> Devastation -> Rain -> Dragon Strike Description: This is a PowerPoint path to give you the tier 5 power the fastest, but this takes some special elements with it. Warchant gives the buff, Devastation works on the economy, Rain debuffes the enemy, and Dragon Strike finishes it.
“The good one’s”
Palantir -> Wildmen -> Tainted Land -> Crebain -> Devastation -> Watcher -> Dragon Strike Description: This gives you everything the Isengard Powers has to offer: Spying, Damaging Spells, Buffing Spells, Debuffing spells, It has it all! These powers will always be useful, in any match up.
Tips and Hints vs Specific factions:
I will tell you the Achilles heal of every faction, and will give you an overall advantage by giving you that information .
Men Of The West: This faction is based on hero’s so Lurtz is one of you’re major concerns, be sure to have him early game! Other than hero’s this faction can spam Soldiers fast in his early game! So be sure to have crossbows ready to counter that spam (block his Soldiers with swordsmen). Archers and Rangers can be countered by wargs, but since wargs aren’t used as much, this can be countered by heavy armored army’s, and/Lurtz. His Cavalry is weak to Pikes and Lurtz as we all know.
Summary: - Motw Hero’s < Lurtz - Soldier Spam < crossbows - Archers < Lurtz - Cavalry < Pikes/Lurtz By the looks of it, Lurtz seems a Must have for any match up against Motw, so be sure to Always build Lurtz vs. this faction.
Elves: The Strengths of this faction are: Archers, Hero’s and Warrior rush. When we know the strengths of an army, we can analysis there Weaknesses. Those archers may form a problem Early game, since wargs are out of the question, but Lurtz does kill this with 1 shot of his bow, so Lurtz is a great option for this, Hero’s Lurtz again. The Warrior rush is easily countered by crossbows, but since they can outrun these easily you can build swordsmen + crossbow, The Swordsmen will stop them from running, and the archer will finish the job. Summary - Elven Hero’s < Lurtz - Archers < Lurtz - Warrior rush < Swordsmen + crossbow Lurtz and crossbows + Swordsmen seem the best way to go vs this faction, Wargs are good units vs. this faction to, but since this is an Early game article I wont go into this.
Dwarfs: This faction has a lot of strengths. There Slow but sturdy units are strong. This can be countered by 2 crossbows, When he’s coming, shoot at him, if he tries to attack an crossbow, run from him, when he tries to attack the other one, run again, do this until his guardian is dead. But when you’re attacking with swordsmen simply use his weakness vs him. Outrun him and destroy his buildings. There hero’s are all though, but since they are mid game (except Gloin) These can be countered by Grima/lurtz. There siege is weak vs anything, so nothing to hard on them…
Summary - Dwarves Hero’s < Lurtz/Wormtongue - Siege < infantry - Guardians < crossbows This summary shows us that there strengths aren’t countered by one specific thing, so vs Dwarfs be sure to always mix you’re army Mordor: Mordor has its strengths in there Horse Heroes and Flying hero’s, orc spasm and there monsters. There heroes are countered by pike’s with crossbows. There orc spam is easily countered by crossbows, and there monsters by pikes
Summary - Mordor heroes < Pikes/crossbows - Orcs < crossbows - Monsters < Pikes Pikes and crossbows are the way to go vs. Mordor players, Swordsmen are less effective here since the Nazgul on horseback can kill those easily. Since Lurtz isn’t mentioned here, it doesn’t mean not to buy him! Lurtz is good vs. any factions so don’t forget to buy him!
Isengard: There Infantry is strong, there hero’s and Upgrade’s are Very good, there economy is a great thing to, so when you see a furnace, be sure to take it out! The hero’s are countered by Lurtz again, but since he got the same, be sure to have Lurtz out first since he must be a higher level than his Lurtz. There infantry is counter able by lots of crossbows (protected by swordsmen/pikes).
Summary: - Infantry < Mass crossbows backed up by Swordsmen/pikes - Isengard Hero’s < Lurtz (be sure to get him out first)
Isengards counter is Lurtz with A mass army of crossbows and Swordsmen, when Lurtz hitting level 5 you he will give you LD and give you an overall advantage over his army!
Goblins: There goblin spam is a great strength when he attacks from different sides, so be sure to counter this by archers. There Spider riders are a pain in the @$$ so pikes are a must, and there monsters are also countered by pikes
Summary - Goblins < crossbow - Spiders < Pikes - Monsters < Pikes Pikes mixed up with crossbows is a great option when playing vs Goblins, so be sure to mix these up! Lurtz is less effective since there hero’s aren’t as good as the other factions but his LD is needed later on, so when you can, buy him to.
This was my article about the early game of isengard, I hope this has helped you a lot, and will help you further in the game itself. I enjoyed it making for you, and I hope you enjoyed it reading
- Soulless One
This post has been edited by Soulless One: Sep 29 2006, 20:14 PM
This BO is another good one, with throwing another furn in there somewhere. The problem with three furns and a pike is you may be in trouble if they are an effective rusher but well written. The only problem I saw was repetitiveness, but almost every guide has it, if Nego would stop being lazy he would make an pinned topic with all of the new guides and this would be a helpful addition, but I think he's a little tired right now
Really good guide. The only thing I would say that is incorrect is when you said "Lurtz>MOTW Heroes". If Lurtz tries to melee Boromir, Lurtz will keep getting knocked down and won't win the fight. But once he can pin Boromir then he has an advantage.
great read, however, please - 'you're' is 'YOUR'.. it makes reading it a pain after some time. this little thingy spoils otherwise realy nicely written guide.
btw - have you considered throwing lumber mill into the BO? i tried few of these against ai, and it works - LM has 1500hp, compared to 750 of furnace, it gives realy nice income, and provides realy great cheap scouts [20$/1cp] while you are waiting for that bats upgrade
This post has been edited by Soulless One: Oct 3 2006, 17:35 PM
made with pleasure 
This Article will show the Early game of Isengard, and will give you some great building orders, different strategy choices and PowerPoint ways to chose from. It will improve you’re Early – mid game, and grant you a great late-game.
Because this Article is intended to improve you’re late game I will link you to other guide’s/article’s to improve it as well, Read them to if you want to improve majorly.
Here are the other Guide’s/Article’s:
- How to effectivly play with Isengard in 1.05
- Isengard Creeping Guide
- Siege Guide
- Hero Counter Guide
- 1.05 Leadership
In case you didn’t know, Isengard has a great early game. There possible ways to go are infinitive, but the effective one’s are talked about later (See “building orders”). The power of an early game in any faction lies on the first pair of units you build, in an general Isengard game, this should be the Swordsmen and crossbow combined. The Uruk swordsmen can hold out a long time while the crossbow’s can shoot there way throughout the enemy’s units. But don’t forget to build pikes fast after, to hold back the trampling of the cavalry of the enemy, because that’s the only weakness of the Swordsmen + crossbow strat.
Since Upgrade’s are crucial to an Isengards game, this is an asset that has to be achieved as fast as possible in any game. But upgrades are only available Mid-game for Isengard, which forces you to survive until then. And this article is going to help you with that! It shows you specific Building orders and PowerPoint's to take, and so on, to make it through mid – late game. When this is achieved, and the Isengards army got Upgrades (and preferably leadership from Lurtz and/or Saruman) the enemy is almost already ‘lost’.
One of the best things that keeps the enemy of you’re back for a while, and gives you the opportunity to expand you’re base, is to attack from different sides. This is best achieved through Fast units, but since Wargs are only available until mid game (except warg rush) Corsairs seem the only one to do this, when having a Inn, be sure to build at least 2 – 3 and attack from different side’s at the same time, this will confuse him, ane force him to defend, let the corsairs use there firebombs to deal some great damage vs buildings. But there aren’t always inns on a map, so when this happens, just attack with some uruks from different side’s to achieve the same effect.
Early game Tips:
Tip 1: Don’t forget to always build Lurtz early game, since he Really can make the difference!
Tip 2: Don’t forget to creep since this extremely increases the economy.
Tip 3: Don’t forget to take Neutral buildings!
Tip 4: Attack from different sides at once, you would be surprised to see how much of an impact it has on the game
Tip 5: Always clump buildings, this way you can kill lots of buildings before the enemy reaches you
Now lets check to some effective Building orders, and there specific PowerPoint Paths.
Furnace
Uruk Pit
Furnace (while pit is building)
Uruk Swordsmen
Uruk X-bow
Furnace
…
Description:
This Bo will give you a great early game, since you have Swordsmen and an archer to back him up, these two units can kill almost anything the opponent throws at them! The Swordsmen and crossbow strat is one of the most effective one in the game, Especially since the uruk swordsmen are the only one with Shield wall on level 1.
First PowerPoint Way for this Building Order:
Palantir -> Wildmen -> Crebain -> Devastation -> Watcher -> Dragon Strike
Description:
This PP way will give you a lot of information early game, this will show you if he when he is building cavalry, Hero’s, anything actually. This PP way is the best vs. Tunnel factions (Goblins and Dwarfs) because with Palantir you can scout out his forward tunnel and destroy his early game. And even if he gets his guardians out, you will still have a swordsmen with Shield wall and an crossbow backing him up, and these two will certainly win.
Second PowerPoint way for this Building Order:
Palantir -> Crebain -> Devastation -> watcher -> Dragon strike
Description:
This looks a lot like the previous one, and as mentioned above, Palantir is a Great first power to take. In this PP way I didn’t took Wildmen, I went straight for Crebain to devastation because this will grant you a better economy than the first which means more hero’s at start (Saruman). Devastation is always a great power, even if you have enough cash, so this is one of my favorite PP to take
Third PowerPoint way for this Building Order:
Warchant -> Crebain -> Devastation -> Rain -> Dragon Strike
Description:
This PP give’s you an early advantage over Any army. The swordsmen + crossbow is already a strong combo, but with Warchant its Crazy! This PP way will give you all of Isengards buff/debuff powers, which gives you a huge advantage in any battle! Warchant and Crebain can pretty much handle throughout Early - mid game, but after that the mere +50% attack bonus wont be enough to save you’re army, that’s why Rain is the next best thing which gives the enemy NO leadership at all, backed up with Crebain the units of the enemy will be as easy to brake as a toothpick. And when casted devastation on the army (which freezes them) you an simply slash you’re way throughout his army. This way is a great way to go, when you want to have a Strong Isengard Army.
Furnace
Furnace
Uruk pit
Furnace (uruk pit is building)
Pikemen
Swordsmen/archer (depends on situation)
Lurtz (Creeping gives lots of money)
…
Description:
This BO, gives you a great economy, and an early pike! This pike must be used for killing creeps, which gives you a major Economy boost (= Lurtz). Off course, this money can be used for other things than Lurtz, but Lurtz is always my way to go. With Lurtz out early, this will again give you a great leadership (level 5) and money (level 6) So this combines two of Isengards strongest asset which is: Leadership, and Money. Be sure to try this one out.
First PowerPoint Way for this Building Order:
Warchant -> Devastation -> Watcher -> Dragon strike
Description:
This PP way will give you some great damaging Powers to use. Warchant is a great army booster and gives you’re units the extra power they need to destroy any upcoming enemy unit. Devastation is a great damaging power, this power is mainly used for its economy, but when having enough cash, be sure to cast this on the enemy because this will freeze them and will give you the opportunity to marjorly destroy his army without being harmed yourself. Another great combo is to Devastate his army (freeze them) and cast watcher underneath them, this will totally destroy his army, leaving you with a great army. And at last Dragon strike, This power doesn’t need an explanation, it just owns everything it come’s across, so use this power a lot
Second PowerPoint Way for this Building Order:
Crebain -> Devastation -> Industry -> Watcher -> Dragon Strike
Description:
If you want Lots of money, very fast, then this is the PP path you should take with this BO. This PP path mixes High damaging spells with Economy booster spells:
Economy boosters: Devastation, Industry
Damaging Powers: Crebain (debuff) Devastation (freezes) Watcher and Dragon strike.
Third PowerPoint Way for this Building Order:
“Let’s try something Different”
Palantir -> Wildmen -> Tainted Land -> Rain -> Dragon Strike -> Summon Dragon
Description:
This is something totally different from the rest of all the PP paths, but this doesn’t mean its less effective! Palantir has been chosen before, but after that its mostly different. First Wildmen and tainted land is a great combo, If you combine these two, than you can expect some great damage combined with a great economy. Considering that Wildmen have “low” health, the Tainted land outbuffes this, and gives them a good armor, which make them last longer, and gather more money during that time. After that I chose rain to debuff all the enemy forces and buff yours (considering you have either Lurtz level 5 or Saruman) with Tainted land, The benefit of Rain is that after that can chose from 2 tier 5 pp spells, this means you can achieve these “relatively” fast. So start unleashing those tier 5 pp spells!
Furnace
Warg Pit
Warg
Warg/Furnace
Uruk Pit
…
Description:
This is the Most Used strat in 1.04. But don’t think these Wargs got Nerfed Heavily; These lovely “Outgrown” Doggie’s can still put out some great damage! The “Attack – Pull back” strat is still a good one. With the first warg out, you can kill his outer Furnaces and prevent him from expanding his base, with the second warg, you can attack from separate ways which confuses the enemy and give your other warg time to heal (when level 2). But this Attacking and pulling back with wargs can stand long, since the opponent will know where you put you’re wargs and will build some pikes, therefore you should build a Uruk pit with some Swordsmen and crossbows to Immediately attack after you have done attacking with you’re wargs. You’re Wargs cant do everything Early game since his fortress protects his Barracks and close by farms, so build that uruk pit fast after
First PowerPoint Way for this Building Order:
Warchant -> Tainted Land* -> Devastation* -> Rain -> Dragon Strike -> Summon Dragon
*You can Change Devastation with Tainted land if you’re in need of cash, otherwise don’t
Description:
Since you’re wargs wont be killing his units (mainly) you wont need Crebain to Debuff him, so Warchant is a Great power to Fast kill a building when being shot at by the fortress. After that Tainted land since you’re uruks are coming to kill his fortress because all his other buildings should be killed with you’re wargs, if not, then first kill the other buildings, then cast Tainted land on his fortress which make’s you’re units having more armor. If you haven’t won the game by then go Devastation for that Extra cash or to freeze you’re enemy’s. The Tier 5 PP patch don’t need an Explanation
Second PowerPoint Way for this Building Order:
“Crystal Ball shows it all”
Palantir -> Tainted Land -> Wildmen -> Rain -> Dragon Strike -> Summon Dragon
Description:
With Palantir, you can always check what he is doing, and if he is planning some traps for you’re wargs (E.g.: Elves put Pikes in forests) This gives you an advantage to outrun this, and kill his buildings before he reaches you’re pikes. After that: Tainted land, and Wildmen because These two combined do a lot of damage and give great economy!
Third PowerPoint Way for this Building Order:
Warchant -> Crebain -> Industry -> Watcher -> Dragon Strike
Description:
This PP path again gives you’re wargs a buff in damage for fast taking down his buildings. After that you go for crebain to debuff all his last units, to give you’re Uruks an advantage’, If you haven’t won by then, Industry is a great PP to give you a great economy, and then Watcher to irradicate the left over’s of his army/buildings. And at last, Dragon Strike to finish it
Furnace
Furnace
Uruk pit
Furnace (while uruk pit is building)
Uruk swordmen
Uruk pit 2
Uruk Xbow (From uruk pit 1)
Uruk Swordsmen (From uruk pit 2)
…
Description:
This is one of my favorite’s to use, Although this isn’t Very good to do vs fast factions like goblins, this is vs others. This strat combines a good early economy with the consistence of a great and large army. The two Uruk pits will (after a loss in army) replenish you’re army extremely fast! This strat (early game) Never keeps you waiting to build another unit (for example: when one is build you can immediately build another one). The only downside of this BO is that the CP cap can be a pain, but this will keep you reminding to expand you’re base, which is a good thing
First PowerPoint Way for this Building Order:
Crebain -> Industry* -> Devastation* -> Watcher -> Dragon Strike
*Industry and Devastation may be switched, Only do this when a huge army is attacking, and you defiantly need the stun, otherwise don’t.
Description:
The Early Crebain can give you the advantage which is needed in the first encounter with the enemy since this BO is “slow”. After that you can go for devastation and Industry because when cash floating you can upgrade those hordes you have! Watcher and dragon strike are the Damage dealers in this PowerPoint way
Second PowerPoint Way for this Building Order:
Palantir -> Warchant -> Wildmen -> Tainted Land -> Rain -> Dragon Strike -> Summon Dragon
Description:
Taking Palantir as you’re first power in this Particular Building order is a great option since this gives you important information on how to counter his first attack. Warchant gives you the extra buff, but when you have Wildmen + Warchant, and some other buff like the tainted land then these warriors get +50% damage +50% armor which make’s them Extremely powerful! The last three powers are very obvious, there chosen to just create some great chaos on the field
Third PowerPoint Way for this Building Order:
Palantir –> Wildman –> Crebain –> Devastation –> Watcher –> Dragon Strike
Description:
This PowerPoint path gives you early knowledge, and a powerful spell later on (Wildmen) the debuff that you get after that is welcome as well! The devastation is in it for the economy. As is the watcher for its spawning power. The dragon strike is taken to finish the job.
Some Other PowerPoint Paths:
Warchant -> Devastation -> Rain -> Dragon Strike
Description:
This is a PowerPoint path to give you the tier 5 power the fastest, but this takes some special elements with it. Warchant gives the buff, Devastation works on the economy, Rain debuffes the enemy, and Dragon Strike finishes it.
Palantir -> Wildmen -> Tainted Land -> Crebain -> Devastation -> Watcher -> Dragon Strike
Description:
This gives you everything the Isengard Powers has to offer: Spying, Damaging Spells, Buffing Spells, Debuffing spells, It has it all! These powers will always be useful, in any match up.
Tips and Hints vs Specific factions:
I will tell you the Achilles heal of every faction, and will give you an overall advantage by giving you that information
Men Of The West:
This faction is based on hero’s so Lurtz is one of you’re major concerns, be sure to have him early game! Other than hero’s this faction can spam Soldiers fast in his early game! So be sure to have crossbows ready to counter that spam (block his Soldiers with swordsmen). Archers and Rangers can be countered by wargs, but since wargs aren’t used as much, this can be countered by heavy armored army’s, and/Lurtz. His Cavalry is weak to Pikes and Lurtz as we all know.
Summary:
- Motw Hero’s < Lurtz
- Soldier Spam < crossbows
- Archers < Lurtz
- Cavalry < Pikes/Lurtz
By the looks of it, Lurtz seems a Must have for any match up against Motw, so be sure to Always build Lurtz vs. this faction.
Elves:
The Strengths of this faction are: Archers, Hero’s and Warrior rush. When we know the strengths of an army, we can analysis there Weaknesses. Those archers may form a problem Early game, since wargs are out of the question, but Lurtz does kill this with 1 shot of his bow, so Lurtz is a great option for this, Hero’s Lurtz again. The Warrior rush is easily countered by crossbows, but since they can outrun these easily you can build swordsmen + crossbow, The Swordsmen will stop them from running, and the archer will finish the job.
Summary
- Elven Hero’s < Lurtz
- Archers < Lurtz
- Warrior rush < Swordsmen + crossbow
Lurtz and crossbows + Swordsmen seem the best way to go vs this faction, Wargs are good units vs. this faction to, but since this is an Early game article I wont go into this.
Dwarfs:
This faction has a lot of strengths. There Slow but sturdy units are strong. This can be countered by 2 crossbows, When he’s coming, shoot at him, if he tries to attack an crossbow, run from him, when he tries to attack the other one, run again, do this until his guardian is dead. But when you’re attacking with swordsmen simply use his weakness vs him. Outrun him and destroy his buildings. There hero’s are all though, but since they are mid game (except Gloin) These can be countered by Grima/lurtz. There siege is weak vs anything, so nothing to hard on them…
Summary
- Dwarves Hero’s < Lurtz/Wormtongue
- Siege < infantry
- Guardians < crossbows
This summary shows us that there strengths aren’t countered by one specific thing, so vs Dwarfs be sure to always mix you’re army
Mordor:
Mordor has its strengths in there Horse Heroes and Flying hero’s, orc spasm and there monsters. There heroes are countered by pike’s with crossbows. There orc spam is easily countered by crossbows, and there monsters by pikes
Summary
- Mordor heroes < Pikes/crossbows
- Orcs < crossbows
- Monsters < Pikes
Pikes and crossbows are the way to go vs. Mordor players, Swordsmen are less effective here since the Nazgul on horseback can kill those easily. Since Lurtz isn’t mentioned here, it doesn’t mean not to buy him! Lurtz is good vs. any factions so don’t forget to buy him!
Isengard:
There Infantry is strong, there hero’s and Upgrade’s are Very good, there economy is a great thing to, so when you see a furnace, be sure to take it out! The hero’s are countered by Lurtz again, but since he got the same, be sure to have Lurtz out first since he must be a higher level than his Lurtz. There infantry is counter able by lots of crossbows (protected by swordsmen/pikes).
Summary:
- Infantry < Mass crossbows backed up by Swordsmen/pikes
- Isengard Hero’s < Lurtz (be sure to get him out first)
Isengards counter is Lurtz with A mass army of crossbows and Swordsmen, when Lurtz hitting level 5 you he will give you LD and give you an overall advantage over his army!
Goblins:
There goblin spam is a great strength when he attacks from different sides, so be sure to counter this by archers. There Spider riders are a pain in the @$$ so pikes are a must, and there monsters are also countered by pikes
Summary
- Goblins < crossbow
- Spiders < Pikes
- Monsters < Pikes
Pikes mixed up with crossbows is a great option when playing vs Goblins, so be sure to mix these up! Lurtz is less effective since there hero’s aren’t as good as the other factions but his LD is needed later on, so when you can, buy him to.
This was my article about the early game of isengard, I hope this has helped you a lot, and will help you further in the game itself. I enjoyed it making for you, and I hope you enjoyed it reading
- Soulless One
This post has been edited by Soulless One: Sep 29 2006, 20:14 PM
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