Hi guys, i've been looking at and thinking about making an army of isengard for some time now and often see people encouraged to take as many crossbows as possible and concentrate on getting a high model count and therefore maximum crossbows into a force.

I've been wondering if this is the only way to truly effectively use the crossbows, could a smaller group of say 10-15 crossbows at 700 points be a useful addition to an isengard force, or would this weaken the combat troops by drawing (considerable) points away from a phalanx for little gain in the smaller number of crossbows.

Would another alternative be to perhaps field a handful of 6 crossbows and use them to snipe at heroes and cavalry? At the moment i'm led to believe that uruk crossbows seem to be somewhat of an "all or nothing" unit.

Thanks in advance

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Having sworn fealty, must I spend my whole life in servitude?

the only good thing about an uruk crossbow is strength 4 because they have a full move penalty it's hard to snipe enemy heroes because you'll always have to get in range of the hero, just my opinion

Uruk cross-bows will rake in a lot of kills if they're in the right position. Xbows are excellent in pyscological war-fare as they can be used to anchor your flank and no-one will come near them.

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"War does not determine who is right, only who is left."
- Bertrand Russel

In my last game, a few weeks ago, I took an Isengard force against Gondor. It was a great game, really close throughout play and I was victorious eventually - with Gandalf the White being the last enemy to fall. I took 15 to 20 crossbows and while they took out a small number of the enemy they were relatively ineffective due to Gandalf's blinding light spell, which meant they had to score a six to hit.

It is clear to see that the effectiveness of crossbows depends on several factors, one of which is who the enemy is and another is just how lucky you are when you roll those dice.

Despite the possiblity of them being near useless in certain situations, the crossbowmen are tough and can stand up pretty well in close combat fighting, so mine weren't competely wasted.

I still firmly believe that the best value Uruk warrior is the pikeman. They can add so many attacks - and when an enemy is surrounded by models supported by pikemen, they are nearly always decimated.

I once fielded an army of pikemen and they annihilated the enemy.

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Painting again...

I would personally take as many as possible, but then I am unnaturally terrified of crossbows.

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"There are few left in Middle Earth like Aragorn, son of Arathorn." - Gandalf, Many Meetings