Isengard's Infantry

The physical and mental traits of the uruk-hai give them significant advantages, and Isengard's doctrine is geared towards exploiting these to their maximum effect. But they have their downsides. Should there be an unexpected turn of events, morale could break in a more devastating fashion than otherwise. Disorientation can result if the ranks are broken (which is a real threat when up against a force well trained for that). The loss of commanders could easily lead to confusion and disarray. Training was based on the idea that the army would face no threats from behind or have the need to retreat, so no doctrine was available to handle setbacks or flanking attacks. Add in that armor was rarely applied to the back, routs could be easy to cause and more damaging than normal.   It appears that the beserkers numbered only 30. We can assume then that the main invasion force attacking Helm's Deep only had 30 ladders.

Isengard relied on beserkers in cases where special amounts of power are needed. They have helmets - but that is it. No shields or normal body armor. This is done so that all their power goes into their weapon.   Normally though, shields are used. These are made with thick iron. This is sharpened so that the edges can cut enemies if desired. Their shields were meant for not just for personal use but also to form the Tortoise formation to protect the battering ram used against the gate. The spikes added for this were also used by uruk hai to turn the shield into a weapon. The rest of the body was covered with plate armor made of crude steel plates. Greaves, helmets, breastplates and gauntlets made up the individual pieces. Which means that they were decently protected when in their massed infantry formations, but on their own this would leave a lot of holes. Plate armor easier to mass produce, thus plays to Isengard’s industrial strengths.   Scouts primarily rely on leather armor. Under this, they have chain mail. They do have leg protection, but the nature of it is not specified.

Now, getting to the weaponry here. Uruk hai are abnormal in Lord of the Rings in that they are universally soldiers in an army at war. There are no civilian uruk hais, nor any points we can see how Isengard’s military would operate in peacetime. This means that side arms would be completely redundant. It might be a good idea to equip troops with them in case their main weapons are lost – but there is no need for them in the same way a normal person or even soldier would need them. This means that they would be geared to war at all times. Also, their strength would mean they are better able to handle the bigger weaponry of the medieval period.   This force was primarily armed with a three foot sword weighing an impressive 10 pounds. Their swords were long, single edged swords ideal for slashing a horse riding past. They also had a spike on the end pointing towards the backside that could be used to catch a rider’s cloak or slash a horse riding by. These sound like an excellent side arm actually. A 10 pound sword would confer extra punch due to its weight. This might be too much for a human in combat, but the impressive strength of a uruk-hai means this would probably not be too much of a strain. Now, given the fact that Isengard would need a general purpose army, an impressive side arm would be a must. The pikes needed in the Fords of Isen would be no use inside Helm's Deep. For there, it would be quite a good idea for them to have a back up. Drop the pike and switch to this sword.   The only major change is I would extend it out to make it a two handed long sword where swords would be the primary weapon. This will make it a much more impressive battle weapon. Traditionally humans use one handed swords as their back ups as they would not want a side arm to tire them out too much and compromise their ability to use their primary. But any creature that can march as long and fast as a uruk and use a 300 pound bow in battle probably would not have to worry about this as much.   To me, this means the Claymore. But because these were meant to be sidearms for uruks and the smaller ranges for Claymores would still be impressive, I suspect that the less extreme versions would be used. Which means a 5.5 pound weight. The blade would be 42 inches long and two inches wide. These were meant to be two handed swords, so their grip was longer. But I would imagine that a uruk would be able to use this sword with either one or two hands depending on the situation. Thus it would be an pretty solid side arm even though it was meant as a primary weapon in real life.   The uruk- hai bow was an impressive behemoth. It was a 6 feet tall recurve composite bow. Its draw strength was a staggering 300 pounds. The string was formed with twine and sinew. Blades were actually attached to the ends to add some melee capabilities to the bow as well. Their arrows were black and thick, using warg fur slicked back with tar for the fletching.   Uruk Hais are extremely big and strong, thus these huge war bows are probably the best bow to use. Keep in mind that humans are able to fire bows with a draw strength of 100 pounds, which in the right (but limited) contexts can penetrate plate armor and shoot 300 yards. Imagine what could happen if you were able to increase that weight – which is possible when the soldiers are much stronger and taller. The Uruk Hais in the movies carried bows with a 300 pound draw weight. They might even be able to more reliably penetrate plate armor and shoot longer ranges due to this. This means the tactic of raining suppressing fire down on their enemies would be a powerful option for them, as would the use of multiple volleys pelting a mounted charge. The added range means that it is possible to fire more arrows on the charge before it can get to the formation of uruk hai or shoot over walls from a safe distance. Normally, if you are able to hit the enemy, they are able to hit you – this might not be the case for uruk hai. Add in the fact Rohan is more likely to have mail instead of plate and that Saruman would be smart enough to put the right arrow heads on, and archery would be devastating.   So, we know that the Uruk-hai sent to attack the Fellowship had bows with draw weights of 300 pounds. Also, the Qing Dynasty used recurve bows with 240 pounds. This would be way too powerful for the human archers of the Qing Dynasty - even for infantry. The 130 to 156 pound bows still appear primarily for target practice rather than combat. But Uruk Hais are super strong, so it seems that the full power 240 pound Qing bow would be entirely practical for Isengard's armies. Due to the fact the wargs are almost impossible to shoot from, I suspect that the main archer contingents would be in infantry formations.   The crossbows could shoot 300 yards, but at slower rates than a bow. The trade offs with cross bows are such that I am honestly not entirely sure what the main weapon should be. Traditionally, bows were used in open battle to capitalize on their rapid rate of fire. Crossbows appear better for garrisons as they can hide behind the walls while they take time reloading. But the quality archers require more training to achieve their effect - which may not be possible with uruks.   Though I am leaning towards crossbow due to the lower training requirements. At the very least, the bows would be used by the scout units as the higher rates of fire and distance would be more useful for them. But I am sure that the ability to get a huge amount of arrows flying at the enemy would be a good idea for Isengard. The ability to at least thin out charging cavalry would greatly help. Plus, this goes a long way towards viable suppressing fire. Such attacks would be useful at Helm's Deep so that the defenders are less able to counter the ladders.   I suspect that the arrowheads would be the same as popular in the Qing Dynasty. Namely the "plum needle" head. It was made with tapered steel with shape cutting edges. Apparently it was relatively heavy, but its shape and sharpness did not increase resistance much. Which meant it could penetrate much deeper than other head types. We can also assume the arrow tips would be narrow to help penetrate mail armor – the most common used for Rohan.   One Chinese arrow fired from their infantry archers were rocket arrows. Think a firecracker attached to an arrow using a fuse and gunpowder. The smoke, noise and flashing lights would induce panic and confusion in the enemy horses. Granted, this was maximized if it exploded in the air, which required good timing. As Isengard had gunpowder and went up against a powerful horse based army, this would be a useful weapon. Though it appeared to be limited in terms of actual damage.   The beserkers used massive two handed swords. The blade was a highly impractical 5 feet long and 4 inches wide. For a specially bred uruk that only reached 6 and a half feet tall. These had spikes sticking out in both directions at the end. This is a wholly impractical weapon, but highly deadly. The swings could easily chop people's heads off and cut through steel plate armor. Only the Uruk hai could use such a weapon. But it did have an 18 inch hand grip that helped get leverage.   This would be another weapon I think would be beefed up for Isengard. There were real life weapons similar to these. The Zweihänder. These were limited to the sizes used by Isengard Beserker units due to the limitations of human endurance in combat. But uruks are much stronger than humans, as suggested by the fact their overpowered bows. Plus, beserkers are 1) not really meant to last and 2) need to cram as much damage as possible into as short of a time as possible. Which means the more extreme Zweihänders used primarily for ceremonial purposes in real life would probably be the main weapons used by beserkers. These beasts were 84 inches long, had 9.8 inch grips and weighed 15 pounds. Pier Gerlofs Donia is reported to have used a similar sword to behead several people with a sword like this in a single blow.   "Greate Pier fan Wûnseradiel" (in Western Frisian). Gemeente Wûnseradiel. Retrieved 4 January 2008.   Scout forces like those sent to attack the Fellowship had a pretty wide range of weapons. Axes, one handed swords, daggers and the brutal longbows with 300 pound draw weights were part of their arms. This would be incredibly practical for them. They would need as wide of a range of weapons as possible. But at the same time, these would need to be as portable as possible. They needed to be fast as possible and their smaller numbers prevent the pikes from being effective anyway.   The pikes were 12 feet long - sometimes listed as 18 feet long. Uruks armed with these made up the majority of Isengard's army. A wise move honestly. Spears were the prime weapon in the medieval period, even when not going up against cavalry. When you are though, a solid pike wall is essential for defense. Though the 18 feet number in most open battles is a bit impractical. If you want to go up against phalanxes like the dwarves, then yes you want 18 feet long pikes. But the more modest one is much easier to reorient when attacked from the side. Like what one would expect when a mounted force attacks.

A note on the uruk-hai breeding program here. At first, Saruman was able to take his time, making sure each soldier was fully matured and fully trained. The uruks sent to attack the Fellowship were drawn from this first batch. Hence why they appear much more powerful, better trained and with better equipment. But after that mission failed, Saruman needed to accelerate his plans - meaning he needed a full strength army as soon as possible. He could not wait for each soldier to be as good as those who attacked the Fellowship. So he degraded his standards and rushed production of his uruks.   But there were a few of these uruks who remained. They were more intelligent and independently minded. To capitalize on this, they were made captains over the uruk companies. These captains had distinctive crests that identified their rank and what unit they led. Their role was essentially maintaining order in the ranks, setting the pace of marches and signalling when and where to attack. There does not appear to be commanders of a higher rank. So we can assume that an extremely limited version of mission tactics would be used.   The loss of these commanders - especially when retreats were forced - would prove devastating. Because they were not trained to fight when on retreat, uruks were even more exposed. This would be disorienting. Without their commanders to impose order, there was even less hope of reforming ranks and rallying. Which means that the uruk commanders would be a prime target for anyone going against Isengard's army.   Interestingly, Saruman sent orcs to keep an eye on the uruks that attacked the Fellowship. We can infer from this that some form of Soviet style commissar system was in place. This does not appear to be in place in Helm's Deep, but it should have been. An orc should have been placed with each commander. These would be informed as to what the objective was for each commander. These orcs would then keep a watchful eye on their assigned target to make sure the commander in question did not disobey orders or shirk their responsibility. Any signs of trouble and the orc would be authorized to murder the commander.

The next major issue that Isengard’s planning would have to take into account is that its military is primarily heavy infantry and would be going up against the best heavy cavalry in Middle Earth. Normally, this would not go well. Especially if Rohan exploits light cavalry skirmishers in the same way that real life armies did.   For that I again will turn to Rome – who used mainly heavy infantry and whose most problematic foes used heavy cavalry. Serious damage was done by mounted warriors in Spain that used their mobility to hit the flanks of their opposing legions. While Cannae was mainly infantry on infantry, cavalry proved vital to Hannibal winning. The Parthians were brutal in their use of skirmishers to wear down Roman troops then deliver the killing blow with the cataphracts. The Parthians added to this scorched earth tactics and harassment that baited the Romans deeper into Partian territory. Supply lines were stretched, retreat became harder and water scarce. Carrhae should not have been a surprise.   One of the main things that the Roman general Publius Ventidius Bassus did was to use his own firepower to counter that of the Parthian horse archers. Horse archers have the advantage in terms of mobility, but infantry can have a much greater volume of fire. Horses are much bigger relative to move and need even more space to exploit their mobility advantage. This means 1) infantry can be packed in much closer and 2) horses make much easier targets to hit. Ventidius used slingers with lead balls to provide his firepower. Isengard can use cannons with canister shot or archers to fill that same role.   The next important thing Ventidius did was tactical. He would aim to take high ground or other important terrain that negated the mobility of cavalry. This paired quite well with the greater firepower. The terrain constrained the Parthian mounted troops and the archers exploited this to pelt them with arrow fire. Isengard seems to have used this same idea with the Battles of the Fords of Isen. The river would have seriously negated the advantages of mounted troops.   Lastly, Ventidius would take a strong defensive position and bait the Parthians into attacking him. Then he would aggressively counter-attack. One time the foundation was an army camp that provided the base for brutal slinger fire. Another case involved a vanguard force blocking a mountain pass. This means the Fords of Isen would prove to be a real beneficial site for Saruman to force a battle.   Denison, op. cit   The core ideas of blitzkrieg are applied not just at the strategic level. On the tactical level, any weak point that can be turned into a cascading catastrophic failure and/or route of the enemy can be the focus as well. We can expect Isengard to replace Germany’s dive bombers with cannons to replicate the extra heavy firepower on this point needed to be successful. Breakthroughs at the tactical level is meant to be exploited to continue to disrupt and disorganize the enemy forces. Routs are to be hammered hard and fast so that no attempt to reorganize can be completed. The front assault ranks are meant to charge straight into rear areas after breakthroughs and not engage in flanks. In fact, Amphetamine was given to drivers so they could keep going longer than otherwise possible. Most losses for the enemy came when the attackers bothered to bring up their reserves, engaging the now isolated pockets left behind when the spearheads bypassed and cut them off.   Terrain was key to this. Normally, blitzkrieg requires attacks where the land and weather allows for fast armored attacks and air superiority. Should there be too many hills, blitzkrieg cannot work. Mud, heavy snow and rivers can also block armored attacks. Fog and rain can make air superiority much harder as well. The only times these requirements can be ignored is when natural barriers allow for surprise. For example, should the enemy assume an area (like the Ardennes) is impassible, they are less likely to adequately defend there. An attacker can then exploit this to force a breakthrough where one would otherwise not be possible.   Frieser, Karl-Heinz (2005). The Blitzkrieg Legend: The 1940 Campaign in the West [Blitzkrieg-legende: der westfeldzug 1940]. trans. J. T. Greenwood. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-294-2.   How would blitzkrieg apply directly to Isengard? Well, the uruk hai are able to move extremely fast even by foot. This is mainly due to the fact they can keep walking without camping or sleeping. So, not mechanized war, but still faster than what its enemies can expect to match. Well, maybe Rohan can match its speed, but they still need to sleep and rest their horses. That provides a limiting factor for them not present for Isengard. That is a significant advantage and helps in the implementation of this proto blitzkrieg.   So, I would expect that artillery would be used to break up the enemy ranks. When the opportunity for a breakthrough is seen, heavy infantry would charge, similar to Napoleonic tactics. The scouts would fill in the light infantry positions. Beserkers would fill in as the lead roles in the assaults. Pikemen would probably be the bulk of the regular forces attacking in a phalanx or pike block. Archer and crossbow units would be placed behind them across the whole line to unleash constant fire on the enemy. I think the scouts and berserkers would operate locally to devastate the enemies during the rout. Then warg riders would charge in to exploit the gains by hitting the enemy rear areas.   One advantage that Isengard would have would be the terrain of Rohan. It is hilly, but not overly so. While it is true that full blitzkrieg would require flatter terrain, this is due to the reliance on motorized forces. Isengard meanwhile would be a mainly infantry force. This means that the limitations on speed would still exist, but be less of a problem that it would have been for Nazi Germany.   It must be noted that blitzkrieg can only be sustained for a short time given short supply lines. This is a factor that would bear on Isengard later, as I will discuss. If the enemy is not destroyed in the blitz, the assault will falter. The same doctrine that could pave the way for Isengard’s victory could in turn provide the seeds for its own destruction. We see this in Operation Barbarossa. When the attack on Stalingrad failed, Germany was literally unable to get the oil needed to fuel the planes, tanks and trucks needed for effective implementation of blitzkrieg. This was compounded by other supply shortages leading to men dying from starvation and cold.   Persian armies used composite/recurve bows too for their infantry. Their manuals mention shooting from both kneeling and standing. The front ranks and skirmishers wishing to remain hidden naturally would default to the kneeling position. Here, the archer was instructed to keep their right foot flat on their ground and right knee erect. The left knee is set on the ground and the soldier sits on the left foot.   Now, berserkers were used primarily as shock troops. These were the guys you see in the movies on top of the ladders in Helm's Deep. The idea is that they will use their massive swords and strength to cleave a hole big enough for their allies behind to exploit. To help with this, they fill their helmets with blood so it runs down their face and backs. This not only creates a rather intimidating image facing the enemy, but sends the uruk into a frenzy. In this state, they lost all sense of pain and self preservation, wanting nothing more than to massacre their enemies. The idea is that they are to use this fighting style to butcher as many enemies as they can and keep going until they die. Ideally this would take long enough for swordsmen to catch up and exploit the gap they created.   Now, it seems likely to me that the idea of the Forlorn Hope would be borrowed by Isengard too. I would imagine that the early uruks would be quite useful in this role too - not just as commanders. I would suspect they would be given full plate armor, the bows and a long sword. Basically, these would be the first to assault the enemy ranks or the walls. In field battles, this would mean similar to how Gondor uses its

The weapons were used by pure specialists – if a uruk hai had a sword they had only sword. If they had a cross bow, they just had that crossbow. This seems a little ridiculous to me. If the sword was designated as a side arm, the army could actually be a good deal more versatile. Phalanx style formations require little if any training in the use of the spear. Therefore all the swordsman could be made spearmen. These spearmen could be trained in sword combat. After all the drills that they were sent through would help them keep their ranks and march as a cohesive unit regardless of what their main weapon was and “switch weapons” is a simple command to understand. The same goes for crossbows. They did have the benefit of more reliable range and accuracy at lower levels of training.   As the orcs would be the main labor force, the lives of the uruk soldiers would probably be primarily just drills. Nothing too fancy. Just aiming to achieve obedience to orders, competent and powerful but basic attacks with their weapons and marching in formation. Shooting would take up a major part of the crossbow/archer uruks day. This would be fine for Isengard, as uruks are instinctive fighters to whom weapons would come naturally to. Meanwhile, no finesse or skill would be present - just pure power. Shields and swords would be used interchangeably to smash and slash through opponents. Linear strikes and blocks that bounce the incoming blow back at the enemy would be their main moves.

Isengard mass produces all of its weapons. The underground caverns were turned into foundries and factories that churn out massive levels of equipment and weapons. Generally, the result was decent quality. Not great, but good. Also, there was no desire to make them anything but functional. The result is a degree of crudeness in the appearance not seen much elsewhere.

Orcs and Dunlendings tend to serve as the auxiliary units and support positions. Uruks appear to do all the real heavy fighting.