exactly... and its a bit lower than 110£ for 3 feelbeasts, alot more models, variety and fun :)
Assuming hes a starter player he dont need to look at powergaming...

Thanks tonnes for all the feedback! I think ill go Isengard then. I'd love to field Saruman but it doesn't sound like he is that competitive in 500 pt games. My list would probably look something like this:

Warband 1:
Ugluk
12 Uruk-hai Warriors w/ 4 shields 8 spears

Warband 2:
Uruk-Hai Shaman
12 Uruk-hai Warriors w/ 4 shields 8 spears

Warband 3:
Vrasku
8 Uruk-hai Warriors w/ 8x crossbow

Ultimately a few more troops then I was looking for but they are all small in size so its fine.

Drop Ugluk and take an Captain with heavy armour and shield to be your leader.

Ugluk is best in larger games.

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I'm assuming ugluk is in there becuase he comes with Vrasku when bought from GW. However a captain with heavy armour and shield really is the better choice, and very easy to pick up on ebay for a few quid.

As for your list, it's a great solid starting point, gets you all the core troops you will need, and when expanding simply chuck in cool stuff. saruman, trolls, berserkers are all solid choices. If you do want saruman, I'd recomend a horse, makes him much more survivable.

I'd second the High elf recomendation, I'd suggest something like this:

Glonfindal with armour of Gondolin and horse (Or Gilgalad on horse)
12 High elves (1 with banner and shield, 4 with elven bow, 1 with spear and shield, 6 with elven blades.
Rivendell knight captain with sheild and 5 knights with shields.
Low model count, elite force with the Rivendell knights giving you spead and hard hitting power, also should be cheap as the plastic high elf infantry is cheap on ebay.
Alternatively you could try a Numenor force as the plastics and heroes are cheap on ebay, or a pure high infantry force, say two warbands led by elrond and erestor/captain/stormcaller

I advocate boromir with shield in heavy armor along side a mounted gandalf the white on shadowfax. Thats it. 2 models, now go reek havoc!

Recently i've began considering creating a full Ringwraiths army (aswell as the Isengard army). This is to get back to the core of a very low model count army, as such i drafted the extremely basic following list:

4x Ringwraiths w/ 2/14/2 and horses

= 500pts

Probably would lose every game with them but it would be fun and extremely convenient to carry around. Also there is potential to add black numenoreans in exchange for some of the Nazgul's will points or if I create a larger point army. So would full Ringwraiths be competitive in any way?

I can guarantee that Nazgul army would never win. The only way a pure list of them can win is on fell beast

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Yup the thing that makes a nazgul so terrifying is the combination of 3 things, a monstrous mount (flying, knocking cav, and infantry prone, extra attacks), the Brutal power attacks and of course the devious sorcery

In other words, mobility, extra offensive and defensive power and a plethora of tactical options.
Those are the reasons a fell beast will always be worth those 5 horses.

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Ok thanks for the feedback, the Nazgul army was only a fleeting idea anyway. However I am still looking to build two armies so that my friends could play against me, as there's not a huge amount of people in the area which play, and no tournaments. As such I might build a Rohan army alongside the Isengard army, obviously this works really well theme wise and I like how Rohan's colour scheme stands out. To keep to the theme I'm planning on an all mounted force:

Warband 1:
Erkenbrand, Captain of Rohan
5x Son of Eorl
6x Westfold Redshields

Warband 2:
Captain of Rohan Mounted
12x Westfold Redshields + 4 throwing spears

500 pts.

Again this army is quite low model count, albeit i'll have to carry around the unmounted warriors as well. Also it should be fun to play, if not very effective.

Tactics wise the Sons of Eorl will charge first due to their higher movement and the red shields in the same warband will stay back to potentially charge if priority is lost (and heroic movement failed) the turn after. Of course all mounted armies will inevitably be hit and miss but if the dice are on your side I can see it as being devastating.