WW WW AAA RRRRR OOOOO FFFFFF
WW WW AA AA RR RR OO OO FF
WW WWW WW AAAAAAA RRRRR OO OO FFFF
WW WW WW WW AA AA RR RR OO OO FF
WWW WWW AA AA RR RR OOOOO FF
TTTTTTTT HH HH EEEEEE RRRRR IIIIII NNN NN GGGGG
TT HH HH EE RR RR II NNNN NN GG
TT HHHHHHH EEEE RRRRR II NN NN NN GG GGG
TT HH HH EE RR RR II NN NNNN GG GG
TT HH HH EEEEEE RR RR IIIIII NN NNN GGGGG
+++++++++++++++++++++++
[[0]] Table of Contents
+++++++++++++++++++++++
[[1]] Purpose of This FAQ
[[2]] General Notes on Campaign Missions
[[3]] Free Peoples of Middle-Earth
[[3.1]] Heroes
[[3.2]] Units
[[3.3]] Towers
[[3.4]] Upgrades
[[3.5]] Fate Powers
[[4]] Free Peoples Campaign
[[4.1]] Mission 1: The Grey Ledge (3018)
[[4.2]] Mission 2: The Siege of the Iron Hills (3018)
[[4.3]] Mission 3: The Bridge of Osgiliath (3018)
[[4.4]] Mission 4: The Pursuit of Gollum (3018)
[[4.5]] Mission 5: Orcs in Mirkwood (3018)
[[4.6]] Mission 6: Assault on Dol Guldur (3018)
[[4.7]] Mission 7: Lothlorien (3019)
[[4.8]] Mission 8: The Liberation of Upbourn (3019)
[[4.9]] Mission 9: Helm's Deep (3019)
[[4.10]] Mission 10: Minas Morgul (3019)
[[4.11]] Mission 11: The Pass of Cirith Gorgor (3019)
[[5]] Minions of Sauron
[[5.1]] Heroes
[[5.2]] Units
[[5.3]] Towers
[[5.4]] Upgrades
[[5.5]] Fate Powers
[[6]] Minions of Sauron Campaign
[[6.1]] Mission 1: The Mouths of Entwash (3018)
[[6.2]] Mission 2: The Beacons of Gondor (3018)
[[6.3]] Mission 3: Clearing the Way (1050)
[[6.4]] Mission 4: Darkness Returns (1050)
[[6.5]] Mission 5: Sweep of the Trollshaws (1999)
[[6.6]] Mission 6: Saruman's Uruk-Hai (3001)
[[6.7]] Mission 7: The Pass of Cirith Ungol (2000)
[[6.8]] Mission 8: A Hidden Plan (3018)
[[6.9]] Mission 9: The Morgul Road (2000)
[[6.10]] Mission 10: The Sacking of Minas Ithil (2002)
[[7]] Version History
[[8]] Acknowledgements
[[9]] Legal Stuff
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
[[1]] Purpose of This FAQ
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
This FAQ provides my approach to defeating the single player missions in War
of the Ring. I include general comments concerning each side, as well as
detailed walkthroughs of the two campaigns. These tactics are tailored to
work against the computer AI and are thus not guaranteed to work well against
human opponents.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
[[2]] General Notes on Campaign Missions
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Here I include some points that are equally valid for both campaigns.
1. There are certain facts about the AI that are handy to know:
- The computer does not build expansion bases. First of all, this means
that you don't need to race to take over expansion spots. If it's free at
the start, it'll remain so. Second, this means that it's quite possible to
starve the computer out in a realistic amount of time. The AI will send
raiding parties against you as long as it has resources. Once it runs out,
however, it'll just sit there. This strongly suggests a defensive strategy,
since I've found that the computer often runs out of resources just as I'm
ready with my army. I'll mention in the walkthroughs which bases tend to run
out and when.
- Computer units will always attack your units before your towers, as long
as they're close enough. In this game, the towers can dole out plenty of
damage, but they're relatively fragile. So it's a good idea to have one or
more units outside your towers either fighting or running around with the
enemy chasing, while your towers do some serious slaughtering. Otherwise,
your towers have a tendency to fall quite quickly in the later missions.
- Most of the time, enemy units will follow you forever once they've seen
you. This is a great way to clear out base defenders and lead them back to
your waiting towers. A few exceptions exist, mainly at bridge chokepoints
which are meant to be particularly hard to break through.
2. I have a general philosophy in this game: overkill. I like building to
the max population cap of 100, and I like having at least four or maybe five
workers on each resource. After all, why build a dozen Elven Archers when
you can build two dozen for twice the price?
3. If I know I'm going to use a Hero in more than one mission, then I make a
concerted effort to level him or her up to Level 10 in his or her first
mission. Since a Hero gains XP only for his or her own hits, this involves
some soloing, which I'll mention in the walkthroughs.
4. All the walkthroughs are given for Hard difficulty using Version 1.01.0011
of the game.
5. I often use N, S, W and E for North (up on the minimap), South (down),
West (left) and East (right), respectively. I also use NW, NE, SW and SE.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
[[3]] Free Peoples of Middle-Earth
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
--------------
[[3.1]] Heroes
--------------
The main thing I like to remember about Heroes is that, by the time they
reach Level 10, they have very high hit points, armor and damage. Even
without their abilities, they're machines of destruction, and I use them as
my tanks in all the missions for the Free Peoples. But let's look at their
abilities.
The Heroes of the Free Peoples are awesome, and unlike in the Evil Campaign,
you'll get plenty of opportunity to use multiple good Heroes simultaneously.
Here's a quick run-down of my thoughts on each:
- Gimli has three great abilities, which is rare. Use Capture to begin
each base attack; use Sunder constantly, as soon as it recharges; and know
that, in the background, Siege Aura is letting you crush bases just that much
more quickly.
- Legolas has one great ability: Elven Speed. With its large area of
effect, you can simultaneously speed up your Heroes (who are already doing
tons of damage) and a legion of Elven Archers; then just watch the slaughter
begin.
- Aragorn is simple to control, since his two passive abilities, Anduril's
Fury (higher damage) and Immunity (to ailments) are working in the
background. So basically, use him to heal (Kingsfoil) your other Heroes and
himself while he's hacking the enemy to shreds.
- Of Gandalf's four abilities, Flash is the only one I use consistently.
I just have him stun enemies in a wide radius and then move on to
micromanaging something else. (Please don't flame me concerning this point.
If you love one or more of his other abilities, just e-mail me to let me know
how you use them in the campaign.)
- Boromir and Faramir don't have particularly impressive abilities.
Boromir's Horn of Gondor ability makes it a bit easier to level them (while
the enemy is on the ground, Faramir is still firing), but otherwise I just
use them as powerful fighters.
- I don't use the hobbits at all (in the one mission where they're
available). I just put them in a tower and forget about them. The other
Heroes are plenty powerful without Frodo, and I don't want to have to worry
about keeping him alive.
- In the last two missions, you get Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas and Gandalf,
and they're freakin' amazing together. Activate Legolas' Elven Speed as
often as possible; alternate between Gandalf's Flash and Gimli's Sunder to
keep the toughest enemies out of the battle; and, just in case your enemy
actually starts damaging your Heroes, you have Aragorn's Kingsfoil for
healing.
-------------
[[3.2]] Units
-------------
The early missions limit your choices concerning units, but once the full
selection is available, my choice is quite simple: 2-4 Rangers for detection,
backed by a legion and a half of Elven Archers. The only drawback of Elven
Archers is that they can't stand up too well in melee, but there's a simple
answer to that: Heroes with Heroic Legacy. Who needs Troll Bonecleavers when
we have Gimli, son of Gloin? Put a tank or two in front of your Archers
while they rain death upon the enemy. Just make sure you can see their
Haradrim Slayers or your Heroes will have a really bad day.
The other benefit of Elven Archers is that they're excellent for base
defense. There's no reason to fill your Ballista Towers with Gondor
Swordsmen when you can use those population slots on Elven Archers that'll
stand just behind your towers. So while you're building your offense, you're
simultaneously strengthening your defense. Sweet!
--------------
[[3.3]] Towers
--------------
The Free Peoples have one advantage and one disadvantage when it comes to
Towers. The advantage is that Ballistae are way better than the Evil side's
Poison Arrows. The disadvantage is that the Free Peoples have no units that
take 0 or 1 population slots, so it's expensive to try to fill a Tower. As a
result, my policy is to build three Ballista Towers at any entrance I'd like
to protect, put a single Ranger in the middle one (for detection), and then
start building Elven Archers to back up the Towers instead of filling them.
Unfortunately, the Ballista upgrade is quite expensive (150 food, 150 ore per
Tower), but if you're trying to build a solid defense, it's quite worth it.
Since Elven Archers are so expensive, you're better off being very selective
about which upgrades to buy. Assuming you have access to every unit,
building and upgrade, this is my strategy:
- At the Forge: Unless you're really pressed for resources for some
reason, I'd get Dwarf Masonry (extra HP to buildings) and Lookout Tower
(extra line of sight to towers). These two are conducive to my defensive
strategies.
- At the Wilderness Outpost: Get everything! How cool is it that Rangers
and Elven Archers, the only two units I use, are both upgraded together?
- At the House of Lore: Don't even build it. I don't like Beornings,
Huorns or Elven Lightbearers, so I don't build a Nature's Haven nor a House
of Lore.
I'll list here the Free Peoples' Fate Powers in order of usefulness (when
using my tactics):
- Heroic Legacy: I love this Fate Power! It turns a Level 10 Hero into an
absolute powerhouse, and if you're still trying to reach Level 10, this will
make it so much easier. The drawback is that you can no longer resurrect
your Hero at the Stronghold, but this is not a problem for two reasons.
First, in any mission in which you're not allowed to let your Hero die, of
which there are four, this ability has no drawback. Second, in addition to a
massive damage increase, you get an increase in both armor and hit points.
That makes it much easier to keep a Hero alive. In fact, I'd go so far as to
say that it would take 10,000 Uruk-Hai to even test your Heroes once they've
had this cast on them. I use Heroic Legacy on each Hero in each mission,
except for the Hobbits in Lothlorien and Erkenbrand in Liberation of Upbourn
(since it's more important to buy Gandalf's abilities in that mission).
- Summon Giant Ent: This is the only other Fate Power for the Free Peoples
that I use consistently. Basically, once each of my Heroes has Heroic Legacy
and every ability, I just cast this each time I have 7 Fate Points (and I'm
near an enemy base).
- Blind: (Duration: 10 seconds) This is actually a pretty nice Fate Power
and cheap at only 2 Fate Points, but I just find that I don't need it much.
I'd rather micromanage my Heroes.
- Brambles (Duration: 30 seconds): Admittedly, Brambles lasts 3 times as
long as Blind, but I still prefer to get my units into heavy melee and then
to cast Blind. A group of Heroes will do far more damage than Brambles, so I
don't use this Fate Power.
- Blessed Wind (Duration: 20 seconds: The addition of Knockback to all
ranged attacks seems like it would be really useful, but I've never had a
need for this. Elven Archers slaughter guys just fine even without this.
----------------------------------------
[[4.1]] Mission 1: The Grey Ledge (3018)
----------------------------------------
Units Available: Worker
Dwarf Shieldbreaker
Dwarf Axethrower
Heroes Available: Gimli
Places of Power: Ancient Fountain (regeneration bonus;
middle of the W edge of the map)
Expansions: None
Objectives:
1. Build a base
2. Destroy the Orcs
3. Kill the Orc Captain
4. (Optional) Push boulders onto Orcs
>>> Initial Notes <<<
In addition to the above objectives, we also have the goal of getting Gimli
up to Level 10, which will take the bulk of the mission. So let's get to it.
The Orcs won't be attacking your base in this level, so forget about defense.
>>> Fate Points <<<
First two: Sunder for Gimli
Next three: Heroic Legacy on Gimli
>>> Initial Setup <<<
Put up a Mill and Foundry and get 5 Workers on each resource (they're a bit
far from your Stronghold in this mission). Build one additional worker to do
the rest of the construction (for a total of 11 Workers).
While your Workers are building, you have some time. Send your forces
(Gimli, 2 Shieldbreakers, 3 Axethrowers) to the east to take out 3 Spearmen
and a Bowman. The SE quadrant of the map is full of Orcs, but you can
generally draw them out one or two at a time. While you're building your
base and your army (which will take some time), solo Gimli in the SE
quadrant. He's weak now, so never take on more than one Slasher or two of
any other type of unit, and remember to heal between fights. It'll be slow
going, but you have to wait for your army anyway, so you may as well get some
XP for Gimli.
>>> Building Up <<<
Back at your base, upgrade your Stronghold and build a Dwarf Hall, Tower and
Forge to complete Objective 1. Get the Forge upgrades and build Camps to get
your population cap up to 100. (Did I mention overkill earlier?) Train an
army of half Shieldbreakers and half Axethrowers, and rally them to the base
of the hill to the E. I'd suggest alternating between the two types in your
build order so you always have a mixed army ready to go.
As you're building, keep soloing with Gimli. When you find the two boulders
at the north end of the SE quadrant, push each one in turn (by right-clicking
on it while Gimli is selected) to squash some Orcs. Buy Sunder with your
first two Fate Points to make the soloing a bit easier. By the time he
finishes with the SE quadrant, Gimli should be Level 5 and have Sunder.
>>> Middle of the Mission <<<
By now, you should probably have at least 10 of each type of unit in your
army, so take Gimli back, pick up his army, and head N to take out a few
scattered Orcs in the forested area next to the water. Pull back weakened
guys quickly. They don't have good armor, and there's no reason to lose
units. Keep building units back at your base until you've reached 100
population. (It'll be quite a gathering of beards by the end.)
To the NW, there's a small camp with a tower. On the cliff above the camp
are three Bowmen who rain down arrows on you. So leave your army by the
water (out of reach of the Bowmen). Send Gimli NW, charge into the center of
the camp, and then fall back to your army with all the Orcs obediently
following Gimli to the slaughter.
With the defenders beaten, leave behind anyone who's been severely weakened
and charge NW to take out that Tower, War Post and Orc Mound. This also
gives you the Ancient Fountain. Pull back your army to get out of range of
the Bowmen. By now, you should have collected another 3 Fate Points, so cast
Heroic Legacy on Gimli. With both Heroic Legacy and the Ancient Fountain,
Gimli can take on most of the map by himself.
Now send Gimli N alone to clear out the NW quadrant. Don't forget to check
the south end of the cliff to take out those three cheap shot Bowmen. Push 3
more boulders off that cliff to finish Objective 4. When he's done in the
NW, Gimli should be nearly at Level 10. Send him back to the forested area
near the water, where your entire army (up to population 100) should now be
gathered.
>>> Endgame <<<
To the NE (across the water) is another small Orc camp. You could send Gimli
alone until he levels up (he can easily take out the camp by himself), or you
could just send your whole bearded legion, since Gimli will probably level up
at this point anyway. Erase this Orc presence from the map.
The final (and bigger) Orc camp is in the middle of the E edge of the map.
So head SE from your current position and clear out the Orcs in this open
area, but DON'T approach the camp. Leave your army to the W of the camp.
Send Gimli to the N end of the camp (where you'll see a tower), and draw out
the defenders back to your army. It should be a slaughter. (By the way,
Gimli's really tough now, so don't be afraid to charge far in to grab all the
defenders in the N section: he really won't get too bruised.)
Next, head to the S end of the camp (avoiding the tower) and notice the lone
Orc Slasher near the Fortress of Mordor. That's actually an Orc Captain who
has 1187 hit points, 3 armor and does 25 damage per hit. Draw him to your
army using Gimli. Once he's within range of your Axethrowers, use Sunder.
He'll fall in no time, awarding you with the completion of Objective 3.
All that's left now is a Tower, some Goblin Slavemasters and a bunch of
defenseless buildings. So just charge in, leading with Gimli, and wipe out
the entire base to complete Objective 2.
-----------------------------------------------------
[[4.2]] Mission 2: The Siege of the Iron Hills (3018)
-----------------------------------------------------
Units Available: Worker
Dwarf Shieldbreaker
Dwarf Axethrower
Heroes Available: Gimli
Places of Power: None
Expansions: None (but there's an enemy base that can be taken at the
middle of the W edge of the map)
Objectives:
1. Gimli must survive
2. Destroy the Goblin expansion and build a base
3. Find the Ancient Catapult and complete it (and defend it)
4. Destroy the remaining Orcs
>>> Initial Notes <<<
The primary Orc base is in the NE corner. In case you were thinking about
taking it out using conventional means: forget about it! The only entrance
is a narrow choke point with 4 Towers and masses of units, and they both get
replaced quite quickly (yes, they rebuild the Towers on this level). So
let's focus on the Objectives.
You start with Gimli, 6 Axethrowers and 2 Camps. You need to take out the
Goblins to the NE of you in order to start a base. Since Gimli now has
Capture (and since you were careful to get him to Level 10 during the last
mission), we'll be capturing both Towers in the enemy base.
>>> Fate Points <<<
First three: Heroic Legacy on Gimli
>>> Initial Setup <<<
Send Gimli NE alone and Capture the southern Tower. Immediately pop him out
and defeat the Orcs (use Sunder when possible). The second Tower can reach
your first Tower, so you need to keep Gimli there to soak up the damage while
Capture recharges. He'll take quite a bit of damage, but he's tough. When
Capture recharges, take the second Tower, pop him out of it, defeat the Orcs
and bring in your Axethrowers to finish off the base. Congrats. You now
have 2 Towers already in place.
Put 3 Axethrowers in each Tower, and put Gimli between them to repel the 2
Warg Riders that will be coming very soon. (Remember to use Sunder whenever
possible in combat.) Put your four new Workers to building a Stronghold.
Build a Mill and Foundry, set 5 Workers on each (only 4 are needed, but you
need the extras for the Catapult repair anyway), and train one more Worker
for construction. Later in the level, one more Worker will stroll into your
base, so you'll have a total of 12 to work on the Catapult, which is a good
number.
>>> Building Up <<<
When all the Workers are trained, upgrade your Stronghold. Have your
construction worker build a Dwarf Hall and place a Tower between and a bit
behind the other 2. Build 6 more Axethrowers to completely fill the 3
Towers, and have your Worker build a Camp (to have enough Support for the
Axethrowers) and a Forge.
Your base is now safe. Occasional raids will occur from now on consisting of
3 Slashers each, but your 3 Towers can handle them even without Gimli. Build
a Forge, get all the upgrades and continue building Camps up to 100 Support.
When you run out of room in your base, start placing them at the S edge of
the map with the 2 that are already there. The Orcs don't go there, but be
careful not to go too far W or you may discover the Catapult before you're
ready. When resources permit, start building your army: an even mix of
Shieldbreakers and Axethrowers until you can't build anymore sounds good.
>>> Middle of the Mission <<<
Doing everything in that last paragraph will take a while, so meanwhile...
As soon as your Towers are full, send Gimli straight to the NW corner of the
map to get the Beorning up there. He's just S of the corner. You can either
take him as a healer or Esc out of the cinematic to keep him as a Bear: your
choice. Either way, send him back to your base for now.
At some point, a Worker will come to your base to tell you about an Orc base
in the W middle of the map. Whether or not he's done this, let's take out
the Orc base now. There are 2 Towers and a few units. Take Gimli straight S
(from the NW corner) and Capture the northern Tower, immediately pop him out
and run him back to your base. They'll follow you after knocking down the
Tower.
Back at your base, make a stand with Gimli with support from the Towers. You
can bring in whatever other fighting units you have to help out once
everyone's focused on Gimli, but with Sunder in constant use, Gimli will be
fine. Sometime around now, you should earn your third Fate Point, so go
ahead and cast Heroic Legacy on Gimli (since he's not allowed to die anyway).
Now he's officially ridiculously powerful.
Now you've gotten rid of one Tower and virtually every unit in the Orc base.
So send Gimli back there (letting him heal a bit if he needs it, possibly
with the help of the Beorning) and Capture the second Tower. Now just finish
off the few buildings and units left. Demolish your Tower, since it's not
worth the trouble of defending. Alternatively, you could have taken this
base with a standard attack of Gimli backed by an army, but I prefer the
method I've described, since you have plenty of time while you're building an
army.
>>> Endgame <<<
Once you have a full army and full upgrades, take every unit (Workers
included) to the SW corner of the map. Your Towers can handle any further
attacks on your base, and you don't need any more resources. You'll find the
Big Freakin' Catapult(TM) here, so it's time to repair it and defend it.
Put all 12 Workers on repairing the Catapult, and be ready for the fact that
it takes a long time. The enemy will start sending progressively larger
raiding parties, each consisting of a mix of units, including Warg Riders.
All raiding parties will come from directly N of the base of the hill that
the Big Freakin' Catapult(TM) is on. So place your units at the base of this
hill, with Gimli a bit N of them. Now just fight off the raiding parties
(remember to use Sunder), and wait for your Workers to finish.
Once they're finally done, you'll get to see what the Big Freakin'
Catapult(TM) can do, and holy crap! It's pretty sweet. The enemy base will
now be revealed to you, and all it takes is 2 Big Freakin' Catapult(TM) shots
to take it out. So fire away, enjoy the show, and complete the mission.
-------------------------------------------------
[[4.3]] Mission 3: The Bridge of Osgiliath (3018)
-------------------------------------------------
Units Available: Worker
Gondor Swordsman
Rider of Rohan
Ranger
Heroes Available: Boromir
Faramir
Places of Power: Ancient Fountain (regeneration bonus;
middle of the N edge of the map)
Expansions: NE of first bridge (just W of the middle of the map)
Objectives:
1. Prevent Sauron's forces from taking over Osgiliath
2. Boromir must survive
3. Destroy any barricades in your way
4. (Optional) Rescue Rohan Archers in Osgiliath
5. Use Workers to destroy the supports of the bridge
>>> Initial Notes <<<
Let me begin by saying that I hate this level. Osgiliath proper is a maze of
one- and two-story ruins, in which it is not always clear which paths are
blocked. You're not able to build archers, so basically your Riders of Rohan
are moving through this deceptive maze while being fired upon by Orc Bowmen
(often with ridiculous range), and it's not always clear how to reach the
Bowmen, even after you've knocked down the barricades.
So a heavy cavalry charge into the city will simply lead to a war of
attrition, which is why I prefer a Hero-based approach. Two Level 10 Heroes
with Heroic Legacy are powerful enough to take out all the Orcs, and the
Ancient Fountain only makes things easier on them. But let's get down to
details.
>>> Fate Points <<<
First three: Heroic Legacy on Boromir
Next three: Heroic Legacy on Faramir
Next two: Trueshot for Faramir
>>> Initial Setup <<<
When you begin, Boromir gives an inspiring speech in a cinematic and then
greets his brother, Faramir (probably to make it clear that you have a second
Hero to command). A few Orcs will attack very soon, so send Boromir to be
the southernmost of your units (so he'll be the first target), and once the
enemy attacks, send everyone down to attack. Pull back weakened units, and
try not to lose anyone here. There's no need.
For now, the Orcs can't reach you, and later you'll find a nice choke point
to guard, so there's no need for defenses at your base. Put 4 Workers on
each resource (after building a Mill and Foundry), and train one more for
construction.
>>> Building Up <<<
Upgrade to a Level 2 Stronghold, then build a Barracks, Forge and Wilderness
Outpost and continue building Camps up to population 100. You need exactly
one Ranger in this mission, so as long as you didn't lose all your Rangers in
the opening melee, you don't need a Ranger Post.
While all this is being built, go S with your Heroes and Rohan Archers.
Break through the barricade to reach the SW corner. Now send Faramir E, and
break down the barricade from outside the range of the Bowmen (they can do
quite a bit of damage to your low-level Heroes). Fight through to the bridge
with your Heroes and Archers.
After the Orcs there are dead and you've fought off one raiding party of 3
Slashers, the Orcs will start sending frequent raiding parties consisting of
a Slasher and a Spearman. These weak raiding parties are perfect for
leveling your Heroes. So put Boromir and Faramir in the middle of the
bridge, and leave the Archers at the W end, out of range, so they don't steal
XP from your Heroes. This is the only entry point to your base, so your
defenses are up.
>>> Middle of the Mission <<<
At this point, I have my Swordsmen perform ritual suicide (highlight them and
hit Alt-X), since I'm not going to use them. When resources permit, upgrade
to Stronghold Level 3, get the armor and damage upgrades at both the Forge
and the Wilderness Outpost, and get Concealment for your Rangers (and Eagle
Eye if you feel like it). Meanwhile, build up to max population consisting
of Riders of Rohan, remembering to have at least one or two Rangers. This
will take a while, so keep training while you're doing the next part.
Fate Points will be accruing from your battles on the bridge, so when you get
3, be sure to cast Heroic Legacy on Boromir. When you get another 3,
remember to do the same for Faramir. When your Heroes are near full health,
send Faramir across the bridge, then straight N. Destroy the barricade to
the N and draw any Orc units in the area back to the bridge. If there are
too many at once, bring up your Archers to help.
If your Heroes got banged up, heal for a bit (still collecting XP on the
bridge). Once they are again near full health, put your 4 Archers in the
middle of the bridge to handle enemy raids. The Orcs seem to send their
raids against Boromir, not against your base; but leave the Archers just in
case.
Send the Heroes across the bridge and straight N to the top of the map. Kill
anything along the way, but don't let your Heroes get too hurt. When you
reach the top, head E a bit and kill all the defenders around the Ancient
Fountain. There's a Troll Stonehurler, but otherwise they're not too tough.
Focus on the Troll first. Once you've got the Ancient Fountain, you're in
the clear. By now, you may have cast your second Heroic Legacy as well, so
your Heroes can finish by themselves.
Before you leave the Ancient Fountain, send a Ranger up there (avoiding
enemies on the way), and have him Conceal himself by the Fountain. They
can't detect him, so the Fountain is now yours for the rest of the mission.
Head back to the bridge and heal up. It's now time to rescue the Archers in
the Optional Objective. Destroy the first line of barricades to the E of the
bridge you're on. There are two at the S edge of the map and one a bit
further N. The next part is easier if they're gone. Also, around now, you
should be able to spend 2 Fate Points to get Trueshot for Faramir (if you
want).
When healed, head your Heroes E along the S border of the map, killing
enemies along the way. When your 3 Rohan Archers appear, charge your Heroes
in and run your Archers back to the bridge. Your Heroes are tough enough to
take it, while your archers aren't. When you're adequately healed, head N
from the location of those first Archers to find 4 more. Again, charge in
your Heroes and run the Archers out. You've now completed the Optional
Objective and hopefully have 11 Archers on your bridge.
Note: Near these last 4 Archers, there's an Orc that looks like an Uruk-Hai,
but in fact, he's a very tough Orc Captain. He'll run from you when he's
heavily damaged, so you'll face him again in the encampment to the E.
>>> Endgame <<<
Now take your Heroes (and only your Heroes) to the W, then N, then E, back to
the Ancient Fountain. I prefer to attack from the N. Attack the Orc base to
the SE. Use Boromir to pull out defenders to be slaughtered, and destroy
buildings when possible (particularly the one Tower in the N). The weak
raids will continue against Boromir, but they'll barely scratch him at this
point, so focus on destroying the buildings.
Destroy the Orc base, but be careful not to walk on the bridge to the E.
That starts a cutscene we don't want yet. After the base (and that annoying
Orc Captain) have been destroyed, head S and destroy the 1 or 2 barricades
left, but don't look for fights (since the Orcs in the city get replenished).
Let's go ahead and finish the mission.
Bring 6 or so Workers to the SW corner with your massive army of Riders of
Rohan. Step on the eastern bridge with your Heroes to start the cutscene and
learn about Trolls that can withstand daylight. Your goal now is to destroy
the bridge supports with your Workers. This involves attacking each of the
four supports with a Worker and letting him do his thing.
I recommend leaving Boromir and Faramir on the second bridge and summoning a
Giant Ent as well (you should have enough Fate Points by now). This is
plenty to hold off the enemy. Meanwhile, run your Workers to the second
bridge through Orc-infested Osgiliath, using your battalion of Riders to
protect them if necessary.
When your Workers have made it, forget about everything else and set them on
the supports. Technically, you only need one Worker, but it's faster if you
do the supports simultaneously. When all 4 are weakened, Boromir calls for
retreat, and the bridge collapses under the weight of 4 Trolls. Yay.
-----------------------------------------------
[[4.4]] Mission 4: The Pursuit of Gollum (3018)
-----------------------------------------------
Units Available: Elven Archer, Ranger
Heroes Available: Legolas
Places of Power: Elven Shrine (bonus to max health;
just SW of the center of the map)
Expansions: None
Objectives:
1. Find and capture Gollum
2. Legolas must survive
3. (Optional) Rescue the spiders' captives!
4. Kill the 3 Orc Slashers
>>> Initial Notes <<<
It's time to level another Hero: Legolas. The pathways in this mission
aren't at all clear. It may look like you should be able to walk somewhere,
but you find that you can't. So try to focus on your cursor. If it's a
hand, it's a legal space to be; if it's a red circle with a slash through it,
you can't go there. This is the easiest way to find paths. I won't be
giving specific directions, just pointing out items of interest. So be sure
to explore.
Your main enemies are unupgraded Giant Spiders (so no Paralyze). So just
explore everywhere, soloing with Legolas in order to maximize his XP, and
don't use Trueshot unless you're facing more than one Spider, since it wastes
XP that could have gone to Legolas. Giant Spiders do so little damage that
you'll barely need to heal at all, as long as you're careful to take them on
one at a time. The easiest way to do this is to attack-move, since Legolas
will see the Spiders before you do. Also, take Heroic Legacy with your first
3 Fate Points, and your healing needs will be gone.
If you want to explore everywhere, then it's better to go to the dead ends
first. When you're at a fork in the road, select Legolas and right-click on
the far W of the mini-map. This will start him walking along the correct
path to the end, so just explore the other path first.
>>> Fate Points <<<
First three: Heroic Legacy on Legolas
>>> Initial Setup <<<
None
>>> Building Up <<<
None
>>> Middle of the Mission <<<
At one point, a southern path will take you to a Spider nest where three
Rangers are held in Spider webs. Though it sounds like they're taking
damage, they're not, so you have all the time in the world. Attack each of
the eggs in the area to release a Spider, then kill it. Be sure to clear out
the area completely before releasing the Rangers.
When you've destroyed all the eggs except the two behind the Rangers, bring
in all your forces next to the Rangers. Select Legolas and right-click on a
Ranger to release all three. After some discussion, the two remaining eggs
hatch, releasing two Spiders that attack you, and it's better to have all
your troops there to take them down quickly.
If you've been soloing up until now, Legolas should be Level 9 at this point,
so that's enough soloing. Continue exploring with all your units, but take
care of your Rangers. They're not good tanks at all. You'll face some more
Spiders, some Wraiths and one Spider den which releases a steady stream of
Spiders until you destroy the den itself. Just attack it to end the threat.
Along another southern path, you'll find an Elven Shrine, so clear out its
arachnid defenders for a hit point boost.
>>> Endgame <<<
Eventually, near the W edge of the map, you'll reach a cutscene where Legolas
discovers an Orc base. Three Orc Slashers come out to attack, and Gollum
uses the diversion to escape. The Slashers are quite capable of killing your
Rangers, so I'd suggest using Blind on them immediately. Kill all three to
finish the mission (even though we didn't actually complete Objective 1;
bummer).
------------------------------------------
[[4.5]] Mission 5: Orcs in Mirkwood (3018)
------------------------------------------
Units Available: Worker
Ranger
Elven Archer
Heroes Available: Legolas
Places of Power: Elven Shrine (bonus to max health; E of starting base)
Elven Shrine (bonus to max health; NW corner of map)
Expansions: None
Objectives:
1. Build a base
2. Destroy the Orc Encampment
>>> Initial Notes <<<
Most attacks against your base will come from the N, although Orc Bowmen will
occasionally attack from the cliff SE of your base until you can cut off
their route. The enemy has plenty of Wraiths, but Elven Archers are great
(especially in large numbers), and don't be afraid to use Legolas as a tank
against the weak units you'll be facing in this mission. So the goal is to
defend until you've built to max with Archers and then charge across the map
wiping out the enemy along the way, whether or not he can detect your
Archers.
>>> Fate Points <<<
First three: Heroic Legacy on Legolas
>>> Initial Setup <<<
Get 4 Workers on each resource, plus 2 more for construction. Let's take
care of defenses first. Put up a Tower by the cliff at the S end of your
base, and fill it completely. I use a Ranger and 3 Wardens, since I don't
really use them otherwise. Orc Bowmen will attack from that cliff quite
often, and it'll be a while before you can cut them off. So just fill up
this Tower, and repair it occasionally. Put Two Towers at the N end of your
base, but don't bother filling them. You won't really need them, since your
defense will consist of Elven Archers, but it's nice to have them there just
in case.
>>> Building Up <<<
With defenses in place and resources being gathered, build an Elven
Sanctuary, a Wilderness Outpost and Camps up to 100 population. You don't
need Rangers at all, so forget the Ranger Post (unless you want to fill your
Towers with them). As resources permit, get all upgrades for the Elven
Archer (get Eagle Fletching, then Elven Cloaks, then Mystic Blades, then Hard
Leather) and train Archers up to the population cap. Rally them to your
northern Towers for help in defense.
>>> Middle of the Mission <<<
When you have 6 or more Archers by your northern Towers, send Legolas to
explore the SE area of the map. You have to go N, then E to get there. Take
the Elven Shrine in this area, but don't defend it. The Orcs don't find it.
Also, cast Heroic Legacy on Legolas once you have 3 Fate Points. Once you're
done exploring this area, head Legolas back to your base.
By now, you should have 10 or more Archers with at least Eagle Fletching and
Elven Cloaks. Head N to take out the small Orc base. Use Legolas to draw
out some defenders first, then take out the Towers, then the rest of the
base. Focus on Wraiths first to protect your Archers, and don't be afraid to
use Legolas to soak up some damage. With Heroic Legacy and an Elven Shrine,
these low level Orcs can't do much to him.
Set up your Archers at the S end of the base, and rally further troop
production to there. This is the choke point where you'll be holding off
enemy raiding parties (which will now get much larger). Whenever a battle
starts here, micromanage your troops. Kill Wraiths first, and pull back
wounded Archers to let them heal. If you've been producing constantly, then
you should have plenty of Archers by now. By the way, Orc Bowmen can no
longer reach the cliff behind your base, so no more worries there.
Meanwhile, send Legolas alone to the NW of your position. There are 4
trapped Elf Wardens. Get their defenders to follow Legolas back to your
massed Archers, and voila, you have 4 more Wardens. These Wardens are using
some of your Support resources, so feel free to enact some ritual suicide if
you don't want them.
Next, send Legolas straight N to the very top of the map, then W, where
you'll find 5 more Wardens and get another Elven Shrine once you've killed
all enemies here. Do what you will with the Wardens, but don't bother
defending the Shrine. The Orcs can't find this one either.
>>> Endgame <<<
Now explore near the enemy base with Legolas, and find both Towers (he'll
take some damage, but that's fine). It's time for the final assault. Leave
about 6 Archers back at your base for defense (or maybe just your Wardens),
and take the bulk of your Archers to Legolas S of the enemy base.
This assault is pretty straightforward. Have Legolas in front as your tank.
Take out Towers and Wraiths first. Remember that you have Blind available if
you need it. And finally, if you start the assault with 7 Fate Points, just
summon a Giant Ent. When the enemy base is rubble, the mission is over.
-----------------------------------------------
[[4.6]] Mission 6: Assault on Dol Guldur (3018)
-----------------------------------------------
Places of Power: Elven Shrine (bonus to max health; E of starting base)
Elven Shrine (bonus to max health; far W of starting base)
Expansions: None
Objectives:
1. Banish the Nazgul atop Dol Guldur
2. Defend your encampment
>>> Initial Notes <<<
I'm really confused about this mission. I've played it through multiple
times with version 1.01.0011 of the game (which I believe to be the most
recent version), and I've never been attacked from the SW, as the Ranger in
the intro cutscene implies will happen. I get only the massive raiding
parties from the E. So I'll give a walkthrough for my version of the game,
and I'll include some notes as to how to modify it if you get attacked from
the SW.
We'll be facing Troll Bonecleavers and cloaked Haradrim Slayers in this
mission, so the enemies are significantly tougher than before, but on the
plus side, we finally get Ballista Towers, which are awesome. There are
three entrances to your base: to the W, S and SE. The enemy never comes from
the W, and you may or may not get attacked from the S, but expect massive
raiding parties from the SE.
>>> Fate Points <<<
First three: Heroic Legacy on Legolas
Next two: Elven Speed for Legolas
>>> Initial Setup <<<
Send Legolas to the SE entrance of your base, and have your four starting
Archers back him up (but remember to have Legolas soak up the damage). Put
one Ranger behind them for detection, and put the other one to the S of your
base, just in case. Get 4 Workers going on a Mill, 5 on a Foundry (you'll
have a perpetual shortage of Ore in this mission for some reason), and train
2 more for construction (you need to build defenses fast).
>>> Building Up <<<
Upgrade your Stronghold to Level 4, and have your Workers build 3 Towers at
the SE entrance of your base. It looks like the path heads SE from there,
but in fact, your enemies will come directly from the E, so line up your
Towers vertically rather than diagonally. Put Legolas slightly in front of
the Towers (to the E), and have your Archers just behind the Towers. Also,
put a Ranger in the middle Tower to detect cloaked Haradrim Slayers. This
should be effective at stopping the early raids.
If you're getting attacks from the SW, then put up 3 Towers there as well,
put a Ranger in the middle one, and upgrade all three to Ballista Towers when
you get the chance. Otherwise, put one Tower down there just in case, put a
Ranger in it, and don't bother upgrading it.
Once your Towers are up, you don't need 2 Workers for construction, so send
one of them to your Foundry. You should now have 6 Workers getting Ore (and
yet you'll still likely have much more Food than Ore). I find it far more
effective to use Population spaces on Elven Archers to back up the Towers
than on Rangers to go inside the Towers, so build an Elven Sanctuary so you
can start producing Archers. After that, build a Ranger Post and a
Wilderness Outpost when you get the chance.
At this point, there are a few things you need to do, but they all require
resources, so they'll take a while:
- Upgrade all three of your SE Towers to Ballista Towers, plus your W
one(s) too if you're getting attacks from there. (Legolas and your 4
starting Archers can handle a lot, but things will get uglier soon, and the
Ballista Towers are worth the expense.)
- Wilderness Outpost: Get upgrades in this order: Eagle Eye, Eagle
Fletching, damage upgrades, Elven Cloaks, and armor upgrades. Don't build
extra Archers yet.
As soon as you get 3 Fate Points, cast Heroic Legacy on Legolas. (I prefer
to get Heroic Legacy first, then Elven Speed, but the other way works too.)
With Heroic Legacy, 3 Ballista Towers and 4 Archers, your defense will hold
against most of the raids in this mission.
Your defenses are good for the moment, so when resources allow, build Camps
up to 100 Population. Also, train 4 more Archers for your SE defense, and
train 2 more Rangers, but keep them back for now. With 8 Archers defending
the SE, you can pull back Legolas to explore the rest of the map, but keep
training Archers up to the max. If you feel unsafe with only 8 Archers, then
wait until you've trained a few more before exploring.
>>> Middle of the Mission <<<
When you're happy with your defense, take Legolas and your 2 newly built
Rangers to the W. Kill the 4 cloaked Haradrim Slayers with Legolas and take
the Elven Shrine, but keep the Rangers Concealed and out of combat. The
Slayers are on patrol, but if you wait by the Shrine, they'll come to you.
The only other units to the S or W of your base are a Bonecleaver and
Stonehurler near the S edge of the map. Find them and kill them with Legolas
(taking out the Stonehurler first). They're pretty tough, but Trueshot (for
the extra damage) and Elven Speed (assuming you have it by now) really help
out.
Finish exploring S and W of your base if you'd like, but there's nothing else
there. Bring Legolas back to your base and, when there's no raiding party in
sight, send him E (alone), staying to the N end of the path. You'll soon run
into a second Elven Shrine, plus two Elven Lightbearers fighting some enemy
units. Finish off the enemies to take control of the Shrine. You can now
build Lightbearers at your base, but I don't like them, so I just have them
commit ritual suicide (Alt-X, if you've forgotten) to make more space for
Archers.
>>> Endgame <<<
By this point in my play-through, the enemy raids have stopped, which means
they're out of resources and sitting around, waiting to die. They still have
plenty of units in their base, though, so let's go take care of that.
Once you've built to capacity with Elven Archers, take Legolas, all your
Archers, and your 2 Rangers (who are not inside Towers) to the SE. Stop when
you see the corrupted soil of the enemy base, and leave your Archers a few
steps back. Run Legolas in and draw out all the defenders (if possible).
There are quite a few, but your legion of Archers will slaughter them without
any trouble. Just be sure to keep your Rangers out of combat.
Once the defenders are dead, there are only 2 Towers to worry about, deep
inside the base. So just charge your entire army in, and use Legolas as a
tank to soak up the Towers' arrows. Focus fire on the Towers when you get to
them, and pull back weakened units. There's no reason to lose any units here
(though you do have plenty of resources to replace them, if need be).
Once this base is wiped out, you won't be facing any more Haradrim Slayers,
so leave your Rangers behind. There's still Dol Guldur to deal with, though.
Dol Guldur is to the N of your position, and here's a drawing to give you a
vague idea of what it looks like:
11
22 R1111 22 1 = Top Platform
GG 22 R1111 22R GG 2 = Middle Platform
WW GG 22 R11 22R GG WW G = Ground
WW GG 2222222R GG WW W = Wall
*WW GGGGGGGGGGGG WW* R = Ramp
WWW GGGGGGGG WWW * = Spiders cross to here
WWWWWWWWWWWW
Gate
You approach from the S. There's a semicircular wall with troops on it
(ranged attackers). There's a single open gate as an entrance. Standing in
the gate is a Troll Elder. He's just a really tough Bonecleaver, but it's
still fun to slaughter a Troll Elder. There are further troops on the Middle
Platform (labeled with 2's), including one Stonehurler and at least one
Wraith. The Nazgul is alone on the Top Platform. You have to use the Ramps
to climb up. Finally, Giant Spiders are generated at two nests on the Middle
Platform. They then cross to the *'s on webs that you can't use. Finally,
they descend to the outside of the wall (on webs that you CAN use) and attack
you from the sides.
I've included the above description for thoroughness, but realistically, your
legion of upgraded Archers will have no problem with this. Just use attack-
move to keep heading N. Wipe out the Troll Elder and the defenders on the
Wall first, while taking out Spiders on your flanks. Attack-move should
handle all of this automatically.
Then charge in. I suggest charging all the way into the courtyard instead of
using attack-move and then attacking the Stonehurler with everyone. You'll
take some hits, but if you lead with Legolas, you won't have any casualties.
Now just attack-move to the Middle Platform, and your troops will
automatically use the Ramp and slaughter everything in their way.
Alternatively, you could summon a Giant Ent to lead off the attack and then
just charge in with everyone.
Once you've cleared the Middle Platform, you should see the Nazgul on the Top
Platform. Just attack him with everyone from there. He'll come down the
Ramp and maybe even get a couple of hits in, but your army will take him down
in no time, completing the mission.
Places of Power: Mallorn Tree (E) and Mallorn Tree (W) (attack bonus vs.
Orcs
and Elves; at the gold circles on the minimap)
Expansions: E of starting base
Objectives:
1. Take control of both Mallorn Trees
2. Defend the two Mallorn Trees for 3 minutes
3. (Optional) Find and aid the Huorn
>>> Initial Notes <<<
We get a whole bunch of Heroes this time. Aragorn is at Level 1, so we need
to be sure to level him to 10 in preparation for his next mission, Helm's
Deep. Attacks will come at the NW and E ends of your base, consisting of
Orcs (Spearmen, Slashers and Bowmen) and a few Wraiths. The attacks come
from offscreen, so there's no way to stop them. You'll be facing Trolls in
the Orc camps and near the end of the mission, but there are no Haradrim
Slayers at all, so forget about getting Rangers.
The Huorn will live indefinitely until you find it, so no rush there. Some
time into the mission, a massive horde of Orcs will attack, but it's quite
possible to finish the mission before that happens, so that's what this
walkthrough will be targeting. I'll mention at the end what you should do if
the massive attack seems imminent.
>>> Fate Points <<<
First two: Anduril's Fury for Aragorn
Next one: Immunity for Aragorn
Next three: Heroic Legacy on Aragorn
Next three: Heroic Legacy on Gimli
Next three: Heroic Legacy on Boromir
Next three: Heroic Legacy on Legolas
>>> Initial Setup <<<
The resources are far from your Stronghold on this mission, so put 5 Workers
on the Mill, 6 on the Foundry and 2 more for construction. We're working on
a time limit, so don't be stingy with Workers. Send all four hobbits into
the Tower to the E and forget about them. I don't bother bringing Frodo
along. The other Heroes are just fine without him. Put Aragorn just N of
your NW Tower, so he can solo against the Orcs that sometimes gather just
outside Tower's range. They're mainly Spearmen, and he has Kingsfoil to
heal, so don't let him die!
For the most part, the NW Orcs will run right by your Tower and head to the
area just N of your Stronghold, so put your 5 Wardens and Legolas there to
finish them. The E Orcs will run just past your E Tower to the area N of
your Forge, so leave Boromir and Gimli there. This setup will handle the
early attacks without the need for micromanagement.
>>> Building Up <<<
Build 2 more Towers in the E, just to the N of the existing Tower. The
second one is a bit difficult to fit in, so put it where you can. Then build
2 more Towers next to the one in the NW. Finally, build a Wilderness
Outpost, which is the only other non-Camp building needed, since you don't
need Rangers, and there's already an Elven Sanctuary. At this point, put one
of your construction Workers on the Mill, the other on the Foundry. We don't
need more Camps yet.
Upgrade one Ballista Tower at each entrance now, but since these upgrades are
so expensive, upgrade the other Towers later when you get the chance. Dwarf
Masonry and Lookout Tower would be nice, but we're on a budget, so skip them.
Get Elven Cloaks, then all the other Elven Archer upgrades (2 for damage, 2
for armor, plus Eagle Fletching). These are the only upgrades you need.
>>> Middle of the Mission <<<
Once you have one Ballista Tower at each entrance, it's time to save the
Huorn. Take Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and Boromir to the NW entrance to your
base, then a bit N, then E when possible, to the lower Gold Circle on the
minimap. On Hard difficulty, it's quite possible for the Huorn to die, but
you have an advantage: Kingsfoil works on the Huorn. So use a combination of
Elven Speed, Sunder and Horn of Gondor (which doesn't work on guys who have
been Sundered, so don't waste it), and use Kingsfoil to buy a little more
time.
When the Orcs are dead and the Huorn (hopefully) still alive, you get the
ability to build Huorns at the Nature's Haven. I don't like them, so it's
time for some ritual tree suicide. Meanwhile, continue getting upgrades, and
start building Elven Archers and Camps up to 100. You'll be short on Ore, so
just build as you get more.
Back by the dead Huorn, take you Heroes W, then N. There's an Orc base up
here consisting of a Tower, 2 Troll Bonecleavers and a bunch of Slashers,
Bowmen and Spearmen. It's not a pushover, so start by Capturing the Tower
with Gimli. Immediately pop him out and charge in with everyone. Use Elven
Speed and Sunder whenever they're available, and definitely use Kingsfoil to
heal guys in trouble, but remember that Aragorn is weaker than the others.
Also, don't let the Bonecleavers focus on one Hero. Spread out the pain.
After the battle, all four Heroes may be in the yellow, but that's fine.
Cast Heroic Legacy on your Heroes as soon as it's available (once you have
both Anduril's Fury and Immunity for Aragorn). It'll make future battles
much, much easier. The bridge N from here leads to the W Mallorn-tree.
Leave it for now. Leave your new Tower here, but don't defend it. If it
falls, it falls.
Heal your guys to full using Kingsfoil (it won't take long at all), then head
E from here. You'll run into a small Orc base with 2 Troll Bonecleavers, a
Tower and a few Orcs. Fortunately, the Bonecleavers are W of the rest, so
draw them out and kill them first. Sunder is great again, so you shouldn't
take much damage. Once they're down, Capture the Tower with Gimli, and wipe
out the rest of the base.
Now head back to your base. Your Towers at your base may have taken some
damage, so repair them if necessary, and you should have been upgrading and
building Camps and Elven Archers this whole time. And, if possible, you
should consider getting one more Ballista Tower at each entrance around this
point.
But on with the battle! Take your 4 Heroes E from your base, then NE to take
out the other large Orc base. This has the same layout as the first (one
Tower, 2 Bonecleavers and a bunch of Orcs), but at least 2 of your Heroes
should have Heroic Legacy by now, so this battle will be a breeze. The
static Orc presence on the map is now destroyed.
Take your Heroes N across the bridge to the right Gold Circle to take the
first Mallorn-tree. This will increase the severity of attacks against this
position as the Orcs try to retake it, but this simply makes it easier to
level up Aragorn. So put Aragorn a bit N of the tree, and leave the other
three at the tree. He has Heroic Legacy, so he should be fine, but you have
Kingsfoil if you need it.
>>> Endgame <<<
Once you've taken the E Mallorn-tree and you have at least 2 Ballista Towers
at each entrance, send your Elven Archers to the E Mallorn-Tree and put the
Elven Sanctuary's rally point there as well. This tree will be defended
exclusively by your Archers during the final rush. If your Archers come
under attack, kill any Wraiths nearby manually. Also, make sure your Archers
are close enough to the tree to hold it.
Once Aragorn is adequately leveled (at least Level 8, preferably Level 9),
send your Heroes back to the first Orc base you took out. This puts them
close to the W Mallorn-tree and in the path of the NW attacks on your base.
Have them Hold Position, otherwise they'll follow the Orcs all the way to
your base.
When your population is near max (above 90), send your Heroes to the W
Mallorn-tree. You must now hold both trees for 3 minutes. Also, if a
warning comes that the horde will be here soon, then send your Heroes to the
tree quickly if you think you have enough Elves in the E. I think there's
still time to finish before the horde comes.
With this setup, the 3 minutes aren't much of a problem. There's a final big
rush (including Trolls) in the last 30 seconds, but even that's not too
tough. Keep your screen focused on the Elves, since you can watch your
Heroes' progress from the bars under their images on the right side of the
screen. Activate Elven Speed and Sunder without actually going to look at
the Heroes, and use Kingsfoil when necessary as well. Meanwhile, the Elves
should be fine, but kill any Wraiths immediately. Finally, if a problem
arises on either side, summon a Giant Ent. You should have plenty of Fate
Points by now, and that'll end the problem immediately. After 3 minutes, the
Orcs start running away.
ALTERNATIVELY: If you don't want to race against the clock, you can do pretty
much everything I've said, but don't take the Mallorn-trees. Just hold at
your base, build up all six Ballista Towers and get as many Elven Archers as
you can. Put 2 Heroes at each base entrance (behind the Towers), as well as
half of your Archers. The horde will be coming through these two entrances,
and these defenses will slaughter them. Then take the Mallorn-trees in your
own good time.
---------------------------------------------------
[[4.8]] Mission 8: The Liberation of Upbourn (3019)
---------------------------------------------------
Units Available: All
Heroes Available: Gandalf
Erkenbrand
Places of Power: Steed of Rohan (movement bonus to mounted units;
far NE of starting base)
Statue of Eorl the Young (hit point bonus to Heroes;
N of starting base)
Expansions: E of starting base
Far NE of starting base
N of starting base
Objectives:
1. Purge the Orcs from Upbourn
2. Kill the Orc Captain guarding the Great Hall
3. Destroy the Orc base
4. Destroy the War Posts planted on the barrows S of Upbourn's gate
5. (Optional) Save the horses
>>> Initial Notes <<<
In this mission, you're going to get to see just how weak non-hero units
really are. Gandalf and Erkenbrand both start at Level 1, and they won't be
leveling that quickly, so they're not much use as tanks for most of the
mission. This means that you're going to have to mix it up with your Riders
of Rohan, and man, they die easily! Or maybe I'm just used to the four Level
10 Heroes with Heroic Legacy from the last mission.
Anyway, the attacks in this mission are intense. They attack early and often
at both the NW and NE entrances to your base. They hit hard with everything
but Trolls, including cloaked Haradrim Slayers. So the key will be a solid
defense. My strategy is to use the resources at the starting base for
defense and then to use the resources at an expansion base to build an
offense.
I've found that by the time I've built a defense, upgraded my Archers and
built to the population cap, the Orcs have one or maybe two attacks left
before they run out of resources. So basically, this mission is about
surviving a brutal series of attacks.
>>> Fate Points <<<
First two: Flash for Gandalf (defense becomes much easier with this)
Next three: Heroic Legacy on Gandalf
Next four: Flame Shield and Rain of Fire for Gandalf (in either order)
Forget about Erkenbrand: he's not important, but give him Heroic Legacy if
you
wish
>>> Initial Setup <<<
Put 4 Workers on each resource, with 2 more for construction. Put Gandalf
and 4 Riders of Rohan at the NW entrance, and put Erkenbrand and the other 4
Riders at the NE entrance. Don't let Gandalf die! You want to be able to
level him. If Erkenbrand gets "killed", he'll be taken prisoner to the main
Orc base at the far N, and you'll get an optional Objective to rescue him.
Manually control your defenders during each raid. Everyone's weak now, so
your guys fall easily. Use Erkenbrand's ability to give the Riders a damage
boost, and pull back damaged units quickly. Their hit points can go down
amazingly fast. Don't fret too much if you lose a Rider, but try not to lose
a Hero. And remember to use Flash once you get it. The attacks will be
stronger then, but Flash makes them much easier to handle.
>>> Building Up <<<
Start leveling up your Stronghold to Level 4 so you can have Ballista Towers.
Quickly build 3 Towers at the E entrance, then another 3 at the W entrance.
Your defenses are now halfway decent, but still weak. Next, build a Ranger
Post, then send one construction Worker to your Mill, the other to your
Foundry. You don't need any more buildings yet.
Train 2 Rangers, and garrison one in a Tower at each entrance. Cloaked
Haradrim Slayers will be coming soon. Now it's time to upgrade all 6 Towers
to Ballista Towers. They don't fire while they're upgrading, so upgrade only
one at each entrance at a time. Also, get your Stronghold up to Level 5 at
this point, and research Lookout Tower (which will let you see the Orcs
gathering outside your base), but Dwarf Masonry isn't really necessary (and
terribly expensive anyway). All this is very expensive, so keep
micromanaging against raids while this is going on.
Once your defenses are up to par, take a Worker from your Mill and build an
Elven Sanctuary, a Wilderness Outpost, and then Camps up to 100 population.
While you're building Camps, research Eagle Eye, then Elven Cloaks, Eagle
Fletching, damage and armor upgrades (for Elven Archers) and finally
Concealment. That will take quite a while, so in the meantime, start
training Elven Archers.
>>> Middle of the Mission <<<
Once you have Elven Cloaks, explore the area E and NE of your base with 2
Elven Archers, but don't pick any fights. You'll find an expansion site just
E of your base, which the Orcs for some reason are unable to find. Far to
the NE (just E of the Gold Circle on the minimap), you'll find the Steed of
Rohan, which the Orcs are also unable to find, so you don't need to defend it
once you've taken it.
Once you're done exploring that area (and only that area), it's time to
expand. Just after a major attack on your NE entrance, take a Worker or two
to the expansion site to the E, and build a Stronghold. The Orcs don't find
this site unless you lead them to it, so if you ever run into an Orc patrol,
run back to your main base, not this one. This also means that you don't
need any defenses at all at your expansion.
There's no time limit, so just bring your Workers from your old base when
it's mined out (or you can build new ones if you want). Be sure not to let
the Orcs see you move them. You should get Heroic Legacy for Gandalf
sometime around now.
>>> Endgame <<<
Once your expansion is up and running, train 4 more Rangers and Elven Archers
to max population (but don't kill your Riders yet). Also, finish upgrading
to full at the Wilderness Outpost. At this point, you can either wait until
the attacks die out, or you can do some pre-emptive killing.
Leave Gandalf, Erkenbrand and your Riders for defense, and take your Elves
and Rangers NE to the first Gold Circle. These are the barrows and they're
pretty poorly defended, particularly due to the lack of Wraiths. Kill
everything, but keep your Rangers out of combat (and preferably Concealed).
Also, remember that raiding parties which take this road might have Wraiths,
so be careful. Once this area is wiped out, you've completed Objective 4.
Now pull back to your base and use the Elves for defense. This will make
your defenses impenetrable. At this point, I suggest a mass Rider Ritual
Suicide, and then build Elves up to capacity with the newly available
population slots.
Now it's time to level Gandalf. Take him N from the NW entrance alone.
There are some weak Orc units here that he can handle, particularly with
Flash. If a raiding party comes this way, use Flash, then run back to base.
In this area, you'll find the Statue of Eorl the Young. If the Orcs aren't
out of resources, they'll send guys to take it back, so be ready to run.
To the NE of the Statue, you'll find the second entrance to the city. Now
you've seen the two entrances: this one and the one at the barrows (the first
Gold Circle). Again, if the attacks haven't died out, you can either wait a
bit, or you can send 2 Rangers and half your forces to each entrance. This
will cut them off from your base. If you do this, use Blind to help you if
needed. You'll get plenty of Fate from these attacks.
Meanwhile, the southern half of Upbourn is full of weak Orcs just waiting to
give XP to Gandalf, so go solo some more until he's up to Level 10, being
sure to avoid the three Gold Circles that are left. Once Gandalf's at Level
10, it's time to finish. By now, I'm assuming that the attacks have
definitely stopped.
Take Gandalf and your Elves E, then N to the E Gold Circle. This is where
two Orcs are killing horses. Cast Blind as soon as you see them, and then
cast Flash when Blind runs out. Meanwhile, use your Elves to slaughter them.
You should have saved all 5 horses, completed Objective 5 and gotten several
Fate Points for it.
Next, just charge the middle Gold Circle with your Elves to kill the Orc
Captain. He's the same as Gimli faced in the first mission, and he has no
Wraiths around, so Objective 2 is easy. Now clear out as much of the city as
you want and then head to the W side to finish up.
The Orc base has one Tower with a Wraith at the SW and another at the N end.
There's a third Tower at the SE, but this one is Wraithless. Now charge the
SW tower either with Gandalf or a Giant Ent as a tank, or just charge it fast
with Elves alone. Next take your Elves straight E to avoid the N Tower.
Take out the SE Tower and the 2 Stonehurlers at the E middle of the base
(they're pretty dangerous to your Archers). Finally, charge N, destroying
everything and retaking Upbourn from the Orcs.
-------------------------------------
[[4.9]] Mission 9: Helm's Deep (3019)
-------------------------------------
Units Available: Only what they give you (can't train new ones)
Heroes Available: Aragorn
Legolas
Gimli
And later Gandalf and Erkenbrand
Places of Power: None
Expansions: None
Objectives:
1. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli must survive
2. Protect the Culvert for 5 minutes
3. Kill 80 Orcs in 3 minutes
4. Defend the Hornburg for 10 minutes
5. Destroy all remaining Orcs
>>> Initial Notes <<<
Since this is a rather unusual mission, there will be a walkthrough for each
objective. Overall, there is no training of units since you get no
buildings. You get Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli (hopefully at Level 10) at the
start, and you get Gandalf and Erkenbrand later on.
>>> Fate Points <<<
First three: Heroic Legacy to Gimli
Next three: Heroic Legacy to Legolas
Next three: Heroic Legacy to Aragorn
From then on: save them for Giant Ents
>>> Objective 1: Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli must live <<<
You know what this means: Heroic Legacy! As soon as possible!
>>> Objective 2: Protect the Culvert for 5 minutes <<<
OK, let's get down to the mission. I find the map to be confusing at this
angle, so I reset it immediately by pressing 5. The Culvert you're
protecting has 600 hit points, so it can get hit a few times. Put Gimli in
front of it (to the E) immediately for his Sunder ability. Put Legolas and
all Elven Archers above the Culvert, and make sure Legolas is the
southernmost of them all, but not too far S from the others. His Elven Speed
should reach everyone.
Aragorn can't help for Objectives 2 and 3, so just leave him be. But move
all the northern Archers as close to the N gate as possible, since it will be
attacked, even during this part of the mission. Put all melee units just W
of the Towers to the SW of Legolas. They die very easily on the wall, so
just leave it to Legolas and his Archers. When reinforcements arrive, put
any Archers on the wall, and send melee units to the Towers to join the
others.
The Orcs will come in from the E (straight into Gimli) or up the wall from
the SE, and then to Legolas or to the melee units. Either way, they should
get slaughtered. The eastern Orcs will walk right by Gimli to take on the
Culvert, so use Sunder whenever they come by. Use Elven Speed as often as
possible both for the E and for the S Orcs.
Focus on Gimli first and foremost, since he's protecting the Culvert. But be
sure to activate Elven Speed often. You'll get Fate Points very quickly in
this mission. In fact, all three of your Heroes should have Heroic Legacy
cast on him before the first 5 minutes are up. It's pretty easy to save the
Culvert, just try to save as many troops as possible.
>>> Objective 3: Kill 80 Orcs in 3 minutes <<<
After the cutscene, you'll suddenly have a ridiculous number of Orcs in place
of the Culvert. Use Blind immediately, followed by Elven Speed. Add in
Sunder when Blind runs out, and this should handle the initial charge. Put
Gimli under the Culvert, since Orcs will no longer run past him, so you may
as well have him near the Archers.
Keep Legolas to the S of the Archers, since you'll get a lot of Orcs from the
S. Keep the melee guys to the W, since they'll be useful for Objective 4.
Use your Heroes' abilities to save as many units as possible, since they
carry over to the next Objective. It should be easy to hit the 80-Orc mark,
but nothing happens then. However, when time runs out, this portion ends,
and you get a new Objective.
>>> Objective 4: Defend the Hornburg for 10 minutes <<<
There are two parts to this. In the first part, send EVERYONE against the
Battering Ram. I'm not sure what happens if the gate falls, but I prefer not
to let it happen. It helps a lot if melee guys survived from the last
Objective. They don't need to survive past this, though. Also, use Elven
Speed within range of your Archers, if possible.
At this point, hotkey your Heroes to Group 1 and your Archers to Group 2.
When the Battering Ram falls...
>>> Objective 4, Part 2 <<<
Get your Archers to the front (E side) of the gate. You may have to force-
move them, since they appear to be too stupid to successfully attack-move
there. Either way, get them there and clear out the gate and the bridge area
with your Archers and your Heroes. Pull all other melee guys behind the
gate.
Be sure to HOLD POSITION with your Archers, since otherwise they move too far
forward on the bridge. The bridge is an excellent choke point, and you want
to stay towards the W end of it. The overall strategy on the bridge is this:
- HOLD POSITION on your Archers at the W end of the bridge.
- Use your Heroes as tanks, but don't let them go to the E end of the
bridge. Remember: Aragorn and Gimli WANT to die. Your main job is going to
be pulling them back so they don't.
- Use Sunder and Elven Speed freely, and definitely use Kingsfoil on your
two tanks.
- Cast Summon Giant Ent each time you get 7 Fate Points. He's not
supposed to win the battle, just stall with his hit points.
When reinforcements come, bring the Archers forward, but leave the melee guys
behind. They really won't do anything useful. Use these tactics for 10
minutes to hold the Hornburg.
When time runs out, Theoden decides to be an idiot (Hero) and charge out. At
that point, charge EVERYONE out: melee guys, Archers and Heroes. Be careful
that your Heroes don't die, but it would be pretty hard at this point. You
don't have to save Theoden, but I prefer to. He's tough, anyway, so he's not
in much danger.
>>> Objective 5: Destroy all remaining Orcs <<<
After a while, Gandalf and Erkenbrand arrive. Woo hoo! At this point, you
need to clear out all the Orcs on the map. The easiest thing to do is to
grab Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and Gandalf and just cut a swath of Orc death
across the map. The Huorns have some trouble if you don't use their Tree
Form ability, so you may want to do that. Or you could just summon a Giant
Ent where he's needed.
However you do it, wipe out all the Orcs on the map. The Battle of Helm's
Deep has been won, and our Heroes have survived. Huzzah.
Places of Power: Dark Orb (W) (allows Black Rider reincarnation;
W of Minas Ithil, which is at the top center of the
map)
Dark Orb (E) (Black Riders attack multiple units at once;
E of Minas Ithil, which is at the top center of the
map)
Expansions: W of starting base
Objectives:
1. Destroy the 5 War Posts around the Tower of Sorcery (N middle of map)
2. Control the Orb of Energy (E)
3. Control the Orb of Reforming (W)
4. Destroy the War Posts in the graveyards SW and SE of the Tower of
Sorcery
5. (Optional) Destroy the Orc base at the entrance of the city
6. (Optional) Destroy one Troll party traveling along the Morgul Road
>>> Initial Notes <<<
This is an amazingly straightforward mission if you know two key points:
1. There is a bridge to the NW of your base. This is the ONLY path
between the enemy and your area, so it's an excellent choke point. There are
no defenders on either end of the bridge, but there is a Troll party
traveling the road S of the bridge (which we'll handle with glee).
2. Your four Heroes are freakin' amazing together. With Flash and Sunder
to take enemies out of the battle, Elven Speed to help your guys out and
Kingsfoil to heal when it's necessary, your Heroes can handle most of the map
by themselves. And, in fact, they will.
>>> Fate Points <<<
First three: Heroic Legacy on Gimli
Next three: Heroic Legacy on Aragorn
Next three: Heroic Legacy on Gandalf
Next three: Heroic Legacy on Legolas
>>> Initial Setup <<<
Put 5 guys on each resource and 2 for construction. We'll expand soon, so
the extras aren't a waste. Take your 4 Heroes NW immediately to the choke
point. There are no defenders, but you must watch for the Troll party on the
road to the S. They'll come soon, and they consist of 2 Bonecleavers, 2
Stonehurlers, 2 Wraiths and 2 Slavemasters. That's a lot of pain.
Use Flash and Sunder alternatively to keep the Bonecleavers out of the
battle, and use Elven Speed immediately to give you the edge. Hit the
Stonehurlers first, then the Bonecleavers, then the others. Leave Legolas to
the N to catch the raiding party that will try to sneak by to your base while
you're engaged.
This party will include both Grishnakh and Saleme (both at Level 1). Don't
underestimate them. Use all your abilities, and your guys will make it out
fine. This may seem like a lot of work, but once it's done, you'll have a
solid hold on the bridge, and their attacks won't be nearly as tough from now
on. During this attack, you should be able to give Heroic Legacy to Gimli.
Back at your base, build 2 Rangers, and send them to the bridge. Have them
Hold Position (even if they can't Conceal) behind your Heroes, since Haradrim
will be coming soon. Keep your Heroes on your side of the bridge, and
remember: there's no rush; you have an expansion point that's fully defended,
so defense takes precedence over building. Just keep an eye on your Heroes,
and keep that choke point bottled up.
>>> Building Up <<<
Upgrade your Stronghold up to Level 5. Build an Elven Sanctuary, a
Wilderness Outpost and Camps up to 100 population. Get every upgrade at the
Wilderness Outpost, taking Eagle Eye, Conceal and Elven Cloaks first. Train
2 more Rangers and then build to capacity with Elven Archers. Rally them all
to behind your Heroes for help with defense, but remember to keep your
Rangers out of combat.
While this is going on, keep defending the bridge. When all the Camps are
built, send your two construction Workers to the SW corner of the map to the
expansion spot to build a Stronghold, Mill and Foundry. Send your other
Workers over whenever the original resources dry up.
Explore the southern portion of the map with your new Rangers if you wish,
but there's nothing there besides the expansion spot. While you're building
up to capacity with Archers, the attacks will get much tougher, so keep
micromanaging your Heroes. They really shouldn't have any problems if you
use their abilities. Also, once you get Elven Cloaks, move your Elves N a
bit (but still S of your Heroes) to support in defense.
>>> Middle of the Mission <<<
Once you have a dozen Elves or so, leave them on your side of the bridge with
2 Concealed Rangers. Take your Heroes N with your other 2 Rangers. They
have no defenders on their side of the bridge, but they have massed defenders
just W of the bridge (including Trolls).
Keep your Rangers out of combat and take on their defenders with your Heroes
(out of range of their Towers). They're tough, but your Heroes can take
them. With them gone, charge your Heroes W, led by Gimli. Capture the first
Tower and put your Rangers in there. Pop Gimli out and start destroying
their base.
Other than the defenders you slaughtered, it's poorly defended. They have
quite a few Towers, but few defenders. Keep destroying the base and Capture
a Tower each time Gimli's ability recharges. Bring your Elves and the other
2 Rangers N to set up at the N end of the bridge. Your Heroes will take a
while destroying this base, so bring some Elves over to help, but leave at
least 8 to defend the bridge.
Move all offensive units N of their base to the gate of the city. Position
the Elves and 2 Concealed Rangers outside the gate to block their path.
There shouldn't be any more attacks, just lone Slavemasters, but leave them
there anyway. There shouldn't be any more Haradrim Slayers, but keep the
other 2 Rangers by the gate just in case.
>>> Endgame <<<
Send your Heroes N from the gate and attack-move toward the W Gold Circle.
There will be quite a few Wraiths, but they're weak. Eventually, you'll
destroy the War Post at the center of the Gold Circle, and Wraiths will no
longer be spawned from here. You'll likely encounter 4 Black Riders on the
way, so kill them like you'd kill any strong party (Flash, Sunder, Elven
Speed, Kingsfoil).
Continue N to the Dark Orb (W) and defeat the Wraiths there to take it. This
will cause Khamul, Lieutenant of Sauron, to attack you and try to take it
back. Destroy him. Next, attack-move towards the E Gold Circle, killing
Wraiths along the way. Destroy that War Post to end the creation of new
Wraiths. Now, if you want, you can clear the rest of the city of Wraiths.
When you're ready to finish, bring all your offensive units (Heroes, Rangers
and Archers) to the S of the Tower of Sorcery at the N middle of the map.
Being near the Tower causes a steady drain of your units' hit points, so stay
away. If Khamul has been respawned, draw him out and slaughter him with your
Archers.
With all enemies gone, charge your Heroes in. The drain of the Tower won't
be close to killing them before they destroy the 4 remaining War Posts around
the Tower. With the War Posts destroyed, Minas Morgul has once again become
Minas Ithil.
Warning: In my last play-through, I was destroying the War Posts, and 4 Black
Riders appeared in front of the Tower, conveniently right around Legolas. I
barely got him out alive. I don't know why this happened, since I held the W
Dark Orb, which should have prevented them from reforming. So I'll just
document it here.
-----------------------------------------------------
[[4.11]] Mission 11: The Pass of Cirith Gorgor (3019)
-----------------------------------------------------
Units Available: All
Heroes Available: Aragorn
Legolas
Gimli
Gandalf
Places of Power: Claw of Protection (defense bonus to Balrog; SW corner)
Claw of Power (damage bonus to Balrog; W middle of map)
Claw of Renewal (regeneration bonus to Balrog; NE corner)
Expansions: At unmined Orc base W of starting base
Objectives:
1. Eliminate the final enemy base in the NW corner
2. Kill the Balrog
3. Capture the three Claws, but not necessarily before killing the Balrog
>>> Initial Notes <<<
Let's hand it to the designers: this is a wickedly tough mission. Not only
do you have to defeat an overpowered Balrog, but the attacks after the Balrog
falls are both consistent and very, very tough. You will learn to hate Troll
Stonehurlers in this mission. One piece of advice that will recur throughout
the walkthrough:
- Target the Stonehurlers first!
I don't care if there are 5 Bonecleavers in front of them. Hit the
Stonehurlers first, then worry about everyone else.
>>> Fate Points <<<
Don't use any until after defeating the Balrog. You may need to resurrect.
It's also a good idea to let things settle a bit after that as well (see the
walkthrough). Once things have settled, I use this order:
First three: Heroic Legacy on Aragorn
Next three: Heroic Legacy on Gimli
Next three: Heroic Legacy on Gandalf
Next three: Heroic Legacy on Legolas
>>> Initial Setup <<<
Your first order of business is to prepare to defeat the overpowered Balrog
that they're going to send against you. You start with:
- 4 Heroes
- 2 Riders of Rohan
- 2 Gondor Swordsmen
- 1 Dwarf Shieldbreaker
- 2 Dwarf Axethrowers
Put 5 Workers on your Foundry, 6 on your Mill and 2 more for construction.
It'll be a while before their first attack, so explore the SE corner. You
have a huge front to defend to your S. Keep your non-Hero units back and
just use your Heroes to defend at first. You'll need your non-Heroes later.
>>> Building Up -- Pre-Balrog <<<
Build an Elven Sanctuary far S of your Stronghold. Then build 2 Towers to
its SW and another 2 to its SE. This gives you some space in your base.
Next, build a Ranger Post. Train 2 Rangers, and put one in a SW Tower and
the other in a SE Tower. You'll get hit by cloaked Haradrim Slayers early.
Build 2 more Camps, then put your construction Workers on resources (one on
each).
Upgrade to Stronghold Level 5 and get Eagle Fletching and all three Elven
Archer damage upgrades. Don't bother with armor or Elven Cloaks. They won't
help against the Balrog, and we're being stingy.
At some point, the Balrog will appear in the NW corner and begin ambling to
your base (or is he moseying?). Once he does, send your Heroes (only) to the
SW corner (you still need to save your non-Hero units). There is a small
base defending the Claw of Protection. There are no Towers, but there are
Bonecleavers, Stonehurlers, Uruk-hai and Orcs.
Hit the Stonehurlers first! I can't emphasize this enough. Flash or Sunder
the Bonecleavers while you're doing this, and use Elven Speed whenever
possible. After the Stonehurlers, take down the Uruk-hai, then the
Bonecleavers, then everyone else. Use Kingsfoil constantly. It won't be
pretty, but you should win without casualties.
With the units dead, you get the Claw, and the enemy won't retake it. Finish
the structures, then return to your base, and heal with Kingsfoil.
>>> The Balrog Fight <<<
Place newly-trained Elven Archers and your 2 Axethrowers behind the W Towers.
Hotkey your 5 melee units one by one (2 Riders, 2 Swordsmen and a Dwarf
Shieldbreaker). That is, a hotkey should call up only one of them. The
Balrog is immune to Flash, Sunder and Blind. He also has a melee area
attack, so never have more than one unit next to him. Hopefully, you have at
least 8 Elven Archers, preferably more.
The Balrog will approach your W Towers. Put your melee Heroes on Hold
Position out of range. Activate Elven Speed as soon as he's within range of
your Archers (and Towers). Send out your hotkeyed melee units one by one.
This is the Balrog's main weakness. He can take half off of any of your
Heroes' hit points, but he's really, really slow in his attack. So send out
your non-hero (hotkeyed) melee units to die one by one while your Towers,
Legolas and your Archers are killing him.
Things can always go wrong. Losing one Hero is fine. You'll have the Fate
to resurrect him immediately. Losing two Heroes is tough. You'll probably
need some more Fate. Losing three Heroes means you'll be fighting an uphill
battle, so try to avoid that.
>>> Building Up -- Post-Balrog <<<
Alright, the damage has been done, but the hard part is far from over.
Rebuild any Towers and replace your Rangers if necessary (detection is
vital). Also, buy back any Heroes with Fate Points when you have enough. At
this point, build Camps to 100 population, get 4 more Rangers, get Lookout
Tower and Dwarf Masonry and upgrade everything possible at your Wilderness
Outpost. Also, train more Elven Archers.
The mission from now on depends on how much you lost in the battle against
the Balrog. Make certain that you'll have 600 of each resource left when
your Mill and Foundry run out (so stop spending in time). Attacks will
become much, much tougher from now on, so just stay at home and defend. The
attacks will have multiple Bonecleavers and Stonehurlers, plus Haradrim
Slayers, Uruk-hai, Wraiths and Orcs.
Again, and I cannot emphasize this enough: KILL THE STONEHURLERS FIRST!!!
Run by 5 Bonecleavers if you have to (preferably hitting them with Flash
along the way), but take down those Stonehurlers. The attacks from now on
are quite dangerous, so take them seriously. It's very easy to lose another
Hero or two if you go out exploring: DON'T!
>>> Middle of the Mission <<<
Once things have settled down a bit and the brutal attacks are coming
consistently, start casting Heroic Legacy. The attacks in this mission are
tough, and you have to be careful with your Heroes, but it's worth it.
When you're feeling good, wait at your base for the next major attack (must
involve Trolls!). After you've defeated it, send Aragorn, Gimli and Gandalf
with 2 Rangers to the center of the map to destroy the enemy base at your
future expansion. These 3 Heroes can handle it, but retreat if you see an
enemy raiding party coming along.
Retreat home and wait for the next major attack. Afterwards, send the same 3
Heroes, 2 Rangers, 8 Archers, and several of your Workers (your resources
should be out or almost out by now) to the map center. Build a Stronghold,
Mill and Foundry. Then build 3 Towers to the NE and another 3 to the S of
your base (and fill one on each flank with a Ranger). You're going to get
hit hard from both sides, so prepare to defend. Also, use the advantage of
Lookout Tower by watching your minimap and reacting to enemies before they
hit your Towers.
The enemy will hit you with smart attacks, such as from multiple directions.
So don't commit completely to one flank. Defend your W base (both N and S)
with 3 Heroes and 8 Archers (plus your Towers). Defend your E base with
Legolas and the rest of your Elves and remember to use Elven Speed often.
Your new resources are huge, so upgrade all 10 of your Towers to Ballista
Towers. This is expensive, but the enemy attacks won't die down any time
soon, so it's worth it. Just sit back and defend with your Heroes and other
troops until you have all these Ballista Towers set up. Don't be impatient.
The enemy's raids are impressive, and they'll last for a long time.
NOTE: At this point, you could sit back and micromanage your defenses until
the enemy runs out of resources. It takes less than half an hour. However,
I'll write the walkthrough as if you want to charge ahead as soon as
possible.
When your defenses are good, take Aragorn, Gimli and your last 2 Rangers N,
then W. Retreat from any raiding parties, but eventually, you should make it
to the second Claw at the W middle portion of the map. Charge in and Capture
the first Tower with Gimli, then fill it with your Rangers. You'll find a
Level 10 Saleme there, but you can take the base out with your two Heroes, so
long as you keep your Rangers alive. Just micromanage carefully.
While you're attacking, you'll be facing raids at home, so micromanage them
as best you can. Use Flash in the W and Elven Speed in the E to win battles.
And remember, always remember: Stonehurlers first!
>>> Endgame <<<
Around the Claw in the NE corner, you'll find the Lord of the Nazgul and
several Black Riders. They're far too much for Aragorn and Gimli to deal
with. Once you've taken the W Claw and healed, head NE to the N center of
the map. Enemy troops must pass this point to attack your bases, so hold it
for a bit with Aragorn and Gimli (and the 2 Concealed Rangers nearby).
If you're satisfied that no troops are en route to your bases, send Legolas,
Gandalf and all your Elven Archers to the N center of the map. Wait for an
attack to pass (if they're still going on), then summon a Giant Ent by the NE
Claw. Use a Ranger to spot for the casting. That area is more heavily
guarded than the final base, so feel free to use the Ent. As soon as the Ent
is summoned, charge in with everyone, and wipe them out.
Next, head to the NW corner. Two Stonehurlers are hurling boulders (or
stones, as it were) in your path. Ignore them. Run past them and attack the
NW base, leading with Gimli. Capture the first Tower with Gimli, then pop
him out. There are quite a few Towers in this base, and your units don't
seem to be too interested in them, so force-attack them in order to save some
units. Capture another Tower each time the ability recharges.
It's a large base, and this is the only time you get to destroy a Level 5
Fortress of Mordor in this campaign, so enjoy it. Eventually, you'll wipe
out the base, and the forces of Mordor will have been defeated. Go, good
guys!
+++++++++++++++++++++++
[[5]] Minions of Sauron
+++++++++++++++++++++++
--------------
[[5.1]] Heroes
--------------
Without Heroic Legacy and Aragorn's healing, the Minions' Heroes aren't quite
as good at being tanks, nor do you generally get them in groups (though
you're allowed to buy multiple ones in the later missions). So these Heroes
require different strategies.
- Grishnakh's Speed of the Wolf gives him a movement and damage bonus,
which are both good. If you like to light buildings on fire, Torch is great.
And his Explosive Trap can do some decent damage. I can see how he'd be
interesting in multiplayer, but in single player, I just use him in mission 2
and then forget about him. Other Heroes are better.
- The Lord of the Nazgul is the key to my strategies in the later levels.
The Minions have amazing archers in the Uruk-Hai, but the Haradrim Slayers
are a bit weak. (Yes, I realize they're invisible, but there are endless
Rangers in the well-defended enemy bases.) The answer: Black Riders! With
his Bind Shadow ability, the Lord can summon up to eight Black Riders at one
Fate Point each. While they can't be upgraded (except for adding poison to
their attack), they have 450 hit points each! And there are eight of them,
plus their Lord, so you can switch out damaged guys, all the while hitting
hard with your Uruk-Hai from the back. This is quite a cost in Fate points,
but I'll give up one Balrog or three Vile Surges for an army of Black Riders.
And on top of that, his Aura of Weakness is an excellent passive benefit
which lowers enemy armor.
- Saruman is a great Hero, with two area damage abilities: one ability
that takes an enemy out of action for a while and one mind control ability.
He requires a great deal of micromanagement, since he has four non-passive
abilities, but it's worth your time. His only drawback is that you only
start one mission with him, and since I like Black Riders, it's often a while
before I can afford to get him.
- Saleme provides something that the Minions are otherwise lacking: quick
healing. I like getting the Lord of the Nazgul and eight Black Riders as my
melee tanks, and they're so much more effective with Saleme healing them.
Her Serpent Blades ability (adding ricochet to her attack) is a nice bonus.
- I never get Gollum in the campaign. Scouting really isn't too much of a
problem, so he's just not necessary.
-------------
[[5.2]] Units
-------------
Once all the units become available, my strategy is simple: Goblin
Slavemasters and Goblin Spearmen fill the towers; the Lord of the Nazgul and
eight Black Riders for melee; as many Uruk-Hai as possible behind them; and a
few Wraiths for detection and to replace fallen Black Riders. While Giant
Spiders are nice for their Paralyze ability, they die really quickly to Elven
Archers, and it's very difficult to micromanage them with so many Black
Riders around. So I opt for more Uruk-Hai instead.
--------------
[[5.3]] Towers
--------------
Unfortunately, the Minions' Poison Arrows just aren't as good as the Free
Peoples' Ballistae (since the key is to kill invaders quickly, so poison
doesn't have much time to work). However, the Minions have Goblin
Slavemasters and the cheap and low maintenance Goblin Spearmen with which to
fill their towers, giving a nice high rate of attack. So my policy is to
build three Towers at each entrance, put a Wraith in the middle one for
detection and then fill up the rest of the slots with Slavemasters and
Spearmen. Then it's important to have at least one tank nearby to draw fire
away from your fragile towers and give them a chance to do their thing.
Assuming you have access to everything, here are my thoughts:
- At the Dark Arsenal: Get Goblin Frenzy (to speed up those amazingly slow
Slavemasters) and Poison Arrows (for a defensive strategy, Tower upgrades are
useful).
- At the Breeding Pit: Only build it in those missions where you want to
use the Giant Spider's Paralyze. Otherwise, forget it.
- At the Dark Vault: Since I use Black Riders and Uruk-Hai, I get all the
damage and armor upgrades, as well as Greater Perception (for the Wraith) and
Morgul-blade.
I spend a great deal of Fate Points on summoning Black Riders, but the later
missions involve quite a few battles, so you'll have Fate Points to spare.
I'll list here the Minions' Fate Powers in order of usefulness (when using my
tactics):
- Vile Surge: An instantaneous healing over a decent area can save a Black
Rider or two in the thick of combat, so this is always a great Fate Power.
- Summon Bog: (Duration: 15 seconds) While Vile Surge can save you after a
mistake, Summon Bog allows the battle to go your way in the first place.
It's not quite as powerful as the Free Peoples' Blind Fate Power, but it
lasts a bit longer, so it can turn a close battle into a slaughter for your
side.
- Summon Balrog: If you don't have anything else to spend Fate Points on,
why not summon a ridiculously powerful unit? Actually, the Balrog is a lot
weaker than the Giant Ent. Since the Balrog is a melee unit, he takes a long
time to walk between targets. So he's only really useful if you summon him
into a bunch of enemies. Of course, he's also great at soaking up damage
from enemy elves, even if that's all he accomplishes.
- Murder of Crows: (Duration: 23 seconds) This protects your units from
ranged attacks. I can see it being useful in multiplayer, but the computer
never has such a massive collection of archers. In general, you're better
off going with Summon Bog, which is cheaper anyway.
- Summon Obelisk: This sounds great, but I've had units within the
Obelisk's range take damage. I'm not sure whether it's buggy or I'm
imagining things, but I just don't trust it anymore. I stick with Summon Bog
and Vile Surge.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
[[6]] Minions of Sauron Campaign
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
----------------------------------------------
[[6.1]] Mission 1: The Mouths of Entwash (3018)
----------------------------------------------
Places of Power: Orc Mask (attack bonus; just E of the center of the map)
Expansions: None
Objectives:
1. Build a base
2. Get 5 Goblin Workers to Gold Circle in NW corner
>>> Initial Notes <<<
There are no attacks on your position, so take your time to get used to the
Minions of Sauron. You're in the SE corner; your objective is to get 5
Workers to the NW corner. You'll have to follow a winding road to get there,
fighting quite a few enemies, so I prefer to build up to full before
beginning my march. You have enough resources to do this comfortably, but
not much of an excess, so don't be too wasteful.
>>> Fate Points <<<
You have no Heroes, so use Summon Bog and or Vile Surge as needed. Try to
save them for the end if possible, since there's a big battle just before the
target destination.
>>> Initial Setup <<<
Drop a War Post where your Slavemaster is, then send all 5 Workers to build a
Goblin Hovel as close as possible to both resources. When that's done, put 2
Workers on building a Smelter and another 2 on a Slaughterhouse. The fifth
Worker will do the little construction that needs to be done.
>>> Building Up <<<
With the fifth Worker, build a Fortress of Mordor in the SE corner of your
base, then an Orc Mound N of it, and then send him to the Slaughterhouse.
Don't build any more Workers: there's no need. Train another Slavemaster
when possible, since they take a while and you want him ready before the Orc
Mound is done (though it's not necessary, since there's no time limit).
Once your fifth Worker is on Food duty, the goal is to mine out the level,
build as much of an army as you can, and train the Slavemasters necessary to
support it. I prefer to train Slashers and Bowmen such that I have an equal
number of each at the end. It takes a few minutes, but I like to have
everyone built at the beginning and not to have to worry about training
reinforcements.
With resources mined out and everything built, I have:
- 5 Workers
- 7 Slavemasters
- 19 Slashers
- 19 Bowmen
- 170 Food
- 332 Ore
I like to keep a little excess Food in case I somehow get a Worker killed
(since 5 are needed to win the mission).
>>> Middle of the Mission <<<
The goal now is to clear out the map of enemies. Here are a few tips that
will apply for the rest of the map:
- Use attack-move in general, and be sure to attack an area just IN FRONT
of your enemies. I've found that it works better than targeting an area in
the middle of a group of enemies.
- Watch the life meters of your units, and pull out damaged units quickly.
They die very quickly due to their low hit points.
- Leave behind damaged units so that your army may move on, and bring them
back up when you've healed. You have plenty of units to do this.
Take your massive army of impressively weak units to the N and take out the 4
Rangers in your path. They'll give you quite some time to attack them before
they decide to fight, so attack-move is great here. Continue N, and in the
NE corner, you'll find 3 Gondor Swordsmen that just need slaughtering.
To the NW of these Swordsmen is an ambush by 6 Rangers (3 from the N edge of
the path, 3 from the S), where it's surprisingly difficult to not have any
casualties. So I'd suggest sending your army as far N as possible and then
sending a single Slasher to trigger the ambush and draw the Rangers to your
forces. If you still take some casualties, that's fine.
Continue to the W until you reach the middle of the N edge of the map, at
which point you must go S. Stick to the E edge of the trail until you run
into 6 Swordsmen. They're actually two groups of 3, one of which is
patrolling. So if you only see 3, be ready for the arrival of the others
during your fight. Once they've been dispensed with, continue S until you
can head E. Follow that a bit to take the Orc Mask and increase your units'
damage by 3. You'll be damaged by now, so remember to heal when necessary.
Continue S on the main path to run into 3 Swordsmen. They retreat, but
they'll come back with 6 buddies, so just wait for them there. (Sometimes,
not all of them return, but there are 9 total in the area to the S.) Go S to
the edge, then head W to find 2 Beornings in Bear Form. Charge in with fresh
units and attack the first Bear. (This is one place where you should force
attack a single enemy rather than using attack-move.) When he's dead, kill
the other. Because they cause Knockback, it's quite possible to escape this
tough battle without any casualties.
From here, go NW to kill 4 Swordsmen. There's nothing else there, but we're
Orcs now, and they really needed some killing. Go back S across the river,
then W to find 7 Swordsmen. This is a tough fight, but you can draw the
front few out first without the back ones noticing. By now, you should have
5 Fate Points (if you haven't used any). Also, bring your 5 Workers down to
the now-cleared SW corner at some point. Meanwhile, heal and get ready for
the final showdown of the mission.
>>> Endgame <<<
To the N are a Tower, 7 Swordsmen and 2 Riders of Rohan. You can easily draw
out a few at a time, or you can just charge in and use Summon Bog. Either
way, it should be a slaughter, but try to stay out of the Tower's range until
you're ready to take it down. With the defenders dead, charge N and turn the
Tower into rubble. Now, the Wetwang should be clear, so send your 5 Workers
to the Gold Circle in the NW corner to win.
-----------------------------------------------
[[6.2]] Mission 2: The Beacons of Gondor (3018)
-----------------------------------------------
Places of Power: Wretched Sentinel (armor bonus; NE corner of the map)
Expansions: None
Objectives:
1. Grishnakh must survive
2. Build a base: Orc Mound and Beast Lair
3. Destroy the encampment of Men to the East
4. Defend against 8 Armies of Gondor
>>> Initial Notes <<<
Once again, there will initially be no attacks against your base. However,
unlike in the previous mission, once you complete the initial objectives
here, you'll have to defend against some pretty massive attacks. So my
strategy is to use the unhurried portion of the mission to build some great
defenses and an army up to the Population cap.
This is one of the few missions in which I shall not be concerned with
leveling the Hero up to Level 10. This is for two reasons. First, I won't
be using Grishnakh again in the campaign, so while I level him a bit at the
beginning just to strengthen him, I don't feel the need to get him up to
Level 10. Second, this mission is not particularly conducive to leveling,
since most units are in clumps and you have no healing available.
>>> Fate Points <<<
First point: Torch for Grishnakh
>>> Initial Setup <<<
Start building a Smelter and a Slaughterhouse, and train 4 Workers for each
resource, plus 2 more for construction. Drop 3 more War Posts: one a bit W
of your Goblin Hovel, one quite a bit S of it (to give you room for some more
buildings) and one at the E end of your base, leaving room for a vertical
column of Towers to be placed just E of it.
While your Workers are being trained, send Grishnakh just E of your base,
then N. There are 2 Beornings there in Bear Form (fortunately separated so
that you can attack them one at a time). Attack the first with Grishnakh
(alone), using Speed of the Wolf to start off the combat, as well as one more
time when it recharges. This will put Grishnakh down in the red on hit
points, so let him heal. (This takes a while, which is why it's better to
get started on this early.) By killing the Beorning alone, he should be up
to Level 2. Later, when he's healed (don't rush this), take out the second
Beorning (again using Speed of the Wolf twice) to get him up to Level 3.
>>> Building Up <<<
Use your 2 construction Workers to build a Fortress of Mordor, then an Orc
Mound, a Dark Arsenal and a Beast Lair. With this done, put one of them on
ore (since you'll be short on this resource by now) and get the other one to
build 5 Towers in a vertical column just E of your base. The massive enemy
attacks later will come from E of your base, so position the Towers carefully
to extend S from the southern base of the hill that form part of the E border
of your base. When he's finally done with this, put him on food gathering.
Now train Slavemasters up to 100 Population (as ore allows). Put them all in
your Towers (distribute them), then fill the remaining Tower slots with
Spearmen (who only consume one Population space). Be sure to fill all 20
slots in your Towers. While you're doing this, also research Curved Blades
and Forged Fittings at the Dark Arsenal, but forget Savage Influence.
>>> Middle of the Mission <<<
Once you have an excess of food and your Towers are done, start training an
army to maximum Population. Again, I prefer an even mix of Slashers and
Bowmen. Once Grishnakh is done with the 2 Beornings and is healed to full,
send him to the NE corner. Have him take out the 2 Riders of Rohan (again
with Speed of the Wolf) and take the Wretched Sentinel for the armor boost.
You now have +1 armor for all units and Grishnakh should be at Level 4.
Leave him there to heal for a while, but don't defend it. They won't find
it.
Explore the map if you wish, but avoid the Gold Circle in the middle.
There's nothing else of interest on the map. Once Grishnakh is healed and
your Towers are full, it's time to take care of their base's defenders. The
base's mobile defenders consist of 6 Riders of Rohan and 4 Rohan Archers.
They don't gather resources nor replace their defenders, so let's take them
out.
Take Grishnakh just N of their base (the Gold Circle) and head S. Torch the
Tower and run by it into the middle of the base until you draw the attention
of 4 Riders and 4 Archers. Quickly run N and back to your Towers. Use Speed
of the Wolf to run away, and be careful: Grishnakh isn't that strong, so
don't get him killed. If he's in trouble, use Summon Bog if you have it.
Once at the Towers, either make a stand with Grishnakh (if he has enough
health), or use whatever army you have right now in conjunction with the
Towers to take them out. Now let Grishnakh heal. If you've been aggressive
with Grishnakh, then your army shouldn't be anywhere near complete, so don't
rush him.
When he's healed, take him back to the N Tower (which should be at less than
half hit points), Torch it again, and then use him to destroy it. Now head S
and draw out the remaining 2 Riders of Rohan. Take them back to your Towers,
slaughter them, and now the enemy base is defenseless save for 2 Towers.
Once your resources run out, kill all but 3 of your Workers (for Tower
repair), using that wonderful Alt-X, and build your army to capacity. You're
ready to finish up the level when all of the following is completed:
- Grishnakh is at full health.
- 5 fully garrisoned and repaired Towers defend the E edge of your base.
- You have the 2 upgrades at the Dark Arsenal.
- You have an army at 100 Population.
- Your resources are mined out, and you have only 3 Workers left.
>>> Endgame <<<
Take your army W of the enemy base. Charge in, leading with Grishnakh. Take
out the W Tower, then charge in further (again leading with Grishnakh) and
take out the E Tower. At this point, finish the base at your leisure, but
wait for everyone to fully heal before doing so.
With this objective completed, you'll find out that one Rider of Rohan
escaped and the Beacons of Gondor have been lit. Grishnakh yells at no one
in particular, then suggests that destroying the Beacons will stall the enemy
armies. You will now be attacked by 8 successive enemy forces, consisting of
Swordsmen and Riders of Rohan.
Destroying the Beacons would have been useful had you not built to capacity.
However, as it is, begin promptly ignoring the Beacons of Gondor. You could
get some XP for Grishnakh at the Beacons, but I don't bother. Take your army
back to your base and just concentrate on defeating the 8 waves. The units
at the Beacons won't bother you.
Here are the key points for these battles:
- Position your army well W of your Tower, and position Grishnakh just to
the E of your Towers.
- You want most of the combat to occur just to the W of your Towers, so
use Grishnakh to draw the enemy forces into your base, so that they may be
slaughtered between your army and your Towers.
- Your Towers are weak, so don't let the enemy attack one for long.
- Use Summon Bog for EVERY SINGLE wave. It helps immensely, if properly
placed, and you'll make up those first two Fate Points quickly so you're
ready for the next wave.
- Replace your forces as necessary. You should have over 1000 Food.
- Repair your Towers quickly after each wave. You don't have much time.
- Use Speed of the Wolf constantly, but remember that Grishnakh is weak
and he must not die.
- If necessary, remember that you have Vile Surge (3 Fate Points), but try
to be careful and use Summon Bog effectively to avoid this need.
Finally, the last attack is brutal, with masses of enemy troops. But with
Summon Bog, you may lose a few Orcs, but you'll win the day. And then you
can feast on Man-flesh. Mmm, Man-flesh.
------------------------------------------
[[6.3]] Mission 3: Clearing the Way (1050)
------------------------------------------
Objectives:
1. Lord of the Nazgul must survive
2. Destroy the Elven base to the S
3. Bring the Lord of the Nazgul through the Mirkwood to the Gold Circle in
the NW corner of the map
>>> Initial Notes <<<
Once you finish Objective 2 and take out the small Elven base, you'll have
the SW corner to yourself, with only a narrow choke point to the E to defend.
Enemy attacks in this mission come from off-screen at the NW corner of the
map, so they're unlimited. That is, though the enemy has a base, they don't
collect resources, so you can't starve them out. There is a benefit to this
though: you can level up the Lord of the Nazgul pretty easily in this
mission.
Also, the enemy has cloaked Elven Archers in this mission (and in every
mission from now on), so always bring along Wraiths. Unfortunately, your
Wraiths are very aggressive and quite weak, so get into the habit of scouting
with them (once they have Greater Perception) and then putting them on Hold
Position before you start the attack. In this way, you'll detect their
Archers without endangering your Wraiths.
>>> Fate Points <<<
First two: Shadow Walk for Lord of the Nazgul
>>> Initial Setup <<<
You start with the Lord of the Nazgul, 3 Wraiths and 4 Orc Slashers, and you
need to take out a small Elven base to the S. Their defenders include an Elf
Warden, a cloaked Elven Archer and 3 Workers. Charge S, leading with the
Lord (so that the Archer focuses on him) and force-attack the Archer first.
He'll fall quickly, then take out the Warden, the Workers and the Camp and
War Camp. The Warden does decent damage, so pull guys back to keep them
alive. You should suffer no losses in this skirmish.
That fight should have gotten you 2 Fate Points, so get Shadow Walk for the
Lord (or if you don't have 2 yet, get it when you can). Put your fighting
units at the choke point to the E (the top of the hill) with the Lord in
front to draw fire. Remember not to let him die though and micromanage the
early attacks to keep from suffering any losses, if possible.
The attacks continue consistently for the rest of the mission. They
alternate between a party of 2 Wardens and a party of a Bear and 2 Rangers.
The first 2 Wardens attack early, so be ready for that. Keep the Lord up
front so he can get XP, but keep him alive.
Place one War Post near the resources, a second one by the choke point (for
Towers) and a third far E of the Ore. This should be enough for your base.
Put 4 Workers on Ore, 3 on Food and 2 on construction duties.
>>> Building Up <<<
Build a Fortress of Mordor, then build 2 Towers at the choke point to the E.
For now, put whatever units you can (3 Slavemasters, plus what's left of your
initial forces) inside the Towers. Then put the Lord in front (just to the
E) of the Towers, and have him Hold Position. There will be no ranged enemy
attackers, so they'll come to him.
With your defenses done, upgrade your Fortress to Level 2, then build an Orc
Mound, a Dark Arsenal, a Shadow Lair and a Breeding Pit (forget the Beast
Lair). Now your construction is done, so put one of your construction
Workers on Ore, the other on Food.
Your goal now is to accomplish the following:
- Train Slavemasters up to 100 Population.
- Have 4 Wraiths total for your offense. You don't need any in your
Towers any more, so just fill them with Slavemasters when you can.
- Train an army up to capacity. Again, I prefer an even mix of Slashers
and Bowmen. (This takes a while, so start early.)
- Get Curved Blades and Forged Fittings at the Dark Arsenal.
- Get Fearsome Strength and Ritual Tattooing at the Breeding Pit. You'll
need them for some Giant Spiders you'll be getting soon.
Once you have a decent army, catch a moment somewhere between attacks, and
send the Lord E a little to draw some static defenders to your Towers. There
are 2 Beornings, 2 cloaked Archers and a Bear. That's a lot of pain and the
Lord will get banged up, so wait until you have quite a few Orcs to help out.
Try to fight to the W of your Towers where your army is waiting. Also, don't
go too far out, and DON'T go N at all.
If you want, you could mine out the resources, then kill some Workers to make
room for more Orcs, but it's really not necessary. Just get all the
upgrades, 4 Wraiths, and a nice, huge army.
>>> Middle of the Mission <<<
Once you've reached max Population (even if you're not done mining), wait for
the next attack, then head to the SE corner with the Lord, 4 Wraiths and all
your Orcs (assuming the defenders there are already gone). Be sure to stay
as far S as possible. At this point, select everyone and attack-move to the
N.
A cutscene will start showing your units coming upon 7 Giant Spiders fighting
Elves. You have no control during the cutscene, and the units keep moving
and fighting, but no actual damage is done. Nonetheless, it's easier to save
the Spiders if your units have positioned themselves well during the cut
scene, which is why I suggest attack-moving into the area.
When you get control, you need to do 3 things quickly:
1. Double-click on a Spider to get control of them all and then pull them
all back. You can't build Spiders in this mission, so you can't replace
their losses. However, Orc losses are easy to replace.
2. Pull back your Wraiths as well (they should be hotkeyed), and have them
Hold Position a bit back, but close enough to see enemy Archers.
3. Cast Summon Bog on the combat. This should lessen your losses greatly.
With the enemy refocused on the Orcs, you can charge the Spiders back in and
start micromanaging the combat. When the Elves are all dead, you could have
up to 7 new Spiders. Try to make sure you save at least 3 of them. Now
replace your losses and heal up. This is a good time to level up the Lord to
Level 10, so let's take a break and do that. (If you're not interested in
doing this, then skip the next 2 paragraphs.)
Pull your army back to the SE corner, but leave the Lord in the area where
you found the Spiders (out of reach of your Bowmen). Bring up 3 Spiders and
hotkey them individually. Have them Hold Position a bit behind the Lord.
The raids will continue now, alternating between 2 Wardens and 2 Rangers plus
a Bear. They come quite often, so they're a great way to level up quickly.
Each time a raiding party comes down, have 2 or 3 Spiders come up and attack
the 2 or 3 units in the party. The Spiders have Paralyze, so the units won't
be able to fight back. But the Spiders also do very little damage, so the
Lord should get in most of the hits. Pull back Spiders as units die to avoid
further hits. By doing this, you should be able to level the Lord to max in
only a few raids (maybe 4-6), which doesn't take much time at all.
>>> Endgame <<<
When you're ready, replenished, healed and leveled, head N, but don't go W
yet. Gather your army, then charge W into 3 Towers and some defenders. Lead
with the Lord, but pull him back, as the Towers and defenders will make
mincemeat of him. Just have him soak up some damage so your Orcs don't drop
like flies, then pull him out. If he gets in trouble, remember that you have
Vile Surge. Also, keep your Wraiths nearby but out of battle.
Heal and replenish as needed (and remember that the raids are still coming).
The final base is to the NW, and there are tons of Archers. So just charge
in with everyone, put your Wraiths on Hold Position near them to spot their
Archers, and hit them with Summon Bog to help out. You'll take losses, but
this is it for the mission, so just wipe out everything.
Units Available: Goblin Worker
Goblin Spearman
Goblin Slavemaster
Orc Bowman
Orc Slasher
Warg Rider
Giant Spider
Wraith
Black Rider
Heroes Available: Lord of the Nazgul
Places of Power: Wretched Sentinel (armor bonus; halfway between the second
and third Elven Shrines; a bit N of the S middle of
map)
Expansions: W-NW of the third Elven Shrine
Objectives:
1. Take over the five Ancient Temples (Places of Power)
>>> Initial Notes <<<
Without the Free Peoples' Heroic Legacy and Aragorn's Kingsfoil, the Minions'
Heroes just aren't too effective as tanks. Add on the ever-present Elven
Archers and your Lord of the Nazgul will just fall too quickly. However, on
the positive side, one Level 10 Lord plus 8 Black Riders = 4000+ hit points
to soak up damage.
It takes a long time to gather the 8 Fate Points necessary to raise 8 Riders,
but there's nothing I'd rather use those Points for. Additionally, in the
big battles later in a mission, when it's quite possible to lose a Rider or
two if you're not careful (and sometimes if you are), you should be getting
plenty of Fate Points with which to replace them. So just be sure to have
Wraiths nearby (and don't let the Lord die).
This is yet another mission in which you don't need to worry much about enemy
attacks. There is a single Elven Hero, Draelor (Elven Scout, 500 hit points,
25 damage, 4 armor (one from the Wretched Sentinel)), who will keep charging
your base, fighting until he's down to half hit points, then retreating to
heal. He'll keep doing this until he's dead (which won't happen until you
get a Giant Spider with Paralyze), but once he's dead, there won't be any
more attacks at all.
As for the mission itself, there are 5 Places of Power called Elven Shrines,
which are marked with Gold Circles on the minimap. You need to take control
of all five to finish the mission. Additionally, there is one other Place of
Power, a Wretched Sentinel, which is not marked, but which is the only one
that gives you a benefit (+1 armor).
>>> Fate Points <<<
First two: Bind Shadow for Lord of the Nazgul
Next eight: create eight Black Riders
>>> Initial Setup <<<
Your initial goal in this mission is to get up a Tower before Draelor
returns. So get 4 Workers on ore, 4 on food and 2 more for construction. To
the NW of your base is a huge tree stump. There is an entrance to your base
on either side of the stump (W and E), but a single Tower on the W side is
all you'll need. So drop one War post just SW of the stump and another one
to its E (to the N of your base). Don't explore at all yet! There are units
nearby whose attention you don't want to attract.
>>> Building Up <<<
Build a Fortress of Mordor, then put up a Tower just W of the huge tree stump
(near the S end of it, in order to stay away from the enemy). Upgrade your
Fortress to Level 2 as soon as you can afford it. Once the Tower is done,
build an Orc Mound, Dark Arsenal and Breeding Pit. Put up the Breeding Pit
as soon as you have a Level 2 Fortress, since we're rushing to Paralyze.
While you're building, you also have some early killing to do. Once the
Tower is done, put all 4 of your Wraiths inside, then send your Lord N from
there to draw back 2 Elven Archers. When they're dead, go N and draw the 2
Rangers as well. If you accidentally draw all 4 at once, that's fine. The
Lord will just get banged up a bit more. Remember not to let him die,
though. He's expensive to resurrect. When they're dead, put the Lord next
to the Tower to the W (NOT to the N of it).
A bit after that, Draelor will attack. He should attack your Lord, but from
within range of your Tower. If not, pull the Lord back a bit, then charge
him and take him down to half hit points quickly. When he retreats, don't
follow him, but send the Lord N of the Tower (NW of your base, not N of your
base: there are too many enemies there). To the NW, you'll find 4 Giant
Spiders who join your cause. Pull them back to safety for now, and leave the
Lord next to the Tower to heal and handle Draelor's next attack.
Meanwhile, your Workers should have been building. As soon as the Breeding
Pit is done, research Paralyze. As soon as that's done, bring a Spider up
behind the Tower. On the next attack from Draelor, send the Lord and the
Spider up. This will be the end of that annoying Elven Scout, as well as
attacks on your base. (Note: You'll probably be able to do this on his third
attack.)
Once you've started researching Paralyze, upgrade your Fortress to Level 3
and get your Workers to put up a Shadow Lair and a Black Vault. I don't
bother with a Beast Lair in this mission. Once they're done, put one on each
resource (or both on ore, if you're really short on that).
>>> Middle of the Mission <<<
Now there's no time limit, so you have as much time as you need to accomplish
the following:
- Train Slavemasters up to 100 Population.
- Have 12 Wraiths for your offense: 8 for Black Riders, 4 for detection.
Don't leave any in your Tower. You don't need anyone in there anymore.
- Keep the 4 Spiders you already have, but you don't need more.
- Train Orc Bowmen to max capacity. Black Riders will be your melee
troops, so you don't need Orc Slashers.
- Dark Arsenal: Get damage and armor upgrades (2 of each), plus Raven
Fletching.
- Breeding Pit: Get damage and armor upgrades (2 of each). You should
already have Paralyze, but don't bother with Spray Venom.
- Black Vault: Get Greater Perception and Morgul-blade.
Even after all this is done, you should still have over 2000 of each
resource, in case you need it. You definitely don't need to mine out the
resources before you begin your attack though.
>>> Endgame <<<
Here are some tips for all the attacks in this mission, which I shall not
repeat in the walkthrough for each attack:
1. Scout with 4 Wraiths (Greater Perception gives them great line of
sight).
2. Put them on Hold Position near the enemy, then attack-move into the
area, leading with the Lord and any Black Riders you have.
3. Micromanage to pull back weakened Riders and Spiders.
4. After combat, if you have fewer than 8 Black Riders, use any Fate
Points earned to raise more from your Wraiths.
5. Replace units as necessary, and be certain to always have some Wraiths
around.
First Temple: When you have a full army and all necessary upgrades, head N
from your base. You'll run into 2 Rangers, 2 Beornings (in human form) and a
cloaked Elven Archer. If you lead with the Lord and get the Spiders to
attack different enemies, you should sustain very little damage. Take Bind
Shadow for the Lord as soon as you can (during combat), and you should have 2
Fate Points left over at the end to get 2 Black Riders. Once the defenders
are dead, a War Post will be planted next to the Elven Shrine, and it will be
yours.
Second Temple: Head NW from your base, then W. Kill the 4 Beornings and 2
Rangers there (again using the Spiders' Paralyze to good advantage). Now
head SW and take out the 3 Elf Wardens, 1 Beorning and 2 Archers. Black
Riders are tough, but don't get careless. Pull them back as necessary, since
Wardens can do some real damage. With these defenders dead, you get your
second Elven Shrine, and you should be able to summon 2 more Black Riders.
Wretched Sentinel: Head back N, then NW. You'll find a Tower, 2 Wardens, 2
Archers and 2 Elven Lightbearers. This is a tough battle. The key is to hit
the Wardens and Archers with your Spiders quickly. Pull out damaged Riders,
and take out the Tower as soon as you can. You'll get hit pretty hard, but
should make it without any losses. Even if you do lose a Rider, though,
don't sweat it. Just train another Wraith and bring it up. Summon 2 more
Riders and heal up a bit. When you're ready, charge W and take out the base
and the few defenders to take control of the Wretched Sentinel. After this,
you should be able to summon your last 2 Riders and your force is complete.
Third Temple: Head straight N from the Wretched Sentinel and take out 2
Wardens to take the third Elven Shrine. We bypassed some defenses by going
via the Wretched Sentinel. But are you telling me that you have 9
Ringwraiths and you're NOT planning to take out every filthy Elf on this map?
Come on! Head E and take out the defenders on that path. They're not
pushovers, so be careful, but you should be able to take them all down
without losses.
Fourth Temple: Now you'll start facing some decent defenses. Head NW from
the Third Temple to find a Ballista Tower, a Camp and plenty of defenders.
Attack-move into the area, but force-attack the Tower with 6 or so of your
Black Riders. You need to bring that thing down fast. Vile Surge is useful
here in case it looks like you're going to lose units. (Note: The fallen
tree E of this base can be attacked and destroyed. I have no idea why.)
Also, there are resources here, in case you need more.
Head N from the resources and kill a few guys on the path. Then head E and
defeat 2 Rangers, 3 Wardens, 3 Archers and a Beorning to take the fourth
Elven Shrine.
Fifth Temple: Head N and kill the 3 Wardens, then get ready. There are
massive defenses to the N, including one Ballista Tower. This is the last
attack of the mission, so use Summon Bog and Vile Surge freely. Or, if you
have 7 Fate Points, start the attack with Summon Balrog and then charge
everyone in. However you do it, defeating all the defenders will give you
the fifth Elven Shrine, and you'll get to see a cutscene of Dol Guldur's
defenders dropping dead while on patrol. Woo-hoo! Go Darkness!
-------------------------------------------------
[[6.5]] Mission 5: Sweep of the Trollshaws (1999)
-------------------------------------------------
Units Available: Goblin Worker
Goblin Spearman
Goblin Slavemaster
Orc Bowman
Orc Slasher
Warg Rider
Giant Spider
Wraith
Black Rider (start with four; can't make any more)
Troll Bonecleaver (in the second part of the mission)
Troll Stonehurler (in the second part of the mission)
Heroes Available: None
Places of Power: Enchanting Willow (grants spell that slows enemies;
middle of the N edge, between Dwarves and Men, in the
second part of the mission)
Expansions: One at each Troll location: W, N and NE of base
Objectives:
1. Destroy the 3 Troll Dens: to the W, N and NE
2. Destroy the encampment of Men in the NW corner
3. Destroy the encampment of Dwarves in the NE corner
4. (Optional) Destroy the Beornings' Nature's Haven in the N middle
>>> Initial Notes <<<
You're not going to believe this, but this is yet another mission in which
you have all the time in the world to build up your forces. Basically, the
Trolls don't come out to attack you, and the Men and Dwarves don't appear
until you've taken care of the Trolls. So you can get your army nice and
ready.
You get 4 Black Riders in this mission, but no Heroes, so you can't make
more. So don't lose your Riders! You'll also get to make Troll Dens and
Trolls once you've fulfilled Objective 1. You'll get one Stonehurler for
destroying each of the N and NE Dens, and you'll get a Bonecleaver for
destroying the W one. So don't worry about the objective concerning saving
Trolls (which I haven't bothered to list above). That is fulfilled
automatically.
>>> Fate Points <<<
No Heroes, so use them on Summon Bog, Vile Surge and Summon Balrog as needed.
>>> Initial Setup <<<
Get 4 Workers on each resource, plus 2 more to start an expansion. Place War
Posts to the W, N and E of your Goblin Hovel to expand your base.
>>> Building Up <<<
While your Workers are being trained, take your 4 Black Riders N to the
middle Gold Circle, but stick a bit W of the road to avoid the Bonecleaver.
Charge straight into the Stonehurler and take him out. (Note: At each Den,
take out the Stonehurler first. He has far fewer hit points, so he goes down
fast.) Then destroy the Troll Den, without disturbing the Bonecleaver to the
S.
With the Den destroyed, you'll get a free Stonehurler, plus the Bonecleaver
that you didn't kill. I don't like Trolls, so it's time for some Ritual
Troll Suicide. With that area cleared, bring up two Workers and a
Slavemaster to build an expansion. Drop a War Post, build a Goblin Hovel,
and train 6 more Workers, so you'll have 4 on each resource. Since you won't
get attacked, don't worry about defenses or other structures yet. Just get
the expansion up. Around this time, try to train at least one more
Slavemaster.
Next, assuming your Riders are healed by now, send them E. Approach the E
Gold Circle from the N end of the path, and kill the Stonehurler. Then
charge S and kill the Bonecleaver. He hits hard, so when you get a Rider in
the yellow, pull him back so the Bonecleaver will focus on someone else, then
charge in again. Kill both Trolls, but leave the Troll Den! This will be
the last Den you'll destroy.
Bring over 2 Workers and a Slavemaster from your N base to start an expansion
here as well. And don't be stingy with more Workers. Go nuts. With your
two expansion bases up, it's time for buildings and upgrades.
Meanwhile, after your Riders have healed, head to the SW corner. Charge N
from there past the Bonecleaver, and kill the Stonehurler. Then turn back
and kill the Bonecleaver, again protecting weakened units. Finally, destroy
the Den and suicide the Troll Bonecleaver that you're awarded for doing so.
At this point, only the Den to the E should remain. After this, explore the
rest of the map with them when you get the chance. There are a few Rangers
in the NW, so I suggest that you attack-move across the map until it's been
thoroughly explored.
>>> Middle of the Mission <<<
Since there's no time limit, I'll just list what you should ultimately have
(and with the flood of resources coming in, this shouldn't be a problem).
Get this stuff in your preferred order:
- Train Slavemasters up to 100 Population.
- Upgrade your Fortress up to Level 4.
- Build 5 Towers spread across your base from W to E. Fill them to
capacity with Slavemasters and Spearmen (no Wraiths needed). These Towers
are needed to handle a possible attack while your forces are away later in
the mission.
- Train 6 Giant Spiders, then train Orc Bowmen up to capacity. As your
resources run out, kill unnecessary Workers to make room for more Bowmen.
- Dark Arsenal: Get damage and armor upgrades (2 of each), Raven
Fletching, Flame Arrows and Poison Arrows.
- Breeding Pit: Get damage and armor upgrades (2 of each) and Paralyze.
- Black Vault: Get Morgul-blade.
If you prefer a different attack force, then build that and adjust the
upgrades accordingly. I didn't list which buildings you need, since that
depends on your attack force. You have enough resources to upgrade to
everything if you want to. (Note: The enemy has no cloaked units, so forget
about building Wraiths.)
Rally your attack forces to the road near the NE corner of the map. The map
will expand soon, and you'll want your forces up there for a quick victory.
>>> Endgame <<<
When your resources have run out, or when you're just ready to move on,
demolish all your structures outside your main base. Also, suicide all but 3
of your Workers, and send them to the S of your base in case they're needed
for repairs. Then build up to max in Bowmen. This isn't really necessary,
but I don't feel like defending the expansions, and I don't want to give my
enemy free kills and razings.
Now, with your 4 Riders, take the E Den to half hit points, at which point
the Trolls will surrender. You'll get one more Troll, whom you can take
along, send to your base or suicide. Also, the map will expand to the N, and
you'll get the Objectives to destroy a base of Men (NW corner) and a base of
Dwarves (NE corner).
Take your Riders N to the Dwarven base. Halt a bit from the base. Rush in a
Rider and draw out defenders. They're mostly clumped in the middle, and your
Bowmen will naturally want to stay back and take out the buildings, so it's a
lot safer if you draw them out first. If things go badly somehow, just use
Vile Surge. When most of them are dead, charge in. There are no Towers, so
just wipe out the entire base.
Head back S to the nearest crossroads (the first place where you can turn W).
At some point, your base or your units may get attacked by some Riders of
Rohan. The AI is very inconsistent here. If it's your base, your Towers
should handle them, but if a Tower is about to fall, pop out a Slavemaster
and run him around. They'll chase him and die. If your units get attacked,
just slaughter the enemy.
Heal as needed, then head W a bit, then N to the N middle of the map. You'll
find 3 Bears, 3 Beornings in human form, a Nature's Haven and a Place of
Power. This is completely unnecessary, but I'm thinking that these nature-
lovers just need to die. If you can micromanage your Spiders to Paralyze at
least the Bears, this battle is a piece of cake. For victory here, you
complete the Optional Objective, plus you get an Enchanted Willow and a few
Fate Points.
Finally, head W, then N to the NW corner. Any remaining units of Men should
be elsewhere on the map, so this base's defenses consist of two Towers.
Summon a Balrog if you feel like it, then just charge in with everyone and
wipe out the base. Your newly-acquired Trolls have been successfully tested
(I guess), and the mission is won.
Units Available: All (Uruk-Hai become available partway through the
mission)
Heroes Available: Saruman
Places of Power: Radiant Monolith (increases rate at which Fate is earned;
just SE of the center of the map AFTER the map expands)
Expansions: None
Objectives:
1. Saruman must survive
2. Kill the Wild Men of the Druadan forest
3. Corrupt the barrows (place a War Post at Gold Circle at S of map)
4. Make at least one Uruk-Hai (bring one Barrow-Wight and one Orc Slasher
to
the White Hand Circle; protect the cocoon until an Uruk-Hai arises)
5. Destroy the encampment of Elves in the NE corner
6. Destroy the encampment of Men in the SE corner
>>> Initial Notes <<<
This level is pretty fun, but it gets weird at the end. (Again, I'm using
version 1.01.0011 of the game.) Let me give a rundown of the 4 stages:
Stage 1 (no time limit): You start with Saruman and 4 cloaked Haradrim
Slayers. You need to kill 6 really powerful Wild Men near the S of the map,
but first you have to take care of 6 Rangers who can see your Slayers.
Stage 2 (no time limit): You can build a base, an army and upgrades without
interruption, but there are no expansions and resources are limited, so be
careful what you get.
Stage 3 (done when the first Uruk-Hai is "born"): You need to grow an Uruk-
Hai out of a Barrow-wight and an Orc Slasher (details in the walkthrough) in
a location far from your base. While this is happening, you need to defend
both your base and the Uruk-Hai cocoon from constant attacks.
Stage 4: This is where it gets weird. The map expands, and you need to
destroy an Elven base and a Human base. Fine. However, some time after
this, ALL Elven units (including Workers) will attack your base. Then,
shortly after that, ALL Human units (including Workers) will charge your
base. After that, neither base builds anything. Hmmm.
Also, it's pretty tricky to get Saruman up to Level 10 in this mission.
Since there are few times when he can fight one or two units alone, and since
there are no small but consistent raiding parties (just 2 massive assaults),
it's hard to get him XP and keep him healthy at the same time. I never use
him again, so I often don't bother fully leveling him. But I'll include some
tips in the walkthrough anyway, in case you plan to use him in later
missions.
I'll give the walkthrough for this mission Stage by Stage.
>>> Fate Points <<<
First two: Invisible Force for Saruman
Next three: Twisting Influence for Saruman
Next three: Pestilence for Saruman
>>> Stage 1: Killing the Wild Men <<<
You start with Saruman, 4 Haradrim Slayers and no ability to build up your
base. Start upgrading your Fortress to Level 5. Then put Saruman just E of
the Black Vault. Soon, 2 Rangers will come that way. Cast Prison of Ice on
one, then kill the other. Once the first gets unfrozen, kill him too.
Saruman will get a bit damaged, but he'll be up to Level 2.
Scout the entire map with your Slayers. There are 4 Rangers to kill, so take
care of them, but avoid combat with the Wild Men. If they see you, just run
away a bit. Any nearby Rangers will follow you, but the Wild Men won't.
Alternatively, you could scout the map with Saruman instead, in order to
level him some more. If you're intent on getting him up to Level 10, then
you should definitely do this, but let him heal a bit between battles.
Once you've scouted the entire map and all Rangers are dead one way or the
other, send your Slayers down to the Gold Circle in the S and kill the Wild
Men (312 hit points, 38 damage, 3 armor). Impressive, aren't they? Also,
get Invisible Force for Saruman when you get 2 Fate Points. You could also
wait for Twisting Influence (which doesn't become available until later), but
you'll get more Fate Points soon enough.
>>> Stage 2: Building Up <<<
With the Wild Men dead, you get 3 Slavemasters, 2 Workers and 2 Orc Slashers.
Your Objective is to corrupt the Barrows, but that won't concern us for a
while. Twisting Influence is now available, so get it once you get 3 Fate
Points. Put Saruman just S of the Black Vault to await 2 Rangers. Again,
use Prison of Ice. When they're dead, put him just E of the Black Vault to
await the last two. (Remember not to get him killed.) That's all the easy
leveling you're going to get for a while. That's also the last of the enemy
attacks until the Barrows have been corrupted.
Put 4 Workers on Ore, 3 on Food and 2 more on construction duties. Place one
War Post well S of your Fortress (to give you room to build) and another S of
your Black Vault (to support the line of Towers you'll build for defense).
You start with a Shadow Lair and a Black Vault, so build a Dark Arsenal and
an Orc Mound (no need for a Beast Lair or a Breeding Pit).
Place 4 (or 5) Towers pretty tightly packed, diagonally-aligned at the SE end
of your base. All enemy attacks will come from the SE. With this done, put
your 2 construction Workers on resources (one on each). Next, do the
following in any order:
- Train Slavemasters to 100 Population.
- Train until you have 6 Orc Slashers (so 4 more, if you haven't lost
any). Send them to the W middle of the map, far NW of the White Hand Circle,
which is NW of the Gold Circle on the minimap. Hold Position there.
- Put 2 Wraiths in 2 separate Towers for detection, then fill up all your
Towers with Slavemasters and Spearmen, as usual.
- Train 4 more Wraiths and up to a total of 12 Haradrim Slayers.
- Dark Arsenal: Get Goblin Frenzy and Poison Arrows.
- Black Vault: Get damage and armor upgrades (3 of each), plus Greater
Perception.
When resources run out, kill all but 3 Workers, but you don't need to wait
for that. You're not training to capacity for now, and your resources will
run out before Stage 4 starts. So just do it when they run out.
Send a Slavemaster from one of your Towers to the Gold Circle (the Barrows).
Put your 4 mobile Wraiths on Hold Position in the White Hand Circle; put
Saruman and 6 Slayers just SE of the White Hand Circle; leave 6 Slayers just
behind your Towers for base defense. Have 3 Workers on permanent Tower
repair duty. The other Workers should either be mining or dead.
Once all this is positioned and you have all the necessary upgrades, have
your Slavemaster plant a War Post on the Barrows (at the middle of the big
stone X), then run him back to the Tower that has one space open.
>>> Stage 3: Birth of the Uruk-Hai <<<
Your main Objective is to build an Uruk-Hai. But you're really better off
building 6 simultaneously. So leave your Orc Slashers where they are.
Periodically, a Barrow-wight will appear on the corrupted Barrows. You want
to grab each and send it to the White Hand Circle. There will be 6 in total.
It's OK if some die, but try to get all 6 to the Circle.
Once you've gotten them all, send an Orc Slasher into the White Hand Circle
for each Barrow-wight that's there. Now, the Uruk-Hai cocoons will appear
and start increasing in hit points (very, very slowly). By sending in all
Orc Slashers at once, you'll get the benefit that all the Uruk-Hai will be
created at once. If you didn't need all your Slashers (due to dead Barrow-
wights), just suicide the rest.
As for defense, you will need to pay attention to three places at once. In
the N, there will be constant attacks from the SE, consisting of Wardens and
Archers. For me, only the first attack had Rangers, so I have more problems
keeping my Towers up than keeping my Haradrim alive. Use your 3 repair
Workers after each attack to fix the Towers.
In the S, attacks will mainly come from the SE. Your main problem will be
that they don't generally bring Rangers, so everyone will focus their attacks
on Saruman. That's why he's there. Otherwise, they'd run straight to your
cocoons and Wraiths. However, this does get him pretty damaged, so use
Twisting Influence to grab Elven Archers. This will deplete their attack
force and give you another tank if you need it. By the next stage, you
should have 2-4 Elven Archers among your forces. Remember that you also have
Prison of Ice and Invisible Force: Saruman is quite the defensive machine.
Finally, Barrow-wights will appear one by one in the Barrows. Enemy raiding
parties will attack the Barrow-wights, so try to watch for them and grab them
quickly. It's quite possible to lose a Barrow-wight if you're focused on the
attacks to the N, so don't wait around forever for all 6. If you think you
lost one without knowing it, just send in the Slashers and start the cocoons.
These battles will get you Fate Points, so grab Pestilence when you can.
When the Uruk-Hai are close to being born, attacks on the White Hand Circle
will come simultaneously from the S and SE. Keep using Saruman as a tank,
but remember to spread out your Elven Archers to protect the cocoons.
>>> Stage 4: And you thought that last Stage was about defense? <<<
When the first Uruk-Hai has been born, the map expands, and you get a final
Objective to destroy the bases of Elves and Men. When all your cocoons have
morphed into Uruk-Hai (which should be very soon if you started them all
together, send everyone back to your base and start training Uruk-Hai (now
available at the Orc Mound) to capacity. By now, your resources should be
out, so suicide all but 3 Workers. I also suicide any Elven Archers, since
they're not upgraded (and because it seems like the Orc thing to do).
Your final army should consist of Saruman, 4 Wraiths, 12 Haradrim Slayers and
Uruk-Hai to max capacity. So if you lost any forces, rebuild them as well.
Now position all your forces NW of your Towers. Seriously, it's not worth
trying to take them at their bases. They're just going to charge you anyway
(and soon).
When your army is built, I suggest sending a single Uruk-Hai to the Gold
Circle in the NE corner. The huge Elven army should be clustered together
near the front of their base. I like to draw them out just to separate their
attack from the attack of Men by as much as possible. Use the Uruk-Hai to
draw their attention, and then run back to your base. (If you run into them
on the way, just run back immediately.)
The Elven attack is often pretty easy to handle. Use Summon Bog when they're
within range of your Towers, then attack-move out with your army. This
attack is made much easier by the fact that some of their Huorns lag behind
and get slaughtered easily later. Use Twisting Influence on one of the
Huorns that arrives with their initial forces, and be sure to keep Saruman
alive.
After the combat, replenish any lost forces and just wait (and heal). Elf
stragglers might still come by, but the Elf base is now devoid of any
defenders at all. Pretty soon, though, the Men will send ALL of their units
at you, and they don't have any slow Huorns. They hit you with a pretty
massive force of Riders of Rohan and Gondor Swordsmen (plus a few of those
brave-hearted Workers, bless their souls).
You will definitely have casualties from this attack, even with proper use of
Summon Bog (though you could take a shot at using Summon Obelisk instead).
However, after this attack is defeated, both bases are defenseless. There's
one more trap, though, so rebuild to full and heal.
At this point, if you want Saruman up to Level 10 at any cost, you could have
him single-handedly destroy both bases. Heroes get much less XP from
buildings, but this will definitely get him up to Level 9 and probably to
Level 10. Or you could use your whole army and forget about leveling the
Wizard of Many Colors.
Whatever your choice, destroy the Elven base first. After you do this, an
army of Huorns will wake up a bit S of the Elven base and charge your base.
(This happens after you destroy either base.) Now just run everyone home
(either your whole army or just Saruman if he was alone). The Huorns don't
use Tree Form on this mission, so your units won't get too bruised. At your
base, start off with Twisting Influence and Summon Bog, then finish off the
plant bastards.
Replenish and heal if necessary. Take your army to the SE corner and destroy
the Tower and Ballista Tower at the entrance of the base of Men. You can now
use Saruman to destroy the rest of the base, which is defenseless, for XP.
Also, there is a Radiant Monolith NW of the base of Men, guarded by 2 Riders
of Rohan and 2 Swordsmen. These are the last units left, so use them to
level Saruman if you wish, but be careful: they can kill him.
Additionally, in previous games, once I took the Radiant Monolith, a few
units (I don't remember exactly which) would occasionally appear in the base
of Men and be sent to take back the Place of Power. These could
theoretically be used to level up Saruman. However, in the game I played
while writing this walkthrough, this didn't happen for some reason.
So, spend as much or as little time as you'd like trying to level Saruman.
When you're done, finish up the base of men to prove the superiority of your
Uruk-Hai warriors.
--------------------------------------------------
[[6.7]] Mission 7: The Pass of Cirith Ungol (2000)
--------------------------------------------------
Units Available: All
Heroes Available: Lord of the Nazgul
Gollum and Grishnakh may be purchased
Places of Power: Silent Watcher (line of sight bonus; NW corner: this is
the
main Objective)
Expansions: Just S of the starting base
SW of the bridge at the center of the map
Objectives:
1. Capture the Silent Watcher Place of Power
2. Destroy the base in the SW corner
3. (Optional) Release the terror of Shelob
>>> Initial Notes <<<
Finally, we've come to a tough mission for the Minions. There are three
entrances to your base, from the SW, S and SE. The entrance in the SE is
easy to miss: it's just a narrow pass, but they will use it if you don't
defend it. Their raiding parties are tough in this mission. After the first
few minutes, a typical one might consist of 2 Huorns, 4 Elven Archers and 2
Elven Lightbearers. As you can see, it's certainly not a pushover.
Far to the SW of your base is the sole bridge to the western 2/3 of the map,
but it's defended by 2 Towers. Once you can knock down those Towers, that's
an excellent chokepoint at which to build 4 of your own Towers and hold off
their forces.
The key to this mission is patience. Build a solid defense and micromanage
your units during each raid. You're limited on resources at your starting
base, so just be patient and defend for a while (but don't upgrade!). The
second order of business is to expand to the S, but there's no rush. Your
expansion will get hit hard, so be sure you're capable of defending the
chokepoint first. Ultimately, they'll likely run out of resources at about
the time you're ready for a full-scale assault, and it's not really worth it
to try to hit them before that anyway.
>>> Fate Points <<<
First eight: create eight Black Riders
>>> Initial Setup <<<
Put 4 Workers on each resource, plus 2 more for construction. Drop a War
Post to the SW of the Orc Mound (for Towers to defend your SW entrance) and
train another Slavemaster early. Fortunately, you start with a few warriors
to hold off early attacks: the Lord of the Nazgul, 3 Spearman, 4 Slashers and
4 Bowmen. Position them at the S entrance to your base and micromanage these
units to handle the early raids. As usual, try to avoid losses, but don't
worry too much about them. These are cheap units anyway.
As early as possible (just after you've queued up everything listed above,
but before the Workers are trained), send the Lord to the SW to find an egg.
There are several of these across the map, and each will give you a Giant
Spider. With the Lord selected, right-click on the egg. Head a bit more S
and click on the egg there as well. You now have 2 Spiders for your early
defenses. Take these units back to your base for now. You can get the rest
of the eggs in the vicinity later once you have better defenses.
>>> Building Up <<<
With your construction Workers, build 2 Towers at the SW entrance to your
base, then 2 Towers at the SE entrance and finally 2 Towers at the S
entrance. While you're building, repulse any raids with your small army (and
don't let the Workers die: that's just wasteful). Put your Slavemasters in
the W Towers and your Spearmen in the E Towers for now.
Leave your army by the S Towers, but react to an attack at any entrance with
all your ungarrisoned warriors. Huorns will come soon. They're tough, so
pull back your army and use the Lord to draw any Huorns past your Towers for
free hits. Repair your Towers constantly with your Workers and focus on
repelling each attack without losses.
In between battles, build a Shadow Lair and train 3 Wraiths, one for each
entrance. Put these 3 Wraiths inside Towers to spot the cloaked Elven
Archers who will come soon. By this point, you likely have at least 2 Fate
Points, so build some more Wraiths so you can have Black Riders in your army.
They'll make your army a great deal tougher. Keep making more as you get
Fate Points.
The raids will be getting steadily tougher, so it's time to get some
upgrades. But you're very limited on resources on this location, so it's
wise to be stingy. Put up a Dark Arsenal and get Poison Arrows, then Goblin
Frenzy. Upgrade your Fortress to Level 4, then to Level 5. Build a Black
Vault, then get Greater Perception and Morgul-blade. Finally, build a
Breeding Pit and research Paralyze. You'll get all the Spiders you need from
eggs, so forget the Beast Lair.
With these buildings done, put one construction Worker on each resource, but
be sure to call them out for Tower repairs if necessary. Once the upgrades
are under way, train Slavemasters to 100 population, use them to fill your
Towers and fill out all the empty spaces with Spearmen.
>>> Middle of the Mission <<<
At this point, you have 2 full Towers at each entrance. If you've kept
making Black Riders with the Fate Points you're getting for repulsing enemy
raids, you should have at least 4 or so around this point. Don't get cocky,
though. The attacks start getting brutal, and it's entirely possible to lose
even one of your high hit point Riders, so just stay on top of your defenses
for now.
After a major raid (and once you have a few Riders at home), send the Lord to
explore to the S. Avoid the bridge to the SW, but otherwise explore the
whole area. There are 8 more Spider eggs. Open them all, and get the
arachnids back to your base. The Lord or your Spiders may run into enemy
raids on the way (they're pretty much continuous now), so be careful to get
them home safely.
Keep making Black Riders up to 8, but don't spend resources on anything else
yet. With the Lord, several Riders and the 10 or so Spiders you have (it's
not a problem if you lost some), you can outlast them if necessary, so the
key is not to rush. Their attacks are pretty sporadic (rather than
periodic), so it's important to have the situation in hand before you try
anything.
In your scouting, you should have found 2 enemy Towers guarding the bridge to
the SW, as well as an expansion site to the S of your base. After an attack,
send the Lord and your Riders SW to take out the 2 Towers, then retreat home.
In the playthrough I'm doing as I'm writing this, I was hit by a raiding
party while attacking the Towers. If that happens, just pull back, take them
out at your base, heal for a bit, then go finish the Towers. Once again:
time is on your side, but at the moment, numbers aren't. So pull back if
needed.
Sometime around now, your initial resources may run dry. You still don't
need to rush to expand. You shouldn't be spending on anything other than
Wraiths for more Black Riders, so your food and ore stores will wait for you.
At some point, when you have plenty of Riders, it'll be time to expand. Once
the following 2 conditions are met:
1. A major raid has just occurred
2. You're feeling lucky
charge S with the Lord, your Riders and any extra Wraiths. Drop one War Post
near the resources and another one near the bridge. Get some of your Workers
to build a Goblin Hovel while at least 2 of them are building Towers at the
bridge. The goal is to get up 4 Towers and to move garrisoned units from
your Towers to the N into these Towers at the bridge. The bridge is the sole
chokepoint leading into your area of the map, so feel free to empty your
northern Towers to fill those at the bridge.
Once you have 4 full Towers at the bridge, backed by the Lord and a few Black
Riders, you should have an easy time with any further raids. They'll still
be tough (plenty of Huorns coming your way), but 4 full Towers are a powerful
force.
At your newly defended expansion, put up a Smelter and a Slaughterhouse to
get resources coming in again. At this point, suicide any remaining Orcs and
Goblins (who are not garrisoned), as well as any Spiders you don't want.
With the Lord and 8 Riders around, I usually only keep 4 Spiders for my final
attack.
Keep in mind at this point that they're still very dangerous. Don't lose
Riders carelessly. You should have plenty by now (perhaps even all 8), so
you can switch them out to let the wounded heal.
>>> Endgame <<<
OK, it's time to finish this mission. While you're continuing to micromanage
your defenses, do the following:
- Black Vault: Get all 3 damage and armor upgrades.
- Breeding Pit: If you decided to keep any Spiders, get all 3 damage and
armor upgrades. If you feel you're short on resources, just suicide all your
Spiders and forget about this.
- Be sure that you have 8 Black Riders. Replace them if they fall.
- Train 4 Wraiths for your offensive, then train Uruk-Hai to max capacity.
If you've proceeded at the pace that I've suggested, then the enemy likely
has only 2 or 3 attacks left before running out of resources. I find it
easier to just wait it out, but you can charge ahead with the next part
earlier if you want. Just be sure to train more Wraiths to replace fallen
Riders, and NEVER get caught out in the open without a single Wraith. Their
Elven Archers are cloaked by now.
Note: I'm not certain of this, but I believe that their attacks stop once you
cross the bridge and take out their defenders on the other side. I've played
this mission quite a few times, and I've never gotten attacked after crossing
the bridge. This either means that I cross the bridge just after they've run
out of resources EACH TIME (which is rather unlikely) or there's some command
in their AI which stops their attack at that point.
Once your army is ready and their attacks have stopped, it's time to wipe
them out. On the far side of the bridge, there are 2 Towers and 2 Huorns
(who are unfortunately too smart to get drawn back to your base). With your
full army of the Lord, 8 Black Riders, 4 Wraiths, 4 Giant Spiders and Uruk-
Hai up to capacity, charge the W side of the bridge and destroy everyone.
Keep the Wraiths back a bit and try to pull out damaged Riders. You should
not lose anyone on this charge is you hit fast and hard.
Tangent: The Mystery of Shelob: Just to the W is a crossroads. To the N of
that is a Ranger bound in webs. If you kill the Ranger, you release Shelob.
However, she's very unreliable. Sometimes she attacks your guys, sometimes
she follows your army around looking for Elves, and sometimes she just chills
like a villain. Plus, you can't force attack her unless she attacks you
first, so I don't really think it's worth bringing her into this. I suggest
you just bypass the optional quest. End of Tangent.
Lead your army W to the crossroads, then S. By the resources are 3 more
eggs, so get the Spiders. My base has never been attacked after I crossed
the bridge, but it may just be a coincidence that they always run out of
resources around then. So I'm not sure about the AI there. For safety, I
suggest leaving one Rider behind at the crossroads, just in case the enemy
attacks haven't stopped.
Lead the rest of your army S of the new resources and charge W into the enemy
base. Even if their resources are out, they still have plenty of defenses,
so don't be careless and always pull back weakened Riders. Be sure to force-
attack any Towers that you see, since your stupid, stupid troops will attack
buildings after the defenders have fallen, while the Towers are slaughtering
their pals.
There are some Bears around, and Spiders with Paralyze are great for handling
them, so be sure to micromanage that. Destroy all the buildings and replace
fallen Riders with your Wraiths (but be sure to keep 2 Wraiths around). Heal
for a bit, then take out the 3 Towers just to the N (which you avoided by
taking the base from its rear entrance).
Bring up your Black Rider from the crossroads, rebuild to 8 Black Riders with
Wraiths from your base if necessary. Their base is now down, but there are
quite a few units defending the fortress to the N (the final objective), so
it's nice to have a full and fully-healed army.
Outside the walls, they have a Ballista Tower, 2 Huorns and 8 Archers. Plus,
they have some more units (but no Towers or Huorns) inside the walls. If you
didn't use any Fate Powers on the base to the S, then you should have at
least 7 Fate Points, so summon a Balrog on top of the Huorns and charge in.
Otherwise, just charge in with everyone, but be sure to set your Wraiths on
Hold Position nearby so they can spot without being killed.
Just keep charging towards the Place of Power inside the walls. There are
some units on ledges inside, but your Uruk-Hai will handle them easily. Once
the defenders around the Silent Watcher are dead, you take the Place of Power
and Cirith Ungol.
---------------------------------------
[[6.8]] Mission 8: A Hidden Plan (3018)
---------------------------------------
Units Available: All
Heroes Available: Saleme
Gollum, Grishnakh and Lord of the Nazgul may be purchased
Places of Power: Ancient Fountain (regeneration bonus; NW of starting base)
Expansions: just W of the starting base
SW corner
N of the starting base
Objectives:
1. Capture Upbourn by assassinating Wulfhelm without being seen or by
killing everyone in the town
2. Destroy the base just outside of Upbourn
>>> Initial Notes <<<
You start with a Level 1 Saleme, and I like using her in the last mission for
her healing ability, so one of the goals in this mission is to get her up to
Level 10. Additionally, the Lord of the Nazgul is available for purchase.
It's expensive (3 Fate Points for him and another 8 for his Black Riders),
but I find Haradrim Slayers to be rather weak on the front line, and if you
get rid of their Rangers to keep your Slayers cloaked, then your Uruk-Hai
suddenly become front line units. So I like to go with Black Riders and
Uruk-Hai.
Their Riders of Rohan tend to charge far into your base, to the area just N
of your Goblin Hovel, so your Towers should surround this area. Unlike in
other missions, the enemy won't get distracted by your Towers, so don't put
them too far out. The attacks come from the NW, NE and W, but they all tend
to end up in a brawl in the area just N of your Hovel.
Additionally, none of the expansion bases are discovered by the enemy unless
you lead them there, and neither is the Ancient Fountain, so you don't need
to thin your forces by defending multiple sites. Finally, DON'T enter their
city (the gate is hard to miss) with anything but cloaked Slayers. It's much
faster to finish off Upbourn by assassinating Wulfhelm.
>>> Fate Points <<<
First three: recruit the Lord of the Nazgul
Next five: create Black Riders
Next three: Blood Mark for Saleme
Next two: Poison Trap for Saleme
Next three: create Black Riders
>>> Initial Setup <<<
Your initial army consists of Saleme, 4 Haradrim Slayers, 5 Orc Slashers and
4 Orc Bowmen. The Slayers aren't cloaked, so this is a pretty weak army, but
they'll do for now (and they don't really need to survive anyway). Put 4
Workers on each resource and another 2 for construction (starting to sense a
pattern there?).
Once you've queued up your Workers and started building a Slaughterhouse and
a Smelter, send Saleme directly N from your base until she hits a wall (don't
stray W, or you might encounter the enemy). It's about 1/3 of the way up the
map. You're at the right place if you see an ore resource. From there, head
a bit SW to find the Ancient Fountain. The first attack doesn't come for a
little bit longer, and the early attacks are much easier to handle if you
have the Regeneration bonus. Now send Saleme home. They won't find the
Fountain, so there's no need to defend it.
>>> Building Up <<<
Drop a War Post just SE of the Orc Mound to give yourself a bit more room for
construction. Next, build 5 Towers is a semicircle to the N of your Goblin
Hovel. Put the easternmost one just to the NE of the Fortress. Spread them
out enough to allow some room for a field of combat between them, but you
should be able to put them close enough together so that they all reach the
area N of the Hovel. Put your starting 5 Slavemasters in some Towers once
they're built.
With the Towers nearly done, put one of your construction Workers on ore.
You'll be low on ore by now, and the rest of the buildings don't need to be
put up too quickly. The first attack may come around now. The attacks
consist mainly of Riders of Rohan, with a few Elven Archers, Elven
Lightbearers and Rangers showing up. They have decent numbers, but 5 full
Towers will make them easy to handle. For now, try to pull back wounded
units to let the Ancient Fountain do its work between battles. But don't
worry about losses: other than Saleme, these units are expendable.
Upgrade your Fortress of Mordor to Level 4 and build a Dark Arsenal when your
fifth Tower is done. Then send this final Worker to food and research Poison
Arrows at the Dark Arsenal. Don't build a Black Vault yet. It's more
important to fill those Towers.
Cloaked Elven Archers will be coming soon, so train 2 Wraiths and put one
each in the second westernmost and second easternmost Towers. This will give
you plenty of detection. Since Spearmen train much faster, start filling
your Towers with Spearmen first, but leave some spaces for the remaining
Slavemasters you need to train. When you're done with this, you should have
population capacity 100 and 5 full Towers.
Note: Don't fill your Towers with your Slashers or Bowmen. You need some
bodies around to protect Saleme until you can get the Lord of the Nazgul and
some Uruk-Hai.
When possible, upgrade your Fortress to Level 5 and take a Worker off food to
build a Black Vault. At the Vault, get Assassin's Cloak and Greater
Perception for now. When resources allow, also get Goblin Frenzy and Morgul-
blade.
Meanwhile, keep fighting off their attacks until you get 3 Fate Points.
Remember that your Towers don't give you Fate Points, so you need to get your
army into the fight. With 3 Fate Points, get the Lord of the Nazgul. The
next several (5 or so) Fate Points should be spent on Black Riders, so train
some Wraiths so that you can summon a Rider as soon as you get a Fate Point.
Position them S of your Hovel to keep them safe.
>>> Middle of the Mission <<<
With the Lord defending your base and Black Riders arriving shortly, you can
now expand. Right after an attack, take Saleme, a Slavemaster and 2 Workers
W of your base. You'll have to go NW to cross the stream, but cling to the S
edge of the map. If you run into enemy forces, run home and try to save your
units.
If the coast is clear, send those Workers and the Slavemaster to the SW
corner of the map. There is an expansion site there which is never
discovered by the enemy. Drop a War Post by the resources and build a Hovel.
Now you can send Saleme home (being sure not to lead them to your expansion).
The expansion is undefended, but safe.
After the Hovel is up, build a Slaughterhouse and a Smelter. You could send
your Workers from your starting base once your resources dry up, but then you
face the danger of encountering a raiding party, so I suggest training new
Workers at the SW expansion and suiciding the extra Workers at your starting
base. Just be sure to keep 2 Workers at your starting base for Tower
repairs.
At home, you should keep defending against their raids. Keep training
Wraiths and making Black Riders when possible. The attacks are not too
common, but they're strong, so don't underestimate them, and remember that
they won't stop anytime soon.
With the expansion up, you'll have plenty of resources for the rest of the
mission. While you're defending, do the following:
- Summon 5 Black Riders as you get more Fate Points.
- Train enough Wraiths such that # Riders + # Wraiths = 12 (so that you
still have 4 Wraiths left later when you get your 8th Rider).
- Black Vault: Get all 3 damage and armor upgrades.
- Train Uruk-Hai to max capacity. (Once you have 3 Uruk-Hai or so,
suicide all your remaining Orc Slashers and Bowmen.)
Once you have a few Riders and 6 or so Uruk-Hai, it's time to lead the
assault to your enemy. Head to the W and set up your forces on the road to
the S of their base. Rally all further Uruk-Hai and Wraiths to the expansion
as well.
With your army building and likely nearly fully upgraded by now, it's time to
level up Saleme and get her abilities. You should have stopped making Riders
at 5 in order to start saving Fate Points for Blood Mark (which makes
leveling Saleme much easier).
Take your army (including your Wraiths, since they will have cloaked Archers)
to the S end of their base. There are some hills, which makes it annoying to
maneuver, but you should find the enemy Foundry, with one Ballista Tower to
its SW and another to its NE. If the enemy has more than 2 or so units S of
the Ballista Tower, draw them away from the Tower to kill them. Otherwise,
just charge the Tower and destroy it.
With the Tower destroyed, pull back to the SW and await a small enemy
counterattack (which might include cloaked Archers). New enemy units
congregate just SW of the Foundry, so it's an ideal place for Saleme to level
up. With the counterattack destroyed, send her NE to start killing. Keep
her out of range of the Ballista Tower to the NE, but feel free to get cheap
hits on both the Workers at the Foundry and on the mass of Gondor Swordsmen
NW of the Foundry (who don't seem to notice getting hit).
Get Blood Mark as soon as you get 3 Fate Points and use this to prolong the
time she can spend over there killing. If she ever faces 2 Riders of Rohan
at once, you may want to pull back and kill them with your army. Also, watch
for arrows from nowhere. This implies the presence of an Elven Archer, so
pull back to deal with that as well.
With the slow but steady stream of enemy units, and with the help of Blood
Mark, Saleme will get up to Level 10 in no time. After Blood Mark, use the
next 2 Fate Points on Poison Trap, then the next 3 on more Black Riders.
Also, from now on, remember that you have Blood Mark. Use this to help out
Black Riders in the thick of combat later.
>>> Endgame <<<
Your full army should now be congregated SW of their base (including the
Uruk-Hai that were being trained while Saleme was leveling). Check that the
coast is clear to the NE (not more than 1 or 2 units), then charge the
further Ballista Tower, leading with the Lord. With this Tower down, run
away to the SW again and take out any punks that follow you down. Don't pick
any other fights. The only goal is to take down that one Ballista Tower.
Next, head to the W edge of the map, then N to the wall. Follow the wall to
the NE until you find another Ballista Tower. Let your troops heal if
needed. When ready, charge in, leading with the Lord, and take down that
Ballista Tower and the regular Tower to the N of it.
At this point, the only defenses left are any Gondor Swordsmen still near the
Foundry, a mass of Riders of Rohan N of their Stronghold, and one Ballista
Tower at the NE end of their base. Their base is tightly packed with
buildings, which is a disadvantage to both your Black Riders and their Riders
of Rohan, so I suggest leaving your Riders behind at this point and inching
forward with Saleme and your Uruk-Hai. Fully leveled, they should slaughter
the enemy forces with ease.
Once you get within range of the enemy Ballista Tower, charge in with your
Riders and take it out. It's safer than trying to use your Uruk-Hai. When
the last building is destroyed, you'll have completed the second Objective.
Now it's time to kill Wulfhelm. The entrance to Upbourn is E of the
destroyed enemy base. Scout it with a Wraith. The defenses include a
Ballista Tower, a Ranger, 4 Riders of Rohan and 4 Gondor Swordsmen. That
Ranger is the only reason they can see your cloaked Slayers. So train until
you have 4 Haradrim Slayers (suicide units if you need to) and put them
nearby for now.
Send Saleme and your Uruk-Hai to the SW of the entrance to Upbourn (well out
of range of the Tower). Send Saleme alone to attack the Ranger (since she's
immune to the Tower's Knockback). Once you have his attention, run back to
the Uruk-Hai and slaughter anyone who follows (including the Ranger).
They're now blind to your Slayers, so send in your 4 Slayers to take out the
defenses at the gate.
Now save the game.
You need to kill Wulfhelm (125 hit points, 25 damage, 0 armor) without being
spotted by Rangers. If you're spotted, you'll have to kill everyone on the
map, so it's easier just to reload. But you won't need to do that if you're
reading this walkthrough.
Take your 4 Slayers (but not Saleme) into the entrance, then head E across
the stream. Follow the E edge of the stream to the N until you find the next
road across the stream. Wait here. Two Rangers patrol near Wulfhelm, and I
think they have the Eagle Eye upgrade, so you need to be careful.
Wait for both Rangers to appear. As soon as the second one disappears from
view, have your Slayers (who are at the stream crossing) attack Wulfhelm.
This timing should allow them to kill Wulfhelm without being seen by either
Ranger. With their Captain dead, the defenders of Upbourn decide that the
most prudent course of action is to flee the city. Woo-hoo!
-----------------------------------------
[[6.9]] Mission 9: The Morgul Road (2000)
-----------------------------------------
Units Available: All
Heroes Available: Lord of the Nazgul
Gollum and Grishnakh may be purchased
Places of Power: Orc Mask (attack bonus; S of the first expansion site)
Expansions: just W of the barricade to the W of your base
SE of the main enemy base in the W
Objectives:
1. Help Grosh's army destroy the enemy encampment to the west
2. (Optional) Find the archer's perch behind the enemy encampment
>>> Initial Notes <<<
There are two barricades in this mission dividing up the three areas: E,
middle and W. Your base is in the E area, the target enemy base is in the W
area. The middle area contains 2 expansion sites and several groups of
Gondor Swordsmen fighting Orc Slashers (the fights are in stasis until you
get there).
Additionally, there are ledges to the N of both the W and E areas, allowing
Archers or Uruk-Hai to attack the bases from behind. These ledges are
accessible from the middle area. The ledge above your base is the sole
source of enemy attacks until you break down the first barricade. Elven
Archers will come periodically in groups of 2, 3 or 4.
Finally, while the enemy attacks are minimal, you have limited resources at
your starting base, so it's vital to save enough to start up your expansion
base past the first barricade.
>>> Fate Points <<<
First eight: create Black Riders
>>> Initial Setup <<<
Put 4 Workers on each resource, plus 2 for construction. Place one War Post
to the NW of your Fortress of Mordor (right next to the cliff so that you
corrupt plenty of land on the ledge as well) and a second one just S of your
Slaughterhouse.
Once you've queued up a few Workers, send your starting forces to the W.
They have 3 Riders of Rohan, 2 Gondor Swordsmen and a Ranger before the first
barricade. Use the Lord and your Troll Bonecleaver as tanks for this attack.
You can draw out the Swordsmen first if you wish, or you could just charge
in. Either way, use your tanks and don't lose any units. This will give you
a Fate Point early on when you need it. Don't engage the Elven Archers on
the ledges now. You'll come back when you have more Uruk-Hai.
After the attack, send your Troll Bonecleaver and 5 Orc Slashers to the SW of
your base to be out of range of the ledge to the N. Then position your Uruk-
Hai and 5 Orc Bowmen next to your War Post to the N to help out against the
Elven Archers that will soon come. Finally, once some land on the ledge is
corrupted, Shadow Walk the Lord of the Nazgul up there.
>>> Building Up <<<
As soon as your Workers are trained, build a Tower NW of your Fortress of
Mordor, right at the curve in the cliffs. Fill it with your 4 Slavemasters.
They never research Elven Cloaks in this mission, so you don't need Wraiths
for spotting in your Towers. Position your Lord on the ledge just NE of the
Tower. His job is to draw fire from the Tower but also to force the Archers
to come within range.
Anytime an attack occurs, quickly charge the Lord and your ranged units into
the fray. Remember that you need them to fight in order to get Fate Points.
Repair the Tower as needed, and keep the Lord back if he gets severely
injured.
After your Workers and the Tower, your most important early objective is to
upgrade your Fortress. It begins at Level 1. So get it up to Level 2 as
soon as you have the resources. With your 2 construction Workers, build an
Orc Mound and a Shadow Lair, then send one of them to the Smelter to help out
with ore. Next, upgrade the Fortress to Level 3 and build a Dark Arsenal and
Black Vault with the other Worker. After he's done with all that (which will
take a while), either put him on a resource or have him near the Tower for
repairs.
>>> Middle of the Mission <<<
Meanwhile, you should keep fighting to the N as attacks come. Train some
Wraiths so you can summon Black Riders as you get Fate Points. After each
battle, if you have a Fate Point, Shadow Walk to ground level, create a Black
Rider from a Wraith, then Shadow Walk back up to the ledge. Remember that
both Riders and Wraiths Shadow Walk with you, so you can just create some
extra Wraiths and have them up on the ledge behind your fighters.
Since the attacks are small, it takes some time to get Fate Points. As
resources permit, do the following:
- Train Slavemasters to max capacity.
- Dark Arsenal: Research Poison Arrows and Goblin Frenzy.
- Black Vault: Research Morgul-blade, Greater Perception and all 3 damage
and armor upgrades.
- Upgrade your Fortress to Level 4, then to Level 5.
At some point, you should suicide your Orc Slashers and Troll Bonecleaver.
You can keep the Bonecleaver if you want, but he's not worth upgrading, so I
just make space for more Uruk-Hai.
As you're getting the upgrades mentioned above and making more Black Riders,
try to start on training some Uruk-Hai. For the charge through the
barricade, I like to have the Lord, 6 Riders (if possible), 2 Wraiths (for
more Riders) and 12 Uruk-Hai. Including everything I've mentioned above,
this should leave you with about 1200 food and 800 ore for your expansion
(once you've mined out your starting resources, which will be soon).
Once you get 3 or 4 Uruk-Hai, suicide your Bowmen as well. With about 8
Uruk-Hai, head W along the N cliff (killing a raiding party if you run into
one) and take out the 2 Elven Archers on the N ledge near the barricade.
Then take out the lone Archer on the S ledge near the barricade and head back
to your Tower to continue supporting your defenses.
Once you have the army mentioned above, wait for the next attack. Right
after the attack, Shadow Walk to ground level and charge W with your forces
(keeping the Wraiths in the rear, as usual). When you break through the
barricade, you'll be charged by 4 Riders of Rohan and 2 Gondor Swordsmen.
Slaughter them and charge further W. Soon you'll find some resources.
Further to the W is a series of pitched battles between Gondor Swordsmen and
Orc Slashers. You keep any Slashers that survive, but I just suicide them
anyway. Don't keep charging W! At some point, shortly after you find the
expansion, just stop. If you see a fight to the W, just let the Slashers
die. It's more important to get your expansion up.
By this point, one or both of your initial resources may be dry. Bring a
Slavemaster and at least 2 (or at most all) of your Workers to the expansion.
Drop a War Post and put up a Hovel, a Slaughterhouse and a Smelter. Then
build 2 Towers SW of your Hovel. They're not necessary, but they'll stop
enemies that somehow sneak past your army. Fill the Towers to capacity with
any Slavemasters you have, training Spearmen if necessary.
>>> Endgame <<<
By now, you should have enough Fate Points to create the rest of your Black
Riders. Though the enemy doesn't have cloaked Archers, I'm very paranoid, so
I usually like to have 2 Wraiths hanging around my expansion. Now train
Uruk-Hai to maximum population. Minor attacks will come from the W. Your
Uruk-Hai are great at taking on Archers because of their Knockback ability,
so I usually pull the Lord and the Black Riders back at this point.
Once you have a full army of the Lord, 8 Black Riders and tons of Uruk-Hai,
charge to the W. Slaughter everyone in your path but pull back wounded
units. Their army really has no chance of defeating yours, but they're quite
capable of killing a unit or two, so be careful. Every time you find Elven
Archers on a ledge above you, focus your Uruk-Hai on killing them. If you
get any Orc Slashers on the way, just add them to your army or suicide them.
Kill everyone in the area E of the barricade. From the barricade, take your
Uruk-Hai S to take out the Archers on the ledge there. Then charge your army
far to the SE to take the Orc Mask. It's guarded by 3 Riders of Rohan and 2
Gondor Swordsmen. If you've taken out everyone E of the barricade all
attacks will now cease, so you don't need to protect your bases or the Orc
Mask. (I'm not sure where they were coming from, anyway.)
Attack-move your army toward the Gold Circle on the minimap. This is the
ledge behind the enemy base. On the way, you'll run into a 2 Riders of
Rohan, a Ranger and 2 Elven Archers. Once they're dead, send your melee
units to just E of the second barricade, but attack-move your Uruk-Hai to the
Gold Circle.
Once you get near, you'll see a Ballista Tower in the enemy base. Charge
your Uruk-Hai past everything else and take out that Tower first. Pull
wounded units to the back of the ledge. With the Tower gone, just let your
Uruk-Hai work their magic. They'll destroy a significant portion of the
enemy base and several of its defenders. As a completely unnecessary bonus
at this point, you'll get some Fate Points for finding the ledge.
At this point, you'll have at least 7 Fate Points. However, after summoning
a Balrog, you can't use Summon Bog or Vile Surge for quite a while, so I
recommend not summoning a Balrog at this point.
Break through the second barricade with the rest of your units and charge
into their base. It's possible to lose units, but it's virtually impossible
to lose the battle. There are some massed units near the entrance, but
you'll cut a bloody swathe through them. Remember to use Summon Bog and Vile
Surge when you need them. Once you get far enough into the base, Grosh's
army will join you from the W and help out by attacking some defenseless
buildings. Thanks.
They have one more Ballista Tower, one more Tower and some scattered
defenders further into the base. Just attack-move into the base and they'll
soon be corpses and rubble.
------------------------------------------------------
[[6.10]] Mission 10: The Sacking of Minas Ithil (2002)
------------------------------------------------------
Units Available: All
Heroes Available: Lord of the Nazgul
Gollum, Grishnakh, Saleme and Saruman may be purchased
Places of Power: Dragon Skull (cheaper upgrades; far NE of the starting
base)
Monument of Narsil (armor bonus; just S of Minas Ithil,
the
main objective)
Expansions: far NE of the starting base
NE of the bridge to the N
Objectives:
1. Destroy the three enemy encampments in the area
2. Place 5 War Posts near the 5 Flags of Gondor by the Tower of the Moon
3. Get the Lord of the Nazgul to the entrance of Minas Ithil
>>> Initial Notes <<<
Your starting base has an entrance to the NE and two entrances to the NW,
both of which may be defended at a single point. The expansion to the NE
gives plenty of resources for the whole mission, and the Dragon Skull Place
of Power saves you plenty of resources on your upgrades.
The first enemy base is pretty weak, but the other two are brutal, so get
ready for a long mission with plenty of fighting and replacing of units (if
you're not careful).
>>> Fate Points <<<
First four: create Black Riders
Next three: recruit Saleme
>>> Initial Setup <<<
Put 4 Workers on each resource, plus 2 more for construction. Drop a War
Post at the NE entrance, another one to the W of your base (simply to expand
the corrupted terrain for construction) and a third at the nearer NW
entrance.
Meanwhile, explore to the W with the Lord of the Nazgul, but don't go N. The
far NW entrance leads to the rear of the first enemy base. The near NW
entrance and the NE entrance lead to a heavily defended bridge which we'll be
avoiding. The early attacks come from the NE, but later attacks may come
from the NW or from both directions simultaneously. For now, leave your
Ringwraiths (the Lord and the Black Riders) at the NE entrance.
>>> Building Up <<<
Build a Fortress of Mordor, then upgrade it to Level 2. After finishing the
Fortress, put up 3 Towers at the NE entrance of your base. Put your 3
Slavemasters in the first completed Tower. The first attack will come while
you're building the Towers (2 Riders of Rohan plus a Ranger), so be sure your
Ringwraiths are in front of the Towers to protect your Workers.
Once the 3 Towers are built, put the Riders behind them and send the Lord to
the far E (avoiding any enemy raiding parties). Then send him N to the NE
corner of this portion of the map. In that area (explore a bit), you'll find
the Dragon Skull Place of Power (which reduces the cost of research, but not
of Fortress upgrades, by 33%) and the sole nearby expansion site (to the NW
of the Dragon Skull). Capture the Dragon Skull, then head home. They won't
find it.
Meanwhile, after the first 3 Towers are done, build 3 Towers at the near NW
entrance in an L-shape to guard both against attacks from the N and from the
W. For now, put 2 Riders behind the W Towers and 2 Riders plus the Lord
behind the E towers.
Upgrade the Fortress to Level 3 and build a Shadow Lair. Train 2 Wraiths,
one for each set of Towers (you won't get hit by cloaked Archers, but Greater
Perception is nice). Then train some more Wraiths and use up any Fate Points
in making more Black Riders. Create a full 8 Black Riders when possible and
alternate between putting them at the W and E Towers.
You should have an excess of food by now, so fill one Tower at each entrance
with 4 Spearmen. This helps out defenses while still leaving room for
Slavemasters (when you can afford them). Remember to micromanage all
attacks. You don't want to carelessly lose Black Riders now. Fate Points
are precious at the moment.
Next, make a Dark Arsenal and research Poison Arrows. Send one construction
Worker to gather ore. Use the second one to build a Black Vault, then send
him to gather food. When resources allow, do the following:
- Get your Fortress up to Level 4.
- Train Slavemasters to max capacity (and put them in your Towers).
- Fill out the rest of the Tower space with Spearmen.
- Dark Arsenal: Research Goblin Frenzy.
- Black Vault: Research Greater Perception and Morgul-blade.
- Get your Fortress up to Level 5.
>>> Middle of the Mission <<<
Sometime around now (while you're finishing the list above), the attacks
should get a bit tougher. I suggest keeping your Lord near the E Towers, but
keep your Black Riders halfway between the Towers. When you get attacked,
respond with all your Ringwraiths. Ideally, you should watch for patches of
blue on your minimap and respond before they reach your Towers. Greater
Perception helps quite a bit with this. Once you get your 8th Rider (which
should be around now), save up your Fate Points for Saleme.
When you get the chance, take a Worker off food and build an Orc Mound. Once
your Towers are full and you've started all the upgrades listed above, it's
time to expand. Check with the Lord that the coast is clear to the NE. If
so, then sneak a Slavemaster and 2 Workers to the E, then N to the expansion
you discovered earlier. Much like in Mission 8, they won't find this unless
you lead them to it. However, once you start attacking their bases, they
seem to gain the capability to find your expansion. This is a good reason to
fill your Towers here.
Drop a War Post S of the resources, then build a Hovel, 2 Towers to the SW
(just in case), a Slaughterhouse and a Smelter. If you wish, you can build
Workers, but your original resources will soon be dry, and there's really no
rush. Fill the 2 Towers to the brim with Spearmen, and sneak all but 2 of
your original Workers to your expansion when your original resources dry up.
Leave 2 Workers at home for Tower repairs. This still gives you 4 Workers on
each resource at the expansion.
With new resources coming in, get all 3 damage and armor upgrades at the
Black Vault. Then put together your army consisting of the Lord of the
Nazgul, Saleme, 8 Black Riders, 4 Wraiths and Uruk-Hai to population
capacity. In between attacks, scout to the NE with the Lord to find the
bridge to the N. At the N end of the bridge, you'll find 2 Ballista Towers
and 2 Huorns. Scout them out, then run away. The Huorns use Tree Form, so
don't get the Lord stuck. You just want to see where they are.
Fortunately, there's a back entrance. When your army is trained and
upgraded, wait for the next attack, then head to the SW corner, then N. This
path leads you to the first enemy base, bypassing the bridge chokepoint
entirely.
This base has 2 Ballista Towers at its S end. Take them out first by force-
attacking, then take out the troops just to the N. It's not too tough, but
pull back wounded to avoid losses. Also, remember that you have Saleme's
Blood Mark if any Rider gets into trouble. There are 2 more (regular) Towers
to the N at the entrance to the fortified city. Charge them with any healthy
Ringwraiths once the defenders are dead, then finish off the rest of the
base. Remember that you have Vile Surge as an option.
Don't enter the city for now. If your troops are healthy enough (use Vile
Surge if they aren't, since time is more important that Fate Points right
now), charge the forces defending the bridge. The Huorns use Tree Form, so
focus on them with your Uruk-Hai.
Once the bridge forces are defeated, return to the entrance to the fortified
city. Place your Wraiths on Hold Position near the entrance, then place your
Uruk-Hai in front of them. This should hold off any enemies, but keep your
Ringwraiths nearby, just in case. Also, if you want to kill off the Spearmen
in your Towers to make room for more Uruk-Hai, now is the time to do so.
>>> Endgame <<<
At this point, rally your Orc Mound and Shadow Lair to the city gate and
replace any lost forces (you should have plenty of Fate Points to replace any
Black Riders). When your forces are healed, your best bet is to just charge
in. Lead with your Ringwraiths and take out the Ballista Tower to the NW of
the gate. Attack-move in with your Uruk-Hai, and keep your Wraiths behind
your other forces with Hold Position.
Most important of all: watch for enemies to your E! Their other base is over
there, and you don't want them overrunning your flank. If that happens (if
they hit with a massive force), just pull back everyone to outside the
fortified city and slaughter them before continuing.
Once the first Ballista Tower has fallen, pull your Riders back behind your
Uruk-Hai. Take the relatively healthy ones NE to take out the Ballista Tower
to the NE, then retreat again to heal. Keep putting on pressure with your
Uruk-Hai this entire time, and keep your Wraiths nearby to spot cloaked
Archers. Feel free to use Vile Surge during this assault, but don't waste
Fate Points unnecessarily.
After this base is destroyed, pull back to the gate, heal, and replace any
fallen troops. Scout to the NE with a Wraith to find the Monument of Narsil.
When your army is ready, charge E and take it with your whole army. Also
take out the Tower to the NE, but then pull back to the S of the Monument of
Narsil. Don't attack the base from this direction.
Attack this final base from the S end. Take all your troops down there and
attack-move to the N. Don't use any Fate Points. The final part of this
mission is MUCH, MUCH easier if you have 7 Fate Points. This last base
involves a brutal fight, but you still shouldn't waste Fate Points.
Charge any Ballista Towers with your Ringwraiths, then pull them back. Inch
forward using attack-move with your Uruk-Hai. Keep your Wraiths nearby, but
behind your other forces (don't let them get killed). Your Uruk-Hai are
quite stupid and will attack buildings instead of units. So be sure to
micromanage to take down enemy Archers quickly.
With this last base destroyed, the first Objective is complete. Regroup at
the Monument of Narsil. Heal and Replace any lost units (but be sure to have
at least 7 Fate Points when you're done).
There is a massive force to the N consisting of:
- 2 Ballista Towers
- 3 Huorns
- 4 Beornings (Human)
- 2 Rangers
- 16 Gondor Swordsmen
You need to take them out to get to Minas Ithil. Scout to the N with a
Wraith. There are no cloaked Elves, but Greater Perception gives you maximum
sight range. Put a single Wraith on Hold Position to see the enemy forces.
At this point, if you have 7 Fate Points, summon a Balrog on top of the enemy
forces and charge with everything you have. Otherwise, charge with
everything you have, and expect SEVERE losses.
Either way, you should have plenty of resources to replenish any lost forces,
but don't lose the Lord of the Nazgul. He's necessary for this last part,
and I'm not sure what happens if he dies. It's time to finish up. Bring a
Slavemaster N to place the War Posts around Minas Ithil. Also, replenish
your forces, heal and place all combat units (Heroes, Riders and Uruk-Hai) at
the entrance to Minas Ithil.
Once you place the first War Post, Gondor Swordsmen will start streaming out
of the Tower, slowly but steadily. You can now have your Slavemaster place
War Posts near the other 4 Flags of Gondor around Minas Ithil.
Alternatively, you could have your massed forces slaughter the enemy troops
coming out. Your troops will do quite well, but it's useful to occasionally
(every 3 or 4 minutes) cast Blood Mark on your War Post to heal your nearby
troops.
I played through this mission just before starting this write-up. When I got
to this part, I set up the massacre, planted the War Post and started writing
up this walkthrough. I have discovered 3 things:
1. The Gondor Swordsmen are still going strong after an hour and a half,
so I think we can safely assume they're infinite.
2. It's definitely necessary to occasionally cast Blood Mark on the War
Post. I've been doing that as I've been writing this.
3. The maximum number of Fate Points you may have at any time is 20 (in
case you're curious).
When you've had your fill of the slaughter, have your Slavemaster plant War
Posts next to the 4 other Flags of Gondor. You'll hear the screams of the
defenders within Minas Ithil. You'll now get the Objective to get the Lord
of the Nazgul to Minas Ithil. If he's not close enough to the Flag of
Gondor, send him there. This ends the mission and the campaign.
+++++++++++++++++++++
[[7]] Version History
+++++++++++++++++++++
Version 1.00:
This is what I consider to be a complete version of the guide. But I'll be
happy to make updates and corrections as I get tips from readers.
I'd like to thank:
- everyone involved in the creation of this game.
- Barry Willemsen for writing up his FAQ for this game. Barry wrote an
excellent FAQ, but on reading through it, I noticed that many of his
walkthrough strategies differ significantly from the ones I employ. So I
decided to put up this FAQ to offer a somewhat alternative style of play.
Thanks for the inspiration, Barry.
I certify that this document is my own original work based on Liquid
Entertainment's game War of the Ring. All copyrights and trademarks related
to the game belong to their respective owners. This document may not be
reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may
not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without
advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a
part of any public display is strictly prohibited and a violation of
copyright.
