The Fifth Age: Total War

[Kamakazi]

This is a mod idea I have came up with. My hope is that it brings the greatest of LotR into Empire. By moving forward into the Fifth Age it opens up alot of options, mainly by moving out of canon and into a period where we can basically just make some stuff up. This also allows for a reasonable explanation as to why the armies of Middle Earth are going to be carrying around muskets. By bringing the LotR world into the Empire: Total War timeframe with the tech that you see in Empire. This makes it a much more feasible mod because not as much has to be changed in the game and also it allows for the use of all the "fancy" new things in the Empire engine, like fields of fire, new AI, etc.

Below you will see a Background section (basically a made up story on what happened in the Fourth Age, very short, needs expanded), Faction list (just five factions, would like to keep the first release small), Unit List (Completely non-finalized, more of just a brainstorming activity), A map that I just kind of whipped up just to give an idea of where the factions will be located, What I have for this mod, and what I need in terms of help.

I know one of the concerns will be that by only having Men in this mod some of the "magic" will be taken out of the LotR universe, and beyond that only having GOOD Men that shouldn't be fighting each other...well...that's what expansions are for

Background:

The fourth age brought about many changes to Middle Earth, with the invention of gunpowder in 1536 F.A. warfare was forever changed. The citadels of old, Minas Tirith, Helm’s Deep, Erebor, were no longer the safe havens that they once were. The sword and shield were replaced by the musket and bayonet and the people of Middle Earth all adapted to this change differently. Through the age of peace of the fourth age populations boomed new settlements were created, old boundaries were broken and new ones forged.

The fifth age began with the death of the last true heir to the throne of Gondor. The line unbroken from Isildur to Aragorn to the present day was broken and shall never rise again. After almost 2000 years the fourth age, an age of peace and prosperity had ended. Gondor was plunged into a vicious civil war between those who wished to claim the crown as their own. After ten years of bloody conflict Gondor emerged a broken and beaten country.

The Elves and Dwarves were but a fairy tale for the children of Middle Earth. It was truly the age of Men. Nation States had been formed. No longer were the good Men of Middle Earth united against one enemy. With the Orcs, Goblins, Trolls, and all other evil creatures wiped from the face of the Earth the Men of Middle Earth fought amongst themselves. The only evil threat came from the East, and after bloody conflicts with Gondor, Rohan, and Dale at the end of the Fourth Age a plague spread through the East. With the populations devastated, the armies of Harad, Khan, Rhun, and Umbar were forced to retreat while their nations licked their wounds.

Factions:

Dale:

The Men of Dale have grown to be a populous people who now rule over most land east of Mirkwood. Under long tutelage of the Dwarves they are master craftsmen who are unmatched in their metal working and fortifications. These skills make up for their lack of manpower, they choose technology over numbers.


Arnor:

After the separating of the realm of Gondor and Arnor (ca. 1232 F.A.) the men of the north grew apart from their southern brethren. They were able to escape being dragged into civil war in the south only to be assailed from the north by evil men from the mountains. The men of Arnor fight wars differently than others in Middle Earth. While Gondor, Dale, and Lindon have all developed the tactics of “lines of battle” where their men stand in ranks and advance at the enemy those of Arnor call the woods their home. Using skills learned since childhood every man of Arnor is at home in the woods and forests of Middle Earth. These skills allow for ambushes and a style of warfare not seen in other parts of Middle Earth.


Gondor:

Gondor was long the cornerstone of the free people of middle earth. At the dawn of the fifth age Gondor was a nation divided. The civil war that lasted so long robbed Gondor of its status as by-far the most powerful of those of Middle Earth. In the thirty years since the end of that war Gondor has struggled to regain all of that which was lost. One thing survived all of this and that was Gondor’s military tradition. Gondor has long maintained the largest professional army that could be put in the field. Priding itself on training and discipline the armies of Gondor are to be feared on the battlefield.


Rohan:

For countless generations Rohan has been the faithful ally of Gondor. In the fourth age Rohan took advantage of the waxing of Gondor to expand its own lands into that of Dunland and Enedwaith. Still known for their great skills on the horse Rohan fields the best calvary in Middle Earth. Able to move fast across the plains of Middle Earth, the armies of Rohan must be kept at arms length, less their speed defeat you.


Lindon:

Centered around the Gulf of Lune, the men of Lindon are renowned for their ship building skills. Originally the men of Lindon inhabited just the Grey havens but now these men rule over all the land between the Blue Mountains and the sea. Long have the Blue Mountains been used as a defense against outside incursion. With a mountain range at their back these men have been able to use their nautical skills to prosper in trade beyond that which is seen elsewhere.

Unit List: (Yes I know alot of the names are unoriginal, those will most definitely be replaced later.)

Dale

·Light Infantry

oMen of Esgaroth

·Heavy Infantry

oMen of the Mountain
oMen of Dale

·Calvary

oRunning River Men

·Special

oIron Hills Men (Heavy Infantry)
oMirkwood Minutemen (Light Infantry)

Arnor

·Light Infantry

oRangers of the North

·Heavy Infantry

oMen of Fornost
oAngmar Guards

·Calvary

oGrey Companies

·Special

oDunedain Guards (Cav)
oDunedain (Light Infantry)

Gondor

·Light Infantry

oRangers of Ithilien

·Heavy Infantry

oMen of Minas Tirith
oMen of Osgiliath
oMen of Belfalas

·Calvary

oKnights of Dol Amroth

·Special

oSwan Knights (Cav)
oTower Guard (Heavy Infantry)

Rohan

·Light Infantry

oMen of Fangorn

·Heavy Infantry

oMen of Dunland
oMen of Helm’s Deep

·Calvary

oMen of the Westfold
oMen of the Eastfold

·Special

oRiders of the Mark (Cav)
oKing’s Guards (Cav)

Lindon

·Light Infantry

oTower Hill Guards

·Heavy Infantry

oMen of Forlindon
oMen of Harlindon

·Calvary

oDragoons of the Sea

·Special

oShip of the Havens (Naval)
oMountain Guards (Light Infantry)

Map:


What I Have:

·Me

oI do about everything, can 3D Model, Texture, Script a bit. I am not the best at any of those, but I can do them if necessary.

·Webspace

oAll I need to do is register a domain and make the site. I would like it up pretty soon, but lets just be honest here, with Empire releasing in <24 hours, it probably won’t happen this week.

·Tolkien Knowledge

oI love me some Tolkien, enough said.

Positions Needed:

·3D Modeling
·Textures
·Scripting
·Designers
·Anybody else who wants to do anything

[killerrabbit]

a fifth age total war for empire?

forget it

[Kamakazi]

a fifth age total war for empire?

forget it

Why is that?

[killerrabbit]

gunpowder in LOTR? hello? better take note of Third age total war with M2TW

[Kamakazi]

gunpowder in LOTR? hello? better take note of Third age total war with M2TW

As I said. Gives it a bit of a different spin.

yes I have taken note of Third Age Total War for Med2, looks great.

[waraelm]

you do realise that in tolkiens work middle earth changes into are earth and the 5 age is like 1500 earth. so this makes no sense lore wise, thats not me talking but tolkien himself.


i perosnaly think it would be boring to fight in a none magical middle earth.

[Athel]

true.

[Comrade the Colonel]

It wont be that good of a mod unfortunately. Its like having romans and greeks with muskets.

[killerchinchilla]

Not wishing to be unduly negative about this mod but it does sound somewhat empty. Correct me if I'm wrong but you've take all the other races out of Middle Earth and instead left them with humans. I would say perhaps set it in the third or forth age in an alternative time line so you can keep Middle Earth as something recognisable and introduce gunpowder that way. Or maybe an even better idea would be to be creative and have an entirely new fantasy world, you can take the elements from Middle Earth you want to the add new ones.

On the other hand I'd love to see a cave troll with a cannon strapped to its back!

[Razor]

I wish you the best with your mod! I for one can see it happen, but it would definitely take one hell of a job...

[Elphir of Dol Amroth]

A Fifth Age mod would destroy Tolkien world imho, this is just not related to Middle-earth anymore but regular fantasy. Why not leave the muskets out and use swords, spears and bows instead, I'm sure that they could be modded in some how.

The one thing of Empire that's really great in my opinion is the naval warfare, so why not make use of that? Make a mod about the coasts of Middle-earth, either in the first, second, third or even in the fourth age.

For the first age you could use factions as the Elves of the Falas under Cirdan, Elves of Tol Eressëa and Alqualondë under Olwë, also you could have some cool hero's like Ulmo, Ossë and Uinen. Problem is that you won't have any enemy around on sea.

For the second age you could use of course the Numenorians, best thing is to split them into Kings Men and Faithfull so that you have two enemies. I would suggest to include both Numenor, coasts of Middle-earth and maybe even small point of Valinor. Factions: Kings Men, Faithfull, Elves of Lindon under Gil-Galad and Cirdan, Elves at Edhellond, Elves at Tol Eresseë and some other folk more inland. I would also advice to have it start late in the second age so that you can include the havens of the Numenorians at the coasts of Middle-earth: Lond Daer Enedh, Pelargir, Umbar and others.

For the third age you could make use of the Elves of Lindon, Gondorian navy, maybe make Dol Amroth a subfaction. Umbar and the Black Numenorians are also very good choices. You could do his at various dates in the third age.

For the fourth age you should use your inspirations.

[Osceola]

LOTR with guns eh?

.. I'm not a LOTR person, but did you make that up, or is that part of Tolkien's history for the place?

It'd be pretty cool I think.

[monsterfurby]

I think it's a pretty cool idea as well. As for Tolkienism: I can say in a good conscience that I do not care about what someone on an online forum believes to be the vision of someone he or she could not possibly have known personally because said visionary (which is his primary vocation. As a writer... ah, I think many have done better, but it's his fantasy that keeps things alive) has been several feet below for quite a while now.

All in all, if I had any modding skills apart from light texture work and team organization, I'd get right on this.

[TSD]

With what hes proposing (by removing the fantasy races) All that would be required is a new map, text changes in the UI, and probably new textures on the units(imo it really doesn't require new models). Time consuming, but not hard (from a rome/medieval standpoint, not sure about empire yet).

[Osceola]

I dunno.. keep the orcs in, have them with like shotguns and single action revolvers n .

And the Dwarves using like medieval Chinese explosives, firearms, small artillery, and big artillery, maybe even a Gatling gun.

[Lysander13]

Hmmmmm... The Guards of The Citadel manning Howitzers???

I love fantasy as much as the next guy..particularly Tolkien Fantasy...but..ehh...some things are just not meant to go together.