Speculation thread?

[StealthEvo]

Rangers in bree? I like the sound of that!

[Agamemnon]

So do I. That's why I suggested it.

[CountMRVHS]

"Ranger fest", lol.

I think we can rest assured that the devs are going to include units that 1) make sense, and 2) are cool. For proof, see The New Shadow.

As for the houses, I don't see the need for a drastic change in how the system works. I'm interested to see how the new factions will be handled, of course, especially Dale, about which so little seems to be known (based on what I've read in the lore, anyway).

In terms of Victory Conditions, it occurs to me that even some of the current factions might be changed. Take Dunland, for example. Currently they need to destroy Rohan and take Minas Tirith, I think. With the full map, they might find themselves in a war with the *northern* RK, and need to take regions like Bree rather than Minas Tirith.

[StealthEvo]

I like ranger fests as much as the next person. But i think the current system works fine. If there was any ranger-ish units barring White Company and Emyn Arnen specalist archers then they would belong to Dunland, not to Gondor.

[Agamemnon]

WHAT!? How could you give Dunland Rangers? Gondor needs them because they are the only units that really fit in Arnor! The Dunlendings are a bunch of barbarians, while the rangers are the "heirs to isuldur"! Aragorn was a ranger, and he became the KING of Gondor!

[StealthEvo]

Because Dunland needs Insane archers? (joking). I simply disagree with adding another ranger type unit to Gondor's roster. They already have White Company, Rangers of Ithilien and Ithilien Archers all that have the ability to hide anywhere, some infantry capability and all but the White Company outshot by the Kings Longbowmen.

Obviously it's not my call to make. It's no where near my mod. But looking at it from a balence perspective, something which this mod is very good at. Having a hybrid archer unit on the scale your thinking of IE Rangers of the North Fo shiz isn't going to be very balenced

[Agamemnon]

Oh... well, then, don't include them, but please don't give them to Dunland.

[Aradan]

Dunland won't have Rangers and RK won't have a clone of the Ithilien Rangers.

[Agamemnon]

Okay. I was just thinking of some more "natural" looking units than men-at-arms for an infantry type.

[CountMRVHS]

At least based on old in-game information, I remember that a northern ranger unit was planned. I'm actually hoping for a northern RK ranger unit. Even with that and the Rangers of Ithilian and White Company, it'll hardly be Rangerpalooza in Middle-Earth. Those latter 2 ranger-types are only trainable at very high city levels and only in specific regions - I'm assuming something similar will happen in the North.

[Agamemnon]

Yeah, I agree.

[Aradan]

At least based on old in-game information, I remember that a northern ranger unit was planned. I'm actually hoping for a northern RK ranger unit. Even with that and the Rangers of Ithilian and White Company, it'll hardly be Rangerpalooza in Middle-Earth. Those latter 2 ranger-types are only trainable at very high city levels and only in specific regions - I'm assuming something similar will happen in the North.

[CountMRVHS]

You are cruel, Aradan!

Where's Eorl with those screenies, anyway?

[Aradan]

Locked up in his dungeon, he's only allowed out once a week for 20 minutes. FATW3 will be about 100 times better visually compared to 2.6, trust me.

[Agamemnon]

Good.

[CountMRVHS]

Based on the battlemap screenshots I've seen, I don't doubt it.

Let's have some speculation on the faction politics in the North! How do you all suppose the Elf/RK situation will work out? One potential problem I see is that the RK and Elves might begin play very close to one another, and any victory conditions for one faction might be grabbed by the other, thereby shutting it out from victory since they're in perpetual alliance (at least for the AI). Do you think the Elves will start with all the "Elvish" places already under their control, or do you think they'll have to conquer them? And how do you suppose the RK (and perhaps Adunabar) will split up ownership of the Arnor region?

[Agamemnon]

I propose that most of Arnor will be ruled by thr RK, some in the far north will be rebel controlled, the elves will be in control of the elvish places, but in the perfect place to swoop in agaisnt the rebels. Adunabar should be pretty much limited to Mordor, but should have a larger starting army.

[CountMRVHS]

I'm actually hoping that Adunabar has some substantial presence in the North - otherwise, there would be nobody for the Elves/RK to fight up there!

I'm not sure which would be better, though: for Adunabar to have control of the eastern part of Arnor, or for them to be scattered around the region, like a real rebellion would be.

If Adunabar held some regions to the west of the Misty Mountains, they'd certainly be a threat to any Elves in Rivendell (if Rivendell exists as a settlement), as well as the RK in the North. They could also threaten the Men of Dale from there - I'm imagining a Mount Gundabad settlement for the bad guys to strike out from.

On the other hand, it might be good to give Adunabar some access to the coast. It would give them some much-needed income, and if they owned a "patchwork" of settlements in Arnor, it might give the Elves of Lindon something to fight against.

One of the reasons Adunabar tends to get wiped out is because it only has a few good settlements, and they are within easy reach of the RK. If they had more & better lands in the North, it would keep the RK on their toes up there, give the Elves something to do, and generally make it more interesting to be a good guy. I actually wouldn't mind if Adunabar had the *advantage* over the RK in the North, because the RK certainly has the advantage in the south. I do think that the RK should have at least a couple regions in Arnor, though.

Plus, with Adunabar in the North, they could potentially get into conflict with Dunland - something that never happens currently, and which might lead to some interesting chaos. (I imagine Dunland will become an even harder faction to play in the next release, regardless of who's in charge up north.)

Since Dale and the Dwarves are allies, those two factions will most likely end up fighting the Elves in Mirkwood and Rhun to the east and south. But if Adunabar is strong enough in the north, Dale & the Dwarves could have another dangerous enemy - a good thing, I think!

[Agamemnon]

That would actually be pretty good, now that I think about it. Or, instead of mordor-bound adunabar, another faction could be added - Angmar. The witch - king's kingdom, it, theorectically, could hold some resistance to the reuniting of the kingdom, and would be pretty much everyone except Rhun and harad's enemy.

[Aradan]

Both Angmar and the Witch-King are long gone in our timeframe.