Tips for Eriador

[broodwarjc]

It is around turn 65 and Annuminas is less than 2000 population from being a small city, but my population growth with Aragorn has spiraled down from 4.0 to 2.5 in about 20 turns, I hope it goes back up after I upgrade to the city so I can hopefully get to a large city ASAP. Thanks for all the tips guys, taking those rebel settlements is really helping with the money problem and I have taken Dum Carn or whatever that big castle is for the OOG and I am besieging Gram right now, with those two out of the way the OOG should be easy to keep at bay. Keep submitting, this thread is really blossoming into a great help thread. I just realized that there is a help section of the forums if the mods want ot move this thread there. I might make more tip threads like this in the future when I try out other factions, this mod is incredible, but has a fairly steep learning curve even for experienced MTWII players.

[Keyser_Soze]

It is around turn 65 and Annuminas is less than 2000 population from being a small city, but my population growth with Aragorn has spiraled down from 4.0 to 2.5 in about 20 turns, I hope it goes back up after I upgrade to the city so I can hopefully get to a large city ASAP. Thanks for all the tips guys, taking those rebel settlements is really helping with the money problem and I have taken Dum Carn or whatever that big castle is for the OOG and I am besieging Gram right now, with those two out of the way the OOG should be easy to keep at bay. Keep submitting, this thread is really blossoming into a great help thread. I just realized that there is a help section of the forums if the mods want ot move this thread there. I might make more tip threads like this in the future when I try out other factions, this mod is incredible, but has a fairly steep learning curve even for experienced MTWII players.

upgrading city will reverse squalor, leading to higher growth.
Upon doing this, upgrade buildings like farming, the new chicken farming buildings, and the chambers (may no longer give health bonus). each should give 0.5% bonus- remember that the higher the population, the more 0.5% means per turn. eventually, that'll mean over 200 per turn. It's a slow process, but I can confirm as of 3.0, that it is possible to upgrade to a large city.

Gundabad may be able to throw some strong units at you, from Gundabad (their easternmost city) make sure you take that at some point, once that's done, take the remaining settlements. Be aware of the garrison script though!

[brasswire]

It is around turn 65 and Annuminas is less than 2000 population from being a small city, but my population growth with Aragorn has spiraled down from 4.0 to 2.5 in about 20 turns, I hope it goes back up after I upgrade to the city so I can hopefully get to a large city ASAP.

Yes, as you start to approach a higher tier of settlement your squalor will spike upwards, because your population is getting maxed out to what your city can hold and it's putting a strain on your city's resources. Once you upgrade to the next tier of settlement, your squalor will go back down again because people have more breathing room again.

[Barsoom]

No need to hold back on Coldfells or Hoarwell. If you take a settlement you can't hold, trade it. I'm sure either HE or the dwarves will have beat you to a juicy western settlement, so you can take that in return. (Two for one usually does the trick. If not, offer money.) As an added benefit your allies will now defend your eastern borders for you.

[Keyser_Soze]

No need to hold back on Coldfells or Hoarwell. If you take a settlement you can't hold, trade it. I'm sure either HE or the dwarves will have beat you to a juicy western settlement, so you can take that in return. (Two for one usually does the trick. If not, offer money.) As an added benefit your allies will now defend your eastern borders for you.

That can involve a lot of hassle later on, perhaps involving paying too much money to get it back. You can not pay anything, and take it later- HE virtually never take coldfells, especially not while OOG are alive, so they're not going to take them.

Coldfells and hoarwell are useless to OOTMM and OOG It can't produce anything, and if it can, it's snagas. In the case of OOG, not taking Coldfells and taking the main settlements divides them from the rest of their territory, and OOG will no longer launch major (perhaps none) attacks from Coldfells, effectively neutralising its threat. However, if you take it before you take gram, you'll be facing a constant stream of attacks.

As hoarwell starts as rebels, it's best to take it before OOTMM do. If you do this, you can hold off war with them until as late as turn 150+.
I don't know if coldfells starts rebels, but if it does, it is very quickly taken by OOG, perhaps by turn 2 or 3, so there's no real chance to do so, and creating a border with OOG is a good way to begin the war early when you have no offensive capability.

[Irenicuz]

I can tell you what i did, but it is a bit cheesy.
I want to go for arnor, so i wanna take as much required lands as early as possible and then play defensive and build population and economy. Isengard will rush Tharbad, Moria will rush Hoarwell, but i want those 2, so try to take them before they can. If Isengard can't get Tharbad, they will try to take the rebel settlements to the west (Argond). You can deny them that by doing sth cheesy. You need a general and a spy so you dont get ambushed and the just run to argond with the general and start a siege before isengard can. after they sally, you withdraw and siege again. When its Isengard turn, the settlement is besieged, so they don't do , and they just stand there waiting, until u take it (get some reinforcements).
If you do that, you can create a situation where there is no border between HE and Isengard, so they wont go to war. You get alliance with Isengard and it wont break. So you have one less enemy. Then you just build up in have some army on the northern border if Gunbadad wants to go for you. You can take shire if you want or leave it to HE, hobbiton and longbottom are pretty anyway. Or you can always buy it from them and give HE the money to defend Rivendell.

Also, dont get alliances with good factions too soon, orcs will hate you for it.

So Isengard has no land and and Rohan is pretty strong so Isengard cant do , you get your economy and start building up army to go for gundabad.

Mordor doesnt crush gondor that hard in 3.1, and dale wins north so playing defense is okay.