Hello my friends! My favourite faction in Third Age Total war is, as some of you might know, The Kingdom of Dale. Yet close behind it comes the Silvan Elves. They have such a great variety of units as well as they begin their campaign with so many oppertunities and if played correctly, the Silvan Elves can become incredibly powerful. I have played the Silvan Campaign a bunch of times and I will show you some of the things I have learned throughout my campaigns. I know that being the Silvan Elves can be a bit hard considering OOTMM is so close to your cities, but if you read my guide I think it can help you win the battle against those creatures!
I shall yet again begin with explaining some facts about your Elven regions! These are two of the three cities you begin with in your campaign as the Silvan Elves. Cerin Amroth, the city near the Misty Mountains, is your poorest region, however you must not ignore it just because of that. It is your frontline against the OOTMM and thus an incredibly important city. Because it has few possibilities of being rich, I would suggest you concentrate on making it into a city in which you can recruit many troops. Near the Anduin is your second city, Caras Galadhon. It is a large city with great walls so it is easy to defend should it come under siege. The city is a little richer then Cerin Amroth and starts with both a Town Watch as well as a Boywer. Even though the possibility of recruiting two units is good, you will still need more men if you are to fend off the OOTMM attacks and eventually besiege them. This city also has a sort of "Palantiri" called The Mirror of Galadriel where you can use this device to keep an eye on what is going on outside and inside of your realm. It can only be used once every 5 turn. The many woods around these two cities makes it hard for your army to move around quickly and I therefore start to construct roads there because not only does it give you increased trade income, but it also allows your troops to move much faster. In Thranduil`s Halls, your easternmost city, is where your main income is coming from. The reason why this region can be very rich is because of one important resource, gold. Constructing mines here will greatly increase your income. One mine will add 300 more in your cities treasury each turn and it can be upgraded later on in the game. Around this city lies several rebel cities which means you will probably be able to expand in peace, atleast until you join borders with an evil faction.
As you may have noticed you start with very few regions which means you have to expand quickly if you are to survive against the enemy factions which have more regions and resources then you. You need to move quickly so we move our men from Caras Galadhon and Cerin Amroth towards the north where we will capture the rebel village of Amon Gastal. It is a small city and does not have a lot of income, but it will be important later in your campaign for two reasons. One, by having this regions, you can construct watchtowers very close to the Misty Moutains, thus letting you know if the OOTMM should move its armies towards you. Secondly, once you take Beorns Halls in the northwest, you will need to join your borders with your eastern regions. It will give each city more trade income because they can then trade with each other. Empty the men in Caras Galadhon and in Cerin Amroth leave one unit behind. In the east, by Thranduil`s Halls I move all of my men south towards Eryn Dolen, a rebel city with few units. You could alternatively take Dain`s Halls, but I would not suggest doing so because if you do, it is not certain that the dwarves will expand west, forcing you to fight against OOTMM and OOG on your own so you should wait until you have taken the rebel cities in Mirkwood and the ones by the Anduin River first. To avoid a riot in Caras Galadhon and Thranduil`s Halls I recruit two Silvan Spearmen units. Because the Silvan Elves do not start with very rich regions you will have to establish trade agreements as fast as possible which is why I recruit a diplomat in Caras Galadhon as well as in Thranduil`s Halls. The only thing that remains now is to use your spies to infiltrate enemy cities or armies so that they gain experience. Now end the turn! This turn you are able to attack Amon Gastal directly and I think you should do it. The only units there which can inflict casualties are the skirmishers and since the Elven archers have such a long range, you can have them kill the enemy and lure them out of the town center. Once all arrows are spent, send in your two general units and have them attack the enemies. It does not matter if you lose any of those units because since they belong to a general, they are automatically replenished. I assume you also received a mission to take the city? well if you did then you have now got an extra 1500 in your treasury. Move your army from Thranduil`s Halls further east and send your diplomat in their different directions. The one in TH should be sent to the east towards the Dwarves and The Kingdom of Dale where you can establish trade agreements, alliance and perhaps map information. In the west, I send my diplomat towards Rohan, because asking OOTMM for a peace agreement will be a waste of time and even if they would accept one, their prize would be enormous as well as they will probably attack you the first oppertunity they get. Recruit an archerunit in Thranduil`s Halls, you will need more men later! Enough of turn two, end the turn!
At turn three you can siege Eryn Dolen and also ask Dale for a trade agreement and what an alliance if you wish to have one. Recruit a Forest Warden unit in Thranduil`s Halls and two Light Elven Archers in Cerin Amroth and Caras Galadhon. Before you end your turn, have Haldir construct a watchtower near the Misty Mountains. The following turn will be uneventful, except for the fact that you can now capture Eryn Dolen. You should not receive too many casualties here either if you use your units correctly. Once you have capture Eryn Dolen, repair the walls and construct either Grain Exchange or a Leather Tanner. At turn 5 there are quite some possibilities for you. The roads in the west should now be finished. It looks nice doesn`t it? So should the mines in Thranduil`s Halls be as well. You will now notice that the citie`s economy has improved dramtically from the previous turn and is now having an income of about 1220 if you have raised the taxes as bit such as I did. As said earlier you will need more men to fend of OOTMM which is why now is a good time to construct a Town Guard in Caras Galadhon. Constructing this will allow you to recruit Forest Wardens. They are a fantastic type of infantry. In TH you should construct a Leather Tanner. It will give your troops better armor. In the east you will need more men to take the nearby rebel cities so move your men from Thranduil`s Halls south to meet with the other army. This army is headed towards Emyn-Nu-Fuin after you have combined the two seperate armies.
When you are able to, construct a Town Watch in Cerin Amroth. Currently you can only recruit archers and that will not be enough for later in the campaign. Send Haldir south towards your cities again, by having him as a governor, Caras Galadhon can make much more money. The next couple of turns will be used to wait for buildings and units to be finished and to move your army further towards Emyn-Nu-Fuin. If you are not experienced with the Silvan Elves you might not know of its location. In that case you can scroll down and find the picture. At turn 8 construct a blacksmith in Thranduil`s Halls. You will not regret spending your money on that. By constructing this, all of your troops will be recruited with superior armor, making them much more powerful. Recruit men in Caras Galadhon as well as Cerin Amroth before you end your turn.
Turn nine should be a bit more interesting. You will now be able to siege the city of Emyn-Nu-Fuin. This will be a bit different from what you are used to. You will now have to fight orcs which have twice the numbers of normal units. This army has Orc Looters and Orc Archers. Luckily you have more units then what you usually do. Next turn the battle will begin. Move Haldir and 3 other units south of Caras Galadhon towards the rebel wooden castle. Remember to move your diplomats! people tend to forget about them for some reason! Turn 10 is my favourite turn, because this is when your Town Watch and Town Guard is completed. In Caras Galadhon and Cerin Amroth you will now notice that you can recruit different types of units. Now you have a good amount of units which you are able to recruit. If you feel like you do not need anymore units, then I could suggest the construction of a Port or a Leather Tanner. I on the other hand like to have as many troops as possible which is why I decide to construct a practice range. If you have enough money I think you should make a Barracks instead. This is also the round in which you will capture Emyn-Nu-Fuin! After playing the battle it seemed that it was not as hard as I believed, but that is simply because I used the Elven archers to kill off as many orcs as possible before our two armies clashed.
Now, after you have taken the city you have some choices to make. You could either go south, and take the other Elven city owned by rebels, but by doing so you would also border Mordor which can be dangerous, or you can ignore that city and move further west towards Beorn`s Halls. I choose to take the Elven city because I do not feel like having to go all the way back to take it later on in the game and since it is an Elven city you have a culture bonus which means you do not have to construct an Artist`s Studio (Increases culture). Beorn`s Halls have many troops so while you capture the Elven city you might be lucky and see OOTMM try to take it, thus making it an easy capture for you later on. You will also soon be able to siege the little wooden castle south of Caras Galadhon. You do not need many units for this because the city has only got 4 units. Its location can be found on the picture below! At turn 13 you should be in control of Limlight Fort as well as 7 other cities so you now have 8 cities and more to come! A couple of turns later your practice range should be finished and you should then be able to recruit quite a lot of different units. There is a little village east of Caras Galadhon as well, over the Anduin River. It has few rebels in it and it might also have been taken by Mordor, which means it has even less troops. I say go for it! You are bordering Mordor anyways! I think this guide should be enough for you to get you on the right track. I do not want to tell you everything you should do because then I would be the one doing the campaign and not you! If you want to start where I left off I can post the save here.
Additional Tips:
- Remember to have your capital in the center of your empire, it can increase your income and can potentially improve the public order as it shortens the distance to the capital.
- Build military buildings in Caras Galadhon. The city can only recruit 2 types of units and when facing OOTMM you will need more men then that. More information can be found in the beginning of the OP.
- Recruit lots of spies. They can be used to open enemy gates, allowing you to make a direct attack on a settlement. Having spies also lets you know if another enemy is approaching you.
- You can gain some extra money by demanding money for your map information. Insignificant amount you say? Ask for money every 5 turn and you have gained thousands...
- Sometime blitzing the enemy can be extremely helpful. The enemy is often willing to make peace if you take 2 or more settlements in one turn. Be aware of that this does not work all the time. The AI knows which one of you has the largest military and will take that into account.
- When in battles, remember to use your generals! The great thing about them is that they replenish by themselves and in addition to that, when you use your generals to charge in the battles, they often receive a lot of traits.
- Dont adopt generals if they have less than 3+ command. The only exception is if they chivalry and loyalty is high. Crappy generals dont do anything other then cost you money because of the upkeep.
- When facing OOTMM be sure to take good use of your archers. The Elven archer are far more skilled than any other and can not only shoot from long distance, but also has a great accuracy. If you see a hill, try to take it as quickly as possible. If the enemy has to climb as your archers fire upon them they will flee very quickly as their morale is lowered and they become exhausted.
- Sometime blitzing the enemy can be extremely helpful. The enemy is often willing to make peace if you take 2 or more settlements in one turn. Be aware of that this does not work all the time. The AI knows which one of you has the largest military and will take that into account.
- If you are really struggling, send half a stack over to the enemy cities, capture one of them and then sack everything for then to destroy all the military buildings. Destroying buildings gives you money so give it a try once.
- Once constructing a building, go into the city description and you can see how much more the city will make if you decide to make that building. That way you can see if the building you are constructing is helping at all.
- Build roads. They give you much tradeable goods as well as a quick route between the cities.
- You can buy other faction`s cities for low prices. This can allow you to slowly defeat a faction, but through diplomacy. Remember that castles go for less then cities.
- After you kingdom grows, you will have to rely on watchtowers to watch your borders because you can not recruit a lot of spies.
-The Silvan Elves have a "Palantiri" in Caras Galadhon and is known as "The Mirror of Galadriel" With it you can see undiscovered areas. You can see what happens in your realm and outside it.
Archers:
In the first turns of your campaign you can only recruit Light Elven Archers. I have nothing against them, they are cheap and have a decent accuracy, however, I do not think you should use them in melee under any circumstances except for times when it is crucial to do so. But do use them in your campaign! The second archer unit, The Sentinels of the Woodland Realm, is my favourite for two reasons. Firstly, they have an amazing range and can not be matched by any other faction except for perhaps the High Elves. The Sentinels can shoot over great distances and I am not completely certain but it seems like they have more arrows in their quivers compared to other archer units. When playing with the Elves this will be your greatest advantage. Being able to fire at the enemy from long distances gives you a huge advantage as the enemy archers and infantry have to move much closer before they can begin their attack. These units can also place stakes when being deployed, allowing you to make a defensive position without having to worry about enemy cavalry. Put these archers in the front of your lines and as soon as the enemy infantry charges at them, have your infantry counter charge them. The reason why this works is that because when the enemy troops come close, they lock on to your archers and by sending your men to counter charge them it would be as if they were ambushed! You can use these archers in melee situations as well, but do not have them attack enemy heavy infantry. If you see an enemy charging at your archers and you want your to counter charge, press Alt + Right click on the enemy and they will equip their swords! The Silvan Heavy archers are amazing. Their range is as far as the Sentinels` but there is one major difference. These units are amazing when in melee. Yeah, they are not only really good looking, they can fight as well! Even without the bow and arrows, this unit would be deadly. They are worth the money, though I suggest the majority of your archers should consist of Sentinels archers. Look below for more information!
Infantry:
If you have played the Silvan Elves campaign before you will know that you will have to recruit a large amount of Silvan Spearmen because you have a great lack of varied units. They are actually quite decent units who can form a square in case you are surrounded, giving them a useful ability. However, I would not use them to charge the enemy because their charge bonus is nothing and their attack-rate decent. Still, you will need some of them in your army because you will eventually run into enemies with cavalry. OOTMMM does not use cavalry so they are not that necessary for you early on in your campaign. The Forest Wardens is the unit I use the most. They have a great attack and defence rate as well as they have a good armor. It is really strange that they are so cheap, but I like the fact that they have made it so. Be aware though, for some reason they are really bad in auto resolve so if you have these units then play the battle! I do not see the use of the Woodland Warriors because their attack is lower then that of the Wardens and still they cost more! For the sake of variety in my army I sometimes use them and they are also good against trolls, I am not sure if that is their special ability but to me it seems that it is. The ideal army would consist of several Silvan Heavy Spearmen, because if you have them line up a certain place, like a square or a circle, the enemy will never go through them unless they use trolls or have abundances of cavalry. The Silvan Swordsmen are great as well and they have the best attack-rate in the Silvan Elves infantry roster. They are fast and I have not seen anyone beat them. Even against trolls they end the battle as victors. Even though they are quite expensive it is worth it because with a mixed army of Forest Wardens, Sentinels/Heavy Archers, Silvan Heavy Spearmen and Silvan Heavy Swordsmen, you can not be beaten and you can use this one army to fend of ten enemy armies before having to create a new one, or better yet, retrain it. Which reminds me, remember to retrain your men! Especially in the cities where you have blacksmiths. Having experienced units can make a lot of difference, trust me. They have better attack-rates as well as more morale.
Cavalry/Special Units:
First off, the Silvan Elves faction has only got one cavalry unit! It is the Silvan Horsearchers unit. As you already know, they use their speed and skill with bow to inflict several casualties against the enemy army. They are worth recruiting so when you have the oppertunity, do so. Though remember that you will never have a lot of this type of unit because it is so rare. In my campaign I had to wait an extremely long time before I could recruit them. I guess the reason why there are so few cavalry units is because there is little information about the Silvan Elves having cavalry as well as the fact that they can recruit Ents. Their cost is huge, but you should still recruit one if possible. Actually I do not think you can recruit them, you are given these units if you give the ents autonomy when taking Fangorn. Which means they are a type of mercenaries.
The pictures used above are from brandybarrel`s Palantir Unit Guide which you can find Here!
Anyways, I hope you have liked my guide and please comment if you have any questions or ideas!
Silvan Elves - Campaign Guide for H/H & VH/VH
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Re: Silvan Elves - Campaign Guide for H/H & VH/VH
Originally Posted by The Norseman
It is the city you will earn most money from by placing it as capital I believe. But ofcourse if it is constantly taken I would not recommend doing it.
