Gondor on VH/VH, tips?

[SulleDodger]

Hey all, been trying out some Gondor on VH/VH which I've realized is actually very hard...

Does anyone have any tips of how you should do it?

I secure osgiliath and cair andros to hold off the Mordor forces which isn't much of a problem. But then you have the harad hordes that will soon move in from the southern shores enmass. I've got a good win/lose ratio but it's impossible to keep them at bay anyway. The problem is the funding, if I should have sufficient garrisons in Osgiliath and Cair Andros I only have enough cash to fund a medium-sized army to fight off the Harad, who come in 3-4 armies at the same time. I wanted to just secure my borders and then build up my technology and economy but those bastards came pretty much just in time after I've secured the eastern borders. Whilst Mordor needs to focus on other enemies, Harad which is one of the most powerful factions at the time only has me as an enemy.

First playthrough I captured the settlement to the west, but on this playthrough I didnt as it didnt seem like it was worth it- took too many troops and too much time; time and money I needed against mordor.

I've decided to go for a Dale campaign instead now but any tips for later playthroughs would be lovely!

[Coldfire88]

I wanted to just secure my borders and then build up my technology and economy but those bastards came pretty much just in time after I've secured the eastern borders.

There is your problem. sitting back behind your borders and hope to defend it is a doomed strategy. From turn 1 you need to gather as much forces as you possibly could and move into Harad and wreck havoc. in other words: blitz them. never let any thing bigger than half a stack exist close to you, this will be possible if you start early.

Second thing is instead of using caire andros and osgiliath as choke points, make your choke points at minas morgul and and the bridge east of caire andros, this will give you all of the towns in the ehtilien region for extra funds. its also alot easier if you do this early.

And ofcourse you need to dump all your starting money on economic buildings tell you have atleast lvl 2 farms in all your cities, full mines and paved roads where they will increase trade.

anyway there are alot of guides around here including guides section, til me if you want others il post links.

I've decided to go for a Dale campaign instead now but any tips for later playthroughs would be lovely!

Wouldnt recommend it I won the Gondor campaign but having problems with Dale.

[FC Groningen]

As he said, you need to move out to prevent your enemies becoming too strong. Especially Harad will become a huge threat to your lands if you let them grow unopposed and sit back behind the Anduin. Best strategy I have is starting agressively by attacking East Osgiliath right away. After, I ignore the rebel settlements around there for a bit and run straight for Minas Morgul. If you can manage to avoid the garrison script, it would really help. You do so by forcing an army against the settlement walls and then attack so the garrison has to come out. The tiles between Minas Morgul and Cirith Ungol are very easy to defend due to the landscape. Also, if you then place troops at the Henneth Annun bridge, Mordor is completely cut off from your lands. Then turn your attention to Harad. Their main settlement will be Umbar. Try to take it and while you are at it, take Vatavea too to secure your "back". Vatavea doesn't have a garrison script; Umbar does. Umbar is a perfect potential recruitment center if you start to build up culture as soon as possible and Harad's main recruitment center for a long time in the game. Use Imrahil's bodyguard unit (Swan Knights) to counter the tough serpent guards and try to bring some spearmen with you. Harad usually fields cavalry heavy armies. After, it depends on how fast you can conquer and with how many men, but once you've taken out Harad (I'd prioritise it over Mordor) the rest of the campaign should be easy.

[oOIYvYIOo]

Sulle , maybe my videos can help you out .Im having a Gondor campaign in VH/VH for the first time and im around turn 90 , beated one invasion from Sauron ,sacked several times Harad provinces ,even their capital .
Im close to control them with another naval invasion .

Here is the topic with my videos:
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=577160

[Dutch-Balrog]

Hold Mordor at Cair Andros and Osgiliath with some troops.
Blitzkrieg Harad.

[eugenioso]

the biggest mistake most (Gondor) players do is play (Gondor) defensively instead of offensively. gondor is surrounded by 3 superpowered factions and if you are unlucky a fourth will come to deal with you. defense is not gonna work, the only way is the way of the attack. an early rush of Mordor for Minas Morgul and the black gate, Morannon, basically boxes Mordor in and allows you to focus wholeheartedly on Harad or Rhun.

though i probably shouldnt say this, your best bet is to focus on Mordor first. if properly managed and executed, you can heavily cripple Mordor in the first 30 to 40 turns. it certainly wont be enough to kill them (ive never done it, and i doubt that someone has ever pulled it off), but it will fill your coffers (from the cities taken) and deprive them of any aid.

[DrDragun]

Going on the attack against Harad is a good strat. When you must defend, consider defending land areas instead of settlements. The land bridges from Harad to Gondor only allow 1 stack at a time to pass, so you can defend a couple of bridge positions and never face more than 1 stack at a time (never get swarmed).

[SulleDodger]

Thanks for the help guys!

I started another campaign and pushed Harad with Denethor from the start. Managed to cap the island right south of Gondor as well as one city in the Harad desert. I'm having a hard time pushing now though but it's definitely going better than the last time.

I currently hold all of Osgiliath, Cair Andros is still under Rebel control and Mordor haven't tried to cap it yet so they wont move in from there. I've got a medium-sized force guarding the river but it's not enough to push on into Mordor and cap Cirith Ungol, but soon enough I should be able to. The problem yet again is the economy, trying to build the basic economy infrastructure in most camps as well as maintaining big armies is really hard.

But, I'm getting there, I can feel the economy is slowly but steadily going upwards so I should be able to build greater armies very soon and then continue pushing.

[Coldfire88]

I currently hold all of Osgiliath, Cair Andros is still under Rebel control and Mordor haven't tried to cap it yet so they wont move in from there. I've got a medium-sized force guarding the river but it's not enough to push on into Mordor and cap Cirith Ungol, but soon enough I should be able to. The problem yet again is the economy, trying to build the basic economy infrastructure in most camps as well as maintaining big armies is really hard.

Its a cycle, you build your initial economy which will support some troops, you gain as much land as possible with those troops, then you get more money, adding that money to economic buildings giving more troops etc. its the constant balance you have to deal with on H/VH in this mod.. any way good luck with your campaign.

[Galain_Ironhide]

In my current Gondor campaign (MOS +expanded map -about turn 93 - good slow campaign, takes me forever due to this thing called real life.) I have never taken Henneth Annun (ignored all those missions) and still to this point it is a rebel settlement. Cair Andros which I have had since near the start I have only ever had 1-2 units posted there and no support army required at that brdge near Henneth Annun. As a result I have only had to field one decent army at E.Osgiliath which covers that pariticular city and also Emyn Arnen as Mordor pretty much only ever marches through Minas Morgul.

There have been the occasional stacks travel south from the Black gate however they still go past Cair Andros & Henneth Annun and head for E.Osgiliath. Maybe one day they will surprise me and go for something different, however I have really benefitted saving my resources from having only one point and one stack guarding the whole area.

Might work for others too maybe?

[scostens]

Are you using Imrahil in your army? A recharging company of swan knights shouldn't be wasted as garrison troops.
Also if you want to hit Harad where it hurts, try taking Umbar. The hills between Harad and Kas Shafra (or something like that) make for an excellent defensive position.

[Macilrille]

You might want to look here and here. There are also guides in the relevant section.

[ppetrus]

Are you using Imrahil in your army? A recharging company of swan knights shouldn't be wasted as garrison troops.

That is right, a special task force consisting of Imrahil and two generic generals is capable of dealing with almost everything Harad sends on you in the early game (unless lesser stacks combine). If you do not want to make him the leader of your south army, make him chase and erradicate Harad reinforcements.

[muller227]

That is right, a special task force consisting of Imrahil and two generic generals is capable of dealing with almost everything Harad sends on you in the early game (unless lesser stacks combine). If you do not want to make him the leader of your south army, make him chase and erradicate Harad reinforcements.

Imrahil's large BG is excellent except for the fact they seem too tire a bit more easily than a generic general. Keep them fresh or warmed up and they smash Harad's units. I tend too turtle so adoption can kill my economy if I am not careful. I recommend adopting a couple generals to to get good cavalry on your Eastern front though. You don't have to worry about your cavalry infrastucture so much then.

[Rora Lion]

Just expand. I don't like to kill Harad early, because I feel it ruins the atmosphere.

[oOIYvYIOo]

Here is my last episode with Gondor on VH/VH almost on turn 200,let me know if it helped you .

http://www.youtube.com/user/oOIYvYIOo?feature=mhee

[magicgunnar]

Dont waste money on melee-units at least not against Mordor. I seldom use melee-units, and only if the enemy has a lot of cavalry. If they only have one or two units of cavalry my archers can take them out before they are a problem, then you only need archers and cavalry.

[Fedual]

Second thing is instead of using caire andros and osgiliath as choke points, make your choke points at minas morgul and and the bridge east of caire andros, this will give you all of the towns in the ehtilien region for extra funds. its also alot easier if you do this early.

I endorce this tactic aswell, those two are the best possible points of holding Mordor at bay, im currrently playin Arnor VH VH with MoS, Eastern Shadows and i have taken over Cair andros and Minas Morgul. I keep the bridge and the morgul vale pass as defensive points, gondor is taking care of Harad.