Official 'Third Age 1.0 - 3.2 Question & Answer' Thread

[Loki_999]

Thanks so much Wizard! I tried to rep you but I have to "spread some around" apparently

I repped him for you.

[riuk881]

I repped him for you.

[Kirila the Kitten]

Hi guys , I am watching the Hobbit and I passed the scene where some elf knights help the dwarfs and Bilbo by killing the Wargs.
Are those Armored Horse Archers depicted as an unit in TATW or any of its mods?

[Ngugi]

Hi guys , I am watching the Hobbit and I passed the scene where some elf knights help the dwarfs and Bilbo by killing the Wargs.
Are those Armored Horse Archers depicted as an unit in TATW or any of its mods?

Somewhat; you have the AOR Imladris Riders, horse archers, and the HE generals, though they were not meant to depict the movie soldiers, they just by chance came to look much alike.
If you want such a unit straight taken from the movie the answer AFAIK is no.

[Mank]

I've not seen any armoured horse archer units added in TATW sub-mods. Though after all 3 Hobbit movies come out I'd expect someone will produce a new Silvan Elf roster that more closely resembles the elves in the films, and a heavy horse-archer might very well be added.

[Infidel144]

I've not seen any armoured horse archer units added in TATW sub-mods. Though after all 3 Hobbit movies come out I'd expect someone will produce a new Silvan Elf roster that more closely resembles the elves in the films, and a heavy horse-archer might very well be added.

In the Hobbit movie, it was Elrond and the Elves of Imladris with the horse archers, which reasonably relates back to the Noldorin bow armed cavalry of the War of the Jewels. In TATW (MOS) I have only played as the High Elves so far, and the extreme rarity of their bow cavalry seems 'un-lore' like, at least when compared to what I have noticed for the AI controlled Silvan, Lorien and Rohirrim factions, which seem to have no problem recruiting horse-archer units (but as I said I have not played those factions yet, so that may be a mis-perception on my part). In the 'lore', about one eored in 12 was of horse-archers, and then a few horse archers seem to have been assigned to the normal eoreds. There is, of course, no indication that the Elves of Lorien or Mirkwood fielded bow cavalry.

[Kirila the Kitten]

Well, after the Hobbit trilogy I am sure that someone will make some changes to the mod, no?

[Ngugi]

Depends on; there is no mention in lore about horse archery from Noldor's side after the First Age so one could also argue the existance of it in the Third Age to be in opposition to lore hehe. Thus one always have to be careful when using lore as a harsh argument.
No matter the reason if it's a matter of value to you*, then it's an easy thing to mod to fit your taste and even make a submod of if you consider it something that folks should experience


*I always encourage people to learn how to mod if they don't, as it gives freedom, is a load of fun and is not harder than that each modders before have managed to learn it. Avoid to be like a bloke I encountered recently, he had waited for a mod to make an edit in TATW for 5 years, but if he had dared to look into a tutorial instead of waiting it would at worst taken him 5 hours to learn how to fix himself ^^

[Infidel144]

Depends on; there is no mention in lore about horse archery from Noldor's side after the First Age so one could also argue the existance of it in the Third Age to be in opposition to lore hehe. Thus one always have to be careful when using lore as a harsh argument.

Well, technically, there is little mention whatsoever of the specific armaments of the High-elven forces post First Age*, probably because we never really see them in a descriptive battle to any real extent. Though being a fairly conservative people one would expect them to maintain certain traditions, as it were, and thus for 'lore' purposes the only thing to go on.

*Off hand, I can only recall Gil-galad's armaments being specified; and I think Elladan and Elrohir were similarly armed to the Rangers they accompanied, sword, spear and bow. I don't recall the arms of any other High Elves being noted post First Age.

The rest is, I'm sure, good advice, but I'm not making a complaint, or requesting a change. It is just an observation, which may be incorrect, since I have not played the other factions as I mentioned, while attempting to have a discussion.

If I were complaining re 'lore', I'd start with the silly shields and curved swords and too much plate etc.

[Ngugi]

Yeah indeed, without going into private suggestion before it's concluded, there's no horsearchery mentioned; all that can be done is to act in a lore-ish fashion and try to hit as close to target as possible and on as reasonable grounds from lore and gameplay at is comes.
Based on such lore limitations and required creative freedoms it can be concluded that it's reasonable to give HE horse archers, yet no one can say that it's more or less correct if they get more or less of the unit as there is no lore to confirm any choice in the matter - or even in opposition to lore if they are denied horse archers.

[Conqistador]

I've noted that not all settlements are cappable of recruit my own troops, and i'm playing as High Elves. How does the recruiting mechanics work in TATW 3.2? Are there some cities where i can do "advanced recruitment" or it is something with the vegetation type? There's some cities where, after recruiting a simple Bow Quendi, it takes 8 turns to next available unit. Is this right?

thanks in advance

[Flinn]

Hi Conquistador

yes recruitment time (and somewhat availability) depends on your faction and terrain of the region (you can read details on each book on the building list of each settlement, both on terrain but also about special units recruitable there, if any).

I don't know the exact numbers, but as a general rules Elves recruit faster in Woods, Orcs/Dwarves in Mountains and I think humans in Grasslands.

F

[Kirila the Kitten]

Also, Elfs shouldn't have longer times for recruiting as they are so few?
And another question : Are there Wargs without riders?

[Flinn]

@ Krila

about elves, they have actually, as a general rule they have the slower replenish rate and usually need more turns to recruit troops

about Wargs, AFAIK not, but I just saw on DCI:Last Alliance that they are going to include wolves (though not Wargs) without riders in the OOM rooster

[Oneru]

Not sure if there's any real answer, but instead of making a new 'which faction'-thread, I'll just ask it here: which faction has the best unit roster to fight everyone?

Maybe an odd question, but I intend to start a campaign in which I want to conquer the whole map, which means I have to fight everyone. Now I'm considering which faction is best suited for this. I would love to do this with Isengard, as it would feel right to let Saruman rule (yeah, I'm a Saruman fan), but the Isengard roster seems quite focused on fighting Rohan / Free Peoples. How would Isengard get past an High Elven archer army or a Mordor army with several Olog-Hai? Then I thought the High Elves would be good (Elrohir & Elladan gone bad), since their troops are very strong, but I wonder if their archers are any good against a full Dwarven army holed up in Erebor or something.

I guess what I'm looking for is advice any tips are welcome, thanks!

[Flinn]

If it was me, I would choose Ruhn or Harad, with Ruhn to be preferred due to his (IMO) better roster.

They have both very strong starting positions, they will have soon a very rich economy, many settlements to manage (so it is easier to focus on both economy growth and military construction), and they both have a backdoor to attack quite easily their former allies (especially Mordor that will be your main enemy in the late campaign).

if you want to try those factions and need some suggestion there are a couple of good guides and I can give you some help with Ruhn too.

F

[Mank]

I agree with Flinn about Harad, they are a very good choice for overall unit roster and full-map domination. They certainly have a quick pick-up in terms of getting going early on.

If you're a little bit more patient though I think the High Elves are actually the strongest late-game faction, and will pretty much decimate any other army once you've gotten full stacks of Eldar units. If you're going total war with HE taking the blue mountains from the dwarves early gives a big income boost.

[Dude with the Food]

Rhun has the best overall roster although Isengard archers/crossbowmen are good and Harad/HE have good claims too. Many HE infantry can stand up to Dwarves while archers/cavalry flank and rear attack. Just remember to use the archers against halberds/pikes/two-handed axemen without shields

[PandaChef]

If my spy goes in my castle or settlement does it make it harder for the enemy spy to open the gates?

What other factors affect opening the gates?

[knight of meh]

yes a spy in a settlement makes it harder i believe

other things that affect it .. i am not sure but as these things affect spies getting into the settlement i believe they affect gate opening chances..

governors traits : security oriented
and i believe the its called chivalry in Third age ? not sure but its one of those things