Elven Rangers (Eriador/Arnor) - v1.6

[Withwnar]

[3 Mar 2012] Elven Rangers are now part of Spawning Additional Units Submod (SAUS) which is now available for vanilla TATW (as of 3.1). The ERs in this "Elven Rangers" thread is an old version and won't be developed any further; all ER work will be in SAUS.

This submod adds an "Elven Ranger" unit to the Eriador/Arnor campaign (TATW 2.1).

They are not recruitable in settlements nor are they mercenaries. Instead a unit appears offering assistance. They can build a Lodge in certain settlements which provides retraining.

They are essentially a rare battlefield assassin unit: a small unit with very accurate and deadly missiles. They can also handle themselves well in melee but only as a last resort due to their very small number; they will be beaten by a large infantry unit or Trolls.

Features include:

• Missiles: armour piercing, high attack, very long range, very high accuracy, high ammo count (but few archers of course)
• Melee: armour piercing, high attack, high defense, 2 hit points but low armour (vulnerable to missiles)
• Forest hiding and combat bonus
• Fast moving
• Do not rout

Screenshots

I have gone to town on their stats. If it wasn't for their very low number this unit would be hideously overpowered, as Elves should be. Of course, this is ignoring the fact that there are two whole factions of Elves out there who aren't this powerful. You can always scale down their stats yourself if they are too high for your liking.

Recruitment

One unit will appear at Amon Sûl. If it is not owned by Eriador/Arnor or it is under siege then they will appear at Bree instead. If the unit is killed then another will appear after a small number of turns.

They are not available to the AI, only to the human playing this faction.

If they end their turn in certain settlements then they will automatically build an Elven Ranger Lodge. Lodges are not buildable by the player. These settlements are: Amon Sûl, Tharbad, Goblin Town, Litash, Isengard, Edoras, Minas Tirith, Dol Amroth and Thoronburg.

If you want to know exactly when they appear...

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

One unit will appear at about turn 35. A second will appear at about turn 100. Whenever no unit currently exists (because it/they have been killed) then a replacement unit will appear after 5 turns. i.e. If you have two units and one gets killed then there will be no replacement. If both get killed then you will get ONE replacement.

Inspiration

First and foremost this was made for the thrill of having units from another culture in my army. Also, Elves are awesome. And Rangers are awesome. Elf + Ranger = awesome squared.

Plus there is a hint of lore to this...

Elrond's sons Elladan and Elrohir spent their days hunting and killing Orcs, with Aragorn joining them in his youth. Aragorn was no mere Ranger, of course, but I always fancied the idea that the Rangers and the Rivendell Elves had some kind of association, possibly even working together on occasion.

These "Elven Rangers", then, are Elves from Rivendell who do for that region what Rangers do for Eriador: cleanse it of the bad things. (Note that "Elven Rangers" is only the name given to them by unimaginative Men.)

Compatability

There is an option to make it save game compatible (see Installation below).

NOTE: it is NOT compatible with previous versions of this submod. If you have already started a new campaign with Elven Rangers v1.4 or earlier then applying this version will cause a crash the next time a unit tries to spawn. Don't do it! If you started a new campaign and then added a previous version of this submod then it should be safe to apply this new version, although it will kill your existing E.R. unit(s); you will need to follow the save game compatible steps below.

It is compatible with the Additional Units Mod (AUM) 2.1 submod. Just be sure to install AUM first then this one.

It is compatible with the Full Arnorian Reemergence 1.3 submod. (NOTE: Elven Rangers v1.2 and earlier had compatibility issues.)

This unit is available in Custom Battles.

Installation

PLEASE NOTE: this submod requires the Additional Units Mod (AUM) 2.1 submod. This is for compatibility reasons. Without it there will be missing unit icons etc. and possible crashes in custom battles.

Massive Overhaul Submod (MOS)

Elven Rangers are included in the Massive Overhaul Submod (MOS) (as of Update 3.1).

• If you are using Update 3.2 (or later) of that submod then no further installation steps are necessary (you can skip this section).
• If you are using Update 3.1 then the only step below you need to perform is to run elvenrangers_newcampaign.bat. It isn't essential; by not doing this the Lodges are buildable by the player which is not how it's supposed to be.

Steps:

1. Install Additional Units Mod (AUM) 2.1 if you have not already done so.
2. Download - see the Attachment at the bottom of this post.
3. Backup the files listed below. This is only in case you want to undo the installation - skip this at your own peril.
4. Extract the zip into the Third_Age folder*, answering "yes" to any "overwrite?" prompts.
   (* Typically: Programs\SEGA\Medieval II Total War\mods\Third_Age)
5. In the Third_Age folder double-click on the appropriate BAT file:
   
   • If starting a new campaign: elvenrangers_newcampaign.bat.
   • If adding to an existing campaign: elvenrangers_savegamecompat.bat. See further instructions below.
6. Launch the game.

To make save game compatible

If you do this then don't forget to set it up for new-game-compatibility when you're ready to start a new campaign. When you have finished the current campaign run the elvenrangers_newcampaign.bat BAT file (step 5 above) before starting a new Eriador campaign. NOTE: You don't need to do that every time you start a new Eriador campaign. As mentioned above, run the elvenrangers_savegamecompat.bat BAT file. Elven Rangers will NOT automatically appear. You will need to spawn your own unit(s) by typing this into the command console... create_unit "Fornost" ElvenRangers 1 0 0 0 ...replacing "Fornost" with another settlement or general name if required. See the file data\text\imperial_campaign_regions_and_settlement_names.txt for settlement names. e.g. Amon Sûl = Weather-Hills. Lodges are buildable by the player instead of auto-built by the Rangers. The same settlements apply.

Files to backup

data\descr_projectile.txt data\export_descr_buildings.txt data\export_descr_unit.txt data\text\export_buildings.txt data\text\export_units.txt data\text\historic_events.txt data\unit_models\battle_models.modeldb data\world\maps\base\descr_regions.txt data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign\campaign_script.txt

Model and Building

It is using the Silvan Sentinel model with some modifications to the textures. Their garments are more forest-friendly with less shiny brooches and belt buckles. Some work has been done on the faces and the hair is darker.

The Lodge is a slightly modified version of Louis Lux's Elven Marksman's Range. I plan to modify this further in the future; for now it's just reversed.

Change Log

Change Log

v1.6 (28 Aug 2010) New pictures for unit card and unit info v1.5 (24 Aug 2010) AUM 2.1 compatibility Overhauled recruitment script Added Lodges to replace the retraining mechanism Nerfed the stats somewhat Added "inspire nearby troops" attribute v1.4 Bug fix: 1.3 EDB was missing AUM entries v1.3 No change from v1.2... Removed some unmodded files Added commented lines to ease save game compatibility v1.2 Now retrainable Compatible with AUM 2.0

Credits

• Shredder for making the original beautiful model and textures, and for allowing us to reuse them.
• Louis Lux for the original building card and permission to modify.
• All who looked into the I_NumberUnitsInSettlement problem, especially Ishan.

A big thanks to all.

[Disastras]

Hmmmm... I'm intrigued yet apprehensive. I like the idea of a super-elite group of Elven Rangers. That seems really cool. The stats are just really high... bordering on what I feel like is cheating. Yet, there are only a few of them so it's not that bad. I'll keep pondering on this one. Good job on the mod though, and thanks for sharing.

[Withwnar]

Thanks Disastras. One could rightly feel that these are balance-breakers, yes.

Still, the low spawning rate also helps keep things a bit more real, plus no retraining option. And despite their stats they won't last long in melee against any sizeable unit.

EDIT: now retrainable.

[Astor]

Would it be possible to make them nonrecruitable yet retrainable? I'd really like to use this mod but I'm the kind of player who can't stand having a unit that isn't at full strength. Otherwise I'll just end up keeping them as far from the front lines as possible.

[Darkhorse]

Looks great actually. Would it be possible to have it compatible with the expanded map mod when it's redone?

[Withwnar]

Would it be possible to make them nonrecruitable yet retrainable?

I'll give this some thought. I know what you mean about not wanting to risk them.

Looks great actually. Would it be possible to have it compatible with the expanded map mod when it's redone?

Shouldn't be a problem. Though I might need a reminder when the time comes.

[TiFlo]

Nice idea! I'd have had it that way for all the Dunedain units available to Eriador.

[Irish Lad]

I'm wondering because I changed my city Amon Sul but with the accent on top to just what I have written, and when I got to turn 20 my game just quit off. Do you think that might be the reason. Im also using another guys added units to arnor and ect. But I really like the Idea that the good guys should get something that has more than one hit point.

[Leuton Eomund]

Nice. :-)

[drogoth232]

Nice looking mod. But I have a suggestion... Why not give the Elven Rangers a hood? You know like Aragorn has? It would make them seem a little more stealthy and you know.... Cool! I know its alot of work, but please consider.

[Irish Lad]

could you make this mod compatible with Additional Units Mod (AUM) 2.0?

[Withwnar]

Thanks for the comments and/or rep guys. I have spent way too much time on this and it's good to have the effort acknowledged.

I'm wondering because I changed my city Amon Sul but with the accent on top to just what I have written, and when I got to turn 20 my game just quit off. ... Im also using another guys added units to arnor and ect..

I doubt that the name change did it (the script only uses the internal name "Weather-hills"). My guess is that you installed the other mod after this one? If so then come turn 20 it's trying to spawn a unit that doesn't exist because the file that defines it has been overwritten by the other mod. You could try installing this one again - it would stop the crash but also prevent the other mod's units from appearing. If that other mod is AUM then...

could you make this mod compatible with Additional Units Mod (AUM) 2.0?

I was planning on doing this, yes. I'll try and get onto it soon.

Why not give the Elven Rangers a hood?

This would require either using the (e.g.) Grey Company model instead of the Sentinel one or learning modeling. No time for that I'm afraid.

[Withwnar]

New version released: now AUM2.0 compatible and retrainable (see OP).

If you were already using this submod then this update should be save game compatible with your current campaign.

[Saladin]

very cool idea and definetly will have to try out

[Aguirre]

where are the included instructions for making them recruitable? Im on turn 90 so I dont want to start over. this is a nice little mod. luv it

[Basileutatos]

Nice work

[Neige]

This is how all elven archers should be like. Nice work!

[Vaz]

Not sure I'm that keen on the huge damage. Personally, I'd be happy with "just" Sentinels, nothing more fancy. I don't see why Rangers of the North Elves should be anything so radically different to their equivalents of the Woodland realm, who defend themselves against Evil Men, Orcs, Wargs, Goblins, Spiders, and the odd lost dwarf.

[Withwnar]

Thanks guys. And thanks for the rep Neige . Rep's always welcome.

where are the included instructions for making them recruitable?

Ah, I see how that could be misread. What I meant to say was "if anybody is interested then I will include instructions".

(EDIT: instructions added to OP)

I don't see why Rangers of the North Elves should be anything so radically different to their equivalents of the Woodland realm...

Neither do I. As I mentioned in the OP it is totally disregarding the relative nerfishness of the Elven factions. In my mind Elves should be like this but that raises all sorts of problems from a game/balance perspective when you have entire factions of them. i.e. I'm not suggesting that the Elves should be like this in the game, only that they would be like this in 'reality'.

In short: I made this for my own Eriador campaign enjoyment and decided to share it. I'm sure that many people would have a problem with their strength compared to 'normal' Elves; it doesn't make sense.

[Irish Lad]

Thanks for being on top of your game Withwnar. I really like the elves now that I got them working. You should really continue to mod and make new units.