I need help playing with the Silvan Elves on hard

[Mountain_Commander]

I'm losing my western provinces and the OotMM are taking over my western zones in huge numbers. I'm not making enough money to finance any big armies. What can I do? Please dont reccomend cheating.

[Deedlit]

The really big important thing you have to do asap is take out Dol'Guldur before it becomes a problem. Try to secure alliances with the Dwaves and Dale asap and let them duke it out with Rhun. You only should have to worry about Mordor from the south, get a decent but small stack of good units protecting the only way into the forest domain (theres a small entrance to Mirkwood in the south) Have 1 stack of archers and infantry per town. You would be supprised how easy it it to defend against goblins early on with archers. Focus really on the south west, if you take Moria and have it defended well you wont have worry too much from OOTM too much. However it may be best to lend some aid to Rohan if you have the cash spare, since if Rohan falls then it makes things harder late game. Because then you have to worry about isengard from the south if you haven't already taken out OOTM. Let the dwaves take care of the orcs in the north.

You need to have a few armys near the edges of your provinces where you expect attacks from. Having a stack of about five archers and a general unit west of Beorns Halls can provide defence for the westen side of your lands, as it will only take about two turns to reach the enemy before they get further inland into your empire.

[Mountain_Commander]

Okay I'll go after it and see if that helps. I only have one army(not even a full army). Its very early in the game.

[Deedlit]

Even half of stack of elves is overkill. Elves are expensive, but powerful. You don't need as many. About three to four archer stacks can wipe out a army of 3000 Snag's with ease. Just aim for the general unit with your archers and soon enough the rain of arrows will route the rest. You just need to have smaller armys across your land rather than one big one, it's too costly early on especially for the elves. Im no expert but still, it should help.

Edit: And always save before battles. When ever i've been outmatched 500 to 6000 a change of tactic can make all the difference for victory.

[ppetrus]

When ever i've been outmatched 500 to 6000 a change of tactic can make all the difference for victory.

Liar
If outnumbered more than 1:6 or so, the elves simply do not have enough arrows.

Or... You edited them to have more arrows :O

[Hlias]

Liar
If outnumbered more than 1:6 or so, the elves simply do not have enough arrows.

Or... You edited them to have more arrows :O

Nope, no liar! The elves are just amazing. If you use your sentinels and other archers to weaken the enemy formations (2-4 units of infantry , 1 cavalry for chasing and flanking your opponent and all the rest of the units archers!!!) then you have no problem defeating them in close combat. You have to concentrate the arrow fire on the general, after weakening as many enemy units as possible with at least 1-2 volleys of arrows, until he dies. After the generals death your concern should be how to kill and capture the routing enemy units!

[Mountain_Commander]

Well I ran in to some bad luck. I had a full stack army in my last western province. It routed as soon as I sent it to go fight. Then when I tried to sack Dol Guldur from Mordor The Blind Sorceror was waiting for me and hes like tens stars. He almost killed Legolas. I retreated back to Ost-In-Gils. I tried to ally with every good faction and none are willing. Elves aren't a cake walk.

[Mountain_Commander]

OMG I had an alliance with the Dwarves finally and they just sieged my capital which was unguarded. On the bright side I just took Dol Guldur and Mordors other western province. I have two full stacks. But my capital. . . Those backstabbing arse little Dwarves who would have thunk it.

[indigomist]

OMG I had an alliance with the Dwarves finally and they just sieged my capital which was unguarded. On the bright side I just took Dol Guldur and Mordors other western province. I have two full stacks. But my capital. . . Those backstabbing arse little Dwarves who would have thunk it.

That's hilarious !

[Deedlit]

Yeah seems like bad luck, just Don't have your generals in combat against Nazguls. Always have your generals right behind the attacking lines, to ensure no moral loss.

[Jollefjoll]

The dwarves can be a pain at times. I also play the Silvan Elves in one of my saves. I kept a little bigger garrison in Thranduil's Halls, even though I didn't expect the dwarves to backstab me. I was more concern of the northern flank.

Some cheap other useful hints is to always try and ransom captured enemy forces. It's an easy way to earn abit of extra cash. I know Silvan Elves are a pain when it comes to the economy... roads are also very good to invest in.

Beware triggering the garrison script for the OotMM. I "accidentaly" took Mountain Fort in the centre of the Misty Mountains which in turn spawned full-stacks of orcs&goblins (and freaking trolls) at Moria. They attacked Mountain Fort on a regular basis but, as Deedlit says, a few Elves can take down several orcs. They were usually 5000ish and I had like 800ish elves. The only time I got in serious trouble was when they started to use trolls....

[Deedlit]

Don't mention the trolls lol.

[Mountain_Commander]

Well I held my own in the Silvan campaign on hard. But I'm nowhere near having 40 regions under my control even though me and the Dwarves finally* wiped out OotMM. I started to attack Isengard but I think I'm going to start over. Rohan is gone. Dale and the Dwarves are the strongest. Mordor and Haradim took over almost all of Gondor. The High Elves do nothing. The Free Peoples are almost gone because of the Dwarves. I was locked in an epic struggle against OotMM to long.

[Argeleb]

I was doing well but suddenly Mordor came with full stack including Olog-hai,Uruks and everything fun.

In my fist game I had bit of luck avoidin garrison script, but then my game crashed. Sweet

[Deedlit]

I was doing well but suddenly Mordor came with full stack including Olog-hai,Uruks and everything fun.

In my fist game I had bit of luck avoidin garrison script, but then my game crashed. Sweet

When that ever happens i punish the game by using auto win on a battle that it crashed on.

[Mountain_Commander]

Should I try attacking the Dwarves at the start of the new campaign?

[Jollefjoll]

Should I try attacking the Dwarves at the start of the new campaign?

I'd recommend not to, that'll just lock on in an all-front war. Then you have to fight OotMM (and Isengard, depending on how they react) in the east and south-east. The dwarves in the west and north (combined with random excursions from OoG. And Mordor in the South (possibly Rhûn at times)..

That will lock you on the defensive once more, and hinder your conquests since you have to spread out your armies on all fronts instead of focusing on one.

So in short: Do not do the mistake Hitler did xD

[Arágion]

The Silvan Elves are my favourite faction

This is what I do with them:

Collect all the troops you can from Lórien, and take rebel settlements (Beorn's Halls etc.) as fast as you can. At the same time build roads and take every settlement in Mirkwood (except Dol Guldur).

As your economy starts going up, you want to get trade agreements. Train a few diplomats and send them to the West and the East -> get trade agreement with the orcs and Dwarves and Dale. This helps you get more money and better relations. (orcs won't attack you so easily.... )

Now that you have more money and you have secured your position, make sure you have troops in the western provinces to defend against possible attack from the orcs. Collect your troops in the East and siege Dol Guldur (make sure that the army consist mainly of archers ). After you've taken Dol Guldur the game becomes easier... Start using your money for making economy better, after that train more troops.

Build watch towers on every road to Mirkwood (South is the most important!), that helps you to defend your lands, build towers also in the west to help you in the upcoming war with orcs ...

When you have secured your position and you have a good economy, everything should go fine... except if you have bad luck

~Arágion

EDIT:
oh, if you can make the orcs your "ally" (good relations) and BACKSTAB them when they have no troops to spare against you!!!

[gloin99]

The best thing to do is to conquer Ost-in-Gil and Dol-Guldur in the first rounds. That get's Mordor out of the way for a looong time and you can concentrate on that sneaky orcs. As soon as you have captured Moria there should be no problems anymore.

[Mountain_Commander]

The Silvan Elves are my favourite faction

This is what I do with them:

Collect all the troops you can from Lórien, and take rebel settlements (Beorn's Halls etc.) as fast as you can. At the same time build roads and take every settlement in Mirkwood (except Dol Guldur).

As your economy starts going up, you want to get trade agreements. Train a few diplomats and send them to the West and the East -> get trade agreement with the orcs and Dwarves and Dale. This helps you get more money and better relations. (orcs won't attack you so easily.... )

Now that you have more money and you have secured your position, make sure you have troops in the western provinces to defend against possible attack from the orcs. Collect your troops in the East and siege Dol Guldur (make sure that the army consist mainly of archers ). After you've taken Dol Guldur the game becomes easier... Start using your money for making economy better, after that train more troops.

Build watch towers on every road to Mirkwood (South is the most important!), that helps you to defend your lands, build towers also in the west to help you in the upcoming war with orcs ...

When you have secured your position and you have a good economy, everything should go fine... except if you have bad luck

~Arágion

EDIT:
oh, if you can make the orcs your "ally" (good relations) and BACKSTAB them when they have no troops to spare against you!!!

See I did this. It seems like if I get trade agreements with the Orcs right away Mordor rushes me from Dol Guldur and they are worse than the Orcs. Then if I take Dol Guldur the Orcs react badly and start taking over my entire western flanks. This will be my fourth go around as the Silvan Elves. Guess ill try for those trade agreements with the Orcs and sack Dol Guldur again.

Oh and a bliztkreig of the Orcs doesn't work I found that out the hard way. I tried to sack Moria right away and all of the sudden they had two full stacks with cave trolls and Balrogs!!!

On a different note the Dwarves haven't done much of anything that last two campaigns. And Dale has collapsed the last two times also.