Orcs are so weak

[Jepp]

Just did a battle, (gondor(me) vs mordor) in my campaign... they were like 1500 and i was like 1000 troops, final result...

they lose all i lose 58 troops...

in a siege they had 3300 troops, i had 1500 troops, they lose 3250 i lose 550...

But i play the game on VH/VH...

Is this normal cause orcs are weak? or would i be more challenged using an other AI?

Thanks

[NickTheGreek3]

Orcs are supposed to be weak. Their power is their numbers.

[Jepp]

Orcs are supposed to be weak. Their power is their numbers.

Well that doesnt seem to work either...

[NickTheGreek3]

Well that doesnt seem to work either...

If you are 1500-2000 orcs against 500 men , it will work.

[Jepp]

I hope it will

[Dutch-Balrog]

The main strength of Mordor's forces are in their trolls, nazgûl leaders and uruks (and mûmakill in MOS). It will be much harder when they start sending trolls at you.

[Pyres Δt Varanasi]

The main strength of Mordor's forces are in their trolls, nazgûl leaders and uruks (and mûmakill in MOS). It will be much harder when they start sending trolls at you.

Yeah very true im playing with MOS 6.1 and the Have Mumakil's and the Stronger Mordor and Eastern Shadow event will put you to the test ! , also the Dismounted Black Numenorians are not that bad compare to orc's , and Trolls if u dont have pelargir marines or ballista ur are gonna have tough time dealing with then.

[Jepp]

Yeah very true im playing with MOS 6.1 and the Have Mumakil's and the Stronger Mordor and Eastern Shadow event will put you to the test ! , also the Dismounted Black Numenorians are not that bad compare to orc's , and Trolls if u dont have pelargir marines or ballista ur are gonna have tough time dealing with then.

Whats MOS 6.1 and what does it change?

Thanks

[Æsir]

In the early game it's easy to fight Mordor, in mid-game it would be more challenging, when Mordor will start to produce Trolls and Uruks. Still I find Gondorian campaign one of the easiest - even with houserules (don't move capital, save all good factions using expeditionary force, don't agree to peace or trade with evil factions).

[AJenny58]

I just started a war with Isengard at turn 200 in my Eriador campaing, and let me tell you: the Uruks are no joke! I totally destroyed the Orcs of the Misty Mountains and the Orcs of Gundabad with no problem at all, but these heavily armored Uruks are putting my strategic skills to the test. And I really don't want to fight any trolls!

In a nutshell what I'm trying to say is just wait. After the third barracks event your enemy will have some decent troops for you to slaughter.

[Jepp]

Barracks event?

[AJenny58]

Yeah, you get messages from "Your Military Advisors" about your military capabilities. I think you get three messages. After each one you can begin training better troops. (Or at least unlock the next level military building to allow you to train them.)

[NickTheGreek3]

The main strength of Mordor's forces are in their trolls, nazgûl leaders and uruks (and mûmakill in MOS). It will be much harder when they start sending trolls at you.

Yeah, I was talking about orcs in general.

Yeah, you get messages from "Your Military Advisors" about your military capabilities. I think you get three messages. After each one you can begin training better troops. (Or at least unlock the next level military building to allow you to train them.)

Actually the barracks events are two. You get a message at turn 1 from "Your military advisors" which pretty much says that your faction cannot produce high-level troops yet. There are 2 other messages that both allow you to recruit better troops (the 1st one unlocks the middle-class troops and the 2nd one the elite ones).

[sher]

Yeah, Uruks are good. Even archers are good in melee.

[AJenny58]

That's right, NickTheGreek3, I confused the first message with an event. Thanks for correcting me.

[grinder]

Yes, a complete Uruk army with some trolls is quite effective. When I play Mordor (mostly custom battles), I put all my melee orcs on lose formation and put them together to one unorganized horde. Somehow this works much better for me, than having the orcs work in organized untis. I don't really know why, but they seem to utilize their numbers better.
Morale stays better (or so I think) as well, because all units get some tolerable losses simultaneously instead of more concentrated losses on single units.
And on top it really looks "orcish" to have those halberds, spears and swords all together in one cluster.
(Now that I mention it, I tended to do the same for Germans and Gauls in RTW and it worked with them as well.)
Oh and about orc archers, I tend to charge them into the flanks, after a some volleys, because they are quite decent in melee (as sher already said), and their charge often succeeds in breaking the enemies morale. They also stand no real chance in a shootout with any human or elven archer unit.

[Munnings]

They're supposed to be week...

[brasswire]

Anything that is weak to archers is a cakewalk in this game. Even poor archers can kill hundreds of enemy soldiers without breaking a sweat. When it starts to get a bit more challenging is when you face enemies that are heavily armoured and somewhat resistant to archer fire, so you have to put your troops at risk in melee.

If you want a bit more of a challenge then try playing as Dale. They have a natural enemy in Rhun that is more diverse and more challenging in the early game than the Orc and Goblin forces.

[Heart of Madness]

@Jepp, it's pretty pathetic that you lost 500 men in a siege when they only outnumbered you 2-1.

[The Mouth]

@Jepp, it's pretty pathetic that you lost 500 men in a siege when they only outnumbered you 2-1.

Depends on the army really and if the defenders held them at the gateway long enough to cause huge casualties via Boiling oil.