(MOS 1.41) What's the deal with Mordor's Mumakil?

[saamohod]

I'm not sure if it is the submod MOS to blame or the issue is present in vanilla.
I just started Gondor campaign Hard/Hard, currently on turn 40. There is so far only one thing that breaks the game for me, but it breaks it a lot.
A full stack of units from Mordor arrives at my borders around turn 25-30. The stack contains all the usual early Mordor units PLUS a unit of Olog-Hai and a unit of Mumakil. Well, that screws thing up big time, I thought. I managed to destroy half of this stack at the cost of losing all my stack and couple of generals who fought in that stack (I had to retreat when Mumakil started the rampage). All the Mumakil survived. Luckily the remainder of the "trouble pack" diverted southwards, attacked rebel town and stayed there until... after around 10-15 turns a second full stack arrives with the Olog-Hai and Mumakil again. I'm about to give it up. It looks too artificial to my taste and seems too much of masochism for Hard difficulty.
Can anyone tell me if some kind of submod included in MOS is to blame and how can I disable this disgrace? I really want to continue playing the game. After so much time and thought invested I just seem to develop a taste for this game. What an annoyance with these scripted stacks.

[Loki_999]

Harad starts with 1 unit of Mumakil (even in vanilla), which is nice if you are playing as them, not so nice if you are playing as Gondor.

There are quite a few posts around the forums about how to handle Mumakil in general, but most point to the use of Pelagir Marines, not something you have much access to early on (although IIRC you start with one or two units playing as Gondor or can get them fairly quickly).

But Mumakil have one big weakness - fire. It doesn't hurt them too much, but it can cause them to panic and go on a rampage. There is nothing funnier than watching a unit of mumakil go trashing its own units, its devastating.

So if you can't muster any of the usual Mumakil killers (artillery/javelins) then a good number of archers with flaming arrows will do second best and send them into panic mode. Its a bit random and can take some time, but it works.

If facing a big stack with Mumakil, just try and stay clear of them while taking on the rest of the enemy. Don't divert forces to try and deal with them (unless you have Mumakil killers as mentioned). As Gondor you have good access to Cavalry that can stay out of their way. At worst, get your infantry in contact with enemy infantry, so if the Mumakil decide to stomp on you, they will also stomp their own forces.

When you have finished off the bulk of the enemy, then its time to deal with the Mumakil (who hopefully will now be slightly supceptable to routing - especially if there is no general remaining). They are a pain to get to route though if you don't have Mumakil killers. They will murder cavalry, crush most infantry, and a lot of units just won't scratch them much. Be prepared for losses. Any armour piercing units are the ones you want to be attacking them with and ideally ranged ones (which is why Pelagir Marines are the most recommended). Anything else ranged that can stay out of the way is next best. Otherwise you just have to go in with what you have got and be prepared for massive losses.

[saamohod]

Thanks for the advice Loki, I do appreciate it.
The problem is that I would prefer not seeing any Mumakil from Mordor altogether, especially every 10-15 turns. As far I know Mumakil should be produces by Harad, but after so many battles fought with them I haven't met any Mumakil from their side.

[Loki_999]

Oh yes, you said Mordor. Ah, i did hear that it is possible for Mordor to recruit Mumkail mercs but guess what you are facing is a MOS thing, because i've never seen Mordor with Mumakil in vanilla.

I guess to remove this you would need a modder to advise you on how to stop this happening.

[Wolfeson]

This is purely a MOS thing. The reason you are seeing Mumakil in Mordor armies is because of the Eastern Shadows script. This script gives Mordor the stacks you're describing at set intervals, and these stacks will include high-tier Mordor units, as well as Mumakil. I believe they can also include other high-tier Harad and possibly Rhun units, but I'm not sure on that.

The good news is, you can turn off the Eastern Shadow script at the start of a campaign. It's one of the huge list of scripts you go through at the beginning of every MOS campaign and choose to turn each one on or off. Just make sure you leave Eastern Shadows off, and no more Mordor stacks with Mumakil. I don't know if it's possible to turn it off mid-campaign, though.

As things stand, like people have said, armor-piercing and fire arrows are your best bet to deal with them. I'd personally recommend ballistas with fire arrows on. You can get them early, they're not hugely expensive, and they're quite accurate in MOS (plus Mumakil are big targets).

Good luck.

[Ngugi]

This is purely a MOS thing. The reason you are seeing Mumakil in Mordor armies is because of the Eastern Shadows script. This script gives Mordor the stacks you're describing at set intervals, and these stacks will include high-tier Mordor units, as well as Mumakil.

This.
See the read me found in your Third_Age_3-folder of your MOS-installation.

Closed.

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