Help with my SE Campaign

**PandaChef** · June 17, 2013, 05:01 PM

I have reached the stage where I am attacking Mordor, I have split my army roughly in two. One to defend the black gate the other to siege Henneth Anduin. I left 1500 troops at the Black Gate thinking it would easily be enough. An armry of 4000 mordor troops turns up mostly consisting of orc raiders and some Uruks and a Olog Hai. I thought I would easily be able to win as I had alot of high quality archers and stuff like one heavy spearmen and two heavy swordsmen. I got slaughtered because for some reason the archers cant find over the wall very well and the enemy just pushes through and wont ever rout. I am not really sure what to do (I have a save before the battle). I dont understand why 1500 men cant easily beat a 4000 man army which is coming through a tiny gate? Would letting them in slightly with a circle of troops formed round the gate with archers behind so they have a better LOS work?

**Aldor** · June 17, 2013, 05:04 PM

Let them in, get your troops in a circle as you said (use guard mode) and fire happily with your archers.

If enemy general dies, you can use fire arrows on 1-2 archers for added effect, use normal arrows otherwise.

**Wolfeson** · June 17, 2013, 05:49 PM

Exactly, let them come in through the black gate, then envelop them. I believe there's also one area near the gate walled off by a barricade of stakes where your archers can hit troops coming in through the gate at point-blank range, but can't be charged.

**ThaDoews** · June 18, 2013, 08:26 AM

If you can, place stakes in front of the gate and strategically around. Arrange your melee units around too in guard mode. Place your archers around in a circle. Be sure you always shoot a the rearest enemy as they get through the gate!

Don't use fire arrows unless the Olog-hai are alone and then beat them with fire arrows!

Use your archers as melee when they are out of arrows otherwise, let them run and shoot if that should be necessary

**Aldor** · June 18, 2013, 11:35 AM

NB: Also try to keep some troops in reserve, only use the forces to block that are needed and replace them when they get tired.

Really helps alot sometimes.

**CatoTheYounger** · June 18, 2013, 01:01 PM

Stakes? Unless there are Nazgul how would stakes help? Orcs and Trolls can walk through those.

Also is your army mostly archers? Not good if your trying to hold a gate with little or no infantry. Mordor's numbers will create a mass that will push through your smaller force. And if you are almost all archers with nowhere to skirmish to you will get devoured in hand to hand as they will be all over you. Bring more spears once you are defending such a settlement. Also it's hard to envelop such an army with inferior numbers.

Guard mode and the semi circle of archers your best shot. With such numbers your infantry might still get overwhelmed especialy if they use their Trolls correct. If you have enough Elven spears on gaurd mode you can hold them in place for your archers to destroy. If not enough infantry your archers will be useless in this scenario.

**manekemaan** · June 18, 2013, 03:08 PM

don't you have like more than enough terrain behind the black gate wall to completely decimate the army? I would treat that battle like a normal field battle, while having the advantage of a chokepoint.

**Aldor** · June 18, 2013, 04:36 PM

Originally Posted by CatoTheYounger

Stakes? Unless there are Nazgul how would stakes help? Orcs and Trolls can walk through those.

They're obstacles which make the orcs more spread out and lower the ammount of orcs swarming into your spearmen per time unit.

Less orcs means superior quality troops can murder them way easier in melee.

**muller227** · June 18, 2013, 06:58 PM

I think you might be running into a terrain modifier issue here with your infantry. I don't remember the climates out of hand, but I think the Elves get hurt pretty bad if it is desert. They are still better than orcs but not as much better, than in forest or scrub, it is a pretty big swing at least in MOS. You will have to sacrifice a unit to the Olags while your archers strip away their orcish support troops. A decent infantry unit can hold them in place long enough, then overwhelm the trolls. I would definitely fight this more as a field battle with shooting and scooting as much as possible. Try to swing as many archers as you can to the left of the melee (your left). It helps get around the shield value of Mordor's troops. If you can fall back and have room, keep a units of archer as hidden as possible to swing in behind as the fight moves away from the gate. I never deploy Elvish Archers behind my infantry that is just asking for trouble of the friendly kind.

**PandaChef** · June 19, 2013, 12:53 PM

Ye I just did whatAldor said and won quite comfortably. You dont really need that many infantry troops when you have elven archers, they slaughtered the orcs, getting 350-500 kills each. I had a catapult too which was pretty epic, it completely wrecked them as huge blobs form next to the gate. It git around 400 kills too

**|Sith|Galvanized Iron** · June 19, 2013, 03:01 PM

Put archers on elevated flanking positions with a few infantry in front of them to block any enemy that sidetracks, let the rest of your infantry form up in the centre to block the orcs way to the plaza. With fire arrows and flanking fire orcs will rout in no time, especially since you got the almighty Elf archers... You could also do as other say and simply put arrows behind the permanent stakes that is on this map and let your infantry plug the gaps, infantry units in schiltrom has a great resistance against being pushed by superior troop numbers, schiltrom is great use it.