The Fourth Age: Total War Development Team are extremely proud to present:
‘The Fourth Age: Total War – Corsair Invasion’
‘It is the 227th Year of the Fourth Age of the Sun in the reign of the right high and mighty King Aldarion Telcontar of Gondor and Arnor, Lord of the Westlands, Captain of the Hosts, and Overlord of the West. I, Findegil, King’s Writer, on the request of my most excellent lord, wilt here put down some of what has transpired in the realm, and in the lands of the savage Haradrim and the cruel Easterlings these recent years.
Know then that in the 225th Year of the Fourth Age of the Sun the Haradrim, in treacherous alliance with certain Umbarian lords, may they be cursed forever, assaulted the great city and haven of Umbar, and took it with great slaughter. Fleets of black-sailed ships, manned by Corsairs and built in secret, then issued from the South, harrying the southern fiefs of Gondor, and overwhelming the King’s fleet. An initial invasion of Harondor by Haradrian forces was repulsed by Cemendur, the King’s son and Captain of the White Tower, but much of the region was plundered, and disease and famine ensued.
When, in the month of Súlimë in the 226th Year of the Fourth Age of the Sun, the King’s son was recalled to deal with a Haradrian landing in Anfalas, local Harondorian lords rose in rebellion, and successfully defeated the King’s armies, who was weakened after continual Haradrian attacks. The region of Anfalas fell to rebel lords later in the same Year.
It was shortly after, in the month of Yavannië, that the King’s Messengers first brought word of Easterling hordes amassing south of the Sea of Rhûn. Outriders reported a great gathering of many peoples and warriors; swordsmen, spearmen, bowmen upon horses, chariots of chieftains and laden wains, herds of horses and oxen were moving endlessly out of the East. It is not known what they seek, or if they intend to continue westward, but no good has ever come to Gondor from the Eastern Lands.
There are reports of Haradrian hosts mustering south of the Crossings of Poros, and even if the black sails have ever been a scourge to our southern fiefs and shorelands, they are now in greater numbers than any can remember. May the Valar give us the strength to stand against them. The Corsairs are coming…
Written in haste on this the 12th day of Víressë, in the 227th Year of the Fourth Age of the Sun, in the great city and haven of Pelargir. Findegil, King’s Writer and my great lord’s most faithful servant.'
'The Fourth Age: Total War - Corsair Invasion' is a modification for 'Rome: Total War - Barbarian Invasion' (v1.6). Our aim with FA:TW is to accurately portray the lands and peoples of Middle-earth as we think they existed approximately two centuries into the Fourth Age. 'Corsair Invasion' is a provincial campaign encompassing roughly one third of the full campaign map, in which players can choose to play the Reunited Kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor, the Chiefdom of Rhûn, or the Empire of Harad. The Reunited Kingdom is strong, but has recently lost some of its lands to the south and war is brewing on all its borders. The Easterling hordes are gathering in the East, seeking plunder and more fertile lands. In the South the Haradrim have assembled huge hosts in preparation for an invasion of Gondor. Will the white walls of Minas Tirith be stained red with the blood of its defenders? Will the Black Sails rule the seas? Will the banner of the Black Serpent be displayed over every town and city in Gondor? Will the Easterlings ravage the fair lands of Ithilien and the Fields of the Pelennor? Or will the White Tree upon sable be raised in victory over the blood-drenched plains and far fields of the South and East? You will decide, and you will conquer!
‘Corsair Invasion’ includes:
- Three playable factions in the campaign: The Reunited Kingdom, The Chiefdom of Rhûn, and the Empire of Harad; two additional playable factions for custom battles: The Kingdom of Rohan and the Chiefdom of Dunland.
- A new map showing the south-eastern lands of western Middle-earth (Gondor, Mordor, southern Rhûn, Khand, and Near & Far Harad).
- An historical battle, The Battle of the Crossings of Poros, updated from the demo v1.1 (including the ability to play any army!).
- Over 80 entirely new units spread over the five factions (+ mercenaries). This does not include levies and assimilation units.
- A custom-designed 'area of recruitment' system called MEZoRS, or Middle-earth Zone of Recruitment System. Goes far beyond the standard faction-specific recruitment buildings by creating a system of levies (local troops levied from conquered regions) and three region types: homelands, fiefdoms and outlands which affect such things as public loyalty, happiness and how long it takes to build your tech. trees. Also includes access to 'assimilation units' when you conquer designated 'chief cities' of major subcultural areas.
- Three Wonders: The Stone of Erech, The Ruins of Osgiliath, and Edhellond; three Marvels (wonder-like structures): The Sea-ward Tower (Tirith Aear), The White Tree of Gondor, and The Gardens of Ithilien.
- Three Landmarks: The Beacons of Gondor, Barrows, and Fortresses; four new trade resources: fish, ivory, horses, and cattle.
- New Tech Trees: Completely revamped technology trees for all 3 factions including many new building complexes such as Memorials, Wonder Capture buildings, Courts & Gardens, and Places of Mirth as well as faction-specific recruitment complexes.
- City Development: Engage the City development process and gain access to a choice of over a dozen Diversification Buildings across the 3 campaign factions. These buildings which will powerfully develop your city by way of trade, military strength, naval power, and so forth.
- Regional Buildings: Each subcultural area has its own unique Regional Lore building which gives you access to information about the area, its fertility, the native inhabitants and their stance toward your faction and other useful information to help you know whether to settle, move on or simply dominate the region.
- Around 100 entirely new traits, and 220 new ancillaries (including many new images).
- A custom-designed menu interface, featuring original artwork by Anke Eissmann and Peter Xavier Price.
- All new music, featuring artists such as: Justin R. Durban , Jonas Fancony, Simon Daum, Matti Paalanen, and Tapani Siirtola.
- 19 new loading screens, and 228 loading-screen quotations.
- And much, much more…
‘The Fourth Age: Total War – Corsair Invasion’ is an open beta; this means that there are things in it that are not finished, and things that will be improved upon, but these are, in the end, minor issues such as some 2d images. There are no major unfinished issues, and the beta should be stable (in fact, I do not think anyone has had a CTD during the testing phase). This mod has been, and still is, a labour of love for all of us on the development team, and it is our sincerest hope that you – the players – will find it enjoyable and interesting.
"In my opinion, The Fourth Age: Total War is the best modification out there. They've created a world worthy of J.R.R. Tolkien. It's like Eru Ilúvatar himself is behind The Fourth Age: Total War." 
- WimPyTjeH, Founder & Leader of Númenor: Total War
Download Links:
Make sure that you read the installation instructions below before you start the installation process (we recommend that you do this while downloading).
Corsair Invasion v1.0 | Mirror 2 | Mirror 3 | Mirror 4
The music pack adds all new music to the game, which is vital for the "feel" of the mod. An essential download!
CI Music Pack | Mirror 2 | Mirror 3
Installation Instructions:
Important Notes: Read BEFORE Installing
The following files will be overwritten in your vanilla R:TW when you install 'Corsair Invasion' but the files will be backed up into a vanilla folder as a subdirectory so you can access the original at any time:
- data\loading_screen folder: loading_bar.tga
- data\terrain\aerial_map\tile_textures folder: volcano_dormant.tga.dds
This will not cause any problems for other mods you may have installed (or vanilla), and their only effects are visual in nature.
Please follow these installation instructions *carefully*. If you are having problems, check out Palantir's Guide To Installing (With Screens)
- 1. If you do not already have one, prepare a clean (i.e. unmodded) copy of 'R:TW - Barbarian Invasion' 1.6 on your PC. The 1.6 BI patch can be found at Sega's site (it is good practise to always keep the default installation clean so that you can use it to make clean copies, source vanilla files, and receive new patches/expansions etc.).
2. OPTIONAL: Once patched, we recommend you copy your entire game (i.e. everything in the "Rome - Total War" folder) to another folder unless you have set up a copy from the default installation already. For example:
Original installation: C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War
Example copy location: C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War Copy
You do not have to complete this step but it is always wise to keep your original installation clean.
3. Now go into C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War\bi and create a folder called ci.
4. Copy (not drag/move/cut!) the *contents* (all sub-folders inside the bi folder; custom, data, preferences, replays, saves) of the bi folder into the new ci folder (not including the ci folder of course).
5. Remove all subfolders in the C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War\bi\ci\data\world\maps\battle\custom folder.
6. Delete the "base" folder and thus its contents (found at C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War\bi\ci\data\world\maps\).
7. You can now run the installer .exe for the Mod (ensure that you have it pointed to your Rome directory).
8. OPTIONAL: Download and install the Music Pack (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED).
9. Right click on RomeTW-BI.exe, and choose ‘Send to’ and then ‘Desktop’. Right click on the shortcut you just created and choose ‘Properties’.
The target line above it should look something like this:
"C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War\RomeTW-BI.exe"
So the whole line should look something like: "C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War\RomeTW-BI.exe" -show_err -nm -mod:bi\ci
An icon is also included should you wish to use it or if it is not already the default.
Should you need any assistance, please contact us on our forum. Also check out our website, http://www.thefourthage.org, for more information on the mod.
The FA:TW Team would like to thank:
The Creative Assembly for making quite possibly the best strategy game out there, and for allowing us to mod it.
The entire modding community for making wonderful tools, tutorials, and generally being great chaps.
Vercingetorix for making the xpak, xidx, and cas exporter.
Europa Barbarorum (and Bouchious specifically) for allowing us the use of 50 de-tattooed Barbarian portraits (we are told the barbarian leaders did not complain too much despite this painful process, though one member of EB was rumoured to have received a rather nasty axe wound to his shoulder and was unable to mod for 8 weeks) - (www.europabarbarorum.com)
Teleklos and Shifty (both of Europa Barbarorum) for their work on and permission to use the palm-forest mod.
Burns, of Middle Earth: Total War, for coming in at the last minute and making us a model for Osgiliath.
Darth Vader (of DarthMod fame) for making custom formations specially for the mod.
Jonas "Cronus" Fancony, musical artist, for the use of various shorter musical pieces for the Haradrian and Barbarian cultures. (www.fancony.com)
Justin R. Durban, musical artist, for the use of a large number of his great songs. (www.edgen.com)
Simon Daum, musical artist, for letting us use his song, 'The Return of the King', as the signature music for the mod. (www.simondaum.com)
Matti Paalanen, musical artist, from 'The Celestial Aeon Project' for permission to use some of his songs in the mod. (http://www.mikseri.net/artists/celes...ject.48147.php)
Tapani Siirtola, musical artist, for permission to use some of his wonderful music in the mod. (www.mikseri.net/artists/?id=37335)
Anke Eissmann, artist, for permission to use some of her artwork in the mod. (http://anke.edoras-art.de)
Peter Xavier Price, artist, for permission to use some of his artwork in the mod. (http://peet.deviantart.com)
All the fans who have helped and supported us over these past two years.
Christopher Tolkien for revealing more of the wonderful world of Middle-earth in his 'History of Middle-earth' books.
And last, but certainly not least, our deepest and most heartfelt thanks to John Ronald Reuel Tolkien for creating the greatest fantasy world & epic of all time.
All images are taken from the pre-public beta and may appear slightly different in the public version.
The Fourth Age: Total War - Corsair Invasion v1.0 Released!
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