Campaign Reports

[Wambat]

Turn 15 and the Beornings have finally declared war on me, taking Langwyke. I only have a couple of FM east of the Misty Mountains, having just sent my Geenwood Elves to help get Adunabar out of Eriador. It is frustrating that more than half of the Elves’ strength is locked up east of the Misty Mountains, while the primary antagonist is west of them. I tried paying for alliance and military access, but the Beornings were not having it, and they have hated me ever since I sent my troops across their land. Touchy bastards.

[Wambat]

Elven campaign update:

I have restarted my Elven campaign, being very careful not to cross the territories of other factions without permission.

Turn 28: I was able to maintain a mutual military access alliance with the Beornings from turn 4 to turn 25. I had given Middeeping to the Beornings to prevent Adunabar opening a second front up the Anduin. This was exactly enough time for me to finish off Adunabar in Arnor.

My realm now stretches contiguously from Greenwood to the Gulf of Lune via Sarnford. The Beornings still control the crossing over the Anduin, but that will soon be corrected.

The Beornings attacked me, without warning, and in my own territory. My generals seem to be able to deal with any number of Beornings, so long as I can keep their bowmen from getting to my rear. Likewise with Dale, who attack me the following turn.

I intend to take the western provinces of both factions, then make them protectorates, with their eastern provinces forming a contiguous buffer. The problem I foresee is that the Elves are not good at making money, and I am not likely to have the large balance typically required for a successful negotiation any time soon.

So far, keeping things balanced in my kingdom, if only just.

[Humanoid293]

Campaign: Elves
Difficulty : Decidedly Tookish/Bullroaring
Version : 3.1

Restarted the Campaign maybe 2, 3 times between turns 5 and 10, mostly because I needed to get to know avilable paths to develop a suitable start strategy . I am now at the end of turn 5 of what I think will be the save I am going to go on playing . Short term Goals are consolidating and developing my Territory . I will develop the longer term Strategy from how the Map evolves while I am busy doing that .

Diplomatically, an Alliance has been forged with Rohan . Trade Rights have been established with The Shire, Dale, and the Dwarven Kingdom .

In terms of conquest :

* Rumil moved out of AmonLanc, taking the Unit of Galadhrim Scouts with him . He took Feorfed with support of the Galadhrim Warriors of Caras Galadhon . The territory is being pacified as I write this .
* Orophin took his Scouts and moved to the North, taking Andlang . The process of pacification has been started .
* Galion and the garrison of Emyn-duir are moving westwards out ot the Woods, being reinforced by troops from Elvenking's Halls . 2 units of Elven Bows have been trained there quickly, to bolster his numbers . Emyn-duir is receiving a unit from EH as garrison . Galion will proceed to subjugate the Beornings on the western edge of Greenwood .

* Glorfindel stayed near Mithlond to wait for reinforcements being trained . As soon as 2 units of Bows were ready to move out, he boarded 2 Ships coming from Harlond and Forlond . Only the Lindon Guards stayed back in Mithlond to well, guard the City and its Governor . The little fleet has crossed the Gulf of Lune and is now moving south-eastwards along the cost . I have not decided yet on which side of the Baranduin I will disembark Golrfindel's Army, whose aim of course is to liberate Rivendell, and if possible also bring Ost-in-Edhil into the Realm .

If all goes as planned, I wll at least have Lorien and the Greenwood connected by bringing the territories along the upper Anduin into the Realm within a few turns . Mountain Pass Fortress has to be taken fast also, as I anticipate it may be necessary to be able to reinforce Glorfindel's expedition force . Since I am pretty unexperienced and insecure about any of the mechanics/buildings etc., I will stop expansion after having taken Rivendell/Ost-in_Edhil , and turtle up for a while . And see where I go from there .

[Humanoid293]

Update on Elven Campaign:

It is the Summer of 367 ( turn 23 if I am right... ) . Sad news spread through the Realm last Winter . Only 1 1/2 years after reclaiming Rivendell, Glorfindel departed Middle Earth . He had marched his host up the eastern shore of the Baranduin, finding Ost-in-Edhil under Tharbad's Governance . So he proceeded towards Rivendell, taking it without much resistance an no losses to the Elven folk . The town is well on its way becoming a full fledged Homeland Dominion . Right after the taking, it was possible to secure a peace treaty with Adunabar, which gives us some more time to consolidate .

Galion has proceeded to claim the Lands west of Greenwood for the Realm . Grimhost and Oldfort are taken, and he is now marching towards Langwyke, eliminating the Beorning's feeble resistance as he meets them on the way . His successes during his campaign led to him being adopted into the Royal Family. The festivities still go on throughout the provinces, and the Elves are full of joy .

Rumil and Orophin have returned to their Seats . Wise governance of our Nobles brings more and more of the Elven Folk, formerly spread out and seemingly dwindling, to flock towards our major settlements. In AmonLanc, Caras Galadhon, Elvenking's Halls as well as Mithlond, our numbers are actually growing !

Diplomatically, our trade agreements and Alliances hold . A new Ally has been found in Tharbad, who declared War on Adunabar last Summer .

Our provinces and settlements develop well in all regards .

It has to be seen whether Dale remains peacefull, and whether - and if so, when - Adunabar decides to retaliate for the loss of Rivendell . As it stands at the moment, nothing seems to stand in Galion's way, who hopefully will be liberating the Mountain fortresses north of Moria from Orcs after taking Langwyke, securing the connection bewteen Rivendell and the eastern Mainland . Seeing how Adunabad has almost wiped out the Reunited Kingdom's presence in Arnor, it is well sooner than later we be able to move troops over the Mountains . I want to be able to assist our newfound Ally, if need be, as quick as possible .

[Humanoid293]

...aaaand, my Elven campaign has died around turn 84 . Made too many beginners mistakes, as well as underestimated the Campaign AI . I was able to take all the Beorning's Lands despite the one to the east of the Woods, and also made the connection between Rivendell and the Anduin Vales . But it was too little too late . Did not at all find a recipe to deal with the nonstop Dale and Adunabar incursions . The drain on money and manpower was simply too much .

So I started a new campaign, where all went well until turn 50 . I had been able to raid a few Adunabar and Dale Settlements . But then ofc as soon as I took Oldfort to connect and consolidate my Lands between the Forest and the Anduin , the pour from North and South started . I am now at turn 55, lost a Homeland fief to Adunabar already, and another large Host of them is marching North . I am not sure whether I will be able to withhold, especially since Dale seems to be able to create Armies out of nowhere....no matter how many of their Hosts I destroy to be able to start taking on their northern Settlements, the next half - or almost full Stack is only a turn away .

Soooo...I'll see . If it goes down the drain again, I have learned a few more things which I will do differently at the next start .

[Wambat]

@Humanoid293: I would recommend making use of diplomacy to try and cement alliances with your immediate neighbors in the east, At least until Arnor has been secured. Taking out Adunabar in Arnor will give you plenty of territory to develop. If you gift Mid-Deeping to the Beornings, Adunabar will not send stacks though their territory at you, even if you are later at war with the Beornings.

[Humanoid293]

Thanks for the advice . I had established Alliances with every immediate neighbour really fast, but somehow failed to give any settlement to anyone . They simply would not accept my propsal . There is a few things I did wrong 2nd campaign which I will do differently when I start another Elves campaign . I havent given up on the 2nd try yet, it may still be possible to turn that around .

Anyways, as with TNS ( 1st FATW I played ), its absolutely wonderfull to play . I am really amazed by how streamlined gameplay is compared to Vanilla . While there is no lack at all of Strategy, planning, Kingdom Management and Battle, it does not feel like a chore to me - as Rome usually did pretty quickly into a campaign . Kindof a chore, and even a bit boring . Nothing of that in TATW so far playing the Elves . I really do not know how to praise that appropriately .

To think that I have 16 more factions to play yet... .

[Wambat]

@Humanoid293: The easiest way to give a territory is to have it contiguous with the recipient, or the recipient can get there through military access. In my campaign I got a military access alliance (both ways) with the Beornings by turn 4, and gifted them Mid-Deeping turn 5. You cannot do it without greasing the wheels with a good amount of mirian, but you get a good deal of it back when you ask them to support your attacks on other factions.

[webba84]

Something that will help with elves is to realize just how powerful the Bodyguard units are. You really have to rely on these heroic leaders to make up for being outnumbered in just about every battle.

[Humanoid293]

Something that will help with elves is to realize just how powerful the Bodyguard units are. You really have to rely on these heroic leaders to make up for being outnumbered in just about every battle.

Yep, I realized that during my first try . By now, I am routinely taking out Adunabar and Dale armies up to max 800 man ( if the composition allow it and all goes well )with one Bodyguard Unit, 1 Galadhrim Scout or Warrior, and another Foot Unit of any kind that I can use as blocker . Yet whatever I do, it is always Campaign AI and Diplomacy that mess me up . In my current ( 3d ) campagin, I had just gotten Dale, Beornings and Adunabar under control getting ready to lash out ( taking the Beorning's regions, then cleaning off Dale from west to east was the plan ) when Tharbad declared on me and started attacking my Western Settlements. One of my Governours had conveniently died and I was not able to get Reinforcements there fast enough, so there went Harlond . Forlond I had to give up cos my Governour in Mithlond died, too, and I had 3 large Hosts marching towards it, and did not want to loose it . Rivendell I up to now manage to hold, but the loss of those 2 Settlements took away a large chunk of my Income, so I am now running roughly 3k negative per turn . I was able to somehow migitate that for a few turns through raiding, but that has now come to an end, too .

No matter what I do, decide, build or not, train or not - for 3 campaigns now, it always gets the point - around turn 80 - where I am simply over and done with . I am scratching my head what I am doing wrong. I am sure I have learned quite a bit by now, none of those 3 campaigns did I play the same, in fact all 3 were distinctly different in my approach....but the end came around the same time each time, and in a way that it seems impossible to do anything against it .

As for the advice regarding Diplomacy: didnt help with Rohan trying to give them 1 Region they were directly adjacent to, not even offering them money . Offering the Beornings money, even regular tribute of a few hundred marima per turn, also did not help with them accepting a Region . Heck, the Beornnings gave me a hard time 2 out of 3 campaigns to even accept an Alliance . I am also reluctant to spend too much money early on on Diplomacy, just because I have learned by now -> if I am not built up well, and defended in terms of at least Palisades and well developed armies, I will have 0 Chance to withstand the stream of Armies coming my way from at least, mabe even 3 Enemies starting roughly around turn 65 - 70 .

Ofc. does not help that Dale and/or the Beornings miraculouyls always block(ed) the forest paths whenever I really needed Reinforcements out of the Wodds, had the Armies there and wanted to march them out south....but had to fight my way through 3, 4 Armies . By the time a path was clear....didnt make sense to send that Army as reinforcement anymore XD .

Anyways...I love playing the Elves . As mentioned above, gameplay is really nicely streamlined, and it is really interesting to try and get them work . A challenge to say the least .

[webba84]

If you want to upload one of your savegames I'd be happy to have a look and give some pointers - Elves are definitely very different from most factions to play.

[Highland Laddie]

One thing that recently helped save my Elven campaign finances was when I was going to use my diplomat to sell map information to the dwarves, and they responded by giving me a 20,000 mirian gift!!! (Yes, you just read that right)

Who knew dwarves were so generous?

[Highland Laddie]

Another thing you can do as Elves to help with finances, if you can stomach it from an RP perspective, is to sell off the king's treasure hoard in Elvenking's Halls, which also nets you 20,000 mirian.

[Wambat]

I haven't had so much trouble with my Elven campaign, likely because I make a significant income though diplomacy. But this is an obscure aspect of the game, and it would be unfair of me to recommend it. I am working on a guide for using diplomacy effectively, but some aspects are still being researched. In any case, I spent around 13000 on the military access alliance with the Beornings, and half that much giving them Mid-deeping.

Perhaps somebody else can explain how they get by without substantial diplomatic income. For one thing: You don't need to have any units around EH until you are ready to clear out Dale. Those units should be moved toward Arnor first thing. Also, you are probably using up more Elves in combat than you need to. In most cases Elven BGs don't need any support on the battle field. Get the BG's back against a rock, random building, or the edge of the battle map and he will take care of all the enemy units. If a few units are left over that your BG cannot catch, quit the field. The enemy army will have too few men to continue the assault. If you do have regular troops as backup, you can hide them in trees or grass until the BG has taken out 90% of the enemy and then use your regulars to help take out the remaining archers or cavalry.

Strategically: Take and hold Lastbridge around the time you take Rivendell. This settlement has a good sized population to retrain the mercenaries you should be buying like hotcakes, and makes an ideal, or nearly so, location for your capital. It is always the first of my mannish settlements to get a governor.

On the subject of governors, do not be in a hurry to saddle all your BGs with a settlement. For one thing, you cannot set taxes high on governed settlements. I remove the governors from Harlond and Forlond first thing and set there taxes as high as can be managed. With a garrison unit, and maybe a Hall of Mirth, you can set them at very high even with the capital quite far away and get something like 2000 more mirian per turn.

Since you will almost certainly get aggression from Tharbad, and from Adunabar via the Aduin Vale if you do not get Mid-deeping in the hands of a third party, keep a pair of BG units around each area uncommitted to settlements. That should be enough to deal with invasions, and insurance against one of them dying. Ideally you will not take Three-ways until you have taken out Adunabar everywhere else in Eriador; you don't have to hold all those settlements, just kick Adunabar out.

Also, do NOT make Glorfindel a governor. He should always be running around the map until he goes West. First take Rivendell. Second, take out all the Trolls in Eriador. Then react to other threats/invasions. Last, once your borders are pretty secure, send him south the wreak havoc upon the enemies of RK and Rohan. He will never need more backup than the local mercenaries he can hire. Also, after the first ten turns or so, make sure to transfer his Mithril Hauberk to another BG, if he goes West with it you will not see another one for a while.

[webba84]

Perhaps somebody else can explain how they get by without substantial diplomatic income.

Lazy Player has been summoned!

Ok, here is how I set up an elven campaign on the first turn, I won't go into the reasons for all these actions but I'm sure they are evident enough (some names may be incorrect, I can't check in game right now) -

1. Set Caras Galadhon as the capital, this can be moved to OiE or Rivendell or Lastbridge later on but right now it's the best location.
2. Set taxes in Elvenking's Halls, Amon Lanc and Mithlond to low, set taxes in every other elven settlement to very high.
3. Queue up two ships each in Forlond and Harlond, these will sail to Mithlond to boost the population there.
4. Likewise, recruit units of Threshold Troops in Emyn Arnen (either 1 or 2, I cant remember, just drain the population), these will travel to Elvenking's Halls to boost the population there along with the Greenwood Bows, which you keep to increase your Northern Greenwood Army.
5. Recruit a unit of Galadhrim Scouts in Caras Galadhon.
6. Train a diplomat in Mithlond.
7. Send Glorfindel, with the Elven Riders and Elven Bows, towards Rivendell. It has been noted that in 3.1 sometimes RK will freak out if you go through their territory north of the Shire so I usually go through the rebel land to the south.
8. Send the Governor of Mithlond with the Elven Mariners north towards Lune, and recruit the Eriador Bows mercenaries.
9. Send the Governor and all units except for the TT from Amon Lanc towards Langwyke.
10. Send the Governor and all units except for the TT from Caras Galadhon towards Feorfeld.
11. Begin Carpentry Industry construction in Mithlond and Elvenking's Halls.

That should get you started in pretty good style. A couple of general points to follow up on -

Elven regions are not wealthy and only a few of them generate any sort of decent income. Mannish fiefdoms should be prioritized in terms of economic and population development (with the exception of 2-3 elven regions, which you cultivate and carefully manage so as to keep the population levels high enough to allow continuing recruitment).

Family Members who are used as governors should always be assigned to border regions first, only keep governors in your 'safe' settlements if you have them to spare.

If you are having trouble pacifying multiple, distance regions, you can manage it by juggling the capital back and forth until provincial pacification is completed. (If the region is still rioting after provincial pacification is completed then you have overstretched yourself and will now suffer the consequences )

[Humanoid293]

Thanks for all the hints and tips Highland Laddie, Wambat and webba . For me, huge part of playing the game is learning/finding out how...well, how I best play the game to be successfull . There are some very interesting pointers in the 3 above posts . Some of what has been mentioned I learned by now . Some other stuff I had not considered yet . I did make a plan for my next campaign start though . Which I am bringing into effect starting today .

re selling off the Eleven King's hoard: had not even crossed my mind . Probably will not do it, ever . It IS a good Idea thogh .

re Glorfindel as Governor -> ofc .

re no high taxes in Governed Elven Cities : am insecure why not ? Negative trait effects ?

re Arnor freaking out when moving Glorfindel's Army across their territory : I do play 3.2, so no sweat there .

Keep in mind, I am still learning a lot of stuff . In my first campaign, a lot of things I just did not know broke my neck . So I incoorporated what I had learned in my 2nd campaign's Strategy...made a few mistakes, and failed . So took care to not make the very same mistakes again 3d time....but found a few NEW ones I could make...and *BOOM* Headshot - or something similar XD . A lot of things inherent in DoM 3.2, as well as special to the Elven campaign, have been absolutely obscure to me, and I am sure there is still more to discover . The whole trait thing for instance . I think in principle, what I am doing is mostly sound, I need to take care to not make some crucial mistakes again and learn a few more things, thats all . I think . Experience will tell ...

[webba84]

re no high taxes in Governed Elven Cities : am insecure why not ? Negative trait effects ?

It's probably not as much of an issue with the Elves as your family members tend to be both skilled and loyal, but it does cause problems with mannish characters, for sure. Wambat is particularly careful about optimizing income, but if you are a bit more lackadaisical (like me) you won't notice too many issues.

[Humanoid293]

It's probably not as much of an issue with the Elves as your family members tend to be both skilled and loyal, but it does cause problems with mannish characters, for sure. Wambat is particularly careful about optimizing income, but if you are a bit more lackadaisical (like me) you won't notice too many issues.

Ahhhh...well, the specifics regarding Elve'S ( and any other faction's for that matter ) traits are just one of the things I am still learning about . Its like....what traits are there at all ? What effects do they have ? How do characters gain them etc....

Imagine my surprise when I saw that the different branches of Elves come with different inherent traits XD...

[webba84]

Imagine my surprise when I saw that the different branches of Elves come with different inherent traits XD...

Ah, well, I wonder if you have yet noticed that the same branches of Elves can also come with different inherent traits

[Humanoid293]

I thought I noticed something like that yesterday...it was a little bit of a "wtf???" moment, I am guessing house dependent ?