What do do next on ND campaign?

[Gaberking]

Hello there everyone I am back with anothet question or asking for suggestion on what to do next. So in my campaign, turn 38, I hold Annuminas, Fornost and all my starting regions. My economy is somehow holding and Angmar is just dropping their armies at me in little waves. I managed to take and sell to Isengard one of their villages, but now what? I was thinking about getting Barketta before they do, since they do have a pretty big army which is just about to attack the settlement next to Barketta, up from Fornost. Should I take Barketta or do I just turtle until baracks event and try to free Bree from their rebels so I can trade better with them, or do I try to break the Angmar, but I doubt it is possible...any suggestions are well apritiated! Thank you in advance!

[Kulgan]

Having played ND a few times recently I can say that the best strategy is to avoid an early war with Angmar. In fact they are typically content with making peace, once they have lost a few battles.
I honestly believe you will be short for cash forever. Barrack events only give you more expensive units - if you don't have more settlements you won't be able to field a stack of troops, let alone post barrack event troops.
Also attacking rebel stacks in Bree is not really cost-efficient. Eventually they do this theirself.

If you must go north first, don't take Barketta. Get the blue dwarves into the fight. Fight Angmar together, they do take on a lot of their stacks.



My last strategy worked like a charm, in short:

- First take out Moria goblins
Peace with Angmar, try not to get Dunland into the war fast by not having a border with them. Leave the rebel towns between you and Tharbad rebel, don't take Ost in-Edhil ( actually I take it from goblins, then let the rebels revolt so it's neutral )
This way you only have one enemy, you can defend against Angmar with the free upkeep troops on Weather Top. I use cardolan archers to defend weather top, they are really good in that role.

- After moria is dealt with go for Dunland
Dunland will attack you so it's best to attack them when you're prepared. Optimal is for them to be attacking Bree while you are dealing with Moria ( see earlier advice about not having a war with Dunland, if they are not at war with you, they tend to attack Bree )
The beauty about them attacking Bree is that you can cut their armies in two by blitzing Tharbad. Whatever Bree town they managed to take, will simply be yours as well.

- In between taking out Dunland, take Fornost and Anuminas. Don't want Bree to take those, nor Angmar to get there first. You're still at peace with Angmar so once you take the north, it can built up without you having to defend it.

- After Dunland, take Enedwaith Clans. You need the Naval bases they can provide and they are not reliable ( might attack you )

- At this point, your economy is huge. Angmar falls fast once you have multiple stacks of strong dunadain troops.

- After Angmar, Isengard is a walkover. After Isengard I put my campaign on hold. I'm launching so many naval Invasions it's not funny anymore. Every couple of turns I have a fullstack departing by sea, going to Gondor or wherever. First sending multiple stacks of Enedwaith/Dunland troops - a full Rohan stack is going overland to the black gate - Dunedain elites are gathered in Tharbad and forts and will also depart. It all looks awesome but it feel like total management instead of total war.


Good luck

[Gaberking]

Having played ND a few times recently I can say that the best strategy is to avoid an early war with Angmar. In fact they are typically content with making peace, once they have lost a few battles.
I honestly believe you will be short for cash forever. Barrack events only give you more expensive units - if you don't have more settlements you won't be able to field a stack of troops, let alone post barrack event troops.
Also attacking rebel stacks in Bree is not really cost-efficient. Eventually they do this theirself.

If you must go north first, don't take Barketta. Get the blue dwarves into the fight. Fight Angmar together, they do take on a lot of their stacks.



My last strategy worked like a charm, in short:

- First take out Moria goblins
Peace with Angmar, try not to get Dunland into the war fast by not having a border with them. Leave the rebel towns between you and Tharbad rebel, don't take Ost in-Edhil ( actually I take it from goblins, then let the rebels revolt so it's neutral )
This way you only have one enemy, you can defend against Angmar with the free upkeep troops on Weather Top. I use cardolan archers to defend weather top, they are really good in that role.

- After moria is dealt with go for Dunland
Dunland will attack you so it's best to attack them when you're prepared. Optimal is for them to be attacking Bree while you are dealing with Moria ( see earlier advice about not having a war with Dunland, if they are not at war with you, they tend to attack Bree )
The beauty about them attacking Bree is that you can cut their armies in two by blitzing Tharbad. Whatever Bree town they managed to take, will simply be yours as well.

- In between taking out Dunland, take Fornost and Anuminas. Don't want Bree to take those, nor Angmar to get there first. You're still at peace with Angmar so once you take the north, it can built up without you having to defend it.

- After Dunland, take Enedwaith Clans. You need the Naval bases they can provide and they are not reliable ( might attack you )

- At this point, your economy is huge. Angmar falls fast once you have multiple stacks of strong dunadain troops.

- After Angmar, Isengard is a walkover. After Isengard I put my campaign on hold. I'm launching so many naval Invasions it's not funny anymore. Every couple of turns I have a fullstack departing by sea, going to Gondor or wherever. First sending multiple stacks of Enedwaith/Dunland troops - a full Rohan stack is going overland to the black gate - Dunedain elites are gathered in Tharbad and forts and will also depart. It all looks awesome but it feel like total management instead of total war.


Good luck

So I am just a little past barracks event, I haven't made any progress, I lost my capital to Misty mountains since I didn't protect it well enough. Dwarves are beginning to fight Angmar so should I do it like this; get my old capital back, try to make peace with Angmar and meanwhile go for Misty mountains. Then when I deal with them I storm down Dunland, take everything to Tharbad, I think Imladris bottlenecked them there, them go after Angmar and Enedwaith? Do you think that will go through? If you think not, do you have any suggestions? I do have quite a solid economy so far soo...Thank you in advance for answers that you already provided me with and with the potential new ones!

[Kulgan]

In your case I would try to make peace with Angmar indeed.

If you do that, or if you can defend the north with free upkeep against their attacks, go for Misty mountain goblins. They will simply not stop attacking you untill they are destroyed. And they have a few very rich provinces. Goblin town is one of the richest provinces you'll ever get. Khazad-Dum/Moria west also is good, Zagh Khala as well.

After that you can chose, north or south. Thruth is Angmar lands are really poor compared to the south. And also in most games Ered-Luin keeps battering down on Angmar so they should not attack you with much. Another tactic is to give a poor border province ( for example the one east of Fornost ) to for example Imladris. They will shield you from attacks.

Question is what do you want to accomplish? For a short game you only need to kill Angmar so then the choice is easy. If you want to save all of Middle Earth you'll have to get to Gondor and crush Mordor. Two routes : through Isengard ( they tend to eat Rohan ) or by the sea. For the sea route you need Dunland and Enedwaith, for the land route you need Dunland and Isengard/Rohan. Or you can combine the two routes and go by land and sea. In any case going south fast is no luxury when you want to save middle-earth.

If you want an easier game I'd restart and push Moria goblins at start. I typically take them out around turn 20-30, without really pushing for it. After that it's all depending on what's happening.

[Gaberking]

In your case I would try to make peace with Angmar indeed.

If you do that, or if you can defend the north with free upkeep against their attacks, go for Misty mountain goblins. They will simply not stop attacking you untill they are destroyed. And they have a few very rich provinces. Goblin town is one of the richest provinces you'll ever get. Khazad-Dum/Moria west also is good, Zagh Khala as well.

After that you can chose, north or south. Thruth is Angmar lands are really poor compared to the south. And also in most games Ered-Luin keeps battering down on Angmar so they should not attack you with much. Another tactic is to give a poor border province ( for example the one east of Fornost ) to for example Imladris. They will shield you from attacks.

Question is what do you want to accomplish? For a short game you only need to kill Angmar so then the choice is easy. If you want to save all of Middle Earth you'll have to get to Gondor and crush Mordor. Two routes : through Isengard ( they tend to eat Rohan ) or by the sea. For the sea route you need Dunland and Enedwaith, for the land route you need Dunland and Isengard/Rohan. Or you can combine the two routes and go by land and sea. In any case going south fast is no luxury when you want to save middle-earth.

If you want an easier game I'd restart and push Moria goblins at start. I typically take them out around turn 20-30, without really pushing for it. After that it's all depending on what's happening.

Sorry for not responding, but I thought I posted this but by the looks of it I haven't...thank you for all your help and I would ask you for more if it is okay.

So rushing goblins, how to do it? Do I take Cameth Brin as my base and then advance against the mountains, taking them out? What should I use against them, what kind of armies? Then, after they are done for, do I focus on trying to get Fornost and Annuminas or should I try and take down Dunland and shut them down at Tharbad. I am quite bad in playing after barracks event since I have only reached it once with ND (other times being mostly overrun or I just didn't know what to do, so I was in a position when I was to afraid to do anything, since I tend to often overextend) so any help on that part is well apriciated. Thank you again in advance for your help and tips!

[Kulgan]

Rushing goblins :

Most of your battles will be in the forest west of Moria. There's a castle there with a fairly big income ( 1300 ish ) so any turn you have that will be a huge boost to your early economy.

I try to rush to that castle, and in the meanwhile destroy their small stacks. Yes the AI autoproduces a boatload of troops, but still this has certain limits. If you keep on destroying their small stacks and take very little losses yourself ~ you will eventually wear down their numbers and you can try to go for their major cities.

When you have that castle, there's 4 remaining Goblin villages.
- Moria west : too strong, take this last
- Small town above the castle : take this at any points ~ can be taken back by the goblins but this is no problem. Whatever troops they leave their are another easy small stack to take out.
- Zagh Khala = isolated from the rest of their Realm because of Imladris blocking the way. Once you feel strong enough, take Zagh Khala, then take Moria west or besiege it if you don't dare to charge in.
- The southern region ( Elvish castle can't recall the name ) = I take this, then let rebels revolt. It has little income at start and it makes you have a boarder with Dunland, which will make them attack you. By giving it back to the rebels, you avoid war with Dunland and avoid having to fight two armies.

Once you take Moria you'll probably trigger their death stack, but enough Dunedain Rangers kill trolls just fine.

After this, rush north to snatch Goblin town ~ one of the richest settlements in the game. Rhudaur also is fine for it's troop production but you can probably not avoid Imladris getting one of the above mentionned regions. Just make sure you get Goblin town, Zagh Khala and Moria west.

[Gaberking]

Rushing goblins :

Most of your battles will be in the forest west of Moria. There's a castle there with a fairly big income ( 1300 ish ) so any turn you have that will be a huge boost to your early economy.

I try to rush to that castle, and in the meanwhile destroy their small stacks. Yes the AI autoproduces a boatload of troops, but still this has certain limits. If you keep on destroying their small stacks and take very little losses yourself ~ you will eventually wear down their numbers and you can try to go for their major cities.

When you have that castle, there's 4 remaining Goblin villages.
- Moria west : too strong, take this last
- Small town above the castle : take this at any points ~ can be taken back by the goblins but this is no problem. Whatever troops they leave their are another easy small stack to take out.
- Zagh Khala = isolated from the rest of their Realm because of Imladris blocking the way. Once you feel strong enough, take Zagh Khala, then take Moria west or besiege it if you don't dare to charge in.
- The southern region ( Elvish castle can't recall the name ) = I take this, then let rebels revolt. It has little income at start and it makes you have a boarder with Dunland, which will make them attack you. By giving it back to the rebels, you avoid war with Dunland and avoid having to fight two armies.

Once you take Moria you'll probably trigger their death stack, but enough Dunedain Rangers kill trolls just fine.

After this, rush north to snatch Goblin town ~ one of the richest settlements in the game. Rhudaur also is fine for it's troop production but you can probably not avoid Imladris getting one of the above mentionned regions. Just make sure you get Goblin town, Zagh Khala and Moria west.

I see...thank you very much, what about Fornost and Annuminas? When do I go for them? After goblins are dead or earlier?

[Kulgan]

I'd say after goblins. In my opinion ( several starts up to turn 30 in the latest patch ) Angmar never takes either F or A before turn 40. Plenty of time for destroying goblins first. I typically manage ' breaking ' goblins around turns 15-20 and fully killing them around 25-30. And this is not even the fastest possible, doing it faster is not always better.

Also at that point you don't really have the economy to sustain anything more then a half-3/4 stack, which you will need fully to take the large goblin towns.

[Fether]

I destroy the OoMM ASAP. When you do, you get 2-3 settlements you can use as economic centers or sell to the dwarves for aHUGE amount of money. I got over 100,000 gold from just West Kazaddum. If you are lucky the dwarves will lose goblin town to the snow orca a few times so you can sell it a few times

[Lunar4]

hey i been playing ND and just have a question... why tf is lindon and bree at war with me? i did nothing to them at all. then lindo attacked annuminas and killed my aragorn/heir. What gives ?

[Multicolored]

They fear the heir of isildur is weak and will just keep the ring for himself like isildur did. They are also wanting to forge a link between the havens and imladris. You are in the way.

[Kulgan]

Do you have the one ring?

Did you declare war on any good faction?

These two combined trigger all good factions becoming very angry with you...