Gondor Restored v1.0
Greetings, fellow Númenóreans! This mod re-weights the Kingdom of Gondor's roster by deleting some fiefdom units, replacing them with Late-Tier elites from Gondor's númenórean settlements.
New units are unique, coming primarily from Minas Ithil, though also Minas Tirith, East Osgiliath, West Osgiliath.
This centralises Gondor's recruitment, particularly in the late game. This refocus on the late has come about due to the sometimes extreme (ly enjoyable) length of Gondorian campaigns where one conquers Harad, Khand, Umbar, Mordor and even Isengard, Enedwaith and Dunland on occasion. A further centralisation to Númenórean settlements also seemed apt.
I really enjoyed the fiefdoms roster concept for Gondor, but in the early game it is too expensive (if you have to march your forces 10 turns towards Minas Tirith) and not worth it when you have access to late game units such as the Citadel Guard almost everywhere.
The new units are also designed to make Gondor great again (PUT LINE THROUGH) more tactically 'exciting'; fighting with sword/spear and board with most units can get repetetive in battles, so each unit has been designed with a particular combat function in mind.
Units deleted:
- Lamedon Clansmen (sorry Scotland).
- Stoor Hunters.
- Pinnath Gelin cavalry.
- Osgiliath Pikemen.
Modifications to prexisting units:
Osgiliath Pikemen have been replaced (due to similarity of Fountain Guard) with Osgiliath Warhammers.
Osgiliath Veterans UI has been replaced to reflect later tier armour upgrades.
Minas Ithil Guardians (and other Minas Ithil related units) UI has been replaced to reflect new, later tier armour upgrades.
e.g.
New Units:
Gondor Shieldbearers
Aim: Line/chokepoint holders that can be spread thinly on an open field.
These late tier infantry units are explained in the name, they bear heavy shields. They mirror the recruitment pools of the Citadel Guard, have a low charge, slighty lowered attack, and a major defence boost from the shield. Personally, these fit with the theme that Gondor is perpetually on the defence from Mordor.
Mindolluin Bladesmen
Aim: Heavy shock infantry to exploit units pinned down by standard infantry.
Late tier Fountain Guardsmen, but with heavy two-handed swords. Haven Guard, but Gondorian. Restricted to Minas Tirith.
Osgiliath Warhammers
Aim: Heavy anti-armour infantry aimed to punch through the centre of an opponents line and begin mopping up the enemy from behind.
I felt the Osgiliath Guards are one of the best looking untis in the game, but their inferiority compared to the Fountain Guard always niggled at me. They've been equipped with AP warhammers, replaing the anti-armour role that was lost by the removal of the Lamedon Clansmen. Restricted to E/W Osgiliath.
Minas Ithil Steelbowmen
Aim: To give Gondor some late-game heavy archers like the good-old days of Númenór, without stealing the thunder of the Northern Dúnedain roster.
Minas Ithil Guardians, with heavy two-handed swords (to differentiate then from the Minas Ithil Spearmen) and steelbows. Very late game units that increases the importance of Minas Ithil. Restricted to Minas Ithil.
Knights of Osgiliath
Aim: To give Gondor a single unit of very rare high-powered cavalry.
I'm expecting this unit to get the most criticism, as Gondor already has access to the Swan Knights from the Fiefdom Barracks. But Gondor lacks high-tier cavalry, especially with the removal of the Pinnath Gelin cavalry, and I'd like Osgiliath to have increased relevance as a late-game recruitment base. Weakened Arthedain Knights with the Osgiliath Guard models, that are aimed to be trainable once every 40 turns. Restricted to E/W Osgiliath.
NOTE: Above unit has not been added correctly in the EDB file, therefore cannot be recruited on the campaign map until I release the v1.1 patch for the mod. They are not much to look at, and likely will not make the final cut .
Minas Ithil Rangers
Aim: To give Gondor some (currently OP) very late game, very rare archer cavalry, that can lead a sally into Mordor whilst holding Minas Ithil to distract Mordor and plunder their settlements.
Mounted Minas Ithil Steelbowmen.
New characters:
Thorondir, who has a new custom strat model based solely off the arnor_general and arnor_captain models. My personal favourite addition. Spawns near Minas Morgul.
Branion, a Northern Dúnedain general who starts near Lond Daer with Dúnedain Rangers.
Aravir and Arnadil, Captains of the Fountain Guard and White Tower Wardens, who spawn in the Anorien forts.
Ancillary additions:
- Ancillaries based of the fiefdom ancillaries for the Lordships of:
Angrenost, Umbar, Minas Ithil, and Warden of Mordor for Morannon. Are acquired by remaining in the settlement for 8 turns.
- Ancillaries similair to the roles of a council of a kingdom, such as:
Seneschal, Chancellor, Justicar, Chamberlain. Start equipped to various characters.
MANUAL INSTALLATION: Extract and insert the data folder into your Third_Age_3 folder.
File Link to Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16Gf...ew?usp=sharing
Known issues:
- Poor quality image UI for some added units (alas, my computer is such a potato you could boil it, mash it, stick it in a stew).
- Minas Ithil Steelbowmen arrows do not align with model when firing (I lack the skill to fix this).
Future Expansions:
- (TBM Units) Rangers of Mordor
Very short range bow skirmisher assassin-unit who wield medieval 'sword breakers', giving them a high defence skill to compensate for low armour protection. Small, elite unit restricted to Morannon, Cirith Ungol, Barad-dur, Durthang.
- Restoration of Isengard/Minas Ithil/ other corrupted Númenórean settlements that 'cleanses' them of Morgoth's evil and adds minor boosts to recruitment and populations, to signifiy that these settlemnts have been restored to their former glory.
- To make strategy in Mordor more intersting, what if the whole of the Black Lands had the effect of a forest; whereby enemies cannot see your armies, and you cannot see theirs on the campaign map. Would make it a terrifying place to campaign in. And is likely undoable/unrealistic.
Credits:
- DaC team.
- Original TATW team.
Criticism is welcome!
Additions/Bugs/Changelog for v1.1:
- Thorondir trait text adjusted.
- Added in correct ancillary UI for Anardil and Aravir.
- Moved Branion's starting location to the Gap of the White Mountains for gameplay reasons.
- Increased recruitment time and costs for Minas Ithil Guardians, Minas Ithil Steelbowmen and Minas Ithil Rangers.
- Minas Ithil Steelbowmen and Minas Ithil Rangers now have 25 missle ammunitions, rather than 32.
- Removed AP from Minas Ithil Steelbowmen and Minas Ithil Rangers.
- Minas Ithil Guardian UI has been adjusted.
- Gondor Fountain Heavy Swordsmen actually added to EDB file.
- Removed Knights of Osgiliath for unit slot and redundance when compared to Knights of the Silver Swan and Minas Ithil Rangers.
- Made text entries for Minas Ithil Guardians/Steelbowmen/Rangers more uniform.
Gondor Restored v1.1 Released! 23.06.19
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1gn...bvJob7Itq2rWxw