Third Age - Total War

Has anyone seen this? It's ''incredible''.

edited 15th Dec '11 2:00:17 PM by Colonial1.1

huh. i thought the total war series was always set on our earth.

Interested?

eh. the series as a whole interests me, as much as a genre im not too fond of can. but middle earth...not so much.

Aww...

Anyone else want to take a crack at it?

Well EA tried with their Battle For Middle Earth franchise, but that still didn't get the epic scale right. This game however... oh hell yes. THAT's the way a Lord of Rings battle should look like. Given some more time and polish, this mod could achieve some impressive things...

They're hammering away at a proper Barad-dur as we speak. That is, a multi-layered doom fortress just as epic, if not moreso, than the model they've got for Minas Tirith.

Did you know that you can awaken the Balrog of Moria with certain conditions? And control it as a unit with the right faction?

@Tarsen: You are aware this is a mod for Medieval II Kingdoms, right? Not a full retail game.

This looks like it could be awesome as well.

Indeed. This was made with the Creative Assembly's blessing, but not their own hands. Credit should be given to King Kong and those who work alongside him.

Right now, they're at work patching up some of the custom settlements, like Minas Morgul, Caras Galadhon, and Moria.

As it stands, all of the factions, save for the Orcs of Gundabad, are covered in this page.

That's right, two factions of Elves, three factions of Orcs, four if you count Isengard.

There's a whole sub-forum for this mod? Nice. Fitting, as this mod looks particularly epic. I'm definitely trying this out once Steam sale starts.

I've been trying to install it in my copy of Kingdoms, but I can't get it to work :(

Did you try their help threads?

No, I was following the installation thing. I think I've done everything required, but I guess not.

They'll probably be able to help. What error did you get?

Just that it goes to the Americas campaign, which is the one I'm trying to replace.

Mmhm. I uninstalled the Americas portion, myself. Also, recommend getting Baron Samedi's submod in there. Adds interesting and helpful things to the game, while also making its default difficulty below murderous.

Since it is a Total War mod I would also like to bring up how I can't wait for Europa Barborum II comes out. I love that Rome Total War mod and having them use the MTWII to make another makes this fan very happy.

Say, has there been progress on this mod?

Gonna take a look at this now, I've got Medieval II installed.

(This is gonna be awesome!)

Got it all workin'?

Yup... um, bit odd...

It's an impressive piece of modding alright, particularly the Fellowship quest. And most importantly it's fun to play. However, I'm not quite sure that I should be able to storm Minas Morgul as Gondor as the game begins. It's 2980 T.A (Third Age) and I've already smashed my way into Mordor and am merrily storming my way towards Barad-dur to lay out the red carpet for the ring bearer.

The Black Gate is impenetrable to siege however. Or at least to your basic siege equipment. I think Minas Morgul is too; the only reason I got in was due to the enemy sallying.

Basically I took everything I had and went straight for Mordor.

And I've taken Barad-dur!... which was just a regular citadel. Models still need work.

edited 6th Oct '12 9:28:02 AM by GameChainsaw

—eyebrows leap up—

Wow. You sure moved fast.

Did you get Baron Samedi's mod?

Nope.

I've now taken just about everything in Mordor. Only Nurn (Southern Mordor) and the Black Gate remain in orcish hands. My expansion is slowing down and I'm having to build a second army to secure the border against Harad, but now that I'm actually inside Mordor I might be able to attack the Black Gate from the other side. Problem is a sizeable army forms at it and my army is exhausted, so I might need to gather some strength.

Also Boromir bit it early on. :( Gonna hope that doesn't cause the fellowship grief. It's still only 2984 TA.

Turns out holding Mordor is the hard part. Trying to rebuild the Gondorian vigil over it. Lost Barad-dur, which caused a massive army under the Witch King to spawn. Thankfully I took it back (cue more dead trolls) but now I've got a massive battle to fight with a ten star general opposing me, and my only advantage is waves upon waves of cavalry. Most of the infantry and archers are dead by this point. Even if I win that fight, I still don't have the resources to take the Black gate until reinforcements are shipped in from Pelagir. There's also a side action going on in Minas Ithil.

I need to finish Mordor off before Harad comes looking seriously; I've basically got no reserves in Gondor. Already picked off a few raiders, but now I'm having to throw my reserves into Mordor.

Short answer; if you're going to hurl your army screaming at the great evil, don't do it half-heartedly.

edited 7th Oct '12 5:16:27 AM by GameChainsaw

Any tips for quickly taking down a Nazgul?

I've brought down three in a single fight, but it cost me a lot of good men.

Every defeat weakens them, I've discovered.

Couldn't tell you, I ended up losing that campaign.

Long story short, the Witch King trapped me in Barad-dur. That decisive battle I was talking about? I lost it. Badly.