Fredius War of the Ring Mission Maps

[Fredius]

Added "Battle under the Trees - Old Forest Road" to the list, because I want to give the player the chance to play with Dol Guldurs forces as well.

[Fredius]

Good evening everyone ,

Today I'm releasing the mission map which I had announced recently; "Battle Under The Trees - Old Forest Road". I had this mission in mind for quite some time, but I didn't know exactly how it should proceed. I wanted to include Tauriel in the War of the Ring, and by making it an Evil mission I got exactly what I needed: idea's and motivation. Finally a Battle Under the Trees mission not played by the Good forces eh, and as a cherry on top, you get to discover Tauriel's fate .

In any case here is the download link: http://www.moddb.com/games/battle-for-middle-earth-ii-rise-of-the-witch-king/addons/battle-under-the-trees-old-forest-road. You can find installation instructions in the first post!

Preview screens of the map

[Nuramon90]

Thank you for this cool new map! I love the story and I was so happy to play a new map!

I have to say it was way too easy...Compared to other maps you created this one was not a big challenge I always had like 1400cp, even when there was the big elven army.

Loved the map anyway, but it could be harder. Could you create a map like this for the elven faction? Or Imladris?

I'd love to defend with Tauriel !

[The_Necromancer0]

A well executed map as usual, a pleasure to play and a pleasure to write about. Feedback follows:

-Loved the camp system, definitely think I'd be nice to have one or two more, perhaps trolls if you also give Mirkwood some buildings to defend themselves with

-A bit too easy at the moment, a good counterbalance would be to add more archers (those guys can shred through units) forcing the player to actively seek and destroy them, always keeping them on their toes

-Killing Tauriel is too easy in a way that you can just rush her with heroes without suffering the consequences, there should be two victory conditions: the destruction of that entire elven force and Tauriel's death

-The heroes are nice but it feels kinda useless to have them without abilities, but at the same time giving them their abilities would just ease the game. Would it be possible to give them like random abilities from throughout the game (like War chant, fast march, ect...) Just abilities from other heroes that cna be used without imbalancing the map. Just maybe one each would allow the player to have to make a choice on whether to use them near their army or seek out and destroy archers.

[Fredius]

Thanks for the feedback guys (and especially thanks for the article necro ). I will surely take it in mind when I update the map again .

Could you create a map like this for the elven faction? Or Imladris?

I'd love to defend with Tauriel !

I don't think I will, you must know that the voice files are limited, especially for female characters. However this is kinda the Evil version of my Lothlorien invasion map, because that map also focusses on the ambushing aspect . Also don't forget that I'm trying to make this as true to the lore as possible, so with the Battle Under the Trees the order goes as follows:

- At some time before the siege of Minas Tirith, the forces of Dol Guldur, led by Khamul and the Mouth of Sauron, attempt to cross the Old Forest Road, with the goal of attacking the realm of king Thranduil. They succeed in this, and kill the captain of the Mirkwood Rangers, Tauriel, in the process. The Mouth of Sauron goes back to Mordor and leaves the invasion of Mirkwood over to Khamul.

- Afterwards, Thranduil received the sad news about Tauriels death and the invasion of Dol Guldur's forces. He assembles his royal army, and marches to the south to meet Khamul and his army, while at the same time the battle of the Pelennor Fields is being fought. Here he utterly defeats them.

- Meanwhile, another force of Dol Guldur failed to penetrate deeply enough into the woods of Lothlorien. Their attacks have been repelled two times, and the third time will be the hardest for the Elves, because not only will they have to fight Dol Guldur, but reïnforcements from Mordor and Moria as well. With the help of Galadriel, they eventually succeed in defending Lothlorien. Both Celeborn and Galadriel now prepare for their counterattack, and with a huge fleet of small boats, they sail through the Anduin towards Dol Guldur.

- While Galadriel and Celeborn are preparing for their final siege of Dol Guldur, Thranduil and his forces arrive to aid Lothlorien in besieging the fortress. As a result, the fortress get's destroyed, and Dol Guldur ceases to be a threat ever again. Thus concluding the chapter of the Battle Under the Trees series.

Ofcourse Dol Guldur is not ready yet, but now you can more or less see the pattern that my maps follow .

[Walküre]

As a result, the fortress get's destroyed, and Dol Guldur ceases to be a threat ever again. Thus concluding the chapter of the Battle Under the Trees series.

Yes, we all know how it ends... 



Please, Lady Galadriel, tear down those walls 

[Fredius]

You really love that picture don't you ?

[Walküre]

You really love that picture don't you ?

Ja, ich mag es völlig 

Three times Lórien had been assailed from Dol Guldur, but besides the valour
of the elven people of that land, the power that dwelt there
was too great for any to overcome, unless Sauron had come there himself. Though grievous harm was done to the fair woods
on the borders, the assaults were driven back; and when the
Shadow passed, Celeborn came forth and led the host of Lo´rien
over Anduin in many boats. They took Dol Guldur, and Galadriel
threw down its walls and laid bare its pits, and the forest was
cleansed.

J.R.R. Tolkien - The Return of the King: Appendix B

I really like the fact that we do have a clear reference to her might. A very significant line provided directly by Tolkien, and not the result of vague speculations. This is one pretty fundamental line that explains that she actually played her fair part in the War of the Ring. Pure lore: you're warned, Fred 

No, seriously, if you need some help in conceiving the mission, I would gladly help you with that or other aspects 

[Fredius]

Yes yes yes don't worry she will have plenty of spotlight in the siege !

No, seriously, if you need some help in conceiving the mission, I would gladly help you with that or other aspects 

I do have some things in mind, but ofcourse your suggestions are always appreciated . It might flesh out the siege a bit more, as I still have to think about ideas, so that it won't be a standard siege battle where you just have to break through the defenses and destroy the citadel and *POOF*: victory. That's a bit bland right ? What I need is some ideas for different objectives that need to be done before you can besiege the fortress, ideas for objectives during the siege, and ideas for objectives to finish the siege. If you guys can help me out with this you will make a lowly mapper very happy .

[Namek]

Thank you very much for another mission...

Good work and continue this outstanding maps...

Greetings...

[Fredius]

You're welcome friend .

[Walküre]

What I need is some ideas for different objectives that need to be done before you can besiege the fortress, ideas for objectives during the siege, and ideas for objectives to finish the siege. If you guys can help me out with this you will make a lowly mapper very happy .

Sure, I would give you a helping hand to get through this scenario. Since I'm already working with one of your potential competitors, I would be glad to find other possible proposals and present them to the 'other' part. But, will this be fair competition or a monopoly in disguise for what concerns this chapter of the War of the Ring? 

[The_Necromancer0]

Ideas you want? Ideas I shall give  Hopefully they are all possible, my knowledge of mapping being quite limited.

So what makes map fun to play (and replay) is having consequences, depending on a player's choice the map should have different outcomes, so here's what I'm thinking:
During the siege, Dol Guldur will get reinforcements from each side (I'm assuming you're using a map similar to the vanilla Dol Guldur), those reinforcements will be quite massive and will be hidden in the map's shadows to the very last moment UNLESS the player wrestles two signal fires from the control of Mordor, nothing too heavy maybe just a couple orcs and one or two towers protecting each. If they do claim the signal fire then the reinforcements army will be much smaller and they will gain vision of the entire map apart from the Dol Guldur fortress. They will also get a script telling them that an army is invading from the side they got the signal fire from they claimed. So basically:
Signal Fires left unclaimed = huge army pops out of the shadow, causing loss and slowing down the progress
Signal Fire claimed = smaller army comes out the edge of the map and the player is warned, giving them time to set up

So that's a nice little side quest, which influences the outcome and perhaps speed of the map, but that still doesn't give the siege much more content, what makes a siege interesting is minor tasks that contribute to an overall goal, perhaps the first scene of the siege should include a scene where a small group of elves of Mirkwood and Lorien attack the fortress and immediately get taken out by the boiling oil, the fire arrows, the catapult and barely make a dent because of the magic enveloping it, (despite the help from a couple Ents?). This gives the player three-four tasks to do (depending on what the Worldbuilder allows): disable the magic protecting the gate, destroy the place in charge of the burning oil production, disable the catapult and the towers (at least temporarily to allow for the siege to begin, allowing the ents to get close enough. I'm not sure how to proceed from there but I imagine it will consist of precise strikes on certain less defended part of the enemy fortress, ones that won't allow it to get closer but instead allow it to disable parts of the main fortress. This would be a main quest as charging straight for the gate would simply result in the full destruction of the player's forces, each time the player destroys a target the attack on the fortress will be easier. To avoid the player being able to use his full force (meaning an easy victory) I'd also suggest small attacks from time to time with small forces of orc on the player's army to avoid them being able to use their full strength on what it is suppose to be small side missions.

One last thing I have in mind, I feel like before they can actually siege the tower they need to set up a camp, where they can replenish troops, or just have somewhere to heal. So maybe that can be the first mission, to secure the surroundings and purify them with elven woods to gain access to build plots. Anyway, those were all my thoughts, I don't know how much can be actually done but regardless I look forward to this next map 

Finally just a small suggestion for the Battle Under the Trees -Lorien. Perhaps the invasion force should keep moving towards the bottom left corner of the map to force the play to fight instead being able to constantly flee whenever the need be.

[Fredius]

Sure, I would give you a helping hand to get through this scenario. Since I'm already working with one of your potential competitors, I would be glad to find other possible proposals and present them to the 'other' part. But, will this be fair competition or a monopoly in disguise for what concerns this chapter of the War of the Ring? 

It's not a competition, there are no "better" maps, it's all just a matter of taste . Though your help will be appreciated!

During the siege, Dol Guldur will get reinforcements from each side (I'm assuming you're using a map similar to the vanilla Dol Guldur), those reinforcements will be quite massive and will be hidden in the map's shadows to the very last moment UNLESS the player wrestles two signal fires from the control of Mordor, nothing too heavy maybe just a couple orcs and one or two towers protecting each. If they do claim the signal fire then the reinforcements army will be much smaller and they will gain vision of the entire map apart from the Dol Guldur fortress. They will also get a script telling them that an army is invading from the side they got the signal fire from they claimed. So basically:
Signal Fires left unclaimed = huge army pops out of the shadow, causing loss and slowing down the progress
Signal Fire claimed = smaller army comes out the edge of the map and the player is warned, giving them time to set up

[...]perhaps the first scene of the siege should include a scene where a small group of elves of Mirkwood and Lorien attack the fortress and immediately get taken out by the boiling oil, the fire arrows, the catapult and barely make a dent because of the magic enveloping it, (despite the help from a couple Ents?). This gives the player three-four tasks to do (depending on what the Worldbuilder allows): disable the magic protecting the gate, destroy the place in charge of the burning oil production, disable the catapult and the towers (at least temporarily to allow for the siege to begin, allowing the ents to get close enough. I'm not sure how to proceed from there but I imagine it will consist of precise strikes on certain less defended part of the enemy fortress, ones that won't allow it to get closer but instead allow it to disable parts of the main fortress. This would be a main quest as charging straight for the gate would simply result in the full destruction of the player's forces, each time the player destroys a target the attack on the fortress will be easier. To avoid the player being able to use his full force (meaning an easy victory) I'd also suggest small attacks from time to time with small forces of orc on the player's army to avoid them being able to use their full strength on what it is suppose to be small side missions.

One last thing I have in mind, I feel like before they can actually siege the tower they need to set up a camp, where they can replenish troops, or just have somewhere to heal. So maybe that can be the first mission, to secure the surroundings and purify them with elven woods to gain access to build plots. Anyway, those were all my thoughts, I don't know how much can be actually done but regardless I look forward to this next map 

This, this and this are all possible, and I will take them into account. Though I'm not sure if boiling oil is possible, since there is no such object in Worldbuilder (afaik). I will just use the arrow volley instead then.

Finally just a small suggestion for the Battle Under the Trees -Lorien. Perhaps the invasion force should keep moving towards the bottom left corner of the map to force the play to fight instead being able to constantly flee whenever the need be.

No worries, Lothlorien will get a remastered version someday, which will add more events and fixes the AI bugs. Ofcourse if you have ideas for these as well it would be great .

[Walküre]

It's not a competition, there are no "better" maps, it's all just a matter of taste . Though your help will be appreciated!

I know, I was just joking. You know, more competition helps spicing everything up a bit more, and competition itself eventually favours the consumers/customers only 

Now let's talk about the very suggestions. I really like Necro's proposals about objectives and the whole theme of dismantling Dol Guldur's magical defences and making your way to the citadel. Dol Guldur is in fact enchanted by Magic, and enchanted places are very much dissimilar compared to usual fortresses, for their integrity is entirely based on the power which sustains them. Magical properties that you must necessarily weaken and ultimately nullify, if you aim to take the fortress down in the first place. Probably, other effects on Dol Guldur could consist of more solid structures (temporarily strengthened by Sauron's 'memory', as Tolkien says) and the iconic venomous aura.

Furthermore, in cases as this, Magic (the heart of the force sustaining the whole stronghold) is generally mainly gathered in one central place, which is often the citadel; I guess that the prison of Dol Guldur, eerie monument representing the sorrows of all who were bound in its gaols, would be the perfect source of the malice emanating from the fortress and permeating the relative buildings. I will probably come up with more specific indications in a later moment. But I nonetheless wanted to address the conceptual aspects I'm always fond of. Just to synthesise one of the principal objectives: the prison ought to be torn down in grand style 

P.S. Doesn't gaol sound really good to you as well? It's so old-fashioned that it almost makes me blush