The Dunlendings are one of those nations which usually ends up declaring for the Free Peoples. You are surrounded by Free nations and to be tempted to go DS will probably means the destruction of your nation...Unless!!
If you want an exciting game then go DS. Convince Rhudaur that you will go DS and you wish to join him. Rhudaur is in the same boat as you. He wants some excitement but will only go DS if he gets support. If the two nations declare for the DS team then you can make a real game of it in Eriador. This can be another good, exciting neutral position. You are extremely exposed though if things go wrong. You must fortify your pop centres and keep the Free nations guessing on your intentions until the last minute. The Corsairs can also spoil your day. Try to keep on amicable terms with them, and with luck and DS agent support you should be OK.
If you go Free then you can always swing round and help defeat the Dragon Lord or help finish off the Witch King. Other than that, you won't have much to do.
Strategy Guide by Brian Mason
Strategy Guide by Tom Walton
Discussion by Rochelle
Strategy & Tactics by Henning Rindbaek
Comments by Brian Mason
Comments by Tom Walton
Dunlending Starting Information
Strategy & Tactics: The Duns
From Brian Mason
I think this would be a very fun and exciting position the play because of the impressive potential which the Dunlendings have. Before we get a look at this very interesting position, lets take a look at the basic data which I usually present in these articles.
Basic Data
How does the nation of the Dunlendings compare to other nations? At the start of the game they rank as follows (Allegiance Comparison Tables, Tom Walton, "The Mouth," #3):
among all
among Neutrals
Total Tax Base
tied for 12th
tied for last
Resource Base
tied for 8th
3rd
Combat Strength
8th
3rd
Character points
tied for 15th
2nd
Artefacts
tied for 18th
2nd
The Dunlendings has pretty poor production. Expected production (Population Centre Development, Brian Mason, "The Mouth," #2) which has not been adjusted for climate for the nation of the Dunlendings would be as follows:
le
br
st
mi
fo
ti
mo
go
production
1210
347
179
7
4682
587
306
3558
The Character Situation
The Dunlendings start the game with a very good assortment of characters. Two good commanders, two good backup commanders for those armies, a person who can execute those stay in the capital and execute those capital only orders with a large degree of success, someone who is tailor made to be a company commander, and two fine mages.
I would recommend that the first four character slots of the Dunlendings be appropriated this way:
Spend 10000 to get a 30 agent. The Dunlendings are one of only three set-ups that can name 40 agents, and they need to get a thirty and train him up to begin doing this. After this is done, 40 agents can be named and a very effective agent company under Raonull can be created.
Spend 10000 to get a 30 emissary. The Dunlendings need to develop there resource rich region, both for production, and to increase their tax base.
Spend 5000 each on the next two 30 point emissaries. Continue the work.
The two mages should improve themselves every turn. With two 50 point mages, the Dunlendings can get in the quest for artefacts early.
The Economic Situation
Seven of the nine Dunlending population centres have no fortification, so raising taxes much above the 55% level is inadvisable. However, doing this and retiring the 900 men-at-arms will give the Dunlendings a surplus of a thousand a turn. It is imperative that the Dunlendings increase their tax base so that they can more effectively meet their financial needs. A higher risk strategy would involve retiring the Dunlending archers and light infantry. This would save the Dunlendings an additional 4000 gold per turn.
The Alliance Situation
Fortunately, the Dunlendings are in a relatively safe position. Their immediate neighbours of Northern Gondor and Cardolan have more pressing concerns, and the greatest threat (as was revealed in game 131) that the Dunlendings face is early aggressive action by Rhudaur. The Free Peoples have a great deal to gain by wooing the Dunlendings. First, the get access to 40 agents for the alliance, second they allow Northern Gondor and Cardolan to not worry about a second front. The Dark Servants also need the assistance of the Dunlendings as it is very difficult for the Witch-King to win in Eriador without the aid of both Rhudaur and the Dunlendings. Despite all this, it is likely that the Dunlendings can maintain neutrality very easily to turn ten and perhaps beyond that.
The Military Situation
The armies are spread out all over the map. They should be consolidated into two forces. One, an all cavalry force, and the other consisting of the footmen. Their resource production in metals is not outstanding, however, they do produce enough leather and mounts such that the Dunlendings can field cavalry armies without resorting to market buys.
Future Development of Dunland
There are many prime real-estate locations for camp placement by the Dunlendings. The ruins at 2013 and 1319, the gap of Rohan hexes (these will certainly need fortifications!) of 1920 and/or 2020.
There is also a wealth of forest and rough hexes south of the 19 row (and not on anyone else's map) which can provide the timber needed for fortifications and the bronze and steel needed for more troops.
Strategy & Tactics: The Duns
From Tom Walton
The Duns occupy a special place in Middle-Earth unmatched by any other position. This nation can be one of the easiest to play on the game - if you eventually go Free - or one of the hardest, should the Dark Servants tempt you from the path of Political Correctness.
In fact, no other nation provides such a wide degree of difficulty right at the start of the war, while at the same time leaving the choice firmly in the hands of the player.
Brian has already detailed the stats on Dunland, so I'll jump into opening moves. This set of actions leaves open the opportunity to declare for either side without predisposing the nation to one allegiance. Note that I favour a declaration for the Dark Servants, simply because it's so hard to fight a successful war against competent Free opponents. I most emphatically do not recommend a predisposition for Sauron unless you like desperate, and probably doomed, causes.
Characters:
as per Brian's suggestion, name a 30-point agent on turn 1. Train up the agent with guard actions, which should give you a 40+ character come turn 6. On this turn, name two more agents.
also on turn 1 (or close to it), fill the remaining three character slots with emissaries.
this leaves Dunland a spare character slot on turn 6, which can be dedicated to an agent if you plan on going on the offensive with covert operations, an emissary if you want to accelerate the build-up of your economy, or a commander/agent if you intend on fighting the Free. The commander/agent isn't necessary if you decide to fight Mordor, as the front will most often be so far away that you can pick and choose your fights.
I recommend against the creation of multi-class characters for Dunland (with the exception of commander/agents). The economy isn't strong enough to support a host of relatively useless characters early on, and such characters defeat the nation advantage of being able to build 40-point agents. I also recommend against creating more mages; Dunland already has two 50-pointers, which is more than enough for this position.
Economy:
though painfully obvious and vastly overused, the hexes in Southern Dunland (off-map of everyone else) are a great place to put down camps. In this region, I suggest building four camps in mountain hexes, four in forest hexes, and four in plains/rough hexes. This should give Dunland a nice mix of resources which can be used for a variety of purposes (not the least of which is building a slick cav army).
if you create camps in the mountains, don't put them in hexes near Aglarond. The Demon of Aglarond and one of the two balrogs hang around this area, which can result in some unpleasantness for visiting emissaries. They also lower camp loyalty. Instead, concentrate on the string of mountain hexes near the sea (the balrog doesn't range this far west, and the Demon hardly ever goes there).
again, NEVER put down camps in the Misty Mountains, or rough hexes adjacent to the Misty Mountains. Dragons will eat your emissaries and destroy your camps. I learned this one through hard experience in an early game while playing the Duns (and gained much of my dragon data in the process). If you go evil later, then the Misty Mountains suddenly become choice real estate (because of those same dragons).
as an alternative to placing four camps in the forest hexes to the south, instead put them down in Fangorn (if you can beat everyone else to it). Fangorn is also off-map and not quite as obvious, since the Duns can't easily reach the area should it be attacked. An army raised in Fangorn also has a fair chance of running into ents if the Duns turn Free.
In some games, Fangorn is left virtually untouched and almost never visited, making this a great place to create a secret base. In other games, everyone and their brother shows up to get a piece of the action. Putting down camps in Fangorn can therefore be risky, as you might be competing with both Free and Dark Servant nations for hexes.
once Dunland has 10-12 camps down, it's imperative that they be raised to villages. This reduces production somewhat, but each village significantly raises the tax base. Twelve such villages will improve the base by 30,000 gold which, with natural gold production, should double the funds available to the Duns.
As per Brian's suggestion, change the tax rate as soon as possible. I recommend 60% instead of 55%, as 60% is the upper end of the 'no gain, no loss' bracket. You chance a precipitous drop in the loyalty of some villages, but what the heck - roll the dice.
Military:
The end result is that no one with their head screwed on straight will want to push the Duns into the enemy camp by attacking. This allows you to cut costs drastically be disbanding everything but the cav and heavy infantry (or keep just the cav).
This one tactic will do more to improve the economy than anything else in the early game, keeping the Duns solvent until their villages start to kick in.
Depending on your leanings and your willingness to take risks, you can do this one of two ways:
disband everything but the cav and heavy infantry. Separate the two armies, stationing the cav at the capitol and the heavy infantry at the town adjacent.
disband everything but the cav and 100 heavy infantry. Keep the cav at the capitol, with the HI core force at the town adjacent.
don't recruit for at least the first five turns. If it appears that you're going to go Free, disband the remaining heavy infantry and concentrate entirely on cavalry. It's a long march to Mordor, and unless the Corsairs go evil, you won't have to worry much about a Dark Servant invasion of the homeland. Recruit cav at the capitol, sending it forth to do battle every time it hits 2,000 or so (to keep the strain on the economy to a minimum).
if it looks like you're going to join the Dark Servants, you'll need heavy infantry to bolster your cav in the upcoming campaign. There're simply too many Free nations close by to rely on a moderate-sized cav force alone. Once you suspect that this is the way events will pan out, start recruiting cav at the capitol and heavy infantry at the town adjacent. March both forces into the target area, then use the cav's superior movement to hit towns deep in enemy territory and burn them. Use the infantry to attack close targets, or engage enemy garrison forces.
In a campaign against competent Free opponents, your chances of surviving are slim. To improve those chances, you need to hurt the enemy as badly as possible, preferably with a surprise attack against an unprepared opponent. Don't bother to capture; use scorched earth to its fullest value to cripple, or perhaps destroy, the most likely target. Putting even one neighbour out of the running will do much to lengthen Dunland's life span.
One thing about declaring for Mordor is that there's a definite time limit to the wisdom of this choice. Even should Rhudaur join the Witch-King, chances are the Free in Eriador will eliminate their enemies. If you wait too long, the Witch-King will be defeated, leaving Arthedain, Cardolan, the Noldo, and the Dwarves free to pound your butt into an early grave. It's been my experience that declaring after turn 12 is most often too late, as Angmar will be too weak to significantly distract the Free by this time (Rhudaur joining the Dark Servants will extend this another six turns or so).
Since the campaign areas are relatively volatile, and Dunland should stay neutral for at least ten turns, likely Free targets are hard to determine. If Cardolan is still in the running (which it should be), this is a good, though obvious, choice. Blind hexes to the north of Dunland allow a cav force to make a surprise hit from off-map, which may be enough to put Cardolan out of the game. Rhudaur is a nice alternative if Rhudaur has gone good and the Witch-king is still going strong. This eliminates Angmar's nearest enemy, allowing that nation to throw its strength at Arthedain and Cardolan, thereby distracting them from your own lands. This, of course, assumes that the Witch-King doesn't withdraw and leave you out to hang while he recovers.
Should the Free in Eriador be total idiots and are falling to the Witch-King without your aid, go for Gondor. Gondor will be straining just to stave off doom at the hands of Mordor; an attack by your forces will allow you to capture vast amounts of territory at little cost. It might also prematurely end the game, as most Gondorian players don't have the stomach to stay in after being attacked on both fronts.
Artefact Hunting:
After grabbing a couple of these babies, try to pick up the Dragon Helm of Dor-Lomin, Angbor, and a few weapons with secondary powers (curses would be nice).
Other Notes:
think about blowing the bridge across the river to Tharbad. This will put an end to any idea that Cardolan might have about slamming your capitol.
put a camp down at 1920 and fortify it, blocking the gap of Rohan.
if you're going to go evil, get a backup major town as a concession from the Dark Servants. Refuse to change allegiance until the town is yours, or your 'allies' will probably screw you on this one.
again, if you go evil DO NOT broadcast your intentions to the Free. Honour has no place in war, especially if you're the Duns; to survive, you need to make a SURPRISE attack, which isn't possible if you continually drop hints about an unfavourable allegiance change. If you can't handle this, either go good or play another nation.
watch the Corsairs closely. Strange as it may seem, they're probably the biggest threat to Dunland early. If they favour the Free, they may be able to mount a naval invasion of your kingdom - but probably not, as Mordor will most likely give them hell. You're most at risk if they favour the Dark Servants while you opt for good. If you want to win the game, you can't do it with Dunland by making a full commitment to the war. It's extremely important that you preserve what assets you have, always working to build on them first and foremost. This means not giving up pop centres to your allies, not risking good characters in chancy operations, and not stripping your nation of troops when it's possible the enemy will attack while they're gone. Dunland doesn't have any 'padding', as many other nations do; one bad move could permanently take them out of the running for the win.
This isn't a particularly team-like thing to do, but I'm talking about what a good course of action would be if you desperately want first place. With alot of cunning and a little luck, you can take Dunland into the ranks commonly occupied by Harad, the Noldo, and the Cloud Lord.
Comments from Rochelle on your Dunlendings strategy
(Strategy & Tactics: The Duns)
Scorched earth policy really doesn't hurt Cardolan, while frittering away Dun troops. Better to march onto Tharbad, try to threaten, then move right to the capital. Capture the capital, forcing the freeps to retake it, then move back down toward Tharbad, using the loyalty drop and judicious use of agents to make it more assailable. In 119, the Duns hit Tharbad with everything they had. They destroyed it and the 1100 HI garrison and moved on to the town next door (Argond), where they bumped into a welcoming committee of 2000 HC and perished. If the Duns had just tried to threaten Tharbad and move onto the capital, they might have had enough troops to pull off a win. (Well, in our game they wouldn't have, since Roche was recruiting tons of troops there preparing to invade Dunland the next turn, but it might work with less devious players.)
Brian's comments: I suppose my scorched earth plan is under the assumption that you can't hold what you take from Cardolan. The Cardolani potential for recruiting troops is so great, that they can, very quickly, take back anything you capture or threaten. I am, generally, not likely to threaten major towns or cities as I want to be certain the place is mine (or nobodies), but that is probably because of my relatively conservative approach to strategy (as the non-movement of the Long Rider navy above suggests).
Tom's note: from my own point of view, the permanent loss of revenue/resources, combined with the intense panic that usually follows a lightning scorched-earth strike, is worth far more than a few turns of production which, in all likelihood, will simply be taken back by the enemy. Many, perhaps most, people don't agree with me on this; but in my own games, I've used scorched-earth to destroy enemies quite effectively. Indeed, it's proven so efficient in causing injury and confusion that I now use this tactic as a preferred mode of operation, even when it's reasonable to assume I can actually hold what I take. Besides, there's nothing more satisfying than seeing an opponent running around like a chicken with his head cut off just because you burned a couple of his towns to the ground....
On a side note, I, for one, certainly appreciate the criticism given to my S&T offerings. I do not consider myself a master tactician by any means, and it is always nice to see another viewpoint.
Brian's note: I agree and thank Dave, Rochelle, and the unnamed party most profusely. It was starting to get depressing, writing an S&T and getting zero feedback on it.
Between Enemy Lines
Dunland Strategy and Tactics in 1650
by Henning Rindbaek
Signing up as a neutral can be one of the most exciting things in MEPBM but beware.... all your
neighbours may not accept Your more or less reasonable demands on territory or the price that your demand for your aid.
Dunland is often assumed to join the Free People due to its location right between Northern Gondor and the Free Peoples in Eriador. It is a sensible thing to do but it is not the only alternative, but more about
that later.
Geography
Dunland is located in the mild plains of Enedwaith, south of the Swan river, north of the White mountains
and west of the Misty mountains. North of the Swan river Cardolan is watching You and guarding his rear against a possible attack from the south. East of the Rohan gap Northern Gondor will probably keep an
eye on you too. You are ruling a nation with a great variety of natural resources and by placing camps
you can ensure your nation any commodity it may need.
Military
Your army is adequate and consists of well trained, well equipped and well-motivated troops. Unfortunately a lot of them are of the lighter stock so a reform in the army will do you good. Your main problem is that the capital is on the road and only fortified by a tower and that you don't
have a backup capital. The good thing is that you are a neutral and probably won't be attacked in the first
couple of turns. And by placing a camp at 1920 and fortify it with a tower you can ensure another turns
recruitment before an enemy can reach your soft homelands. The village in 1715 would also benefit from a tower to slow down Cardolan should he get any good ideas. If you have Ice in your stomach, you
can retire all but your cavalry and heavy infantry to help your economy while you replace the retired
troops by heavy infantry (1600 is possible each turn). Just remember to get the cavalry shuffled into a single army, without infantry, to act as an emergency reaction force.
Characters
You have two of the best human mages and they can fairly easily learn those lore spells that they need
to know. And within 10 turns they can be into the artefact hunt and even though they won't find Tinculin
or the ring of wind for you, there is still several good minor and medium level artefacts left. Your
Commanders is adequate and most are multi skilled even though the secondary skill really needs
improvement. You don't have any emissaries or agents so get yourself some ASAP 3 emissaries and one
agent is my recommendation for the first four characters. Train the agent to at least 40 in skill before
naming new agents (you are in no great hurry just be ready at turn 6). After that keep naming a good mixture of agents and emissaries, and now and then a commander agent or commander emissary.
Economy
You are very close to having a balance of zero at game start and there is a good chance of you to keep it
there by placing camps and selling out of your production. If you do choose to retire your light troops
you will end in the black for some turns. Use it to create camps. I recommend that you also lower the taxes to 39 to ensure a steady growth in loyalty of your pop centres.
Diplomacy
At game start send a letter to all possible allies (or enemies) to get contact. You should also state what you consider your borders (be reasonable and open to minor changes) and tell what will happen if your borders are crossed by foreign forces without prior permission. And stick to it (that's where you cavalry will earn their bread). This is the hard part. You have to be hard enough to ensure that you are left alone and yet not that hard that your neighbours decide that you are a threat that they have to deal with. You may also wish to state how long you intend to stay neutral (not many will object to turn 10 as breaking point) unless forced to choose by enemy actions.
Talk with both sides and do not forget Rhudaur You two may be able to get an agreement about guarding
each others back. If you suddenly find a Cardolanian or North Gondorian army at your capital "just to protect you from the evil ones..." Immediately join the Dark Servants and start a war of attrition.... It is better to go down in flames than being subdued into joining a cause. If the Servants on the other hand decides that You do not need your gold and forgets to ask for financial aid; be assured that the Free People will love to have a nation that can name 40 agents and have a doubled skill on scouts/ recons (not to mention your armies) to join them.
Should you decide to go dark, demand a SECURE backup capital before you flip your icon to the evil eye.
Even though most dark servants would love to have Dunland as an ally they will not and cannot afford
much (at least not early on). This is a choice that should be considered thoroughly before doing this. If the Free People attacks you co-ordinated you may not last for long, but if they are uncoordinated it is a choice that your nation can benefit from and it could be really fun too.
If you on the other hand choose to join the Free People in their fight for freedom and justice, you can
allow your self to claim a higher price for your services, but once again be reasonable in your demands.
Keep your word and guard your back! No matter what you choose watch out for backstabs and be prepared to retaliate. Even though you may fight loyally for the new cause some players (they are not
many but they do exist) find that "a neutral should not be allowed to place "when I have been a FP/DS from turn 1". Even when you actually have done more to ensure victory than they have. And remember always to keep your word, else you cannot expect your future allies to trust you and your motives and a first strike against you becomes more possible.