From the Mouth of Sauron Issue: E-3 Date: 01-07-94 Note: all authors retain exclusive rights to their material. Reprinting is allowed for non-commercial game use only. From the Editor A funny thing happened on the way to my mailbox on Wednesday. I picked up my latest issue of Paper Mayhem and started flipping through it - only to find a most interesting inclusion. Namely, an article called "Blood and Glory", by Tom Walton. Now, what's so interesting about this is that I never submitted that article to Paper Mayhem. Indeed, the only magazine I sent it to was Whispers, and I never signed over exclusive rights to GSI. A bit perplexed (and more than a bit annoyed), I decided to call the editor of Paper Mayhem and ask just how the article happened to end up in his magazine. Turns out that he thought that Bill Field gave him permission to run the article at GenCon. The editor wasn't aware that I hadn't signed over the rights and simply assumed that GSI owned them (which in fact was not the case). Further confusion resulted in the two parties crossing wires over what Bill actually meant, and the editor ended up 'appropriating' the articles for his own use. He was a bit panicked over my call, as he had already taken the second and third articles in the series and included them in the typesetting of future issues of Paper Mayhem. Pulling them now would've created a mess, since he would have had to reformat his magazines, essentially undoing hours of hard work. Because the editor was unaware of the illegal nature of his activities (his mistake being an honest one), I gave him permission to run the other two articles even though I felt they weren't good enough to be published in a 'real' magazine - on the condition that he didn't hand them off to someone else to print, and that I retained exclusive rights to the originals. Now some of you may ask: what the hell does this have to do with anything? And why should I care whether the articles end up in Paper Mayhem or not? Well, to answer the second question first, it's highly important to anyone who writes professionally, even if the article is trash. The rights to written material mean very much to those of us who publish, on occasion, for 'real'. May not mean much to you, but that sort of thing can generate some nasty lawsuits. As for the first question, it applies directly to The Mouth. Electronic rags are under the same restrictions as paper ones when it comes to publication, rights to written materials and so forth - even if it's only a newsletter like this one. In light of this, I need to clarify a few things: - all articles submitted remain the exclusive property of the owner. The Mouth retains no rights for re-publication except within the framework of Middle-Earth PBM itself (i.e., transmission to other players for their own use, or reprinting in future issues). - because the articles belong to the people who wrote them, that means that you can't take the article and submit it to a magazine or any other forum without the author's express opinion, nor can you use their material in any commercial endeavor. In other words, you can't submit the article someplace else and claim it as your own, or make money off it. If you just use it for the game, you can do anything you like with it. If you use substantial sections of someone's article in an article of your own, you need to identify the author (and get his permission, if you plan to publish it). If you simply pass it along unmodified for someone else to read, you have to identify the author and source (The Mouth) - though frankly, I don't think I or the author will really care in this last case. - you can, of course, contact the author directly and try to get his permission for any of these activities. Just wanted to make certain everyone was clear on this. It's SOP in the publishing industry, but unless you happen to be involved in it one way or another the rules might be unclear. From this point on, a note will appear on the first 'page' of The Mouth stating that all authors retain exclusive rights to their own material. A couple of other things before you move on to the good stuff. No one has sent anything in for the controversy/soapbox/devil's advocate section yet. I eagerly await the offerings of those of you who like to start, or get involved in, debates. I'll print personals of any kind under a 'Personals' section. The first appears in this issue. You can use this for any purpose, including trading witty reparte with your enemies (as Whispers does). Remember, you can send in anything you like under a pseudonym if you don't want your real name used. Happy New Year! Tom Updates For those of you who wanted complete updated files, they're happily on their way through cyberspace (or perhaps already in your mailbox). This time, I included encounters, dragons, and artifacts. The riddles file didn't change from what was sent out prior to Christmas, and the nation info files had so few alterations I didn't think it worth your time or mine to send them out. Artifacts In the previous issue of The Mouth, some suggested combat artifact values were listed that were different from those given out in the original files. They were left open for you out there to confirm or deny. Well, you did just that. These values have been well established by various sources. Note that only Kirrauko (142) was incorrect in the files. 108 Craig-olf-ti + 500 129 Bow of Thunder and Bone + 500 131 Caranlhach +1750 142 Kirrauko +1250 176 Spear of Bladorthin +1250 Also, Collowhesta (44) was confirmed by yours truly as having no stable secondary power. Alas that it was so, for I was going to use the 'teleport' spell to great effect. This artifact was removed from the list. Keith Peterson put my suspicion into words on some items. It seems there are three classes of artifacts: those with stable secondary secondary powers; those with no stable secondary powers; and those with a constant random secondary power. This last class seems to always have access to a random lost list, but the exact one varies from game to game. I've included two artifacts as falling into this category so far: 16 Mothras random lost list 18 Tablets of random lost list Dark Knowledge Encounters Ancient Barrow: evidence suggests that the choice REMOVE the runes will defeat the guardian and give the character gold and access to a lost list spell. Daeron: Say "Daeron" = combat; Say "Saeros" = escape unharmed. Note that these responses are probably variable as are most others for this encounter, so don't expect the same results. Mumakil (army encounter): Mumakil will sometimes attack armies they encounter without provocation. Rather surprising, but the sources are good. Tom Bombadil: Tom's location has been confirmed as hex 1409. He doesn't seem to react to characters, so he may be an army encounter (though only under special circumstances). If Tom moves, it hasn't been seen. As Keith Peterson pointed out, I forgot to include the 'spectral armies' encounter on my list. I already threw out the game turn where I had this baby prior to compilation of the files, so if anyone out there has information (even a list of choices would be nice), I'd appreciate hearing about it. Dragons Aivnec: Act MEEK = injured/killed for all allegiances. Offer TEN thousand gold = combat for all allegiances. Offer one HUNDRED thousand gold = combat for all allegiances. Bairanax: Act MEEK = escape unharmed for Dark Servants. Corlagon: Act MEEK = escape unharmed for all allegiances. This is confirmed for the Dark Servants, but not, as yet, for the Free Peoples or Neutrals. Culgor: Offer TEN thousand gold = injured/killed for Free Peoples/Neutrals. Offer one HUNDRED thousand gold = injured/killed for Free Peoples/Neutrals. Daelomin: Act MEEK = injured/killed for all allegiances. This has been confirmed. Itangast: act MEEK for Dark Servants = dragon recruited into army. Khuzadrepa: Offer TEN thousand gold = combat for all allegiances. Lamthanc: one player reported a character death after doing Act HAUGHTY with a Free Peoples. However, he was a dwarf, which has a tendency to bring out the worst in dragons. Until I hear from someone else, I'm going to add an additional note to the dragon file giving injury/death as a possible alternate outcome of Act HAUGHTY. Lomaw: Act MEEK for Dark Servants = escape unharmed. This has yet to be confirmed by a good second source, so it may be just a lucky 'roll' for the player who reported it. Nimanaur: this dragon was inadvertently left off the list. Oops. State ALLEGIANCE = combat for all allegiances. Act MEEK = escape unharmed for Dark Servants. Offer TEN thousand gold = injured/killed for Free Peoples/Neutrals. Offer one HUNDRED thousand gold = injured/killed for Free Peoples/Neutrals; dragon recruited into army for Dark Servants (this last concerning recruitment is unconfirmed). Ruingurth: Offer TEN thousand gold = escape unharmed for all allegiances. Offer one HUNDRED thousand gold = escape unharmed for all allegiances. Scatha: a couple of players have said that Dark Servants who Act MEEK will recruit this dragon into their armies. I can't confirm this (I think both are working off the same list, so it's hard to cross-check), but I'll soon know for certain; one of my own characters is currently testing this hypothesis out. Note: one other player has reported that Act MEEK will result in escape unharmed for Dark Servants, not recruitment. Scorba: change Act MEEK = escape unharmed for all allegiances. Turukulon: DEMAND obedience = injured/killed for Free Peoples/Neutrals. This last turn I won my first battle against an enemy army that contained a dragon. Because I destroyed the enemy in the first round of combat, and because complications such as spells, artifacts, multiple armies, etc. weren't present, I was able to calculate exactly how much damage the dragon did. The result: the dragon, in this instance Throkmaw, inflicted 45,000 points of mayhem upon my army. This case (winning against a dragon) is rare enough that combat values for others of the great wyrms haven't been established (so far as I know). It could be that all dragons are generic, or that combat strength varies from dragon to dragon; I don't know. I also don't know if there's a relationship between challenge rank and combat strength, although I'd make a tentative guess that dragons have a challenge equal to their combat strength divided by 200. If anyone else out there has done what I did and managed to figure out the combat strength of a dragon, I'd like to hear from you. Recruitable Dragons What follows is a list of dragons recruitable by each of the allegiances, for those that are curious. These dragons have been confirmed by GSI itself: Free: Scorba, Throkmaw. Neutrals: Scorba, Throkmaw. Dark Servants: Aivnec, Culgor, Itangast, Khuzadrepa, Lamthanc, Lomaw, Smaug, Throkmaw, Uruial. The following dragons are thought to be recruitable by other players. However, caution should be exercised in these cases; I've yet to find a player who's actually done it for themselves (a prereq for the 'reliably confirmed' data). Neutrals: Itangast, Lomaw, Uruial. Dark Servants: Bairanax, Daelomin, Nimanaur, Scatha. There are a few others on various lists, but I don't include these unless I can cross-check them against a different set of data. As yet, this hasn't happened. Thanks to Michael Hostetter and Darren Beyer for providing much of the confirming information on dragons this time around. Other Corrections The Sinda fleet at 4413 is missing some ships in the original files. It should have 6 warships and 6 transports. Thanks to Brian Mason for pointing out this and other snafus. Along with the first issue of The Mouth went an information file. After reviewing a small amount of my own data, I realized that some of the information was wildly incorrect concerning population loyalties following seizure (although I did point out I couldn't confirm the accuracy of the tables). While the starting loyalties for created/posted camps are correct, I couldn't find the pattern that author suggested in any other sort of activity. Captures, threats, and influences didn't follow the guidelines given by any stretch of the imagination. While there did indeed seem to be some correlation between command ability, army morale, and ending pop center loyalty, this relationship was too difficult to discern without a more in-depth analysis (I'll leave this up to those of you who may be interested). Also, it's clearly obvious that there's some variation based upon purely random chance (looks to be +/- 1-10 points from whatever baseline the program establishes). In essence, the loyalty tables are almost entirely incorrect and shouldn't be used. They've been removed from the 'info' file. Personals Game 131 Brian Mason is looking for other players who're in game 131. If you'd like to talk to him, his address is: mason@chara.gsu.edu Tactics and Strategy: The Woodmen By Brian Mason In a recent study of 31 completed me-pbm games, with 93 possible winning positions, the Woodmen have yet to place in any game (Winners and Losers in Middle-earth, Tom Walton)(Editor's Note: this article is currently awaiting publication in Whispers. It's actual status is unknown at this time). Coming up with a winning strategy for this nation is a challenge. How do the Woodmen compare to other nations? At the start of the game they rank as follows (Allegiance Comparison Tables, Tom Walton)(Editor's Note: the allegiance comparison tables are included in the last article of this issue of The Mouth): among all players among FP Total Tax Base tied for 18th 10th Resource Base tied for 7th tied for 5th Combat Strength 18th 7th Character points 16th 5th Artifacts tied for last tied for last So, in all possible areas, the Woodmen are weak, and are argueably the weakest nation. Their resource base is rather high because they start with so many camps, this contributes to their low tax base. Few of their population centers are in places that might produce metals. Another big problem for the Woodmen is that they have a large deficit, and just to get the nation in the black requires increasing taxes to 70%. If this is done, only two of the Woodmen population centers have fortifications, so if loyalty drops much more, losing population centers is a very real danger. Unfortunately, there are very few ways to cut costs. There are no navies to give away, and the very real threat of attack from both the Dragon Lord and the Witch-King makes retiring troops a dangerous technique to attempt. In a team game the Woodmen can greatly benefit from cash grants from some of their wealthier allies. This can greatly strengthen the position. However, even in a team game this is uncertain at best, so the following set of strategic plans is intended to be suggested moves for the Woodmen with little or no support from allies. Briefly, the strategy is as follows: General strategy: Raise taxes to 70% to get the Woodmen close to breaking even. They will need their gold reserve to create characters and camps. Character strategy: Create a couple of emissaries which will create camps in mountain hexes (hexes 2360, 2407, 2408 in the North and/or 2215, 2116, 2217, 2118, 2219 in the South) to, hopefully, generate gold, and once the reach about 50 in emissary rank, move them to camps and begin improving population centers. High on the list of population centers to improve should be the two Woodmen hidden population centers. One of the best special advantages of the Woodmen is their abilities to have characters with better challenge ranks and the added bonus of possibly having stealth. After the initial group of emissaries are created and the economy is put on a firm footing many agents should be created. This is potentially the area where the Woodmen can effect the endgame the most. Army strategy: The Woodmen armies are weak. Despite this, unless the Witch-King commits troops from the West to attack in the East, Mt. Gundabad is a winnable Woodmen target. Consider the following set of moves. One of the armies at the backup capital force marches to Maethelburg. These two weaker armies will be there to defend these two Major Towns from the Dragon Lord should he choose an early strike against the Woodmen. The other army at Maethelburg recruits 400 heavy infantry and moves to Buhr Fram. If the Witch-King has also recruited 400 heavy infantry and moved to Buhr Fram, the Witch-King will lose and the Woodmen will have about 64% of their troops left, more than adequate to move on and take an undefended (or barely defended) Mt. Gundabad. If the Witch-King has decided to stay put at Mt. Gundabad and recruit an additional 400 troops, then the Woodmen also recruit 300 heavy infantry and move onto Mt. Gundabad. Even with the fortifications at Mt. Gundabad the Woodmen will win having about 51% of their troops left. Once this task is accomplished, futher advanced planning is not advisable as what should be done may depend a great deal on the moves of the Dragon Lord as well as the Dwarves and Sinda. More Character and Skill Improvement By Tom Walton This is a follow-up of sorts on the article by David Foreman published in the last issue of the Mouth. I did a little research in a few of my games (those I didn't throw the turns out on) and came up with the figures below. The table gives the current rank of the character, the bonus of the order (1-5 points for a 'Guard Location', 1-10 points for 'Steal Gold', etc.), and the average gain the character can expect to make if he/she completes the order. I broke down the numbers into the categories that GSI uses, on the assumption that the progression might conform to these ranks. Here's the results: Current Rank 1-5 1-7 1-10 10-19 3.7 4.7 - 20-29 3.2 4.2 6.4 30-39 2.9 3.9 4.9 40-49 2.6 3.6 4.7 50-59 2.0 2.9 3.6 60-69 1.7 2.3 2.9 70-79 1.3 2.0 2.5 80-89 1.0 1.3 - 90-99 1.0 1.0 - Unfortunately, I don't have any data on a few of the slots, mainly because I dumped the turn sheets from alot of my older games. One thing I should make clear: whatever algorithm GSI uses its NOT based upon the categories I used. That is, the break points are not at 19, 29, etc. With this, you can calculate how long it'll take to train up a character to a reasonable skill level (or how strong enemy characters might be). Note that progression in magery is very slow unless you win lots of challenges or have a couple of good encounters; this acts to restrict the number of characters capable of locating the One Ring (and makes sure that it won't happen early on). I've heard that player-characters can't increase skill ranks beyond 100. Since I usually play warlike neutrals, I haven't had an opportunity to test this until recently. In one of my games, several characters are very close to this limit and we'll soon see if, indeed, you can't get past 100. The Lighter Side Editor's Note: The following was written by Jeff Holzhauer, who plays the Duns in game 119. He typed up this proclamation and sent it to all the other players in his game. At his request, Brian Mason sent it to me for publication. Here's proof positive that stuff sent to The Mouth doesn't need to be particularly useful, especially if it's good for a few chuckles: WE THE PEOPLE of Dunland have undergone a great tril, filled with suffering, death, and deprivation. We have been victimized by a foul plague which felled men, women, and children; that slew the righteous and the wicked; the farmer and townsman; the peasant and the lord. We have suffered from poor harvests and floods; freezing winters and rainless summers. We have seen many battles: lord fighting lord, neighbor turned on each other, even brother against brother. We the people of Dunland realize that although the trial has been difficult and many have died, we have emerged stronger than ever. We understand the flaws of our old ways and have made many revolutionary changes. Everyone must work for the common good, not for his or her own advancement. No one will starve. Everybody will have a job, doing whatever he or she is best at. Leadership will be based on ability, not heredity. We the people of Dunland will rebuild our great nation, and we will be greater than ever. Because the people need room to expand, to place their collective farms and mines, to live their lives of happiness and productivity, we have laid claim to our traditional lands: south of the Greyflood and Swanfleet, west of the Misty Mountains, north of the White Mountains and east of the ocean. We the people of Dunland understand that we live in a hostile world, a world at war, a world of danger and death. Therefore, we are very concerned with the possibility of outside forces interfering with our revolution. We will not tolerate any nation that engages in counter-revolutionary activities. Any attempt to interfere with the development of Dunland is counter-revolutionary. The placement of any population center within Dunland is counter-revolutionary. Any attempt to remove ancient treasures from within Dunland is counter- revolutionary. The presence of any characters or armies within the borders of Dunland, without express prior approval, is counter- revolutionary. We understand that various nations may have a need to pass through our territory at one time or another and we are willing to approve passage on a case by case basis. Approval must occur before the movement, not after. We the people of Dunland have a "zero-tolerance" policy towards nations which engage in counter-revolutionary activities. If we discover even one violation, we will thereafter consider the counter-revolutionary nation to be an enemy, regardless of which side we eventually join. We the people of Dunland are very concerned with the security of our nation and our revolution. We would be very pleased to receive recognition from other nations. We would like to receive from each nation a statement that said nation recognizes the existence of Dunland and pledges not to engage in counter-revolutionary activities. We must have received such pledges from the majority of nations on a side before we will consider joining that side. We the people of Dunland would rather be stout allies than implacable enemies. We would appreciate any help provided by other nations and will look favorably upon any nation that aids us. We would like information on the world outside of Dunland. Information on starting forces as well as current activities. Information on artifacts and encounters which might help or hinder the revolution. We would appreciate assistance in the rebuilding of our nation, specifically, donations of material, land, or population centers. We would appreciate gifts of ancient artifacts which might help us protect the revolution. We the people of Dunland will not shirk our duties or allies. Once we have determined which nations support Dunland and the revolution we will fight beside our brothers with eagerness and ferocity. Our armies will throw themselves upon the enemy and destroy them; our mages will work great magics upon them; our diplomats will seduce their own people from them; and our spies will move amongst them like the wind, leaving only death behind. We will aid our brother nations with gold and material; with information and advice; with ancient artifacts and a modern military. We shall be victorious. Enion and Eribhen Charimen Peoples Executive Committee Unity Honor Strength ------------------------------------------------------------ The Council Debate By Brian Mason For long years the scattered Hillmen and what remained of the Dunedain of Rhudaur had maintained a uneasy alliance among themselves, seeking to maintain their scattered fiefdoms. The Great Plague had changed all that. While quarantine had necessitated the isolation of the people, the devastation which it wrought, along with the death of many a clan leader with blood-feuds with the opposition had led to an opportunity which had not existed since the formation of Rhudaur almost eight-hundred years ago: the possibility of reunification. While not all agreed with the plans and motivations of the various clan leaders, the all had agreed on one item: to hold a debate in open council, and for all the peoples represented to follow the decision of the council. For better or worse, the had decided to become united, and for better or worse to follow the policies established in this council debate. Elections were held at each of the population centers, and each sent a representative to the debate. These eight men assembled in a secret location and after long discussion amongst themselves, two were chosen to argue the two predominant sides. The camp was cool. One of the last frosty mornings of the spring greeted the eight travelers as the arose. Though they had talked much among themselves over the past week, today on the morning of their debate the clustered around two separate fires. The larger group, five men, in drab grey and green clothing, sat upon their knees and warmed their hands over the hot and aromatic pine, crackling in the air. The tallest among them was silent, as they others spoke among themselves words of encouragement and union in the cool dawn. Finally, one addressed the seeming leader of this group. "Strong and noble he is, Broggha, but he lacks your knowledge. Of the eight, five are Hillmen and were the vote held now your view would be the one." Broggha considered his words. He knew that Seammu spoke for all those around him. They were with him, and would follow his lead, but even he was unsure at this late date. "Well I know that, Seammu my friend. But even my mind is unclear, and though I believe what I believe, I will hear and decide on my own, and even then may decide to follow the words and advice of Arfanhil and yield to his plan. A fool is he who will follow a path to the abyss when another is clear." Around the other campfire the mood was not so serene. "Arfanhil, you are a fool! To agree to this debate, to agree to side with the majority opinion when we are outnumbered five to three, to possibly go into battle alongside the Black Captain is madness and betrays all for which we have stood." "Patience, Marendil my brother. Broggha is a brave man, hale and wise. He will not throw his lot one way or the other easily. I know him, and he will hear what I will say, and I will hear him." Finally, the two groups assembled. By toss of lots it was decided that Broggha would speak first. The aged lord of the land upon which they camped introduced him, speaking of his glories in battle, of his wisdom, and rattled on in such a rambling manner that eventually Broggha was compelled to raise his hand and begin his speech. "My many friends. We come here, young survivors of a deadly plague; strong, eager, ambitious. We come here to join together, to bring the many blood-feuds to an end, to decide upon a course of action which is best for all of our peoples. "We are pledged to each other and to the people whom we represent to do only what is best for us all. Some argued that we should welcome envoys, ambassadors, heralds from the many lands around. To hear what they should say, and to barter our loyalty upon the open market. This we will not do!" His fist slammed upon the podium, his eyes were ablaze as he was swept into the fury of his words. "What I say, I say for both our peoples, Hillmen and Dunedain alike. We are proud, we will do what is best for us, and we will not be bought." "Some among us would have you believe that we are a young realm," he glanced towards the three Dunedain present, "less than two score of scores in age, but that is only the time since we were two peoples. We Hillmen first cleansed the woods, we carved out this land and here we have dwelt for ages upon ages. We were here before the tall men on their tall ships came out of the sea. We were here before the Witch-King carved out his realm to our North. We were here before the Lord of Imladris built his home. Our people will outlive them all!" "Two score of scores ago we welcomed the tall men. One of them, son of the King of Arnor, we took as our leader. For some years we profited, but then his line failed, and the leadership faltered, and we disintegrated into what we have become. Almost five score years ago now the Witch-King succored us, and we marched to battle with him. The King of Arthedain, Argeleb I was slain at the hands of our warriors, and we were victorious!" "But the spoils of war were denied us. Promises were made, promises of the rich lands to our south and west, and these promises were broken. Two and a half score years later the Witch-King once again attempted to succor us to his need, and this time we refused. I need not tell you of our loss when we refused him, but those among us of the tall men know well of the loss of one of their citadels: Eldanar to the north." "Once again, the undying one, the Witch-King, marches to war. We fought with him once and were denied the fruits of our labors. Later, we stood to one side and our people were punished. Today we are ready like we never were before. We can march with him and take what we will, we can march against him and take what we will, or we can stand to one side once more. "The path for us then is to wait. Wait until the choice is clearer, wait until the outcome is certain, wait and then decide upon whose side we will fight. For the sake of our people: our men, women and children: wait." Broggha stood tall. His eyes gleamed, and he walked to his stool and sat upon it, waiting upon the words of Arfanhil. Arfanhil waited, longer than deemed sufficient, and slowly rose and walked to the lectern. Both young and old he seemed, youth in his limbs, yet deep and sorrowful were his eyes. He began to speak, in deep sonorous tones. "Well spoken, friend Broggha, well spoken. It is not my desire to come after words so well said, but follow you I must. I have come before all of you to argue another viewpoint. One more dangerous, less certain, and if looked at objectively, less safe than the plan of Broggha." "Guilt. I have come to speak of you of guilt. This guilt comes in many forms and guises, and of them I will speak to you. I am, and my brothers, Marendil and Valadan, riddled with guilt over the deeds of our people one hundred years past. Over the death of the great king, Argeleb I, and the death of so many fine warriors. And what guilt should a Hillman feel? You live off the land, kill only when you must, and use all which you kill. What of these dead, at what cost, and for what reward?" "Honor. Let me speak to you of honor. We marched with that foul sorcerer to the North and he betrayed us. He is without honor. We can march with Cardolan and Arthedain and as three realms reunited as Arnor we can reclaim the honor we lost in the war of 1356. "Revenge. Let us talk of revenge. Of the bodies of our soldiers, dead; dead for naught in the war of 1356, of our women and children, slaughtered in the war of 1409 when we refused to march to war with the Witch-King, of our realm: fragmented, ravaged, raped." "Guilt. Honor. Revenge. All of these are just cause. Yet, what should we do? If it is the right course of action, should we wait, as Broggha argues or should we march to war now? Should we be certain of victory, or does victory not matter so long as the cause just? Of these things we now must decide." For a long while, no one said anything, but was husbanding each their own thoughts. Most of the Hillmen eyes were on Broggha, for in him they trusted, and where he led they would follow. Broggha slowly raised himself and began to speak. "Courage is required in a War. It has been said that even more courage is required when you must relinquish a position you have long held and adopt the view of your opposition. This I will do. Let us be undivided in this." Broggha walked over to Arfanhil and grasped his hand. "Words you have spoken. Wise words, which I will now take to heart. Wise words, which I should be heeded by all. Wise words, which I will now follow though the darkness fall." "Arfanhil, I call you Prince of Rhudaur. Let all Arda remember the truth of your words and let all Rhudaur remember the moment when we stood tall and rejected the yoke of subjugation. Though we may fall, let us fall proud." Allegiance Comparison Tables By Tom Walton These tables were originally created about 7 months ago and then recently updated to reflect changes made by GSI in starting army strengths. I put them together to see how balanced the game was, both regionally and overall, and to see how much difference a neutral made when it declared for one side or the other. Explanatory notes follow. If you can't make out my system here, drop me a line and I'll explain whatever seems confusing. Eriador is that section of the mapwest of the Misty Mountains (the long mountain chain running north-south down the center of the map). Mirkwood is that section of the map east of the Misty Mountains and west of the Rhovanion. Mordor is that section of the map south and east of the Mirkwood forest. Tax Base is the total tax base of the nation/region/allegiance at a tax rate of 100%. Resource Base is the total resource output available to the nation/region/allegiance assuming a 'Warm' climate. The numbers were computed by dividing the percentage production of each population center by 20%. For example, a town produces 60% of a hex's available resources; divide by 20%, and the town's resource base is 3. A city, which only produces 20% of a hex's available resources, has a resource base of 1. The town, on the average, will produce three times what a city does in the same hex. Some nations have an actual resource base lower than that given on the tables, because of the climate which predominates in the region. Angmar (the nation of the Witch-King), for example, has a poor climate year-round, so it's production will be much lower in comparison to that of Dunland (which has a good climate year-round) - even though they have close to the same resource base. Army Strengths don't include training, weapons, or morale, so actual combat figures will be around 40-50% of the totals given. Army defense does include modifiers for armor. Where defense differed from attack by more than a thousand points or so, the numbers are given separately. Note that the effects of weapons, training, and so forth effectively reduce the combat strengths of Mordor's armies by about 10% in comparison to their regional enemies. The Witch-King and Dragon Lord have combat strengths 15-20% lower in comparison to their enemies even when things otherwise seem equal. Character Points simply lists all the points each nation/region/allegiance has available. Stealth is added in at it's full value if the character who has it also has agent skill; if not, it's added in at half its value. Note that this information may be somewhat misleading, as triple and quadruple-classed characters aren't as useful as they may appear to be. Artifacts lists the total skill bonuses for each nation/region/allegiance. Combat lists the strength of the combat weapons available to each nation/region/allegiance. When making comparisons between allegiances, characters, artifacts and weapons were left out of the computations. These items are much more mobile than armies, and are in a sense 'transferable' between regions. Both the Dwarves and Sinda are listed as 'Mirkwood' nations even though both have pop centers and forces in two or more regions. This is because the primary population centers and army forces, as well as their capitols, are located in Mirkwood. It should be noted that the Sinda and Dwarves often intervene in Mordor, which tips the balance of power in this region in favor of the Free Peoples. Free Peoples Skill Nation Tax RB Combat CP Art Com (Region) Woodmen 27,500 34 32,000 358 0,0,0,0 0 (Mirkwood) Northmen 50,000 25 35,000 290 0,0,0,0 0 (Mordor) Eothraim 37,500 30 72,000/ 310 0,0,0,0 1,000 (Mordor) 86,000 Arthedain 47,500 36 35,000/ 330 60,0,0,0 0 (Eriador) 44,000 Cardolan 50,000 25 27,000 290 0,0,0,0 0 (Eriador) N. Gondor 112,500 50 64,000/ 480 50,0,0,0 500 (Mordor) 82,000 S. Gondor 75,000 35 62,000/ 400 0,20,0,0 1,000 (Mordor) 71,000 Dwarves 52,500 34 60,000/ 340 55,0,0,0 3,750 (Mirkwood) 75,000 S. Elves 57,500 17 22,000/ 650 0,40,0,35 1,500 (Mirkwood) 13,000 N. Elves 47,500 21 16,000 1010 25,0,0,105 4,250 (Eriador) Dark Servants Skill Nation Tax RB Combat CP Art Com (Region) Witch-King 45,000 27 42,000/ 645 60,0,30,30 4,750 (Eriador) 40,000 Drag. Lord 30,000 18 32,000 655 0,0,0,110 3,750 (Mirkwood) Dog Lord 15,000 24 38,000/ 505 45,15,0,30 3,500 (Mordor) 42,000 Cl. Lord 27,500 19 42,000 370 25,0,0,0 1,500 (Mordor) B. Sorc. 17,500 23 26,000 405 10,0,0,15 500 (Mordor) Ice King 12,500 25 34,000 400 0,0,0,50 500 (Mordor) Q. Avenger 20,000 22 23,000 450 0,0,0,0 1,750 (Mordor) Fire King 15,000 24 35,000/ 355 10,0,0,0 1,500 (Mordor) 29,000 L. Rider 15,000 24 41,000/ 410 0,60,0,20 1,000 (Mordor) 52,000 Dark Lts 25,000 20 35,000/ 640 30,40,30,30 1,250 (Mordor) 32,000 Neutrals Skill Nation Tax RB Combat CP Art Com (Region) Corsairs 60,000 16 29,000/ 530 0,0,0,0 0 (Mordor) 26,000 Harad 82,500 37 30,000 290 0,0,0,0 0 (Mordor) Dunland 37,500 30 43,000 370 0,0,0,0 1,500 (Eriador) Rhudaur 37,500 25 50,000/ 290 20,0,0,0 0 (Eriador) 46,000 East. 57,500 32 50,000/ 330 0,0,0,0 1,250 (Mordor) 48,000 Nation Totals by Region and Allegiance Skill Allegiance Tax RB Combat CP Art Com (Region) Free Peoples (Eriador) 145,000 82 78,000/ 1,630 85,0,0,105 4,250 87,000 (Mirkwood) 137,500 85 114,000/ 1,348 55,40,0,35 5,250 120,000 (Mordor) 275,000 140 233,000/ 1,480 50,20,0,0 2,500 274,000 Total 557,500 307 425,000/ 4,458 190,60,0, 12,000 481,000 140 Dark Servants (Eriador) 45,000 27 42,000/ 645 60,0,30,30 4,750 40,000 (Mirkwood) 30,000 18 32,000 655 0,0,0,110 3,750 (Mordor) 147,500 180 274,000/ 3,535 120,115,30, 11,500 280,000 145 Total 222,500 225 348,000/ 4,835 180,115,60, 20,000 354,000 285 Neutrals (Eriador) 75,000 55 93,000/ 660 20,0,0,0 1,500 89,000 (Mordor) 200,000 85 109,000/ 1,140 0,0,0,0 1,250 104,000 Total 275,000 140 202,000/ 1,800 20,0,0,0 2,750 193,000 Relative Strength Comparisons Dark Servants vs Free Peoples Region Tax RB Combat Eriador .31 .33 .54 / .48 Mirkwood .21 .21 .29 / .28 Mordor .54 1.29 1.18 / 1.02 Total .40 .73 .82 / .74 Tax RB Combat In Eriador .31 .33 .54 / .48 w/Rhudaur .57 .63 1.18 / 1.01 w/Dunland .57 .70 1.09 / .98 w/both .83 1.00 1.73 / 1.51 Tax RB Combat In Mordor .54 1.29 1.18 / 1.02 w/Corsairs .75 1.40 1.30 / 1.11 w/Harad .84 1.54 1.30 / 1.13 w/Easterlings .75 1.51 1.39 / 1.20 w/Corsairs & Haradwaith 1.05 1.63 1.43 / 1.23 w/Corsairs & Easterlings .98 1.78 1.52 / 1.29 w/ Haradwaith & Easterlings 1.04 1.78 1.52 / 1.31 w/all three 1.26 1.89 1.64 / 1.40 Neutrals vs Free Peoples (In Eriador) Tax RB Combat Dunland .26 .45 .55 / .49 Rhudaur .26 .37 .64 / .53 Neutrals vs Dark Servants (in Eriador) Tax RB Combat Dunland .83 1.37 1.00 Rhudaur .83 1.11 1.16 / 1.14 Neutrals vs Free Peoples (in Mordor) Tax RB Combat Corsairs .21 .11 .12 / .09 Haradwaith .30 .26 .13 / .11 Easterlings .21 .23 .21 / .18 Neutrals vs Dark Servants (in Mordor) Tax RB Combat Corsairs .41 .09 .11 / .09 Haradwaith .59 .20 .11 / .11 Easterlings .39 .18 .18 / .17 Neutrals vs Free Peopls (Middle Earth) Tax RB Combat Corsairs .11 .05 .07 / .05 Haradwaith .15 .12 .07 / .06 Dunland .07 .10 .10 / .09 Rhudaur .07 .08 .12 / .10 Easterlings .10 .10 .12 / .10 Neutrals vs Dark Servants (Middle Earth) Tax RB Combat Corsairs .27 .07 .08 / .07 Haradwaith .37 .16 .09 / .09 Dunland .17 .13 .12 / .12 Rhudaur .17 .11 .14 / .13 Easterlings .26 .14 .14 / .14 Many interesting things can be learned by looking at relative strength values. For example, Harad has 59% of the economic power possessed by all eight of the Dark Servants in Mordor; the Easterlings, on the other hand, enjoy enormous combat strength in relation to their neighbors no matter which side they join; and so on. Comments on this article would be most appreciated.