The Best Defense

Certainly one of the most hotly contested areas of Middle-earth is the pass leading from Barad Ungol through Minas Ithil to Osgiliath. It is here that an often little used order can be used to great effect. The 840 Stand and Defend Command order is ideal for use in this situation. Having played one of the Gondors and the Fire King, I can honestly say that skillful use of this order can easily stop a well planned offensive from either side.

The Fire King has a national advantage of being able to hire armies at no cost (order 770). If the Free Peoples were to attempt to march into Mordor, they would be stopped by the fortifications at Barad Ungol. Since taking this population center is difficult even without defending armies present, the Free People will often attack any armies present. They will attempt to move on into Mordor, where even a reduced force will fare better against the unfortified heartland. In this situation, the skillful use of these two orders will prevent all but the largest of armies from going through the pass into Mordor. The sequence of events would run like this: Free People attackers move into the pass through Minas Ithil, and are stopped by the fortifications and any Dark Servant armies at Barad Ungol. The next turn either the Dark Servants or the Free People attack their opponent's forces. In most cases the better equipped and better trained Free People forces will win, but be too damaged to successfully attack the Major Town (City)\Castle. To maintain their offensive, the Free commanders often attempt to move into Mordor (order 850 or 860).

To prevent these armies from wreaking havoc on the Dark Servant economies, the Fire King needs one command character with both orders available. First, this commander issues the 770 Hire Army command at Barad Ungol. The most effective troop type would be either Heavy Infantry or Archers, both of which can be hired without using resources on weapons or armor. Then this commander of 400-500 troops issues the 840 Stand and Defend order, specifying which direction he wishes to prevent the enemy armies from moving (East). In most cases these 400-500 troops will be enough to prevent the enemy armies from moving on into Mordor while allowing reinforcements to arrive unimpeded. But a few turns of this, and the attacking forces will be reduced to little or nothing without being able to advance out of the pass.

The reverse also holds true for the Free Peoples, except for the advantage of hiring armies at no cost. Whomever controls Minas Ithil or Osgiliath, if it is not the Fire King, needs to be sure to have 5000 gold available to finance the new army in order for this tactic to work. Other than that, the sequence of events would be similar to those already given.