Tactics and Strategy: Cardolan

    by Brian Mason


    Hard lessons have been learned. In game 62 the Witch-King positively drubbed my Cardolan. The experience in that game has led me to develop what follows as a starting strategy for Cardolan. What follows will make specific moves for characters and count economics to the last piece of gold. While these will not necessarily be the same in every game, they certainly would have been true for one game.

    How does the Cardolan compare to other nations? At the start of the game they rank as follows (Allegiance Comparison Tables, Tom Walton): 

    
- Descriptor
- among all players
- among Free Peoples

Total Tax Base:
7th
4th

Resource Base:
tied for 12th
7th

Combat Strength:
tied for 19th
8th

Character points:
tied for 23rd
10th

Artifacts:
tied for 20th
tied for 8th

    Cardolan is weak in very many areas. But the strength of the economy, its somewhat isolated location, and its ability to hire armies can make up for many mistakes.

    Probably the most important capability of Cardolan is to hire armies at no cost. Without the split command orders, new Cardolan armies can be hired on the spot free of charge. Only Rhudaur and the Fire King share this ability. But the Fire King does not have the population centers Cardolan does and Rhudaur must spend a turn by first hiring the army as Men-at-Arms before it can begin recruiting better quality troops.


    Assume the following pre-existing conditions

    Characters: Aethelan is at 1317. Earnil is at 1614 with 900 men-at-arms. Echorion is at 1514. Finduilas III is at 1513. Hallas is at 1510. Imlach is at 1219 with 300 heavy infantry and 600 men-at-arms. Lanaigh is at 1510 with 600 heavy cavalry, 300 light cavalry, 300 heavy infantry, 300 light infantry, and 600 men-at- arms. Pelendur is at 1113 with 300 heavy infantry, 300 archers, and 600 men-at-arms.

    Specific sales will be made. There will, no doubt, be errors in the sale values from game to game, however, the results do give a flavor for what can be done. Buy and sell amounts and prices will be based on game 62 values.


    Opening Strategy

    Turn one moves: Aethelan hires an army of 300 heavy infantry and moves the army northeast to 1513. Earnil recruits 400 heavy infantry and moves his army to 1513. Echorion influences the population center and hires an army of 300 heavy infantry. Finduilas sells all leather and prentices magery. Hallas guard Lanaigh and moves to 1513. Imlach conducts troop maneuvers and moves the navy to 1614. Lanaigh recruits 300 heavy infantry and does a recon. Pelendur recruits 300 heavy infantry and moves the army to 1513.

    Turn two moves: Aethelan transfers all his troops and names a character of emissary rank 30. Earnil names a commander and moves his army to 1710. Echorion recruits 300 heavy infantry and moves his army to 1710. Finduilas sells all food and prentices magery. Hallas changes the tax rate to 70% and moves to 1614. Imlach recruits 400 heavy infantry and moves his army to 1710. Lanaigh recruits 300 heavy infantry and moves his army to 1710. Pelendur recruits 400 heavy infantry and moves his army to 1710.

    Turn three moves: Aethelan sells all food and moves and joins Earnil's army at 1806. Earnil conducts army maneuvers and moves his army to 1806. Echorion transfers command to Earnil and moves to 1317. The new commander hires an army of 400 heavy infantry and sells all mounts. Finduilas researches a spell and prentices magery. Hallas hires an army of 400 heavy infantry and guards 1614. Imlach transfers command to Earnil and moves to 1113. Lanaigh transfers command to Earnil and moves to 1514. Pelendur transfers command to Earnil and moves to 1510. The new emissary names another emissary and moves to 1609.

    Future turns: At this point, Cardolan is in a very precarious financial situation. While it has a large per turn deficit, it also has a large gold reserve of around 60000. However, continuing rotating sales of the four commodities it produces the most of: food, leather, mounts, and timber, should keep it in the black. It is currently poised to become the strongest military force West of the Misty Mountains. Earnil has an army of 7800 troops ready to strike at Angmar. Commanders are sitting at population centers, all within one-turns march of 1513, capable of recruiting 2000 troops per turn. It also has two new emissaries, and is poised, on turn four, to make a third.

    If I were playing Cardolan I would move Earnil's army towards Cargash hoping to meet armies which it could destroy and destroy any population center it comes across, recruit at all available population centers, and create an emissary. Cardolan can build up armies faster than any other nation, and in a prolonged war of attrition, it will come out on top. So, contrary to conventional wisdom, I would go after the Witch-King's armies, hoping to wear him out.

    Another important option which Cardolan should use would be to encourage significant early cooperation with the Noldo. Specifically, give the Noldo all the Cardolan ships (which at the end of turn one will be at 1614). This will give the Noldo a heightened naval power and will concentrate all the far northwest naval forces in one group so that they may form an effective fighting and naval operations force. Also, this will save Cardolan 1200 gold per turn. In addition to this the Noldo should be encouraged to sabotage all Cardolan harbors and ports. This will allow Noldo agents to improve faster, heighten (to a small degree) Cardolan security, and save Cardolan a further 1250 gold per turn.

    This is an extremely aggressive strategy, and one which demands constant attention to finances. Cardolan's production should be used to generate more income to keep the armies growing. After two turns recruiting, the "in Cardolan" forces will total almost 5000 while Earnil's army will either be very small or destroyed. I would combine these 5000 troops together and start the process all over again.


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