Basic Strategy for the Free Peoples in the Far Northwest (1650)

The geographic groupings of Free Peoples allows for the discussion of strategy as it applies to those isolated areas. While these areas have overlap, no region is more geographically isolated than the Free Peoples in the far northwest of Middle-earth: Arthedain, Cardolan, the Noldo Elves, and elements of the Dwarves. This article will discuss strategy as it applies to these nations, specifically: the neutrals, characters, use of the palantiri and strategic locations, military strength, and economic development.

How well the Free Peoples do in the far northwest can depend a great deal on what course of action the neutrals take. The strengths of the two neutrals are more or less equal, so if they both go Free Peoples it can go very easy whereas if both of them become Dark Servants it can go very poorly. If they split then they more or less cancel each other out. If one of these (or both) neutrals join the Dark Servants they are the most vulnerable, both due to the fortification strength and the number of their major towns. As they are the most vulnerable, taking one of them out first (before the Witch-King) might be easier. However, taking on and doing considerable damage to the Witch-King early might convince the neutrals to join you. It is very important that all of the Free Peoples put forward a united front and establish communication early.

The Free Peoples in the far northwest are rich in good commanders, however only the Noldo have good character types among agents, emissaries, and with one exceptions, mages. Unfortunately, the Noldo do not have armies which are, at game start, good enough to go into battle with a good chance of success. Looking at the big picture, the Noldo mages can be used to learn spells which will be valuable later in the game (e.g. Reveal Population Center or Perceive Secrets) or can locate and retrieve artifacts. Often the two nation leaders of Arthedain and the Dwarves, Argeleb II and Bain I, are listed as termination victory conditions for other nations. It is often wise, because of this, to transfer their very good command artifacts to some other army commander. Both the Noldo and Cardolan have three harbors and a port each. This not only is expensive to maintain, but also can serve as a location for navies from the South to invade. A way to increase security, reduce costs, and improve agents would be for the Noldo and Cardolan to sabotage each other's harbors. This improves agents at twice the rate of those simply guarding location or characters, cuts the maintenance costs at 250 gold per turn, and removes one more location for enemy fleets to land.

The Free Peoples in the Northwest have three palantiri which can be used very effectively for "filling in the gaps" present on their maps. The maps of the Dwarves, Cardolan, and Arthedain have some blind spots which can be covered by effective use of the three Palantiri possessed by Arthedain and the Noldo. It is important to get these artifacts in the hands of characters who will have a spare order each turn. The critical "blind spots" of the Free Peoples are hexes 1814, 1812, 1819, 1808, 1606-1806, 1705- 1805, 1604-1804, and 1703-1803. These spots can be most effectively covered by either having a cooperative Rhudaur player willing to provide you with accurate intelligence information, or having the three palantiri investigate the following hexes (and, thus, the six surrounding hexes as well): 1704, 1907, and 1911. This will cover all of these "blind hexes" except for 1814 and areas to the South.

The army strength of the Free Peoples in the northwest is formidable, not so much because of their at start strength, but because of their impressive array of Major Towns and Cities which can build their army strength up very quickly. The tendency of the Dwarves is to take their armies at Kazad-Dum and to attack the Dragon Lord Major Town of Goblin Gate. If, rather than this, the Dwarves attack Mt. Gunabad of the Witch-King from the East of the Misty Mountains, while Cardolan and Arthedain attack Mt. Gram and Carn-Dum, there is a potential to take out all three Witch-King Major Towns early in the game. A possible idea would be to transfer many of the Noldo combat artifacts to army commanders or characters travelling with the armies of Arthedain and Cardolan so that these artifacts can be fully utilized. Another possibility would be for Noldo characters to follow armies so that they can be at the site of a battle to challenge Dark Servant characters. The Dwarves have the advantage of, like the Noldo, having many combat artifacts. Fortunately, the Dwarves have a very effective military which can put these combat artifacts to very effective use. The Witch-King characters are quite formidable, so when going into combat, it is usually advisable for the Free Peoples to Refuse Personal Challenge unless you know for certain you can dramatically out-challenge, not only the army commander, but also any characters travelling with the army. If the neutrals have not declared one way or the other, hitting the Witch-King early and hard can perhaps persuade them to join your cause. Another effective technique might be for Cardolan to transfer all his transports and warships to the Noldo. This will increase the warship strengths and will concentrate the navies into a force comparable in strength with the large navies to the South.

There is, for the Free Peoples in the northwest, a great opportunity to engage in long term development of their economies using the relatively safe regions in and West of the Blue Mountains on the Noldo map. Camps placed in this area can be monitored for nearby enemy activity by the Noldo, and can provide most of the resources which they might need. An abundance of all type terrains with relatively mild weather can insure production of all types of materials. Another strategy is pooling resources. Pooling resources between the Free Peoples early can allow for the rapid development of forces in materials not suspected. For example, independently not one of the Free Peoples has a tremendous production of Timber. However, if the resources are pooled it is possible by about turn five to have enough timber to make the thirty war machines necessary to destroy a fort (like the one at Mt. Gram or Mt. Gunabad), which is much sooner than might be expected in the game by the Witch-King player. Another concern which can easily be addressed by cooperation is that the Arthedain player does not have a back-up capital. The Noldo player could transfer one of his Major Towns in exchange for an Arthedain Town and Village which will still give both nations the same tax base but dramatically affect the security of Arthedain.

All of these things are strategies which may or may not be successful, but the most important factor in all of these strategies, and which can be applied to any region within the game is the regular and open communication among players. Setting aside individual goals temporarily can result in tremendous gains and secure your nation's place for later in the game.