Strategy and Tactics: The Woodmen (2950)

    By Jeff Holzhauer


    Introduction

    The much maligned Woodmen can be a very fun position to play. They get bonuses to stealth and challenge ranks, which are excellent advantages for somebody wishing to play a character based game. They see military action in the early game and agent and emissary activity in the mid and late games. Assuming they survive the early turns, they have a safe base to work from, and are usually dismissed as a threat by cocky dark servants. And, as an added bonus, the unpopular Woodmen are yours for the asking.

    This article is designed to help the Woodmen survive the early game and put them on the right foot for the mid and late games.

    Caveat Lector

    I am currently playing the Woodmen in my first and only game of the 2950 scenario. I have only played about five turns and I have not seen any of the Dark Servant setups for the scenario. Please keep in mind these limitations to my knowledge, and realize that they have obviously shaped my vision of strategy for this position.


    The Woodmen

    First of all, you're poor, damn poor. The Woodmen tax base (at 60%) is 10,500, exactly equal to your starting expenses. Obviously, you're going to recruit troops and increase your number of characters and their skill rankings. Therefore, you'll have a deficit.

    Secondly, your characters are good for the long term, but not very useful immediately. All eight have command ability and at least one other skill, three have emissary 20, and two have agent 20. Seven have stealth 15.

    Finally, your positioning is good. The only Dark Servants near you are the Dragon Lord and the Witch-King. The Witch-King will probably be busy in the west, so your first priority is the Dragon Lord.


    General Strategy

    Your major problem in the early game is cash flow. While nearly every starting position is strapped for cash, you can so almost nothing to improve your position. Competition for placing camps will be intense in the early game, and you start with no emissaries above 20 and no commanders over 40. There are also no dark servant pop centers that you can capture easily, and your two camps (which would be easy to improve) are both unfortified and within one force march of the Dragon Lord capital. These factors put you in a worse financial position than any other nation (although I haven't seen them all).

    Your strategy should be centered around eliminating the threat from the Dragon Lord while you still have your surplus of starting cash. Once your surplus is gone, you will not be able to maintain an army worthy of the name. There is no way for you to maintain an army large enough to take Dol Guldur until you can reduce the fortifications. Your short term goal is to eliminate the offensive power of the Dragon Lord, not to knock him out of the game. Therefore, you must aim to eliminate both the Dragon Lord armies as soon as possible.

    In order to do so, you need the help of at least one of the Elven positions. In my game I have had no contact from the Silvan position, and know on details of their setup, so I have not considered them as a potential ally. Working with both the Sinda and Noldo is obviously preferable, but Sinda is more important to you than Noldo. Rohan will also be able to help with the elimination of the Dol Guldur army (armies are named in italics).


    Sinda:

    While Sinda's starting cash flow is worse than yours, they start with an emissary 70, a commander 60 ad a hidden camp to improve, so they are in a better financial position. The main goal of the Sinda is the elimination of Dol Guldur. To do so they need to maximize recruiting from the first turn. They need to split their army in Lorien (after recruiting 400 heavy infantry, so that they can recruit 700 a turn. You of Sinda should maintain a watch on Dol Guldut, to monitor its size. At the right moment, Sinda will march in, possibly with help from you or Rohan, and eliminate Dol Guldur. After the Dragon Lord armies are destroyed, Sinda should maintain a force of about eight hundred heavy infantry in Caras Galadhon. If the Dragon Lord tried to starts a new army, Sinda can move in with 1200 vs. 800 and eliminate it.

    Another useful trick is having the Sinda send and agent to steal gold from you at 2613. This will both increase the Sinda's rank more quickly than guarding, and put him in a position to attempt to eliminate a Dragon Lord commander, as 2613 is a tempting target. The Sinda should also make a camp available for you to steal from, once Beorn and Grimbeorn are over 30.


    Noldo:

    Obviously, the Noldo are not as involved in the affairs of the Greenwood (The Woodmen should never say M__wood) as the Sinda. Nonetheless, a close cooperation with the Noldo can be very helpful. First of all, they can keep you aware of Witch-King activities in the west. If Murazor is not going after the Noldo or Rangers, watch out! Secondly, if the Noldo are not preoccupied with the Witch King, they can provide an army to help with your attack on Goblin Gate, possibly allowing a capture. Furthermore, if the Sinda are non-cooperative, the Noldo could eliminate the Goblin Gate army, leaving all of your troops available for Dol Guldur. The agent strategy outlined for the Sinda will also work with the Noldo.


    Rohan:

    I have assumed that Rohan will eliminate the Dragon Lord camp (and possibly army) at 2518. This will be done by any Rohan with a pulse. Beyond that, Rohan may be able to help you at Dol Guldur, but they will probably be busy in the east. You should also encourage Rohan to take the Long Rider village at 3017, to remove the military threat from the Long Rider.


    The First Turn

    You have two armies: North (2711) and South (2508). The first turn, both recruit 400 heavy infantry. Meanwhile, raise taxes, and create an emissary 30. Send your two best challenge rank characters to 3108 and 2405, they will encounter spirits, and hopefully bring in some much needed cash. Make your character (Waulfa, unless he started with a special ability) the secondary commander in the South army. Send a commander emissary (20) to 2405 and recon. Make sure that Beorn and Grimbeorn get in a guard order.


    Turn Two

    South recruits 400 heavy infantry, splits (leaving Waulfa or whoever in charge of 10 light infantry in the new army Capital), and moves NW, NW, NW. North recruits 400 heavy infantry and moves SW, H, H, H, H, NE. This will intercept the Dragon Lord Goblin army (2409) if he is patrolling. As near as I could tell, the Dragon Lord starts with 200 men in Goblin Gate, so Goblin could have, at most, 600 men to North's 900. Note that Capital is left in the command of your worst character, as it will be only 100 men for a while, and if the Dragon Lord moves in, you could lose the character.

    Meanwhile, the new emissary names another emissary and moves to 2405. Finish raising taxes, if necessary, and downgrade the Dragon Lord, if possible. Have your command/emissary at 2405 try to place a camp, and recon again. You need to reckon from this space every turn, to monitor the Witch- King's actions. Be sure to have Beorn and Grimbeorn guard again, and if you have an emissary 20 at 3108, try to place a camp there too. Also, sending somebody to recon Dol Guldur would be a good idea, but it can wait, if necessary.


    Turn Three

    If Goblin was not patrolling, both North and South are at 2508, recruit 400 heavy infantry, merge them (preferably under Beoraborn) and force march SW, SW, NW into Goblin Gate. If North has already defeated Goblin, disband whatever's left of it and go in with just South (+400 new recruits). If available, the Noldo army from Rivendell can join the fun. At any rate, it is essential that you get either Elrond or Galadriel to come to Goblin Gate at this point. You don't have the strength to capture the fort (unless Noldo has contributed a good sized army), so you will defeat Goblin and then hang out, threatening while Elrond and/or Galadriel Influence Other. You should be able to liberate Goblin Gate from the foul clutches of Sauron (a little demagoguery never hurt) within a couple turns. After you do, the elves should give it to you (if they ended up in control), as you need the money more than they do.

    If there isn't one there yet, have both emissaries try to place a camp at 2405. Keep trying at 3108. Beorn and Grimbeorn guard again. Your other agent 10's with stealth should be developing that agent skill whenever possible. If you haven't done it yet, downgrade the Dragon Lord. If you have, you also need to downgrade the Witch-King, Long Rider, and Cloud Lord, so get to it.


    Turn Four and Beyond

    Your financial situation will vary, depending on how much money you found in the spirit encounters, the weather, and your success in placing camps. By now or within a couple of turns, your reserves will be exhausted. At that point you will have to disband all but your Capital army. If you still have money, you can send whatever is left of your army to help at Dol Guldur.

    After the Dragon Lord armies are destroyed, you can settle down for the long haul and concentrate entirely upon concentrate entirely upon character development. The 2950 Woodmen are in no position to be a military power.

    Beorn and Grimbeorn should become primarily agents. Once one of them reaches a skill level of around 30, you can fill your fourth character slot with another agent. You should place your best commander (other than those two) as the secondary commander in Capital . Then double train him (Army Maneuver and Troops Maneuver) every turn. Having a good commander never hurts, and even if you never field another real army, you can use him to post camps. Your emissaries should create camps in the two towers pointed out above, then improve them to villages. After the Dragon Lord is defanged, you can improve your starting camps, too.

    Since you start with eight commanders, you should never need to create any more. You are in a good position to concentrate on agents and emissaries. With your potential bonuses to stealth and challenge ranks, you can field great agent and/or emissary companies. If you are cooperating at all with Sinda or Noldo, you should rely on them for any of your mage needs.


    Other Points

    Don't forget the hidden Dragon Lord pop center at 2809. You need to get one of the elves to reveal it, then you or Silvan can take it. If you wait long enough, you can take it with emissaries. You should try to have it revealed reasonably early though, as the Dragon Lord could upgrade it and recruit a good sized army relatively quickly.

    If the Witch-King goes for you, you are in trouble. On the other hand, you should be assured of help from Noldo. If you are attacked by an aggressive Dragon Lord and Witch-King you will be reacting t their moves, so you cannot plan a strategy ahead of time. If you are attacked by both, don't panic. Armies are very small in 2950 and you have two fortified major towns. You should not be eliminated before their armies are weakened by your forces, or destroyed by your allies.

    The excellant strategy articles written by Brian Mason in recent months have outlined strategies assuming that the player receives limited or no cooperation from allies. If the 2950 Woodmen receive no contact or no cooperation from their allies, I recommend dropping the position, and trying again in a different game. Let's be realistic. The Woodmen are a fun position to play, and are in a good position to be a power in the late game, but they cannot and should not go it alone. Except for the first few turns, the Woodmen nation is designed for a support role. That requires allies to work with and support. I don't think it would be any fun to play the Woodmen without good communications. You, of course, may disagree.


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