Lord of the Rings: Total War Preview a/b/c

Due to lack of presence on this forum I've not been able to produce the LOTR TW Previews till now. My apologies:shame: (was this the right place to post?)

The Lord of the Rings: Total War
Version 2.0 PREVIEW A

The day darkens. The age of the Elves is reaching its twilight age. The dominion of Men is about to start. Yet only if they could live out the oncoming storm. The Darklord Sauron is amassing his forces, readying for the final war, the final battle to determine the fate of Middle-earth. His new ally, the wizard Saruman, is breeding an army in the deep caverns of Isengard and he has his sight on the green vast lands of Rohan. The wicked Easterlings are marching forward and from the dry sands of the south, the booming sound of monstrous steps is edging closer towards the border of Gondor. The strength of the free-peoples of the west may not be enough. The kingdom of Gondor, the last bastion against the incursion of the darklord's minions is at its weakest state. They are now surrounded by their enemies. How will they survive this coming onslaught? Will they stand alone? Will the dwarves hid in their mountains and let the younger race face their darkest hour alone? Will the elves diminish and fade into the west, or is their twilight is merely a sign of a new dawn?

This is the War of the Ring.

The fate of Middle-earth, is in your hands.



The following is a preview of the new things you may encounter in version 2 of LOTR-TW. Do keep in mind that these unit roster, appearance and descriptions are still work in progress and may vary from the final version.

Playable factions: Gondor, Rohan, Kingdom of Dale, Dwarves, Noldorin, Galadhrim, Silvan Elves, Mordor, Isengard, Orcs Rabbles, Easterlings, Southrons, Dunlendings

Unplayable factions: Free-towns, Outlaws (rebels)
http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/mappreview.jpg


Preview of custom map models. LOTR-TW will be using a modified version of map from Middle-earth: Total War. Some of the scripts that is confirmed to be used is the 4-turn a year script, as well as a faction's preference to sack a settlement and razing it completely. Losing a city to the orcs will have a devastating effect even when you manage to reclaim it.

http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/prevDol.jpg
The kingdom of Gondor will need all the help they can get. And the powerful Knights of Dol Amroth will lend their strength and their blades to fight the forces of the shadow. The Knights of Dol Amroth are known to be the greatest knights in the known world with their strong armor and lance.

http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/prevDale.jpg
Yet Gondor is not alone in their defense against the forces of the east. The kingdom of Dale, ever the ally of the dwarves of Erebor, stand in the path of the Easterling clans. The kingdom of Dale is a small, young kingdom, re-founded mere scores ago by King Bard I, after the slaying of the dragon Smaug. They are not as militarily capable as Gondor and rely mostly on their militia but their access to dwarven smiths ensure them good quality armor and weaponry.

http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/prevDale1.jpg
With their founder king's well-known reputation as marksman of the highest caliber, the men of Dale keep the tradition of training archery in his honor. Thus they possess the best militia archers around. The best of their best are given highly prized armor and weaponry and call themselves the Bardian archers.
Even if they do not possess a professional army, Dale is guarded by their well armored Guardsmen, men who dedicate themselves to the protection of their kingdom.

http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/dwarfprev1.jpg
The dwarves is a close-knit clans living under the mountains. They are strong, sturdy and completely indominatable except perhaps by their greed for wealth. The dwarves of Erebor are a close ally of the kingdom of Dale.

http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/dwarfprev2.jpg
The dwarven Warsmith, armed with a forging hammer and throwing axes.

http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/dwarfprev3.jpg
The Dragonslayer, clad in black armor rumored to have been made from dragonscales. Their terrible mask and armor is terrifying to their enemies.

http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/silvprev.jpg
The Silvan elves of Thranduil's Hall refuse to fade from Middle-earth and are fighting their right to reclaim their soiled Greenwood. Unlike their Noldor or Galadhrim cousins, they do not possess as advanced knowledge of armor smithing and weaponry, thus they rely on light armor. Yet their skills are still those of the elves and even with their small number, they may yet win a battle to free their home.

http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/orcprev1.jpg
The forces of darkness stirred, and the terrible drums in the deep and the chittering of rusted armor is heard creeping from the shadows. The orcs have invaded and occupied the deep mines of Moria and they fashioned wicked and terrible armor and weapons from scavenging the previous occupants of the great mine.

http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/orcprev2.jpg
Even when their number is no longer as great as it were in the past, the orcs of Misty Mountain are still a threat. With their rabbles firmly based in Mount Gundabad as well as Moria, they multiple rapidly and are quickly amassing an army.

http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/orcprev3.jpg
The Mordor faction will receive a facelift: the orcs are reskinned and the unit roster is revamped.

Screenshots of the new units:
http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/exin1.jpg
http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/exin2.jpg
http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/exin3.jpg
http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/exin4.jpg
http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/exin5.jpg
http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/exin6.jpg





The Lord of the Rings: Total War
Version 2.0 PREVIEW B

Some new and improved units (comments by Wlesmana)

Wainriders of Rhun
http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/wain1prev.jpg
http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/wain2prev.jpg
http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/wain3prev.jpg

1. Revamped Wainriders. I don't like their old pajama look so I made them more elite looking.
2. Check out mah new rims, homey! This baby is totally GANGSTA now, fo' sho!! Seriously though, those blades look pretty wicked on the move.
3. The Wainarchers are replaced with Wain-Warlords. They throw spears now instead of bows and more powerful close range.

Kingdom of Dale
http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/dale1prev.jpg
http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/dale2prev.jpg
http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/dale3prev.jpg

1. Spearmen of Dale, slightly updated.
2. Farmers of Dale. Lowest Dale unit but doesn't require a Barrack to make. Only Plantation/Farmlands.
3. Knights of Dale. Dale's only cavalry, limited in number, expensive but pretty strong.
More or less as strong as Gondorian Knights.

http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/dale4prev.jpg
http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/dale5prev.jpg

4. Dale Honor Guards. General bodyguards. I try to make Dale more Celtic like to show their same ancestry as the Rohirrim without making them infantry version of Rohan.
5. The army of Dale clashing against the Easterlings.

Lothlorien Elves
http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/galad1prev.jpg
http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/galad2prev.jpg
http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/galad3prev.jpg

1. Galadhrim Swords replace the old Elven Warriors. They are the basic infantry the galadhrim gets, alongside the spear version.
2. Galadhrim Vanguards. Spear-wielding heavy armored infantry. No bow like their swordsmen counterpart.
3. A Galadhrim is distracted while an Orc Manslayer is about to crack his head open.

I just realized that the Galadhrim lacks a unit with shields. This means among the elven factions, they're the most susceptible to missile fire. I'm still deciding if this is good or bad since the Galadhrim gets heavy armor and strong hybrid units since the start. So their lack of defensive melee may be a balance factor.

Noldor Elves
http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/noldor1prev.jpg

The Noldor Spearguards. The only non-archer unit the Noldor gets until their reform. Small in number, but high defense but not much else. If you play as the Noldor, you'll rely on these guys a lot.

Mirkwood Elves
http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/silvan1prev.jpg
http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/silvan2prev.jpg
http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/silvan3prev.jpg

1. Silvan lowest unit, just like the other elven factions, the Archers. Their outfit kind of look like Legolas but more simplified.
2. Silvan Spearmen. Good armor but still light.
3. Silvan Swordsmen. They get a shield now instead of a bow like in the preview. I've decided giving the Silvan more hybrids would make them just like the Galadhrim. So now they get more melee units than them.

http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/silvan4prev.jpg
http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/silvan5prev.jpg

4. Attack of the Bush Ninja!!!
5. Riders of the Green. Silvan's light cavalry aside from the Scouts (horse archers). Galadhrim and Noldor don't get light cavalry (other than Scouts)
but Noldor gets Elnaith after reform.




The Lord of the Rings: Total War
Version 2.0 PREVIEW C

I know you must have all been dying to see another preview and here it is, presented by our infamous Wlesmana! A slight glimpse of what to come, improving what we all think is the most unpopular faction in Middle-earth. + A sample of Dwarven music by Arya.

http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/dwarfprev4.jpg

The Dwarven Axe Hurlers. I got the idea for the "axe box" they carry on their bag from BFME2, I admit. It's the most logical way if you're going to carry a bunch of axes and has easy access to grab from it.

http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/dwarfprev5.jpg

Lowest dwarven unit: Dwarven Miners. I have mixed feelings about this unit. It's useful since the other dwarven units are expensive so this one is not as expensive, not as strong but you can only recruit them with mines. So I guess it's nothing big strategically, but nice touch for atmosphere. I guess.

There are 2 more units for the Dwarves: Mithril Shield (or might be renamed Oldbeard Guards) for general bodyguards and Dwarven Halberdiers. Dwarves' cavalry and missile (archers) are Hirelings, who are mercenary men (horsemen, infantry, archer) who wear (cheaper) dwarven armor and weapons.



Aaaaand now, presenting.... the Dunlendings! The red-headed step-child of LOTR-TW!!!

The Dunlendings will offer a unique gameplay among the factions in LOTR-TW. They cannot produce good units but are very cheap to build and maintain. You won't have to worry about economy. Instead, you must be opportunists: by picking off weakened settlements and take over a town with an armory, which you can use to produce your good units.

This is the basic and only Dunlendings you can produce in your original settlements, the Warband and Scouts:

http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/dunlandprev1.jpg

Take over a Rohirrim town with an Armory, and you can produce these:
http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/dunlandprev2.jpg
Dunlendings (Rohan Axe) and Dunlendings (Rohan Spear)

Take over a town with an Urukhai Armory, you'd get to make these:
http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/dunlandprev3.jpg
Dunlendings (Uruk Sword), Dunlendings (Uruk Spear)

Take over an Easterling Armory, you get this:
http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/dunlandprev4.jpg
Dunlendings (Balchot Axe)

Take over a town with Gondorian Armory, you'd get to produce these guys with really good defense:
http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/dunlandprev5.jpg
Dunlendings (Gondor Sword), Dunlendings (Gondor Spear)

And, of course, take over an elvish armory, you'd get to produce these guys, the nightmare of Lupus, dirty unwashed wild men holding elvish weapons:
http://www.lotrtw.com/gallery/dunlandprev6.jpg
Dunlendings (Elvish Sword), Dunlendings (Elvish Spear)

Each of them have a unique stat, with Gondorian one has the best defense and elvish ones the most attack. Uruk one is in-between and the rest so-so but better than their regular unit. The ones I haven't finished yet are Dunlendings with Dwarvish Axe and Dunlendings with Orcish Armor and weapon. The last of the unit would be Rohirrim Turncoat (cavalry), which can only be trained at a settlement that has a Rohan stable. And that's that for the Dunlendings.

And last but nontheless very nice to listen to is a still unfinished theme for the Dwarven Clans by our composer Arya, you can listen to it here: http://www.aryavartakumar.com/music/Arya-DwarfTheme.mp3

The Dunlendings concept is very interesting. :2thumbsup:

yeh the dunlending idea is great :thumbsup: and i really like the orcs as well, are you making trolls for this?

Very nice! Your first strategic map screens look good (you´ve enven placed Barad Dur correctly - due east of Orodruin) and the units are simply fantastic.
And I love the Dunland concept, that´s bound to make that faction really interesting, though I guess Dunland will require the most model space due to that. Not that it matters, I suppose, after all, how would you fill the maximum 200 model limit?

Great! How are the unique city battlemaps coming?

Wow, great preview. Thanks for the info!

This was the right place to post. I love the Dunlending's head.

Unfortunately, I won't be including any unique settlement in the first version 2. I'll try to add in unique buildings though.

The correct placements of cities on the map is credit to METW team.

I still have a lot of room for the 200 (or is it 350 now?) DMB list, mostly because there's only 13 major factions. The Dunlendings got 16 unit types, which I may add to that later if space permits.

:help: Where Is This LOTR : Total War ? It Sounds Great.
Or What Is The Website ?:help:

http://www.lotrtw.com/

So much for signatures, eh? :dizzy2:

Welcome to the .org Chricky, if you look, there is a link to the official website in the signature of the post above yours :wink: