End of the Third Age

[Zim]

All across Middle Earth armies are mustering. In Mordor the Orc tribes gather into mighty hosts led by the Nazghul, chief among the servants of Sauron. To the northeast the tribes of the Rhun ride forth while to the southeast the Haradrim gather to march against their enemy Gondor once more. Meanwhile Saruman has revealed the armies of half-orc, half human creatures he has created, though whether to aid his master Sauron or himself is unclear.

Arrayed against these forces are those of the free peoples. Gondor, ever the front line against Mordor, raises troops to defend its borders. Rohan's king Theoden has shaken off the malaise that had taken hold of him and cast away the vile Wormtongue, and now prepares his horsemen. The High Elves still left in Middle Earth have decided they will not remain uninvolved, and have joined Gondor and Rohan. Even the formerly quiet and scattered settlements in Eriador have begun to band together under the leadership of the Rangers in response to orcish incursions. The Third Age is coming to a close, but it is unclear which side will come to dominate the Fourth.

End of the Third Age is a Third Age: Total War hotseat played with the 2.1 version of the mod, with the upgraded barracks events disabled (allowing high tier troops to be built as soon as the infrastructure for them is complete).

Settings are as follows:
TATW 2.1 with barracks events disabled
VH/VH
Huge army size

Players:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The Free Peoples:
1. Gondor: Zim
2. Rohan: Mithridate
3. Eriador: Rougeman
4. High Elves: Myth
5. Sylvan Elves: Slysnake

The Servants of Sauron:
5. Mordor: Nightbringer
6. Isengard: deguerra
7. Harad: LooseCannon1
8. Rhun: Thanatos Eclipse

Players are split into two teams (Free Peoples of Middle Earth and the Servants of Sauron), with each side having its own victory conditions:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

-The Free Peoples must take and hold for ten turns each the settlements of Barad Dur, Isengard, Hyarmen and Mistrand. All settlements must be held at once to achieve victory but each only has to be held for ten turns a single time (i.e., if Isengard is taken by Rohan and held for ten turns then briefly lost. It most only be recaptured to apply to the victories conditions, and not held a further ten turns).

-The Servants of Sauron must take and hold for ten turns the settlements of Minas Tirith, Edoras, Imladris, and Bree. Like the Free Peoples, they must hold all of their target settlements simultaneously to win but need only hold each for ten turns a single time in the game.

Rules:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

-Battles are fought by the attacking player. Battles against rebels or between armies where one has a massive advantage in the number of units can be autoresolved (TATW's makers explicitly state autoresolve is a bit off in their mod still)

- Players shall post a link to the save game in the main game thread and also send a private message to the next player in line to alert them that it is their turn.

- Players have 48 hours to play each turn, with extensions granted at request. The GM will skip a players' turn if the deadline is missed with no communication and a sub allied to the player cannot be found.

- No spies may be used to open the gates of settlements or forts.

-Assassins are limited to sabotage missions only

- No destroying buildings for cash under any circumstances.

-Catapults and trebuchets may both be used to assault settlements with wooden or stone walls on the turn of the siege. Ballistas are not usable to assault settlements on the turn of the siege.

- If an army is beaten in battle by a faction that is after them in the turn order that army may not move on the following turn. The player that defeated them should post which armies were beaten to make it easier to follow this and the following rule.

- An army which is beaten in battle may not be attacked on the following turn (because it is immobilized either by the game mechanic or by the rule above) by any faction unless it has retreated to a fort or settlement.

-Evil armies may join "crusades" but not call them. Armies that have joined can only attack the target city.

- No exploits, including (but not limited to): no merchant forts, no surround-and-destroy, no reloads, no tribute deals that deliberately put you into debt greater than 10k, no deliberate diplomatic exchange of territories just to get a free garrison, no attacking ships in ports. If you are unsure if an action would be considered an exploit check with me.