Lord of the rings

[Harlan]

Hi,
Ian pointed out to me that this discussion is going on- I don't check Civ2 discussions much anymore. Glad to see people are still interesting in playing this scenario.

Version 4.1 is indeed the latest version. There are sounds for that version too. I've got em, and will send them to SidGames and Apolyton soon. Mercator from SidGames recently sent me a message asking for the latest versions of all my scenarios. I'll have to dig around and send them off- I thought everything I did was out there, but seeing how noone can find the sounds for these, that must not be the case.

What's this about a "non-Harlan" version of this scenario? I never heard about that, no one asked me any permission about fixing my stuff.

One last thing. I've given up on doing Civ2 stuff myself, but this scenario could use a bit of tinkering. Specifically, I was always bummed that I didn't have enough room in the events.txt to do everything I wanted. I've heard though that some of these more recent CD-add ons have increased the max size of the events.txt file. If this is true, I'd give an open invitation to anyone who wants to add to that file to take advantage of that space, plus fix whatever bugs there may be. Let me know if you're interested.

Harlan

PS- By the way, version 4 is much harder. I wanted it to be a big challenge and get rid of loopholes like bribing.

[Peter Hennesy]

got ta go with quiksilver here. Lover the hobbit - one of the best books I ever read - but vcould get into lord of the rings. got stuck on book 1 to. (tho admittedly this was 20 years a\go) My question - I downloaded this a while back but havnt played it. Only remember it now. Would it be good to play even not having read the book? Or is it really a tolkeiners only job?

[Peter Hennesy]

got ta go with quiksilver here. Lover the hobbit - one of the best books I ever read - but vcould get into lord of the rings. got stuck on book 1 to. (tho admittedly this was 20 years a\go) My question - I downloaded this a while back but havnt played it. Only remember it now. Would it be good to play even not having read the book? Or is it really a tolkeiners only job?

[Hunter Hutchins]

I dont know...

[LordEmperor Platypus]

Hi all, I am really excited to try this scenario out. I downloaded version 4 from Mercators site but he didnt have any sounds with the file.
I then emailed Harlan at his hawaii email listed on the preceeding note a few weeks back but never heard back from him...

My question is... Does anyone have the sounds that go with version 4??? ]

If so please send them to me (just use the email with my profile - Garibaldi@or.freei.net)

Thanks in advance....

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LordEmperor Platypus
"Platypi shall inherit the world"

[Mercator]

I think Harlan didn't make any sounds. Especially his later versions tend not to have sounds. E.g. his Mongols scenario (v3) didn't have any sounds, the reason you do find sounds on my website is that I made them myself.

[iadkins]

The sound file is in the Apol db?
I think Harlan said the same sounds would work from earlier versions?

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*THE DEITY*
#8388924

[iadkins]

Yes, the Secondary file (sound) is in the Apol db along with V.4.

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*THE DEITY*
#8388924

[LordEmperor Platypus]

By golly it sure is... many thanks... either that just got updated... or I was blind the last time I checked there. In any case I am downloading the files and look forward to trying this scenario.

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LordEmperor Platypus
"Platypi shall inherit the world"

[Sieve Too]

I finally got around to trying this scenario, the 4.1 version, and thought I would solicit advice from the good folks here.

First, a couple comments about the ReadMe.txt. Unfortunately, the ReadMe.txt is incorrect about several enemy unit stats which has led me to attack units I shouldn't have.

1) First and foremost: Orcs, Wolves, Wainriders, and Uruk Hai have Fp of 2, not 1. Given the large number of these units, this is fairly significant.

2) Wainriders are ADM 6/3/2 not 5/2/2. Combined with Fp 2, these are very tough units. Don't try to take them out with Dunedain unless yours are vets and they are on grass or plains. Even then it's iffy.

3) Easterlings are ADM 7/2/3 not 6/1/3.

4) Haradrim are ADM 6/3/3, not 6/2/3. Mumakil are ADM 0/4/2 not 0/3/1.

5) Your Knights are only ADM 4/2/2, not 5/2/2. As such, even vet Knights are too weak to take out even one lousy Orc. On defense, the only thing that makes them better than Pikemen is their Hps of 2 but they cost 50, whereas Pikemen cost only 20.

6) Sam is ADM 9/5/1, not 9/6/1.

7) Now the good news: Nazgul only have 6 Hps not 7. Dragons only have 4 Hps, not 6.

8) Despite these mistakes, the ReadMe is very detailed and helpful.

Now some questions:

In the south, I actively pillage my forts. I also pillage roads to slow down Wolves, Battering Rams and other high movement units. Is this a good idea?

Any ideas on how to hold the southern most Gondor city (forget the name)? It starts off surrounded by enemy occupied forts and the city itself sits on grass. As such it gets hammered by Haradrim and Dromund. I've thought of selling off the walls and letting Harad destroy the city but obviously I'd rather not do this.

What do you do about Nazgul? There are 3 up north right at the start. They kill anything they attack. Killing them with Gandalf or Radagast only transports them to the south, where things are even worse.

Which is better? Building Pikemen as fast as possible to use as cannon fodder or spending a lot of money on Dunedain?

Without giving much away, am I correct in assuming that I will eventually be able to build my own Spies? At the start of the game researching science grants an advance once every 40+ turns so I'm guessing I'm not likely to gain much of anything from research.

Thanks for any and all answers! I just started my 2nd game (got creamed on my first) and so far have found this scenario to truly be one of the best. Hats off to Harlan!

[Paul Hanson]

Right, lets see.

The best thing to do with the Nazgul in the north is to use your Rangers. Being air units, they can`t go far, but if they are out of cities and airbases, the Nazgul will try to attack them, but can`t. It`s the best advice I can offer.

Build Pikemen in Minas Tirith. You can build one a turn, which is handy. Try your best to back them up with reinforcements, if you can. This may be hard, but remember it was hard in the book for Gondor to pull up any reinforcements. If you have MGE, start a hotseat game with you controlling both Gondor and Rohan. This may help.

Dunedain are strong, but build them only in your most productive cities (except Minas Tirith). You start off with some in Dol Amroth (representing Prince Imrahil). Keep them there. Dol Amroth is on hills, and won`t fall if you do this.

The southernmost Gondor city is Pelargir (forget the exact spelling, might be wrong), and it is hard to hold onto. If your can, get some Dunedain into it and fortify them. Failing that, there`s not other help I can give you.

Finally, if you haven`t already done so, READ THE BOOK!. It is nigh on impossible to do this scenario if you don`t know what is going on. You have to get your heroes to go the right way towards Minas Tirith, or you will fail! Believe me, I speak from experience. I failed miserably on this, so it convinced me to read the book, and I realised that it`s one of the greatest works of literature ever.

Keep at it. It is possible to win, although I`ve only done it once.

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D`oh!
Homer Simpson
Choppa
Briton Villager, AOE II

[Sieve Too]

Thanks for the response!

I've seen the Nazgul try to attack Rangers, Gandalf and Radagast - with no luck of course. However, their range is so short that they can't make it to Rivendell from the Shire.

I'll try building more Pikemen and bringing them up for reinforcements.

So you've had trouble holding on to Pelargir too? The Dunedain are strong but even vets behind walls are no match for repeated attacks by Haradrim and Dromund.

I've actually read the books 3 times. They are truly excellent. I've considered following the book but the thought of going by Moria and facing the Balrog seems ill-advisable. One question about that: In the book all the heroes leave Rivendell together for the journey, but the fellowship eventually breaks up. Do you generally send all the unique units together or do you split them up right away (some to Isengard, some stay in Rivendell, some to Minas Tirith)?

[Paul Hanson]

Pelargir is touch to hold onto, admittedly, but it`s supposed to be.

With my heroes, I generally send the hobbits to join the others at Rivendell, before setting off on the journey. Some do get split from the pack though (Aragorn, Gandalf) due to their increased speed. It`s not essential for them all to reach Gondor, but Aragorn and Gandalf are definitely the most important ones.

Don`t go anywhere near Moria: it`s just plain stupidity to take on the Balrog.

[MacUser]

Now that THE DEITY (iadkins) pointed out that the Ver. 4 sound files are on the ACS db, I will download them and convert to aiff for the Mac convertion and post them ASAP. Way back when I posted it, I did the ver 3 shuffle (with the appropriate apology added to the web page) and posted the Ver 3 sounds.

Now the REAL question is when am I going to get around to the GWANI scenario! :P

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Different is GOOD!

AOL IM--JacSamDad

[Sieve Too]

MacUser: ACS has version 4.0 of LOTR - at least it did last week. The link above in this thread from sidgames.com points to version 4.1. Also see my comments above on errors in the ReadMe.txt.

I think I may have found one way of dealing with the Nazgul in the north. Get Gollum to Rivendell and then have him sit in the fortress closest to the Mordor city. The Nazgul try to attack Gollum but can't because he is an air unit.