WAR OF THE RING
War of the Ring (WotR) is a variant of GSI's 2950 scenario. Why introduce
a
variant? Because, when I played 2950, I was disappointed to find a much
smaller economic base than in he original 1650 game. This not only made
2950 a smaller game, but made it impossible for players to field the
numbers
of troops mentioned by Tolkien.
To give just a couple of examples: in 'Lord of the Rings' South Gondor
sent
just under 3000 troops to the Siege of Minas Tirith. This was only
one-tenth of South Gondor's strength, so that nation could field close to
30,000 troops in total! In 'Unfinished Tales' it is stated that Rohan
sent
6000 Riders to the Battle of Pelennor Fields. Moreover, the Free People
were outnumbered in every battle they fought, so most if not all of
Sauron's
many armies must have been at least 10,000 strong!
WotR brings the overall number of population centres back up to the level
of
the 1650 scenario, thus creating a stronger economic base, and making it
possible to field armies closer to the size which Tolkien described. WotR
also sees a very few adjustments to character skill levels, not only in
keeping with Tolkien but to give better game balance.Although the number of pop centres has been brought up to the level of the
1650 game, the distribution has changed, in some cases dramatically.
Arthedain and Cardolan have been destroyed, leaving only the Dunedan
Rangers
with a
shadow of their former power. The Eothraim have become the Riders of
Rohan
and relocated in the former Calenardhon, leaving a power vacuum in
Rhovanion. The Sinda and Silvan Elves are now two separate nations. Of
the
neutrals, the Corsairs have absorbed the Haradwaith (GSI's change not
mine),
Easterlings have split
into two separate nations, and the White Wizard has founded a totally new
nation. There are fewer changes to the Dark Servants, the most noteworthy
being the destruction of the Witch-king's realm of Angmar and the
relocation
of his capital to Mordor. Here's a brief summary of changes, nation by
nation. Population centre increases refer to the 2950 game unless stated
otherwise.1) Woodmen: pop centres similar to 1650. In the Battle of Five Armies,
Beorn cut his way thru the goblin army to slay their leader Bolg. Prior
to
that, Beorn conjured up food and mounts for Thorin and company. In
keeping
with this, Beorn is now a seriously powerful character with access to
Conjuring spells. As it is highly unlikely that Beorn was unique, a
second
Woodie character has received a more modest boost. These changes should
also make this unfancied nation more fun to play!2) Northmen: pop levels similar to 1650. The Northmen have lost a little
ground to the Easterlings, but have strengthened their grip on central
Rhovanion which was abandoned by the Eothraim.3) Riders of Rohan: get a major increase in pop numbers. How else are
they
going to field 6000 cavalry? Also, they need a major reinforcement as
they
have active and/or potential enemies both east and west.
4) Dunadan Rangers: get a very modest increase of small pops, but still
have
only one major town, to reflect the difficulty of recruiting troops from
such a small and scattered population.5) Silvan Elves: get a considerable increase in pops. They could and did
send big armies to fight against Sauron's minions, notably during the Last
Alliance, and had plenty of time for the population to grow since then.6) and 7) Northern and Southern Gondor: each gets a major increase in
pops.
Gondor was still far and away the most powerful Mannish nation in
Middle-earth. Also, Gondor has to fight most of the Mordor nations
single-handed early on, and who knows which side the powerful Corsairs
will
join?
8) Dwarves have lost Khazad-dum to the Balrog, and no new colonies were
founded. Therefore, pops are simply restored to 1650 level except the new
capital is upgraded to a major town.9) Sinda Elves: the least numerous Elven nation but with some of the most
powerful characters gets only a marginal increase in pops.10) Noldo Elves: the most powerful Elven nation. Despite westbound
emigrations, the Noldo population was able to grow peacefully following
the
fall of Angmar, and was reinforced by refugees from the east fleeing the
wrath of Sauron. Pops restored to 1650 level.11) Witch-king: his realm of Angmar in the northern Misty Mts having been
destroyed, Murazor relocated his capital to Mordor. He never ceased
efforts
to regain his former kingdom, and a constant stream of troops and
emissaries
made their way north along the mountain chain establishing bases on the
way.
He gets a fair-sized increase in pops.
The Witch-king commanders in the north have had their ranks reduced, as it
is quite clear that they were no match for Beorn (see comments on 1)
Woodmen). However, Bolg as Murazor's viceroy in the north gets emissary
skill as one of his major tasks is to create new pops, and one of his
mages
gets command skill; this is actually pretty good compensation for two of
his
characters having comm skill ranks lowered.
12) Dragon lord gets a modest increase in pops, including a new backup
capital virtually inaccessible to armies.13) Dog lord gets a modest increase, including a couple of camps in the
Brown Lands, to reflect the fact that these were continually patrolled by
forces from Mordor.14, 15, &16) Cloud lord, Blind Sorceror and Ice King: small increases to
restore pops to 1650 level.17) Quiet Avenger: receives a modest increase in pops as she is one of the
few Dark Servants with room to expand; also to go some way to matching
South
Gondor and/or Corsairs and/or Khand Easterlings should they turn hostile.
18 & 19) Fire King and Long Rider both receive a small increase in pops.
20) Dark lieutenants get a modest increase in pops as the nation most
directly connected with Sauron.21) Corsairs: now include Harad as well, so get significant and
appropriate
pop increases.
22) Rhun Easterlings: firstly, the capital has been moved further east,
and
the pop next door to the Northmen capital downgraded. No nation would
permit another to build a fortified capital so close, and no nation would
build its capital so close to that of a potential enemy for fear of
getting
it trashed. Rhun Easterlings have received a modest pop increase.
Generally their bigger pops are furthest east, the smaller ones in
Rhovanion, reflecting the pattern of migration/invasion.23) Dunlendings get a modest but scattered pop increase in line with their
culture (or lack of it!).24) White Wizard: the only change here is to upgrade his capital to a
city.
Tolkien's description justifies this, and in terms of game balance, the
White Wizard needs it as there is no justification for giving him any more
pops. But Saruman is a powerful emissary so will have no problem
expanding
his realm!
25) Khand Easterlings: modest increase in pops.
Final word: the FP have received the lion's share of new/upgraded pops,
but
I have done my best to keep things in proportion. Remember the DS will
soon
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be able to recruit dragons and start a conveyor belt of assassins AND they
have at least one Curse squad just waiting to learn the spells. So, any
perceived military advantage enjoyed by the FP had best be exploited as
quickly as possible..... and the best-laid plans can go adrift if the
neutral nations turn against you. Enjoy!Richard Devereux.