Blogs - Emperor-of-the-East

Frequently Asked Questions?

Yes, because I don't want to need to answer the same questions the same way and provide the same evidence for those being the correct answers incessantly. And yes, this is based on that Sub-mod I am making that gives Age of the Ring's Mordor an Easterling Sub-faction.

Here are the questions I've been asked twice or more.

1. Why are the Easterlings not going to be the twelfth faction in your Sub-mod for Age of the Ring?
   1. Because, as one of the Lead Developers put it in the AotR Discord server, any more factions than eleven and you'll have the AI unable to competently play as it.
2. What exactly is your Sub-faction inspired by?
   1. As I've always proven, I draw my inspiration from J.R.R. Tolkien's books The Lord of the Rings, Unfinished Tales of Middle-earth, and The Peoples of Middle-earth; while also drawing greater inspiration from the Games Workshop and Forge World representations of Rhûn, Khand, the Easterlings, and the Variags.
3. Why don't you make this a Sub-faction of Dol Guldur or Haradwaith?
   1. Because Haradwaith is not available yet, and also because it makes far more sense, logistically, to make the Easterlings in Age of the Ring a Sub-faction of Mordor, seeing as they are already five units from the same building in Mordor.
4. How do you make such great-looking models from scratch?
   1. I don't make them from scratch, for the most part. What I do is known as "kitbashing", I take AotR assets and rearrange them and retexture them in a way that's aptly suited to my vision and I don't use my kitbashes for any other project--only for my AotR Sub-mod. I have done a shield and a quiver from scratch, but I am still looking for something to use those for.
5. Shouldn't you just give up on this idea and move on?
   1. No, absolutely not, and I never will. I was inspired to keep at this Sub-mod idea and to never give up by a Revora Forums user named Námo when he said something I am more in agreement with than ever before: "If you take the time and make the effort, you will come up with outstanding Battle for Middle-earth factions for both the Haradrim and the Easterlings without any use of Non-Tolkien lore."
6. This idea for your Sub-faction is very out of place, shouldn't you discard that idea?
   1. When you provide me evidence from my proven inspiration sources that it is, Yes, you are right, and therefore I will replace it with something that's not out of place.
7. How do you fit the Avari elves and/or Orocarni dwarves in there?
   1. In my writing of fan-invented lore for this faction (which is more necessary for Rhûn than for Harad), the relics that the Avari elves and Orocarni dwarves left behind by fleeing to the West were reforged and repurposed by Easterlings and/or Variags to serve Sauron's cause.
8. Shouldn't you be drawing most of your inspiration from real-world Far-Eastern history to give your Sub-faction its own cultural identity?
   1. Yes, and in fact, not only do I already do that, but JRR Tolkien said to a news magazine in 1966 that he thought of Rhûn as being inspired by, in his own words, "Asia, China, Japan, and all that is seen by Europeans as far away". However, I do tend to sometimes draw from the wrong points in the histories of those places' military technology. So, it's a good thing that I do stuff myself and I seek help with doing a better job of it because then I get the constructive criticism I need to do better with this Sub-mod.
9. When will this Sub-mod be playable to your fellow Mordor-playing AotR fans?
   1. When it's done, when I send it to the Lead Developers to vet it, and if they greenlight publishing it. As for when that process will start and how it will end, please don't ask, for I have no idea.
10. What are the strengths and weaknesses of your Sub-faction?
    1. While my Sub-faction thrives on having plenty of units for plenty of purposes (i.e. Home defense, swarming, final counter-attack, and scouring creep lairs; among other purposes); it also suffers from the early-game, low-cost, low-quality swarming units being the only units that are under 450 per horde. And while it thrives on having plenty of building upgrades for the resource building and walls, it suffers from lacking some buildings that even AotR's Mordor has... like a secondary resource buildings.
11. What is the gameplay style of your Sub-faction?
    1. It's all about outsmarting the enemy with indirect attacks, fake retreats, "bait and bash" moves and other tactical maneuvers.
12. This seems like a full-on Faction to me... is it?
    1. No, and the reason this is only a Sub-faction has everything to do with an AI problem that one of the Lead Devs made clear to everyone on the AotR Discord server.

Closure

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I look forward to making more progress and being smarter about this Sub-mod as I get more of it done.

~Kyle Perkino~

Yes, there will be one

Hello there! I am working on an Easterling Sub-faction that was initially going to be for the Dol Guldur faction in Age of the Ring. But then a supporter of this project convinced me to make it a Sub-faction for AotR's Mordor. Here is a gallery of what I have created up until the time that MBG convinced me to change which AotR faction I make the Easterlings the alternate side of:

Even though I am redoing the Easterling Fortress Citadel to fit in with the Mordor expansion pad arrangement, what I won't be redoing is my current concept of the Easterling Sub-faction Builder. You'll notice that the Easterling side of Mordor won't have Human Builders, it'll have Elf Engineers from the Avari Elf Kingdom whose people are the Hwenti (here are links to what "Avari" and "Hwenti" are). The ideas behind it are in the lore string, at the very bottom of the tooltip.

This is the tooltip I am going with for the Fortress. Also, you'll notice that the Hwenti Engineer menu to the far right of this image... only has four buildings because I am only just beginning the menu, it is heavily WIP. Let's look at what else is on the menu besides the fortress...

This is the Livestock Pasture or just Pasture for short. It provides dairy, eggs, meat, poultry, and seafood as resources based on terrain, adds 50 to your command limit, and can be upgraded to specialize in just one of the above resources, and each specialization leads to a different special bonus.

Before I wrap up this post, I will show you this: the Guardhouse of Khand, which is meant to train Variag of Khand units as the sort of Early-game units of my Easterling Sub-faction for AotR's Mordor. They'll come as swordsmen, axe throwers, spearmen, and mounted archers.

Closure

Thank you for reading this, and thank you to the guy who convinced me to make the Easterlings a Sub-faction of Mordor instead of Dol Guldur! That's all for today,

~Kyle Perkino~

Introduction

Well, well! I managed to make a large amount of progress in making the Easterlings their own faction in the plain old-fashioned Battle for Middle-earth games. In addition, these fictional human super-soldiers from Lord of the Rings shall take up half the Dol Guldur faction in Age of the Ring. The idea of the latter is to expand Dol Guldur into "The Dark East" and have Dol Guldur and The Easterlings as the two factions you must choose one of before doing any gameplay.

Anyway, here are some insights into what I have accomplished, art-wise. Keep in mind, these are all screencaps of them in Blender 2.93 with version 0.6.8 of the Westwood 3d plugin, courtesy of OpenSAGE.

Buildings

(so far, so WIP)

This is the Fortress Citadel as it starts off in just plain Battle for Middle-earth II. My Easterling Citadel for Age of the Ring and for just plain Battle for Middle-earth 1 will look very different from this, indeed.

A much simpler building, and rightly so, for this second building is the Easterling Dairy Mill, which provides milk, cream, butter, cheese, yogurt, and eggs as resources while adding 50 points to your command limit. That's a limit to how many troops you can have in-game, and this extra 50 points for every new resource building built only happens in the second Battle for Middle-earth game. Yes, this is the basic resource building. In my Age of the Ring Sub-Mod, the Dairy Mill is the resource building you get to utilize if you set up a game wherein you play as "The Dark East" and choose "The Easterlings" when given the choice between either that or "Dol Guldur".

Ah, yes... the Red Viper Dojo, the basic unit-training structure for the Easterlings. At all levels, 1 through 3, this structure can train Prairie Nomad Elders, who can summon Prairie Nomad Warriors, Spearmen, Bowmen on foot, and Bowmen on horses. At level 2, this building gets that roof over the door and the ability to train Red Viper swordsmen and pikemen.

Nomad units (WIP)

Yes, I made the Prairie Nomad Elder's facial hair way too bright, But this will not be the case in the actual release of this new playable faction. Before I continue with these Nomads, the reason I title them "Prairie Nomads" is because, if I recall correctly, the Easterling homeland of Rhun consists of prairies, based on the ecosystems of the real-life countries that Rhun is a parallel of. Many of the places that Tolkien said on record he looked to for inspiration are prairies in real life.

Don't worry, swords will not be the only single-handed up-close weapons dual-wielded by Nomad Dual-Wielders like this one. Others will dual-wield hammers, maxes, even battle-axes. These early-game, swarming units come in squads of 20 when summoned by the Nomad Elder.

Oh, him? Yes. he is one of the Nomad Spearmen, who also show up as a squad of 20 when summoned.

Red Viper Legion (75% finished)

I will confess, all of these unit models are Kitbash models mixing Custom Hero meshes with newly added meshes I used Blender's "Add Mesh" feature to get. Oh, and there's a plain Battle for Middle-earth Easterling headscarf and a vertically shrunken Custom-hero Wizard cloak, too! Just the shield and the groin-guard are New Meshes, here.

What's the model of, though? It's of a Red Viper Pikeman, one of the middle-game, smarter-fighting corps within the Easterling faction, the other being the Variags of Khand, which Age of the Ring already made a very cool design for, seen here. So it's only plain, old-fashioned Battle for Middle-earths 1 and 2 I need to make my own Variag design for.

While I may have said way too much not about the Red Viper Legion in the pikeman display above, I will say all I need to here in the swordsman display. As with the Red Viper Pikemen, so too are their sword-and-shield counterparts unlocked by upgrading a Red Viper Dojo to Rank 2.

Red Viper Bowmen, like this one, get unlocked by upgrading a Red Viper Dojo to Rank 3, just like their counterparts on armored horses, the Red Viper Kataphrakts. As you can tell, the bow and arrow are original meshes with shapes and textures inspired by the Dwemer bow and Dwemer arrows Skyrim and Oblivion, respectively.

And the quiver is based on the Dwemer quivers of Oblivion, too!

What's Next? (conclusion)

More progress to be made is next! As for what that will be, I will decide that and make reportage of it to my YouTube Channel, too! So thanks for reading all of this!

--KylePerkino aka "Emperor of the East"--

The Lord of Blades!

Background

Back in the year 2009, the then-15-year-old me was dazzled that the company Games Workshop had finally created a high-profile Warrior character for the Easterlings of their Lord of the Rings line. His name was and is Amdûr, Lord of Blades, and they didn't give him an armored horse of his own until the year 2012 when I myself turned 18.

Five years after that, in 2017, I had turned 23 in May and unearthed an outstanding Battle for Middle-earth mod called Age of the Ring only one or two months afterward! But, I noticed there was no Amdûr in the Mordor hero menu for all of the newly added Easterling units for Mordor back then. Far more recently, I saw they have no plans to make an Easterling faction an official piece of Age of the Ring's ethos.

That's when I decided I needed to make an Easterling faction, so I got to work naming it "Rhûndor", which is Elvish for "Eastland" and confirming a Gameplay style, a definable theme, and a mix of Strengths and Weaknesses. The only problem was I was doing way too much for it in way too little time whenever I made new progress on Rhûndor, which was (and still is) for just an hour a day.

One of the Lead Developers did, however, suggest starting small, as in only adding one unit, hero, or building at a time. That's how Amdûr, Lord of Blades, being adapted from a 2009 Citadel Miniature to a 2022 Battle for Middle-earth faction hero came about! I started him off as a Mordor hero for Age of the Ring 7.2, but he will not be just that for long.

And as you can see above, I made Amdûr out of pieces of Age of the Ring assets (Easterling swordsman, Easterling Kataphrakt, Aragorn as Elessar, and the "Ancient Easterlings" unit from Dol Guldur).

Lore

In the land of Rhûndor (Sindarin, "Eastland"), there are a great many allied but different kingdoms of the men who are generalized as "Easterlings". The one of these which lay east of Rhovanion and around the inland Sea of Rhûn, this kingdom is known as Alwatûrjé, named in its native speech for its immensely mixed geography. Every Easterling seen by Frodo, Samwise, and Gollum at the Black Gate immerged from the Kingdom of Alwatûrjé, where these Easterlings are known in their homeland as the Rékarlax, or "knights", but there is not one Rékarlû who is more revered than Amdûr.

Born to a Rékarlû sword and shield champion on horseback named Ozrûk in 2977 of the Third Age. While even Amdûr knows nothing about his mother, due to her death in a battle she led against the Wood-elves of Mirkwood when he was 5 months old, Ozrûk raised Amdûr in one of the healthiest, most heartfelt father-son relations in the World of Men. Then, when Amdûr was 11 years old, his father led a medium legion of 850 Rékarlax to annex the Kingdom of Dale. Not only does this annex fail, but just as well, Ozrûk is slain by a Outrider of Dale named Brand, who'd later become King of Dale. Orphaned Amdûr then fought, worked, studied, forged, jogged on foot, and galloped on horse tirelessly to become self-sufficient until he was big enough and brave enough to ward off harm.

At 19 years old, Amdûr became capable of slashing his assailants apart faster than a viper yet stronger than a tiger, but wanted to learn how to deal death from afar using only swords to do so. This is how he discovered that the Variags of Khand, an Easterling people who live southeast of Mordor, use sword-throwing as their long-range infantry technique. Learning this from them with huge speed, Amdûr kept on piling on the skills, knowledge, and experience he could until 3019 of the Third Age, when Sauron invited Amdûr to "Lead all of your men to the event of you forging justice for your father", as Sauron put it in a letter to Amdûr.

Once Amdûr was 42 years old, he led the Easterling force at the Battle of Dale, and he found Brand of Dale to be the King of Dale. As such, Amdûr tore his way to King Brand of Dale, and slew King Brand so violently that all of the onlooking Men of Dale and Dwarves of Erebor were physically sickened into taking refuge Under the Mountain. King Dain Ironfoot being the very first in the Alliance of Erebor and Dale to lunge at Amdûr was the sole exception, as Ironfoot was too close to Brand to let Brand's corpse suffer any more. A horrific duel of King Dain Ironfoot using his trusty Red Axe against Amdûr using Ozrûk's giant saber ensued, but the Son of Ozrûk was far to quick with every strike! And alas, there is no more King Brand and no more King Dain because of the current Lord of Blades' desire to avenge his slain father.

What's Next?

I am going to go through Amdûr's powers and what they do and why he has them. In the mean time, thanks for reading this!

Well, I have decided I am going to utilize all I have got to make my own mod for the "Rise of the Witch-King"!

Here are the factions I will make their own factions:

1. Gondor
2. Imladris
3. Erebor
4. Isengard
5. Mordor
6. Goblins
7. Rohan
8. Men of Dale
9. Iron Hills
10. Ered Luin
11. Easterlings
12. Minas Morgul

Plus, all the factions will have walls that can be upgraded in the following ways:

1. Wall Hub
2. Large Gate
3. Third options will vary by faction

No more having to deal with the frustration of Walls Vs. No walls!

And, I will see to it that each faction has its own heroes, units, and architecture!

Hello, ModDB!

Tonight, I am going to discuss my role in the mod Middle-earth Expanded and what I have done for it.

Basically, I am one of the Core Members. Specifically, I am the guy who does the graphics for the mod.

Here is a picture of what I have done for the mod, so far.

This Arnor Barracks is far from finished, but I am working very well on it.

And I have redone the mod's Rohan Royal Guard to use swords in place of spears. Next, I will make horseman versions (sword and shield, bow and arrow) of the Royal guard. The file names I am keeping out of this post, as I keep that between myself and the MEE team, including its leader Elric.

Until we get Arnor and Rohan finished, I cannot say whether or not we'll be adding any more factions. Personally, I would like to add an Easterling faction and call it "Rhun", as EA Games had plenty of Tolkien material to work with in terms of units and heroes. As for buildings, they had the creativity to make a Rhun map complete with Easterling buildings. But no, they did not take advantage of any of that...

That's all I got for tonight! Thanks!

~Kyle~

Heroes

Azulkhor, Lord of Blades

• Resource Cost = 1800
• Command Point Boost = 80
• Special Abilities:
  • Level 1 = Mount or Dismount Armored Horse
  • Level 4 = Horn of Rhun (cancels out the fear done by Horn of Gondor)
  • Level 7 = Blood and Glory (Gains resources from killing enemy generals, but only generals)
  • Level 10 = Summon Dragon Knights (permanently summons one platoon of Easterling Dragon Knights from the Games Workshop Middle-earth product line, costs 80 command points per platoon)
• Design plan: Amdur, Lord of Blades design by Games Workshop's Middle-earth team

Niluphel, Queen of Shields

• Resource Cost = 1200
• Command Point Boost = 60
• Special Abilities:
  • Level 1 = Mount or Dismount armored horse
  • Level 4 = Shield Crush (create a hero power as-is)
  • Level 6 = Blade Master (create a hero power as-is)
  • Level 8 = Easterling Shield-Queen (Easterling Shield-Maidens near her gain +60% boosts to armor rate and damage output)
  • Level 10 = Train Shield-Maidens (Like the create a hero power 'train allies' but only works on Easterling shield maidens)
• Design plan = Easterling armored Arwen duplicate with human ears and tan skin

Pharazkhor, Harbinger of Gold and Red

• Resource Cost = 2000
• Command Point Boost = 80
• Special Abilities:
  • Level 1 = Toggle between archery and fencing the way Gondor's Faramir does
  • Level 4 = Archery Kabob (kills off up to five individual soldiers in the targeted enemy platoon)
  • Level 7 = Red and Gold it is! (summons an Easterling version of the Mordor spellbook barricade)
  • Level 10 = Monstrous Volley (Gondor Ranger 'longshot' but with Heavy Ballista ammo instead of just plain archery arrows)
• Design plan = Alternate Faramir with brown eyes, black hair, Easterling diamond logo in place of Gondor tree logo, and clothing colors switched from green to red, from brown to gold, and from beige to black

Zorzagor, the Fiery Fencer

• Resource Cost = 1600
• Command Point Boost = 60
• Special Abilities
  • Level 1 = Toggle between firebombs and fencing the way Mordor's Corsairs of Umbar do
  • Level 4 = Blade Master (create a hero power as-is)
  • Level 6 = Climb Walls (create a hero power as-is)
  • Level 8 = Steal Resources (create a hero power as-is)
  • Level 10 = Rain of Fire (watered down version of the Mordor Spellbook power)
• Design plan = Orange-armored Easterling with reddish-orange silks and a create-a-hero Easterling scimitar in each hand. Uses Corsair animations and skeleton

Morinehtar the Blue Wizard

• Resource Cost = 3000
• Command Point Boost = 80
• Special Abilities
  • Level 1 = Pall of Night (summons a black cloud that's out to chop the damage output of any enemies it's directly above in half, cloud lives for a couple of minutes)
  • Level 4 = Wings of Terror (triples the speed of targeted allied troops for almost a full minute)
  • Level 6 = Strength By Death (triples the damage output of targeted allies at a cost of 2/3 of their armor rate for a little under 3 minutes)
  • Level 8 = Venom Dart (launches a chill bolt that works like Saruman's fireball but with poison instead of fire)
  • Level 10 = Warpriest Leadership (all Easterling Warpriest Cults within a certain radius of Morinehtar and/or Romestamo gain +40% faster recharge time for spells cast)
• Design Plan = Live Action version of Jafar from Aladdin 1992, but the silks are light blue instead of red and dark blue instead of black, the staff is silver, and with pale gray facial hair so long it reaches the sternum. All while using Saruman skeleton and animations. Facial texture based on actor Bill Nighy

Romestamo the Blue Wizard

• Resource Cost = 4000
• Command Point Boost = 80
• Special Abilities, Command Set 1 (Normal powers)
  • Level 1 = Mash (has the same effect as the 'Slam' power Gloin can do has)
  • Level 4 = Barrage (watered down version of the Spellbook power)
  • Level 7 = Transit (create a hero powers blink and teleport merged into one)
  • Level 10 = Warpriest Leadership (see Morinehtar's level 10 entry above for details)
• Special Abilities, Command Set 2 (Abilities to summon Mordor faction troop types)
  • Level 1 = Summon 1 platoon of each of Mordor Uruk-hai warriors, archers, pikemen, and maulers
  • Level 4 = Summon 2 platoons of each of Haradrim pikemen, bowmen, and horsemen
  • Level 7 = Summon 4 Hill Troll platoons, 4 Mountain Trolls, 4 Drummer Trolls and 4 Attack Trolls
  • Level 10 = Summon 5 War Mumakil of Harad
• Design Plan = Live Action version of Link from Zelda Mythos, but silks are blue instead of green, wields magic staff in place of anything else in left hand, hair is gray, and has facial hair down to the sternum. Also, ears are as rounded as human ears. Uses Gandalf's skeleton and animations. Facial texture based on actor Michael Caine.

Abyssal Dragon Knight (Nazgul)

• Resource Cost = 3500
• Command Point Boost = 100
• Special Abilities
  • Level 1 = Mount or Dismount armored horse
  • Level 4 = Morgul Blade (target enemy hero eventually becomes a Barrow-wight)
  • Level 6 = Screech (sends enemies fleeing in fear)
  • Level 8 = Vision of Dread (enemies within a radius lose all bonuses)
  • Level 10 = Arcane Leech (regains lost health points from enemies using their special abilities)
• Design plan = One of the two Glaive-using Nazgul from the Battle of Five Armies movie, with the circular eyeholes in the helmet with the bird-beak motif

Slayer of Dale's Men (Nazgul)

• Resource Cost = 3500
• Command Point Boost = 100
• Special Abilities
  • Level 1 = Mount or Dismount armored horse
  • Level 4 = Morgul Blade (target enemy hero eventually becomes a Barrow-wight)
  • Level 6 = Screech (sends enemies fleeing in fear)
  • Level 8 = Vision of Dread (enemies within a radius lose all bonuses)
  • Level 10 = Combat Mimicry (spends two minutes using targeted enemy general's command set to the benefit of the Easterling faction player)
• Design Plan = One of the two faceless-helmeted Nazgul from the Battle of Five Armies movie, with the elongated flanged mace and whose helm exposes only where a mouth would be

Khamul the Easterling (Nazgul)

• Resource Cost = 7000
• Command Point Boost = 200
• Special Abilities
  
  • Level 1 = Mount or Dismount armored fell beast
  • Level 4 = Morgul Blade (target enemy hero eventually becomes a Barrow-wight)
  • Level 6 = Screech (sends enemies fleeing in fear)
  • Level 8 = Vision of Dread (enemies within a radius lose all bonuses)
  • Level 10 = Essence Leech (regains 200 lost health points for every enemy general killed)
• Design Plan = The Easterling-armored Nazgul with the ram-horns from the Battle of Five Armies movie, but with Easterling halberd instead of the spiked mace

Buildings & Units

Golden Turbine

• Resource Cost = 200
• Command Point Boost = 50
• Collects resources based solely on workers extracting resources from the map, based on what kind of workers they are (what they extract for the turbine is in brackets like these):
  • Easterling Butcher (extracts meat, poultry and eggs from the wildlife)
  • Easterling Fisherman (extracts fish, lobster and other seafood from the water-bodies)
  • Easterling Gardener (extracts grain, fruit, and vegetables from the forested parts)
  • Easterling Brew-master (extracts milk, beer, wine and even hemp from Easterling-controlled outposts and inns)
• Design plan = see my 'Easterling turbine' image

Golden Temple

• Resource Cost = 300
• Command Point Boost = 50
• Trains Easterling infantry troop types
  • Easterling Swordsmen (sword and shield guys, 300 resources and 60 command points per platoon, 3 rows of 5)
  • Easterling Phalanxes (pike and shield guys, 400 resources and 60 command points per platoon, 3 rows of 5)
  • Easterling Bowmen (bow and arrow guys, 350 resources and 60 command points per platoon, 3 rows of 5)
  • Easterlings with Axes (two-handed ax guys, 500 resources, and 60 command points, 2 rows of 5, requires level 2)
  • Easterling Shield-Maidens (mace and shield gals who can toggle between mounted vs on foot, 600 resources and 80 command points per platoon, 2 rows of 5, requires level 3)
• Design Plan = see the 'Easterling Temple' photo in my image gallery

Golden Stall

• Resource Cost = 600
• Command Point Boost = 50
• Trains Easterling Cavalry troop types
  • Easterling Kataphrakts (armored horse riding guys who can toggle between jousting and archery, 700 resources and 70 command points per platoon, 2 rows of 5)
  • Easterling War-Wagon (giant wagon, similar to Dwarf battle wagon, driven by an Easterling instead of a Dwarf, 900 resources, and 90 command points, single monster-cavalry troop, requires level 2)
• Design Plan = see my 'Golden Stall' image

Draconic House

• Resource Cost = 800
• Command Point Boost = 50
• Trains monster-reptile creatures for the Easterling legions
  • Mewlip (reptile version of the Goblin faction's Mountain Giants but slimmer and takes less damage while also dealing less damage, 1200 resources, and 60 command points)
  • Were-wyrm (Games Workshop's Cave Drakes but with purple scales in place of green, can swallow one targeted enemy general whole every 7 minutes, and can burrow the way Shelob can, 2400 resources, 80 command points, requires level 2)
  • Turtle-Fish (Snapping Turtle 80% of the game's normal size for Mumakil, but is able to be used by the Easterling faction player as an alternative to Umbar Transport and Battleships, 3600 resources, 100 command points, requires level 3)
• Design Plan = see my 'Reptile House' image

Golden Forge

• Resource Cost = 1000
• Command Point Boost = 50
• Builds Easterling Siege Bows and Easterling Siege Towers, researches Easterling unit upgrades
  • Siege Bow (ballista with a giant Easterling shield attached to the front, two fully armored Easterlings as crewmen)
  • Siege Tower (looks like the Men of Darkness siege tower design from LotR total war mod for Rome total war 1, but with gold metals and purple leathers, can be used as a mobile battle tower)
  • Banner Carrier (upgrades target platoon to level 2, 500 resources to research, 100 resources to apply, requires level 2 forge)
  • Doubled-Up Armor (doubles the armor rate of target platoon, 1000 resources to research, 200 resources to apply, requires level 2 forge)
  • Venom Blades (doubles the damage output of blades, makes them do poison damage, 1000 resources to research, 200 resources to apply, requires level 3 forge)
  • Venom Arrows (doubles the damage output of arrows, makes them do poison damage, 1000 resources to research, 200 resources to apply, requires level 3 forge)
• Design Plan = see my 'golden forge' image

Golden Tower

• Resource Cost = 500
• Command Point Boost = 100
• Fires arrows at incoming enemy troops, can harbor one or two platoons, can get Venom arrows upgrade for 500 resources application cost.

Wall Hub

• Resource Cost = 500
• Command Point Boost = 100
• Grants option to build walls on a click-and-drag basis, each wall segment can be upgraded
  • Arrow Tower (short range, low-damage defense mechanism)
  • Ballista Tower (long range, high-damage defense mechanism)
  • Large Gate (opens down and closes up, allows entry and exit by monstrous allies)
  • Postern Gate (invisible to enemies, allows entry by human-sized or smaller allies)
  • Wall Hub (allows for more wall-building)
  • Venom Cauldrons (like Mordor's fortress upgrade 'magma cauldrons' but with boiling venom)

Fortress

• Resource Cost = 5000
• Command Point Boost = 100
• Trains builders, recruits and revives heroes, can be grown with expansions and upgrades
  • Builder (constructs Easterling buildings, can extinguish fires, 400 resources each)
  • Hero Menu: Azulkhor, Niluphel, Pharazkhor, Zorzagar, Morinehtar, Romestamo, Abyssal Dragon Knight, Slayer of Dale's Men, Khamul the Easterling
• Expansions Menu
  • Arrow Tower
  • Ballista Tower
  • Wall Hub
  • Dormitory
• Upgrades Menu
  • Banners
  • Venomous Ammunition
  • Boiling Venom Cauldrons
  • Moat of Boiling Venom (poisons enemies who try to tear down the fortress in melee)
  • Golden Plating
  • Draconic Sanctum (fires a giant poison-ball the way Mordor's Gorgoroth Spire fires a giant lava-ball)

Spellbook

• Tier One
  • Sands of Wind (Fell Wind power Angmar has in the Rise of the Witch-King)
  • Eye of Sauron
  • Blight (Angmar power from the Rise of the Witch-King)
• Tier Two
  • Summon Allies from Dunland
  • Endless Legion (restores 5 dead troops per platoon across the map, but does not heal)
  • Summon Haradrim Allies
  • Summon Mordor Uruk-hai allies
• Tier Three
  • Summon Mumakil as allies
  • Darkness
  • Summon Mordor Troll allies
• Tier Four
  • Rain of Venom (green colored, poison-damage version of Mordor's Rain of Fire)
  • Summon Dragon Ally

Ring Hero

• The Dark Lord Sauron, who is also the Ring Hero of the Mordor faction.

Final Years of the Third Age: Gondor

A mod for Battle for Middle-earth 2, Patch 1.09

Welcome to the FYOTTA mod's Gondor Faction plan! Here, the cost of everything will be mapped out so everyone has a realistic idea of what to expect in my upcoming mod Final Years of the Third Age! Beta 1 will be out May 6th, 2018; with Gondor, Erebor, Mordor, and Easterlings as playable factions.

Heroes

Ring Hero = Pippin (Costs 1000, Command Limit Raise is 100)

• Rank 1 Power = Rocks and Blade = toggles between rocks and sword
• Rank 4 Power = Have some Tomatoes! = heals targeted allies in full
• Rank 7 Power = Guard of the Citadel Indeed! = gains Gondorian Citadel Guard armor
• Rank 10 Power = Summon Citadel Guards = conjures 3 platoons of Rank 10 Gondorian Citadel Guard

Beregond (Costs 1200, Command Limit Raise is 25)

• Rank 1 Power = Blade and Bow = toggle between archery and fencing
• Rank 4 Power = Blade Master = Gains +100% armor and +5% damage to structures
• Rank 6 Power = Wounding Arrow = shoots a very highly damaging shot
• Rank 8 Power = Train Citadel Guards = Raises the rank of targeted Gondor Citadel Guard, to a maximum of Rank 10
• Rank 10 Power = Captain of the Guard = provides 50% armor and damage boosts to nearby Citadel guard

Madril (Costs 1400, Command Limit Raise is 25)

• Rank 1 Power = Blade and Bow = toggles between archery and fencing
• Rank 4 Power = Stealth = Hero becomes invisible when not attacking
• Rank 6 Power = Train Rangers = Raises the rank of targeted Ithilien Rangers by 1, to a maximum of 10
• Rank 8 Power = L volley power that normal rangers have but with 4 times as much damage
• Rank 10 Power = Summon Rangers = summons 3 platoons of Rank 10 Rangers of Ithilien

Imrahil (Costs 2000, Command Limit Raise is 50)

• Rank 1 = Horseman = toggles between being on foot and being on an armored horse
• Rank 4 = Spear Throw = tosses a javelin into the targeted enemy, causing meta impact
• Rank 7 = Leader of the Fiefdoms = all Dol Amroth, Ringlo Vale, Pelargir, Morthond, and Lossnarch units within a large radius of Imrahil gain +50% boosting to armor and damage
• Rank 10 = Stampede of Dol Amroth = calls in a stampede of Knights of Dol Amroth

Boromir (Costs 1600, Command Limit Raise is 50)

• Rank 1 = Horseman = toggles between being on foot and being on his horse
• Rank 3 = Horn of G into horn causing fear in nearby enemies
• Rank 5 = Leadership = Nearby Gondor units get 50% boost to armor and damage
• Rank 7 = Captain of G Gondor Units gain a new rank, to a maximum of 10

Faramir (Costs 2400, Command Limit Raise is 50)

• Rank 1 = Blade and Bow = toggles between archery and fencing
• Rank 2 = Wounding Arrow = launches a deadly shot just like Madril's
• Rank 3 = Knight and Ranger = toggles between heavily armored on a horse and lightly armored on foot
• Rank 6 = Leadership = Nearby Gondor units get 50% boost to armor and damage
• Rank 7 = Captain of G Gondor units gain a new rank, to a maximum of 10

Aragorn (Costs 3000, Command Limit Raise is 75)

• Rank 1 = Athelas = heals nearby Gondor units
• Rank 2 = Blade Master = Gains +100% armor and +5% damage to structures
• Rank 4 = Brego = toggles between fighting on foot and riding his horse, Brego
• Rank 6 = Elendil = invokes fear in nearby enemies
• Rank 10 = Oathbreakers = Summons warriors and riders of the dead

Gandalf the Grey (Costs 5000, Command Limit Raise is 75)

• Rank 1 = Wizard Blast = knocks targeted enemies back
• Rank 2 = Lightning Sword = Lightning bolt which does very heavy damage to the targeted enemy
• Rank 4 = Shadowfax = toggles between fighting on foot and riding Shadowfax, the lord of all horses
• Rank 7 = Istari Light = a sunlight attack that does extreme levels of damage
• Rank 10 = Word of Power = blasts out a circular shockwave that kills nearby enemies

Structures

Fortress (Costs 5000, Command Limit Raise is 100)

• Expansions
  • Arrow Tower (500)
  • Dormitory (250)
  • Trebuchet (1000)
  • Wall Hub (750)
• Upgrades
  • Banners (500) reduces hero cost by 10% and builder cost by 20%
  • Courtyard (650) adds the green and white courtyard Gondor has from Patch 1.09, reducing the prices of structures by 10%, unlocks Numenor Stonework
  • House of Healing (800) heals nearby allies when not under attack
  • Flaming Munitions (1500) equips towers and trebuchets with fire
  • Boiling Oil (1000) allows fortress to dump hot oil onto attacking enemy troops
  • Numenor Stonework (2000) doubles fortress armor, changes fortress texture from light grey with navy blue roofs to pure white with azure blue roofs
  • Ivory Tower (4000) provides Palantir vision power, raises the sight of the fortress
• Recruits Builders to build structures
• Recruits and Revives Heroes

Farm (Costs 300, Command Limit Raise is 50)

• Sends 4 Gondor Farmers out to gather crops as a resource similarly to how a lumber mill sends workers for wood
• Can recruit extra Gondor Farmers for a resource cost of 50 and command point cost of 1

Stonemasonry (Costs 300, Command Limit Raise is 50)

• Sends 4 Gondor Miners out to gather bricks as a resource similarly to how a lumber mill sends workers for wood
• Can recruit extra Gondor Miners for a resource cost of 70 and command point cost of 1

Barracks (Costs 400, Command Limit Raise is 25)

• Rank 1
  • Ringlo Vale Fencers (light fencers, resource cost = 100, command point cost = 60, swords and shields, can only be upgraded with the banner carrier, 1 platoon is 4 rows of 5)
  • Lossnarch Axemen (light fencers, resource cost = 150, command point cost = 60, two-handed axes, can only get the banner carrier upgrade, 1 platoon is 4 rows of 5)
  • Pelargir Spearmen (light pikemen, resource cost = 200, command point cost = 60, spears and shields, can only be upgraded with a banner carrier, 1 platoon is 4 rows of 5)
• Rank 2
  • Minas Tirith Fencers (basic fencers, resource cost = 250, command point cost = 60, swords and shields, can only get forged blades and banner carrier upgrades, 1 platoon is 3 rows of 5)
  • Minas Tirith Spearmen (basic pikemen, resource cost = 300, command point cost = 60, spears and shields, can only be upgraded with forged blades and banner carrier, 1 platoon is 3 rows of 5)
• Rank 3
  • Fountain Court Guard (elite pikemen, resource cost = 600, command point cost = 60, two-handed long pikes, can receive the forged blade, heavy armor and banner carrier upgrades, 1 platoon is 1 row of 5)

Archery Range (Costs 400, Command Limit Raise is 25)

• Rank 1
  • Morthond Bowmen (light archers, resource cost = 100, command point cost = 60, can toggle between bow and sword, only able to get the banner carrier upgrade, 1 platoon is 4 rows of 5)
• Rank 2
  • Minas Tirith Archers (basic archers, resource cost = 350, command point cost = 60, longbow and cylindrical quiver of arrows, can get fire arrows and banner carrier, 1 platoon is 3 rows of 5)
• Rank 3
  • Ithilien Rangers (elite archers, resource cost = 400, command point cost = 60, longbow and arrows, sword, can toggle weapons, can get fire arrows and banner carrier, 1 platoon is 2 rows of 5)
  • Citadel Guard (elite archers, resource cost = 510, command point cost = 60, longbow and sword, can toggle weapons, can get fire arrows, heavy armor and banner carrier, 1 platoon is 1 row of 5)

Stables (Costs 600, Command Limit Raise is 25)

• Rank 1
  • Minas Tirith Knights (basic cavalry, resource cost = 500, command point cost = 80, sword and shield and horse, can get forged blades and banner carrier, 1 platoon is 2 rows of 5)
• Rank 2
  • Dol Amroth Knights (elite cavalry, resource cost = 700, command point cost = 80, lance and shield, longbow and arrows, can toggle between archery and jousting, can get forged blades, heavy armor and banner carrier, 1 platoon is 1 row of 5)

Workshop (Costs 800, Command Limit Raise is 75)

• Rank 1
  • Gondor Trebuchet (heavy artillery, resource cost = 600, command point cost = 25, fires boulders, can get the firestones upgrade, only 1 unit, not a platoon)
• Rank 2
  • Fire Stones (unit upgrade, research cost = 1000, application cost = 200, sets the Trebuchet's boulders on fire)

Black Smith (Costs 1000, Command Limit Raise is 75)

• Rank 1
  • Banner Carrier (unit upgrade, research cost = 500, application cost = 100, raises a platoon's rank to Rank 2, allows regeneration and healing)
• Rank 2
  • Forged Blades (unit upgrade, research cost = 1000, application cost = 200, boosts the damage output of fencing, jousting and phalanx platoons)
  • Fire Arrows (unit upgrade, research cost = 1000, application cost = 200, boosts the damage output of archery platoons)
• Rank 3
  • Heavy Armor (unit upgrade, research cost = 1000, application cost = 200, boosts the armor ratio of selected platoons)

Market Place (Costs 1500, Command Limit Raise is 75)

• Researches the Grand Harvest upgrade

Battle Tower (Costs 500, Command Limit Raise is 50)

• Fires Arrows at incoming enemies
• Can get Fire Arrows upgrade
• Can hold one or two platoons

Wall Hub (Costs 750, Command Limit Raise is 100)

• Builds Walls for a resource cost of 50 per segment
• Can be upgraded into any of the following:
  • Large Gate
  • Wall Hub
  • Secret Door
  • Trebuchet
  • Arrow Tower

Elendil Statue (Costs 200, Command Limit Raise is 25)

• Nearby Gondor units get 50% boosts to damage and armor

Well (Costs 200, Command Limit Raise is 25)

• Nearby Gondor units get healed when not under attack

Spell Book

5 Point Powers

• Rebuild (restores much of a building's health)
• Heal (fully heals allies, replaces one casualty per platoon)
• Rallying Call (boosts allies armor and damage by 50%)

10 point powers

• Arrow Volley (showers targeted area with a full minute of arrows rocketing down)
• Lone Tower (summons a Gondorian Battle Tower)
• Tom Bombadil (summons Tom Bombadil to the targeted location)
• Hobbit Allies (summons 6 platoons of Rank 10 Hobbits, but not the Hobbit heroes in this mod)

15 point powers

• Arnor Allies (summons 1 unit of each of the following: Arnor fencers, Arnor archers, Arnor spearmen, Arnor knights, Arnor mounted archers, Arnor Trebuchet, and Dunedain Rangers)
• Rohan Allies (summons 1 unit of each of the following: Rohirrim Swordsmen, Rohirrim Axemen, Rohirrim Lancers, Rohirrim Archers, Rohirrim Royal Knights, Yeoman Everymen, Yeoman Onager)
• Cloud Break (brings down the sunlight to slow enemy troops, and reverse the effects of Darkness or of Freezing Rain)

25 point powers

• Dunharrow Allies (summons 3 platoons of each of the following: Warriors of the Dead, Riders of the Dead, all are Rank 10; along with the King of the Dead)
• Earthquake (creates a giant burst of shock damage to targeted enemy buildings)

Thanks for reading this!

~Kyle S. Perkins

Hello, ModDB! Allow me to clarify what there is to look forward to when it comes to the Battle for Middle-earth mod I plan to bring to you, "Legions of Middle-earth"!

Factions

1. Gondor
2. Elves
3. Dwarves
4. Isengard
5. Mordor
6. Goblins
7. Rohan
8. Dale
9. Haradrim
10. Easterlings

Other changes

I am also bumping up building health to be so high that it'll take a horde of fencers over an hour of gameplay to tear down a basic resource building. But I am also bumping up artillery and monster damage output so they can still tear down buildings in a handful of seconds per building. And each faction will have its own pros, its own cons, and its own menu of strategies to play by.

On top of all of this, all ten factions will have their own style of walls, each faction having a distinct menu of wall upgrades. Never again will you have to put up with an affair of Walls vs No walls.

Lastly, I will be remodeling the graphics of the units and heroes in order to make them make physically photo-realistic! This, in my case, means extensively using Create-a-Hero bits and pieces for ordinary units and for faction heroes!

Release Date

If I can get things done properly, then you will see the very first beta focused on adding the new factions and expanding the Gondor, Dwarves, and Mordor proportionally to what these three lose from Rohan, Dale, Haradrim, and Easterlings becoming their own 4 independent factions. And this Beta One will be out by "mid summer's eve", which I assume to be mid-July, of 2018.

Beta Two will be about largely overhauling the logistics of Gondor, Elves, Dwarves, Isengard, Mordor, and Goblins, due in mid-July of 2019. Beta Three will be the graphics overhaul released by middle July of 2020. Beta Four will be the gameplay overhaul released by middle July of 2021.

Thanks for reading! And happy modding!

~Kyle S. Perkins

Hello, people of ModDB!

Today I am going to tell you about the mod I am making to the game "Battle for Middle-earth 2", the mod's known as "The Eastern Kingdoms". Basically, this mod will be making a whole bunch of remodels, retextures and add-ons to all six of the pre-existing factions while also adding a 7th playable faction. Here is the full faction list!

1. Gondor
2. Rivendell
3. Erebor
4. Isengard
5. Mordor
6. Moria
7. Rhûndor

The name for the Easterling faction is based on Elvish "rhûn" for "east" followed by "dor" for "land", similar to Gondor meaning "Stone Land" and Mordor meaning "Dark Land", therefore Rhûndor means "East Land". The unit appearances you are about to see are early concepts and do not purely mirror what the finished product will look like. And this is the first of my posts about The Eastern Kingdoms mod for Bfme2.

Rhûndor

Mordor and the Wilderland share a neighbor to the east with each other, made up mainly of steppes and forests, with a large inland sea and several small lakes east of that. This is the land of Rhûndor, the 'Eastland', which split down its middle by the Orocarni, or 'Red Mountains'. This very large land is populated by humans and horses, and by other such creatures as mewlips and turtle-fish and were-wyrms among others. The humans, in particular, are known as the Easterlings, the Men of Rhûn, deeply militarized human beings who happen to be the finest troops that Dark Lord Sauron calls upon. These men compose their armies largely of swordsmen, phalanxes, and horse riding archers known simply as "Kataphrakts". However, there are archers on foot among the Easterlings. When they are not charging in on monster war-chariots, they are hauling in elegant bladed staffs called halberds, which can be used as a spear, ax, or sickle all in one blade! Similar to the Armies of Mordor, the Armies of Rhûn have their own brutal monsters and heavy artillery to bring to the fields. The Mewlips, who live in swamps near the Orocarni, bring long-shafted hammers with which to crush tons of the opposition faced by the Easterlings. Hailing from deserts to the east of Orocarni are the Were-wyrms, flightless, wingless, four-legged drakes who deal with the Men of Rhûn's enemies by swallowing said enemies whole! Turtle fish are snapper turtles nearly as big as Oliphaunts who tear open the Easterlings' enemies by bulldozing and devouring any cavalry who try to trample Easterling archers. And the Easterlings have their own Trebuchets, too, operated by Mewlips who have been trained in the art of castle siege. Even the Siege Towers of the Easterlings are pushed around by Mewlips.

As Dark Lord Sauron calls upon the Easterling armies of Rhûndor to crush the Elven and Dwarven strongholds in the North Theater of the War of the Ring, Easterling soldiery and the monsters they have managed to tame around the Red Mountains will be introduced to a great many adversaries. Rivendell, Lorien, Greenwood, Lindon, the Iron Hills, Ered Luin... even Erebor itself will be assailed by a combined force of Humans, Horses, Mewlips, Turtle-fish, and Were-Wyrms! So exotic are the armies of Rhûn, and indeed, none of these forces have exactly prepared for this kind of assailant... if Sauron dies of the One Ring being unmade, then that's the only way the Easterling Empire loses these fights!

Units

Easterling Swordsmen. Horde size = 3 rows of 5. Recruit Cost = 300. Command Points = 60. Troop Type = Basic Fencing. Found all over the Easterling legion, Swordsmen are the backbone of most Rhûndor armies. Their scimitars are known to curve far enough back and weigh enough at the tip to be able to sever skin, muscle, fat, and bone in one swing with no bend. Easily the deadliest swordsmen among Middle-earth's human race, Easterling swordsmen are able to charge into enemy troops when lead around by a banner carrier.

(uses Gondor fencer skeleton and animations)

Easterling Phalanxes. Horde size = 3 rows of 5. Recruit cost = 400. Command Points = 60. Troop Type = Basic Pikemen. While the Fellowship of the Ring was being broken, Sauron was calling forth some very lethal pike and shield champions. These were the Easterling phalanxes, humans who carry massively long-shafted halberds while keeping large rectangular shields strapped to their forearms. Phalanxes in porcupine formation, like Dwarven Phalanxes, are also able to run around in porcupine formation, these two kinds of pikemen are the only kinds of pikemen who are not immobilized by going into porcupine formation.

(uses Gondor fountain court guard skeleton and animations from Battle for Middle-earth 1)

Easterling Bowmen. Horde size = 3 rows of 5. Recruit Cost = 500. Command points = 60. Troop Type = Basic Archery. Even though they spend far more time on horseback than on foot, Easterling bowmen are skilled enough at archery that being on foot makes no difference in their archery skill. Less useful than Elven archers but more useful than almost any other archers, Easterling archers are able to toggle between generic archery and a menu of temporary enchantments for their arrows. Arrow enchantments here consist of fire arrows cause them to burn enemy buildings, poison arrows cause them to erode enemy units and explosive arrows cause knockback to enemy troops, including cavalry.

(uses Lorien Archer skeleton and animations)

(Disclaimer: this model will NOT use this horse texture in the finished product and will instead use horse armor made of Create-A-Hero Easterling armor, along with a normal horse texture.)

Easterling Kataphrakts. Horde size = 2 rows of 5. Recruit Cost = 600. Command Points = 60. Troop Type = Basic Cavalry. Unlike other human kingdoms where horse riding knights do either jousting only or fencing only whenever on horseback, the horse-knights of the Easterling Empire do archery only whenever on horseback. Also, in contrast to Rohan, Rhûndor tends to field mounted archers as their entire horse-riding force, while Rohan fields every swordsman, axeman, spearman, bowman, hammer user, multi-tasker and royal guard they have on horseback. Like their footman counterparts, Easterling Kataphrakts can also toggle between generic archery and enchanted arrows, in all three of the same forms no less!

(uses Rohan horsed archer skeleton and animations)

Easterlings with Axes. Horde size = 3 rows of 5. Recruit Cost = 400. Command Points = 60. Troop Type = Elite Fencing. During the Siege of Gondor and the Battle of Pelennor Fields, an elite corps of Men of Rhûn came to the battle, identified in three simple words... Easterlings with Axes. Each of these wields a short-shafted halberd, almost as tall as themselves, and these halberds are used mainly as axes but can also be used as sickles or as spears in the greater heat of combat. These men, like their sword and shield counterparts, can also charge rapidly into enemy troops on command, but the axemen do not need to be lead around by a banner carrier to be able to charge.

(uses Black Numenorean skeleton and animations from The Rise of the Witch-King)

[WORK IN PROGRESS. This blog post is NOT finished yet!]