Retro Game Walkthroughs For
"Lord Of The Rings: Battle For Middle Earth"
(PC Games)

Lord of the Rings
The Battle for Middle-earth

This is a guide to the Good Campaign and armies for Lord of the Rings, the Battle for Middle-earth. It is based solely on my own experience in game, and is copyright completely to me ElvenArcher. WARNING: This guide contains major movie spoilers in the hero descriptions. Now that weve got the formal stuff out of the way.. lets get down to the game.

Table of Contents:

1. 5 Key Tips to victory for beginners
2. Evenstar
3. Heroes
4. Good Walkthrough

5 Key Tips to victory for beginners

Listen up worm... follow my instructions and you will be a worthy general of war. In most battles, you will find yourself in the same situation. The first few minutes of any game can perhaps be the most crucial time in the entire game. So follow these steps carefully if you’re still a beginner, although step 5 may be useful for more advanced players.

1. Secure that camp you maggot!
When you first begin a battle, your main priority is to secure a camp, outpost or castle, so that you can begin constructing buildings. Failure to do so can result in loss of the entire level. You can secure camps etc, by sending your units towards the respective building sites. These are:

Settlement
These pitiful building sites can support only resource producing structures.
Gondor: Farm (200 resource)
Rohan: Farm (200 resource) Entmoot (5000 Resource)

As your worthless eyes can see... the army of Rohan can also create an Entmoot on a settlement... from where they can summon ents to aid their cause.

Outpost (800 resource)
The Outpost... whilst not quite as worthless as settlements... they aren’t exactly the key to victory. However... if used correctly to support your army as it invades the enemy... it can quickly turn the tide of a battle. It contains 3 building sites, on which can be built any building that can be built by the owning faction.

Camp (2000 resource)
A much more worthy structure... it contains 6 building foundations... and could quite easily suffice to be a main base of operations. It is also equipped with several defensive foundations... on which sentry towers can be built for a cost of 150 resource.

Castle (5000 resource)
Finally... the greatest of all. The castle is the most valuable place to take control of... since they contain the most building sites of all. For Rohan and Gondor... they are surrounded by walls... on which you can place archers and build special defences.
Rohan: Battle Tower (800 resource. Fires arrows at nearby enemies.)
Postern Gate (300 resource. Creates a gate that only friendly forces can use.
Wall Banner (800 resouce. Gives a bonus to damage and armour.)
Gondor: Battle Tower (800 resource. Fires arrows at nearby enemies.)
Postern Gate (300 resource. Creates a gate for friendly forces.
Trebuchet (1600 resouce. Raise a trebuchet rampart. Fires at enemies for long range.)

Step 2: The forest of Fangorn is on our doorstep... burn it.
After securing your primary base of operations... you absolutely must create a steady flow of resources into your base. The easiest way to do this is to create a farm or blacksmith for the good armies... or furnace, lumber mill or slaughterhouse for the evil armies. Resources are required for spawning units and upgrading them.

Other ways to get resource:
Destroy the lairs of neutral creatures. Most maps have at least 1 lair surrounded by Wargs, goblins or cave trolls. Once you have around 3 battalions of soldiers... you can take down the wargs or goblins. Once they are destroyed... destroy their base and treasure chests will be left in the rubble. When your units run over them... they will add resource to your total.

Destroy one of your own buildings to recover a percentage of its original cost when you no longer need it.

Killing units whilst under the effect of abilities such as Outlaw Leadership and pillage will add resource to your total when you kill enemy units.

3. Build me an army worthy of Mordor...

Now that you have a steady flow of resource and a camp, its time to create an army.

Construct a building that will train units for you. This will show you the first production building you should build with each faction:
Gondor: Barracks
Rohan: Stable (although farms also produce peasants to fight)

After constructing these, start spawning out units. You should make sure you are constantly producing at least one horde of units. You should also create other buildings to give you a varied army, such as an archery range. Whilst spawning units, you should make sure your camp is well defended. Raise sentry towers around your base to keep it secure from enemy attacks. Typically assign 3 or so hordes to guard it. Include ranged and melee units.

4. Move out!

Now that your army is increasing, it is time to claim new territory. As you start producing units, you should move them to explore around the map, and discover the locations of new settlements and outposts to take for yourself. These can then be turned into resource producing structures to increase your rate of resource income. If you run into the enemy... deal with them. It would be wise not to move into their main base until you are very strong... or they are very weak.

5. Exploit and conquer!
Each faction has its own strengths and weaknesses. These should be taken into account, as certain strategies will only work with a certain faction.

Gondor:
Gondor has very heavily armoured soldiers, for this reason you should definitely exploit the ability to upgrade. At rank 2 your blacksmith has several upgrade options. You should research forged blades for 800 resource, which increases each units damage by 50%. Heavy armour, which costs 1000 increases each units armour by 60%. Gondor has upgradeable walls and trebuchets, which makes them the best at surviving a siege. If playing against a mordor or isengard opponent and they seem to be attacking too much for you to defend, pull back to your main castle where your defences can help you, and you can destroy the enemy more easily. Then, lead a counter charge back to the enemies base.

Rohan:
Rohan has undoubtedly the most manoeuvrable army of all. You should make sure to get its very powerful heroes when you can, and secure the map early by sending out cavalry. Leave yeomen or elven warriors to defend your camps. Heroes such as Legolas and Gimli can take down armies if used correctly. You should try and keep rohans battalions alive, since they benefit most from experienced battalions. At rank 2, battalions regenerate lost units, use this to your advantage.

Attack Types:
Certain units are weak to certain attacks.
Archer: Piercing damage from arrows.
Axe: Chopping damage from orc labourers.
Boulder: Siege damage from ents rocks, Grond.
Cavalry: Crushing damage from rushing cavalry.
Clubbing: Huge strength from trolls, ents.
Fire: Burning damage from fire arrows.
Foot soldier: Sword damage.
Magic: Mystical damage such as wizard blast.
Melee Hero: Sword damage from heroes.
Missile Hero: Ranged damage from heroes.
Orc/Uruk: Melee damage from Orc/Uruk swords.
Pikes: Damage from pikemen. (Effective against cavalry)
Siege Weapon: Heavy damage from siege equipment.

Evenstar Powers:
Heal Elven Gifts
Power of the Istari Elven Wood Draft
Cloud Break Elven Allies Rohirrim Allies
Eagle Allies Anduril Ent Allies
Summon Oathbreakers

Heal: Heals the targeted units and restores one dead unit for each battalion. Costs 1 Point.

Elven Gifts: All heroes gain a 150% damage bonus. Costs 1 Point.

Power of the Istari: Gandalf spells do 200% damage and recharge twice as quickly. Costs 3 Points. Requires Heal.

Elven Wood: Transforms a target area into lush terrain giving friendly units a +50% armour bonus and removing all enemy hero bonuses. Costs 4 Points. Requires Heal of Elven Gifts.

Draft: Arms all Rohans peasants giving them a health and damage bonus. Costs 1 Point. Requires Elven Gifts.

Cloud Break: Breaks through Darkness or freezing Rain and stuns Mordor and Isengard units. Costs 8 Points. Requires Power of the Istari or Elven Wood.

Summon Elven Allies: Call fourth 3 battalions of elves in a target location to fight for you for a long period of time. Costs 8 Points. Requires Elven Wood.

Summon Rohirrim Allies. Calls several battalions of Rohirrim in a target location to fight for you until their time limit expires. Costs Points. Requires Elven Wood or Draft.

Summon Eagle Allies: Summons two Giant Eagles to fight for you for a limited time. Costs 10 Points. Requires Cloud Break.

Anduril: Gives Aragorn a 200% (or plus 100%) damage bonus. Costs 8 Points. Requires Cloud Break, Elven Allies or Rohirrim Allies.

Summon Ent Allies: Creates some ents to fight for you in a target location for a limited time. Costs 10 Points. Requires Rohirrim Allies.

Summon Oathbreakers: Call fourth the army of the dead to fight for you for a short period of time. Each Oathbreaker has 2000 health, and their are a lot of them. This can easily wipe out an entire enemy army and half of the enemies main base. Costs 16 Points. Requires Anduril.

HEROES:

Heroes are the elite units of Battle for Middle-earth, and they can turn the tide of a battle in seconds.

The Fellowship Heroes:

ARAGORN: The last of the Numnoreiens. Aragorn is a Dunedain, blessed with long life. He is the true King of Gondor, and a skilled Ranger. (3000 resource)

Athelas: Heals nearby friendly Heroes. (Rank 1)
Blade Master: Grants Aragorn a +100% damage and armour bonus. (Rank 2)
Leadership: Gives a 150% damage bonus and 200% experience bonus to nearby units. (Rank 4)
Elendil: Enemy units flee in panic, allowing Aragorn to escape. (Rank 5)
Oathbrokers: Calls a single Horde of Oathbreakers. Whilst not as powerful as the Evenstar spell, it can still whittle enemy numbers down. (Rank 10).

LEGOLAS: Legolas is the elf of the fellowship of the ring. He is a crack shot with his bow, and has dangerous elven knives. (3000 resource)

Hawk Strike: Deals 300 damage to a target unit. Save it for tough enemies or siege ladders. (Rank 1)
Knife Fighter: Legolas temporarily fights with his knives hand to hand. Gives him a 125% speed bonus and +20% armour bonus. (Rank 2)
Train Archers: Gives targeted Archers experience. (Rank 4)
Arrow Wind: Continually shoots multiple arrows at target area, killing all units in the way. Each shot does 80 damage. (Rank 7)

GIMLI: Gimli the dwarf is an excellent melee fighter, and with the help of Legolas they can wipe out an army. (2500 Resource)

Axe Throw: Hurls an axe at a target dealing 400 damage. (Rank 1)
Leap Attack: Gimli leaps into enemy units knocking them flying and dealing 120 points of damage to all the units nearby. (Rank 2)
Slayer: Gives Gimli a +100 percent attack speed bonus and a +200% damage bonus. (Rank 5)

BOROMIR: Boromir is heir to the stewardship of Gondor. He is a proud and noble warrior, the finest captain it has known. (1400 resource)

Horn of Gondor: Sends enemy units fleeing in terror. (Rank 2)
Leadership: Grants a +100% damage bonus to nearby units. (Rank 5)
Captain of Gondor: Gives targeted units +50 experience. (Rank 7)

GANDALF: Gandalf is the most powerful hero in the game. He can easily wipe out an army if used correctly. (6000 resource)

Wizard Blast: Knocks enemies back dealing 100 points of magic damage, killing weaker enemies outright. (Rank 1)
Lightning Sword: A powerful attack dealing 160 points of magic damage in a target area. If used with Gandalf the White it can kill the Balrog. (Rank 2)
Leadership: Grants nearby units a +75% armour bonus and 300% combat experience bonus. (Rank 4)
Mount: Gandalf mounts his horse Shadowfax, increasing his movement speed. He gains an armour bonus against foot soldiers and cavalry, but suffers an armour penalty against Pikemen and Archers. (Rank 5)
Istari Light: Deals 2000 points of damage to a target enemy. (Rank 5)
Word of Power: Sends a wave of magical enemy in all directions, blasting all nearby enemies back dealing 500 points of magic damage in all directions, killing almost all the units in its large radius. (Rank 10)

FRODO: Frodo Baggins is the ring bearer. The small hobbit carrying the fate of Middle-earth.

Throw Rocks/Use Sword:
Allows Frodo to change between throwing Rocks for ranged damage or using his sword for close combat damage. The former is probably safer.
Elven Cloak: Hides Frodo from enemies as long as he is not moving or attacking.
Phial of Galadriel: Causes enemy units to flee.
The One Ring: Frodo places on the one ring and becomes invisible to all enemies even whilst moving. Nazgul and the Eye of Sauron can see him. If the eye focuses on Frodo, the ring stops working for 30 seconds.

SAM, MERRY AND PIPPIN: (100 resource)
These hobbits travelled with Frodo right up until Amon Hen, when Merry and Pippin were taken to Isengard. They have all the same abilities.

Throw Rocks/Use Sword: Allows the hobbit to change between throwing Rocks for ranged damage or using his sword for close combat damage. The former is probably safer.
Elven Cloak: Hides the hobbit from enemies as long as he is not moving or attacking.

Gondors Heroes:

FARAMIR: (1200 resource)
The youngest son of Denethor, he is Boromirs brother. He shares equally in his brother’s skill with the sword, but also possesses ranger like abilities. His fearless devotion to Gondor proves him to be a valuable hero for their cause.

Wounding Arrow: Fires a single powerful arrow at a target, dealing 500 points of damage. It cannot damage buildings, and is best saved for enemy heroes. (Rank 1)
Knight/Ranger Toggle: Switches between whether Faramir is a close range knight on a horse, or a distant ranger on foot. (Rank 3)
Leadership: Provides a +50% armour bonus to all nearby units. (Rank 6)
Captain of Gondor: Gives 50 experience to targeted units. (Rank 7)

Gondor heroes also include: Gandalf, Pippin, Boromir (all mentioned in fellowship section)

Rohan Heroes:

EOMER: (1200 resource)
Eomer is the nephew of King Theoden of Rohan. He is a fearless warrior, although possesses a caring side, especially when his sister is concerned. Along with his 3000 Rohirrim, Eomer and his retinue saved the people of Rohan from the mighty army of Saruman at Helms Deep.

Mount: Provides Eomer with a horse to ride with his cavalry. (Rank 1)
Horse Lord: Provides a +100% damage bonus to all nearby cavalry. (Rank 1)
Outlaw Leadership: All kills near to Eomer gain resource. (Rank 2)
Throws Spear: A powerful ranged attack on a single target dealing 400 points of damage. Best used against threatening heroes or foes. (Rank 5)

EOWYN: (1200 resource)
The valiant careworn woman Eowyn is a valuable warrior to Rohan. Although her uncle the king tells her she may not help in battle, she disguises herself as a normal Rohirrim and rides to Minas Tirith, where she slays the Witch King, and helps with the killing of Gothmog.

Smite: (A powerful ranged attack on an enemy, dealing 1000 points of damage to a target unit, or 2000 points of damage to a Nazgul. (Rank 1)
Disguise: Eowyn disguises herself as a normal Rohirrim to conceal herself from enemy units. Particularly useful against Nazgul. (Rank 2)
Shield Maiden: Grants Eowyn an armour bonus of +55% and a damage bonus of +100%. (Rank 5)
Mount: Eowyn becomes a mounted unit. The usual benefits apply. (Rank 3)

THEODEN: (1200 resource)
Theoden is the king of Rohan. His lands where almost lost to the wizard Saruman, after Grima Wormtongue poisoned his mind. When he was freed from Sarumans control by Gandalf, Theodens confidence encouraged his men to make a powerful stand against Sarumans overwhelming army. Despite the fact that Gondor offered no aid to him against Saruman, Theodens kindness still pulls through as he dispatches his army to defend Gondor.

Mount: Mounts Theoden on his horse, Snowmane.
Leadership: Units gain a +150% damage and a +50% armour bonus. (Rank 1)
Glorious Charge: All mounted troops near Theoden suffer only 10% damage from all enemy units for a short time. (Rank 4)
Kings Favour: Targeted units gain 50 experience. (Rank 6)

Other Rohan heroes include: Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Merry (shown above)

Good Walkthrough
Finaly onto the Good Campaign Walthrough. There are a total of 37 levels in the good campaign. Only 11 of these are main battles and you need only complete 19 levels to finish the campaign. This walkthrough only describes the 11 main battles, as the other battles follow one general strategy:
Build Farms of Blacksmiths at your inital camp to secure a steady resource income. 4 is the typical amount for a camp, or 5 for a castle. Send out the majority of your army to secure camps, outposts and settlements,leaving only a small amount of units to defend your base. If you are Rohan, a lot of the time you can simply send your starting cavalry units straight to the other side of the map and wipe the enemy out before they can create any threat. This will not always work however, especially when put against pikemen. If this does not work, try the main strategy. You should try to drag battles out when things are in your favour, so you have an easy time upgrading all your units. You should destroy neutral creature lairs for gold to speed things up.

1. Moria
The caves of Moria. Once a bastion of Dwarven civilisation, it was attacked and taken control of by goblins. Although Balin, the lord of Moria fought valiantly to defend his underground city, it eventually became his tomb.
In this level, you have control of only the Fellowship of The Ring. When the level begins, move all the heroes forwards. Immediately set the hobbits to throw rocks rather than use their swords. You will be confronted by two measly goblins, who pose no threat at all to your group. Near them is an item which ranks up the hero that collects it. I would advise this to be Gandalf.
Continue forwards, until you confront some more goblins. These are equally as pitiful as the first, so just tear them apart and move on. Do not waste your hero abilities at this point. Continue on again, to face yet another group of goblins and find another rank up item. This time, let Gimli collect it to reach Rank 2.
This time when you move forwards, you will face a slightly larger goblin force, although it is still no threat. Use Gandalfs Wizard Blast or Lightning Sword to quickly rip them apart. Take the northern tunnel, and you will encounter a cave troll and a few goblin archers. Use Legolas Hawk Strike to wound the troll, and then take it out with normal attacks. There is another rank up item in here, so allow Legolas or Aragorn to pick it up (if neither are rank 2 already)
Go back into the previous room, and take the other tunnel to confront a fairly large group of goblins. This time, you should use a few of your heroes’ abilities to wear the goblins down. Lightning Strike and Gimlis Leap Attack should do the trick. Head north from here, do not enter Balins tomb yet. In the northern chamber you face goblin swordsmen and archers guarding another rank up item. Boromir should get this item if he is not rank 2. If he is rank 2, then allow any of your heroes who are still rank 1 to get it (hobbits are the least important to rank up).
Now, wait for your heroes to heal up, and for their abilities to recharge. When they are ready, move into Balins tomb. Shortly after entering, you will be attacked by hordes of goblins and cave trolls. If you are playing on hard, and you dont use your abilities to full effect, you will die. Keep the hobbits well out of the fray. Gandalf should use his Wizard Blast and Lightning Sword and Gimli should use Leap Attack. Once any of your heroes gets to critical health, have Aragorn use Athelas to heal them up, and make use of the heal power. Use Hawk Strike and Axe Throw to take down the cave trolls. Once they are all dead, a whole willl burst into the norhteast wall and more enemies will pour out. Use the same strategy as before.
After killing these vast numbers... proceed through the destroyed wall and into the room with pillars. You will face around 10 hordes of goblins in here... but after your last battle they wont seem like much at all. Continue on, following the light. Descend down the stone stairs, killing the goblin archers with Legolas. After a short period of time... you will be forced to face the Balrog with Gandalf alone. Use Lightning Sword when the Balrog is close to you to make sure it all hits it. Wizard Blast is of limited use in this fight, so i suggest to keep running around the area in circles until Lightning recharges... so you can blast the Balrog again. 3 or 4 Lightning Swords should be enough to kill the Balrog.

You will now face a battle with Eomer in Rohan. Use the strategy mentioned above Moria.

2. Lothlorien
The beautiful wood of Lothlorien. A very well guarded Elven forest, ruled by the Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn. Even in these dark times, the elves still stay in their beloved forest... protecting all who dwell in its depths.
When the battle begins, order the fellowship to stand where they are. Soon a goblin horde will arrive, so allow your heroes to kill them for experience. Head south with your new Elven Warriors, and be careful, for Goblins will ambush you from the left.
Upon reaching Lothlorien, position your heroes near the north western bridge. Have Aragorn, Gimli, Boromir and Gandalf fairly close to the bridge (not too close), have Legolas slightly further away and keep the hobbits well out of battle. Construct 2 Elven Barracks on the building foundations, and start spewing out Elven Warriors. There is treasure darted around Lothlorien, so send your hobbits to go collect it all. Every Elven Warrior battalion you train should go and stand just behind Legolas, facing the bridge. Do not stop training elves until you have no resources left.
Soon, a few hordes of goblins will attempt to assault Lothlorien. They should prove no trouble at all, so do not waste hero abilities on them. Shortly after they are dead, another wave consisting of many more goblins and some cave trolls. Be careful, the trolls are deadly once in close combat, so use Legolas Hawk Strike and Gandalfs Wizard Blast to good effect on them. After they are all dead... a third wave of Goblins will come along with more trolls. Destroy them in the same manner. Remember to heal your melee heroes when they are weak. Lightning Sword will really take down a lot of their army, and Legolas's range is extremely useful, so target the trolls early on.
At this point, send one or 2 battalions to destroy the enemy lumber mills to fulfil your bonus objective. Whilst you do so, move your entire army to the south west bridge, and place them in the same manner as you did for the previous bridge. You should have a mighty Elven Army by now, so make sure they can all reach the enemies that approach. A very large force will attack you now, so use Gimli's Leap Attack right in the middle of them, along with Wizard Blast. Legolas should always target the trolls. If any get too close to your archers... order them all to fire at the threatening troll. You must be quick dealing with these goblins... for soon after another Goblin army will approach from the northwest bridge and you may be overwhelmed if you are not ready. Move your army to the northwest bridge to prepare for the incoming invaders. Unleash everything you have on this last army... for as soon as they are destroyed the level is yours!

You will now face a battle with Eomer in Rohan. Use the strategy mentioned above Moria.

3. Amon Hen
Amon Hen, the target location for the army of Saruman. Lead by the commanding Uruk Hai Lurtz, Saruman hopes to kill the Fellowship and take the ring for his own.

When the battle begins, several hordes of Uruk Hai are attacking Aragorn, Gandalf, Frodo and Sam. These should prove to be easy prey for your mighty heroes, no abilities required. Soon after this, you will gain control of Legolas and Gimli. Immediately send the first four heroes to run to their aid, but be careful of the Cave Trolls who may attack you on the way. Gimli will use leap attack in the cut scene so you won’t be able to use it again until it has recharged. At any point in the battle, if your hobbits are in danger, use there Elven Cloak ability to make them invisible to the enemy. This will not work if they are moving however.
Soon after killing the Uruk Hai and Cave Trolls, three hordes of Warg Riders will assault you. Keep Legolas and the hobbits surrounded by Aragorn, Gimli and Gandalf to protect them. Wizard Blast will prove effective here, and remember to use Athelas to heal any wounded hero’s.
After killing these Warg Riders, you will hear Boromir blow the horn of Gondor and then you will be attacked by several hordes of Uruk Hai. Although you should have sufficient time to kill these hordes and run to help Boromir, its best to use Leap Attack and Lightning Sword to kill them quickly and then rush to help Boromir. Be careful on the way however, as Uruk Crossbowmen are waiting in ambush on the way, so once you see them, have Legolas stay to fight them whilst the other heroes go to help Boromir.
Use the Horn of Gondor to give Boromir some extra time to survive and scare the Uruk Hai away. Frodos Phial of Galadriel is also useful in this task. Use Gimlis leap attack and Gandalfs Wizard Blast to quickly kill the Uruk Hai around Boromir. If Boromir dies... he dies forever. Aragorn should move as close to Boromir as fast as he can to use Athelas and heal Boromir. Take care as you kill the Uruks around Boromir, for Lurtz will arrive along with more Uruk Hai. Have Legolas use Hawk Strike on Lurtz, and Gimli should use Axe Throw, along with any other abilities your heroes have left at this point. If any of your heroes get into critical health, have them flee the area and rest with your hobbits.
Now that these enemies are dead, rest for a while. Allow your health and abilities to recover, especially Athelas, Wizard Blast, Lightning Sword and Leap Attack. Once your heroes are fully recovered, move to the northeast corner of the map where the boat is. You are going to have to face Berserkers, Cave Trolls, Uruk Hai and Uruk Crossbowmen. Keep all of your heroes back, and try to lure the enemies to you by sending in Legolas to kill as many as he can so that you remain out of the range of the crossbows. Once they all start running towards you, you can then send in your entire hero arsenal. Use Leap Attack and Wizard Blast in crowded areas. Lightning Sword should be used to take down the Cave Trolls or large amounts of Uruk Hai. Hawk Strike and Axe Throw are the key to taking down those Cave Trolls. Remember to use heal and Athelas to keep your heroes alive. Once they are defeated, you can safely move Frodo and Sam to the boat to complete the level. Good job.

You will now face a battle with Eomer in Rohan. Use the strategy mentioned above Moria.

4. Eaves of Fangorn
The Eaves of Fangorn... the edge of the huge Forest of Fangorn. Filled with all manner of strange creatures, this is the home of the fearsome Ents, your greatest allies.
To begin with, you have a small battalion of Rohirrim, and will have to wait for the rest of Eomers army to arrive. Whilst you do so, secure the outpost north of your start location. Fill it with farms. Make sure you destroy the enemy Lumber Mills to the southwest and southeast where you began to be blessed with a mighty Ent. Every Ent you get should move just north of your outpost and stand at the rivers edge. If he is seen by the armies of Isengard, then let him stay where he is. Unless they are put against fire arrows, the Ents you have can certainly hold off the Isengard army whilst you attend to other things. If you do encounter fire arrows, then order your Rohirrim to charge over the enemy Crossbowmen until they have no more fire arrows.
Secure the outpost to the east and build whatever you wish, a stable could be helpful. Train a battalion or two of Rohirrim to support your starting cavalry. Now ride north, making sure to destroy the lumber mill to the southeast of your new outpost first. Once you cross the northeastern river, secure yet another outpost and destroy all the lumber mills around it (3 in total). Send all the Ents from these to the river north of your first base to help your first Ents. Order your cavalry to go north and destroy the final 3 lumber mills. Take care to stay away from the enemy Camp.
These last 3 Ents should move straight towards the enemy Camp, and destroy all the units they can. Then, order your entire Ent army to lay siege to the enemy castle, but destroy the orcs near Merry and Pipin just west of their camp first, so that you can fulfil your bonus objective. By this point, you should be able to call Eomers reinforcements. Do so, but keep them away from the battle until all the enemy spearmen have been wiped out. Then charge them in to destroy the enemy Camp. Victory is yours again!

You will now face two battles with Eomer in Rohan. Use the strategy mentioned above Moria.

5. Helms Deep

Helms Deep is the greatest fortress of Rohan. Its huge stone walls have stopped every army of orcs that have ever besieged it. Fearing for his people’s safety, Theoden took everyone in Edoras to Helms Deep, to defend against the army of Saruman.

When the battle begins, you will have control of several heroes. All of these heroes, save Eowyn and Theoden should immediately go to the Deeping wall (the smaller wall on the left of the map). Eowyn and Theoden should immediately mount onto their horses.
You will have access to a large amount of building sites, 4 in the inner fortress, and a few behind the Deeping wall. Build as many farms as you can afford to begin with. The only spaces that should not be farms should be the two building foundations near the Hornburg (The most inner part of the fortress). You should notice that there are some resources around the fortress, a chest near the ramp leading into the inner fortress, and a chest at the far left near the Deeping wall.
On the two building foundations you have not filled with farms, construct an Archery Range and an Armoury. In your Archery Range you can only build Yeoman Archers to begin with, but you do not want these. Instead, wait until the Elven Reinforcements arrive to help you, and then start pumping out more Elven Warriors and move them onto the wall.
Shortly after the start of the battle, some peasants will arrive and will flee towards the Main Gate. Once they get around half way, some Warg Riders will arrive and chase down the peasants. Quickly send Eowyn and Theoden to attack these Warg Rides and protect the peasants. You should close the Main Gate and construct a Postern Gate Upgrade to the right of the Gate, so that the peasants can enter there.
As soon as you can afford it, purchase the Fire Arrows upgrade and give it to all the Elven Warriors you train. Ideally you should have 3 battalions of Elves with Fire Arrows over the Main Gate, and around 10 battalions of combined Elven Warriors on the Deeping Wall. To combine an Elven Warrior battalion, select one and right click on the other. You will need to create 20 battalions of Elven Warriors to have 10 combined battalions. You should immediately give all trained battalions the Fire Arrow, Heavy Armour and Banner Carrier upgrades. Although this will not all be possible before Isengard arrives, try and get as much done as possible.
After 10 minutes expires, the army of Isengard will arrive in vast numbers. Your heroes should now all be on the Deeping Wall, spread out the same distance from each other. Although the Isengard army is overwhelming, most of the Uruks are potentially harmless unless a ladder is deployed against your walls. Make sure at all costs to destroy the ladders before they get to your walls. Have Eowyn use Smite to immediately destroy a ladder. The same goes for Gimlis Axe Throw and Legolas’s Hawk Strike. Once the ladders are destroyed, focus your fire on the Uruk Crossbowmen since they are the only remaining danger.
Soon after the first wave is destroyed, you must repel a second wave. This time Isengard will send Battering Rams and Ballistae to attack the Main Gate. To counter this, move Legolas over to the Main Gate and have him attack the Ballistae there. Use the peasants you saved from earlier to repair the Main Gate if it is damaged at all. Make sure all your Elven Warriors focus their fire on the Siege Ladders closest to them. If there are multiple ladders near the Wall, attack the one closest.
After the second wave, Isengard will unleash another wave of Uruks at you. This time, they bring the deadly Explosive Mine. When you are warned about the mine, or you see it for yourself, immediately order all the Elven Warriors in range to attack the mine and destroy it with Fire Arrows.
In the event that you are unsuccessful in destroying the mine, a huge portion of the Deeping Wall will be shattered… and most units on top if it will die instantly. You should at this point pull all of your forces away from the Deeping Wall and into the main courtyard to make a last stand. Use your heroes to hold off the Warg Riders that will charge in.
Again a fourth wave of Uruk Hai should be sent to attack you. This time there will be more than one mine that you should watch out for, so be sure to destroy all of them before they get too close to your walls. Then focus on the other siege units Isengard brings. If you successfully manage to defend the Deeping Wall against this wave, the remainder of the battle will be much easier. Just continue using the same strategy until Eomers army arrives.
If the Deeping Wall is destroyed or completely overrun, then you should pull all of your forces back into the main fortress. Close the Inner Gate at the south entrance to the inner fortress. Deploy all your ranged units along the wall above the Inner Ramp, but do not put any near the Inner Gate, for the enemy will not attack from there.
All of your melee heroes and any melee units you have should be placed inside the inner fortress next to the entrance by the Inner Ramp. This is the weakest point of the Inner Fortress, since there is not a gate here that can be closed. Use all the hero abilities that you can to hold off the enemy attacks. The camps of Isengard will unleash a constant stream of warriors to besiege your walls, so hold them off as best you can. They may move some Ballista’s in through the gap in the Deeping Wall, so order Legolas and your Elven Warriors to fire their arrows at them and quickly destroy them.
Once 25 minutes has expired, Eomer, Gandalf and the Rohirrim will arrive. About 2 minutes before they arrive, you should open the Inner Gate temporarily and let Theoden ride down to where Eomer arrives (the same place that the Elven Warriors arrived earlier). Don’t forget to close the Inner Gate behind you. Once Eomer arrives, group all of the Rohirrim as close together as you can, and then have Theoden use Glorious Charge. This will allow you to safely charge down towards the nearest enemy camp and kill all the enemy units by trampling them whilst taking minimal damage, even from Pikemen. Kill the units nearby first, and then destroy the enemy production buildings to stop and more Uruks being made. After that you should destroy any building that threaten your units such as Sentry Towers and Rank 3 Resource structures. Finally, destroy the Citadel and any remaining structures.
Whilst Eomer and Gandalf focus on destroying one camp, order all of your Elven Warrios and heroes inside Helms Deep to charge out from the Main Gate and make their way. Set them to attack move by pressing the A key before right clicking. This way they will engage any units they encounter on the way.
After you destroy the two Isengard Camps and all of the Isengard units, the battle is won and victory is yours!

Isengard
Isengard is the stronghold of the wizard Saruman. Inside its great walls is the tower of Orthanc, where Saruman resides. This small stronghold was once beautiful and filled with trees and grass, but Saruman replaced it all with caverns in which to spawn his army of Uruk Hai. With his main army slaughtered at Helms Deep, Saruman hopes to rally his remaining warriors quickly in order to keep Isengard safe from the armies of Rohan.

Time to get your revenge against Saruman. You begin with a few Ents and an Entmoot, along with Merry and Pippin. The two hobbits should be left to guard the Entmoot against enemy attacks. All of the Isengard structures drop resources, so you should keep training more Ents as soon as you can afford it. Ents are quite expensive, so you should strive to keep them all alive.
Before you go anywhere near Isengard, destroy all the structures outside first. Just north of your Entmoot there is a lumber mill, and far to the north of the map is a Cave Troll lair. At the very south west corner of the map is also a Goblin lair. These 3 structures drop a large amount of resource, so after destroying them move all your Ents back to the Entmoot and train as many Ents as you can. When you have all that you can afford, move into Isengard.
There are only two units that you need to worry about. The most deadly units are the Uruk Crossbowmen with fire arrows, since Fire can very quickly kill an Ent. You should also take care around the Orc Labourers, as they are quite damaging to Ents. You should have 2 or 3 Ents set to close range attack, whilst the rest should throw rocks at the enemies. Whenever you see any Uruk Crossbowmen with fire arrows, immediately target and kill them. If there are no deadly units around, then you should destroy the structures nearby first. When you get close to Orthanc, Saruman will appear and fight to defend himself. Kill him quickly before he unleashes a fireball at your Ents.
Near the river dam is a large amount of Uruk Hai, complete with fire Crossbowmen. Destroy all the other units and structures in Isengard first, and use all the resources you have on Ents before attempting to take this army down. Save your game, and then move all of your Ents in. Focus on killing the Crossbowmen with fire first, and then go after the other Uruk Hai. Once they are destroyed, you can start attacking the river dam to release the river. After doing so, you will have won the battle.

Northern Ithilien
Northern Ithilien is a stretch of land that separates Gondor from Mordor. Faramir and his Gondorian rangers patrol this land and ambush the Haradrim Forces from the south to protect their land and stop Sauron receiving reinforcements.

In this battle, Rangers are your friend. Train as many as you can afford at the start since there is no need for any other unit types at this point. You should purchase the Fire Arrows upgrade as soon as it is available to you. Head east and then north from your starting position and destroy the four structures you find. Each of them will drop treasure which you should pick up and use to create more Rangers. Target the Haradrim before you focus on the structures themselves. At the north of the map you should find a Mumakil. Shoot it with your Rangers Fire Arrows to cause it to go into frenzy and start trampling all the nearby enemy soldiers. Once it has died, move your Rangers in and clean up the other orcs. Once you have cleared this area of the map, you will be notified of some Rangers and a Trebuchet at the south of the map.
Make your way southwest, and eventually you will see a ramp going up guarded by orcs. Just west of that ramp on the plateau is a Mumakil. Shoot it with Fire Arrows to cause it to go berserk and kill all the enemy soldiers nearby. Then place your Rangers at the bottom of the ramp and have Faramir lure any remaining enemies towards them. Once it is safe, destroy the two structures just north. After that, you can safely move south to claim your Rangers and Trebuchet. Once they are yours, attack the Mumakil to the east and kill all the Haradrim around it. Then move north and destroy the Hardrim camp there.
Now you can move to the southeast corner of the map and destroy the enemy camp. Move your trebuchet in from the south entrance and guard it with Rangers. Have your trebuchet destroy any towers or buildings that can harm your units from afar, and let your Rangers kill any units that get too close to your trebuchet. Once all threats are eliminated, move your Rangers in and completely clear out the camp. Then claim it for your own.
You will now be given a 5 minute timer to prepare an ambush at three points on the map. You have 6 slots in which to build now, so use them wisely. You should have 3 farms, a Blacksmith, an Archery Range and either a Stable or a Barracks. Build all four towers when you can, and start training lots of Rangers. You are told to move them to three points on the map. I recommend having at least 3 battalions at each point on the map with Fire Arrows. Place any other Rangers you have at various places along the plateau. Train 2 battalions of Knights and have them wait on the ramp on west side.
When the caravan arrives, wait until the Mumakil are in range of your Rangers. Then target them with Fire Arrows to send them berserk. Have your trebuchet waiting at the north and fire at any troops that come near. Keep any melee units you may have away from the Mumakil at all costs. Once the Haradrim move past the ramp that your Knights are waiting on, have them charge down into the enemy ranks and crush the Haradrim. They should stay away from the dangerous feet of the Mumakil however. Once you have wiped out the caravan or it has reached its destination, stop and start creating units at a calm pace and fill your command points up. Upgrade all of your units with everything. Keep most Rangers at the north entrance to your camp to defend it. Once you are confident you are ready, move north and wipe out the camp using the same strategy as used for the previous one. Once it is yours, you have won the battle!

You will now face two battles with Faramir in Gondor. Use the strategy mentioned above Moria.


Osgilliath
The once proud city of Osgilliath stands at the river at Pellenor. It has become a constant battlefield between Mordor and Gondor and has been reduced to ruin over the years. Now it faces the greatest threat of all, the armies of Mordor, lead by the dreaded Nazgul.

You begin controlling half of the map on one side of the river, with units guarding the bridges. Your first objective is to ensure that all enemy units on your side of the river are dead. You have several units near your camp that can fulfil this objective. Once they are all wiped out, make sure you have control of all three bridges. You should take control of the camp to the south on your side of the river as soon as you can afford it (2000 resource). Once that is claimed, start building farms and blacksmiths and military buildings at once. Train as many Tower Guards and Rangers as you can and distribute them evenly around each bridge, but do not go too far across the bridges. Order your units to hold their ground by pressing the H key when they are selected. Send Rangers into any abandoned towers around that are left standing, and put your Tower Guard into block formation for increased armour.
Once you have a strong enough garrison at all three bridges, build a workshop and make lots of trebuchets. You should purchase the Fire Stone upgrade once the workshop reaches rank 2. Keep building up your army with Rangers, Tower Guard and Trebuchets. Wait until your command points are at full before you summon in Faramir’s army for reinforcements to maximize your command points.
Once you summon in Faramir and his army, move it across the north bridge along with that bridges defenders and all of your trebuchets. Have the trebuchets wipe out the main bulk of the base whilst keeping Faramir’s army back until all towers are destroyed. Keep your trebuchets guarded at all times, and as soon as you see that pesky Nazgul, unload all your Fire Arrows onto it as well as Faramir’s ranged ability to quickly rip it apart. Once you have destroyed this camp, build one of your own in place instead, and build Wells and Blacksmiths all over it. When your troops are healed from the battle by the wells, move your army southwest, and attack the camp just south of the middle bridge using the same strategy as before. Don’t forget to use the defenders from the middle bridge to help you. Once again take this camp as your own and build lots of towers and keeps around it for defence. When you are finally ready, move onto the third camp and slaughter all in your path. Once you have wiped it out, victory is yours!

Shelob’s Lair
Dark and damp, this is a tunnel that stretches through the mountains into Mordor. The dreaded tower of Cirith Ungol stands at the other side, guarded by countless orcs. Inside the tunnel itself however is a feared terror, that even orcs dare not go near.

When you begin, you are in control of only Sam. Have him kill the two giant spiders that approach him, and then have him cut the Gondor Swordsman nearby free, to enlist it to your aid. Head north and then east, to free three more Gondor Soldiers and kill some more spiders. There is some treasure slightly north, and some more slightly southeast. Head northwest now, and follow the tunnel around to the west to fight several spiders and find another Gondor Soldier and some treasure. From here, head north and rescue two more Soldiers and fight a cave troll. Have your archers target the troll and keep melee fighters away. Use the Phial of Galadriel to maximum effect to keep the troll away. Continue east, fighting some more spiders, finding two treasure chests and rescuing two more soldiers. Slightly farther east is a cavern guarded by some Orc Archers containing some treasure. Kill them and take the treasure for yourself.
Leave that cavern, and head south. You will emerge in a large room with some giant spiders. Dottted around this room are eight more soldiers to rescue. Find and save them all, then group all of your forces together. When they are all together, move south, to face the dreaded Shelob. This giant spider will go straight for Sam, so when he is in critical health use Phial of Galadriel to scare her away and give Sam time to escape whilst the soldiers rip her apart. Once she is dead, rescue the soldier in this room at the north wall and take the treasure at the south and the west.
When this room is cleared, do not go outside yet. Instead, move north into the last room of the tunnel and rescue the six Gondor soldiers and the three treasure chests. After this, you should have found all the treasure and soldiers in the tunnel.
It is now safe to move east, out of the tunnel. Kill the Orcs at the outpost outside and smash the Lumbermill apart. Then claim your own outpost and build a Blacksmith, Barracks and Archery Range. Build as many troops as you can and get yourself some upgrades. When you have a large army, move north to Cirith Ungol. This citadel is well defended, but should be easy to take. Move in slowly using your Rangers to kill the enemy Archers. Move inside and destroy all enemy structures you see. Once all the enemies are dead, the battle is won!

Minas Tirith
Minas Tirith is the capitol city of Gondor. Its seven levels are extremely well protected and the lord Denethor resides within its walls. Positioned in the fields of Pellenor and not far from Osgilliath, this city is the next target for the forces of Mordor.

In this battle, you are in control of the entire city of Minas Tirith. When the battle begins make sure the main gates are closed. You have a lot of building foundations to use, on two levels of the city. On the upper level you should build all of your military production buildings in case the lower level is taken by the enemy. On the lower level you should build lots of farms and blacksmiths for a good income. On the upper level you need at least one Archery Range, Barracks and a Workshop. You have defensive foundations all over the walls. You should alternate between building Battle Towers and Trebuchet Ramparts on the walls, having a Battle Tower on either side of the main gate, and alternating outwards from then on.
You should build several battalions of Tower Guard and place them behind the gate of Minas Tirith. You should have Rangers evenly spread out over the walls, all equipped with Fire Arrows, Banner Carriers and Heavy Armour. Concentrate more Rangers on the walls near the main gate, since most attacks will come here. Place Gandalf and Faramir on the wall near the main gate. Gandalf should be on Shadowfax for easy movement.
If you are daring, you can attempt to take the four settlements outside of the city gates. However these are incredibly difficult to defend and I don’t recommend it. Your Trebuchets will ensure that Mordor doesn’t build anything on them.
You have only eight minutes to prepare your defences against Mordor, but you have a little more time even after that as it will take Mordor a while to reach your walls. Continue to strengthen your army even after Mordor begins to assault you. Your goal is to defend, not to attack. Every time you lose a battalion or a Trebuchet, replace them with more. You should allow your units to attack on their own, and only order them to attack a specific unit when siege weapons such as Catapults, Towers and Battering Rams approach.
Later in the battle, Nazgul appear and begin tearing your army apart. Order your Rangers to focus their attacks on them, and use the Summon Eagle Allies power if you have it. Do not order too many of your Rangers to attack the Nazgul, or Mordor will have the chance to cause some damage to you.
After some time in the battle, Mordor will send the dreaded Grond against your walls. This huge siege weapon is extremely powerful and can smash your gate apart if you don’t destroy it quickly. Order all of your nearby Rangers to focus their attacks on Grond, and have Faramir attack it aswell. Gandalf should use his Lightning Sword attack on it to inflict a LOT of damage on it. This is really the only weapon that can tear down your gates or inflict enough damage to make it easy to destroy. You should be able to destroy Grond before it gets your gate to even half health if you focus your attacks on it and use Lightning Sword. If it does manage to break through your gate, or if any further attacks break your gate down, use your Tower Guard to slow the enemy advance and move all of your Rangers up to the second level and guard the walls up there. This second level should be easier to defend since, despite it not having a gate, the enemies can only come at you from two sides instead of all over, so you should focus your Rangers on the wall near the stairs and have Tower Guard act as a shield to stop the enemies reaching your Rangers.
After twenty five minutes has passed, Eomers army will be ready to summon. Hopefully you will have kept your army large from Helms Deep and it will be a significant aid. This army should be enough to swoop down and destroy at least one Mordor camp if not both of them. However if you don’t have many reinforcements, you should consider instead opening your main gate and place all your reinforcements inside the city. Use Theoden’s Glorious Charge ability if your gates are surrounded by enemies to allow them to get to the city without suffering too many casualties, especially if Mordor has any soldiers of Rhun around, since they can tear horses apart in seconds. Place any extra archers you have on the walls (upper or lower defending on if the gates are broken). Place any Rohirrim you may have behind the gate or on the stairs to sweep over the enemies that come too close. If you opened your main gate to allow the Rohan army to get in, do NOT forget to close it again.
This should be enough to keep you alive until Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli show up with the army of the dead. This is more than enough to tear apart any enemy forces. They should charge straight towards the enemy camp and rip it apart. Leave your remaining forces inside the city to keep as many as you can alive for the next battle. Once you have destroyed the two camps, the attack is broken. Victory is yours again!

You now have a choice of either attacking the Black Gate, or facing as many as 18 battles throughout the world.

The Black Gate
The huge Black Gates of Mordor protect the land of Mordor from enemy invaders. It is extremely well guarded and it is said that nothing can break the gates down. Now the armies of Gondor and Rohan march to this gate, to give Frodo a chance to destroy The One Ring.

The army you choose to attack the Black Gate with is the army that you begin with. You should choose your largest army to attack first, since they must endure four waves of deadly Mordor assaults on their own before Reinforcements will arrive.
You have two camps. One Gondor and one Rohan. Build many farms and blacksmiths for income, and build a Gondor Barracks, Archery Range and Workshop. Rohan only needs a stable to be built. Sentry Towers are not important, since you should aim to keep the battle close to the Black Gate. You should keep your forces just out of range of the archers on the Black Gates themselves, but not too far away either. Order Legolas to kill all of the archers on top of the gates, and then you can move your army to stand level with the outer edge of the gate. Put your army into formation. Have battalions of Tower Guard defending at the front lines and sides, and have Rangers in the centre. Position your Rohirrim at the edge of your army so they can sweep in and crush Mordor orcs whenever they get the opportunity, but take care to avoid soldiers of Rhun since they can kill your Rohirrim easily. Your heroes should use all of their abilities to the most effect. Use abilities such as Gimli’s Leap Attack, Legolas’s Arrow Wind and Gandalfs Lightning sword in areas of crowded enemies. If Gandalf is at Rank 10, wait until he is completely surrounded by Orcs, and then use Word of Power to obliterate the enemy army all around you.
When Nazgul appear, use abilities such as Hawk Strike. If you attacked with Rohan, use Eowyn’s Smite to instantly kill a Nazgul. Gandalf’s Istari Light also serves this purpose. Continue to train troops from your camps and add them to your army. Order your entire army to hold their position and not move by pressing the H key. This way they won’t wander off and move out of formation.
In the third wave of attacks, there are lots of Trolls and Drummer Trolls. Use ranged units to kill the trolls as soon as they are in Range. Word of Power is extremely useful at this point in the battle. You will suffer some severe damage from this wave, so replace fallen battalions with more units from your base.
When the fourth wave attacks, there are some Mumakil in the assault. These are extremely dangerous to your army, so target it with Fire Arrows to send it into a panic and crush the Orcs around it. Use any summon allies powers that you have, including the Summon Oathbreakers if you have it. During or after this wave, your other army will arrive to aid you. Immediately send them towards the Black Gate and place them into formation. Once this fourth wave is broken, you must survive for a further five minutes until the Ring is destroyed by Frodo. Do whatever you must to ensure your survival. Unleash all of your hero’s powers and abilities. Keep any heroes in critical health alive using Heal and Athelas. Build sentry towers around your base now in case your army is broken, and revive any dead heroes at your citadel. As long as you have at least one building and one unit alive when five minutes is up, you have won the battle! Congratulations! You finished the campaign!