Helm’s Deep

Objective: Crush the defenses of Helm’s Deep and destroy every structure within its walls.

Bonus: Kill all enemy heroes. Destroy the defenders before reinforcements arrive.

This battle recreates one of the most exciting sequences in the Lord of the Rings trilogy: the battle for Helm’s Deep from The Two Towers. But on this level you’re able to rewrite the script to see what would happen if the "evil" side won the fight.

There are several reinforcement groups on countdown. Rohan reinforcements are scheduled to arrive in 25 minutes at the beginning of the level. The survivors of Fangorn (essentially several Ents) arrive in 15 minutes. Finally, your own reinforcements (the army you didn’t enter the battle with) arrive in 30 minutes. It’s certainly possible to complete the level before any reinforcements--good or evil--arrive to Helm’s Deep. Finishing the level before Rohan reinforcements arrive completes the bonus objective.

Begin the level by constructing camps. Structures may depend slightly on need. You’ll certainly want resource-gathering structures to fund an additional war machine. Also build a siege works for ladders, ballistae, and--at level two--explosive mines. Build a Uruk pit for more ground forces and an armory to acquire upgrades for current and future forces.

Utilize siege ladders to maneuver your Uruk hordes onto the walls of Helm’s Deep.

It’s not mandatory to train explosive mines. The siege unit is a quick and relatively easy way of destroying Helm’s Deep’s defensive wall but you can destroy the wall through other means (ballistae fire, for instance) or even avoid the wall altogether by using siege ladders to elevate melee and ranged troops onto the wall. Building explosive mines requires the siege works level two. You may need to train ladders or ballistae and send them to their death and repeat as needed if you’re near the top of the command limit because of your other army.

Maintain your unit position near your camps while you build your force and fund upgrades. Counter any insurgents with your grouped forces (as well as base defenses). Acquire unit upgrades, particularly fire arrows for crossbowmen, before advancing toward Helm’s Deep.

If you’re using siege ladders, advance up the western side and move the siege ladders to the walls of Helm’s Deep. Move up your melee troops to assault the enemy archers along the wall while your own ranged troops fire from below. You’ll find Legolas aiding defenses on the wall while Eowyn helps behind the wall and Aragorn and Gimli defend near the main gate. From the top of the walls you can maneuver troops, though it’s a tight area, throughout Helm’s Deep and eliminate remaining forces and destroy structures.

With the wall down and Helm’s Deep’s defenses in retreat, send your horde inside and eliminate remaining defenders and heroes.

If you’re able to elevate your siege works to level two, train an explosive mine and escort it to the area where the stream connects to Helm’s Deep’s defensive wall. Occupy the defenses along the wall with your own ranged attacks to get the explosive mine there safely. Ignite the mine with a fire arrow (or Saruman’s fireball attack) to destroy the wall. Flood Helm’s Deep with your forces and eliminate all structures and enemies.

Near Harad

Objective: Recruit the Haradrim either by force or by tribute.

This is a unique mission in that you can complete the primary objective using two very different methods. In fact, you can even complete the main objective by combining the two methods. The forces of Mordor hope to convince the Haradrim to join their battle against Gondor.

To convince the Haradrim to join the cause, either send a tribute to each of the three Haradrim camps in the area (each tribute costs 10,000 resources) or simply wipe out the Haradrim in the area and scare them into joining your cause!

Unless you’re eager for a fight, it’s easier to use the tribute method to recruit the Haradrim. Even if you don’t want to use the tribute on all three camps, offering the tribute to one camp awards you with that camp’s entire Haradrim force (which should put you way over your command limit). The addition and your now much larger force should have an easier time eliminating all remaining forces. But you could certainly just use the tribute method and accumulate all Haradrim armies.

To accumulate the necessary resources for the tribute, use the standard method of constructing slaughterhouses or a new method--hunting down peasants. There are some peasants throughout the area. Scout around your start position and eliminate the peasants with your archers and gather the resources left behind.

The tribute cart costs 10,000 resources and is built at the citadel.

Find a camp to the east and begin base construction. Scout around the start position to find a second camp to use when needed. The Haradrim attack from the south and maintain constant pressure. Fight the Haradrim near your erected base defenses for added firepower. Build slaughterhouses and multiple Orc pits to create units as quickly as possible. Pump out Orcs and Orc archers and elevate your Orc pit to level two and research fire arrow and banner carrier at the first opportunity. Upgrade all your forces with these valuable enhancements.

Don’t worry about saving for the tribute early on. Concentrate on spending collected resources on fielding an army, acquiring upgrades, and enhancing your troops. Maintain fight position near your base defenses. Counter mumakil (if attacked) with fire arrows--concentrate all ranged fire on the mumakil. When ready, save up 10,000 resources and train a tribute cart at the Mordor citadel.

Recruit a Haradrim camp and all its units are added to your current army.

There are three Haradrim bases. The western base is troop heavy; the eastern base is mumakil heavy; and the middle base fields a mixed army. Send the tribute to one of the outer bases. The tribute cart is fairly quick and should be able to reach the base even though it will be attacked by defending Haradrim. As soon as the cart reaches the base and disappears, negotiations begin and moments later the Haradrim army at that base becomes yours.

Continue to defend your camps from any Haradrim pressure and use two more tribute carts (which can be trained at new Haradrim bases) to recruit the remaining Haradrim forces to your cause.