posted 04-15-06 12:30 PM EDT (US)
Hey guys. This thread is made to contain all strategies you make and have them concentrated on one point - so you can easily find what you need. It will make it a lot easier for everyone to post their build order and find ones for the faction they seek help of. Though, to make this work properly, there need to be some rules. Why? Because you may have gotten it from an other site, copied it from someone else, and such. You contribute a strategy for the sake of the community, not for your own glory. We don't need 20 examples of the axe thrower rush. Have a look if your strategy is new enough or really contributes to the thread. I'll have a small check to see if the strategy is worthwhile, and is suited to appear on this list. Using some simple BBcode to fluff it up helps a bit. Do not start posting thousands of strategies, preferably, submit one of your favorites and which really works well. If you have any replay of someone that performs this strategy, submit it and link to it! Not only does that greatly increase your success of getting onto the list, it helps a lot! Though, please do NOT post ownage replays of defeating noobs/newbies with ease. The opponent is preferably of the same skill as you. The fire arrow ranger rush Army: Men BO Farm This dosen't work against angmar, since they have a fast cavalry rush, but it murders the slow, short ranged dwarven axe throwers. you will get your first ranger battalion just in time to counter the first wave of anything. but they will probably die, but since you have a huge economy, you can keep popping out rangers that will be able to eventualy kill their first wave. after that, you get fire arrows and now you are unbeatable. I like to support my rangers with soldiers and knights just to split the fire of their forces. i mainly use boromir just to deal with enemy hero's. 2x Mallorn Tree. To tell you the truth this is a simple cavalry rush, I'm surprised it isn't already up there on the list, as I've succesfully used it many times. Here's how it works. -The aim is to cripple, not to crush. That means buildings and killing them, I'd start with the one's in range of his fort, why? Because you can kill them whilst you have your entire squad intact, and thus do it fastest. Try and go for unit production buildings first, then farms and what not. DO NOT get your squad killed, a couple of buildings will put them to lvl 2, the banner will help heal and they are expensive so it is imperative that they live, when in doubt...be cautious. A Few tips. -Rally Call is a MUST! You're Lancers cannot hack it without upgrades or Rally Call, you need at least one of those to make them an effective force. -USE THOSE STANCES! If you aren't hitting buildings, defensive stance...if you are, aggressive. Simple as that. Lancer HP is low enough, leaving them on neutral stacne will only hasten them to the grave! -HIDE YOUR STABLES! Chances are, his infantry will hit you at roughly the same time your cavalry hits him, on larger maps, you may hit a bit sooner. That Stables is expensive, so you want it well hid, you'll probably need it later. -Keep it to 1 squad of Lancers! They are not rohirrim, they are easily countered, but make fine raiders imho, also cavalry rush is not something people expect when they fight vs elves. The strategys success relies on a successful and clean switch to infantry/archers (i've left that non specific becuz ur choice should depend on what your opponent has, when in doubt, go archers). Lancers alone will not win the game, but they will make it easier -DON'T LOSE THE RUSH SQUAD! I repeat again for emphasis, the banner will heal them. If they don't get lvl 2 at least from their raiding, you haven't hit him hard enough. It's counter-intuitive since elves are so expensive, but I've had more luck with this than with any other plan. Basically: Always have a unit coming out of the barracks. Roughly 1/3rd Lorien Archers and 2/3rds Pikemen, or heavier on the pikes, depending on how heavy MOTW are with cavalry. Keep making trees and more barracks. You actually want about 5+ barracks. Skip upgrades, skip heroes. Send "packets" around the map. A packet is a minimum of 1 pikeman and 1 lorien archer. They go around and look for farms and so forth and try to hurt the Men's ability to expand as well as keep them busy. Don't worry overmuch about managing your packets, concentrate on making more packets. You could use swordsmen but I prefer pikes because if the Men aren't paying attention, they can end up losing a group of cavalry by accidentally tramping your pikes. (Note: If you see pikes about to be trampled, put them into Porcupine Formation. Right after they get hit, switch them into Aggressive Stance.) As your economy improves, packets turn into armies. You run into Boromir and a bunch of rangers. Boromir blows his horn and Rangers kill your entire army. Well, you have 6 barracks. You replace your army almost instantly and attack again. Boromir's horn is recycling and the Rangers just used up Longshot, now you can make some headway. Remember, if you lose 3 unupgraded batallions to destroy 1 FU Ranger batallion, you just about broke even -- unless the Rangers came from an inn. (And you probably have 6 barracks to his 1 archery range, so you can replace 6 lost batallions faster than he can replace 2.) So, incidentally, destroy all inns. Capture them if you can, but destroy them BEFORE you capture them, so not only does the enemy need to take it back, he has to repair it too. (If the inn is close to your base and you think you can protect it, you could make hobbits. Hobbits in rock throwing mode actually are quite effective against buildings.) The basic idea is that MOTW have a lot of awesome army-killing abilities, but only every so often. If you attempt to use fully upgraded armies, you will lose your army and take so long producing another fully upgraded army that MOTW will have some of their timers reset by the time you get back there and you'll lose them all again. So go with Elven Spam. Many barracks, no upgrades, just swamp him and try to keep your builders going with more trees, replacing them as they get destroyed and harassing the MOTW constantly around the map. All heroes suck versus massed fire archers, though, so lately I've been skipping them versus MOTW. I use that initial BO for every single battle. Orc pits and orcs build slowly enough that you really need 2 pits and you need them early, just to create a force capable of holding the enemy while you work on something to back them up with. Couple other things: What I've been doing lately, though, is very similar to Elven Spam, just with Orcs and Easterlings and Haradrim Archers. On small maps, you might worry about swordsman rushes and stick with Orcs until you're sure things are going ok. On bigger maps, Haradrim are a pretty safe bet. As money comes in, go with multiple Palaces and start upgrading them so you have the option to make Haradrim Archers. If MOTW are cavalry heavy, make more Easterlings. If MOTW are Ranger heavy, make more Haradrim. Likely, you'll need a mix of both and you might as well keep sending in orcs, because orcs are cheap and fodderous and can give your better units a chance to close the distance without getting killed. You might want to get the Mouth of Sauron but his main role is going to be harassment. He'll die too quickly once MOTW start getting fire arrows. Harass stuff, kill creeps, work anti-harassment duty if there's ever a lone group of horses running around, etc, then run in and debuff the enemy, or run in and do Dissension, then run away. Don't use the Mouth on the frontline of a big battle unless you're winning it. Strategically, you want to push towards the enemy base. Don't chase his Rohirrim all over the place. If you get a clump of 5 Easterling batallions and set Defensive Stance and click on the enemy base and MOTW are 100% Rohirrim, he's in big trouble. He can't trample you. He can shoot you up with arrows but not before you get all the way to his base and start wrecking the place. Just remember to always, always leave some Easterlings at home. A couple batallions should be standing around, so if you run to the enemy base and he runs to yours, you have a little defense to hold him off while you work his base over. Also, try to buy the moat (1500 resources) when you can, as this really cuts down Rohirrim ability to destroy your fortress in a sneak attack. [This message has been edited by Bendak (edited 02-15-2007 @ 08:10 AM).]
-farm
-barracks
-farm
-etc.
You soldier rush to rangers blablabla etc.
Farm
Archery range
farm
lvl 2 archery range
farm
rangers
fire arrows
farm
barracks
rangers
borimir
stables
knights
-Farm
-Barracks
-Farm
-Soldiers
-Attack enemy buildings with with buffed infantry
-Soldiers
-barracks near enemy base
-Farm
-soldiers
-soldiers
-more barracks and soldiers, tower guards if needed
-etc
You have soldiers attacking the enemys buildings first such as unit producing buildings and resource producing buildings and then there fortress. With a few battalians of infantry you can take down the fotress easily. Also, note that in the begining, the soldiers should go for the buildings NOT the enemies units.
-mine + archery range
-mine near enemies base
-2 axe throwers
-mine
-2 axe throwers
-mine
-forge
-2 axe throwers
-battlewagon/upgrades (choose)
-more mines
-2 axe throwers.
-dain
Basically, you cripple your opponent very early. If it is possible, go for the fortress and destroy it right away. It is possible with axe throwers + rallying call. Axe throwers are an overpowered unit, especially versus Mordor. As long as you mass them, you have a solid chance of defeating your opponent. Mid-Late game won't be much of a worry if your rush works well, but I suggest getting a battlewagon for harassing, and King Dain for the leadership.
-2 Mallorn Trees
-Barracks
-Lorien Archers
-Mallorn Tree
-Lorien Archers
-Mallorn Tree
-Lorien Swordsmen / Mithlond Pikemen
-Mallorn Tree
-More Lorien Archers
-Eregion Forge
-Thranduil or Legolas if needed
The basic principal is that you should protect your base and resources while outputting a steady supply of archers to fend off rushes or full out attacks, until you have enough resources to build an Eregion Forge. Once you do this, upgrade the forge as fast as possible, while also keeping your supply of archers at a premium (perhaps 3 battalions and 2-3 battalions of swordsmen / pikemen). Once you have the silverthorn arrows, upgrade your battalions and go mash. Remember to have a mixed army of pikemen, swordsmen and archers. You will be owned if you just go out there with archers expecting the silverthorn arrows to do all the work for you.
Stables (hidden!)
1xLancers.
Barracks...
What I've been working on is "Elven Spam".
Tree/Tree/Barracks
You might invest in armor upgrades for your pikes. Don't bother with Silverthorn arrows or armor for your archers, though, because it's expensive and you're going to lose them all when Boromir blows his horn and Rangers Longshot everyone to death, or Boromir blows his horn and Rohirrim trample everyone, or Theodan does Glorius Charge and Rohirrim trample everyone.
You might consider Elrond or Legolas or Glorfindel. Legolas protected by pikes can do some damage and gain levels fast if you keep using his double-shot just to get some unit kills. Elrond helps by bringing leadership. Glorfindel can work anti-harassment to chase down lone cavalry units that might be harassing your trees.
-orc pit + slaughterhouse
-orc pit
-slaughterhouse
-orc pit
-slaughterhouse
-orc pit
-slaughterhouse
-orc pit
-Nazgul/Mouth of Sauron
-2 slaughterhouses
-4 orc pits near the enemy base
-Siege works -> get catapults/Fellbeast/Troll cage -> Attack trolls
Basically, you rush your opponent with massive amounts of orcs. It is a feared strategy, and very popular in Tournament/Quickmatch games. Your objective is to attack from all sides with orcs, giving the enemy no chance to attack you or tech up.
SH
orc pit
orc pit
harrass with a few orc batts
SH
SH
orc pit
SH
orc pit
SH
troll cage
SH
basically, while you're pumping out orcs you're expanding and getting a reasonable econ. then after your 4th orc pit you build a troll cage and all the time pumping out orcs and harrassing the enemy. then you start looking to getting troll cage upgrades and eventually a few attack trolls. all the time pumping out orcs! then you take a couple of orc batts aside and put them with your attack trolls and look for the open flank into the enemy base. once found, use and abuse! charge through with your attack trolls and orc escort and go straight for the juggular, or the fortress, depending how you feel. once that is down, which should go down quickly, hit the barracks and stables and archery ranges. after that your enemy should be gone.
Orc pits and more orc pits and more orc pits. Just keep sending orcs. Throw in Catapults later on. This is pretty effective because it doesn't take a big economy to fund 8 orc pits full time and your enemy may simply have trouble killing them faster than you can make them, at which time, he loses. If nothing else, Orc Spam can hold an enemy back while you work on something more deadly.
Mumakil are mainly for fighting elves, I find. Elves tend to go very heavy on archers and light on pikes. Micro the Mumakil enough to make sure it doesn't run over any full pikeman batallions. Charge the archers and smush em. Quite effective, even against Silverthorn arrows. Mumakil don't necessarily live a long time but they can usually create a big death toll for your enemy that he may have trouble recovering from fast enough to stop your orc hordes from overrunning him.
Probably the best "all around" option, it's hard to go wrong with Catapults. They're relatively cheap and quite nasty against basically everything.
The 1000 resource mounted variety. I use them in basically every encounter. Nazghul require micro when mounted but they're handy for attacking cavalry and charging light archer groups. Don't charge big masses of archers because 4 batallions of Loriens will waste a Nazghul in seconds, silverthorn or no. On foot, though, they're fairly tough and mix in well with your troops.
Since v1.03, Haradrim Archers are actually quite good. Their damage is pretty good and their hit points are quite high. Expensive, though. If you can afford it, a FU Haradrim Archer army is capable of taking on a FU Ranger army. Course, you'll be spending more to do the same thing, but still. You wouldn't be amiss to mix in Haradrim and Easterlings with your orcs.
Other than those general plans, I would say one build order:
SH
Orc pit
Orc pit
SH
I think there are a lot of valid ways to approach this fight.
- Attack Trolls (risky and expensive -- easily countered by Tower Guards)
- Mumakil (ditto, but sometimes fun to bring 1 in)
- Catapults (a pretty good option, I just think massed Haradrim/Easterlings/Orcs is faster to win with)
-2 Furnaces
-Warg pit
-Warg (use to harass straight away)
-Furnace
-Warg (defend and get outposts)
-Uruk Pit and Furnace
-Pikemen/Crossbows to defend your base (depends on the situation)
-Furnace
-Upgrade pit
-4 Berserkers (zerks)
-Rush the fortress, use warchant
The idea is that you harass and attack wargs early, and get 4 zerks as soon as possible, rush the enemy's fortress and take it down along with all available unit producing structures. Since war chant only lasts so long, there is precious little time to execute this devastating attack successfully. If done right, this attack should kill an enemy very very quickly. You should not need to produce anything more than wargs and zerks to make this strategy work.
Watch it
Cave
Tunnel
Cave
Tunnel
Tunnel
Cave
Spider Pit
Level 2 Spider Pit
Tunnel
Cave
Fissure
Armory
Tunnel
Fissure
You just have to spam gobs early game and put them in agresive and hit his buildings. Farms first, then production building. Now he should be focused on stopping the Goblins, and you should be able to build a Pit and get it level two. Now in your waves of Goblins throw in Spider Riders. If he uses pikes switch them to bows, and they'll pit pike apart. Also, Poison BLade w/ Gobs is useful. If you can't stop soldiers, get Archers, but not an excessive amount.
Now, you have a great econemy so we'll build a cave to increase wave size, and a Fissure. Get Half Trolls and send them in unupgraded, these guys are still tough - they can survive a longbow shot from rangers. Now that our armory is up, get heavy armor and blades, start spamming Half Trolls, they'll tear through buildings, and nothing can really hurt a FU Half Troll. With two Fissures pumping them out, you should have hi down in now time. If you can though, take him out before it gets mid-late game.
-tunnel + goblin cave
-tunnel
-goblin cave
-2 tunnels
-fissure
-treasure trove, get heavy armor and forged blades
-2 tunnels
-spider pit
Basically spam goblins all the time and build as many tunnels as you need to keep your army large. Then as you continue get a fissure and get half trolls. Once you have enough money get the heavy armour upgrade and any troops that you send to war upgrade them. Most importantly you must always have units attacking the enemy, otherwise they will gain the upper hand.
ex SWGBH scn designer
ex BFME2H cherub
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