Thanks Ayrn.

And now for some non-roleplaying explanations of what's going on. I've been in contacted with some of the neutrals to give them a report on what has happened so far. Since it offers a concise account of what has occurred I'll just copy and paste what I sent to the Haradrim:

Hi Jerry,

Sorry to hear about the presence of DS forces at 2833. Last turn the
DS turned up on Rhudaur pop centres as well. If I didn't know better
I'd say they were on a mission to alienate every neutral out there!

Anyhow here's the sit rep you requested. Apologies if some bits are a
bit vague. I'm sure you understand that there's only so much I can
reveal:

The big news, as you no doubt know, is that the Easterlings have
declared for the Free. It's something we've been working for over the
last couple of turns so there's interesting things to watch out for
from Terry (the Easterlings player). At the moment the Easterlings
have an army at Burch Nurn (Blind Sorceror village at 4025). The Free
also have an army nearby, that has come through the 'back door' into
Mordor.

In the Sea of Rhun, the Easterlings, Dwarves, Northmen and myself (to
a lesser extent) have been coordinating our actions. The Long Rider
landed an army at Lest (4017) last turn, captured the town, and has
been intercepted by the Dwarves and Northmen at Kheled-nala (3916).
It's likely that the Long Rider army will be destroyed, or failing
that it'll suffer severe casualties. The LR has also snuck in an army
at 4217. Finally both Din Ohtar and Cloud Lord agents have been
targeting the Northmen.

In Ithilien, the two Gondors and myself (to a lesser extent) have been
going about things effectively. North Gondor caught and destroyed the
Long Rider starting army at 3129. The Fire King has taken Minis
Ithil/Morgul at 3124, but there was any intent from our side to defend
the place. The FK moved the army to Osgiliath where it will be
destroyed by the two Gondors.

In Eriador things are interesting. The WK assaulted and captured 1406,
and currently has two armies that have been temporarily halted at
1408. Arthedain and Cardolan have been working well, however, and each
have one army at the WK pop centres at 1806 and 1907. The WK also
appears to be moving his Mount Gundabad army into Eriador (either that
or he's made order errors).

In Mirkwood/Misty Mountains things are at boiling point. The Dwarves
and Noldir have trapped the starting DL army at Goblin Gate. That will
fall this turn. The Sinda (ie. me) have intercepted one of the
starting Dol Guldur armies at 2615. The Eothraim and NG are facing
another DL army at 2616. Finally the Woodmen have an army camped on
the (nearly) empty Dol Guldur itself.

In the North-East the Dwarves have taken 3506.

Regarding the WK incursion into Rhudaur, from what we heard from
Rhudaur it was an act of aggression, but we have yet to hear what
actually happened.

If you have any further questions, feel free to contact me.

Regards,

Gajendra (Envoy of the Sindar)
As (may) be obvious the forces of Sauron keep 'accidentally' straying onto the towns of the neutral nations. The Rhudaur player is an odd fish so hasn't reacted in the manner that you would expect, but Harad isn't pleased at all.

Other than that, my description of what's happening in Mirkwood and what I posted earlier reveals that there's been a big early push on Dol Guldur.

There also may be something happening a little further on, involving some pointy-eared folk...but I'll tell you about that later.

I enjoyed the diplomacy as a neutral in game 62. Everyone - DS and FP - were all very cordial and afraid to alienate the neutrals. It made it very difficult to declare.

A long time ago, in an earlier game I played, I was the Easterlings, and I remember that the neutrals were all angry becuae the Witch King suddenly, without warning, struck hard at Rhdaur to eliminate him from the game inthe first few turns.

Rhudaur, pissed, immediately declared for the FP and together with Arthedain and Cardolan, dsmembered the nazgul nation by turn 7!

A lot has happened and I'm getting my turn results in a couple of days time (for turn 5). After I do so I'll offer a detailed update on what's happened.

If my luck holds, it'll be full of positives.

So what has happened?

Since I wrote that thing about Taurnil I might as well start there. On turn 3 Taurnil intercepted an army hailing from Dol Guldur that was looking to raze Caras Galadhon. The Dragon Lord actually sent another army around as well, in, what I suspect, was a plan to converge on Lorien. Luckily the Eothraim and North Gondor cavalry intercepted and destroyed that second army.

On turn 3 I decided not to have Taurnil's army attack but to prevent the opposing army from moving back to Dol Guldur. In the end the Dragon Lord decided to assault the Woodmen Camp I was on, in the mistaken belief that he would attack me as well. On turn 4 I attacked and won! Yay!

Battle at 2615
In the Mild climate of the Open Plains of 2615, a conflict took place in the hours of late morning under a clear sky.

At the head of a highly energetic army rode Captain Taurnil of the nation of the Sinda Elves. The mount on which he rode cantered anxiously along the side of the battle lines. Behind him the forming ranks were filled with:
Troops Weapons Armor Formations

1000 Wood Elf footsoldiers w/broadswords wooden none a mob
900 Wood Elf archers w/long bows arrows none ragged ranks

At the head of a rebellious army rode Hero Celedhring of the nation of the Dragon Lord. In his hands was borne the glowing Staff called Taurin. The mount on which he rode moved with trepidation to the center of
the battle lines. Behind him the forming ranks were filled with:
Troops Weapons Armor Formations

400 Troll footsoldiers w/battle axes wooden none a mob
600 Orc footsoldiers w/scimitars bronze leather a mob
600 Goblin archers w/short bows arrows none a mob


The Camp of Vidus flying the flag of the Woodmen is situated in the Open Plains here.

After the battle.... Taurnil's forces found no enemy armies to fight. Celedhring's forces found no enemy armies to fight.

The battle for Vidus was over even before it began. The attackers were so numerous and strong that thedefending militia had little chance to save themselves. The battle was over in just a few hours!!

After the attack on the population center.... Celedhring's army survived the attack on the Camp, but suffered minor losses. Celedhring appeared to have survived. The Camp has been reduced to a Ruins. The Ruins of Vidus now flies no flag.
The Dragon Lord tried to assassinate Taurnil after that, but not only did it not work, Taurnil severely wounded the prospective assassin. I have no idea why the Dragon Lord tried that, since he (at that stage) would have no agents capable of carrying out assassination orders. (it requires quite a high agent rank).

On turn 4:

In the Mild climate of the Open Plains of 2615, a conflict took place in the early morning hours under an
overcast sky.

At the head of a highly energetic army rode Captain Taurnil of the nation of the Sinda Elves. The mount on which he rode cantered anxiously along the side of the battle lines. Behind him the forming ranks were filled with:
Troops Weapons Armor Formations

1000 Wood Elf footsoldiers w/broadswords wooden none a mob
900 Wood Elf archers w/long bows arrows none ragged ranks

At the head of a calm army rode Hero Celedhring of the nation of the Dragon Lord. In his hands was borne the glowing Staff called Taurin. The mount on which he rode moved calmly to the front of the battle lines. Behind him the forming ranks were filled with:
Troops Weapons Armor Formations

388 Troll footsoldiers w/battle axes wooden none a mob
582 Orc footsoldiers w/scimitars bronze leather a mob
582 Goblin archers w/short bows arrows none a mob


The Ruins of Vidus flying no flag is situated in the Open Plains here.

Report from Taurnil.....My commanders moved among the troops before battle, readying them, bolstering their resolve, and issuing last minute orders. These troops didn't need much encouragement and waved and joked
with their Commanders, offering bets on who would find the best plunder. Finally the order was shouted across the battlefield.. Head straight for them and then strike the left flank...the left flank!

Against the forces of Celedhring, when we hit their flank, they attempted to surround us.

After the battle had joined in earnest, heroes made their presence known all over the battlefield. Celedhring rode into the enemy ranks with his glowing Staff and cut down a score of foes before they knew what had happened.
Report from Taurnil.....Our archers let loose an initial volley that soared unhindered into the enemy lines. Our foot soldiers engaged the other troops in the open and took the battle to them. The troops fought very
well, but more training would have raised them to great heights. They fought with great spirit. Although the enemy fought hard, we finally succeeded in overwhelming them after a long battle. Commanders on the scene ordered their troops to salvage what they could from the remains of the enemy
forces..

Captain Taurnil: 1297 Food

After the battle.... Taurnil's forces were victorious in the battle, but suffered huge losses. Taurnil appeared to have survived. Celedhring's forces were destroyed/routed in the battle. Celedhring appeared to have survived.
Meanwhile at Dol Guldur:

Battle at 2715
In the Mild climate of the Mixed Forest of 2715, a conflict took place in the early hours of the evening in a dense and oppressive fog.

At the head of a calm army rode Captain Beoraborn of the nation of the Woodmen. The mount on which he rode moved calmly to the front of the battle lines. Behind him the forming ranks were filled with:
Troops Weapons Armor Formations

800 Beorning footmen w/battle axes wooden none a mob
600 Woodman archers w/long bows arrows none ragged ranks

At the head of a calm army rode Commander Waulfa of the nation of the Woodmen. The mount on which he rode moved calmly to the front of the battle lines. Behind him the forming ranks were filled with:
Troops Weapons Armor Formations

1000 Beorning footmen w/battle axes wooden/bronze none/leather ragged ranks
1200 Woodman footmen w/hand axes bronze leather ragged ranks

At the head of a highly energetic army rode Lord Mahrcared of the nation of the Éothraim. In his hands was borne the glowing Sword called Herugrim. The mount on which he rode cantered anxiously along the side of the battle lines. Behind him the forming ranks were filled with:
Troops Weapons Armor Formations

2449 Éothraim horsemen w/lances bronze/steel leather/bronze ragged ranks
1108 Plainsman horsemen w/broadswords bronze/steel leather/bronze ragged ranks

At the head of a calm army rode Regent Tarondor of the nation of Northern Gondor. The mount on which he rode moved calmly to the front of the battle lines. Behind him the forming ranks were filled with:
Troops Weapons Armor Formations

600 Dúnadan footmen w/broadswords wooden/bronze leather/bronze ragged ranks
300 Lesser Dúnadan footmen w/shortswords bronze/steel bronze ragged ranks
300 Dúnadan archers w/crossbows arrows none ragged ranks

At the head of a calm army rode Captain Vagaig of the nation of Northern Gondor. The mount on which he rode moved calmly to the front of the battle lines. Behind him the forming ranks were filled with:
Troops Weapons Armor Formations

507 Dúnadan knights w/lances bronze/steel bronze ragged ranks
507 Dúnadan knights w/shortswords bronze/steel bronze ragged ranks

At the head of a calm army rode Captain Wodurishak of the nation of the Dragon Lord. The mount on which he rode moved calmly to the front of the battle lines. Behind him the forming ranks were filled with:
Troops Weapons Armor Formations

400 Troll footsoldiers w/battle axes wooden none a mob
300 Mannish slaves w/maces bronze leather a mob


The Major Town of Dol Guldur flying the flag of the Dragon Lord is situated in the Mixed Forest here. It is fortified by a Keep, and it is under siege or attack.

Report from Mahrcared.....My commanders moved among the troops before battle, readying them, bolstering their resolve, and issuing last minute orders. These troops didn't need much encouragement and waved and
joked with their Commanders, offering bets on who would find the best plunder. Finally the order was passed down the ranks.. Charge!! Charge!!
Against the forces of Wodurishak, they met our charge with their standard formation.

After the battle had joined in earnest, heroes made their presence known all over the battlefield. Mahrcared fought side by side with the troops and diverted many a blade during the pitched battle with his glowing Sword.
Report from Mahrcared.....Our cavalry were severely hindered by the dense woods in accomplishing their objectives. The troops fought very well, but more training would have raised them to great heights. They fought with great spirit. Although the enemy fought hard, we finally succeeded in overwhelming them after a long battle. Commanders on the scene ordered their troops to salvage what they could from the remains of the enemy forces..

Captain Beoraborn: 70 Food

Commander Waulfa: 97 Food

Lord Mahrcared: 245 Food

Regent Tarondor: 94 Food

Captain Vagaig: 58 Food

After the battle.... Beoraborn's forces were victorious in the battle, but suffered minor losses. Beoraborn appeared to have survived. Waulfa's forces were victorious in the battle, but suffered minor losses. Waulfa appeared to have survived. Mahrcared's forces were victorious in the battle, but suffered minor losses. Mahrcared appeared to have survived. Tarondor's forces were victorious in the battle, but suffered minor losses. Tarondor appeared to have survived. Vagaig's forces were victorious in the battle, but suffered minor losses. Vagaig appeared to have survived. Wodurishak's forces were destroyed/routed in the battle. Wodurishak appeared to have survived but suffers from light wounds. The battle for Dol Guldur was over even before it began. The attackers were so numerous and strong that the defending militia had little chance to save themselves. The battle was over in just a few hours!!

After the attack on the population center.... Beoraborn's army survived the attack on the Major Town, but suffered some losses. Beoraborn appeared to have survived. Waulfa's army survived the attack on the Major Town, but suffered some losses. Waulfa appeared to have survived. Mahrcared's army survived the attack on the Major Town, but suffered some losses. Mahrcared appeared to have survived. Tarondor's army survived the attack on the Major Town, but suffered some losses. Tarondor appeared to have survived. Vagaig's army survived the attack on the Major Town, but suffered some losses. Vagaig appeared to have survived. The Major Town has been reduced to a Town. The Keep has not been affected. The Town has been under siege/attack this turn. The Town now flies the flag of the Éothraim.

Other than that I've successfully managed to locate Tinculin, for the Free Peoples to use. It's a powerful mage artifact in its own right, but it also gives mages the ability to learn a spell that can allow them to damage enemy characters without being present on the hex in which they're situated.

And I've been focusing all my efforts on unveiling and smashing a hidden town that the Dragon Lord has in the middle of Mirkwood. That'll fall to me this turn, and will mean that Mirkwood will have been cleansed by the end of turn 6!

It also puts me in a good position. The Sinda will have successfully overcome the danger posed to Lorien, and my only loss has been one village. All my characters are intact, and are now looking very strong. Added to that I have 4 emissaries who are going to be busy building camps and villages in order to improve my economy.

Well several weeks have past, and turn 8 has come to a close. About time to update this methinks.

A few weeks ago the elves of Lorien (ie me) under King Amroth evicted the Nazgul from their last lair within Mirkwood. Once again the eaves of the great forest were liberated from the malefic influence of Sauron. Amroth of Lothlorien renamed the forest Eryn Lasgalen - or the Wood of the Greenleaves.

In the north the dour Dwarves, the stoic Boernings and the sons of the Kings of Arnor have swept away the Witch King of Angmar. No longer will his shadow hang like a dark cloud in the North. And thanks to the craft of Tharudan (Sinda super agent who has stolen his most powerful artifact) the Witch King himself will soon fall at the hands of King Bain I of Khazad-dum.

In the Bay of Belfalas and the South, Sauron has corrupted the hearts of the Haradrim and they, along with the eighth of the Nazgul (the Quiet Avenger) have sent their navies to ravage the the towns of the Princes of Dol Amroth (South Gondor). But it was something we long suspected. The Quiet Avenger's champion fell under an assassin's blade after rampaging through two Gondorian towns, and the Haradrim have been interecepted by the Cardolanese and Sindarin navies before they could even reach land.

[The one thing left to decide then is which way the Corsairs will turn. If they choose Sauron - as we suspect - things are going to really heat up].

Meanwhile Gondor itself has been hard pressed. The ancient capital of Osgiliath has swapped hands innumerable times, but its bridge over the Anduin to Minas Anor (Minas Tirith) has been destroyed. The forces of Sauron are pillaging through the towns of Gondor on the east bank of the Anduin, and it seems likely they'll try and ford the river near Pelargir in an attempt to smash the heirs of Numenor.

The Eothraim and the Dwarves, and all good folk have thrown thousands of brave souls at the Black Gates, in an effort to relieve the pressure. But so far our attempts have been in vain.

In the far South and East the brave men of Khand (the Easterlings) have engaged in a series of lightning swift raids on Mordor, while their huge armies of horse and Mumluk (they had an encounter in which they recruited the huge beasts!) have rampaged through the South and are now beseiging the capital of the Quiet Avenger.

In less poetic parlance, the Sinda are starting to look very, very strong indeed.

I have a series of characters that are becoming very powerful. In addition, the fact that I've created 6 new camps had improved my economy drastically.

So far there have been some attempts to assassinate some Sinda characters but none have been successful. This is in large part due to my agent strength, since I have 5 pure agents wandering around, and some of those are starting to get very sneaky indeed.

There was an encounter that my mages benefitted from with Galadriel a while back, which I quite enjoyed:

'Last evening, after the troops had been fed, and the fires were banked for the night, a glow appeared to all within the camp from the surrounding trees. As the glow came nearer, all could see that the light emanated from an Elven female of wondrous beauty. The creatures of the wood seemed to grow quiet as she passed beneath the stately trees. As she entered our camp, the birds seemed to start singing and the forest became alive with noise. The troops also felt enheartened by her mere presence, and I hastened to welcome her to our poor camp. "I am called Galadriel, and I am glad to welcome you to the fight against the Darkness. I will seek out any of you who have mage skill and see if I can be of any small assistance to them." As she passed among the troops, even the tired among us felt rejuvenated and blessed that she had deigned to spend some time among us. For each Mage she found, she spoke of the spells they knew. To some, she imparted some of the ancient knowledge. And with that she left by entering the forest, which seemed to just swallow her from sight.'

That's about everything, so I'll update things in a few weeks time. I'm not sure if anyone cares to read this stuff...but i'm going to be stubborn and write it anyway.

I enjoy these updates, and hope you'll keep giving them.

Alright then, I will.

Several more weeks have been and gone, and now turn 12 is looming. Since a lot has happened, I thought I'd try the Peter Jackson approach to conveying a lot of information about Middle Earth in a concise but understandable form. If you remember in the Two Towers film there's a scene in which Faramir's aide-de-camp conveys to him the latest news of the War, by running his hand over a map. This is my (slightly less good) version:

The noise was something he hadn’t heard for over a millennia. The din of hammer hitting anvils, and the heavy footfall of armour-clad elves could be heard everywhere in the hidden refuge of Rhubar. For over a millennia his people had remained apart from the concerns of Middle Earth. Swift arrows always awaited any servants of Darkness that dared to stray into their forest homes, but their ears had remained to deaf to the envoys, entreaties and pleas for aid from others. Until now.

“What news of the War?”

His voice startled the lone travel-worn elf, dismounting from atop an equally weary charger.

“Milord Amroth,” the figure breathed, before dropping into a reverential bow.

“Spare me the formalities just this once Mablung,” the tall Sindarin elf replied before closing the few paces separated him from his kinsman, and pulling him to his feet. “What news?”

“Word has trickled through to Ohtar of Edhellond of the dire need that Gondor is in. The Black Numenoreans of Umbar – the Corsairs some call them – have thrown their weight behind the Dark Lord. Several thousands have landed on the banks of the Anduin, and are even now besieging Pelargir. The Princes of Dol Amroth have been unable to react in the manner that they would have. Prince Celdrahil has been slain, and the response from Dol Amroth had been slower than Tarondar of Gondor hoped.”

“And Ohtar how has he responded?”

“He has set sail Milord. As word came of the Corsairs and their treachery, Ohtar sailed in behind their black ships. The Men were so eager to pillage Gondor, they left their whole fleet unguarded. He intends to burn it.”

“So that will leave both Harondar and Umbar defenceless to our navies.”

“Quite, Milord.”

“What of Mordor? Has the Enemy unleashed his full might?”

“No. The Men of Arnor and the Horselords of the Eothraim have tried to draw out their forces, but for now the Black Gate remains firmly closed. The Easterlings of Khand have effectively harried and destroyed and foul orcs that have sought to attack us here at Rhun. But even now Ovatha of Khand and Gaerandil of the Northmen of Khan call for our aid. I told them that…”

“We will march.”

“Milord?”

“Tell them that we will march. The Sindarin will go to War.”

Been ages since I updated this. I'll be getting the results for turn 15 on Wednesday, so I'll update when I get that.

I've missed this thread.

So how are things looking for the Sinda and the Free Peoples?
Pros for the Free as a whole
1) Economically the Free Peoples are winning the war quite easily. We managed to collapse the market prices several turns ago. What this means is that the forces of Sauron get the lowest possible renumeration from selling products to market. Since Mordor isn't that great a place to live, and the Dark Servants need to sell to balance the books, this form of economic warfare can be quite effective.

2) Militarily we're winning hands down. Since I last posted the Ice King has lost his capital Durthang and his back up capital (both in Mordor). The Dragon Lord's back up capital has also been destroyed (also in Mordor). Finally Osgiliath has been liberated and Ithilien is now (more or less) free of Sauron's malefic influence.

3) Character strength. Some Free characters are looking very strong. There are already assassination squads up and running of Free agents, and soon they'll be joined by curse squads. (Curse squads are groups of very powerful mages that can kill enemy characters without being in the same hex as that character).

The Corsairs did manage to destroy a North Gondor city (Pelargir) and a South Gondor town, but in so doing they lost all of their navy (one third of which is now in my hands!).

Negatives for the Free
1) The DS do still have agents around that can pose real problems for the Free. We do have agents of our own (the Sinda especially) but they're out-numbered by the opposition. So some nations have lost a lot of characters to Morgul blades (North Gondor especially).

2) The bank of Harad/Corsairs. Since both Harad and Corsairs turned Dark, they can payroll Mordor nations that would otherwise go bankrupt. The Free will need to do something about this.

Now for the Sinda. How am I doing?
In short, the Sinda Elves are starting to become very strong indeed. I'm regularly ranked first or second among the free peoples, but that's not necessarily the best way of judging things (since it's a team game really).

I managed to get down 13 camps before the camp limit was reached (at which point it becomes tough to create new camps) and many of these have been upgraded to villages. As a result the Sinda have the highest (equal) tax base among the Free Peoples and have given large amounts of cash in recent turns to more economically deprived nations.

In terms of resource production, that has also been improved hugely. The only thing I'm a little short on is mounts for cavalry, but I have an artifact that will allow a mage of mine to conjure mounts of thin air every turn.

My characters are exceptionally strong. I don't want to name names, in case any DS player reads this, but of the 17 Sinda characters around at the moment 8 have a rank of 60 or more in one of the four skills (command, agent, mage or emissary). Another 5 are approaching that mark.

Militarily I have the largest navy in the Great Sea bar none (primarily due to captured Corsair ships). I'm also scaling up my land forces for various up-coming escapades (more on that in a few weeks time).

After turn 16 was received, the Dark Servants have communicated that they may give up the fight.

The message from the chap that plays the Blind Sorceror was:

'We are voting whether to continue or not. I agree that it is lost. You all have played an excellent game and there are too many factors against us. If we could just have managed to get the market higher than 1, I would be voting to continue, but as it is now, we are reduced to 325 everything every turn and it is not enough to raise enough troops to slow your armies while our characters destroy them.

We should have an answer for you in a few days.'
...It's nice of course that we're that close to victory. But a little frustrating that I won't be able to use the huge armies that I've assembled.

On the plus side my nation currently has 1683 victory points, so I may well finish on top of every other nation.

I'll let you know more if/when the DS do throw in the towel.

Well after 8 months of the game and 16 turns, the Dark Servants have surrendered!

Here's the communique we received:

Okay Freeps - we are unanimous in conceding defeat. Once again - very well done!

I am extremely impressed with two things - your coordination to bring so much force to bear at Dol Guldur on turn 3 (the campaign against the Dragon Lord in general) and your complete depression of the market. Great teamwork was required for both!

Good luck in your next games!

Doug - Blind Sorcerer
There's still 1 turn left after this, in which we'll just go through the motions and rack up victory points. So I'll comment after that's all done and final standings are computed etc. (around a fortnight from now).