Blogs - ithilienranger732

I guess this place just has a sort of charm for me that I can't shake off. With most of my summer stuff done and the school year coming up, which will inexplicably give me more free time, I've decided that I'm going to start a new blog series. The only question is what faction I should play as...

If anyone cares about this, comment on the blog and post your suggestions for my next war! I may even get screenshots up.

Dear me, where has the time gone? It seems only yesterday that I was new to the modding world, and completely new to the web. And now I feel as if I should know everything. It's a pity that I haven't been doing... well, anything.

Anyway, I've been doing other things. Anything, in fact, but that which I would normally be doing here. Well, I'm afraid that it's going to stay that way. I may pop in at ModDB from time to time, but I'm afraid my time is up. Goodbye to the community: I hardly knew you.

Of course, nobody will miss me. :-p

Few people around this neck of the woods know it, but I've been temporarily put in charge of Revora's IceForge division. As temporary leader, I hope to expand the division as much as is possible, so I'm going to be sendin out invitations to good-looking Warcraft and Starcraft mods. If you're looking at this by some fluke, feel free to comment and recommend notable mods for hosting.

Rivendell falls quickly to Carthaen's armies: the death of Burzolog spells the end of the dark power in Eriador. However, along with Azog, he escapes the reach of Carthaen's rangers and vanishes into the darkness, reappearing on the other side of the Misty Mountains. Azog fortifies Isengard, but Carthaen's pursuing forces quickly eliminate both of them. In the far north, Arvedui repels assault after assault, finally breaking the leaguer on Mount Gundabad and taking control of the Anduin Valley. However, the intervention of the Witch-king with a large force of Olog-hai nearly spells the Arnorian king's doom. Despite the slaughter, he prevails in battle and secures the region. In the passes of the Misty Mountains, Carthaen and Argeleb destroy the goblin garrison, chipping away at the enemy's hold on Rhovanion. However, Arvedui is forced to pull out by a lack of troops and crosses over High Pass into Rhudaur to rebuild his army from the elves and men of the region.

Translation: The battle of Rivendell was no challenge whatsoever for Carthaen's army, who breezed through it without a single casualty. Unfortunately, he showed up soon enough on the other side of the mountains and took refuge in Isengard. I sent Carthaen in to rat him out, which he did in a handy fashion. Afterwards, I fought off Shelob with Arvedui's army and counterattacked into the Carrock region where the Witch-king was. Although half of Arvedui's force was killed by the combined force of their armies, he still won the battle. The passes fell without much of a fight, allowing Arvedui to pull back to one of my troop production centers.

Gondor, land of Seven Rivers, is now a land of war. Arveleg, along with Lord Elrond of Rivendell, move through Enedwaith into the northwestern Falas. They encounter minimal resistance until they reach Belfalas, where a stiff garrison of orcs hold them at bay. However, inevitably, the king triumphs. Gothmog, Lieutenant of Morgul, mans the captured Minas Tirith with the intention of striking at Arveleg from their. However, the militias of Belfalas foil him at every turn. He is trapped in Minas Tirith, unable to sally forth until Arveleg comes for him...

Translation: While my other three hero armies gallivanted around the Misty Mountains, Arveleg moved along the southern side of the White Mountains. He took down three garrison armies in short order. However, as soon as he'd left Belfalas, Gothmog attacked it. With no troops present but a single battalion of Gondor soldiers, I held off his army, built one of my own, and smashed his base. Arveleg's next target will be Minas Tirith, where he's bottled up...

Argeleb's army hastens from Cardolan, seeking first to cut off Burzolog's retreat. However, the wily troll attempts to slip from his trap, moving south into Dunland to break through Argeleb's battle lines. A bloody battle is fought: the King himself is gravely wounded, and all his guards perish, but the doughty longbowmen of the Dunedain hold off the first wave of trolls. A great host of archers threaten to wipe out Arnor's hopes of victory, but quick thinking by the tacticians lights the bone-dry grass aflame, burning the orcs alive. The timely arrival of Arnor's Royal Lancers seals the fate of the orc army, which is driven back, defeated, into Rivendell, which is besieged by Carthaen. Arnor has been avenged.

Translation: I recently decided to return to A Rising Shadow after a long time playing through campaigns. My first order of business was to avenge my crushing defeat at the hands of Burzolog. Argeleb's army managed it quite nicely, although he fell in combat along with seven battalions of swordsmen. Fortunately, my base survived, so I counterattacked and destroyed them. Now that Azog and Burzolog are bottled up in Rivendell, I merely need to finish them off...

The Dark Lord's forces have wrested the lands along the western side of the Hithaeglir from the hands of Arnor's kings. While the army of Rivendell, led by Elrond, defends Cardolan, the Olog chieftain Burzolog storms through Dunland into the elven city. The Dunedain longbowmen take down many of his trolls, but their valiant efforts are not enough to prevent Rivendell's conquest by the enemy. From his realm of Rhudaur, Argeleb vows vengeance, and his army begins to move towards the elven city...

Translation: It was a sad day for my armies yesterday: Burzolog took over both Dunland and Rivendell. There were five attack trolls in his army when he began his campaign... by the time he had fought his way through the hastily-called fyrds of both provinces, only two remained. Now that Argeleb has an army of respectable size, the duty to retake Burzolog's provinces falls to him...

The siege of Fornost is broken. Although badly bloodied by the enemy, and almost driven over the brink of destruction, the garrison of Fornost manages to sally forth and crush the enemy. As Azog attempts to retreat, an army led by Carthaen breaks upon his rear, spelling total defeat. In the south, Arveleg fights against the Mouth of Sauron, the former Lieutenant of Barad-dur who barely escaped from the Black Gate with his life. Arveleg is pushed back several times, but his force rallies when reinforcements from Harlindon arrive. The elves come to Arveleg's aid and drive out the enemy at last. However, the Olog chieftain Burzolog, bypassing the battle lines drawn up by Carthaen, attacks Dunland, attempting to drive his force all the way into Rivendell...

Translation: Although my walls were completely torn apart at Fornost, and I lost quite a few men, I still managed to completely rout Azog. During the same turn, I had Arveleg and Co. defend Minhiriath against the Mouth. Fortunately for me, I managed to defeat the enemy force inside my base by drumming up some Lone Towers, and eventually I mounted a counterattack of my own. Now, in Dunland, I face one of my most challenging defensive battles yet...

As Arnor rose from the ashes of the cataclysm that had devastated the face of Arda, two new empires rose with it. One was under the goblin king Azog II, a descendent of Bolg; the other was under a group of Ringwraiths who had miraculously survived the destruction of Mordor. As Arnor's forces spread out in all directions, they were met with opposition from these new powers. This is an account of the battles they faced to ensure the salvation of their country...

Translation: This is another War blog. =D

Captain Carthaen, most valiant of the Dunedain rangers, made his way south. In Minhiriath, near the ruins of Tharbad, he met Azog in open battle. There, a great struggle was waged. Carthaen's forces had the mastery at first, but the balance slowly shifted towards Azog. At long last, his giants destroyed the Arnorian fortress. An encampment of Dunedain gallantly held off the goblin tides, but their hopeless gesture of defiance resulted in their deaths. Azog pressed north, along the coast, as Arveleg and his army attempted to cut off his escape. Meanwhile, Carthaen regrouped and won a mighty victory over the goblin chieftain Gorkil. In the north, Arvedui drove back Shelob's brood thrice, earning victory after victory for the new Kingdom. However, things did not fare so well on the coast. With Arveleg's force behind him, Azog launched a strike at the very heart of Arnor's empire. Rampaging through the outmatched Dunedain garrison of Arthedain, he has attacked Fornost, the capital of Arnor...

Translation: I fought a huge battle against Azog's army, and, after a long time, he defeated me. Unperturbed, I decided to try to trap him in my territory. Carthaen ended up with a great army, anyway, and Arvedui won quite a few times. Unfortunately, Azog got through my lines, and now I need to defend Fornost against him. Fortunately, I killed three quarters of his giants, so he shouldn't have it too easy... :P

Dol Amroth: one of the greatest fortresses in the south, it is in the heart of Dor-en-Ernil, the domain of Prince Imrahil. At the end of the War of the Ring, a final defiant force of Sauron's minions attacked. Coming from both land and sea, they laid siege to the city. Catapult rocks rained on the harbor, propelled by the ship-board catapults of the Corsairs of Umbar. The gates were plagued by countless orcs attacking continually, and Men of Rhun and Harad roamed the coastlines. In the midst of this chaos rose a great captain of Gondor. Pulling the beleaguered forces of Men together, he made his stand before the gate. He was joined by the Princes of Ithilien and Dol Amroth, and together they slew many, sending the orcs fleeing. King Elessar sallied forth from the city, driving the enemy before him, and the fleet of Dol Amroth broke the blockade on the port, sending out their own bombardment ships to wreak havoc on the shoreside camps of the enemy. A great army of Gondor marched on the enemy bases and laid waste to them, although they took many losses. At long last, the siege was broken, and Gondor was victorious.

Translation: I played a skirmish on NJM1983's fabulous Dol Amroth map. Although I was under heavy pressure keeping my buildings up for awhile, I finally managed to build several warships and destroy their naval bombardment, mounting one of my own in turn. My bombardment ships destroyed the fortresses of both Mordor armies, and my trebuchets took down the Men of the East. During the battle, all of my heroes reached rank 10 (which rarely happens) and completely owned the enemy. Overall, a very enjoyable skirmish.

Calenardhon has stood empty for many years, but the descendants of Eorl have returned once more to take their rightful place as rulers. Theoden, King of Rohan, leads his armies to the east from the fortress of Helm's Deep, while Eomer expands north, Gamling west, and Erkenbrand south. Their empire building is interrupted by the Dourhands, a race of dwarves subservient to Sauron. Using Mordor as their fenced land, they defeat Theoden's army in the bloody battle of Fangorn. However, Erkenbrand's army returns soon enough to prevent a slaughter, and Rohan is Theoden's once again. Encouraged by this victory, the Rohirrim press southeast, driving the Dourhand armies before them. Gamling and Erkenbrand corner the Dourhand king south of the Morgai, forcing him to surrender. Although a band of Dourhands holes up in the ancient fortress of Minas Ithil, Theoden bypasses them and, cutting his way through the Morannon, delivers a devestating blow to the heart of the Dourhand empire. Demoralized by the destruction of their capital, the Dourhands surrender.

Translation: Well, this was one war that took a lot shorter than I expected. There were only two major battles: Erkenbrand vs. Gloin and Brand at Cair Andros, and Theoden vs. Gimli in Fangorn. During the first battle, I fought a highly successful defensive action. Having upgraded all of my troops and constructed a small army of Ents, I proceeded to an all-out attack on the enemy base. And I died, because RJ Ents are pathetic. So, I sent in Treebeard. (Who died.) And also another Treebeard. (Who also died.) And then I sent in a second round of cavalry and a full army, and this time I won. During the second battle, Gimli stormed my base and killed Theoden and both of my builders before I could get a fortress set up. Left with only two farms, an archery range, and a tower, I battled bravely on, defeating hundreds of dwarves before they finally managed to snuff me. When Gimli attacked Isengard, he broke upon the fortress like water on a rock, and since all of their other troops had been destroyed with Gloin and Brand I managed to completely obliterate them for the remainder of the war without having to lift a finger more in real-time. How boring; and I didn't even bother to take screenshots. What faction do y'all want for the next war?