About the mod news - Conflicts of Eriador mod for Medieval II: Total War: Kingdoms

Greetings, salutations, and welcome to the LotR mod, Conflicts of Eriador! As the name suggests, this mod focuses on the area of Eriador, meaning the larger factions that played such a pivotal role in the main story of Middle Earth do not appear, or appear as minor characters. It is set in the early Third Age, starting at the early year of 1300, just when Angmar was beginning its march to becoming a great, dark power.

As such, many things have changed in comparison to the more familiar timeline of the late Third Age, when Hobbits rise, Elves leave and Men gain in power. It is of a time when Arnor still reigned, if divided, when Evil stirred in the north rather than the south, when the Elvish presence was still mighty and when Moria was still lodged firmly within Dwarven hands.

And so, we proudly present to you our glamorous list of playable factions:

From the top we shall go down clockwise, meaning we start at the still young Witch Realm of Angmar, led by the fearful Witch King, having been sent northward to do the Dark Lord’s bidding.. Next are the Orcs of Gundabad, fearsome, tall and imposing creatures, smarter, stronger and more dangerous than their southern kin. Speaking of those, they are next in line, represented as the Orcs of Misty Mountains. The Dhau Uarioch, Wildmen living in the lands to the south of Eriador, sharing their domain with the Daen Skaduriachta to the east, a people you might know better as the Dunlendings. The Saralainn, a less known people living on and near the coast, south of Andor, while retaining far more civility than the Wildmen surrounding them. The mysterious, unruly Gainnhalthas border them, often clashing with them. To the north reside the Ice Tribes of Lossoth, hardy men, used to a cold that would even give the Orcs of Gundabad pause. Next are the Rebels, the sole exception to the list of playable factions, but as any Medieval 2 player knows, they are an indispensable part of the game and therefore deserve being named.

We move on from the less civilised and cultured factions, and onto the powers of (relative) Good. First of all are the Noldorin Realms, the sole Elvish faction in our mod. Then we have the Dourhand Dwarves, who are collectively struck by a thirst for wealth that is known as dragon-sickness, and are rather unique because of it, being unlike any other Dwarves. Next are their kinsmen, the Dwarves of Khazad Dum, residing in their capital of Moria and quite busy with digging (too deep?). Then, as the third Dwarven faction, we have the Dwarves of Ered Luin, the Blue Mountains.

Next we move on to the realms of Men! First of those shown is the Kingdom of Gondor, who plays a less dominant role in this mod. They are followed by the three fractured kingdoms of Arnor, being the Kingdom of Rhudaur, the Kingdom of Cardolan and the Kingdom of Arthedain respectively.

In addition, the old TATW UI that has been a mainstay of every mod, will be overhauled and replaced with a new one, made by our 2D artist, Siu.

There will also be plenty of new battlemaps, courtesy of our master mapper WK.. Look forward to gorgeous (and bloody) battles in unique settlements and cities. The Campaign map itself will also hold many new unique features, and, as stated earlier, will focus on Eriador first and foremost. They will also contain a good part of the Wildlands and the Misty Mountains themselves, but beyond that we will not venture.

More is to come, and will be revealed as our progress steadily advances. Head over to our Discord Discord.gg . Until the next update!