Third Age - Total War is a total conversion for 'Medieval II: Total War - Kingdoms Expansion' that brings you into the world of Middle-earth.
Excellent mod. A lot of love and talent went into this project. Beautiful models and textures and well-conceived structure. Next to Battle for Middle Earth 2 (which has better skirmishes, but a weaker meta-game), it's the best LotR strategy game out there. I especially like the large number of factions available and how each has their own personality. It also has music and cutscenes that are incorporated in a very professional way. I'll probably never play Medieval 2 again, since this mod is vastly superior to the core game.
My only (minor) complaint about the mod has to do with how it over-reaches regarding difficulty. The creators gave the AI some rather ridiculous advantages, such as continuous spawning of units, extra resources each turn, and a few other perks. On medium difficulty, you can get swamped by AI spamming even as your own economy plunges into debt, allowing for no new recruitment of units. Also, there are a few questionable scenario set-ups that will lead to frustration for many--such as starting Gondor off in a two-front war with Mordor and Harad. Fortunately, if you are willing to dig around a bit in the data files, you can fix all of this, making the mod near perfect. Much of the code is clearly marked and fairly easy to understand, so you can tailor it to your liking.
Aside from the occasional black screen or crash to desktop, I have had a great deal of fun with this mod. The creators should be highly commended for their accomplishment, which reveals a good amount of talent, hard work, and vision. Many thanks!
9/10