Great Scenario. Here's a recap of my game.
- The Westfold fell to Saruman very quickly, and Sauron attacked Osgiliath in force. Faramir's archers ambushed a convoy from Harad, while Gondor sent all of its pikemen east to protect the white city. Denethor, quickly recognizing the importance of mobility, ordered his workers to construct a series of secret roads throughout the eastern forest. The gaze of his palantir was diverted west, however, when a swarm of Uruk-hai discovered a pass through the western edge of Ered Nimrais.
- Since Gondor had emptied its interior of fighting men to defend Osgiliath, Denethor was forced to travel to Erech, where he personally managed the defence of the city. Even still, it would have fallen, had a unit of Gondorian Cavalry not arrived in time to aid Denethor's defence. Eventually, the host from Isengard was destroyed, and the forces of Gondor managed to fight their way to the cursed pass. Workers arrived and constructed a fortress barring Isengard's future entry. Thus, Denethor was able to turn to the rapidly deteriorating situation in the east.
- Meanwhile, Gandalf had led Frodo and the Fellowship through Moria without incident, easily disposing of the Balrog and his minions. They encountered the Ents at the edge of Fanghorn Forest, and convinced them to join the cause against Isengard. The passage through Rohan was uneventful, save for the destruction of a small orc company that was harassing the Rohirrim.
- The battle for Osgiliath, however, was another story. The city would have surely fallen, had Denethor not ordered the construction of the eastern road network. These pathways allowed Faramir's men to draw the orcs into ambushes without incuring any major losses. Several Nazgul-led assaults did make it to the city, where trebuchets played a pivotal role. Unfortunately, throughout the attack Harad launched continious raids along the southwestern coast of Gondor, forcing Denethor to send a punitive cavalry expedition south along the Harad road. The first battle of Harad ended in a stalement, and the cavalry was forced to withdraw north to lick their wounds. They returned in time to cut off some archers who were attempting to resupply the city. The men of Gondor then launched a second assault, inflicting massive casualties, yet they could not storm the gate. They retreated once more to recover themselves. The third, and final attack was a success, thanks to the unlooked-for aid of elven archers who arrived in time to aid the horsemen of Gondor. The city fell, and King Mursilis was killed. The remaining people of Harad were so dismayed by the death of their king that they ran from their homes and fled into the sea.
- During this exodus, a sentry posted at Cair Andros sighted a disconcerting image - Uruk-hai. Saruman had pillaged his way through Rohan, devestating the countryside and cutting off Gondor's supply of Rohirrim horses. Unwilling to sacrifice his northern ally, Denethor withdrew all of the cavalry defending Osgiliath and sent them Northwest to the cursed pass. There, they launched a secret invasion of the Westfold, easily defeating the Orcish defenders. The company then divided in two, half heading for Edoras, the remainder for Isengard. Workers travelled with the first half, who annihilated the dark forces threatening the Eastfold, and they reconnected the roads linking Gondor with the horses of Rohan. The second company of horsemen pillaged the countryside surrounding Isengard and raised a siege until the arrival of Entish reinforcements.
- Unfortunately, the situation at Osgiliath became dire once again. Several units of Pikeman and bowmen had worked together to stifle the attacks of a much larger force from Mordor, however their strength was running thin. Just as Osgiliath semmed to be lost, the fellowship arrived from the north, and the victorious horsemen from Harad rode in from the south. These reinforcements dealt a death blow to the dark army, forcing them to retreat back to Minas Morgul.
- Time was getting short, and Gandalf urged Denethor to attack Mordor directly. The arrival of the cavalry returning from Rohan spurred Denethor into action. He mobilized the forces of Gondor into a grand assault upon Minas Morgul. Perhaps he caught Sauron by surprise, because the tower was captured with few losses. The true battle occured on the plateau of Gorgoroth, where a desperate cavalry charge revealed a great leader - Aragorn! Aragorn immediately assembled an army of bowmen and pikemen, and pushed towards Mount Doom. This escort proved sufficient, as Frodo and the fellowship arrived at the dreaded mountain unscathed. They climbed the hieghts of Mount Doom, accompanied by Aragorn's army, and threw the ring into the fire, defeating Sauron.
- It was Sauron who had the last laugh, however, because Mount Doom's subsequent eruption killed all those atop the mountain save Frodo.
Alas, it was a bittersweet victory for the forces of Good...
Some Questions
Comments About the Scenario:
1. Has the path of the dead been implemented correctly? Only Rohan is capable of travelling through it! If the path is only meant to be representative, then Erech should be moved 1 square NE. This way the riders of rohan (or the victorious forces of Isengard) would be unable to enter Gondor through this path. If the fellowship is supposed to be able to utilize the path, then Edoras should be moved instead.
2. Why not give Gondor an invisible archer unit for a UU? This could represent the geurrila fighters commanded by Faramir. As it is, I fought almost exclusively with cavalry, only using bowmen during the initial stage before I had access to horses.
3. On the topic of invisibility, you say that only Sauron and the Nazgul can see Frodo. But in a post, you state that Sauron's eye can see the entire map. Doesn't this mean that Frodo is visible to the forces of Mordor?
4. I love the size of this map. Too many authors make huge maps with too many cities. Unfortunately, until I looked at the map in the editor, I didn't see the path around Minas Morgul. I was wondering how you expected poor little Frodo to storm the tower! Now I see...too bad. I could have saved all of those heroes.
All in all, I am quite impressed. I would have liked to see animated LOTR leaderheads (at least for the non-humans) but you focused on gameplay, which is much more important, in my opinion. Great Job!
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Here's the summary:
I looked everywhere! I was about to burn the Shire to the ground in my rage, but tiem ran out!
my computer soon if i dont find out how, i wanna try these scn bad!
I read this post and I guess this answers my question. The only problem - Isengard had Rohan pretty much under control. Rohan never sent anybody through the path. But the most the corsairs ever landed with was 2 swordsmen, so it was never a big deal. I do see the delemma here. I was going to suggest making the 'fellowship' unit able to travserse mountains, but then neither moria nor the mountains surrounding mordor are factors anymore. 
