Northern Dúnedain

Starting Situation
The Northern Dunedain start with two cities - Fennas Drúnin, the capital, and Ost Súl, a village. Both are small, so initial income is limited. There are many rebel settlements to capture in the surrounding area, so rapid expansion is possible. You start with a small amount of staring forces in each city, but also two other forces: a general with four units in a fort Northwest of your cities, between Annúminas and Deadman's Dike/Fornost, and Halbarad of the North with two units of Dunedain Rangers to your West, near Metraith. The terrain around you is mostly grassland and forest; be wary of ambushing units, especially rebels in the early game. Your capital is protected from the South by a river, but there is a crossing in the East that the orcs will likely use to threaten your capital. You begin the game allied to Bree and the High Elves, and the Dwarves of Eren Luin are likely alliance targets in the future. Your starting enemies will be Angmar and the Goblins of Moria, with the Dunlendings likely to join in a war against you in the future.

Early Game
As of v4.5, the Northern Dunedain have a tough early game. The Goblins of Moria will definitely attack you from the South, attempting to take the village of Tirdhuin, south of Ost Sul, as early as turn 2. Angmar has been buffed in this version, and will start sending half stacks of units to full stacks of units towards Ost Sul by turn 15. The High Elves are more aggressive and will help against the Goblins of Moria, but Bree will likely do very little to help. Ered Luin should be allied as soon as possible, but be careful as the Ered Luin ring script may cause them to break their alliance with you and no longer be at war with Angmar, which will make it even harder to fight Angmar. You have two ultra-elite generals who will change the battle for you - Aragorn, who has the custom Grey Company bodyguard, an elite sword and shield infantry unit, and Halbarad, who has Dunedain Steelbowmen. Your standard bodyguard unit, the Dunedain Bodyguard, are also great units; a unit of archers who have both armor piercing arrows and armor piercing axes for melee combat. Ost Sul is a great defensive location as it uses the Amol Sul/Weathertop battle map, which has great terrain advantage for archers.

Military Overview
The Northern Dunedain start the game as an archer faction; they have Cardolan Sentries available in many cities as a multi-role archer/infantry unit, an excellent ranged unit with the Dunedain Rangers, and have cavalry archers available with the Dunedain Scouts. Their main weakness is that their recruitment is on the slower side, their units are more expensive, and many of their units have area of recruitment restrictions; on the other hand, their units are worth the cost, and early in the game a half stack of yours can fight and win against a full stack of your early game enemies. After the Barracks event, the Northern Dunedain gains a lot more heavy infantry, as well as one of the best archer units in the Dunedain Steelbowmen, armor-piercing archer units that will shred enemy elites.

Special Features

 * Beacon of Hope Recruitment
 * Fornost, Osgiliath & Tharbad Rebuilding as well as Anuminas

Rare Units

 * Dunedain Steelbowmen
 * Arthadain Royal Guard

Tips and Difficulty
The Northern Dúnedain have one of the more difficult campaigns in Divide and Conquer. Beginning the game with only two very small regions, they will often find themselves economically hamstrung during the early turns. The low number of settlements controlled by the Northern Dúnedain also means a small starting army, as there are few garrison troops available.

The capture of Deadman's Dyke, in order to rebuild the city of Fornost, and the capture of Annúminas, both from the Independent Realms, is a logical early step in many Northern Dúnedain campaigns in order to kick-start the economy. However, both of these settlements are manned by powerful garrisons, and so it may be unrealistic to capture them both in the opening turns. Note also that in the early game, the Goblins of Moria will present a frequent nuisance, fielding poor-quality stacks of many, many units turn-after-turn. It can be wise to capture Zagh Kala from the Goblins of Moria before moving on the Independent Realms in order to slow down their recruitment; especially given that the recruitment of your own units is very slow. Utilising the Beacon of Hope system in Bree is almost essential to fielding large armies in the early game.

Whilst the main threats to the Northern Dúnedain come from the Goblins of Moria in the east and the Remnants of Angmar in the north, the southern border cannot be neglected due to the potential threat of the Dunlendings. Seeking an alliance with the Clans of Enedwaith and ensuring the strength of Bree-Land and the Shire can help to contain the southern threat, much as lending aid to the Anduin Vale and the Dwarves of Khazad-Dûm can help to hold back the Goblins of Moria. A player should also be wary of a potential westwards threat of the Dwarves of Ered Luin accept the gifts of Sauron, and so keeping a strong force near Annúuminas, if there is one to spare, is advised.

The primary enemy of a Northern Dúnedain campaign is usually the Remnants of Angmar. Whilst your own units will generally outclass those of Angmar, the Angmarim are able to recruit units much more quickly. Taking out their strong settlements in Mount Gram and Carn Dûm early will often prove more useful than fighting througn the many small villages of Rhudaur and Cardolan. If the Dwarves of Ered Luin have taken the side of Good, it can be a fruitful tactic to sell them a settlement nearer to Angmar in order to more quickly drag them into the war, as they will otherwise take a long time to expand eastwards.

Should Bree fail in holding back the wildlings of Dunland, an intervention may be inevitable. The Dunlanders are similar to that of Angmar, and may be a much tougher fight as they will be guaranteed to have plenty of territory by the time they declare war on you. Whether you deal with them or not, this will bring in the Dominion of Isengard along into the war as well. The minions of Saruman are a far different problem then Angmar and Dunland combined, especially once they begin fielding their more heavenly armoured units into the fight.

It is generally advisable to complete Aragorn's script as the primary means by which the face Mordor in the late game, as the Oathsworn will allow a quick advance from the Morannon to Barad-Dûr.

The armies of the Northern Dúnedain should generally be made up of largely missile infantry. Take advantage of your superior range to tackle enemy missile forces, and include only as many melee forces in your armies as are required to pin the enemy in place as you flank them with your archers and cavalry.

Unit Roster
 Early Game: 
 * 1) Arthedain Footmen
 * 2) Dúnedain Rangers
 * 3) Local Militia
 * 4) Local Archers
 * 5) Sworn Infantry
 * 6) Woodmen Hunters
 * 7) Dúnedain Scouts
 * 8) Cardolan Sentinels
 * 9) Cardolan Riders
 * 10) Sworn Cavalry

 Post-Barracks Event:   Rare units :
 * 1) Dúnedain Armsmen
 * 2) Dúnedain Blademasters
 * 3) Arthedain Royal Guard
 * 4) Dúnedain Cavalry
 * 5) Dúnedain Steelbowmen
 * 1) Dúnedain Bodyguards (General Unit)
 * 2) Tharbad Royal Guard
 * 3) Grey Company