|
|
The Mirror of Galadriel v1.6 (updated 9/11/01)
|
Author |
File Description |
Fingers |
Posted on 07/22/01 @ 12:00 AM (updated 09/12/01)
File Details |
Ruleset: |
Warlock's Rules |
Map Size: |
X-Large |
Playable Races: |
One |
Surface Levels: |
3 |
Difficulty: |
Normal |
MoG version 1.4
Single player (Highmen) scenario, 10 AI races
Size: XL, 3lvl
Turns: Simultaneous* or Classic
Leaders M U S T be off
R E Q U I R E S Warlock’s mod (WR1.1), which is available here:
http://www.southwest.com.au/~wl/AoWWar/index.html
THE MIRROR OF GALADRIEL
From the darkness of Numenor across the sea, ere the wrath of Iluvatar destroyed her, few among the Faithful reached the shores of Middle-earth. As the thousand ships of cruel Ar-Pharazon sailed west to the Undying Lands and the armies of mortal men laid claim to deathless Eldamar, the island kingdom from whence they came sank beneath the waves. Yet the spirit of Iluvatar was preserved in a handful of her people. Elendil and his sons, upon the very hour of war, midst the world's upheaval, refused the summons of the King, and fled before the twilight of the West.
Now Elendil reigns as King of the Dunedain, the last, shattered vestige of the Faithful. Though few, they are the Men of Westernesse, whose pale likeness recalls in Middle-earth the glory of Numenor before her decadence. No grief shall they suffer idle. Along the seaward vales of the Ered Ninmrais, nigh upon the River Anduin's meeting with the Bay of Belfalas, there is a great rebuilding underway. Through loss and bitter sorrow the blessing of Iluvatar shines as a light in their eyes as new settlements rise between the mountains and the sea.
Yet to some the future bodes darkly. None forget the lies of Sauron, the Dark Lord whom Ar-Pharazon brought to the Island Kingdom as prisoner years before its doom; nor the deceptions that played upon their peoples' fear of death and so inflamed their resolve to attain the immortal shore. Perhaps a remnant of Numenor's evil survived the cataclysmic plunge into the abyss, taking for itself only a new form. Few among the Dunedain are willing to believe Sauron survived; but there is a shadow brooding over the ashen walls of the Ephel Duath in the east, in Mordor, the Dark Lord's former realm.
As rumors fly along Anduin, the lore wardens of the King speak quietly of a seer of legendary power, with whom Elendil might discover the truth. Lothlorien was her realm of old, an elven wood far north of the Falls of Rauros. However, even among the wise it is feared that Lady Galadriel, whose Mirror is said to contain the gift of prescient vision in shifting reflections, holds for mortal hearts a fate more perilous than the lies of Sauron….
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
*tip: When you’ve found Lady Galadriel, wait until the computer players end their turns before looking into the Mirror and recruiting Gil-Galad. Otherwise, the diplomacy screen has a way interfering with the pop up text.
special instructions: When entering combat in water-cave entrances, Warlock has recommended Auto rather than TC. The TC map that comes up is the standard entrance, and water bound units cannot move on it. :)
|
Author | Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
---|
mctkp |
Posted on 08/05/01 @ 12:00 AM
Massive map. Very difficult even right from the start. Well thought out and laid out. |
Sir Crashalot |
Posted on 08/10/01 @ 12:00 AM
A beautifully designed and laid out map which uses many features not seen in most other maps.
Much time and effort has been spent on the storyline and is enough to keep the player enthralled throughout the game.
A recommendation for people who want to play a REAL scenario.
Good Work |
jstarkweather |
Posted on 08/17/01 @ 12:00 AM
An excellent scenario. Truly massive in scale and playability. Might seem a tad difficult at first, but strategy will win the day. If you enjoy a long, long, long, game, this one is for you. |
HyunYu |
Posted on 10/02/01 @ 12:00 AM
This is a fantastic map. The storyline (as told by heroes) gives you a very good feel of being right there at the end of the Second Age in the Middle-Earth. The map is huge (XL in three levels) and beautifully created.
The game is, however, extremely difficult. Playing against the AI is usually no challenge, but this one is a tough nut to crack. Just staying put and building up your armies and heroes and hoping to weather out the storm isn't going to work (gee, like in the book!). Sooner or later there's going to be too many hostile armies all over the place and you won't be able to meet all of them. I found that you actually need to go and conquer the enemy cities. Well, I don't know that this is a valid strategy either, since in my four games I haven't been able to win (the longest I lasted was 70 days or so).
For those of you who have read The Lord of the Rings: remember in The Return of the King, during the Battle of Pelennor, Denethor goes mad from grief and tries to burn the dying body of Faramir? Gandalf manages to stop him, but before Denethor sets himself on fire, he says to Gandalf, "against the power that has risen in the east, there is no victory" or something to that effect (sorry, this is from memory, not having read LotR in over a decade)? Later it transpires that Denethor has been looking east and south through palantir and has seen (or Sauron let him see) the vast armies and might arrayed against him and despaired. Well, if you ever open the game in the editor to peek around, that's the feeling you'd get! :-)
(my apologies to the map designer--fantastic job, by the way--if my poking around the editor was a serious no-no) |
Tekk Zero |
Posted on 04/21/02 @ 12:00 AM
A very fun map, I enjoyed this one a lot. Fingers as usual did a masterpiece here. He is surely one of the best mapmakers. He makes his inverted terrain look so natural. 2 thumbs up here. The detail and gameplay are really good in this map. |
PetrusOctavianus |
Posted on 09/02/21 @ 03:00 PM
A very enjoyable map, and I really enjoyed the Warlock's Rules.
It was a bit overwheming in the beginning, with so many units to recruit, and with so many units on the map.
But it turns out most of the starting enemy units, many of them extremely tough, are garrison units in cities or they guard map sites aggressively.
So the map is rather static, and there's rarely much pressure compared to some other maps.
But it also means that you will have to work up some super heroes to crack the toughest cities. Finding items with Death Immunity and later Fly, will be very important. So you need to defeat the Goblins and Dark Elves before the assault on Mordor. And to defeat Sauron you'll need an item from his very tough champion.
So not a very dynamic map, but easily the most strategic AoW map I've played.
Unfortunately what could have been a masterpiece is marred by the map lasting too long. I defeated Sauron of day 55 and the Balrog a day or two later, but the Dark Elves and Undead still had units on the map. Turns out they are in a secluded area behind one way Teleporters on Fire squares, some of which last until day 100. So I hit the End Turn button to wait for the final units to appear, but then my allies the Elves, Dwarves and Halflings all declared war on me. Then I called it quits.
So a brilliant map until balancing problems in the end game.
You do get a Victory message after defeating Sauron, though.
So it seems that the victory conditions should have been to capture Orodruin, since otherwise you can't win properly until turn 100+.[Edited on 09/03/21 @ 02:52 AM]
|
HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
---|
4.6 | Breakdown |
---|
Playability | 4.7 | Balance | 4.2 | Creativity | 5.0 | Map Design | 4.8 | Story/Instructions | 4.5 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 6,177 |
Favorites: [] | 1 |
Size: | 221.77 KB |
Added: | 07/22/01 |
Updated: | 09/12/01 |
|