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The Dwarf Holds | Dwarf Lore 6 The Dwarf Holds | The Dwarf Faction7Bilbo Baggins – along the way. They traveled long and hard and throughmuch peril, and came at last again to Erebor.Smaug raged at their approach, and took his fury out on the people ofDale – whose home had formerly been, and now again, was betweenthe arms of the Mountain – but was slain by a nobleman of legend, Bardthe Bowman. Soon afterwards, another great Battle was fought at Erebor,of Five Armies. The Dwarves of the Iron Hills, under Dain Ironfoot,the Elves of Mirkwood and Thranduil, and the Men of Dale were on oneside. The Goblins of Bolg son of Azog and their Wolf allies were uponthe other.Long and hard was that fight, for many of the combatants were veteransof the War of Dwarf and Orc. But once again the Dwarves had the victory– Bolg was killed, but so was Thorin. Dain became King Under theLonely Mountain, and has been ever since.But as always, something stirs in the dark. Our enemies plot and gatheragainst us. Just recently a messenger from the South – from the BlackLand of Mordor – came to the very Gates of Erebor, to barter with Dain.What that dark rider wanted I do not know, for I am not privy to theKing’s counsel. Perhaps it is better that way.Our borders are threatened. Wild Men and Orcs approach from theEast and South, and there is talk of returning to Khazad-dum – nowknown as Moria, the dreaded Black Pit – just as Lord Balin did sometime ago. Now, my lads, will you stand against our enemies, and marchbeside us to war?– from the account of Nar , T.A.3017The Dwarf FactionPlaying as the Erebor faction in The Dwarf Holds is quite different fromplaying any of the four original Battle for Middle-Earth factions. TheDwarves give you a distinct set of advantages – the most powerful infantryin the game as well as the strongest defences, but also some significantdisadvantages. Your units will be slow, your archers limited, and youlack any kind of cavalry.The first thing you’ll notice are the new bases. The Dwarves have astrong fortified Castle, similar to Rohan and Gondor, but they haveuniquely fortified Camps and Outposts. Camps have a fully enclosed,walkable wall, and Outposts can build defensive structures and have lowfences like Gondor and Rohan’s Camps. They are described in greaterdetail in the Bases part of this manual, and ensure that your units alwayshave a strong bastion to retreat to.As an Erebor player, you’ll haveseveral challenges to overcome.Dealing with cavalry and raiding isfirst and foremost among these.Slow infantry means that reactingto raids on outlying economy plotswill be difficult, and doing raiding ofyour own will be slower. To counterthis, you will need to make use ofyour heroes and spellbook powers.Secret Ways can paralyze an army of cavalryMany abilities confer a temporaryboost in speed, and other may immobilize enemy units so that they cannotretreat from the fury of your axes.Another major disadvantage that comes with having the most powerfulinfantry is economic. Dwarf units are strong and deal lots of damage,but are very expensive, as are their unit upgrades. However, there are anumber of measures you can take to offset costs. The basic Dwarf economystructures, the Forge and the Mine, provide important discountswhen built in large numbers. Forges in numbers can provide an awesome60% discount on upgrades. Mines have an even more importantdiscount: they reduce the cost of infantry. Since 95% of Dwarven unitsare infantry, this will be very useful. Mines can only be built on economyplots though, so expansion and capture of territory will keep your unitscheap. Finally, most Dwarf units can combine with another unit of thesame type to create a double battalion. Upgrades are shared across the