here - The Dwarf Holds

The Dwarf Holds | Gameplay Notes 2 The Dwarf Holds | Dwarf Lore3Gameplay NotesThose familiar with The Battle for Middle-earth should note a couple ofkey changes we have made to game mechanics in order to diversify thebase game.Firstly, Archers have had several major changes. Arrows fired are nolonger completely accurate, instead they have a chance of missing. Thischance depends on the unit. In general, Elves are the most accurate,followed closesly by Dwarves and Men (note that this also includes EvilMen!). Orcs are the least precise. Hero characters keep their perfectlyaccurate shooting - they are heroes after all! If arrows do miss, theymight hit other units though, so inaccurate archers will do well to targetlarge groups of targets. Arrow damage has also been tuned so thatunits will still do approximately the same amount of damage as they didbefore.Secondly, players should now be wary of purchasing the Fire Arrowupgrade. While this upgrades still increases damage, it greatly decreasesaccuracy. This makes it great against buildings, but weaker against units.Many factions now have other arrow upgrades as well. Use them wisely!The next major change has been to siege weapons. In order to reducethe proliferation of catapult spam, artillery units now cost more CommandPoints and are capped at a certain number on the battlefield atonce. To compensate, the old underused siege weapons have beengiven some advantages - rams and ladders are much more attractiveways to get over an enemy’s walls now.The various artillery weapons have also been changed to be moreunique. Some factions’ weapons are better than others at differentroles, such as killing infantry, destroying buildings, or just forcing theenemy to scatter.Dwarf LorePart I:Durin’s FolkFar off, millennia ago, Durin awoke. He stumbled forth from his undergroundhome and walked the mountain-paths of Middle-earth, watchingthe stars, alone. He came to a deep, blue lake and looked in – andthere he saw, reflected in the water, a crown of stars above his head.Durin the First took this as his emblem, his crest and symbol of all hisFolk – and Durin’s Folk multiplied, exploring the land and plying theirtrades. They were great craftsmen, miners, and most of all, warriors.They slew the rakhâs, the Orcs, whenever they encountered them, forthe creatures were deadly predators that would kill a Dwarf of Durin atno provocation. Eventually the Folk of Durin’s House found a place forthem to abide, and there they delved their halls and mines, in Khazaddum.This great home of the Dwarves, this Dwarrowdelf, or Dwarf-home, wasknown far and wide for its greatness and splendor and hospitality. Bygood fortune it was not touched by the great Wars of the West thatsent half the world under the waves in ruin; but this was not to last.The descendants of Durin, of which there were many, ruled fromKhazad-dum with a penchant as being kind and generous leaders– though quick to anger. They made a friendship with the Elves ofEregion, each of them great craftsmen and metalworkers, and sharedsecrets among one another that had never been known before.Then Sauron came. He helped forge the Rings of Power (of which Sevenwere made for the Dwarf-Lords, one for each House, and among someit was said that Sauron had had no hand in the making of the Ring ofDurin), and threw up a rift between the Elves and Dwarves that hadworked so hard to reconcile. But he was foiled, and returned to theNorth to wreak fire and slaughter.The Dwarves of Khazad-dum, led by Durin the Fifth, fought on the sideof Elves and Men in the Last Alliance of Elendil and Gil-galad, though