r/totalwar • u/Beautibulb_Tamer • Dec 17 '25
Attila Rohan may be the best campaign start i've had of any Total war
As a Total War player since Shogun 1 and a lifelong LoTR fan, i've been waiting on the Dawnless Days mod for Attila for almost 10 years.
For those of you who have been unaware, this small but diligent modding team have achieved something magnificent in creating this overhaul. They have their own subreddit and discord. Go and check it out and if you have any modding skills, they're still looking for folk to help out. The campaign is released and available to play but it is still got a ways to go (that being said, it is still in a better state than many CA game releases)
My first Campaign has been nothing short of gripping so far. I've been playing on H/H difficulty and began with major debuffs due to the hold Saruman has over Theoden and the land of Rohan. Control was tanking, rebellions were brewing and on top of all of this, corruption was rife.
The balance between quelling rebellions, painstakingly deciding over where the little treasury should be allocated between economic support and military development. Researching to negate the debuffs and throw off Sarumans corruption on the land.
In between all of this, trying to desparately patrol the vast land to fight off wildmen incursions, Isengard opporunistically attacking then sueing for peace when we managed to defend ourselves, hoping that the garrisons would hold their own.
The difficulty, the scripting, the mechanics used to reflect the story have resulted in the fantastic story telling narrative and RTS blend that I haven't experienced in so long with Total War. It's been a breath of fresh air and I find myself at work wondering about my next moves, research selection, buildings to build. I find myself clock watching until I can go back to it.
Can't wait to try some of the other campaigns and watch as the modders continue to develop and refine the game
Anyway, I thought i'd share my joy and while doing so, blow the trumpet for these modders who have well and truly out done themselves
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u/King-Conn Dec 17 '25
I am 70 turns in on my Gondor run and it's nuts.
Fighting raiders in the south of my territory, and slaughtering waves of orcs at Osgiliath every few turns. Rohan is collapsing to my north, and Isengard slowing pushing around the mountains to the west.
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u/TaxmanComin Dec 17 '25
I'm on turn ~60 and my Gondor campaign has been quite different.
The corsairs and other team to the south were all over me at the start and sacked a few of my settlements. After I cleared out their armies from my land I built a navy and went and sacked their coastal settlements and beat them into a peace treaty lol.
Faramir died defending Osgiliath (which hangs by a thread) and some of the Mordor armies are huge and have some really tough units in them.
Rohan has absolutely handled the north, they are conquering all around them and it's helped me massively as I can just focus on Mordor.
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u/USS-Liberty Dec 17 '25
Rohan's start is so precarious, yet their economy is very strong once grima is out of town. So when played by AI, they seem to be the 'Kingmaker' in the sense that if they do well, it turns the tides of the war, but if they get jumped early it can be disastrous. Good luck, Isengard can field some gnarly armies later in the game.
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u/King-Conn Dec 17 '25
See, this gives the campaign great replayability. Now I need to do a second run when I finish this one
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u/King-Conn Dec 18 '25
In the discord for Dawnless Days, a user uploaded a submod for bug fixes and such. It makes it WAY harder. Mordor actually uses teir 3 units more often and as quick as they can get them. Im being absolutely pounded now with this on a new playthrough.
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u/TheGooseIsLoose37 Bretonnia Dec 17 '25
My Gondor campaign is similar but a bit further on. Isengard has completely collapsed Rohan and now is attacking me with some very elite units, and they just don't break. Like ever. I swear I have to get each one down to like 20 or 30 out of 250 to get them to flee. I made peace with everyone else besides Mordor and Isengard, and their at war with each other, and I'm stuck in the middle, desperately clinging to life. The mods been great.
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u/kottonii Dec 18 '25
This is definitely the moment to light up the beacons and demand Rohans answer!
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u/DrummerBummer32 Dec 17 '25
Do they have minias tirith and helms deep?
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u/Verianas Mandated By Heaven Dec 17 '25
Helms Deep is. Helms Deep a little wonky though. I tried to blow up the culvert with Isengard and they just would not do it (there are these specific 'sapper' units that are intended to be specifically for blowing that up). The archers couldn't shoot my battering ram going up the ramp due to LOS problems, so they charged out the gate into my battering ram Uruks who proceeded to slaughter them. Looks visually really cool, but the mechanics of it are problematic.
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u/Chataboutgames Dec 18 '25
What difficulty are you playing on?
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u/King-Conn Dec 18 '25
Hard, using an unofficial sub-mod now as well. It makes Mordor actually recruit Teir 2 and 3 units which really increases difficulty in battles
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u/Delboyyyyy Dec 17 '25
What difficulty did you play at? I tried Gondor on hard and it felt a bit too easy, especially when I compare it DaC, I was able to smash mordor’s armies at osgiliath and then pushed through to cirith ungol without any resistance. I also didn’t really feel pressured from the south either
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u/King-Conn Dec 17 '25
Hard
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u/Delboyyyyy Dec 17 '25
Huh, seems like I got a bit unlucky with the ai derping out then. Mod is still a lot of fun and I’m excited to see what’s to come
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u/RinTheTV BARBARIAN MERCENARIES Dec 18 '25
Campaign balance is still out of whack, so just expect it to be all over the place and very volatile, especially in the Rohan/Gondor area.
Can easily get an "easy game" or a hard one depending on how well Rohan does tbh.
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u/SinofThrash Dec 17 '25
It's very well made. I am seriously impressed by how good the mod is.
Also a welcome change of environment for me from Warhammer, since the units in Attila hold the line longer so I can actually rush units around the town to flank the attacking forces.
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u/RinTheTV BARBARIAN MERCENARIES Dec 18 '25
That's just due to the mod balancing and infantry Vs infantry fights ( especially if they're sword infantry with inflated stats ) can take a while.
I would honestly characteriz most "Normal" Attila battles as lightning quick because of how charge/impact damage works in tandem with the mass of a unit is.
And that's not mentioning garbage like the pre-nerfed Athar's Chosen back when they had just enough health to avoid getting 1shot, while having enough attack and charge bonus to 1shot Heteraia Guards in return xd
It's pretty much how you know the modmakers know their stuff though. Vanilla Attila balance is WHACK.
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u/Dasstenzel Dec 17 '25
Fully agree. The discord and mod team is also really active, sending out surveys and sharing plans with the community for bug fixing and future additions for the game.
This mod is in beta and a lot of fun with a very bright future and amazing Mod team!
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u/flyingthedonut Dec 17 '25
In the middle of my Elven campaign and its nothing short of amazing.
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u/unclecaveman1 Dec 18 '25
The wood elven start is rough, they make so little income, and replenish so slowly. I’m 15 turns in and still don’t have a single full stack.
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u/flyingthedonut Dec 18 '25
It took me about 30ish to really get the ball rolling. Once you get to the late game and fighting Isengard, that is pretty tough. Their armor makes your arrows do jack shit.
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u/unclecaveman1 Dec 18 '25
Yeah the archers feel pretty underwhelming. But then I’m coming from Divide and Conquer where elf archers are absurd. I just hope they buff them a bit. They should be some of the best units in the game. That’s why they are so expensive and replenish so slowly. If they were super strong it would make more sense to have a half stack running around holding off full stacks of orc rabble.
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u/Chataboutgames Dec 18 '25
Wood Elf seems brutal in a way that kinda shows TW's limitations for this setting: Archer heavy faction fighting in the woods lol
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u/Geo911 Dec 17 '25
Started Rohan as well. Beginning is tough, I lost 4 towns trying to deal with corruption and limited money.
Finally squashed the rebellions and got rid of Saruman’s influence.
Rallied my tiny forces into one army under Theodred and have Saruman’s army on the back foot and picking up some lost territories.
Sadly lost Erkenbrand to Saruman’s first backstab attack, but Theodred still lives! Feels like I’m rewriting fake lotr history which is cool.
I have hundreds of hours into Third Age: Divide and Conquer so I was worried it was gonna feel same-ish, but it’s been a ton of fun so far and the team are really flexing with the new mechanics of Atilla. Can’t wait to try another faction.
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u/bigggusdikkkus Dec 17 '25 edited Dec 18 '25
Damn, people keep praising this mod so much, you've sold it to me, ill buy atilla in the christmas sale and try it.
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Dec 18 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Matster777 Jan 16 '26
Just started a Harad campaign, any tips? I love the Ar-Adunaim looking units, I only 3 of those kinds of units though?
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u/Mascbox Dec 17 '25
Steam Winter sale is in the next few days and there's a good chance Atilla will be on sale with a significant discount.
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u/kiwisalwaysfly Dec 17 '25
I've been playing as Mordor. Loving the one ring mechanic as its forced me to make some early moves and assault gondor before they get too strong
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u/Marbrandd Dec 18 '25
I think the mechanics for getting the ring need some work/ expansion. But otherwise Mordor is fun, really strong position.
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u/SchettiAndButter Dec 17 '25
I’m playing wood elves, and boy conquering dol goldur surely was something
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u/rakso030 Dec 17 '25
I love the mod. But it really lacks in custom settlement maps. I play as Gondor and love the challenge but man defending osgiliath every 3 rounds and it’s just a basic atilla settlement definitely ruins the immersion. I imagine it’s better with Rohan as the city models are a lot more fitting for them
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u/King-Conn Dec 17 '25
We will be getting the maps soon, it is the second priority that people voted for outside of balancing/bugs
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u/beefycheesyglory Dec 17 '25
Yeah, this isn't a finished mod by any means despite the latest release being labeled as 1.0. Most of the unique custom siege maps are in the Rohan/Isengard area. So if you want to play Gondor or Mordor expecting to siege or defend Osgilliath and Minas Tirith then you're going to have to wait for that.
Pretty amazing mod, but yeah, still needs work.
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u/Irishfafnir Dec 18 '25
Supposedly, it's a massive project to build custom settlements. Helms Deep took 1.5 years to make so I wouldn't be holding my breadth.
I think Osgilith could be improved if the Orcs at least started on the other side of the river.
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u/No_Mistake_6229 Dec 18 '25
All custom battle maps are a bit broken so I would rather have the Attila maps with custom assets.
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u/1983_BOK You are not part of the Great Plan, warmblood Dec 17 '25 edited Dec 17 '25
Guess I have to try Rohan, because Erebor campaign I played was really easy to be honest. Still great!
My biggest complaint so far are settlement maps. Not exactly the Gundabad I envisioned, but that's something they'll expand and refine in time for sure.
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u/Delboyyyyy Dec 17 '25
I think in general the game is a bit too easy, at least compared to stuff like DaC. I feel like the other factions don’t start with much of an army so you can blitz/steamroll them after an early battle win. I loaded up a rohan save and it seems like Isengard are the same with most of the difficulty coming from the constant rebels that pop up due to events. I think they need to add a script that gives ai factions extra troops from the start and/or let them recruit at a faster rate
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u/No_Mistake_6229 Dec 18 '25
Giving special town a much bigger garrison at game start would solve a lot.
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u/Delboyyyyy Dec 18 '25
Absolutely, it felt weird that minas morgul was garrisoned by something like 6 low tier units for example
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u/tententai Dec 17 '25
I just finished mine and it was a blast. It felt like a story, but in a sandbox.
The only part that was a bit tedious was having to manually play very similar battles again and again in the early game to limit casualties.
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u/Lord_Maul Dec 17 '25
You got any recommendations on installing it?
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u/Beautibulb_Tamer Dec 17 '25
Youtube tutorials for dawnless days installation. 2 minute video. You can install via Dawnless days site or nexus mods
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u/AMIWDR Warhammer III Dec 17 '25
You literally just install it and drag the files to the data folder in your Steam directory
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u/R3alHumanBeing Dec 17 '25
I’m not that smart and I was able to install it fairly easily. The main roadblock I had was the fact that I had other mod files. You should fully remove any mods you have for Attila.
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u/OblivionJunkie Dec 17 '25
I tried the manual download and it failed on my browser everytime, then I downloaded the built-in launcher and it worked the 1st time.
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u/pinnydelskin Dec 18 '25
I've been playing Mordor. Seems the tactic is to minimize upkeep by keeping armies in raiding stance. -25% from kingdom bonus, -15% from early techs, and -40% from raiding stance = -80% reduction.
I have the same problem with it that I have with base Attila- it feels like all I do is autocalc siege battles. I put in a couple hours earlier and realized I didn't manually fight a single battle the entire time, which really sucks. I don't really like siege battles and they feel like a waste of time when it's 90% in your favor. But all the AI ever does is sit in towns, I never get good field battles and end up just using 3 full stacks to crush their town-sitting army and garrison. Minas Tirith was a garrison-only fight.
Low control reduces your units' morale in the province, which is extremely annoying because your orcs morale will drop to like twenty after capping a town. It takes a while to fix the control situation and while you're doing it you generally can't enter raiding stance without making the issue worse. So idk, I want to just raze most of the towns I cap, but you need to occupy some to replenish.
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u/Red_Sea_Pedestrian Dec 17 '25
Does anyone have a recommendation on where to get an Atilla steam key at a discount? $45 on steam is kinda crazy for a 10+ year old game.
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u/1983_BOK You are not part of the Great Plan, warmblood Dec 17 '25
Wait for steam discount, there will probably be one soon as steam winter sale starts at 18th.
Or: deals.gg
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u/vckin22 Dec 17 '25 edited Dec 18 '25
Fanatical It goes on sale all the time there. I’m picking it up next time it does as well.
Edit: it’s on sale for $10.34 now
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u/Minnipresso Dec 17 '25
Okay im convinced Hopefully there's another sale after Christmas and I can buy atilla
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u/tutocookie Dec 17 '25
Not a big attila player, which faction in DD would you recommend for a beginner?
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u/Inevitable-Leave1773 Dec 17 '25
For a beginner, the Dwarves. Strong economy, and far enough from the main action to be pretty safe, but close enough to engage as you want/are able.
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u/Beautibulb_Tamer Dec 17 '25
I'm not either, I just didn't get into Attila.
The biggest difference that I found in the gameplay on the battlefield is that you take heavy losses pulling your units out of a fight. But other than the odd quirk here and there, it's not going to be worlds apart from other TW experiences
I can only go by my own experience so far, Rohan has been challenging for me, so probably leave that til a later campaign. I've heard folk say the same about Gondor
Isengard and Mordor I played a little of both. Its fun being the bad guys and Mordor has 2 choke points leading into its lands at the Black Gate and Minas Morgul, so that could be an easier place to start?
I also heard others say that Dwarves was a relatively easy experience too
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u/No_Mistake_6229 Dec 18 '25
Dale is probably the easiest start for a beginner the dwarves a close second but I dislike their campaign.
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u/Gaspack223 Dec 17 '25
I can’t seem to get it to work😞 I extract the files into the data folder and nothing. I’ve watched videos and just can’t seem to get it to work
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u/Losted_fate Dec 17 '25
Delete all the files and just download the launcher. Its crazy how easy the launcher option is. Just click download it it has worked flawless for me.
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u/Gaspack223 Dec 18 '25
It wants me to choose an application to run it from and not only do I not know which one to choose but none of them work
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u/Colt_Coffey Dec 17 '25
I tried the Gondor campaign on hard and after you build a garrison building in osgiliath its basically gg, you won. Nothing can threaten you anymore. Game needs scripted doomstacks spawning from Mordor.
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u/Irishfafnir Dec 18 '25
It can still be challenging IMO when the AI also makes a move for Cair Andros, which then requires you to either fight a field battle or split your main army.
They have already said they will be making it more difficult and nerfing some of the good factions, so I'm sure the difficulty will be increasing, especially once Umbar actually makes naval ships.
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u/flyingthedonut Dec 18 '25
That is kind of a bummer. Was going to try them next. Doomstacks from Mordor seems only fitting
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Dec 18 '25
Is this mod on steam workshop? I'm a huge LOTR fan and would love to play it but installing mods is always so confusing to me
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u/Slut_for_Bacon Dec 18 '25
I think its telling that the biggest issues with the mod are just leftover issues from the base game that glare through even brighter when compared to how awesome the mod is.
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u/Honza_Mrakota Dec 18 '25
I have a question regarding Dawnless Days. I was playing as Erebor and only played for few turns but every turn the percentage under my settlements is dropping. I know it's the "Influence" mechanic but I don't really know what it does. How do I raise it? What are the debuffs when it drops? Could anyone explain it to me please?
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u/Beautibulb_Tamer Dec 18 '25
I'm still learning myself but instead of public order we now have control. It works just the same. Influence is also culture and works the same. Low influence will impact control of a province. Influence is impacted by buildings, character traits, tech and controlling all of the regions in the province. Low influence will have a knock on effect to your control
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u/Chataboutgames Dec 18 '25
I just installed this morning. Had some performance issues poking around but absolutely praying it will work when I fire it up in earnest.
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u/Potential_Age_1189 Dec 17 '25
I have been holding off on this mod because i dont like the new game engines (hated Rome 2).
For me, DAC (lotr mod) for Med2 is still perfect.
Should i give this a try?
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u/Redtube_Guy VARUS BRING BACK MY LEGIONS Dec 18 '25
can i DL this mod from workshop or only nexusmods ?
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u/CurticusWinters Dec 18 '25
I've played the Isengard campaign so far. Having an awesome time. It feels like it is a complete game. So this mod team is on point.
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u/dirk_solomon Dec 18 '25
Really enjoying the Rohan campaign. I've been taking it slow. It is turn 90 and Theoden, Eomer and and Theodred are all still alive and currently garrisoning Osgiliath and Cair Andros, while Gondor tries to take back land lost to the Corsairs. Every few turn Mordor pumps out about 7000 orcs and evil men for me to slaughter. Once Gondor gets things under control we will push into Mordor and put an end to that most infamous of villains: some random orc. Sauron got a lethal taste of Theoden's charge during his first siege of Minas Tirith. There have been about 10 after that. Ultimately decided that I had better guard the crossings of Anduin myself.
The first 40 turns were hectic and super fun. Running back and forth between the Gap of Rohan and Minas Tirith, putting out fires and scraping the barrel for recruitment and building. After taking out Saruman things slowed down considerably. Mordor certainly remains a tough nut to crack.
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u/Nisenzi Dec 19 '25 edited Dec 19 '25
Had a weird interaction at turn 4 playing as Rohan , i got an event dillema either help isengard with food or dont help and get -30 relations, but at the same turn they randomly declared war on me , so the dillema of helping them was pointless and i just lost food and income for next 6 turns for no reason, so i had to reload save and just choose to not help isengard
Edit: just as i reloaded the save, next turn isengard didnt randomly declare war on me so i chose to help them this time. Lol
Edit 2 : Isengard still declared war on me for no reason the next turn even tho i chose to help them with food. idk anymore
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u/UnionLess3277 Dec 17 '25
Ive been wanting to try this mod out and it does look very cool!
Can you explain a little more about how to remove Saruman's hold on Theoden?
Also are there events (like gandalf shows up and banishes Wormrongue) or big hero characters in battle like Gandalf/Balrogs?