The Army of Gondor

The army of Gondor at the end of the War of the Ring and the beginning of the Fourth Age is a depleted and exhausted one, even though they are the victors!

The majority of Gondor's forces are citizen soldiers, only pressed into service in times of desperate need, such as the War of the Ring!  So at the end of the war, much of the manpower of Gondor is going to be diverted into more peaceful pursuits: farmers, fishermen, craftsmen and merchant folk.  These militia men can be called upon, but only at a great cost to the economic rebuilding of Gondor.

There is a standing army, a core of professional soldiers, principally based in Minas Tirith in the north and at Dol Amroth in the South.  These warriors will form the basis of King Aragorn's plans to clear Gondor of stragglers, protect his borders, push into Ithilien and perhaps, eventually, re-establish the lost Kingdom of Arnor.

I have described the troops qualitatively, but not with any rule set in mind.  More just as an indication that I can consider during the campaign.  The descriptions I have used are, in descending order: elite, veteran, regular, average, poor (untrained or unmotivated or both).

The army of Gondor, clockwise by province, is as follows:

Arnorien

Standing Forces

One Company (200 men) of household foot troops in the service of the Lord of Anorien.  Average Quality.

One Garrison Company (200 men) of militia protecting the beacons strung along the White Mountains towards Rohan.  Poor Quality.

Available Levy

One Regiment of foot archers (600 men).  Average quality.

Ithilien

No forces

Minas Tirith

Standing Forces

1 Guards regiment under the command of Hurin, Warden of the Keys
                                 1 company of Guards of the Fountain Court (200 men) - Elite quality
                                 2 companies of Citadel Guards (400 men) - Veteran quality

3 regiments Minas Tirith Warriors (1800 men) - Heavy infantry armed with spear and sword - Regular quality.

1 regiment of Minas Tirith Archers (600 men) - armoured archers - regular quality.

2 regiments of Minas Tirith cavalry (300 riders) - heavy cavalry with spears - veteran quality

Prince Faramir's White Company - 1 company of the Prince of Ithilien's personal guard (200 men) - Elite quality

1 regiment of Ithilien Rangers (600 men) - foot archers, skirmishers and ambushers - veteran quality

1 regiment of Gondorian Rangers (600 men) - foot archers, skirmishers - regular quality

Levy Forces

3 regiments of Minas Tirith militia (1800 men) - spear foot - poor quality

Lossarnach

Lossarnach is a relatively densely populated region immediately south of Minas Tirith.  The region is fertile farming and grazing land, and also lies along the main trade route between Minas Tirith and Pelargir.  It is the region that has perhaps been the least touched by the War of the Ring, and so remains a prosperous and well-settled region.

Standing Forces

1 squadron of household heavy cavalry (50 riders)  in the service of Lord Forlong the Fat - veteran quality

3 regiments of Lossarnach heavy foot (1800 men) armed with axes and shields - regular quality

1 regiment of Lossarnach scout cavalry (150 riders) - lightly armoured spear cavalry - veteran quality

Levy forces

3 regiments of spear foot (1800 men) - poor quality

1 regiment of unarmoured foot archers (600 men) - average quality

Lebennin

Lebennin is the most densely populated province of Gondor after the great city of Minas Tirith itself.  Lebennin's principal city is Pelargir, the trading port of Gondor.  It is home to the Gondorian Navy and a relatively prosperous trading middle class who can afford arms and horses.  Consequently, Lebennin has a mix of forces, mainly focussed on protecting the province from raids by corsairs from Umbar and the men of Harad.

Standing forces

2 squadrons of heavy horse (100 riders) in the service of the Lord of Lebennin.

Gondorian Navy - 10 ships survived the attack of the corsairs in the War of the Ring.  Each ship can carry 50 Gondorian marines.

1 regiment of Gondorian Marines (600 men) - medium armour mixed foot and archers - veteran quality

2 regiments of Pelargir Guardsmen (1200 men) -  heavy spear foot - regular quality

1 regiment of Pelargir Archers (600 men) - armoured archers - regular quality

2 regiments of Pelargir medium cavalry (300 riders) (maintained by the burghers of Pelargir) - regular quality

 Levy forces

1 regiment of Ethel Anduin fishing folk (600 men) - handy in a boat or ashore - skirmishers

1 regiment of Lebennin foot archers (600 men) - shortbow - poor quality

2 regiments of rural Lebennin militia (1200 men) - spear and shield

Principality of Dol Amroth (Belfalas province)

Belfalas province has long been held by the Princes of Dol Amroth, who claim Numenorean and Elvish descent.  The current Prince, Imrahil, owes allegiance to the King of Gondor, but in reality he conducts his affairs semi-autonomously from the remote capital of Minas Tirth.  The fortress of Dol Amroth is home to the Prince and his small but high quality standing army, which is needed to protect the long coastline of Southern Gondor from the predations of the Corsairs from Umbar.

Standing army

1 squadron of the Prince of Dol Amroth's household Cavalry (50 riders) - elite super heavy cavalry

1 regiment of Swan Knights (150 riders) - heavy cavalry - veteran quality

2 regiments of heavy spear foot (1200 men) - veteran quality

1 regiment of foot archers (600 men) - regular quality

1 regiment of Belfalas Rangers (600 men) - archers and skirmishers - regular quality

Levy forces

2 regiments of Belfalas Militia (1200 men) - spear and shield - poor quality

1 regiment of Belfalas skirmishers (600 men) - slings, javelins, shortbows - poor quality.

Anfalas

Remote, sparsely populated and rural, Anfalas has no major cities or fortifications and the only standing force is the household of the Lord of Anfalas, Golasgil.  However, Anfalas is also where the rangers from the Pinnath Gelin patrol to protect what little they have.  Whilst the rangers are levy strictly speaking, their reaction to external threat is very quick and so can be considered as a standing force for the purpose of the campaign.

Standing forces

Lord Golasgil's household: 1 troop of heavy cavalry (12 riders) -  veteran quality
                                            1 company of heavy infantry (200 men) - regular quality

Hirluin the Fair, Captain of 1 regiment of Pinnath Gelin Rangers (600 men) - archers, skirmishers, ambushers

Levy forces

1 regiment of Anfalas rural militia - scantily equipped hunters and herdsmen and men of little villages- poor quality

Blackroot Vale

Located near the paths of the dead, the hardy men of Blackroot Vale are relatively secure from both Corsairs and Orcs, and so can readily provide a levy when called upon, which is often.

Lord Duinhir with his sons, Duilin and Derufin.

1 company of household heavy infantry (200 men) - sword and shield - veteran quality

1 regiment of Blackroot Vale Rangers (600 men) - ambushers, archers, skirmishers - veteran quality


Ringlo Vale

The upper reaches of the Ringlo River breeds also breeds hardy folk that are much prized in times of war.

Like the men of Blackroot Vale, the men of Ringlo Vale are quick to respond with their levy when called upon.

Lord Dervorin's household: 1 company of heavy foot (200 men) - veteran quality

1 regiment of Ringlo Vale foot (600 men) - regular quality.

Lamedon

The sparsely populated high country of Lamedon also breeds hardy souls noted for their ferocity on the charge and their war-cry that scatters lesser men and orcs.

The men of Lamedon have few permanent settlements and no recognised lord.  They elect a war chief, who is usually the boldest and bravest, to represent them when needed.  But like the men of Ringlo and Blackroot Vales, the men of Lamedon are quick to volunteer and their service is highly valued by the Kings of Gondor.

1 regiment of unarmoured highland foot (600 men) - veteran quality, ferocious charge.

Tolfalas

Tolfalas is the island off the coast of the Ethir Anduin.  A mountainous and inhospitable place, Gondor maintains a small garrison of marines to keep watch on the movements of corsairs and to light the warning beacon at the top of the island.

1 company of Gondorian Marines (200 men).

2 Gondorian navy vessels.

Conclusion

So Gondor is described.  Now to consider the scattered remnants of the Haradrim and Mordor armies.

To summarise, Gondor's forces, both standing and levy, are approximately 38 regiments of foot (about 23,000 men) and 7 regiments of horse (about 1200 riders).  That may seem a lot, but Gondor has a lot of work to do and is still surrounded by threats on all sides.

Gondor mapped

Only a little progress the last couple of days, work has been busy.

I have very modest picture editing skills, and an even more modest free software tool, but I have managed to add a little detail to the War of the Ring map that will be useful to the campaign.  More will be added as time goes by.

Tolkien enjoyed his geography, but tended only to fill in the map as his story developed.  That means many places, like Anfalas, seem empty, probably because there are no significant settlements and is sparsely populated anyway.  But there will be some modest settlements placed and named as the campaign develops.

The East Gondor map has the stream of Morgulduin added (the true boundary between North and South Ithilien), Osgiliath and Cair Andros, and some labels for places like Lossarnach.

The South Gondor Map similatly has Edelhond, Blackroot Vale and Ronglo Vale added, amongst others.

As I complete the description of Gondor as a faction, I will add more settlements and forts, as each province should have a capital and a principal fortification on the map, not just Belfalas.

Next task is still to finalise the military forces available to Gondor at the beginning of the campaign. 

Some more thoughts on scale and basing

One of the advantages of a seafaring career is that you get plenty of time to think.  One of the disadvantages is that you can't bring your toys with you, well at lease not in the number that I would like.  That leads to stalking eBay and buying even more figures for the lead mountain.

Anyway, after much thought, I decided to change from 8 figure bases for WotR (and possibly Dux Brit) to 6 figure bases and I have ordered the necessary from Warbases in the UK.  Up until now I have used rectangles of cardboard and blu-tack.  That worked fine to try out the WotR  rules, but was unsatisfactory for fairly obvious reasons.  I wanted the 6 figure bases because I found that the 8 figure bases were too wide in terms of frontage for even my table-tennis table. As most of the LotR foot range is based either on 3 figure metal blisters or boxes of 24 plastics, the 8 figure base either results in having too many or too few in terms of the blisters, or an odd shaped unit with 2 bases forward and one in support for the plastic boxes.  It just didn't look right either way.

The 6 figure bases mean that you can fill one with 2 blisters of metal foot, and you get 4 bases from a single box of plastics.  The four bases for a unit can then be deployed as a block with a 2 base frontage, or as a line of 4 bases, or a 3 base frontage with one supporting in the middle.  That just looks better to me.  Cavalry can stay the same with their 2 figure bases as that works well.

I think it will also work OK with Dux Brit and Hail Caesar as well, although I haven't looked into those rules sets deeply enough to be sure yet.  Something else to do whilst I am away.

So what does that mean for scale?  I have decided to tinker with that as well.  1000 man regiments seemed a little big in the depopulated west (although it might be right for a horde from the East).  Working backwards from BoFA scale with a 600 man regiment on 3 bases (approx. 30 - 36 figures, so figure scale of aprox 20), then the WotR Company of 4 bases (representing a single BoFA base) should be around 200 men (24 figures, so figure scale of approx. 8).  A single WotR base is then about 50 men (a quarter-company detachment - I need a better name for this sized unit) and that is the maximum I would want for a LotR SBG game.  So I think it works OK.

Cavalry ought to be similar.  3 BoFA bases is a regiment of cavalry of about 150 riders (12 figures, scale of about 12).  The WotR Squadron of cavalry of 3 bases (representing a single BoFA base) is about 50 riders (6 figures, so scale about 8).  A single WotR base then is a troop of about 12 riders.  That is again about the most you want in a skirmish game, so that works for me.

As I said at the beginning, I want to use the old SPI War of the Ring boardgame to assist with keeping track of it all.  And I just love the map and want an excuse to use it.

Here is Ithilien and Minas Tirith.  I have added Emyn Arnen is a different font.  Whenever I add stuff to the maps, I will make sure you can distinguish it from the original SPI cartography.

Eastern Gondor, including Ithilien, and the blasted wastes of Mordor

The SPI boardgame uses counters with 'strength points'.  Given the basing and scales I have decided upon, I think a single strength point should equate to a single WotR base or about 50 men/12 cavalry. That means I can have scouting/reconnaissance parties shown on the map with single strength point counters and will enable interesting LotR SBG style reconnaissance skirmishes to play out before the major battles.

On that basis, a WotR 'Company' of four bases (200 men) is 4 strength points, and a BoFA 3 base 'Regiment' (600 men) is 12 strength points.  Looking at the counter mix, i think that works ok.  I will have to be careful to avoid all the 'special' formations in GW's WotR list because they could have a disproportionate effect on the campaign.  I will stick to the base troops descriptions as much as I can.

I think I will scale up the goblins and orcs a bit (perhaps 1200 per regiment), and possibly downscale the elves and dwarves (maybe 300-400 per regiment) but I will cross that bridge when I get to describing those factions.  Maybe it doesn't matter either, as long as the strength point to miniatures base ratio is constant,

 I am still progressing with the Gondor faction description.  I am up to the stage of describing military strength.  I don't want to make Gondor too powerful; the campaign is one of many competing priorities, including home defence.  I think I will work backwards from the description of the reinforcements of Minas Tirth in the Return of the King as an indicator of what each of the Gondorian provinces felt they could spare.

Watch this space.

On matters of scale and rules

As I am happily building the campaign background for Gondor, I struck a minor hurdle.  It seems that when Faramir was appointed Prince of Ithilien, he established a bodyguard unit called 'The White Company' led by Beregond, formerly a member of the Citadel Guard.  Excellent, a nice little backstory for a small elite unit that, along with the Rangers of Ithilien, are likely to form the nucleus of Faramir's force to reclaim Ithilien for Gondor.

So far so good.  But how big is the White Company?  It will have to be formed of volunteers, probably taken from the existing Minas Tirith garrison and even from the Citadel Guard, both of which have been sorely depleted by the War of the Ring.

Is the White Company 100 men, 200 men or 300 men?  What is a company anyway?  And how will the White Company be represented on the tabletop?  Why ask so many rhetorical questions?

The campaign will be big enough and detailed enough without changing the military organization from faction to faction too much, and it all has to fit into my existing rule sets anyway.  So I need a fairly basic military organisation that will both give m simple numbers of men for accounting and recruiting purposes, but which will also be readily represented on the tabletop.

I am going to trial a few different rule sets as the campaign develops, but in the beginning I am going to use Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game (SBG) for skirmishes with up to 50 28mm models a side (100 men/other races on the field at one time).  Skirmishes like this are 1:1 scale and terrain is a WYSISWG approach.  I really like the SBG  rules; they give an enjoyable game in about 2 hours, represent heroes and captains well (movie style), and I am not endlessly looking up the rules.  They also have a good system for morale when a side 'breaks'.  Good troops tend to hang around with a leader whilst poor or leaderless troops melt away very quickly.  BUT I find these rules very tedious when two large shieldwalls clash and there are endless rolls to hit and to wound.  Any more than 25 or 30 models a side can also begin to drag and just go on too long.

For medium sized clashes I intend to use GW's War of the Ring, at least initially.  I have only played it a couple of times.  I found it enjoyable to have larger forces moving around the table, but found myself consulting the rules a very great deal.  The rules also seem to suffer from the GW obsession with special abilities for units.  The abilities have interesting names that I either completely forget to use or have to keep looking up to remember what they mean. 

Anyway, I will give WotR a go.  As the smallest unit of manoeuvre is a 'company', comprising a base of 8 figures, that gives me a start on the matter of scale.  8 figures to a company base, I think a scale of 1 fig to 12.5 men gives a nice round 100 men to the company.  As a formation is comprised of several companies, usually 3, then a 'unit' becomes about 300 men.  Cavalry is similar, with 2 figures to the base, representing a troop of about 25 cavalry.  Formed into a unit of 3 or 4 bases gives about 75 or 100 cavalry.

That scale also articulates nicely to the skirmish scale, with a half-company of 50 men and a half troop of 12 cavalry being about the biggest I want for a skirmish.

That will mean that a typical 1000 point battle using the WotR would have about 2000 men a side, or about 20 companies of 100 men, and that feels about right to me.

For truly large battles I will use the Battle of Five Armies rules (BoFA), which is simply a variant of Warmaster.  I will use 10mm figures based about 10 or 12 to the 40x20mm base.  I am toying with the idea of using Hail Caesar instead (Hail Elessar?), but that is a bit down the track.  The scale difference should still work well, as a 3 company unit in WotR (300 men) now becomes a single base, and a BoFA unit of 3 bases comprises about 900-1000 men; called a regiment perhaps?

Then an army of say 15 x 3 base regiments is an army of about 15000 men, and again that feels about right in terms of scale.

So to recap:

Skirmish scale - SBG Rules 1 figure = 1 man
Intermediate scale - WotR Rules - 1 figure = 12.5 men; 8 figures = 1 base; 3 bases is a 'company' of 300 men (cavalry 75 men)
Grand scale - BoFA Rules - 1 figure = 25-30 men; 10-12 figures = 1 base (a WotR Company); 3 bases = a 'regiment' of 1000 men (250 cavalry).

So what does that mean for the White Company?  I think it means that we start in skirmish mode with a half-company.  If successful, then more volunteers might join, warranting a WotR base, and maybe, with time, even a single base of 300 men in BoFA scale.

There are other rule sets I want to try, especially Dux Britannica by Too Fat Lardies and also Dux Bellorum published by Osprey.  But as always, one has to start at the beginning.

Developing Gondor and theatres of war

Well, I didn't start with Rohan after all.  When I sat down to begin writing, I realised that Gondor has to be the starting point, as much depends upon the land that now lies at the heart of Middle Earth.  If the Fourth Age is the age of men, then Gondor is the main kingdom of men and will be the beating heart of how the campaign develops.

The work on Gondor is progressing satisfactorily, with short sections on history, culture, government and key positions.  The most work is going into the provinces, developing the main settlements, economy, garrisons and Lords.

As I write, Gondor in the Fourth Age is starting to come alive for me, and some issues are starting to become clear with respect to both the current tactical situation in the aftermath of the War of the Ring, and also the competing strategic considerations.

The immediate tactical issues include:

1. Securing the eastern border by retaking the key fortress of Cair Andros and the ruined city of Osgiliath
2. Ensuring the northern border with. Rhovanion and Mirkwood are actively patrolled and watchtowers reestablished
3. Protecting the southern coastline of Belfalas and Anfalas from possible raiding by the corsairs of Umbar
4. Driving the stragglers and remnants of Sauron's armies from Gondor altogether.
5. Repair and rebuild the damaged fortress if Mina's Tirith.

The economic and political imperatives are to ensure the alliance with Rohan is secure, reopen the
trade routes with Rohan, Esgaroth, Eriador, the elves and dwarves, and ensure that agriculture, mining and industry resume.

Strategically, Gondor has a number of aims, some of which will be ideal to follow as the campaign develops, as follows:

1. Reconquer Ithilien.  King Aragorn has appointed Faramir the Prince of Ithilien, but it is a hollow title until the new Prince takes forces into Ithilien and reasserts Gondorian sovereignty.  
2. Pushing the borders of Gondor back across the Anduin northwards into Rhovanion, perhaps linking up with the Beornings and the Men of Dale to create a new buffer for the Gondorian heartland against further invasions from the East
3. Re-establish the lost kingdom of Arnor.  This is a goal close to Aragorn's heart, but will require a great deal of men and resources to restore the old Kingdom in the North to anything resembling its former glory.  The capital of Annuminas, the fortresses of Fornost and the watchtower of Amon Sul remain, at present, mere shells that require refurbishment before anyone would dream of settling in Arnor.  
4. Pushing the southern Gondorian border to the River Poros and even beyond, potentiall subjugating the men of Harad and dealing with the Corsairs of Umbar once and for all.

Some of these aims will work really well as a sub-campaign, and I am thinking of beginning with an Ithilien sub-campaign, following Faramir's attempts to carve out his own principality from a land that has been long lost to Gondor.  This could follow the initial clearing of Osgiliath and Cair Andros by the main Gondorian forces, followed by an expedition led by Faramir to make secure his ancestral home in the Emyn Arnen.


Faramir's opposition will initially be the stragglers of a defeated army, but as he progresses, he may find opposition stiffen from both Mordor and Harad forces reorganising after Sauron's demise.

This idea brings me to another element that will assist me in managing the campaign.  I will work broadly in theatres of war.  That is, I will divide the continent broadly into 4 different theatres so that I can follow the developments in one theatre for a while (so as to build a narrative) and then stop and switch to another, largely unrelated, theatre.  There will of course be cross-overs between theatres, especially for Gondor with its strategic aims stretching in all directions, but I think it makes sense for me to better manage an individual campaign thread to a conclusion, rather than jumping back and forth all the time.  Particularly if I make a campaign turn a year, then I can follow a particular sub-campaign almost to its conclusion before turning to the next theatre and the actions happening there.  It also mixes it up a bit for me without losing the thread of the narrative altogether.

I have begun calling the theatres in my head: the Rhun front, the Ithilien front, the Southron front and the liberation of Arnor.  They will probably change as time goes in, but I think they nicely capture the issues at the beginning.  As I develop the other factions, the campaigns and theatres will probably change and take on a life of their own.  I imagine there might be various Dwarven wars to drive out orcs from lucrative mines, Elven wars to cleanse Mirkwood and so on.

The other nice element to this approach is that I can get the toys on the table pretty quickly.  Driving the orc garrison from Cair Andros being the first game that beckons.

I will post more on Gondor as the background gets fleshed out.

Campaign basics

A campaign is important to me to give context to my gaming.  The campaign gives a background for why the game is occurring, the objectives for the battle itself, and a consequence arising from the result.  As the campaign develops, the narrative begins to form a story of its own, a new saga that can be told or read about that will give me pleasure for yours to come.

I have always thought of gaming, and miniatures gaming in particular, as a form of cooperative storytelling.  The players together creating a dynamic narrative for a particular battle.  With a campaign, I can take the narrative to the next level, giving each battle it's own part in the unfolding drama.  Each battle then takes on its own importance and becomes part of the new history of my Middle Earth.

I also find that a campaign gives me a focus for my gaming, giving an energy and impetuous to getting the toys out and having some fun.  I always seem so time poor nowadays, and there are many demands on my time.  Whenever I do get a moment to myself, I tend to fall into the trap of computer gaming, which is like a cheap take away meal.  It is convenient, fast and fills a need, but is rarely satisfying or memorable.  Just thinking about this campaign has given me a lot of enjoyment, and I haven't even begun yet.

So how will this campaign work?  I'm glad you asked.

First, I need to set the background and the initial dispositions of the factions that will occupy my version of Middle Earth.  Each faction needs a ruling class of some sort, politicians, generals warlords and so on, depending upon the way in which the faction is structured.  Some thought needs to be given to personality and abilities. Perhaps Crusader Kings II (my favouritest computer game of all time)may provide some inspiration.  Each faction also needs an overarching goal or goals that they will wish to realise over the course of the campaign.  Some basic understanding of the population centres, resources, economy, military forces, fortifications and so on, follows, with a view to building on that knowledge as time goes by in the campaign.  My first task is to develop a template, and start populating the information required.

Second, I will use the old SPI 'War of the Ring' as my map and method of tracking key events in the campaign.  I may have to get the map laminated and mounted on cork board or similar so that I can write on it, put pins and markers on it and move the counters around.  I may wall mount it so that I can leave it up for as long as I want, which could be a very long time indeed.  The map and rules also provide a basis for movement, stacking and so on, so I do not have to re invent that wheel.  The rules
may require modification, but I will just see how that goes.

Third, the campaign will be solo to begin with as I build the background, consider how it is all going to work and develop the mechanisms for play.  Then I will involve other players from time to time, perhaps with some long term players getting involved, so as to give dynamism to the game.  I want it to develop a life of its own after a while.

I will be looking strongly to the Tony Bath model of campaign management, where I fill the role of 'world manager' and 'umpire' rather than a player, and I will have to be careful not to allow my prejudices get in the way (I always loved the Rohirrim best).

So my planning for my next post is to develop a template and to start describing the factions, perhaps starting with Rohan because I like them best...

In the beginning...

My goal for this blog is to chronicle an ongoing miniatures wargames campaign set in Tolkien's Middle Earth at the beginning of the Fourth Age, that is, immediately following the events in The Lord of the Rings. It is a hopeful time, potentially arresting the long decline of the kingdoms of men. The defeat if Sauron and Saruman signal an opportunity for lasting peace and prosperity for the free peoples of the West.  But it is rarely that simple.  The wild lands, that is, most of Middle Earth, still contain significant pockets of hostile creatures and that might, if a new leader rises, extinguish the nascent resurgence of Gondor and Arnor.  

The depopulation following the war of the ring and the extensive tracts of wilderness are an opportunity for a wargames campaign, not a problem.  Nature abhors a vacuum, and will fill the empty spaces with something if the various factions do not act quickly to conquer, make safe, and settle the lands around them.  So the beginning of the campaign is characterised by the factions extending their boundaries as much as possible with their meagre starting  forces. Resources are thin, and the wilderness still has many threats for all, not just men.  But there is a balance, too much expansion will result in a faction being unable to defend its territory.  Too little, and the wilderness will encroach.  

As the campaign matures, the various factions will come into contact with one another and various consequences are possible.  Alliances of convenience, trading, and eventually outright conflict, as each faction seeks to achieve their goals.

Who are the factions in the Fourth Age and what might their goals be?

The Elves are in decline and are leaving middle earth. Those that stay will ultimately become the wood spirits, watching the world but not participating in it.  But the elves  still have a significant role to play in protecting their enclaves from evil creatures and also from exploitation by men.   Can 
Mirkwood be returned to the Greenwood of old?  A faction each for the high elves of Rivendell and the silvan elves of Lorien and Mirkwood.

The dwarves are few and are scattered - from Erebor to the Iron Mountains to Gimli's small settlement in Aglarond.  The dwarves still seek wealth from the earth, but their numbers are also declining and old family rivalries are reemerging.  The dwarves wish a return to trading and security for their settlements, but also expansion.  Are there enough dwarves of stout heart left to tackle Kazad-Dum?

The men of Gondor are weakened by decades of war.   The crops lie untended and mothers grieve for lost sons.  Mina's Tirith is damaged, Ithillien is lost, the threat of Harad and the corsairs of. Umbar is undiminished. Can King Aragorn return Gondor to prosperity and security, and perhaps even re-establish the northern kingdom of Arnor as well?

The free peoples of Eriador, men of Bree, rangers of the north, stout hobbits, have an opportunity to win lasting peace and security, but only if they can secure their borders and remove the threat of marauding creatures.  Perhaps with Fondor's help, the kingdom of Arnor might be reestablished in the north.

The mighty army of Harad has scattered; defeated but not destroyed.  Far from their desert homes, the remnants are leaderless and lack direction.  But perhaps one man will emerge from the pack.  He doesn't want to go back to the desert.  He likes the green pastures and rolling hills of the Lands west of the mighty river, and he intends to stay and carve out a kingdom of his own.  

Ditto for the men of Rhun.  Rhovanion looks inviting.  The great host intends to stay and who is going to stop them?

The men of Rhovanion, the men of Dale and Beornings, have little left but their lives.  Can they survive to rebuild their homes and trading posts. Perhaps with the help of the a Dwarves they can...

The men of Dunland swore an oath not to take up arms against the kingdoms of men again.  But what value is such an oath to the people who took your lands and banished you from your home?  The horse lords are your ancestral enemies, and they will be punished.  

The men of Rohan paid a heavy price in the war of the ring, playing a key role in the defeat of both Saruman and Sauron but losing their king and the best of their warriors in the process.  King Eomer has strengthened his tie with Gondor by marrying the daughter of The Lord of Dol Amroth, uniting even further the ruling houses of the kingdoms of men.  But still the help only seems to go one way.  Will Gondor help Rohan in her time of need?  The westfold has been burnt.  The people are scattered.  Food is short and the horse herds have been thinned by war, neglect and predators.  Can Rohan protect itself, let alone rebuild?

What of the foul creatures of middle earth? Orcs, wargs, Uruk-hai, trolls and so on.  Do they scatter into their caves?  Or do they thrive in the dark corners of middle earth just waiting for a leader to rise from within, an Orc General capable of raiding for profit and perhaps even conquering a slice of middle earth for themselves.  Willa number of factions are possible, including  the scattered creatures from Sarumans's defeated  army, the orcs of the misty mountains and of Gundabad, and of course the orcs of mordor itself.  Their master may be gone, but they will endure...

I have a beginning.  Much more thought required, but I am on the way.  And of course, it is the journey that is the interesting part.