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.