The Orcs of Mordor

Only 5 days to go before I get to go home and get the toys out for the beginning of the campaign for real.


In the meantime, I have been thinking about the fate of the 80,000 or so orcs, uruks and trolls at the battle of the Pelennor Fields and the more than 60,000 orcs, uruks, trolls, Easterlings and Haradrim that fought at the Black Gate.



As I said in my Armies of Harad post, the losses were undoubtedly heavy, but orcs are not by nature (in my view) going to stand once the battle goes against them.  Even more so when first the Witch King of Angmar is destroyed by Eowyn at the Pelennor Fields and then Sauron and the rest of the Nazgul are destroyed with the destruction of the One Ring.  Some fought on bravely, particularly the Easterlings at both the Black Gate and with there backs to the Anduin on the fields of Pelennor (which is something to be remembered when looking at the way the Easterlings fight - their discipline and morale is excellent).


In my Fourth Age campaign, significant numbers of orcs and other creatures survived and were scattered.  Whilst many were pursued and killed by the victorious men of the west, there were simply too few men to finish the job completely.  Whilst the victories were definitely crushing, the defeated servants of Sauron were not destroyed, merely scattered and leaderless.


The Easterlings finally surrendered and were sent home in peace by Aragorn.  Just as the Dunlendings were made to swear not to attack men.  All fine and dandy, but I don't think either the Easterlings nor the Dunlendings are going to feel bound to their peace treaties once they get home again.  The Easterlings in particular I see as one of the historical tribes of the East.  They sweep into Europe (Middle Earth) under pressure from behind and looking for new lands to settle in.  The Easterlings, like the Wainriders before them, will continue to push west.  But that is for another post.




The Orcs are no longer a cohesive force, but as for the Haradrim, I am assuming 50% survived unhurt, and a further 25% may be wounded but will ultimately recover.  That means there are still more than 100,000 fighting orcs in and around Mordor.  I will also assume that there are generals of some substance, such as Gothmog (whose fate was unclear in the book), who are capable of preserving at least a modicum of order in the post-Sauron Mordor.


So for campaign purposes, I am treating Mordor as 3 distinct entities: the orcs of the black gate, the Morannon, Durthang and the plains of Gorgoroth as one entity (30,000 strong); the orcs of Minas Morgul and the Ephel Duath as one entity (30,000 strong), and the orcs of Nurn as a third entity (10,000 strong). 


Each of these 'factions' will have its own leader and have slightly different objectives; mainly rebuilding some sort of society and surviving whatever the world of men will throw at them.  They are still clearly a force to reckon with on numbers alone, have strong natural (Ephel Duath and Ered Lithui) and Gondorian built defences (including Durthang and Minas Morgul itself), and a naturally strong survival instinct.


Like the orcs of Gundabad, the goblins of Moria and the survivors of Mirkwood, the orcs of Mordor will be unlikely to band together to threaten the world of man's survival, but they will also not be easily destroyed.       


I think the orcs of Mordor will be an interesting obstacle to the new Pax Gondora in the Fourth Age.

The Armies of Harad

Harad

I have to give some thought to exactly what has happened to the survivors of the Pelennor Fields, particularly the Haradrim.  Undoubtedly, the casualties were heavy, but the main factor in the fallen realms armies was the death of the Witch King of Angmar at the hands of Eowyn, and the subsequent reinforcements from the Anduin, led by Aragorn. Caught between the hammer of the Rohirrim and the anvil of the southern Gondorian reinforcements, the forces of Mordor and the fallen realms were routed and then scattered.  Casualties were undoubtedly heavy on both sides, and there is no doubt that the Haradrim were crushed as an effective fighting force.  However, there is also no doubt that significant numbers of Haradrim soldiers and even some mumakil escaped the slaughter.  Some of Sauron's forces, notably a contingent of easterlings, fought to the last man to buy time for the rest of the army to escape.

Tolkien estimated the Haradrim army to be 18000 strong before the battle, with perhaps 2000 scarlet clad Southrons as well.  Even with a catastrophic 50% killed, there would be at least 10,000 warriors from Harad heading home from The Pelennor Fields.  I shall assume 50% casualties, but half of those would be walking wounded.  So in round numbers, I shall say there are 15,000 warriors of the Harad heading south as the campaign opens.  Of those 15,000, 5,000 are walking wounded and are simplymaking  there way home as best they can.  The combat effectives number 10,000 but are highly disorganised and have formed into 2 distinct groups, a smaller group comprising the main command, the surviving mumakil, an infantry guard regiment and cavalry detachments.  This group escaped the battle more or less intact (I am assuming they formed the main reserve and escaped in good order when the battle was lost).  The larger group comprises the bulk of the survivors; they are disorganised, have no overarching leadership (although lower unit leadership) and are carrying casualties with them.  This group is moving more slowly and is vulnerable to interception by Gondorian forces.

For campaign purposes, the smaller group needs to disrupt any Gondorian probes in order to buy time for the bulk of the Haradrim forces to escape across the Poros.  Both groups will start in South Ithilien, but I have yet to decide exactly where.

So, the smaller group, under Lord Vadayr, comprises:

2 Regiments of cavalry (300 men)

2 regiments of guard infantry (1200 men)

3 Mumakil and handlers and crew (300 men)

The larger group comprises a mixed lot 8000 infantry and 5000 wounded and stragglers.

They fight with brittle morale and are capable of organising rearguard actions but are unlikely to stand against a determined foe.

8 regiments of infantry (8000 men) with brittle morale. Each regiment has its own commander with a modest command rating, but as there is no overall commander, the regiments cannot form larger formations or cooperate closely together.

As for the rest of Harad, well there is not much left behind in the homeland.  It it critical that the fighting men return, as it is only the men who have seen too many summers or the boys who have seen too few summers that are left.

I have plagiarised heavily from the excellent third age mod for Medieval Total War II for the following descriptions.  I will put it all on the map in due course.


South Umbar - capital Vatavea - Lord Jubayr - corsairs

Umbar - huge city - corsairs - black númenorean in charge -Lord Qusay

North Umbar - Kas Shafra - town - not a port - lord Ghasaan - spearman and archers

South Harandor - Has Yayb village - Lord Hannad spearman

East Harandor - Harandor town - lord Ubaadah - spearman and archers

Gobel Ancalimon - eponymous castle - lord Musab - spearman, archers and cavalry - lies in the valley feeding the bay north of Umbar

Harad - Hyarmen capital of the Haradrim - chieftain Khuzmayah - this large city lies on an oasis on the main trade route south. Lying just to the south of the more fertile lands of Harandor, Hyarmen is where the mighty mumakil and camels are brought from the wastes to be trained into Harad's armies.

Amrun - Amrun castle - lies on the north south trade route. Also the main road up the valley towards near a Harad and Khand - Lord Yaman - spear, archers and horse

Near Harad - Hamen town - Lord Jibran - spear archers and horse

Haradwaith - Haranaer village - Lord Utbah - camelry, Troll-men

Far Harad - Urabhaya village - Lord Haarith - spear, archers and troll-men