"Runes of Ruin"

Skirmish version (with scripts).
March 25, 2005 Lex Flores (awsflex_99@hotmail.com)

Number of Players: 4
Starting Positions: Castles / Camps
Expansion points: 0
Settlements: 8
Lairs: Trolls, Goblins, Wargs


Map Summary: "The ruins of a great fortress hides a dark secret. Stories say balrogs have devasted this area after magical runes opened a portal. Our scouts have spotted three glowing objects at the bridges. Secure the bridges and control those runes!"

A four player semi-symmetrical map consisting of 2 castles and 2 camps.

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Notable Strategic Areas:
- Castles will be easier to defend but have less accessible farms.
- Camps will have more access to farms but must maintain more ground.
- a Castle allied to a Camp will have a mobile defender for its rear and quick reinforcement access to its front.

Notable Tactical Areas:
 - 2 Bridges and center Underpass (marked by 3 runes, glowing dots)
 - Control one bridge-rune will grant you 2 statues and 2 fountains
 - Control both bridge-runes will grant you 4 statues and 4 fountains
 - Control underpass-rune grants nothing.
 - Control all 3 (within set time) will summon a Balrog under the bridges. Beware, units controlling the runes will probably die at the Balrog's explosive entry. Hold the Control Points for at least 30 seconds. Balrog will become available again every 90 seconds after a successful summon.

- Troll lairs near Castles' rear are indestructable. They will harrass armies going for a flanking maneuver. Trolls who are lured away from their caves may also end up harrassing the economic plots nearby. So protect your plots!
- Goblin lairs near the camps' flanks are indestructable. They will lightly harrass armies passing in that area.
- Wargs in the middle valleys are destructable.

Notable Unit/Power Restrictions:
- Balrog / Army of the Dead will not be available in the spellbook.

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Fictional Background Story: Long ago, a raging river once passed under the bridges of a great fortress. But the discovery of strange runes led to tragic experimentations. Activation of the runes opened a portal to the Balrog realm and ultimately led to the destruction of the fortress from within. What remains are debris-filled ruins, a great river reduced to a stream and an exposed fertile valley. Factions of middle earth now compete for the strategic area. They will soon discover 3 of the runes. Control of these 3 runes will summon a mighty balrog.

Author's Note: This is my first BFME skirmish map. I created the scripted version first and then a no-script MP version. Total working time for both is about 50 hours.

Additional thanks goes to: StudioYugen, Machiavelli, Matt22, MSTK, Hostile

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05 0325 Released version 1.0