Part 17

Begin with Rohan and Gondor bases. Build farms, blacksmiths, and unit production buildings. Recommend 2 Gondor farms and 2 blacksmiths with marketplace upgrades for efficient income. Build base defenses against orc raids.

Group units: cavalry in one group, archers in another. Assign hotkeys for heroes: Boromir and Gimli with the main army; Aragorn, Gandalf, and Legolas on hotkeys 1, 2, and 3 respectively. Mount Gandalf and group Faramir with knights for quick response to flank orc raiders. Keep Pippin in the Gondor base; Merry joins him with Rohan reinforcements.

Position your main army centrally, away from the Black Gates to avoid archer fire. Prepare for 4 waves of attacks, minimizing casualties.

Ensure all Evenstar powers are acquired. Use summoning powers to weaken incoming waves. Save the Army of the Dead for the fourth wave as a powerful defensive tool. If not acquired, consider replaying earlier missions.

Summon Rohirrims in front of your army to charge orc hordes. Summon elvish archers to absorb damage, followed by Ents to target trolls. Save Eagles for the Nazgûl in the 2nd or 3rd wave. Summons should handle about 80% of each wave. Use Gandalf's Word of Power as the first units engage.

When Rohan reinforcements arrive, merge Rohirrims with your knight battalion. Send Faramir to his ranger mode to join archers. Merge all archer units. Group horse archers as a reactive force. Merge Eomer, Eowyn, and Theoden into your main cavalry group and set their skills to auto-cast.

As the fourth wave approaches and Frodo's 5-minute timer activates, summon the Army of the Dead at the gate's mouth to clear the wave. With a large army, victory should be assured. Keep ALL heroes alive until the end to win the bonus mission.