Features

A full strategic AI engine that evaluates military, economic, diplomatic, and cultural factors to drive faction decision-making. Each faction leader has a unique personality that shapes their strategy.

• Four-pillar assessment: Military (35%), Economic (25%), Diplomatic (25%), Cultural (15%)
• 16 unique faction strategies — Mordor plays differently than Gondor, Rohan, or Erebor
• Named leader personalities: Saruman, Sauron, Aragorn, Denethor, Theoden each with Risk Tolerance, Aggression, and Strategic Patience
• Adaptive learning: AI records battle outcomes and adjusts future decisions based on history
• Strategic phases with phase-specific modifiers — AI adapts as the war evolves
• Settlement priority system: Strategic, Economic, Defensive, Offensive targets

The War of the Ring unfolds through scripted diplomatic events. Isengard strikes first, then all of Middle-earth is drawn into the conflict — Good vs Evil, as Tolkien intended.

• Scripted war events: Isengard war, Mordor war, Rivendell joins, Rhun-Erebor-Dale, Dol Guldur-Mirkwood-Lothlorien, Umbar-Harad-Gondor
• Isengard attack timing randomized between configurable earliest/latest dates
• Narrative text popups as Isengard's attack approaches — building tension
• Good factions form alliances, evil factions unite — all Good vs all Evil
• Disallowed kingdom decisions prevent premature peace with enemies

War declaration scoring uses five weighted modifiers to decide when and why factions go to war — considering military strength, timing, momentum, leader personality, and cultural rivalries.

• Strength modifier: compares military ratio against 1.5x safety threshold
• Timing modifier: early game (<400 days) cautious, late game (>1200 days) aggressive
• Momentum modifier: War of the Ring momentum influences war declarations
• Per-leader aggression personalities shape decision-making
• Culture-specific rivalries: Mordor aggressive toward Gondor/Rohan, Lothlorien very passive

Victory is earned through meaningful military campaigns, not just conquest grinding. A momentum tracker measures Good vs Evil dominance across the campaign map.

• Four event types build momentum: battle victories, siege conquests, village raids, and army mustering
• Momentum decays over 21 days — factions must sustain pressure to win
• Player involvement multiplies momentum by 1.5x — your actions matter
• Victory requires player participation in 5+ major events
• Soft-cap display formula (-100 to +100) prevents runaway snowballing
• Full UI with momentum indicator, breakdown view, and event history

Good and Evil shape diplomacy and relations across Middle-earth. Factions of the same alignment form bonds while opposing sides are locked in enmity.

• Good-Evil faction pairs forced to -50 to -10 relations
• Same-alignment factions form friendships (15% chance, +5 to +20 relation)
• Alignment drives war declarations, alliances, and faction behavior

Executing an orc warlord won't upset the Free Peoples, but betraying your allies will. Execution consequences are driven by alignment.

• Execution penalties adjusted by alignment — killing evil heroes may carry no penalty for good factions
• Executing same-alignment heroes carries heavy relation penalties
• AI factions factor alignment into their execution decisions

Troops of opposing alignment will desert from your party. Evil orcs won't march alongside Gondorian knights — and vice versa.

• Troops with opposite cultural alignment (good vs evil) desert from parties
• AI Only mode available — exempt your party while AI still follows the rules
• Disable entirely to allow mixed-alignment armies

A completely overhauled battle resolution system with six subsystems, replacing vanilla's simplistic strength comparison with deep tactical calculations.

• Troop count: logarithmic weighted ratio (0.4-1.8x range)
• Troop quality: tier-based multipliers (T1=0.5x up to T6=2.0x)
• Culture bonuses: per-culture matchup system with attack/defense modifiers
• Terrain effects: cavalry/archer/infantry bonuses per terrain type
• Commander skills: Tactics (+0.001/point, max +0.3) and Leadership bonuses
• Special units: rock-paper-scissors counters (infantry>cavalry>archers>infantry)
• Final damage clamped to 0.4-2.5x range to prevent extreme outcomes

Each faction fights with a distinct tactical personality on the battlefield. 16 unique culture strategies with adaptive behavior based on battle phase and power ratios.

• Rohan: cavalry charges (1.7x flank, 1.6x charge weight) — when overwhelming: 2.2x charge
• Gondor: disciplined defensive shield walls and infantry formations
• Mordor/Dol Guldur: relentless aggression with overwhelming numbers
• Mirkwood/Lothlorien: ranged harassment with heavy archer emphasis
• Erebor: slow-moving heavy dwarf infantry with axe/hammer specialization
• Tactical context system: adapts behavior for Overwhelming/Winning/Losing/Desperate phases

Sieges are dynamic events with race-specific behaviors, kill tracking, and phase-based mechanics. Trolls batter gates, Uruk-hai resist ladder pushback, and defenders gain realistic advantages.

• Dynamic siege event processing with phase tracking
• Race-specific behaviors: Bloodlust kills, defender advantage, ladder push resistance
• Custom assault wall weights and defensive position calculations
• Murder hole mechanics and siege machine improvements
• Morale effects tied to siege progress and race

Physics-based momentum damage makes cavalry charges devastating. Couched lance impacts, shield usage, and weapon composition analysis add depth to every engagement.

• Physics-based momentum damage using 0.5*m*v^2 formula
• Couched lance and thrust magnitude with configurable velocity multiplier
• Cavalry charge service with max speed cap calculations
• Shield usage and weapon analysis services
• Formation weapon composition analysis for tactical decisions
• Battle stats display showing real-time combat information

30+ lore-driven tactical matchups. Isengard's Uruks counter Rohan cavalry; Elves devastate Mordor's hordes; Dwarves are unbreakable in siege defense.

• Dunland vs Rohan: +15% attack (hatred of the Rohirrim)
• Isengard vs Rohan: +15% attack, +8% defense (bred to counter cavalry)
• Elves vs Mordor: +20% attack, +15% defense (ancient enmity)
• Dwarves vs Mordor: +15% attack, +20% defense (siege expertise)
• Per-settlement custom battle modifiers for key locations

Death rates vary by alignment. Evil factions execute the wounded; good factions provide medical care — creating fundamentally different army recovery rates.

• Global death rate: 60-70% (vs vanilla 20-40%) — combat is brutal
• Evil cultures (Mordor, Dol Guldur): only 40% survival rate
• Good cultures (Gondor, Elves): 70-80% survival
• Battle type modifiers: Siege, Hideout, Raid, SallyOut, FieldBattle
• Configurable hero death rate (default: heroes never die)

Battles on terrain matching the campaign map. Fight across plains, deserts, swamps, mountains, and forests — each with distinct tactical advantages.

• 81 battle terrain scenes mapped to specific map regions
• Terrain types: Plains (40), Steppe (27), Desert (8), Swamp (6)
• Forest density modifiers affect visibility and archery
• Mountain, river, canyon, and lake features shape battlefield flow

Play as Dwarves, Orcs, Uruk-hai, and more with correct proportions, animations, voices, and camera heights. Not just cosmetic — races affect gameplay.

• Full race system: Human, Dwarf, Elf, Orc, Uruk, Uruk-Hai, Berserker, Cave Troll, Half-Troll, Goblin, Hill Troll, Pale Uruk
• 58 body property templates defining racial characteristics
• Race-specific body proportions, action sets, and skeleton scaling
• Custom age model: characters become old at 100, max age 300 (configurable)
• Cross-race offspring system
• Race data persists across save/load cycles

52+ bonus types that vary by race, covering damage, health, movement speed, influence, crafting, trade, and more. Every race has meaningful gameplay advantages and weaknesses.

• 52+ bonus categories: Damage, Health Regen, Influence, Knockback Resistance, Militia Production, Morale, Movement Speed, Party Size, and more
• Additive or multiplicative stacking (MCM toggle)
• Compiled condition rules for performance-optimized evaluation
• Covers combat, economy, settlement management, and social interactions

Character perks scale differently per race. Dwarves excel at smithing, Elves dominate archery, Trolls are unstoppable two-handed fighters.

• 12 races with unique multipliers across 156+ perks
• Dwarves: +30% smithing, +20% crafting perks
• Elves: +30-40% archery bonuses
• Trolls: +80-100% two-handed bashing, -30% tactics
• Covers all 16 skill trees: One-Handed through Steward
• Fully configurable via JSON — moddable by sub-modders

Warg riders serve as savage cavalry for orc factions. Cave trolls and half-trolls tower over the battlefield with full behavior tree AI.

• Full warg AI behavior tree: rage mode, attack tasks, positioning
• Warg rider hand management for correct mount animations
• Cave Trolls: 4.0x unit weight — massive party impact
• Warg units at 2.0x weight — heavier than standard cavalry
• Creature units have unique racial perk multipliers

Heavy creatures slow your army and consume more supplies, forcing strategic decisions about army composition.

• Cave Trolls: 4.0x weight (massive supply drain)
• Elven units: 2.0x weight (elite soldiers require more resources)
• Warg Riders: 2.0x weight (creature mounts are expensive)
• Weights loaded from XML per troop — fully configurable
• Patches party member counts and roster displays to reflect weighted values

Every faction has unique passive bonuses that define their playstyle. Gondor has cheap garrisons, Erebor dominates workshops, Mordor fields massive armies, and Lothlorien heals faster.

• Gondor: +25% army influence, -15% infantry wages, -20% garrison wages
• Rohan: no extra mounted wages, +25% animal production
• Erebor: +30% workshop income, -25% siege cost, +20% mounted wages (penalty)
• Mordor: -20% wages, -20% recruitment cost, +30% party size
• Isengard: +30% construction speed, -20% siege cost, +20% relationship penalty
• Lothlorien: -50% forest speed penalty, +20% ranged damage, -25% battle influence
• Umbar: +30% raiding income, -20% coastal wages
• Harad: no desert speed penalty, +20% caravan income

Every faction plays fundamentally differently thanks to culture-specific combat profiles, economic bonuses, and military strengths drawn from Tolkien lore.

• Erebor: +15% infantry attack, +30% defense, +35% rout resistance
• Rohan: +15% cavalry attack, +12% charge bonus — open field dominance
• Lothlorien: highest archer bonus (+35%), elite all-around
• Isengard: +22% infantry attack, +25% rout resistance — shock troops
• Rhun: +25% horse archer attack, +20% open field bonus
• Dunland: +20% infantry attack, +20% morale — berserker tactics

Culture-specific resources like mithril for dwarves add a strategic layer to recruitment. Some elite troops require special resources to recruit and maintain.

• Culture-specific resources tied to factions
• Troop resource costs: some elite units require special resources to recruit/upgrade
• Daily upkeep costs consume resources over time
• Resources earned from battles, raids, and sieges
• Troops desert if resources run out — maintain your supply lines

Armies built from Regular, Noble, Regional, and Unique troop tiers. Regional units tied to homelands, Unique troops locked to key settlements.

• Regular troops (40-50%): available everywhere in faction territory
• Noble troops (10-20%): globally recruitable but rare
• Regional troops (30-40%): tied to specific cities, castles, or villages
• Unique troops: locked to 1-2 key settlements — control them or lose access

Travel to specific regions to recruit their troops — Pelargir fields marines, Lossarnach musters axemen, the Wold breeds riders.

• 69+ settlement-specific and clan-specific party templates
• Pelargir: heavy marine/naval focus
• Lossarnach: pure infantry emphasis (axemen, wrathbearers)
• Rohan settlements: cavalry-dominant armies
• Regional recruitment cost bonuses: Dunland infantry 25% cheaper, Erebor infantry 15% cheaper

Trade caravans customized per faction with culture-appropriate equipment and leaders.

• 7 caravan leader templates with culture-specific gear
• Faction-appropriate weapons: Eastern spears for Rhun, noble swords for Harad
• Caravan guards drawn from local troop pools

AI settlements no longer starve to death. A smart food management system tracks production history and adjusts prosperity to prevent economic collapse.

• Tracks food production history over configurable window (default 45 days)
• Calculates target prosperity based on food moving average
• Reduces prosperity by configurable rate when settlements would starve
• Custom models for settlement food, loyalty, and prosperity

Request culture-specific reinforcements via messenger instead of traveling to recruit. Pay gold to have troops delivered to your party on a timer.

• Request reinforcements through conversation-based recruitment
• Configurable costs per tier (T1-T6+ multipliers)
• Queue-based delivery with configurable delay time
• Culture-restricted option — only recruit from your own faction
• Tier-limited quantities per request

Send messengers to NPCs instead of riding across Middle-earth. Initiate diplomacy, trade, or conversation from anywhere on the map.

• Send messengers from the encyclopedia (default 50 gold, 3 travel days)
• Configurable cost and travel time
• Random accident chance during travel

Tournament rewards and betting overhauled to be more rewarding and exciting.

• Configurable XP multipliers for tournament combat, arena, and end-of-tournament
• Max bet raised to 1,000 gold (vs vanilla 150)

Smithing improvements let you craft without the grind.

• Option to disable stamina consumption during crafting
• Fully configurable via MCM settings

Loot calculations improved with skill-based modifiers and expanded options.

• Loot quality scales with character skills
• Option to loot from prisoners, not just dead troops

10+ GameModel overrides completely rework party mechanics — speed, wages, morale, healing, size, army management, prisoner recruitment, and troop upgrades.

• Custom party speed calculations with 1.9x global movement multiplier
• Culture-specific wage calculations
• Custom morale model with alignment and race effects
• Custom healing rates with culture bonuses
• Custom party size model
• Custom army management, prisoner recruitment, and troop upgrade costs

Every faction starts with appropriate gold, influence, and equipment — ensuring balanced early game across all 16 kingdoms.

• Major power centers (Rivendell, Lothlorien, Gundabad, Isengard) start with 2,000 influence
• Mid-tier factions like Rhun start with 1,000
• Lords receive starting gold appropriate to their faction
• Starting equipment configured per culture

Each region spawns culturally distinct bandits with unique equipment and fighting styles. Bandit density scaled for the massive Middle-earth map.

• 77 bandit NPC templates across 7 regional variants
• Max 200 bandit parties, 100 hideouts per faction, 30 initial hideouts
• Custom bandit leaving-hideout behavior
• Each variant has unique equipment loadouts with regional weapons

Races don't just look different — they sound different. 750+ custom audio files bring Uruk-hai battle cries, Dwarf war chants, and creature roars to life.

• 302 custom sound entries across 5 audio categories
• Isengard/Uruk-hai: 207 sounds — deaths, grunts, yells, victory cries
• Dwarf: 118 unique voice lines for combat and ambient dialogue
• Monster/creature sounds: 242 audio files for trolls, wargs, and beasts
• Rohan: 176 sounds including culture-specific horn calls

The vanilla Bannerlord soundtrack is replaced with a Middle-earth score.

• Custom main menu theme replaces vanilla title screen music
• 6+ original soundtrack tracks
• Custom music manager integrated into the engine

Fog of war and map visibility overhauled for the massive Middle-earth map.

• Custom map visibility model replacing vanilla calculations
• Scaled for the much larger Middle-earth campaign map

658 settlements placed across a sprawling Middle-earth, from the Shire to Mordor.

• 658 named settlements (towns, castles, villages) across all 16 faction territories
• 81 battle scene definitions mapped to terrain types
• Distance cache for optimized pathfinding across the massive map

Every faction fields a unique military with culture-specific troops, equipment, and upgrade paths.

• 648 unique troop types across all 16 factions
• 338 party templates defining militia, garrison, bandit, and army compositions
• 1,260 troop composition entries controlling unit ratios per party
• 198 equipment rosters with culture-appropriate armor and weapons

Every lord and hero replaced with a Tolkien-inspired character.

• 504 lords with custom appearances, skills, and trait distributions
• 415 heroes with lore-accurate biographies
• 149 wanderer companions (10 archetypes per kingdom)
• 73+ clans with custom names and banner keys

Hundreds of custom banner designs drawn from Tolkien heraldry that persist across save/load cycles.

• 453 custom banner icons across 3+ icon packs
• Auto-applies 73+ custom clan/kingdom banners every session
• Detects player-edited banners and respects those changes
• Lore-accurate designs: White Tree of Gondor, Eye of Sauron, and more

Uruk-hai crossbows, faction-specific armor sets, and lore-accurate weapons replace vanilla gear.

• 20+ custom Uruk-hai items: crossbows, helms, armor, shoulder guards
• 198 equipment rosters for battle, civilian, and noble loadouts
• Named hero equipment sets (Boromir, Faramir, and more)

Character backstory and development are culture-specific with 6 branching paths during character creation.

• 61 education character templates across 6 cultures
• Cultures: Mordor, Gondor, Erebor, Rivendell, Mirkwood, Dol Guldur
• 1,976 equipment roster configurations for development stages
• Culture-appropriate armor sets reflect your character's origin

Marriage eligibility reworked for Middle-earth — race and culture compatibility matter.

• Custom marriage eligibility rules per race and culture
• GameModel override for marriage calculations

Full localization across 14 languages covering all custom content.

• 14 languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Russian, Turkish, Japanese, Korean, and more
• 29 localization XML files covering all custom content

Control the War of the Ring and faction AI behavior.

• AoM Diplomacy — ON: Restricted diplomacy leading to the War of the Ring (Good vs Evil)
• Momentum — ON: War momentum mechanic during the War of the Ring (requires AoM Diplomacy)
• AI Strategic Intelligence — ON: Enhanced AI faction targeting with strategic analysis
• Strategic Diplomacy — OFF: Enhanced AI war declaration logic (disabled for stability)
• Isengard attack timing: earliest/latest date sliders (default: 21-84 days)

13 toggleable battle systems for fine-tuned combat.

• Friendly Fire Notifications — ON: Removes friendly fire warnings
• Culture Desertion — ON: Opposing-alignment troops desert from parties
• Culture Desertion AI Only — OFF: Exclude player from desertion
• TAOM Culture AI — OFF: Culture-specific formation tactics per faction
• TAOM Siege AI — OFF: Race-specific siege behaviors and mechanics
• Advanced Tactics — OFF: Physics-based momentum damage (0.5*m*v^2)
• Race Bonuses — OFF: 52+ race-based stat bonuses across all systems
• Additive Race Bonuses — ON: Add bonuses instead of multiplying
• Troop Weight — OFF: Weighted party size by troop type
• Advanced Combat — OFF: Bone collision detection system
• Auto Resolve — OFF: Culture-aware auto-resolve with terrain matchups
• Velocity Damage Multiplier: 0.1-1.0 (default 0.3)
• Max Speed Contribution: 5-20 m/s (default 10.0)

Configure the messenger and reinforcement delivery systems.

• Enable Messengers — ON: Send messengers instead of traveling to NPCs
• Messenger Cost: 10-500 gold (default 50)
• Travel Days: 1-10 (default 3)
• Messenger Accidents — ON: Chance of ambush during travel
• Enable Reinforcements — ON: Request culture-specific troop deliveries
• Instant Delivery — OFF: Skip the delivery timer
• Culture Restricted — ON: Only recruit from your own faction
• Tier cost multipliers: T3 (1.5x), T4 (2.0x), T5 (2.5x), T6+ (3.0x)

Customize food management, loot, crafting, tournaments, aging, and campaign speed.

• Food Management — ON: Prevents AI settlement starvation
• Food Surplus Target: 0-100 (default 10)
• Better Loot Calc — OFF: Skill-based loot quality improvements
• Loot from Prisoners — OFF: Check prisoners for loot, not just dead
• Disable Crafting Stamina — OFF: Unlimited smithing sessions
• Tournament XP Multiplier: 0.1-10x (default 3.0 = 100% XP)
• Arena XP Multiplier: 0.1-10x (default 16.0 = 100% XP)
• Max Tournament Bet: 150-50,000 gold (default 1,000)
• Become Old Age: 50-200 (default 100)
• Maximum Age: 150-500 (default 300)
• Global Movement Speed: 1.0-5.0x (default 1.9x)
• Race Perk Multipliers — OFF: Race-specific perk effectiveness

Customize bandit spawning for the massive Middle-earth map.

• Custom Bandit Settings — OFF: Override default LOTR bandit values
• Bandit Density Multiplier: 0.1-3.0x (default 1.0)
• Maximum Bandit Parties: 100-20,000 (LOTR default 200)
• Max Hideouts Per Faction: 10-1,000 (LOTR default 100)
• Initial Hideouts Per Faction: 10-500 (LOTR default 30)
• Parties to Infest Hideout: 1-10 (LOTR default 2)
• Max Parties Per Hideout: 1-10 (default 4)
• Dwarven Eye Height: -1.0 to 0 (visual adjustment)

Development and testing tools for troubleshooting.

• Debug Mode — OFF: Enables debug console and detailed logging
• Custom Player Switcher — OFF: Select an existing character at game start