This is a very difficult campaign for Gondor I think. Primarily the armies of Mordor vastly outnumber the armies of Gondor. This alone is enough to make things look bad for all Gondor (and the rest of Middle Earth for that matter)! But, since the campaign objective is to anihilate the enemy, we are in that much more trouble. Not only will I have to keep Gondor from being destroyed, but I will also have to march out, retake Osgiliath, brak the gates of Minas Morgul, and crush the tower of Cirith Ungol. So how am I going to go about doing it?

There are two things that Gondor has going for it. The first are the two towns. Mordor doesn't have towns at the outset of the campaign, which means that if I can manage to keep them safe (that's a big IF...) then I will get an extra 100 points during the first Event Phase, while Mordor will not. My initial plan at the outset of the campaign then will be to keep these two towns safe if I can. Of course, I will have to allow my committment to this objective be dynamic, because if I lose a few battles badly I may simply have to run to the city of Minas Tirith for pretection.

The second thing that I have going for me is the spread of Mordor's armies. Mordor has Gothmog's army in Osgiliath, the Witch King's army in Minas Morgul (which is two Play Phase turns away from Osgiliath), a Haradrim army on the southern map edge (just over four play phase turns from Osgiliath), and an Easterling army on the northern map edge (about three play phase turns away from Osgiliath). With the exception of the army at Cair Andros, Gondor's armies are all very close to Osgiliath. This may give me the advantage early on, as I may be able to entice one of Mordor's closer armies (such as Gothmog's horde) into a trap, allowing me to crush it!

Unfortunately all of these objectives require me to play well on the strategy battle gaming table, which is much more easily said than done. A bad battle could cost me the entire campaign (not to mention causing Gondor to lose the war, and allowing all of Middle Earth to fall under the sway of Sauron)! I will certainly be carrying a pretty heavy weight on my shoulders...

If all else fails, I will simply run to Minas Tirith and hide behind her walls. This outcome is actually quite likely, and I guess it should be since it is what happened historically in Middle Earth during the War of the Ring. Of course I will have to defend the city against the attacks of Mordor, which will become increasingly difficult as Mordor will have control of the lands that Gondor needs to support itself, enabling them to muster more orcs for the siege. I can only hope that by the will of the Valar either Aragorn or Theoden show up and rescue Gondor! editorial: This is a reference to the 'By the Will of the Valar' event that is determined during the campaign Event Phase.

Death to the world of men! This campaign is really looking like it favours the armies of Sauron! I pity the world of men >:)

But getting serious, my strategy for the war will be to hit hard and fast. I realize that those men that pledge allegiance to Sauron are late as usual, but with Gothmog and the Witch King it shouldn't be too much trouble to destroy the armies of Gondor one by one. First I will take Osgiliath and the crossing there, hopefully destroying Faramir's puny little army there. I will then flood into the Pelennor reaping death and destruction as I go!

Hopfully I can trap the army that defends Cair Andros between Gothmog's horde and the Easterlings, destruction of that army will further leave Gondor undefended. Even if this army does make it back to Minas Tirith before I can destroy it however, it will still be a drop in the ocean of troops that would be required to save the doomed empir of men! Indeed, the age of men is over, the age of the orc is close at hand