Background

The Kingdom of Arnor was the northern remnant of the Realms of the Dunedain in exile located in the region of Eriador. Arnor split from the southern Numenorean kingdom, Gondor, after the death of Isildur and the kingdom was divided again after the death of its tenth king, Earendur. During the Third Age, the three successor kingdoms, Arthedain, Cardolan, and Rhudaur, were devastated by a losing war with the Witch King of Angmar and were only narrowly saved by a combined force of Elves and men of Gondor. Despite this victory, the once great Kingdom of Arnor, through war and plague, had been laid low and was severely depopulated. It would not begin to recover for another thousand years. But now, the arrival of Aragorn Elessar, kept safe as a child in Rivendell, could signal the rebirth of the ancient kingdom. Old foes still remain. To the northeast lie the blood-thirsty war clans of Gundabad. In Angmar, the Witch King, the most powerful of Sauron’s Wring Wraiths, has licked his wounds for a millennium and now lies in wait for his chance to strike. To the south, the wizard Saruman has been corrupted by the Dark Lord and raises an army for the sole purpose of ending the world of men. These threats will have to be dealt with before the reunited Kingdom of Arnor can come to Gondor’s aid in fighting the Dark Lord of the Black Land… presuming of course, that Arnor comes to the aid of their kin at all. Aragorn is, after all, the rightful king of both Arnor and Gondor but the southern kingdom may not want to cede power so easily. Player 2 begins as Eriador, a lose collection of peoples residing in the remnants of the northern kingdom. Arnor can be reunited by completing the Reunited Kingdom objective.

Further Reading[tolkiengateway.net]

Synopsis

Eriador remains extremely depopulated. Developing Eriador is a slow process but has its advantages in the long run. Eriador units are more expensive than those of Gondor. The most difficult and unique aspect of playing as Eriador is the fact that you start with no military units and must unlock units and technologies by capturing settlements from the old kingdom of Arnor. Once you have reunited Arnor, all units will gain stat boosts giving you some of the most powerful infantry and cavalry in the scenario. Below you can find the complete guide to Eriador settlements and their benefits which is absolutely critical to playing as Eriador.

Eriador develops very slowly with no military units and few technologies to research. Your goal is to reunite Arnor as quickly as possible to gain access to Arnor's elite units. I recommend that you look over the unlocks for each settlment below and get a sense for which ones you want to take earlier on. Some are undeniably more useful than others in the early game. Tharbad isn't a bad second TC as it unlocks the cheap and versatile Greenway Militia (Prodromos) which are fast enough to juggle between defending the north (from Gundabad) and the south (from Isengard) until you unlock Dismounted Dunedain (Hypaspist) and Arnor Archers (Toxotes).

Faction Difficulty

Challenging

Eriador Settlement Capture Guide

Each settlement in Eriador will unlock units and/or technologies upon capture.

2nd Town Center
- Dismounted Dunedain (Hypaspist)
- Arnorian Archer (Toxotes)

3rd Town Center
- Bronze All
- Heavy All
- Salt Amphora

5th Town Center
- Iron All

Hobbiton
- provies 95 population

Tharbad
- Greenway Militia (Prodromos)
- Donkey Caravan
- Spirited Charge
- Conscript Cavalry

Annuminas
- Mounted Dunedain (Hippikon)
- Aegis Shield
- Conscript Infantry

Elostirion
- Champion Archers
- Conscript Archers

Fornost Erain
- Arnor Swordsman (Myrmidon)
- Carpenters
- Engineers
- Draft Horses
- Fortified Town Center

Nenuial
- Temple Healing

Athilin
- Coinage

Faction Details

Strengths
- balanced military
- strong late game units

Weaknesses
- slow economic start
- expensive military
- techs/units unlocked by settlement capture

Palantir: no

Starting Settlement: Bree

God Powers
- Great Hunt (1)
- Flaming Weapons (2)
- Bronze (2)
- Citadel (2)

Heroes
- Age 3: Gandalf the Grey
- Age 4: Aragorn Elessar

Diplomacy

Allies: none
Neutral: Gondor, Dwarves of the West, Silvan Elves, Dwarves of Erebor, High Elves
Enemies: Gundabad, Isengard, Mordor, Rhun, Harad

Units

- Eriador Militia (Ulfsark->Militia)
- Dismounted Dunedain (Hypaspist)
- Man at Arms (Hoplite->Katapelts)
- Arnorian Blademaster (Myrmidon)

- Arnorian Archer (Toxotes)
- Dunedain Ranger (Peltast->Arcus)

- Greenway Militia (Prodromos)
- Mounted Dunedain (Hippikon)
- Knight of Arnor (Hetairoi->Cataphract)

- Catapult (Petrobolos->Catapult)

- War Galley (Trireme)