The Quiet Avenger 1650My advice for a Quiet Avenger position is don't bother with your starting armies. Get rid of most of your troops at the game start and improve your economy. You can't defeat any of the aggressors if they go after you, it's a waste of time and money to try and fight back. The best you can do is keep a few troops (for the army icons) and disband the rest. You will then have lots of cash to develop your nation. You MUST speak to the neutrals regularly. If either Harad or the Corsairs decide they want to attack you, there isn't much you can do about it. If South Gondor attacks you (which he shouldn't) then your not likely to win that battle either. The QA does have an important role to play though. You have a navy which has access to the oceans, as artefacts can be found in the oceans, then you can be the DS nation which goes and gets them. Similarly, with no troops to pay for, you should be able to ship gold to your team-mates who need it most. Later on, if you can convince one (or both) of the strong Southern Neutrals to join your allegiance your position is improved dramatically and you can have a positive effect on the war. Strategy Guide by Brian Mason Strategy & Tactics: The Quiet Avengerby Brian MasonHow does the nation of the Quiet Avenger compare to other nations? At the start of the game they rank as follows (Allegiance Comparison Tables, Tom Walton):
Oddly enough, the position of possibly the weakest of the Dark Servants, the Quiet Avenger, probably has most in common with the strongest of the Dark Servants, the Witch-King. What I mean by this is that the fortune of the Quiet Avenger, like that of the Witch King, is almost completely dependant on the actions of her neighbouring neutrals. Given this overdependance on what the neutrals may or may not do, too much advance planning is probably not advisable. What here follows is not so much a complete plan, but rather, a collection of observations whereby the Quiet Avenger might be able to get off to a good start. The Quiet Avenger is the weakest of the Dark Servants, and the chance of the Quiet Avenger to play a significant role in the early party of the game is virtually non-existent. The Quiet Avenger is surrounded by three neutrals, any one of which is vastly superior. Offensive navy operations become impossible due, not only to the neutrals, but also to the significantly greater naval force of North and South Gondor, as well as the Sinda and Noldo Elves. Because all but one of the Quiet Avenger population centres has some type of fortification, increasing Quiet Avenger taxes is a viable option. Going to 70% will get her "in the black", and additional gains can be made by getting rid of unnecessary troops and taking a great risk and developing economically for a late game surge. While this is a "high risk" approach, it is not as foolish as it may initially seem because of the vast armies which neighbour her. If they come after you "full bore" it is really immaterial how much you have recruited to stop them, because it will not be enough. The idea here, then, is to develop the nation into a tremendous economic force, and allow the rest to follow behind that. Specifics: Turn one: Get combat artifacts into use, get backup commanders into armies. Retire all light infantry, archers, and men-at-arms. Get the navy in one location. Change the tax rate to 70%. Other orders to develop character skills, Adunaphel as a mage and emissary. Turn two: Continue repositioning forces such that, at the end of this turn you have all light cavalry in a army at Lugarlur, while all the heavy infantry, along with the navy, is at Vamag. While this is only 1500 troops total, having troops is not as important at this point, as having SouthGondor and the neutrals see icons. Name first emissary. Turn three: Name another emissary. First emissary moves off to develop in the left three columns of the Quiet Avenger map. These are off everyone else's map, and the rough terrain promises to provide a variety of resources for future army development. Turn four onward: These continue as those above. I would have the Quiet Avenger fill all character slots available, up to turn 10 with emissaries, and create camps, develop camps into villages, and villages into towns, with a major town or two as backup population centres. As the camps spring up in rough most will produce gold, and this will quickly have this emissary production in a "paying for itself" mode. Then, available gold should be spent on timber to place a tower on each unfortified population centre. Strategy & Tactics: The Quiet AvengerFrom Tom WaltonI consider the QA to be in pretty much the same position as the Dragon Lord. With two neighbouring neutrals and a third just a hop, skip, and jump away, the actions of others will make or break your nation. Given that, you might as well play as if the neutrals will go evil and leave your nation be. For those who think the QA capable of taking on Harad or the Corsairs, such is only possible if these positions are being run by less than skilled players. In three of four games playing Harad or the Corsairs, I've been forced into an attack on the QA; in two games I easily conquered the position in just a few turns, while in the third my rash opponent (who thought he could beat the Corsairs) is about to go down. The QA isn't even a challenge for a Southern neutral with a grudge (in fact, the position is so weak you can divert just a portion of your forces to do the job, while carrying on business as usual elsewhere). In my last game I went DS and the QA position, incredibly weak at start, is now quite powerful. After a joint conquest of the Corsairs and the forced declaration of the Easterlings for our side (yep, we actually THREATENED the guy into submission; must've been the 5,000 heavy cav I had marching to his capitol), his position is now among the safest and strongest among the DS. In fact, he just mounted a rather large naval landing in Southern Gondor, much to everyone's surprise. Given time and a friendly, powerful, neutral ally, the QA can do quite well. If a neutral attacks and allies aren't forthcoming, or (Morgoth forbid), both neutrals attack, you might as well call it quits. Not a position for those who don't like taking chances or who aren't good at diplomacy.A final note: the navy can be effective if Southern Gondor fumbles the ball and doesn't eliminate it right off. A landing in western Gondor off-map can cause considerable havoc, as can a surprise landing in Cardolan. The potential for establishing a permanent base of operations is slim due to the low transport capacity, but you can be one hell of an irritation to your enemies.
Quiet Avenger Special Advantages1.All Scouts/Recons are doubled in
skill rank.
(Italics - Hidden. Bold - Capital). Initial Forces
Initial Characters
A complete listing of all starting characters can be found here [Char List] (Excel 97 Format). Map Ranges UL:2627 UR:3427 LL:2639 LR:3429 - See Sample First turn for Quiet Avenger This page was last updated on 11/05/02 |