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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Edena_of_Neith" data-source="post: 627586" data-attributes="member: 2020">Sauron had many tens of thousands (at least) of orcs, trolls, beasts, and men at his command.  Forty thousand of these were at Minas Morgul, formerly Minas Ithil of Gondor.  Tens of thousands were available from Harad and Khand, to the south and southeast of Mordor.  Tens of thousands more, and the largest navy in Middle Earth, were available to him at Umbar, south of Mordor.  Tens of thousands more were available as foot soldiers from Rhun and Dorwinion, east and northeast of Mordor.  Sauron had tens of thousands of orcs, beasts, and spiders in Mirkwood and at Dol Guldur.  He had thousands of orcs available from Moria and the Misty Mountains.  Sauron's main reserves were in Mordor itself, at the start of the War.  Indeed, these were in Mordor, and not deployed, because Sauron launched his war prematurely, throwing his outer forces at his foes in an effort to halt any mastery of the Ring by Aragorn (a process which required time.)  These main forces were at least fifty thousand strong, but it was likely Sauron has over one hundred thousand warriors available to him in his core forces.  Isengard, MUCH weaker than Mordor, could deploy ten thousand combined Uruk-Hai, more mundane orcs, wargs (great wolves), and had the aid of Dunland, which sent thousands of men against Rohan.  - - -  Gondor had many thousands of men available to defend it's capital city, Minas Tirith.  However, Gondor's main forces were dispersed across the Realm, and amounted to tens of thousands more.  Gondor also had an army, thousands strong, of undead warriors, which Aragorn successfully summoned.  Rohan, weaker than Gondor, had over ten thousand mounted warriors, and probably several thousand foot.  Rohan lost hundreds, perhaps over a thousand, of her men fighting Saruman, but her main forces emerged from that war intact.  The Ents numbered only a few hundred.  The Huorns they commanded numbered in the thousands, and a single walking tree (Huorn) was certainly worth many two legged foes in combat.  Lothlorien commanded several thousand elven warriors, of which only a part were sent to Helm's Deep (none were sent in the book.)  Galadriel, through her use of the Ring of Adamant, was able to strengthen her warriors and the defenses of her Realm in various unspecified ways.  Thranduil of Mirkwood commanded at least ten thousand elven warriors, all of them foot soldiers, accustomed to fighting under the trees of the forest.  (Legolas was Thranduil's eldest son and heir.)  Dain, King Under the Mountain, had thousands of dwarves at his command.  His ally, King Brand of Dale, had thousands more of men at his call.  Esgaroth Upon The Long Lake, could boast a sizeable militia of over one thousand.  The dwarves of the Iron Mountains had thousands who could stand at arms.  The Beorns of the Vales of Anduin only had hundreds, but many of them were Were-Beasts, and one of them was worth dozens of foes (even Uruk-Hai) in battle.  Gwilhir Lord of the Eagles had many hundreds of giant eagles at his command.  One of them was worth many two legged foes in combat, as was proven in the Battle of Five Armies.  Elrond of Rivendell had several hundred Noldor at his command.  ONE Noldorian elf was the equal of dozens of the foe, at the very least.  Some of them were equal to hundreds of the foe (such as Glorfindel), putting the likes of Legolas to shame.  Cirdan of Linden undoubtedly had several thousand elves, both Noldorian and otherwise, at his command.  Unfortunately, these elves were dispersed and uninclined to become involved in the affairs of Middle Earth.  Rather, they contented themselves with their sheltered, peaceful land west of Eriador and protected by the Mountains of Lune.  The dwarves of the Mountains of Lune (the Blue Mountains) undoubtedly had several thousand warriors available for muster.  (Remember that these mountains once housed Belegost and Nogrod.)  The Shire, had it REALLY tried, could have mustered an army thousands strong.  Although hobbits are not the best warriors, they are courageous and exceedingly hard to kill, and their marksmanship is second only to the elves.  - - -  FIRST MOVES OF THE WAR  When Sauron was confronted by Aragorn in the Palatir, he saw Isildur's heir, wielding Narsil, and undoubtedly wearing the One Ring.  Sauron knew that, given time, Isildur's Heir would obtain enough mastery of the One Ring to use it to build great armies, dominate the Nazgul and tear them from Sauron's grasp, and otherwise be quite annoying.  Sauron determined to launch his war prematurely, to disallow any time for Isildur's Heir to make use of the Ring.  Harad sent forces to strike along all of the coasts of Gondor.  Harad sent forces north to reinforce Mordor against Gondor.  Khand sent forces northwest to reinforce Mordor against Gondor.  Umbar sent it's Black Fleet to the aid of Mordor against Gondor.  Mordor deployed the Morgul Host against Minas Tirith.  Mordor deployed it's small but ready Morannon Host against Cair Andros, to cross the Anduin to cut off Rohan.  Dol Guldur sent a large force south against Rohan.  Dol Guldur sent another large force against Lothlorien.  Dol Guldur stirred up the evil things of Mirkwood, then sent reinforcements to them, and this force assailed Thranduil and his wood elves.  The orcs of the Misty Mountains assailed Lothlorien.  The orcs of the Misty Mountains assailed the Beornings.   Rhun and Dorwinion sent one force west to aid Mordor against Gondor.  Rhun and Dorwinion sent their other force against Esgaroth, Dale, and the Lonely Mountain.  The Core Armies of Mordor could not be deployed in time, and remained in Mordor, awaiting events.  The Iron Mountains were not attacked (although they sent aid to the Lonely Mountain.)  Rivendell was not attacked. (In the book, Rivendell sent no aid to anyone.)  The Shire was not attacked (and the Shire certainly did not aid anyone.)  Linden was not attacked (nor did it aid anyone.)  The Dwarves of the Blue Mountains were not attacked (nor did they aid anyone.)  The Eagles were not attacked (nor did they aid anyone.)  These were the initial moves of the War of the Rings.  RESULTS:  The assault by Harad upon Gondor's coasts was repulsed.  Harad's force sent north to aid the Morgul Host was destroyed.  Khand's force sent northwest to aid the Morgul Host was destroyed.  The Fleet of Umbar was captured by the Host of the Dead of Gondor, and the Corsairs were killed.  The Morgul Host was victorious at Osgiliath, and against the Causeway Forts, then was subsequently destroyed.  The Black Captain was killed.  The Morannon Host was victorious at Cair Andros, overran Anorien in Gondor, and manned the road to Edoras.  This Host routed and fell back to Cair Andros after the Morgul Host was destroyed.  The Host of Dol Guldur sent against Rohan was intercepted by the Ents and Huorns and destroyed.  The Host of Dol Guldur and it's allies of the Misty Mountains battled Lothlorien, and the result was heavy losses on both sides, with considerable destruction along Lothlorien's borders.  An unresolved contest.  The battle for the Vales of Anduin against the Beorns raged unresolved.  The Host of Dol Guldur and it's beastly allies assailing Thranduil was defeated and withdrew.  The Hosts of Dorwinion and Rhun were victorious, conquering Esgaroth and Dale.  The Lonely Mountain was besieged, and both Dain and Brand were killed.  Victorious Gondor suffered thousands killed, and many more wounded.  Victorious Rohan also suffered thousands killed, and more were wounded.  SECOND MOVES OF THE WAR  Gondor and Rohan sent fully half of their remaining force against Mordor.  Gondor and Rohan reinforced Minas Tirith with the other half of their remaining force.   Mordor brought up it's core forces to the Morannon to confront Gondor and Rohan.  Rhun's forces sent to aid Mordor were combined with the core forces of Mordor.  All the surviving elements from Harad and Khand were combined with the core forces of Mordor.  Umbar was out of the war (especially after news of what the Army of the Dead did to their Fleet was brought to them.)  Dol Guldur pressed the assault on Lothlorien.  The orcs of the Misty Mountains pressed their assault on Lothlorien and the Beornings.  Dol Guldur made no move this round against Thranduil.  Rhun and Dorwinion pressed the Siege of the Lonely Mountain.  The Eagles flew to the aid of Gondor and Rohan against the core hosts of Mordor and it's allies.  RESULTS:  Well, the results did not occur, because the Ring was destroyed, and Sauron with it.  LIKELY RESULTS:  The annihilation of the combined forces of Gondor and Rohan at the Morannon.  The death of Aragorn, Eomer, Elladan, Elrohir, Prince Imrahir, Legolas, Gimli, Pippin, and many others.  Severe losses for the eagles as they were driven off from the slaughter at the Morannon.  Lothlorien once more beats off the assault from Dol Guldur and it's allies.  The contest for the Land of the Beornings remains in question.  Umbar is terrorized as the bad news reaches them concerning their fleet.  Thranduil is unassailed, able to reinforce his defenses.  The Lonely Mountain continues to hold out against the Siege of Dorwinion and Rhun.  EXTRAPOLATIONS OF LIKELY MOVES  The Ents move to hold the line of Anduin, to protect Gondor and Rohan.  The Eagles move to aid the Ents.  Minas Tirith braces for another Siege.  The people of Rohan fortify their mountain retreats and Helm's Deep, and evacuate Edoras.  Thranduil assails Dol Guldur.  Thranduil sends a second force to free Esgaroth, and break the Siege of the Lonely Mountain.    Lothlorien joins Thranduil in the assault on Dol Guldur.  The Beornings repulse the orc invaders, driving them back to the Misty Mountains.  Linden sends all of it's forces to aid Gondor.  These deploy at Minas Tirith, and up and down the Anduin with the Ents and Eagles.   The Dwarves of the Blue Mountains also march to the aid of Gondor.  The Iron Mountains deploy all their remaining forces to break the Siege of the Lonely Mountain.  Mordor sends it's entire Core Force against Minas Tirith.  Harad sends vast reinforcements to aid Mordor.  Rhun and Dorwinion send all their remaining available forces to aid Mordor.  Umbar decides Gondor is more terrifying than Mordor.  LIKELY RESULTS OF THESE EXTRAPOLATIONS  Sauron wins the Anduin.  The Ents and Eagles, and all allies, suffer major losses.  All surviving Ents, Eagles, elves of Linden, and dwarves of the Blue Mountains, retreat to Minas Tirith.  The Second Siege of Minas Tirith begins.  Dol Guldur is whelmed by the combined assault of Thranduil and Lothlorien.  The orcs of the Misty Mountains fall back from Lothlorien.  Thranduil retakes Esgaroth.  In the great battle of Dale, both sides (Thranduil/Iron Hills/Besieged versus Rhun and Dorwinion) suffer staggering losses ... the outcome is unresolved.  In Bree and in the Shire, accurate news finally is heard concerning current events.  In the Shire, the hobbits begin full mobilization of all the people.  Non-fighters are sent into hiding.  Bree is evacuated.  Bree-Hill is fortified against the coming assault.  The Grey Havens are fortified against the expected assault.  Linden and the Blue Mountains fortify against the expected assault.  In Rivendell, Elrond fortifies for the expected assault (if Arwen went with Aragorn) or evacuates to Linden (if Arwen did not go with Aragorn.)  Although Mordor and it's allies pay dearly to retake the Anduin, their combined force marching on Minas Tirith is of overwhelming size.  Mordor sends what reserve forces it can to deal with Lothlorien and Thranduil concerning Dol Guldur.  Mordor informs Umbar that if they think the Army of the Dead terrifies them, then wait until Sauron's Wrath is turned on them for cowardice.  Mordor demands the orcs of the Misty Mountains maintain the assault on Lothlorien and the Beornings.  Mordor also demands the orcs invade Eriador and attack Rivendell.  Mordor sends emissaries to again stir up all the evil in Mirkwood.  Mordor informs Rhun and Dorwinion they must win at the Lonely Mountain, or suffer it's fate.  Mordor sends an ultimatum to Dunland:  join up, or else.  Dunland joins up, and renews it's invasion of Rohan.</blockquote>

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