THE SPECTRUM GAME DATABASE

WAR IN MIDDLE EARTH

PUBLISHER
Domark?

AUTHOR
Mike Singleton

YEAR
1990

DESCRIPTION
War in Middle Earth is a strategic wargame set in the milieu of
JRR Tolkien.

CONTROLS
You can use either keyboard or joystick for this game.


INSTRUCTIONS
Please see the inlay card text.


CHEATS

SEQUELS/PREQUELS
There are no direct sequels to this game, but many other games
have also been based on the adventures written by JRR Tolkien,
including The Hobbit, and two Lord of the Rings games.

INLAY CARD TEXT
A classic strategy game based on The Lord of the Rings. You may
find it helps to have read the books, but it is by no means
necessary.  Just in case you don't feel like wading through three
volumes and 2000 pages of story, heres a brief rundown of the
plot:

You are Frodo Baggins, an exceptional hobbit. You uncle Bilbo
Baggins went on adventures, something no normal hobbit would do.
On the most famous of these he acquired a ring that made him
invisible.  Bilbo has left this ring to you and left the Shire
to live among the elves.  Your friend the Wizard Gandalf the Grey
has identified this ring as being "The one ring". This was forged
by Sauron, the Dark Lord, it is very powerful and very evil.  It
contains much of Sauron's power, with it he would defeat all his
enemies and subjugate the whole of Middle Earth, were it to be
destroyed he would be defeated. Though it would be possible to
use it against Sauron, it would then corrupt the wielder turning
him into a new Dark Lord. Because of the magical nature of the
ring, it can only be destroyed by being thrown into the cracks
of doom, where it was forged. This is the mouth of the volcano
Mt. Doom in the centre of Saurons kingdom, Mordor, far to the
South East. You are not on your own, accompanying you are Sam,
Merry and Pippin, three Hobbit friends, Aragorn the ranger,
Boromir of Gondor, Legolas the elf, Gimli a Dwarf and of course,
Gandalf. As well as facing Sauron's forces, you will also be
assailed by those of the wizard Saruman. Though he was originally
leader of the council of Wizards opposing Sauron, he has been
corrupted.  He has raised and army of Orcs and Dunlendings and
he too is looking for the ring, for he believes he can use it to
control Middle Earth. You will need to mobilise the nations of
the West, the men of Dale, Gondor and Rohan, the Elves of Lorien
and Mirkwood and the Dwarves of Erebor and the Iron Hills, or the
forces of evil will win by force of arms before you can destroy
the Ring. If the forces of evil can find the Ring and take it
back to Barad-Dur or Isengard you will lose.

PLAYING THE GAME

The Middle Earth map displays the whole of Middle Earth on the
screen. Along the left hand side of the screen there is a list
of commands.  In the middle of the map there is a gauntleted
hand.  This is the cursor, to select any action simply position
the finger over the desired point, using the joystick or keys.
Friendly units are displayed on the map as dots. There are 3
commands

FILE - To save/load
MEMO - Gives you further info on the state of the game.
TIME - Sets game in motion. Campaign time is shown on the scroll
underneath the command. Once time is started, all friendly units
start to follow their orders. Saurons units will also start to
move.

To examine any area in detail, simply position and press fire. 
This stops time and takes you to the campaign map. Friendly units
on the map are shown as shields. A unit can be a single
character, eg Frodo, or an army. Each shield shows all the units
in a certain sector, and is thus called a stack.  To examine a
unit, position over shield and press fire. To see further units,
press fire repeatedly to cycle through.

For each unit you are told:
TITLE - Either their name or description e.g. A Company of 002
Men
WHO IN COMMAND - "Man in command" etc means no commander set
DESTINATION - Where they are going
ENERGY - This is used up by walking and being hit in combat
DETERMINATION - How long they will keep going
STEADFASTNESS - How fast their energy is used up.
VIRTUE - How long they can hold the ring
BRAVERY - The braver you are, the more often you will hit in
combat
STRENGTH - How much damage you will do to an opponent
ALLEGIANCE - Fellowship , the good guys Mordor, Saurons troops
or Orthanc, Sarumans.

To give units an order, press fire twice while their details are
displayed.  Now you can choose to:

RETURN - Do not give a new order
SET TO DESTINATION - Go to a specific destination, you are
offered a second man giving you the choice of applying the order
to the individual unit (Individual) or all the stack (Everyone)
SET TO JOIN - Orders unit to join another units company
SET TO FOLLOW - Order one unit to follow another.

When selecting destinations, the cursor becomes a maltese cross
which you can the position and press fire.

Frodo starts as the ring bearer, as indicated by the ring after
his name.  To had to another hero, simply press R while their
details are displayed.  They must be in the same stack as the
ring bearer though.

COMBAT - When combat occurs, time is stopped and a pair of
crossed swords is shown at the place of battle. Push up to view
your forces and left and right to view the enemy. Press fire to
move to the battle screen.

Each character in both armies is represented by a figure on the
screen.  Your forces will not move until ordered, although will
fight back when attacked. The screen can be scrolled, using the
normal controls.  To order a character, press fire on him, then
press fire on selected enemy and the message "New destination
selected" will appear. The character will then move. To directly
move a character, fire twice on him, and then move him around.

The Ring Bearer may wear the ring. To do this press R and he will
disappear and not have to fight. He will then leave the battle
and appear on the next square on the map. This greatly decreases
the level of virtue in the bearer.  But beware Nazgul! They will
seek out the ring bearer if he attempts to wear the ring.

Good Luck!


SCORES RECEIVED
8/10 - Your Sinclair 40 (April 1989)

URL

GENERAL FACTS

NOTES