Easterling Garrison

* Level 1
* Level 2
* Level 3

"This was no assault upon the Dark Lord by the men of Gondor, risen like avenging ghosts from the graves of valour long passed away. These were Men of other race, out of the wide Eastlands, gathering to the summons of their Overlord; armies that had encamped before his Gate by night and now marched in to swell his mounting power."
—The Two Towers, The Black Gate is Closed

To make his war with Gondor, Sauron swayed the Men of Khand and Rhûn with promises of power and revenge over their enemies. Legions of Variags and Easterlings were observed mustering in Mordor throughout the War of the Ring before being unleashed upon the White City. In the North, an army of Easterlings were sent by Sauron to attack the city of Dale and lay siege to Erebor, it was here that they succeeded in killing both King Brand and King Dáin.

In Age of the Ring, the Easterling Garrison is a unit recruitment structure in Mordor from which elite Easterling units can be recruited. It is also available to the Adventure: Rhûn subfaction, where it is the unit recruitment location for all of the subfaction's melee infantry.

## Upgrades

**Upgrade Easterling Garrison to Level 2 (A)** - allows training of the Great Khân's Archers. +10% faster build speed. Cost: 750

*NOTE: In Adventure: Rhûn, this upgrade instead allows for the training of Great Khân's Phalanx and Great Khân's Swordsmen.*

**Upgrade Easterling Garrison to Level 3 (A)** - allows training of Golden Axemen and Golden Cataphracts, if He is Gathering All Evil to Him has been used. Unlocks Barbed Arrows. +25% faster build speed. Adds defensive arrow tower. Cost: 650

*NOTE: In Adventure: Rhûn, this upgrade instead allows for the training of Golden Axemen and Dragon Knights without any further requirements. Barbed Arrows are also not researched in Rhûn's Easterling Garrison.*

## Function

The Easterling Garrison can be used to recruit the following units:

At level 3 the Easterling Garrison allows the following upgrades to be researched:

**Barbed Arrows (T)** - Allows Easterling Archers to be upgraded with barbed arrows. When equipped, damage done by arrows is increased and arrows deal additional slash damage. *(Mordor variant only)*

In the Adventure: Rhûn subfaction, the Easterling Garrison can instead be used to recruit the following units:

## Strategy

The Easterling Garrison enables Mordor to transition from the early to the mid-late game as the units recruitable from it are far more elite than those recruited from the Orcish Stronghold. It is a relatively expensive structure and so should not be built before Mordor has built several Slave Farm and multiple Orcish Strongholds so that they can recruit a large orc army to keep the enemy at bay and expand their economy. Once built, most players upgrade their Easterling Garrison to level 2 as quickly as possible so that they gain access to Easterling Archers, which inflict significant amounts of damage to the enemy army. The Easterling Garrison benefits greatly from the He is Gathering All Evil to Him spellbook power as it unlocks Mordor's elite cavalry and a semi-heroic swordsman unit, with the Cataphracts and Axemen.

In the Adventure: Rhûn subfaction, the Easterling Garrison's purpose is adjusted to be the main unit recruitment building for all of the subfaction's melee infantry, as the Rhûn's roster has diversified and the Easterling Archers and Cataphracts have been relocated to alternate buildings. It is thus cheaper and faster to build, and at level 1 it allows for the recruitment of altered Variags and Serf Spearmen, the latter of whom remain the same as their Auxiliary Camp counterparts but gain a horde bonus when a large group of Serfs and Variags fight together. At higher levels, the Easterling Garrison allows for the recruitment of powerful and elite Easterling Pikemen and Swordsmen who will compose Rhûn's army in the mid-late game. The Level 3 Garrison still allows for the recruitment of Golden Axemen without any further requirement beyond fully upgrading the building, and it will allow for the recruitment of the Dragon Knights, a heroic unit who specialize in dealing with cavalry, monsters, and heroes similar to Pikemen.