| ! | Non-canon alert The subject of this article originates from non-canonical sources. To learn about what is considered "canon", see LOTR:Canon. |
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Hwaldar was the hillchief of many tribes at Rhudaur, one of the ancient three kingdoms of Arnor. Rhudaur is secretly in league with the Witch-king of Angmar, Hwaldar paves the way for Angmar's invasion but must evade capture from the clutches of the soldiers of Arthedain, to complete his treachery. He holds an interesting nickname, the "Brigand". He is based on an unnamed character from J. R. R. Tolkien´s cannon.[1]
History
Rebellion against the Dúnedain
King Argeleb of Arthedain reclaims the throne of all Arnor because in Rhudaur and Cardolan Isildur's line have fallen long ago. Cardolan is not opposed but Hwaldar and the hillmen of Rhudaur begin to reveal their plans, some time before that the Witch-king sent emissaries to Rhudaur. They decided to cause a rebellion in Rhudaur against their 'masters', Arnor. Without knowing anything about Hwaldar's alliance with Angmar, Argeleb chain Hwaldar and build fortifications all over Rhudaur in order to silence the rebellion.
Some time after, Morgomir convince the Witch-king to send an army to rescue Hwaldar. They attack Arthedain's outpost where Hwaldar is chained, ending his imprisonment with Morgomir's blade. Hwaldar finds himself rescued and is sent with soldiers of Angmar to demand allegiance from the nearby Hill-men tribes. Those that rejected, where slaughtered, and their tents plundered. The army continues after building a minor fortification to cross the river to the west, there attacking Arthedain's two outposts, in the process of the march to the second outpost, King Argeleb arrives and threw in his share of reinforcements. The battle of Rhudaur ends with the Witch-king conquering Rhudaur and slaying King Argeleb.[1]
In Game
Hwaldar is an early Hero geared towards being used in the beginning of a fight and rapidly bringing in resources while harassing the enemy without engaging in full on warfare against heavier units. His first ability is a passive that boosts the attack, defense and experience gained of all hill-men by 20%, which is weaker then the usual 50% associated with most heroes but is offset by how easy it is to spam the hill-men. His second ability is also a passive, any hill-men including Hwaldar that kills any units gains that units build pay returned to the player. The ability allows Hwaldar and a large amount of hill-men to rapidly build up the resources of the Angmar faction and get an early start on mid-game and even end-game powers and units. His third and final ability allows him to summon hill-men upon command, and while it is gained at level 5, it summons a larger amount of units the higher Hwaldars level is.
While these attributes make Hwaldar a threat to opponents and an extremely useful Hero in the beginning, he will begin to rapidly lose effectiveness by about mid-game and become fairly useless by end-game. Hwaldar is a very soft target, making it easy to bring him down with advanced weapons, and as more powerful infantry begin to appear in the fight his buffs on his infantry begin to be outclassed by more powerful hero abilities of the opposing faction (Lurtz, King Dain, etc.) and his hill-men allies will be easily slaughtered. However if used correctly he can be useful even in the end game, as his summon hill-men ability can be used as a meatshield to protect the more powerful and expensive infantry and offer a potential cash boost if they kill any units near him.[1]
See also
- The Men of Rhudaur, or Hill-men, whom Hwaldar lead against the rest of Arnor.
