Before we head deeper into Angmar, let’s take a little break and look at the troubles in the Shire. Interlude – Ode to Tuckborough Trouble takes our Tuckborough folk, As brigands bring a blight of woe. We gore the goblins and gut the wolves To save the Shire with spear of oak.   Trouble tears our Tuckborough home As hobbits hide in holes so...

We get a heartfelt welcome to Angmar. Book 6 – Terrible Heart From Helegrod We headed north To the evil land Of Angmar the cruel. There Corunir Recalled a time When he failed to cross A most fearful line.   We were sent to learn The secret held By the statues that stirred A most striking terror. We learned of hearts That held the fear But the first...

Andrew Ferguson asks: If I want to get as much gold as possible out of Skirmishes, what is the best Skirmish to do this? I must admit that I don’t worry too much about gold I earn during skirmishes but I presume that there are a few like Andrew who do. Before we decide on a best skirmish, we need to know whether you are are running a single skirmish or a...

We continue our chase of the Nazgûl in the Misty Mountains. Book 5 – Mist and Shadow Nowhere near us Was the Nazgûl we sought So to the Misty Mountains We made our way. We asked Glóin If he could guess the place Where the shadow servant Did sit in wait.   We searched the goblins To gain some news But all we found Was a foul Dourhand. We sought the...

In this week’s piece, we head into the Trollshaws in search of a Nazgûl. Book 4 – Chasing a Nazgûl The Nine Nazgûl Nearly won The ring of Sauron That rules them all. But the wraiths were washed By the waters of the ford Back to their Master In Mordor dark.   Yet one escaped The avalanche To sow the seeds Of sinister plots. We sought to find...

In this week’s piece, we head into the North Downs to summon a council. Book 3 – The North Downs Fornost did fall To forces from Angmar That now were near The North Downs homes. A council was called To quickly find A means to meet The massing foes.   We called the dwarves Who dwelt to the north But they were harried By threatening foes. The...

  Welcome back to the second edition of Pineleaf’s Pictorial Primer to Skirmishing. In this series, we will look at each of the skirmishes in The Lord of the Rings Online. In this installment, we attempt to survive a Stand at Amon Sûl.   This edition updates the information up to Update 16.2 (the original version was posted on CSTM back when the...

In this week’s piece, we aid Radagast in cleansing the Red Swamp. Book 2 – The Red Pass To Radagast We rode in haste And found him worried About wights in the swamp. There Gaunt men grew A graveborn army That aimed to destroy Ost Guruth.   Deeper we delved Into the dim shadows Where Nature cringed From the nauseous foes. The trees were turned...

In this week’s piece, we head to the Lone Lands to recapture Weathertop. Book 2 – Weathertop We head to lands Lonely and dry And find there Candaith At a camp near a hill. Weathertop it is called, A most windy peak, From where you can see For several leagues.   He sent us to slay Several orcs Who sought to storm The summit of the winds. Yet...

  In this week’s piece, we finish the first book of the epic story line. Instead of brigands, we are faced with the dead. Book 1 Part 2 – The Great Barrow We sought the servants Of Sauron the Dark But found a flock Of feathered spies. Our foes did fly To the forest Old, Where for time untold Tom did abide.   Tom sent us to search In the...

In this week’s piece, we start the first book of the epic story line. It is time to deal with those brigands and that rogue ranger. Book 1 – Blackwolds Broken With Strider we sought To strike a blow At the Blackwold Brigands That burned our lands. There a dour dwarf Most deadly we found, One Skorgrim Dourhand, Scourge of the Blue.   Nastier...

  Welcome back to the second edition of Pineleaf’s Pictorial Primer to Skirmishing. In this series, we will look at each of the skirmishes in The Lord of the Rings Online. In this installment, we attempt to survive the Siege of Gondamon.   This edition updates the information up to Update 16.1 (the original version was posted on CSTM back when...

  In this week’s piece, we find Amdir and conclude the introductory material. We also introduce a little variation to the format of our poem. My plan is to use six-stanza lines at various key points, such as the conclusion of each book. Prologue – Amdir We buried the dead From the Blackwold raid, Then searched for the ranger That the shadow...

We continue our epic venture in verse with the Archet introduction. Introduction – Archet Calder Cob Was cruel and mean: He betrayed the town That trusted him. He invited Angmarim (invaders most foul) To burn down Archet In Bree-land fair. Next time, we head into Combe. Pineleaf...

Today we start on an epic venture. We will travel through the LOTRO epic story line with poetry. In this journey, we will look at each book of the epic story through alliterative verse. We will start with the tutorial. I will follow the introductory sections as the race of man, since that follows the fate of Amdir the closest. Let’s the start with our...

Welcome to the second edition of Pineleaf’s Pictorial Primer to Skirmishing. In this series, we will look at each of the skirmishes in The Lord of the Rings Online. We begin this series where any good hobbit starts their journey – in the Shire to handle some Trouble in Tuckborough.   This edition updates the information up to Update 16 (the...

Frelorn posted the following announcement for the Russian players. The original message is in Russian, which roughly translates to: Russian game servers Lord of the Rings Online on June 1, will be closed. Unfortunately, we can not move the Russian accounts and / or characters on our servers (in the same way, we can not carry out the transfer from American to...

This year, I embarked on a quest to complete Skirmisher of Middle-earth on my 12 primary characters (4 wardens and one of each other class). After spending more hours skirmishing about middle-earth than I could count, I have finally completed this quest. The following video is a tribute to the fulfillment of this quest. The main part of the video features my...

My primary goal of the Extra Life marathon was to see how far I can level a Beorning in 24 hours of game play. My secondary goal was to either live stream or record this event. At least the first first goal was successful (the attempt at a live stream proved to be a fiasco). I do have a video from the final moments in the playthrough, where I run a skirmish...

Due to the power outage last night as well as the resulting instability of the servers afterwards, the launch of the latest LOTRO expansion, Helm’s Deep, has been rescheduled for Wednesday, November 20. In addition, the 100% XP bonus and Bounder’s Bounty event will also be continued until that time. Let’s hope the power remains stable at the...