The Dwarf Holds (TDH) is a mod for The Battle for Middle-Earth. TDH adds a fully-functional Erebor faction, significantly updates the gameplay and artwork of the original four factions, and includes a wide array of maps covering the whole of Middle-earth.
TDH's latest version, 0.75, was released in March 2012, and can be downloaded from our downloads page. For more information, check out our news (below), screenshots on our media page, and information about new content on our about page.
News - July 3rd Update: What To Expect
Posted on July 2, 2012, by _Haldir_. View Comments (39)
Hey there!
It's been quite a while since our last update and the release of the 0.755 patch, which we hope you're all enjoying. But even though things have been fairly quiet here in terms of public updates, don't worry! The team has been hard at work on lots of exciting new things. So in this update, we thought we'd give you a little peek at what's been happening behind the scenes, and what you can expect from the Dwarf Holds over the next while.
For those of you who haven't guessed as much already, i'm pleased to announce that The Dwarf Holds is currently working on adding in two brand new campaigns. Those of you who were savvy enough (or illiterate enough 
) to venture past the "Unavailable" buttons in the mod's campaign section may have even caught a glimpse of the beginnings of a new Living World Map. Well, see below for the nearly-finished result.
Now we don't want to give away too many details, but we can tell you that there will be two Dwarven campaigns. One will follow the story of Balin, and his ill-fated Retaking of Moria. The other will take you through the War in the North, and the Dwarven battles that took place during the War of the Ring.
Each campaign will contain plenty of new maps, new units, and new spellbook powers for you to experience; and we've made sure to include a unique and interesting variety of campaign missions and map objectives for you to play through.
As i said, we wouldn't want to ruin the surprises by showing you too much of the different campaign missions, so updates will probably be fairly scarce from now on. However, we'll certainly try and give you small glimpses when we can, so here's a little sneak peek at the first mission of the Moria campaign, The Eastgate.
Posted on July 2, 2012, by _Haldir_. View Comments (39)
News - Upcoming TDH Patch News
Posted on March 31, 2012, by Nertea. View Comments (4)
Hello T3Aers,
Though the release of 0.75 seems to have gone reasonably well, some issues have come up that we're working on addressing. These include the Entmoot bug and a few balance changes. Expect a patch to be out in a week or so, as we're also working on making needed improvements to the AI that need some more time. We'll also be releasing a Worldbuilder installer that will allow you to make maps with TDH content effortlessly. Stay tuned for more information.
In the meantime, we can offer a solution to the pink arrows bug that seems to occur at random. To greatly decrease the chance of this happening, when you install The Dwarf Holds, makes sure to run the installer as an administrator. To do this, simply right click on the file and select "Run as administrator". Then, proceed as normal. This has worked so far for forum members. If the problem persists, you may also want to run Battle for Middle-earth as an administrator.
Thanks for your patience!
Posted on March 31, 2012, by Nertea. View Comments (4)
News - The Dwarf Holds 0.75
Posted on March 23, 2012, by Nertea. View Comments (52)
After a lot of work, things thrown at walls and lots of time, we can finally announce that The Dwarf Holds version 0.75 is ready to download. It contains tons of new content, including new units for every faction, new spells, new heroes, new buildings - the works! It also fixes many bugs and makes balancing changes. For the full changelog see here (though it's missing a few maps). You can also have a look though the extensive manual - included with the download or available here.
Note: because we made some changes to the auto-updater, you cannot use it to update to the new version. Unfortunately, you have to download the full installer. Sorry about that!
To download, just head over to our ModDb page. We also have an alternative download on LOTR Files.
If you find and bugs that aren't listed in the manual/changelog, post them in bugs threads here. We'll address them as well as we can.
The TDH team hopes you enjoy the release!
Posted on March 23, 2012, by Nertea. View Comments (52)
News - January 16th Update: Rohan Spellbook, Part I
Posted on January 16, 2012, by _Haldir_. View Comments (15)
Hey there!
In this weeks update, we'll be looking at the first lot of changes to Rohan's Spellbook.
Replacing Heal as one of Rohan's tier 1 powers is Ride Light and Swift. When activated, this global ability grants all your mounted units an increase in speed and a decrease in trample deceleration. Lasting for 30 seconds, Ride Light and Swift can be equally useful in cutting through enemy ranks, outmaneuvering foes, or for making hasty retreats.
At tier 2 is Muster of Rohan, replacing the now completely-removed Elven Wood. For 2pp, this ability provides a 60 second bonus to all stables when activated - decreasing the cost and build time of all mounted units. When combined with the cavalry discount provided by farms, the cost of mustering your rohirrim can be incredibly low!
Lastly, the Oath of Cirion replaces the Elven Allies power at tier 2. At a cost of 3pp, this ability summons 2 battalions of Gondor Archers and 2 battalions of Gondor Spearmen to Rohan's aid. Upgraded with heavy armour, your Gondorian allies can be extremely useful in raiding undefended settlements, outflanking enemy troops, or simply bolstering your existing forces.
And that's all for this update!
Next week: Rohan Spellbook Part II
Posted on January 16, 2012, by _Haldir_. View Comments (15)
News - November 21st Update: The White Hand Part II
Posted on November 21, 2011, by Nertea. View Comments (27)
In this update, I'll be showing off Isengard's new hero and some major changes to Saruman.
Saruman starts off with a new Rank 10 power - Storm. This power can be cast on enemy buildings to massively decrease their production output while damaging them as well. Don't like your opponent's prized Level 3 Mumakil Pen? Well, a Storm or two will destroy it. The rest of his powers are unchanged.
Eventually Saruman the White broke light to see what it was made of, and so became Saruman of Many Colours. In the mod, Summon Balrog has been replaced by a power upgrading Saruman. This gives him a host of new devastating powers to choose from. Firstly, Wizard blast becomes Crushing Blast, a new power with greater range that deals crushing damage to all enemies causght within its area of effect. Fireball is improved to Searing Fireball, which ignites the ground for several seconds after impact. Both Dominate and his Leadership powers also increase in radius and strength. Speech Craft is replaced by Isengard Unleashed, a new power that greatly boots the production speed of a target building for quite a long duration. Finally, Storm is also replaced - Duel of Minds is another crafty new power. When used, Saruman will engage in a duel of wills with the opponent. This has the effect of debuffing all of their attributes and doing some light damage. The power lasts until Saruman is moved or uses another power, so can be used to lock down an opponent's hero. However, there are a few mighty characters with the mental fortitude to stave off this attack completely...
Besides this set of powers, Saruman also casts lightning bolts when upgraded, which provide a slow but rather powerful attack.
When you purchase Saruman of Many Colours from the spellbook, you also gain a new structure. Your Citadels construct a scaffhold around them upon which Saruman can perch and give orders to his minions. From the building, you can purchase Focus upgrades. Only one can be active at a time, but you may choose from modes that benefit Uruks, Archers, Warg Riders, Siege Weapons or resource collection.
Posted on November 21, 2011, by Nertea. View Comments (27)