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 - Patch 0.755 Released!
Posted on April 17, 2012, by Nertea. View Comments (22)
Hey all, the 0.755 update is ready for public consumption! It includes lots of AI fixes and improvements as well as more general bugfixes.
Just run TDH's Check for Updates utility to download it. Make sure you have a clean copy of TDH before doing this.
You can find the full changelog here.
Posted on April 17, 2012, by Nertea. View Comments (22)
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 - March 8th Update: Basically Complete
Posted on March 8, 2012, by Nertea. View Comments (67)
Since you've all been so good... I thought I'd let you know I've just finished fixing the major bug that was delaying things. My entire work-time is now dedicated to finishing up the manual, at which point we will release. Look for a new version of The Dwarf Holds by the end of the month, if not earlier!
Posted on March 8, 2012, by Nertea. View Comments (67)
News - January 23rd Update: Rohan Spellbook, Part II
Posted on January 23, 2012, by _Haldir_. View Comments (16)
Update time!
This week we'll be revealing the last of the changes to Rohan's spellbook, which also makes this the last Rohan update!
Replacing the now-obsolete Anduril ability as one of Rohan's tier 2 powers is Aid from Lorien. A passive power, Aid from Lorien allows the player to recruit Haldir and the Galadhrim from the Rohan Archery Range.
With the ability to toggle between bow and sword, the Galadhrim are the same elves you know and love - with the exception of the trample immunity offered by their sword toggle, which has been removed. Your Galadhrim can still be upgraded with heavy armour, forged blades and fire arrows; can remain stealthed amongst trees; and can be combined into a double battalion.
Also joining Rohan's hero roster is Haldir, who is buildable from the archery range once Aid from Lorien has been purchased. A resourceful and versatile warrior, Haldir is able to remain hidden amongst trees; and his rank 1 Toggle allows him to switch between bow and sword. Whilst using his bow, Haldir is also able to use his rank 1, Pinpoint Strike ability, which damages an enemy unit and reduces their speed for a short duration. 
At rank 4, Haldir gains his Elven Captain leadership ability, granting an attack and experience bonus to nearby Galadhrim. And lastly, at rank 7, is Haldir's Call Volley. When selected, Haldir fires a flaming signal arrow, which soon brings a flurry of arrows down on any unfortunate enemies within the targeted area.
And as many of you have guessed, replacing Army of the Dead as Rohan's final spellbook power are The Three Hunters. For 10pp, you can temporarily summon, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli to the map, each with a range of unique abilities.
Firstly, each of the Three Hunters share the passive Hunter ability, which grants Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli a small boost to armour and speed whenever they are nearby either of the other hunters.
Aragorn gains his Knife Throw ability, which damages and reduces the armour of the targeted unit. Athelas allows Aragorn to heal his fellow hunters, as well as other friendly heroes; and Blademaster vastly increases his attack speed and damage for a short duration. A natural born leader, Aragorn's Leadership inspires surrounding troops, granting them a damage and experience bonus.
Legolas retains his Hawk Strike ability, allowing him to fire twin shots at a targeted enemy. Knife Fighter allows Legolas to temporarily switch to melee attacks, as well as granting him a boost to armour. Legolas' Train Archers grants experience to targeted units; and his Elf Eyes ability allows Legolas to reveal stealthed enemies within a targeted area.
Gimli keeps his Axe Throw ability, allowing him to take out multiple enemies at once. Donning the shield he was given by Theoden in Rohan's capital, the Buckler of Edoras grants Gimli an increase to defence, at a cost to speed. And lastly, Gimli's Dwarven Vengeance ability allows him to regain small amounts of health whilst attacking. A passive ability, it also inspires surrounding troops, providing them with a small boost.
And that's it! Hope you enjoyed this week's update, keep your eyes peeled for a release announcement which hopefully won't be too far away!
Posted on January 23, 2012, by _Haldir_. View Comments (16)