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 - 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 9th Update: The Heroes of the Mark
Posted on January 9, 2012, by _Haldir_. View Comments (13)
Hey everybody!
Before we dive into the second Rohan update, we thought it'd be nice to give you an update on the progress of the mod. Unfortunately, Nertea is going to be away for a couple of weeks, so the release of the next patch is going to be delayed until after he comes back. Rest assured though, that progress on the mod is going swimmingly, and that besides some bugfixing and polishing, there isn't a lot left to finish off. You've all been incredibly patient - just hang in there, it won't be much longer 
Until then however, i'll be taking over the next few updates, which will cover the last changes included in the next version, 0.75!
In this update, we'll be looking at some exciting changes to the Rohan hero roster.
Firstly, in keeping with the changes made to his Gondorian counterpart Pippin, Merry will be receiving a new power - Esquire of Rohan. Available at rank 4, this passive power grants Merry a boost in armour and health. Merry otherwise remains unchanged, retaining his Elven Cloak and Toggle Sword/Rock abilities.
Newly added to Rohan's ranks is Gamling the Old. Although a capable warrior on foot, Gamling can also use his Mount ability at rank 1, allowing him to join the ranks of your rohirrim archers. A stout and loyal soldier, Gamling's Fealty ability is also available at rank 1, which grants Gamling a passive experience boost whenever near Theoden, Eomer or Erkenbrand. At rank 4, his Master of Archers leadership provides a passive attack buff to yeoman archers and rohirrim archers.
At rank 6, Gamling is able to summon The King's Standard, a banner that provides leadership and replenishes nearby battalions. It is only temporary however, and can also be destroyed by the enemy if not protected.
Also joining the Rohan hero roster is Erkenbrand. A great warrior and strong leader, Erkenbrand's rank 1 ability, Horn of the Westfold, inspires nearby troops and provides them with boosts to attack and speed. At rank 3, Erkenbrand displays the Red Shield of the Mark, which grants Erkenbrand additional health, as well as attack and armour bonuses to peasants, westfold miltia and yeoman archers. And like most of the Rohan heroes, Erkenbrand is equally skilled on horse and foot - his Mount ability available at rank 4 allows Erkenbrand to ride forth with the rest of your Rohirrim.
Erkenbrand receives his Rally the Westmark ability at rank 6 - a passive ability which decreses the cost of peasants, horsemen of the mark, and westfold militia. And finally, Erkenbrand becomes a truly fearsome warrior at rank 8, when he receives his Hammerhand Reborn ability. When activated, Erkenbrand's damage is greatly increased, and he may randomly deliver a devastating blow to knock back and damage his surrounding enemies!
Lastly, as many of you know, Aragorn and Gimli have assumed their roles amongst the heroes of Gondor and Erebor respectively. As such, Legolas has also been removed from Rohan's heroes. Don't worry though, more will be revealed on the fate of the Three Hunters in a future update 
Next week: Rohan Spellbook Part I
Posted on January 9, 2012, by _Haldir_. View Comments (13)
News - December 5th Update: Mod of the Year and The Horse Lords
Posted on December 5, 2011, by Nertea. View Comments (10)
First off, I'd just like to mention that Moddb's Mod of the Year contest is going on right now. If you'd like to support us in our effort to get some BFME mods well-recognized, you could head over to our page HERE and vote for us. Also consider voting for Phoenix Rising, another Revora mod that I work on from time to time
. We'd really appreciate the support. Anyways, on to the update!
Welcome to the first Rohan update! The next few updates will roll out the changes to the Horse-Lords of Middle-earth, and then, hopefully, we'll release version 0.75.
We'll kick off the next set of updates with the three new Rohan units we'll be introducing, as well as one structure.
As in version 0.55, Rohan still has access to the Royal Guardsmen and Door-Wardens of Edoras. However, all of the new units are rather crowding the Archery Range and Stables. To that end, we're adding a Barracks to the faction (build animations graciously provided by Rob38). This structure now houses the new general units of the Rohan faction. Door Wardens are now built there at Rank 3.
The Westfold Miltia are levied spearmen. They aren't that tough or versatile, but are reasonably inexpensive. If you're having a lot of trouble with enemy cavalry and Warg Riders, some Militia may be a good choice. They combo well with Peasants and Yeoman Archers. Westfolders are constructed at the Rank 1 Barracks, but first require you to purchase the Defenders of the Wold upgrade from the same structure. This enables Westfold Militia for purchase at any Barracks, and and Horsemen of the Mark at any Farm.
The last new unit that Rohan gets is the Rohirric Battering Ram. A basic siege weapon, it doesn't need much of a description - it is manned by a tough crew of Westfolders and can be used to batter down gates and small walls.
Posted on December 5, 2011, by Nertea. View Comments (10)
News - April 4th Update: The last Mordor update
Posted on April 5, 2011, by Nertea. View Comments (35)
You might have thought that we'd shown you all of the changes to Mordor. Well, you were wrong! We have enough stuff for one more update to the Dark Lord's armies.
Shagrat and Gorbag are two interesting Orcish characters that we have added to provide some heroic flavour to Mordor's early game. No longer will you have to sulk as your friends prance about leveling their early-game heroes while you're stuck capping points with a somewhat boring corrupted hobbit. Of course, you can still do that if you like. I won't stop you.
Gorbag is a weak early-game hero with a focus on abilities instead of direct combat. He starts out with Kick, which is a simple melee attack that knocks a unit on its backside. At Level 3, he gains the passive Greed ability. This gives his strikes a secondary effect - if he attacks a resource structure, its production will be decreased significantly for a short amount of time. When combined with his stealth ability gained at Level 4, this makes him an excellent raider. Once Level 6 is reached, he can apply his skills to friendly structures - Forced Labour increases the production or build speed of a target building greatly for 30 seconds. However, this breakneck production speed also damages the building over time, so don't use it on front-line structures or even ones with low starting health...
Shagrat is Gorbag's tougher cousin, preferring a brute-force approach. He has a good amount more health and does more damage. His initial Loyalty to the Eye ability gives him attack and armor bonuses when near friendly structures, and he provides useful leadership to the Black Uruks of Mordor at level 2. Eventually, at Level 5, he can use Get 'em Lads! to summon two hordes of Black Uruks for some help in a pinch.
Next update, I'll start releasing information on another faction!
Posted on April 5, 2011, by Nertea. View Comments (35)