Right now I've been playing a bunch of Shadows of Mordor, which is proving quite fun. Having finished the "Udûn" section, I've moved on to the Núrn area - a region on the coast of an inland sea that is far more green than the previous one. For context, Udûn is, I believe, the area directly inside the Black Gate - which is the heavily fortified entrance to Mordor in the northwest. Núrn is farther south, and is used as farmlands to feed Sauron's army (even Orcs gotta eat, and they can't live on pure cannibalism, what with the conservation of energy.)
While your efforts in Udûn had you killing all of the Orc Warchiefs there, here you'll unlock the ability to "brand" them. You can brand any orc you defeat - regular grunts can be branded easily, whereas Captains and Warchiefs will require you to weaken them or terrify them. In addition to the old interrogation abilities that you used in the first part of the game, you'll also be able to send them on missions. Captains can be sent to get in as bodyguards to Warchiefs, and once they've proven themselves (something you can ensure by doing a quick mission,) or if the Captain you capture is already a bodyguard, you can send your agent to assassinate his Warchief. If he succeeds (and again, you'll need to help,) you'll have a loyal Warchief.
You can also send said Warchiefs to make trouble for others of their rank, which starts a "Riot," where both of their forces clash.
I had a particularly nasty Warchief I wanted to replace (though you can also just brand a defeated Warchief instead of cutting off his head,) and after sending a Death Threat against him (which increases his strength but also the reward for killing him) he was at what I believe is the maximum power level, which is 20. Worried that my coup would be difficult, I did a LOT of groundwork. I killed one of his bodyguards and branded the other, sending my agent to assassinate him. But I also had a previously-branded Warchief (who had a bodyguard Captain I'd also branded) start a riot against this guy.
So when I finally showed up to take him on, the tough bastard was surrounded by troops friendly to me. The biggest challenge in the fight was just not killing my own loyal Orcs while we all swarmed this poor sod. And despite being a very powerful enemy, we took him down (though not with a satisfying decapitation. Normally that would mean that he could come back after some time, but given that my branded Captain had betrayed him, he then took his position.
So with that, I have 3/5 of the Warchiefs in Núrn under my control (one of them I got just by branding him in combat.)
Taking control of the Orcish hordes in Mordor is fairly satisfying, as you feel like a combination of assassin and Machiavellian chessmaster. On the other hand, I feel like there will be some kind of reckoning here. Power is a volatile thing, especially in Middle Earth. And Sauron often preys on people who seek to take his power for themselves. It's not as if the Orcs I have under control are suddenly becoming model citizens.
But for now, having a few allies at my side, however odious they may be, has its advantages.
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