Board Thread:General Mod Discussion/@comment-29680750-20170806070151/@comment-28813058-20170808163903

213.55.176.226 wrote:

TheodenOfRohan wrote:

00Fez wrote: Exactly. Currently in the mod they are neutral with Gundabad. Does anyone here really believe the Dunlendings willingly took part in Sarumans experiments. Point 1 was supposed to provide a lore-abiding possibility of how. The Dunlendings did indeed willingly take part in Saruman's conquest to destroy Rohan, mainly because a) they wanted back the land they believed was rightfully theirs (Rohan) and b) because Saruman lied to them about the Rohirrim, saying that they were cruel and burned their enemies alive. So, well, yes, they participated in Saruman's experiments willingly, although he deceived them to get their loyalty. The Dunlendings aren't exactly outstanding warriors, and thus they knew that they would have to ally with the Uruk-hai to have a chance of seizing Rohan.

They did manage to capture all of Rohan during the second age however.. That was because Rohan was caught in the Long Winter and, as the Tolkien Gateway mentions, the Dunlendings were "reinforced by enemies of Gondor who landed in the South." Rohan suffered from famine, losing many warriors. Plus, Rohan could not hope to get help from Gondor, because they were being attacked by Umbar. Once these obstacles were passed, Rohan and Gondor immediately overthrew the Dunlendings' reign.