The Special Extended Edition is one of the most popular game modifications for the Battle for Middle-earth, greatly expanding and enhancing gameplay. It’s been silent for a while around this mod, but Mordor Slayer just posted a preview for the new 4.7 version of the mod:

It’s been quite a long time since our last major update (4.5 if anyone’s keeping count) and the development of the mod has known it’s peaks and valleys, but one thing remains clear: the SEE team is determined to finish this wonderful homage to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Lost members have returned and some have been left on the long and winding road, busy as they were with family, friends and real life. The recent collaborations with the Age of Men and the Edain mod have allowed the team to exchange material, always making sure that their high quality standards were met. This previews provides a glimpse of all the work that has been done in the last couple of months, including the new build-up animations for the Evil Men fortress, which are just hot of the press.

2010 promises to be a great year for fans of the Lord of the Rings, with hopefully more news regarding the upcoming The Hobbit film, the release of the Blu-ray edition of the trilogy, and even some new games on the horizon (just google Aragorn’s Quest and War of the North to find out more). Here’s hoping that the release of S.E.E. 4.7 will be one of those events. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year by the S.E.E. team and their humble marketing manager,

yours truly,

Mordor Slayer

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.

GENERAL INFORMATION

* Curious about what still needs to be done for the upcoming beta? Check out the ToDo list and build plan!

* Note: the material shown in this preview only includes the most recent material which has been added to the mod. If you want to check out the rest of the new content, check out one of the other previews like the Edoras Reborn preview.

* As always, our website can be found here and our forums here.

* Current ETA: spring 2010

EREBOR

First of all, we’ve got the new Dwarven Archers, which will replace the Axe-throwers. The Axe-thrower model will be used as a Battlewagon upgrade. New heroes for Erebor will be Dain II Ironfoot, Durin VII and Dwalin.

ISENGARD

Then there’s the new Uruk-hai Scouts and the new basic Uruk-hai for Isengard. They will also get a new host of early game and support heroes including Ugluk, Mauhur and a reskinned Lurtz. They’ll be the three Uruk commanders answering directly to Saruman. But the alliance between Sauron and Saruman is an uneasy one, so the Great Eye sends his minions led by Grishnákh to spy on the White Hand…

MORIA
The Goblins won’t be left out in the cold, they’ll get a new early game hero, Golfimbul. Together with Bolg, Azog and The Great Goblin, he’ll lead the Goblin horde against the factions of good.

EVIL MEN
The powerful faction of the Evil Men will be lead by the sinister King of Rhûn.

MAPS AND BUILDINGS

Have a look at the wonders of Amon Hen, mapped by njm1983.

We’ve also got a new structure model to show for the Moria Warg Den. Another new building will be the Rhûn Barracks. Both are reskinned buildings from RotWK.

And finally, take a gander at this wonderful Christmas gift from our talented modeller ttandchotmail: the Rhûn fortress build-up animations!