Il Principe (of Beleriand...)

[Lalaith]

Hmmm....first off, my initial problem was that the flight of the Noldor from Valinor was an essentially quixotic venture, about as unMachiavellian as it could possibly be. Sure, the various family branches came with different motives, but none of them could be described as pragmatic. In other words, Saucie's analysis is pretty accurate.
The second problem is that of contributing to history. For survival tactics based on neutrality, the obvious modern-day blueprint to follow is Switzerland. But how interesting is a history of Switzerland? William Tell, Zwingli, banks and chocolate are the high points, not enough to fill more than a side note in a great heroic epic...
Anyway,
How do I best resist Morgoth?
Initiate a well-funded and comprehensive programme of training and education. "Orc Control - the Neuro-Linguistic Route." "The Seven Habits of Effective Warriors". "The Lies of Morgoth and how to nail them." "Silmaril 14-Day Detox". Operate a policy of affirmative action for your courses. Make sure you have a good ratio of non-domestic students, and that you fill your quotas of non-Edain mortals, dwarves(however petty), the Avari. These were a much-neglected pool of Morgoth-fighting potential.

How friendly should I be with Thingol?

All overtures should be made through his much more sensible wife. Perhaps she might be interested in funding a Melian Scholarship?

How far should I co-operate with my valiant, elficidal jewel-seeking relatives?
Get them on the Sil detox programme, of course.

What sort of site would be good for my kingdom?

Do I go for:
A The cave network approach
B The hidden city approach
C The enchanted forest approach
D The seaside haven approach
E The massive great try-this-for-size-Morgoth-old-chap fortress approach

Hmm...my instincts veer towards C or more likely D (Eglarest, anyone?) The educational programme is of course a front for the surreptitious shipbuilding. This has a double benefit: your people have a means of escape if attacked, (Morgoth didn't seem to have any Corsair-style naval fleet at this point, did he?) plus the long-term goal getting the Valar eventually onside seems to combine the quixotic and constructive in a rather satisfactory way.

What do I do about Dwarves and Men?
See first point.

What sort of culture am I ideally aiming for?

I can't better Feanor's proposal - all except the Marmite. Bleugh. Get the Dorwinian trade going with some imports of champers, instead.

[littlemanpoet]

Who said survival is the goal?

How do I best resist Morgoth?Don't think for a second you can possibly "get inside and cause trouble"; that's more quixotic than the seven sons of Feanor! You're Noldoran. Craft armaments. Stay out of the intrigues of political infighting. Don't get attracted by some femme fatale Elf-maiden. Have nothing to do with the children of Hurin.

How friendly should I be with Thingol? Don't bother. He doesn't like Noldorans and he's doomed anyway.

[b]How far should I co-operate with my valiant, elficidal jewel-seeking relatives?]/b]Steer clear of them.

What sort of site would be good for my kingdom?Go to Eregion and beat Celebrimbor to his own game. That way you just might meet up with Galadriel and be in Lorien instead of Celeborn at the end of the Third Age. Till the soil. Husband the beasts. Befriend the Trees. Make friends with every living thing you can, including the Gold-, Silver-, Blue-, Rasp- and whatever else-berrys and Tom Bomba-whatevers littered across the natural lands and rivers. Can't hurt, though it may not help a lot, and sure to provide a lot of native wisdom.

What do I do about Dwarves and Men?Trade but that's it.

What sort of culture am I ideally aiming for?Noldoran craft married to native Sindarin nature-loving. Sow the seeds of health in the land, the stronger to resist the coming onset of such harrowings as will arise from the Witch King and Sauron.

[Macalaure]

How do I best resist Morgoth?

Know your enemy and conceal your own strength.
I would kill or capture any scout that Morgoth sends near my realm.
On the other hand I would generously welcome anybody who was able to flee from Angband. Of course they will not be allowed to leave again, since each of them is an assumed spy.
When I see my opportunity I would gather as many allies as I can and attack. I'm not going to sit it out until the War of Wrath.


How friendly should I be with Thingol?

Persuading Thingol into joining me and my allies is quite hopeless.
Maybe I would send Melian some chocolate, as she seems to be the only one who has influence on him. (I need to get his armies, somehow)


How far should I co-operate with my valiant, elficidal jewel-seeking relatives?

Case 1: I'm one of them.
If my attack succeeds, then those little stones are mi-hine. Until then I would do anything to get my brothers to cool down and be patient, where 'anything' includes locking them up. Especially those Cs tend to cause trouble everytime they can.
If my attack fails, then... well... I think the Everlasting Dark doesn't sound that bad.

Case 2: I'm not one of them.
I would print words like "I would not take these things, if they lay by the highway." on all my banners in very, very big letters and hold on to them.
That way Feanor's Sons should be quite dependable allies. As if I have a choice.

And if someday some mortal appears with a former ring of mine, he gets the boot.


What sort of site would be good for my kingdom?
I go for:
A The cave network approach

A hidden city would work as well, but places to hide a whole city are rare in Beleriand.
So to conceal my strength I go for the caves. (On the other hand: Not knowing my strength will make Morgoth assume the worst. Have to rethink that...)


What do I do about Dwarves and Men?

If even Caranthir was not able to sufficiently insult the Dwarves, then they are obviously not as quick to resentment as is said. With a little trade them joining me won't be a problem, I think.

Men are useful in battle, so I'd like to have plenty of them at my disposal. I will have lots of unused space around my caves, they can have it.
Go and multiply!
Maybe I set up my caves east of the Blue Mountains to civilize the Easterlings. The Emyn Uial look nice.

But if someday a guy with a former ring of mine appears and asks for help, he still gets the boot.
And if somebody calling himself the Bloodstained, son of Ill-fate, appears with a former disobedient captain of mine and tries to talk me into building a huge bridge, he gets the other boot.


What sort of culture am I ideally aiming for?

Hiding in caves and biding the right time, weaving my webs of intrigue in silence.
And trying to keep my allies from slaughtering each other.

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Macalaure

Men are useful in battle, so I'd like to have plenty of them at my disposal.

Spoken like a true Elven Lord!

Welcome to the Downs, Macalaure.

About this topic i would only speak of the first question because i have much thinking to do about all the other questions and im sure you will find this post wite long....so
How do i Resist Morgoth???
On this point i wolud have to agree with Anguirel, in the fact that the Noldor shouldn`t retreat nor hide from Morgoth, I really think that most ofthe battles of beleriand would have been won if only the noldorin weren`t mising something important : Patience and Union among them.

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I suggest-build up grand alliances with Elves of whatever stamp, if at all possible. Swear an oath of mutual respect (like that sworn by the Greek princes of the Iliad). Foster connections with Men and Naugrim. With unity, the free peoples of Beleriand could have been greater than a thousand Valarin relief forces!

I know that the odds of winning against Morgoth or any Valar (as diminished and unworthy of the name he might be) are very narrow if not nule at all, but by destroying his armies and cornering him just like in the siege of angband but in a far strict level, a united army of the elves combined with men and dwarves, would have (and suceed) in the task of safekeeping middle earth until the war of wrath, and that would be precisely the task appointed to our Noldorin prince, to create and maintain a true STATE, united and supportive in wich the peace would have lasted for many years.... of course lots and lots of great warriors and mighty beings wolud be at risk and the chances for them to be completely lost are high, and there would have been a NIRNAETH for sure but Just as Tolkien says, when he speaks about the other sons of Finwë (Fingolfin and Finarfin), if they would have not existed (and perished) the way they did, the Noldor would never had the fame and rename they had in the eras to come and all of their great deeds would not exist in the songs.....