War of the Ring

The 2004 base game has two opposing sides, normally one player each, with optional three/four-player team rules. Begin the Fellowship in Rivendell, hidden at progress0 and corruption0; the Free Peoples start with four action dice and the Shadow with seven.

Each game turn proceeds through drawing Events, Fellowship, Hunt allocation, action roll, alternating action resolution and victory check. In the standard game each side draws one card from each of its two decks, has a six-card hand limit and does not reshuffle exhausted Event decks.

The Shadow may allocate Hunt dice up to the number of Companions remaining, with at least one permitted when Gollum is Guide; rolled Eyes also enter the Hunt Box. Roll remaining action dice, then the Free Peoples act first. A side with fewer unused dice may pass without spending one.

Spend a die for an action allowed by its symbol. Character, Army, Muster and Event results serve different tasks; Will of the West is the Free Peoples’ flexible result. Elven Rings can change results with restrictions, at most one ring per side per game turn, and cannot create Will of the West.

Ordinary Muster recruitment requires the nation to be At War and a qualifying settlement it originally controlled and still controls. One die normally recruits two Regulars/Leaders in separate settlements or one Elite. Recruitment Events may provide exceptions. Shadow military casualties return to reinforcements; Free Peoples casualties normally do not.

An Army die can move two different armies one adjacent region each; a Character die can move one army with a Leader or Character. Units cannot move twice in the same action. Normal stacking is ten army units, reduced to five inside a besieged stronghold; leaders do not count as army units.

In normal battle, roll up to five combat dice based on army strength, normally hitting on5–6. Leadership rerolls failed dice up to its rating. A siege normally gives attackers hits only on6 and lasts one round; reducing an attacking Elite to a Regular can extend it by another round.

Move a hidden Fellowship with a Character action or an applicable Event. Progress advances on its track and triggers a Hunt. Outside Mordor, Shadow rolls up to five Hunt dice, normally succeeding on6, with bonuses from earlier Fellowship movement dice and eligible rerolls. Apply tile damage as corruption or a Companion casualty, with excess damage becoming corruption.

When the hidden Fellowship is declared in Minas Morgul or Morannon during the Fellowship phase, enter the Mordor track and prepare its Hunt pool. Movement there draws a Hunt tile automatically instead of rolling; Stop symbols prevent progress, and revealed Fellowship must hide before advancing. Failing to attempt movement or hiding that turn adds one corruption before victory check.

Corruption12 gives Shadow an immediate Ring victory; reaching the Crack of Doom below12 gives the Free Peoples an immediate victory. Military victory is checked at turn end: Shadow needs10 points of enemy settlements and Free Peoples4. Captured strongholds count2 and cities1 for either side. If both military thresholds occur together, Shadow’s condition has priority.