War of the Ring

Overview

War of the Ring is an epic strategic board game set in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth. One player controls the Free Peoples (Elves, Dwarves, Men of the West, Rohan, Gondor) while the other commands the Shadow forces (Sauron, Saruman, Southrons). The Free Peoples player must guide the Fellowship bearing the One Ring to Mount Doom, while the Shadow player hunts the Fellowship and wages military conquest. The game uses a dice-driven action system where die results determine available actions.

Components

• 1 Large game board (Middle-earth map)
• 2 Player aids
• 16 Action dice (6 Free Peoples blue, 10 Shadow red)
• 5 Six-sided combat dice
• 10 Companion cards, 1 Gollum card, 3 Minion cards
• 96 Event cards (4 decks of 24: Free Peoples Character/Strategy, Shadow Character/Strategy)
• 205 Plastic army/character figures
• 76 Cardboard counters and markers (political, hunt tiles, etc.)
• 3 Elven Ring counters
• Fellowship progress and corruption counters
• Rulebook

Setup

1. Place the board; position the Ring-bearers at Rivendell.
2. Set Fellowship progress counter to Step 0 (hidden side up); corruption at 0.
3. Load companion cards into the fellowship box with Gandalf the Grey as guide.
4. Place political counters for each nation on the political track per diagram.
5. Deploy all armies per the setup diagram.
6. Place 3 Elven Ring counters (ring side up) by Free Peoples.
7. Shuffle event decks (4 separate decks) and place on board.
8. Place hunt tiles in opaque container.
9. Free Peoples receives 4 blue dice; Shadow receives 7 red dice.

Turn Structure

Each turn has 6 phases:

Phase 1: Recover Action Dice & Draw Event Cards

Recover used dice, adjust for gained/lost dice. Each player draws 1 Character event card and 1 Strategy event card (2 total).

Phase 2: Fellowship Phase

Free Peoples player may declare fellowship location. If in a friendly city/stronghold, that nation activates. May change the guide of the fellowship or heal ring-bearers.

Phase 3: Hunt Allocation

Shadow player places dice into the hunt box (minimum 1 if Free Peoples recovered dice; maximum = number of active companions).

Phase 4: Action Roll

Both players roll remaining dice simultaneously. Shadow dice showing the Eye of Sauron are immediately moved to the hunt box.

Phase 5: Action Resolution

Players alternate taking actions (Free Peoples first). Each player selects 1 unused die and performs the corresponding action.

Phase 6: Victory Check

Check for military victory conditions. If none, next turn begins.

Actions

Action Die Icons

Character:

• Move companions or the Fellowship
• Play Character event card
• Free Peoples: progress/hide fellowship, separate companions
• Shadow: move minions

Army:

• Move up to 2 armies to adjacent regions
• Attack adjacent enemy army
• Play Army event card

Muster:

• Diplomatic action (advance nation on political track)
• Play Muster event card
• Nations “At War”: recruit reinforcements
• Shadow: bring new characters into play

Event:

• Draw 1 event card from chosen deck
• Play any event card from hand

Muster/Army: Choose either action type.

Will of the West (Free Peoples only): Wild die; can become any result. Can trigger Gandalf the White or Aragorn’s entry.

Eye of Sauron (Shadow): Automatically goes to hunt box (not a usable action).

The Hunt for the Ring

When the Fellowship moves, Free Peoples place their die in the hunt box. Shadow draws hunt tiles based on dice in the box. Each tile may cause corruption, damage, or reveal the fellowship.

Elven Rings

3 rings available (one per use). Either player may spend a ring to change an unused die to any result (except Will of the West or Eye). Used rings go to opponent, eventually discarded.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Ring-Based Victory (Immediate)

• Ring Destroyed: Fellowship reaches Crack of Doom with < 12 corruption -> Free Peoples wins.
• Ring Corrupted: Ring-bearers reach 12+ corruption -> Shadow wins.

Military Victory

• Shadow: Control 10+ victory points of Free Peoples settlements (cities = 1 VP, strongholds = 2 VP) -> Shadow wins.
• Free Peoples: Control 4+ victory points of Shadow settlements -> Free Peoples wins.

Military victory is checked only during Phase 6.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Nation Activation: Nations start neutral or at various political positions. They must be advanced on the political track to “At War” before they can recruit or contribute armies to battles.
• Fellowship Movement: The fellowship moves in secret. Its actual position is tracked by a hidden counter. The Shadow player uses hunt dice to try to reveal and damage it.
• Companions: Can separate from the fellowship to act independently on the map, leading armies or activating nations.
• Dice Pool Changes: Free Peoples gains dice when Aragorn and Gandalf the White enter play. Shadow gains dice for each minion brought into play (max 10).
• Army Stacking: Each region has limits on the number of units it can contain.
• Combat: Armies roll combat dice; hits are allocated by the defender. Leaders provide bonus dice. Siege warfare applies when attacking strongholds.
• Character Events: Powerful cards that can shift the balance dramatically (e.g., Ents attack Isengard, Paths of the Dead).
• Hunt Tile Draw: The number of tiles drawn equals the number of Shadow dice in the hunt box, but a maximum of 5. Special hunt tiles with the Eye symbol cause automatic corruption.

Player Reference

Die Result	Free Peoples	Shadow
Character	Fellowship/companion actions	Minion actions
Army	Move/attack armies	Move/attack armies
Muster	Diplomacy/recruit	Diplomacy/recruit/bring characters
Event	Draw/play event cards	Draw/play event cards
Will of the West	Wild (any action)	N/A
Eye of Sauron	N/A	Goes to hunt box

Free Peoples Victory: Destroy Ring OR control 4+ Shadow VP

Shadow Victory: Corrupt Ring-bearers OR control 10+ Free Peoples VP