War of the Ring (second edition)

copy* War of the Ring is a 2-player game that takes approximately 3 hours, though there are variant rules for 3 or 4 players where one or both sides play as a team. The game concerns the War of the Ring starting from the Fellowship’s forming in Rivendell. One player controls the Shadow Peoples and tries to conquer Middle-earth or to corrupt the Fellowship’s Ringbearer. The other player controls the Free Peoples and tries to hold back the Shadow long enough to move the Fellowship into Mount Doom and destroy the Ring. A Free Peoples military victory is also possible, but the Shadow’s power is overwhelming. The board depicts northwestern Middle-earth, divided into territories. Some lands form nations while broad swatches sit unclaimed. The Free Peoples are the nations of Gondor and Rohan, the Elves (Rivendell, Lórien, the Woodland Realm, and the Gray Havens), the Dwarves (the settlements in Erebor, the Iron Hills and the Blue Mountains) and “The North” (the men of Dale, Carrock, and Bree, and the hobbits of the Shire). The Shadow Peoples are Sauron (Mordor, Moria, Angmar and Dol Guldur), Isengard, and the combined Southrons and Easterlings. Setting up the game is the same every time. Each player has two decks of event cards that need to be shuffled and placed on the board. The Fellowship starts in Rivendell with all companions in the party and the party being led by Gandalf the Grey. Armies are distributed throughout the board as described in the manual. The Free Peoples player starts with the three Elven rings on their side of the board. A marker indicating how far the Fellowship has moved since it was last revealed starts at 0 as well as the corruption counter. Each nation starts with a marker on the political track with Sauron and Isengard one step from going to war and the Southrons and Easterlings two steps from war. Gondor is two steps from going to war and the rest are three steps. All Free Peoples but the Elves must also be “activated,” making them aware of the rising threat. This requires a visit from a Fellowship member or a gross insult, such as a Shadow invasion or the return of the Witch-king. The Free Peoples player starts with four action dice and the Shadow Armies player starts with seven.

War of the Ring is a 2-player game that takes approximately 3 hours, though there are variant rules for 3 or 4 players where one or both sides play as a team. The game concerns the War of the Ring starting from the Fellowship’s forming in Rivendell. One player controls the Shadow Peoples and tries to conquer Middle-earth or to corrupt the Fellowship’s Ringbearer. The other player controls the Free Peoples and tries to hold back the Shadow long enough to move the Fellowship into Mount Doom and destroy the Ring. A Free Peoples military victory is also possible, but the Shadow’s power is overwhelming. The board depicts northwestern Middle-earth, divided into territories. Some lands form nations while broad swatches sit unclaimed. The Free Peoples are the nat