War of the Ring

Units

Armies are made up of regular units, elite units, leaders and heroes. Regular units have a strength of two, elite units three. The latter also move at double speed and have a special ability, see below.

Leaders and heroes

Leaders do not fight themselves, but each allows one unit to reroll is attack roll every combat round if that unit failed the first time. Some heroes have a leadership ability of more than one, which means they can direct multiple units. A unit can only be "helped" once every combat round, so having a leadership ability total higher than the number of units does not work.

Land movement

Regular army units move at one area per turn, elite and leaders at two per turn. If an army of both regulars and elite / leaders wants to stay together, the faster units must slow down to half speed. Elite unit / leader movement is ended when it moves into rough terrain, whether in its first or second movement area. As the recruitment phase comes after the movement phase, a unit that has been recruited cannot move in the same turn; it must wait one turn to move.

Sea movement

South and East, Gondor and the Elves each have a harbor with a fleet. The fleet is not represented by a figure and does not engage in battle. The fleets can each transport a maximum of 3 friendly army units, plus an unlimited number of leaders and heroes, across the sea during the owning nation's movement phase and land them in a coastal area. The units and characters being transported must be located in the harbor at the start of the movement phase and must wait one turn after disembarking to move, i.e. the transport takes up all of their movement for one turn.
The harbors are Umbar for South and East, Dol Amroth for Gondor and the Gray Harbor for the Elves. If a harbor is conquered by an enemy, the fleet is unavailable for as long as the occupation lasts.

Field battles

When armies clash, combat is resolved in rounds. Each round each unit rolls a d6. If the result is greater than [6 - strength], it unit kills an enemy unit, but kills are not applied until each unit has made its attack, i.e. at the end of the round. In case of casualties, both attacker and defender may choose which of their units are removed from play. If all units on one side are eliminated, any accompanying leaders and/or heroes are also killed. If the attacker suffers too many losses, he may retreat to the area where he came from at the end of each round. The defender cam retreat to an adjacent area that is not occupied by an enemy army. The decision to retreat can be made after each combat round, but not at the start of the battle - at least one round of combat must be fought. The defender must first decide whether to retreat or not, the attacker decides next.
The base strength of a regular unit is two, that of an elite unit is three. Rough terrain (hills / mountains / forest / swamp) gives a +1 bonus to defending units. River crossings do the same, but this advantage lasts for only one combat round. Elite units get a +1 bonus to strength in certain types of terrain. Structures give important advantages to the defender, see below.

Sieges

Structures give a bonus to strength for defending units and a penalty to attack for attacking units. These modifiers overrule any applicable terrain modifiers, unless the defender decides the disdain the structure and fight outside the walls instead.
Also, structures limit the number of attack routes and thus the number of units that can attack during a round. Other attackers must stand aside and wait until one or more engaging attackers are eliminated. The next round any vacancies in the attack "channel" can be filled by any "spare" attacking units. If the attacker suffers losses, these are taken from the attacking units, never from the spares. Within that selection, the player can still choose which units are eliminated.
These defensive advantages are partly compensated by the fact that the capacity of the structure for defending units is also limited. If there are more defenders than fit into the structure, the remainder must without defensive structure bonus, though terrain bonuses may apply instead. Any such defenders left out in the cold can be attacked by all spare attacking units. The attacker can throw his entire force at these defenders and wait to engage the fortified defenders only when the others are dealt with. In this situation the defender may opt to retreat his surplus defenders to an adjacent area, if a suitable retreat is available. The attacker must then decide to engage the remaining defenders, or lay siege. If there are no surplus defenders at all, the attacker may opt for a siege at the end of every round. Contrary to field battles, he may even do so at the start of the first round, thus not fighting at all.
During a siege the defenders are locked up in the structure and suffer attrition of one unit per turn during the recruitment action, starting in the round after the siege starts. In later turns, both attacker and defender can receive reinforcements from adjacent areas. Units for the attacker join the besieging army without trouble, but any reinforcements for the defender must fight their way through the entire attacking army in order to lift the siege. The defending army can assist by sallying forth, but then they become attackers and lose their defensive bonus. In this case the former attacker may even receive a terrain bonus. Defenders can decide to stay inside or break out at every turn and the attacker can likewise change his tactic at every turn.

The maximum number of assaulting attackers and fortified defenders depends on the type of structure, as follows:

Saruman

In turn 1 Saruman mobilizes and gets some reinforcements, as listed above. Starting from the next turn he also recruits one regular unit per turn, or one elite per two turns in Orthanc. Recruitment is blocked if Orthanc is besieged, but resumes if the siege is lifted. The recruitment only goes on while the Saruman hero character remains in Orthanc. If he leaves, recruitment stops until he returns. Otherwise, unit recruitment continues until Saruman runs out of unit figures to place on the map, but it can resume if one or more units are killed and their figures are removed.

Rohan

The leader characters of Rohan are: Edoras standing - Éomer; Edoras reserve: Théoden; Fords of the Isen: Erkenbrand.

Rohan mobilizes in the turn that a red nation attacks them or invades their territory, or Gandalf cures Théoden. However if left in their pre-war state, with Théoden still bewitched, they mobilize at half speed, i.e. half their units (round fractions down) in the first turn and the other half one turn later. The Rohan player chooses which units mobilize first. Théoden, the reserve leader in Edoras, will not mobilize at all. If Gandalf visits Edoras, he cures Théoden, which makes his character available as a leader and also restores the mobilization process to full speed. If Saruman is killed, Théoden is also cured. But if a red player conquers Edoras before Gandalf either of these two events happen, Théoden is killed.

South and East

The South and East mobilize in turn 7, when it is attacked or invaded, or new enemy units appear in any area that borders its territory. Next to their mobilization reserves they receive extra reinforcements in the four turns after that:

Like normal mobilized units, these cannot move until one turn after their arrival.

Sauron

In turn 1 Sauron mobilizes and gets some reinforcements, as listed above. The nation has has three heroes. The Sauron character himself has no figure, because he is permanently stationed at the Barad-Dûr. The Mouth of Sauron is initially also based there, but can move after the Council of Elrond has taken place.

Sauron recruits one regular unit per turn, or one elite per two turns, in any citadel of his choosing that he owns and that has not been conquered or is being besieged by blue armies. If Sauron these conditions are lifted, he can again recruit from there. He cannot recruit from conquered blue citadels. Recruitment starts in turn 1 and continues until Sauron runs out of unit figures to place on the map, but it can resume if one or more units are killed and their figures are removed.

For a description of the Witch-king hero and the eight Nazgûl leaders, see ahead.

Gondor

The leader characters of Gondor are: Pelargir - Gondor noble; Dol Amroth: prince Imrahil; Osgiliath: Faramir.

Gondor mobilizes in the turn that it is attacked or invaded, or new enemy units appear in any area that borders its territory, i.e. units already present there at the start of the game do not count. Another trigger is when Boromir or Aragorn (not Strider!) reaches Minas Tirith, though that comes a one turn delay, i.e. Gondor mobilizes the turn after the arrival. For purposes of mobilization, the Osgiliath area is considered to be still part of Gondor.

North

The leader characters of the North are: North Downs: Halbarad the ranger; Carrock: Beorning leader; Dal: king Brand.

The North mobilizes in the turn that it is attacked or invaded, new enemy units appear in any area that borders its territory, one turn after the Elves or Dwarves are attacked, two turns after the Elves or Dwarves mobilize without being attacked, or one turn after Strider/Aragorn reaches Dal.

Elves

The leader characters of the Elves are: Grey Harbors: Cìrdan; Rivendell: Elrond the half-elf; Mirkwood mountains: king Thranduil; Lôrien: king Celeborn.

The Elves mobilize in the turn that they are attacked or invaded, new enemy units appear in any area that border their territory, one turn after the North or Dwarves are attacked, two turns after the North or Dwarves mobilize without being attacked, or one turn after Legolas reaches the Mirkwood Mountains.

Dwarves

The leader characters of the Dwarves are: Erebor: king Dain Ironfoot; Iron Hills: dwarven leader.

The Dwarves mobilize in the turn that they are attacked or invaded, enemy units appear in any area that border their territory (excluding reserves and reinforcements in Rhûn East), one turn after the North or Elves are attacked, two turns after the North or Elves mobilize without being attacked, or one turn after Gimli reaches Erebor.

Early mobilization

If the ring is taken by a red nation before all nations have mobilized, any that have not yet done so do so immediately. The rates of mobilization remain the same, but all mobilization events are shifted forward.

Frodo and Sam

Frodo and Sam are inseparable and are represented by a single figure. Frodo is the initial ringbearer.

Pippin and Merry

These two hobbits can be enlisted by either Rohan (in Edoras) or Gondor (in Minas Tirith), as long as these towns are in the hands of a blue nation. The enlistment needs the mutual agreement of the North player and either the Rohan player or Gondor player. Each nation can enlist only one hobbit. Once enlisted, they can act as military leaders.

Strider / Aragorn

Strider plays a role in the initial game. At the start of the game, he resides in Bree. When the ringbearer arrives there, he joins the hobbits, before the Nazgûl can act. Should the small folk take another path, Strider will wait in Bree up to and including turn three. After that he can start looking for them.
Like other characters, Strider can act as either member of the Fellowship of the Ring or as military leader. If he passes from Helmsdeep to Erech, he is promoted to Aragorn and his leadership ability improves. Also, he gains an undead army of three units. These are elite and cannot be killed, but have no terrain bonus and can be used in one offensive battle only, though they may be used in defense multiple times. Also, they cannot enter Mordor. The king does not have to use these undead in the offensive first battle that he fights after recruiting them; he can keep them in reserve. But once the undead are committed, they all fight together and are released immediately after the battle.

Gandalf

When Gandalf the Grey is killed, he will be brought to Lórien where Galadriel will resurrect him to Gandalf the White. The whole process takes two turns, during which Gandalf is not available. Resurrection can only take place if Lórien remains in the hands of a blue nation during the turn of Gandalf's death and the two subsequent turns.
Gandalf the White travels on the back of Shadowfax, giving him increased speed. He can take a maximum of one hobbit with him this way.
Gandalf (both grey and white) also carries Narya, the elven ring of fire. This gives all blue units fighting with him a +1 bonus to strength.

Gollem

Gollem is not represented by a figure. Initially he resides in Moria. If the Fellowship of the Ring passes through there, he will start tracking them. Once all humans, Legolas and Gimli are for one reason of another removed from the Fellowship of the Ring, Gollem can act as a guide in the rough lands east of the Anduin and into Mordor. If Gollem is guiding the ringbearer and they try to enter Mordor, he will always lead them through Minas Morgul, past Shelob. Every turn that Gollem is guide there is a 1/6 chance that he will seize the ring. If he succeeds in doing so, he will be under the control of Sauron, who will likely use him to get the ring to the Barad-Dûr.

Nazgûl and Witch-king

In the initial game, the Witch-king hero and the eight Nazg\FBl leaders are mounted on black horses and can move around during Sauron's turn to hunt for the ring, but may not engage in battles against armies. On horesback they can move two areas per turn; normal terrain penalties apply. They can cross rivers only with the Witch-king in their party and this takes them a full turn. No other areas can be crossed in such a turn.
Once the Council of Elrond takes place they either fall in fall in a fight against the blue heroes or withdraw back to Mordor. For game purposes they disappear from the game for a couple of turns. In the sixth turn after the council they reappear in Sauron's citadels: two in Dol Guldur, two in Barad-D\FBr, two in Morannon and two + the Witch-King in Minas Morgul. Now they are mounted on flying monsters, can move at three areas per turn, even accross heavy terrain or rivers, and can both hunt for the ring and act as military leaders. If one or more of these fortreses are in enemy hands, relocate the Nazgûl from that place to another Sauron fortress.
When a flying Nazgûl is killed, Sauron can resurrect him, but this costs him his normal unit recruitment in that turn. The Witch-King counts as an elite unit, taking two turns to resurrect. Again, a resurrected Nazgûl or Witch-king is put in an unconquered Sauron fortress.

Rough terrain

Some areas are mostly rough terrain. This slows movement of elite army units, leaders and heroes and gives a bonus to defending armies. Rough areas are categorized by terrain type and include the following:

• Mountains: Northern Blue Mountains; Ered Luin; Mountain Gram; Mountain Gundabad; Misty Mountains; High Pass; Goblin Gate; Old Ford; Moria; Andrast; Morannon; Minas Morgul.
• Hills: Southern Blue Mountains; Hills of Evendim; North Downs; Tower Hills; Shire; Bree; Weather Hills; South Downs; Angmar; Rivendell; Erebor; Iron Hills; Dimrill Valley; Dunharg South; Orthanc; Anfalas; Lamedon; Dol Amroth; Emyn Muil West; Emyn Muil East; Barad-Dûr; Gorgoroth.
• Forest: Old Forest; Trollshaws; Mirkwood North; Mirkwood West; Mirkwood Mountains; Old Forest Road; Forest Narrows; Mirkwood East; Dol Guldur; Mirkwood South; Lórien; Fangorn; Drúadan Forest.
• Swamp: Gladden Fields; Dead Marshes.

Grey Harbors

As long as this port is held by the blue side, the Elves have a fleet which can transport two army units.

Rivendell

The elven leader here is Elrond, who carries Nenya, the elven sapphire ring of water. The ring gives elven units fighting with Elrond a +1 bonus to strength.

Old Forest

The power of Tom Bombadil bars all red heroes, armies and leaders (both red and blue), except hobbits, from entering this area. If the ringbearer moves into the area, his companions have a 1/6 chance each of being killed by the Old Man of the Forest. Bombadil can heal all ring corruption, like other allies in blue citadels.

High Pass

Neither armies nor Nazgûl can move into this area. Characters can, but when trying to cross to the Misty Mountains or Goblin Gate, suffer a 4 in 6 chance of being forced back by snow and heavy weather each turn, which means they stay in the High Pass area for that turn.

Moria

If the Fellowship of the Ring passes through Moria while it is in the hands of the red side, The narrow passages of Moria increase the chance of any hunters finding the ringbearer by 1/6, regardless of their number. If they survive, they will be tracked by Gollem, who will find them even if they elude the orcs and the balrog.

Dol Amroth and Pelargir

As long as any of these ports are held by the blue side, Gondor has a fleet which can transport two army units.

Umbar

As long as this port is held by the red side, South and East have a fleet which can transport three army units.

Gladden Fields

On the map these border the High Pass in the North, Moria in the south and Fords of the Bruinen and Hollin in the west. This is changed as follows: The High Pass borders Moria and the Gladden fields no longer border the Fords of the Bruinen and Hollin. Moria still does not border the Fords of the Bruinen.

Lórien

If the Fellowship of the Ring visits this forest while it is still in Elven hands, Galadriel will equip the party with boats that allow them to travel three areas per turn, as long as they follow the Anduin downstream. If they encounter enemies there, they may be hunted, but only once, not twice or thrice. The red player decides in which area the hunt takes place.
She will also give Frodo a magic bottle of light, which can help in a fight against Shelob. This bottle must be assigned to a member of the Fellowship of the Ring. If he is separated from the party, they don't have access to it and if he is killed, it is lost.
Finally, Galadriel carries Vilya, the elven diamond ring of air. The ring gives elven units fighting with Galadriel a +1 bonus to strength. Galadriel, unlike her husband Celeborn, does not leave Lórien.

Fangorn

Treebeard and the Ents deny access to any army here, annihilating any invaders. Leaders and heroes can enter without risk. Blue units may enter after a blue hero has visited the forest to negotiate an agreement. Also, one turn later the ents mobilize two elite units consisting of Ents and Huorns. These units receive a +1 attack bonus when fighting in forest terrain and move two areas per turn, even through rough terrain or across rivers. The turn after mobilization they are available for use by the blue side. The Ents are controlled by the same blue player that controls the Fellowship of the Ring in the turn, but come after all normal nations in the nation order.

Drúadan Forest

This forest is guarded by the Wild Men. They can hide themselves and guide blue armies, so that these can move through this area without doing battle, even if it is occupied by a red army.
The Wild Men can also raise an army consisting of one elite unit that has a +1 bonus fighting in the forest. This army only fights in the Drúadan Forest and does not venture out. This army is visible to enemies and must do battle if they invade the forest. If it is beaten, the Wild Men can no longer guide allies.

Mordor border

The two mountain ranges that form the border of Mordor, the Ered Lithui and the Ephel Duath, are so high and forbidding that neither units nor characters cannot cross them, except in the two passes that are guarded by the citadels of Minas Morgul and the Morannon.

Minas Morgul

Any blue armies attacking red forces here are partly paralyzed with fear. This means that in every combat round there is a 2/6 chance that they will fail to attack, though they can be counterattacked by the garrison. This chance is checked independently for each attacking unit.
If the Fellowship of the Ring is guided by Gollem here, he will lead them into Shelob's lair. On entry she will attack them, fighting at strength 5. If one of the party members carries Galadriel's bottle of light, her strength is reduced to 2. Gollem will not join this fight, keeping aside.

Sauron tests the waters

The Fellowship of the Ring is moving south, east of the Anduin. Sauron would like to cut them off before they can reach Lórien, but he is afraid to trigger the Elvish mobilization so soon. Instead, he recruits some regular units in Dol Guldur and moves 3 of them south to the Western Brown Lands. This provokes neither the Elves, nor Rohan, as Théoden is still under Saruman's spell. The fellowship reaches Lórien safely and rests briefly to cure some ring corruption. Then it uses Galadriel's boats to swoop down to the Western Emyn Muil in just one turn. But they pass the orcs and thus are hunted. Three units give a 2/6 chance of succcess. A 1 is rolled and the fellowship is discovered. The orcs have a 2/6 chance of hitting a party member and again succeed. The victim is chosen at random and turns out to be Merry. A die is rolled to determine his fate and comes up with a 4, a wound. The blue heroes can kill a number of orcs, but never enough to really damage the whole unit, so their kills are not counted. They flee, abandoning Merry, who is killed and removed from the game.

Saruman's gamble

In the first few turns Saruman has mobilized, moved all of his units to Orthanc and the Gap of Rohan and recruited some extra units. He sees the Fellowship of the Ring approaching from the north. Some heroes have split off and could possible rouse the ents against him, which he considers a minor threat. But Gandalf may split off too, cure Théoden and mobilize Rohan. He decides to stay one step ahead and moves his entire army of 9 regular and 2 elite unis to the Fords of Isen, leaving only himself behind in Orthanc. The defenders retreat into the fortress, which has enough capacity (3) to hold all units (2) plus the Erkenbrand leader. They get a +1 fortress bonus to defense, but no nation bonus as they are fighting from the fortress instead of on the open plains. The orcs get a -1 penalty from the fortress, which for the elite units is negated by a +1 bonus because they are attacking. Only 3 units can attack at the same time.
Saruman first sends in 3 regular units. They roll 2, 1 and 6, scoring 1 kill. The defending regular unit must roll 2 + 1 = 3, the elite unit 3 + 1 = 4. They roll 5 and 3 respectively, also scoring 1 kill. The Erkenbrand leader gives the regular unit a reroll that yields 1, so its miss becomes a second kill. Saruman removes 2 regular units and replaces them with 2 others; Rohan removes its regular unit. In the next combat round the orcs roll 5, 4 and 1, scoring 1 kill. The Rohan elite unit rolls a 2, also making 1 kill. Both sides remove a unit. Rohan is out of units and defeated, Erkenbrand is killed and Saruman conquers the fort. Saruman rounds off by recruiting a regular unit in Orthanc.
This attack causes Rohan to mobilize immediately after, but because Theoden is still bewitched, only at half speed. First the Rohan player moves the 1 unit already standing in Edoras, plus the Éomer leader, to Helmsdeep. He cannot raise the Théoden leader, as the king is still bewitched. Instead he chooses to raise 1 elite reserve unit each in Helmsdeep, Edoras and West Emnet.
The next turn, Saruman sees that he has little chance to take Helmsdeep by storm and decides to wait. He recruits one regular unit in Orthanc. Rohan moves one units to West Emnet and another to Helmsdeep, and mobilizes the remaining half of its units. The North sends Strider to Fangorn to have a little talk with Treebeard.
In the next turn Saruman, aware of the tree-threat, moves one elite unit back to Orthanc, recruites a regular one and waits. Rohan responds by launching a counterattack on the Fords of the Isen, moving in all forces from Helmsdeep, West and East Emnet, except 1 regular unit that stays behind to guard Helmsdeep. Only 3 units fit into the fortress, so the 4 other red units have to fight outside on the plains without +1 fortress defense bonus. This time the orcs are defending, so the elite unit does not get a +1 attack bonus, while the elite Rohan horsemen get a +1 plains bonus. The rolls for Rohan are 3, 1, 4, 2 and 5 (rerolled to 1), so the horsemen score 5 kills, of which only 4 apply because there are only 4 enemy units outside the fort. Saruman's units roll regular 5, 3, 6 and 2, for a total of 1 kill. The troops outside the fortress are wiped out. Content with this victory, Rohan does not press the attack, but lays siege to the fort, hoping to starve the garrison out in subsequent turns.

Hunting ground Ithilien

The ring has moved south to Minas Tirith and is now in Osgiliath. Sauron, knowing that the only direct way into Mordor from there is through South Ithilien, assembles a mighty army there, consisting of 7 regular units and 1 elite, 6 Nazgûl and the Witch-king, plus the Mouth of Sauron.
In the next turn, the Fellowship of the Ring, by the that consisting of Frodo and Sam, Merry, Gimli and Strider (not Aragorn), tries to break through. The hunters are 16 in number and have a 5/6 chance of finding them. They roll a 4 and succeed. One orcish unit participates. The ringwraiths and the Mouth of Sauron have a 2/6 chance of participating. The Witch-king and 2 Nazgûl make it in time, the others miss the fun.
Die rolls for the red side are: orcs 3 (need 4, miss), Witch-king 2 (needs 2, hit), Nazgûl 3 and 4 (need 3, 1 hit), total 2 hits and for the blue side: Frodo and Sam 2 (need 6, miss), Merry 5 (needs 5, hit), Gimli 5 (needs 4, miss) and Strider 3 (needs 3, hit), total also 2 hits. Victims are chosen at random and turn out to be Frodo and Sam (result roll 3, killed), Gimli (result roll 4, wounded), the Witch-king and 1 Nazgûl (both automatically killed).
With an army unit participating, the blue side has no hope of winning, so flees. The ring is taken up by Merry, who suffers less from ring corruption than Strider, though more than Frodo and Sam. A boon is that his ring corruption is still 0. Because the blue side flees, Gimli is left behind and killed by the enemy. The fellowship has become quite small, but Aragorn is still there to guide it into Mordor. Sauron can resurrect the fallen ringwraiths, but as this takes 2 turns he has to decide if that is worth the effort.