War of the Ring Second Edition

ADVANC I NG A
P OL I T I CAL P OS I T I ON
The Political Counter of a Nation is advanced (by moving
it down a step toward the At War step) on the Political
Track by using a Muster Action Die result or by playing
certain Event Cards.
Additionally, the counter of a Nation is automatically
advanced one step if any of the following events occur:
Every time an Army containing units of that Nation
is attacked (each battle counts as one attack regardless
of the number of rounds fought). Also, remember
that when a Nations Army is attacked, that Nation
becomes active.
Every time a Nations Settlement (Town, City, or
Stronghold) is captured by the opponent.
R E S OLVI NG A B AT T L E
A battle is resolved in a series of Combat Rounds. During
each round, both players follow the steps below:
1) Play a Combat Card (optional).
2) Roll the Dice for the Combat Roll.
3) Roll the Dice for the Leader Re-roll.
4) Remove Casualties.
5) Choose to Cease the Attack or Retreat.
Each step is resolved simultaneously by the players (both
perform step 1, both perform step 2, etc.).
AC T I VAT I NG
F R E E P E OP L E S NAT I ONS
The Political Counter of a Free Peoples Nation is turned
to the active side (with the light blue side face up) when
any of the following events occur:
A region of that Nation is entered by an enemy Army.
An Army containing units of that Nation is attacked.
The Fellowship of the Ring is declared in a City or
Stronghold of that Nation.
When a Companion (capable of activating that
Nation) ends his movement (or enters play) in one of
its Cities or Strongholds.
T HE GAME T UR N
Phase 1) Recover Action Dice
and Draw Event Cards
Each player recovers the
Action Dice he used in the
previous turn, plus any dice
which were added to the
Action Dice Pool and minus
any dice which were removed
from the pool.
Then, each player draws 2
cards, one from each of their
respective Event Decks.
Phase 2) Fellowship Phase
The Free Peoples player may
now declare the position of the
Fellowship.
If the Fellowship is declared in
a City or Stronghold of a Free
Peoples Nation, that Nation
is activated (if the Nation
is showing Passive on the
Political Track, flip the Nation
to Active) and the Ring-
bearers may be healed.
Also, during this phase, the
Free Peoples player may
change the Guide of the
Fellowship.
Phase 3) Hunt Allocation
The Shadow player may now
place a number of Action Dice
in the Hunt Box located on
the game board. The Shadow
player must place at least one
Action Die if the Free Peoples
player retrieved at least 1 die
from the Hunt Box during
Phase 1. He may allocate only
as many dice as the number
of Companions remaining in
the Fellowship. These dice are
not rolled during the following
Action Roll phase.
Phase 4) Action Roll
Players roll their Action Dice
(except the dice already in the
Hunt Box). Then, the Shadow
player immediately takes all the
rolled dice showing the Eye
result and adds them to the
Hunt Box.
Phase 5) Action Resolution
This phase is the primary game
phase of the War of the Ring
board game.
It is during this phase that
players will utilize the Action
Dice results to move their
Characters and Armies on the
game board, or to take other
important actions.
The results of the rolled Action
Dice dictate the actions the
players can take during this
phase. Starting with the Free
Peoples player, the two players
alternate actions, each taking one
action by selecting and removing
one of his available die results.
If a player has fewer unused
Action Dice than his opponent
(typically the Free Peoples player
will have fewer Action Dice than
the Shadow player), he can pass
instead of taking an action, thus
allowing the opponent to take
another action.
If a player runs out of actions
before his opponent has done
the same, the opponent takes
all his remaining actions, one
after the other.
Each time the Free Peoples
player uses an Action Die to
move the Fellowship, he places
that die in the Hunt Box after
completing the action. All
other used dice are set aside
until next turn.
The use of each different
Action Die is described in The
Action Dice Reference Chart.
Phase 6) Victory Check
Players now check to see
whether either player has
achieved the Military Victory
Conditions. If not, a new
game turn begins.
When all the activities required
by the different phases have
been concluded, the turn is over
and another turn begins (unless
one of the players has achieved
his Victory Conditions, in
which case the game ends).
P L AY E R AI D
War of the Ring Second Edition
CHARACTER
The Character die result can be used to
execute one of the following actions:
Leader Moves/Attacks with
Armies. Move an Army with a
Leader to an adjacent region,
which must be free for the purposes
of Army movement; or attack an
enemy Army in an adjacent region
using an Army with a Leader.
Play an Event Card. Play a
Character Event Card from your
hand.
Free Peoples only
Fellowship Progress. Move the
Fellowship Progress Counter one
step forward on the Fellowship
Track. Resolve the Hunt for the
ring, and then place the used
Action Die in the Hunt Box.
Hide the Fellowship. If the
Fellowship was previously Revealed,
it becomes Hidden again.
Separate Companions. Separate
one Companion or one group of
Companions from the Fellowship.
The Companion figures are
removed from the Fellowship Box
and must move on the map, up
to a distance from the Fellowship
equal to the step number on the
Fellowship Track plus the highest
Companion Level.
Move Companions. Move
all Companions or groups of
Companions on the map, each up
to a number of regions equal to
that of the highest Companion
Level in the group.
Shadow only
Move Minions. Move all Nazgl
(including the Witch-king, if in play)
anywhere on the map (except into
a region that contains a Stronghold
controlled by the Free Peoples,
unless a Shadow Army is besieging
it). Move the Mouth of Sauron (if
in play) up to three regions.
ARMY
The Army die result can be used to
execute one of the following actions:
Move Armies. Move up to
two different Armies from their
region(s) to adjacent region(s),
which must be free for the purposes
of Army movement.
Attack an Enemy Army. Attack
an enemy Army in an adjacent
region with one of your Armies (or
conduct a Siege Attack or Sortie).
Play an Event Card. Play an
Army Event Card from your hand.
MUSTER
The Muster die result can be used to
execute one of the following actions:
Diplomatic Action. Move the
Political Track of one friendly
Nation one step forward (for a
Free Peoples Nation, the step At
War can be reached only if the
Nation is Active).
Play an Event Card. Play a Muster
Event Card from your hand.
Only for Nations At War
Recruit Reinforcements. Place
reinforcements into play:
1 Elite unit in any friendly
and free Settlement or
2 Leaders in any two different
friendly and free Settlements or
2 Regular units in any two
different friendly and free
Settlements or
1 Leader and 1 Regular Army
unit in any two different
friendly and free Settlements.
Shadow only
Bring one Character into play
according to the rules on his
Character Card.
EVENT
The Event die result can be used to
execute one of the following actions:
Draw an Event Card. Draw one
Event Card from an Event Deck of
your choice.
Play an Event Card. Play any
one Event Card from your hand,
regardless of its type.
MUSTER/
ARMY
Choose any one action from those listed
under Muster or Army.
SPECIAL
The Special die results are different
on the Shadow dice and on the Free
Peoples dice:
EYE OF SAURON
All dice showing the Eye must be
placed in the Hunt Box.
WILL OF THE WEST
Before taking an action, a Will of
the West result can be changed
to any other Action Die result, as
chosen by the Free Peoples player,
and be used to the same effect as
the chosen result.
The Will of the West result can
also be used to bring into play
Gandalf the White or Aragorn
Heir to Isildur according to the
rules on their Character cards.
AC T I ON D I C E R E F E R E NC E C HART