Risk: The Lord of the Rings Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• What's Different from Standard Risk?
• Gameboard
• Characters
• Cards
  • Territory Cards
  • Adventure Cards
• Dice
• Gameboard Setup
• Object of the Game
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • Taking Your Turn
• Reinforcement
  • 1. Territories Occupied
  • 2. Regional Bonus
  • 3. Territory Cards
• Combat
  • How to Attack
  • How to Defend
  • How to Do Battle
• Leaders
  • Declare a Mission Complete
  • Strongholds
  • Effect of Leaders and Strongholds
• Redeployment
  • Place Leader
• Drawing Cards
  • Territory Cards
  • Adventure Cards
• Moving the Fellowship
• Winning the Game
• Scoring Points
• Adventure Cards
  • Mission Cards
  • Event Cards
  • Power Cards
• The 2-Player Game
• Playing Standard Risk
  • Object of the Game
  • Winning the Game
• Turn Order Reminder

What's Different from Standard Risk?

If you wish to play standard Risk, the rules can be found on page 18. This exciting special The Lord of the Rings edition is different in several ways:

• All Territories are places found in Middle-earth;
• The characters have been specially adapted for this edition and represent the Elven Archers, the Orcs, the Riders of Rohan, the Dark Riders, the mighty Eagles and the Cavetrolls;
• You play either a Good or an Evil force in the battle for control;
• You have additional Leader movers to aid you in your quest;
• When defending Strongholds you control, your power is increased;
• Mountains and rivers create impassable barriers, while sea ports allow greater movement of battalions;
• Visit the ancient Sites of Power scattered around Middle-earth with your Leader and complete Missions for rewards;
• The One Ring moves with the Fellowship from Hobbiton, southeastward through Middle-earth — but beware, time runs out in the game when the One Ring leaves the land!

Gameboard

The gameboard is divided into 6 Regions of Middle-earth, each made up of a different number of Territories, as follows:

Region	Color	No. of Territories
Arnor	Red	11
Rhovanion	Brown	8
Rohan	Blue	7
Eriador	Olive	7
Mirkwood	Green	5
Rhûn	Purple	4

Characters

There are 3 types of characters that represent the number of battalions, as shown below:

Forces of Good

• Infantry — Elven Archer — 1 battalion
• Cavalry — Rider of Rohan — 3 battalions
• Creature — Eagle — 5 battalions

Forces of Evil

• Infantry — Orc — 1 battalion
• Cavalry — Dark Rider — 3 battalions
• Creature — Cavetroll — 5 battalions

Use characters worth a greater number of battalions as the game goes on, to prevent the board from becoming too crowded, i.e. replace 3 Orcs with 1 Dark Rider, or 5 Elven Archers with 1 Eagle. These can be broken back down into smaller units whenever necessary.

Cards

There are 2 types of cards used in the game.

Territory Cards

There is 1 Territory card to represent each of the 42 Territories on the board. They also show an image which relates to Infantry (Elven Archer), Cavalry (Rider of Rohan) or Creatures (Eagle). There are 2 Wild cards, which show all 3 characters.

Territory cards can be used to give you additional reinforcements during the game (see REINFORCEMENT on page 9).

There are 9 Good Territory cards, 9 Evil Territory cards and 24 Neutral Territory cards, which will determine your starting position.

Adventure Cards

These cards will help you along the way. They are divided into 3 types:

Mission Cards — These cards contain secret missions for your Leader and help you gain rewards.

Event Cards — Various things can happen to you on your journey, and these cards may help or hinder your quest with events that occur when you play them.

Power Cards — The balance of power can shift throughout the game. Power cards can make a big difference to your strategy and luck.

NOTE: Adventure cards are not required when playing standard Risk.

Dice

There are 5 dice: 3 red and 2 black. One or more of each color may be used in combat. The red dice are used to attack and the black dice are used to defend. See COMBAT on page 10.

Gameboard Setup

The gameboard is laid out with the following elements:

• Adventure Cards Draw Pile and Territory Cards Draw Pile.
• Territories — the individual regions marked on the board.
• The One Ring and Battalion Characters figures placed on the board.
• River — You can cross a river only by using a bridge.
• Mountains — These are impassable.
• Stronghold — Add 1 to your highest die roll when defending a Territory containing a Stronghold.
• Site of Power — Receive Adventure cards and claim Mission rewards here.
• Port — Move from any Territory containing a Port to any other Territory directly connected by a sea line.
• Path of the Fellowship — the route the Fellowship and the One Ring follow across the board.
• Leader — your Leader piece.
• Defense Dice and Attack Dice.

Object of the Game

To score as many points as possible before the Fellowship, with the One Ring, leaves Middle-earth. You score points for each Territory you occupy and each Region you control, as well as for cards played and Strongholds held.

Setup

1. Place the gameboard on a flat surface, as shown on the previous pages.
2. Remove the 2 Wild cards from the Territory card deck. Separate the Territory cards into Good, Evil and Neutral decks. See the images to the left to help you identify each. Shuffle each deck separately and place them facedown next to the gameboard.
3. Roll 1 die to start - the player with the highest roll goes first and is Player #1 in the turn sequence. The player to Player #1's left is Player #2 and so on. Take cards as shown below:

3-Player Game

Player No. in Turn Sequence	No. of Territory Cards Taken
1 (Evil Army)	5 Evil, 4 Neutral
2 (Good Army)	9 Good
3 (Evil Army)	4 Evil, 5 Neutral

4-Player Game

Player No. in Turn Sequence	No. of Territory Cards Taken
1 (Good Army)	5 Good
2 (Evil Army)	5 Evil
3 (Good Army)	4 Good
4 (Evil Army)	4 Evil

4. Choose an Army. The green and yellow armies represent the forces of Good, while the red and black armies represent the forces of Evil. Depending on the number of players, you will need to take the following number of your infantry battalions (Elven Archers if you are Good, and Orcs if you are Evil):

Players	Battalions Each
2 players	40 battalions each
3 players	35 battalions each
4 players	30 battalions each

NOTE: In a 2-player game, the 2 armies must be opposing: 1 Good and 1 Evil. A third, neutral army is also required. See the 2-Player Game rules on page 17.

5. Player #1 places ONE of his/her infantry battalions in each of his/her Territories. The player to the left then does the same, and so on until all of the allotted Territories are occupied.
6. Now Player #1 may place 1 infantry battalion in ANY of the remaining Territories. The player to the left then does the same, and so on until everyone has done so. Continue placing infantry battalions, one at a time, until each Territory is occupied.
7. Once all Territories contain 1 infantry battalion, each player, in turn, continues to place his/her infantry battalions, one at a time, into any Territory he/she already controls.
8. Once you have placed all of your starting infantry battalions on the board, place your Leader into a Territory you own.
9. Put all of the Good and Evil Territory cards back into the Territory card deck, add the 2 Wild cards, shuffle the deck, and place it facedown next to the gameboard.
10. No Territory cards are dealt out in the beginning of a 2-player game. However, in a 3-player game deal each player 1 Territory card, and in a 4-player game deal each player 2 Territory cards.
11. Remove the Event cards from the Adventure card deck and deal 3 Adventure cards, facedown, to each player.
12. Add the Event cards back to the Adventure card deck, shuffle, and place it, facedown, next to the gameboard.
13. Place the One Ring in the Shire.

Gameplay

Taking Your Turn

Roll 1 die to start - the player with the highest roll goes first and play continues to the left. There are 5 phases to each of your turns:

1. Reinforcement
2. Combat
3. Redeployment
4. Drawing Cards
5. Moving the Fellowship

These are explained below.

Reinforcement

You reinforce your Army at the start of your turn in 3 ways:

1. Territories Occupied

You receive 1 infantry battalion for every 3 Territories that you occupy at the start of your turn.

NOTE: You always receive a minimum of 3 infantry battalions as reinforcements, so even if you occupy less than 9 Territories you still place 3 infantry battalions on the board.

Example: You occupy 16 Territories at the start of your turn. 16÷3 = 5 (ignore the remainder). You may reinforce your Army with 5 battalions.

2. Regional Bonus

If you occupy an entire colored Region of Middle-earth at the start of your turn, you receive further reinforcements as shown in the table on the board and below:

Region	No. of Battalions Received
Arnor	7
Rhovanion	5
Rohan	4
Mirkwood	4
Eriador	3
Rhûn	2

These reinforcements are in addition to those collected as noted in number 1. You continue to receive reinforcements for that Region as long as you control every Territory within it.

3. Territory Cards

You can also receive more reinforcements by exchanging Territory cards for extra battalions. Territory cards are won by capturing Territories - see COMBAT, below. You can exchange either three-of-a-kind or one of each type as follows:

Combination of Territory Cards	No. of Reinforcements
Infantry + Infantry + Infantry	4
Cavalry + Cavalry + Cavalry	6
Creature + Creature + Creature	8
Infantry + Cavalry + Creature	10

You may exchange 1 set of Territory cards for reinforcements, but only during the Reinforcement phase. If you have 5 Territory cards in your hand, you must exchange 3 of them for reinforcements.

If any of the cards you are exchanging show a Territory that you currently occupy, you gain 2 bonus battalions, which must be placed into that Territory.

Place exchanged Territory cards in a discard pile, faceup, next to the draw pile. When you run out of Territory cards, shuffle the discard pile and turn it facedown to use as the draw pile.

The number of reinforcements you can make is the TOTAL of 1, 2 and 3. NOTE: With the exception of bonus battalions, any number of your reinforcements may be placed in any of your occupied Territories.

Combat

Let the battle begin! Once you have made all of your reinforcements, you can go into combat. You may attack any Territory controlled by another player that borders your own, or is linked by a port or a bridge.

You must have at least 2 battalions in the Territory you are attacking from, because at least 1 battalion must always remain behind.

The maximum number of battalions you can attack with at a time is 3.

How to Attack

1. Announce which Territory you are going to attack and where you will be attacking from.
2. State the number of battalions you will be attacking with. At least 1 battalion in that Territory cannot attack. Roll the same number of red dice as the number of battalions you are attacking with (1, 2 or 3).

How to Defend

Roll the black dice. Roll the same number as the number of battalions you decide to defend with (1 or 2). If the attacker rolls only 1 die, you may only roll 1 die in defense.

How to Do Battle

Both players, at the same time, roll their chosen number of dice. Do not roll dice onto the gameboard as you will knock characters out of position. Now compare your dice rolls, as follows:

• Look at the attacker's highest roll and the defender's highest roll. Whichever is the higher number wins. If they are equal, the defender wins.
• Do the same with each player's second-highest dice, if applicable.

Whoever loses each time you compare dice must remove 1 battalion per lost die-roll from the Territory and take it off the gameboard. When you have finished an attack on a Territory, whatever the outcome, you may choose to continue to attack the same Territory, or launch a new attack on any other Territory, as long as you have enough adjacent battalions to do so.

When victorious, you must move at least as many battalions as used in the final attack into the conquered Territory. You may move as many additional battalions from the attacking Territory into the conquered Territory as you wish, though at least 1 battalion must be left behind. You may use these battalions to go on and attack other neighboring Territories.

Example: Player #1 attacks Player #2 using 3 red dice and rolls a 5, a 2, and a 1. Player #2 defends with 2 black dice and rolls a 4 and a 2. When compared, Player #1 beats Player #2's highest die, so Player #2 loses a battalion. However, Player #2's second die is equal to Player #1's, so Player #1 also loses a battalion.

Leaders

Leaders have properties of strength in both attack and defense; however, they do not represent a battalion in their own right. Leaders must move with a battalion unless they are moved during the Redeployment phase.

Whenever you have battalions involved in combat in a Territory where you have a Leader present, you may add +1 to your highest die roll. If a Leader is used in combat when conquering a Territory, then you must move the Leader into that Territory at the end of that combat.

If the last battalion in a Territory with a Leader is defeated, the Leader is also defeated and must be removed from the board. If you have no Leader in play your Leader returns to any of your Territories at the end of your turn, before drawing cards.

It is possible to possess 2 Leaders if you are awarded a second by an Adventure card. If you only occupy 1 Territory you cannot put the second Leader on the board.

Two Leaders from the same army cannot occupy the same Territory; however, a Leader can be moved through a Territory containing another Leader of the same color during the Redeployment phase.

Declare a Mission Complete

You may declare a mission complete and claim the reward at any time during the Combat or Redeployment phases, by moving your Leader into the relevant Territory.

Once you have done so, that Leader must remain in that Territory for the rest of your turn, although any battalions in that Territory may continue to move as normal (see ADVENTURE CARDS on page 16).

Strongholds

These are counted as part of, not in addition to, the Territory they are within. Each strengthens the defense of the battalions occupying the Stronghold by +1 on the highest defensive die roll.

The Strongholds are: Mines of Moria, Annuminas, Helm's Deep, Rivendell, Isengard, and Dol Guldur.

Effect of Leaders and Strongholds

The power added to your highest die roll as a result of the possible combinations of additional powers are shown below:

Element	Attack	Defense
Leader	+1	+1
Stronghold	0*	+1
Leader & Stronghold	+1	+2

As Strongholds are fixed, they provide no benefit in attack.

Redeployment

Once you have completed all of the attacks you wish to make, you may move any number of battalions and/or a Leader from 1 Territory you occupy to any other of your Territories. The move may be made through any number of Territories occupied by your army. You may not pass through any Territory occupied by another player, nor can you cross a mountain. You may cross a river using a bridge, and you may use seaports as normal.

Leaders can be moved without a battalion accompaniment; however, you may not move a Leader that has been used to claim a mission during that turn.

Remember: You must leave at least 1 battalion in the Territory you move from.

Redeployment Example: The battalions represented by the Eagle in Lune Valley could redeploy to Evendim Hills, Tower Hills, or The Shire. They could not redeploy to Harlindon or Forlindon because an enemy army is blocking them; nor could they redeploy to Fornost because there is no bridge for them to cross the river.

Place Leader

If you do not have a Leader in play at the end of your turn, you may place a Leader into any Territory you control.

Drawing Cards

At the end of your turn you may be able to draw a Territory card and/or an Adventure card.

Territory Cards

If you conquer at least one Territory when attacking, you may draw the top Territory card from the draw pile. You may draw only 1 card, no matter how many territories you conquer during your attack.

Adventure Cards

If one of your Leaders conquered a Territory containing a Site of Power, or moved into a Territory containing one this turn, you may draw 1 Adventure card. Discard a card if your draw results in you having more than 3 Adventure cards.

After an Adventure card has been drawn no more cards, except Event cards, can be played on that turn.

You may draw only 1 card, no matter how many Sites of Power your Leader has conquered. See ADVENTURE CARDS on page 16 for details of how to play Adventure cards.

Moving the Fellowship

The Fellowship, represented by the One Ring, starts in the Shire. At the end of each player's turn, move it into the next Territory along the Fellowship's dotted path. When it is in a Territory with a dice symbol, a die roll must be made before moving it. To continue the One Ring's journey, the die roll must be HIGHER than 3. If the roll is unsuccessful, the Fellowship and ring remain in that Territory and the die must be rolled again at the end of the next turn.

Winning the Game

When the Fellowship leaves the Dead Marshes with the One Ring, the game ends. The player with the highest number of points wins the game.

Scoring Points

Calculate your points as shown below:

• 1 point per Territory you occupy; plus
• Extra points for complete Regions held, as shown in the reinforcement table on page 9 and on the gameboard, e.g. Mirkwood = 4 points; plus
• 2 additional points for each Stronghold you control; plus
• Extra points are scored by adding up the totals shown in the bottom, right-hand corner of your played Adventure cards.
• Any cards not played by the time the Fellowship and One Ring leave the land, are not counted in final scoring.

NOTE: If a player gains control of all of the Territories in Middle-earth before the Fellowship leaves the board, that player is declared the winner. If there is a tie, the player controlling the greatest number of Territories wins. If there is still a tie, then the player controlling the most Strongholds wins; if still tied, then the player with the most Adventure card points is the winner. If there is still a tie, the tied players share control of Middle-earth.

Adventure Cards

You may play as many Adventure cards on your turn as you want or are able.

Mission Cards

These special cards contain secret missions, which can be kept until completed. To complete a mission, your Leader must arrive at the Site of Power shown on the card, by either capturing a Territory or arriving there during an army's redeployment. The mission should be declared complete and the reward collected. Once the mission has been declared complete, the Leader may not be moved out of that Territory until your next turn.

NOTE: Some Missions have different rewards for Good forces and Evil forces. Collect the reward according to your allegiance and keep the completed Mission card in front of you. You will score the points shown on it at the end of the game.

Event Cards

Event cards are shown by a symbol and must be played immediately. But beware - they can be bad as well as good! Once played, discard them to the Adventure card discard pile next to the gameboard and draw another Adventure card.

Power Cards

You may keep Power cards to play at any time during the Combat phase of your turn, unless stated on the card (you can play some of these on another player's turn or when the Fellowship attempts to move). Once you have played a Power card, keep it in front of you, as it is worth the number of points shown in the symbol at the end of the game.

You can keep a maximum of 3 Adventure cards in your hand at a time. You can pick up a fourth, but must discard one of these from your hand to the discard pile next to the gameboard. Cards in the discard pile or ones not played, are not worth any points at the end of the game.

The 2-Player Game

When playing with only 2 players, one must use an army from the Good side and the other from the Evil side. A third, neutral army also comes into play.

1. Remove the Wild cards from the Territory card deck, separate them into Good, Evil, and Neutral and shuffle separately.
2. Deal the Good, Evil and neutral Territory cards as shown below:

Player No.	No. of Territory Cards Taken
1 (Good Army)	9 Good
2 (Evil Army)	9 Evil
3 (Neutral Army)	14 Neutral

3. Each player places 1 infantry battalion into each of his/her Territories. Each neutral Territory should contain 2 neutral battalions.
4. Roll the die to see who starts; the player with the highest roll begins. In turn, place your battalions, one at a time, in the remaining 10 Territories (5 each) until each Territory on the board has 1 battalion in it.
5. Play continues in exactly the same manner as for the 3- or 4-player game, with the following exceptions:

• The neutral army receives no Leader or Mission cards.
• In battle, the neutral army only defends. It acts the same as other opposition. The second player rolls the black dice for the neutral army.
• The neutral army cannot attack or redeploy.
• The Fellowship, represented by the One Ring, is not moved by the neutral army.

Playing Standard Risk

You may wish to play standard Risk, without the additional The Lord of the Rings rules.

Object of the Game

To be the first player to conquer all of the Territories in Middle-earth.

1. Leave The Lord of the Rings Adventure cards, Leaders, and the One Ring in the box as they are not needed for this game.
2. Lay the gameboard on a flat surface.
3. Take the number of infantry battalions appropriate to the number of players, as follows:

No. of Players	3	4
No. of Battalions	35	40

For a 2-player game, see the special 2-Player Game rules, on the previous page.

4. Remove the Wild cards from the Territory cards and shuffle the Territory cards. Deal out all of the Territory cards, facedown, to each player. Note that in a 4-player game, 2 players will receive an extra card.
5. Roll a die to see who goes first. The player with the highest roll starts, by placing 1 battalion in one of the Territories shown on their cards. The player to the first player's left now places 1 battalion and so on, until all Territories are occupied.
6. Starting with the highest roller again, each player in turn may place one additional battalion in one of their Territories until all of the battalions issued at the start are on the board.
7. Add the Wild cards back into the Territory card deck, shuffle the cards and put them facedown next to the gameboard.
8. Play the game exactly as described in the GAMEPLAY section on pages 9 to 15, with the following exceptions:

• Ignore all Strongholds and Sites of Power.
• In the Redeployment phase, your troop's redeployment can only be from one of your Territories to a Territory directly adjacent to it.

Winning the Game

The game is won when one army conquers all of the Territories of Middle-earth.

Turn Order Reminder

Reinforcement

1. Take 1 battalion for every 3 territories you own.
2. Take further battalions for Regions you completely occupy.
3. Exchange Territory cards for extra battalions.
4. Deploy extra battalions.

Combat

1. Declare attack.
2. Roll dice to battle. Add any extra power to dice roll. Highest roll wins.
3. Occupy Territory if successful.
4. Continue attacking other Territories, if desired.
5. Completed Missions may be declared and rewards claimed.

Redeployment

1. Move battalions and/or a Leader from 1 Territory to any other you occupy that is directly linked to it, if desired.
2. Completed Missions may be declared and rewards claimed.

Draw Cards

1. Draw 1 Territory card if you conquer one or more Territories.
2. Draw an Adventure card (1 maximum) if your Leader has conquered or moved to a Territory containing a Site of Power on this turn (discard a card if this leaves you with more than 3 cards).

Move the Fellowship