War of the Ring: Kings and Lords of Middle-Earth – Limited Edition

Expansion for War of the Ring: Second Edition

Expansions

War of the Ring: The Seeing Stones

War of the Ring: Kings and Lords of Middle-Earth – Limited Edition Rulebook

Table of Contents

Kings of Middle-earth
Lords of Middle-earth
- Chapter I: Introduction
  - Components
  - Setting Up the Game
- Chapter II: New Rules

Kings of Middle-earth

Chapter I: Introduction

For centuries, Sauron sought to exert his influence over the rulers of Middle-earth through the Rings of Power. During the War of the Ring, he continued to use his own power and that of his minions to coerce the leaders of the Free Peoples into submission, or even to join his side. In contrast, Gandalf worked tirelessly to revive hope and stir resistance among these rulers. This struggle for the hearts and minds of Middle-earth's rulers forms the central focus of this expansion.

Kings of Middle-earth is an expansion for the War of the Ring Second Edition boardgame. It introduces Sovereigns and Dark Chieftains (collectively called Rulers), two new types of Characters which represent important personalities of Middle-earth with a vital role in the War of the Ring.

Components

The Kings of Middle-earth expansion includes the following components:

This rulebook
1 Free Peoples Ruler Special Action die (Light Blue)
1 Shadow Ruler Special Action die (Brown)
13 new plastic figures
- 5 grey Sovereign figures (Brand, Dáin, Denethor, Théoden, Thranduil)
- 5 silver Sovereign figures (Brand, Dáin, Denethor, Théoden, Thranduil)
- 3 Dark Chieftain figures (The Black Serpent, The Shadow of Mirkwood, Uglúk)
5 Corrupted Sovereign plastic rings (Black)
13 new Character cards
- 5 Awakened Sovereign cards
- 5 Corrupted Sovereign cards
- 3 Dark Chieftain cards
2 Reference sheets
1 Sovereign Corruption board
19 new Event cards (10 for the Free Peoples, 9 for the Shadow)
- 11 replacement Event cards
- 8 new Event cards
14 cardboard counters, including:
- 2 Helm's Deep Shadow Stronghold tiles (to be used when Théoden is Corrupted), in normal size and 2 in larger size (to be used with the Collector's Edition, Anniversary Release, or Deluxe Game Mat)
- 2 Kings Hunt tiles (value of 1/Crown and 2/Crown), in normal size and 2 in larger size (to be used with the Collector's Edition)
- 5 Ruler tokens (one for each Sovereign, two sided)
- 1 "Corruptor" token (to use in 3-4 player games)

Setting Up the Game

To start the game, use the normal War of the Ring setup, with the following additions:

Give one Reference sheet to the Free Peoples player and one to the Shadow player.
Place the Sovereign Corruption board between the players.
Set aside the Dark Chieftain Character cards and figures, the Sovereign Character cards, the silver Sovereign figures, and the Corrupted Sovereign plastic rings for later use.
Place the five grey Sovereign figures on the game board (Brand in Dale, Dáin in Erebor, Denethor in Minas Tirith, Théoden in Edoras, and Thranduil in Woodland Realm).
Remove the Event cards from each deck that are replaced by expansion cards with the same name and card number (see page 19).
Add the expansion Event cards to the appropriate decks.
Add the two Kings Hunt tiles to the Hunt Pool.
Set aside the Ruler Special Action dice. They will be added to the Action Pool as explained in The Ruler Dice, page 6.
Set aside the other tokens and tiles; they will be added to the game when necessary.

Card Face Text Shown in the Component Overview (Page 4)

The component overview on page 4 of the rulebook shows the Character card faces and the Event card faces. The following card text is legible in the rulebook PDF. The remaining card faces are not legible as text in the PDF and are not reproduced here.

Dáin Ironfoot, Corrupted Ruler (Corrupted Sovereign card, KM 4/10)

If Dáin becomes Corrupted, place him in Erebor.

Corrupted King. The Free Peoples player cannot recruit Leaders or Elite units in Erebor, except as an effect of an Event card.

Fate of the Lonely Mountain. If Erebor is under siege, you can extend a siege battle there by removing a Shadow Regular unit, instead of reducing an Elite unit, once per siege battle.

— When a Companion with a Dwarven or Free Peoples icon is in the same region as Dáin, Corrupted Ruler, the Free Peoples player may use a Character Action die result to remove Dáin from play. His figure is removed, this card is discarded, and his Weaknesses immediately cease their effect.

The Black Serpent, Chieftain of the Haradrim (Dark Chieftain card, KM 1/3)

If Gondor is "At War", you may spend a Muster Action die result, or any Ruler die result (except an Eye), to play the Black Serpent in a region with an Army containing a Southrons & Easterlings unit.

Red Wrath. If the Black Serpent is in a battle, before revealing Combat cards you may forfeit the effects of your Combat card, and inflict and apply one hit against your units, to add 1 to all dice on your Combat roll; if the Combat card is "Relentless Assault", add 2 to all dice on your Combat roll instead [3].

— The Black Serpent is not a Minion for the purpose of playing Gandalf the White.

Event Cards (card faces shown on page 4)

Aid in Time of Need (Free Peoples)

Move any or all Companions who are not in the Fellowship. Then, choose one non-Awakened, non-Corrupted Sovereign in the same region as a Companion, and awaken him in that region.

The King's Banner (Free Peoples)

Play if Aragorn or an Awakened Sovereign is in the battle. Before rolling the dice for your Leader re-roll, forfeit Aragorn's or the Sovereign's Leadership to cancel the Leader re-roll of the Shadow player.

Your Welcome Is Doubtful (Shadow)

Play on the table. While this card is in play, the Free Peoples player cannot remove Corruption from a Sovereign, and can only awaken a Sovereign if his Nation is "at War". The Free Peoples player can force "Your Welcome Is Doubtful" to be discarded by using a Will of the West Action die result, or a Character Action die result if a non-Corrupted Sovereign and a Companion are together in the same region.

Servant of the Shadow (Shadow)

Play if a Shadow Minion is in the battle. Before the Combat roll, forfeit the Leadership of one Minion. During his Combat roll, the Free Peoples player rolls one die less (to a minimum of one) for every point of Leadership forfeited.

Chapter II: New Rules

The Ruler Dice

When playing Kings of Middle-earth, each player receives a Ruler Special Action die. There is one Free Peoples Ruler die (light blue color) and one Shadow Ruler die (brown color).

Ruler dice have the same symbols as normal Action dice but, when using them, you must use the following rules:

The Free Peoples player adds the Free Peoples Ruler die to their dice pool in the turn after the first Sovereign is awakened (see Awakening a Sovereign, page 10); the Shadow player adds the Shadow Ruler die to their dice pool in the turn after the first Dark Chieftain enters play (see Dark Chieftains in Play, page 14).
The Shadow Ruler die cannot be allocated directly to the Hunt and must always be rolled.
If a player's dice pool includes the Ruler die, that player must choose and discard one Action die at the end of the Action Roll phase — either one Standard Action die, or the Ruler die. a. First, the Shadow player must choose to either discard the Ruler die (even if it shows an Eye), or a Standard Action die that does not show an Eye. Then, they add the remaining rolled Eye results to the Hunt box. b. Then, the Free Peoples player chooses which one of their Action dice to discard.
If a player's Ruler die is not discarded after the Action Roll, that player can use its result as a normal Action die, or as indicated in the sections Free Peoples Ruler Die, page 9, and Shadow Ruler Die, page 15.
It is possible to change the result of a Ruler die using an Elven Ring.

Note: If, during the Recover Action Dice and Draw Event Cards phase, the Free Peoples player has no Awakened Sovereigns in play, they must remove the Free Peoples Ruler die from their Action Dice Pool. Similarly, if the Shadow player has no Dark Chieftains in play at that point, they must remove the Shadow Ruler die from their Action Dice Pool. The die may be recovered if a new Sovereign is awakened, or a new Dark Chieftain enters play.

Kings Hunt Tiles

Two new Hunt tiles are included in Kings of Middle-earth. These tiles are added to the Hunt Pool at the beginning of the game. If these tiles are drawn during the Hunt, their numerical value is applied normally. Their numerical value is also used when determining the effect of Event cards which use the value of the tile for some specific purpose (for example, "The Breaking of the Fellowship", using the value to determine the number of Companions to separate).

These tiles, however, have a specific effect when attempting to corrupt a Sovereign (see page 11).

Rulers' Combat Special Abilities

Brand, Théoden, and each of the Dark Chieftains have one Special Ability that can be used in battle. Most of these abilities require the player to forfeit the effects of a Combat card to be activated (the Combat card must still be eligible to be played). Pay close attention to the timing of the activation, as it is different for different Characters.

A Combat card whose effects have been so forfeited is still considered to be "played" for the purpose of other effects (for example, the Witch-king's "Sorcerer" ability), but its effects are replaced by the effects indicated. Likewise, the replacement effects of Combat Special Abilities are still considered to be Combat card effects for the purpose of other effects (for example, a Dark Chieftain's ability can be cancelled by the Free Peoples player using the Combat card "Daring Defiance"). The initiative number of the effects is indicated as a number in square brackets (for example, "[4]") in the text.

Chapter III: Sovereigns of the Free Peoples

From the king's hand the black staff fell clattering on the stones. He drew himself up, slowly, as a man that is stiff from long bending over some dull toil. Now tall and straight he stood, and his eyes were blue as he looked into the opening sky. 'Dark have been my dreams of late,' he said, 'but I feel as one new-awakened.'

The Two Towers, Book III, Chapter 6: The King of the Golden Hall

The Sovereigns of the Free Peoples (not all of whom were literally "kings") were targeted by Sauron's attempts to bend the will of the Free Peoples — using the palantíri (the seeing stones), through emissaries, like Gríma, and possibly with other subtle and deceitful means. At the same time, it was crucial for the morale of the Free Peoples to rally around these charismatic figures to fight against the Shadow. This is represented in the game by the following rules.

Sovereigns in Play

During the game, the Shadow player will try to corrupt the Sovereigns, while the Free Peoples player will try to awaken them before they are corrupted.

At the start of the game, all Sovereigns are considered Free Peoples Leaders. They are considered neither "Awakened" nor "Corrupted". If a non-Awakened, non-Corrupted Sovereign is eliminated, any Corruption tiles on him are returned to the Hunt Pool.
Corrupted Sovereigns are considered to have Level 0 and no Leadership. They cannot move and have unique Weaknesses affecting the Free Peoples player, as indicated by their cards.
Awakened Sovereigns are considered Companions (with the Level and Leadership indicated by their cards) and have unique Special Abilities, including Combat Special Abilities (see Rulers' Combat Special Abilities, page 7) for Brand and Théoden.

Free Peoples Ruler Die

The Free Peoples Ruler die enters play after the first Sovereign is Awakened by the Free Peoples player, and will be added to the Action Dice Pool in the following turn. It remains in (or returns to) play as long as at least one Awakened Sovereign is in play.

When the Ruler die is in play, one Action die (either the Ruler die or another Action die) must be discarded after the Action Roll.

The Ruler die can be used:

as a normal Action die;
to awaken a Sovereign, as indicated on his Awakened card;
to activate an Awakened Sovereign's Special Ability.

Each Awakened Sovereign has two Special Abilities. The first can be activated with any Action die showing the appropriate result (unless it is a Combat Special Ability, see page 7). The second requires a specific result on the Ruler die; a Will of the West result on the Ruler die can be used to activate any such ability.

Example Card: Brand, King of Dale

The rulebook prints the Brand Awakened Sovereign card as an example on page 10. Its printed labels are: Portrait, Name, Condition to Awaken, First Special Ability (with initiative number, if applicable), Second Special Ability, Level, Leadership, Shadow Resistance, and Nation. The card text reads:

Brand, King of Dale

If the North is active, you may spend a Muster Action die result, or any Ruler die result, to move Brand to an unconquered Free Peoples City or Stronghold and awaken him there.

Heir of Bard. Once per battle, if Brand and a North Army unit are in a battle, after revealing Combat cards you may forfeit the effects of your Combat card to cancel the effects of the Combat card played by the Shadow player. [0]

Call to Arms. If the North is "At War", you may use a Muster result on the Ruler die to recruit one North Regular unit or Leader in two different free North Settlements, and one North Regular unit or Leader in the same region as Brand, if it is free.

— Brand is a Companion.

Ruler Tokens

There are 5 Ruler tokens, one for each Sovereign.

When the Free Peoples player awakens a Sovereign, they get his unique Ruler token.
Each Ruler token can be used once per game, immediately before the Free Peoples player takes an action with the Ruler die. The Free Peoples player can use the token to change the Ruler die to the result which activates the Sovereign's second Special Ability and use it immediately to activate that ability.
The Free Peoples player cannot use both a Ruler token and an Elven Ring in the same turn.

Awakening a Sovereign

The Free Peoples player can take the action indicated on the Awakened version of the card of a non-Awakened, non-Corrupted Sovereign (normally the use of a Muster die result, or any result on the Ruler die) to awaken the Sovereign, replacing the non-Awakened, non-Corrupted version with the Awakened one.

If movement of the Sovereign is required prior to his awakening, this movement follows the same rules as the movement of Companions outside the Fellowship, using the Sovereign's Level when Awakened. If this movement cannot legally end in the indicated region, the Free Peoples player cannot awaken that Sovereign.

When a Sovereign becomes Awakened, immediately return to the Hunt Pool any Corruption tiles placed on his space on the Sovereign Corruption board, replace the grey figure of the Sovereign with the corresponding silver one, and add the Free Peoples Ruler die to the Free Peoples dice pool (if it was not already in the pool) during the Recover Action Dice and Draw Event Cards phase of the following turn.

Note: If a Sovereign is awakened by an Event or Combat card effect (for example, the Combat card effect "There Is Hope for Victory"), just follow the normal rules for awakening indicated above.

The Free Peoples player takes the Awakened Sovereign card. From this moment on, the Awakened abilities of the Sovereign are in effect.

An Awakened Sovereign cannot be corrupted.
An Awakened Sovereign is considered to be a Companion.

Note: Some of the Special Abilities of Awakened Sovereigns allow a Regular unit to be replaced with an Elite unit of the same Nation. If such an ability is used, the Regular unit is returned to the reinforcements pool. The ability cannot be used if there is no Elite unit in the reinforcements pool.

Attempting to Corrupt a Sovereign

If the Free Peoples player has at least one unused Action die, and there is more than one Eye die in the Hunt Box, instead of using an Action die to take an action, the Shadow player can remove one Eye die from the Hunt Box to attempt to corrupt a Sovereign. When this happens, follow these steps:

The Shadow player chooses a Sovereign not yet Awakened or Corrupted, and removes an Eye from the Hunt Box to initiate the corruption attempt.
The Shadow player draws a number of Hunt tiles equal to the number of Eye dice remaining in the Hunt Box, one at a time, up to a maximum of 3.
The Shadow player places one of the drawn Hunt tiles of his choice, face down, on the appropriate space of the Sovereign Corruption board. Then, the Shadow player returns any remaining tiles to the Hunt Pool, after showing them to the Free Peoples player. Hunt tiles placed on a Sovereign are called Corruption tiles.
The Shadow player places the Eye die with their used Action dice.

As the value of Corruption tiles must remain hidden, the Free Peoples player is never allowed to inspect the content of the Hunt Pool during the game.

Note: Dice not showing an Eye added to the Hunt Box, such as Character dice due to moving the Fellowship, are not counted as Eyes for the purpose of Sovereign corruption.

Special Case: Eye and Special Hunt Tiles

If a Standard Eye tile or a Special tile is drawn during a corruption attempt, the Shadow player must reveal it, and draw a new tile in its place. All such unused tiles are returned to the Hunt Pool, without effect.

Special Case: Kings Hunt Tiles

If a Kings Hunt tile is drawn during a corruption attempt, it is immediately revealed and added to the Sovereign; no further tiles are drawn by the Shadow player, and any other tile drawn in this corruption attempt is returned to the Hunt Pool. A Kings Hunt tile counts as "0" Corruption when added to a Sovereign. If the Sovereign becomes Awakened or Corrupted, any Kings Hunt tiles on him are returned to the Hunt Pool.

Card Effects Manipulating Hunt Tiles

Corruption attempts cannot be influenced by the effect of a card or ability that allows a player to influence or prevent the drawing or redrawing of Hunt tiles (for example, "Mithril Coat and Sting" does not allow redrawing a tile during a corruption attempt).

Corruption Level and Corruption of a Sovereign

The Corruption Level of a Sovereign is equal to the total numerical value of all tiles placed on his space on the Sovereign Corruption board (with Kings Hunt tiles counting as 0). Since the tiles are placed face down, the Corruption Level of a Sovereign is hidden from the Free Peoples player (they only know the number of tiles) but can be checked by the Shadow player at any time.

The same Sovereign may not be targeted by a corruption attempt twice in the same turn except when using an Event card.

A Sovereign becomes Corrupted when his Corruption Level equals or exceeds his Shadow Resistance. When this happens, the Shadow player must reveal all tiles on the Sovereign's space on the Sovereign Corruption board, discard the highest numbered Standard tile, and return the other tiles (including any Kings tiles) to the Hunt Pool.

Note: In case of a tie, a tile with a Reveal icon is considered to be higher numbered than a tile without one.

Remove the grey figure of the Sovereign from the game board, then take the corresponding silver one, add a Corrupted Sovereign ring around its base to mark his status, and place it in the region indicated on the Corrupted version of his card. The Shadow player takes the Corrupted Sovereign's card. From this moment on, the Weaknesses of the Corrupted Sovereign are in effect.

A Corrupted Sovereign cannot be awakened.
A Corrupted Sovereign is no longer considered to be a Free Peoples Leader. His effect in the game is limited to the Weaknesses indicated on his card, and to his influence on cards referring to "Sovereigns" and "Corrupted Sovereigns". He cannot be used to activate any effect or satisfy any requirement referring to "Companions", "Characters", or "Minions".
A Corrupted Sovereign is eliminated only according to the rules in Removing a Corrupted Sovereign from Play (see below). The Weaknesses of a Corrupted Sovereign cease to have effect if he is eliminated.

Removing Corruption from a Sovereign

If a Nation is activated or its Political Track advances, and an appropriate Companion (that is, a Companion with the icon of that Nation, or the Free Peoples icon) is in the same region as the non-Awakened, non-Corrupted Sovereign of that Nation, the Free Peoples player can discard one hidden Corruption tile, randomly chosen, from that Sovereign's space on the Sovereign Corruption board, returning the tile to the Hunt Pool. Certain Event cards also allow the removal of Corruption tiles.

Removing a Corrupted Sovereign from Play

When an appropriate Companion (that is, a Companion with the icon of the same Nation, or the Free Peoples icon) is in the same region as a Corrupted Sovereign, the Free Peoples player can use a Character Action die to remove that Sovereign from play.

When this happens, the Sovereign's figure is removed, his card is discarded, and his Weaknesses immediately cease their effects.

This is the only way to remove a Corrupted Sovereign from play, except through the use of Event cards. A Corrupted Sovereign is not affected by the outcome of a battle in his region — so, for example, he remains in play even if a Free Peoples Army in the same region is completely eliminated in battle.

Chapter IV: Dark Chieftains

Not all his servants and chattels are wraiths! There are orcs and trolls, there are wargs and werewolves; and there have been and still are many Men, warriors and kings, that walk alive under the Sun, and yet are under his sway. And their number is growing daily.'

The Fellowship of the Ring, Book II, Chapter 1: Many Meetings

This expansion adds new characters, the Dark Chieftains, to the Shadow hosts. Unlike the Ringwraiths, who were fully controlled by the One Ring, these powerful leaders of the Shadow Armies had distinct personalities, but ultimately all were subject to the commands of Sauron or Saruman.

Dark Chieftains in Play

Each Dark Chieftain belongs to a different Shadow Nation: The Shadow of Mirkwood to Sauron, Uglúk to Isengard, and The Black Serpent to the Southrons & Easterlings. They are considered Non-Flying Minions (see definition in the sidebar on page 15).
The Shadow player can take the action indicated on the card of a Dark Chieftain (normally, the use of a Muster die result, or of any result on Ruler die, except an Eye result) to bring him into play.
Follow the instructions on the Dark Chieftain's card to place him on the board. The Shadow player can now start to use the Character's abilities.
Dark Chieftains add to the Leadership of Shadow Armies they are in, and they each also have one unique Combat Special Ability (see Rulers' Combat Special Abilities, page 7), applied only to the Army they are in. Uglúk has an additional Special Ability that applies to the Hunt.
Free Peoples and Shadow cards referring to "Minions" affect and are affected by Dark Chieftains; however, these characters are not considered Minions for the purpose of playing Gandalf the White.

Non-Flying Minions

The Dark Chieftains are not able to fly like the Nazgûl (and the Witch-king), and for this reason they are considered as Non-flying Minions. They are of a different, and lower, status in comparison to normal Minions (included in War of the Ring) and lesser Minions (included in Lords of Middle-earth) because they do not add an Action die (however, the Shadow Ruler die is used when they are in play). These characters move with the same limitations as the Mouth of Sauron, the only Minion of this type in War of the Ring, which are repeated here.

A Non-flying Minion:

If moving without an Army, can move a number of regions up to his Level, and ignores any enemy Army;
Cannot cross impassable terrain;
Cannot leave or enter a region that contains a friendly Stronghold besieged by an enemy Army;
If moving without an Army, cannot be moved into a Stronghold controlled by the Free Peoples, unless it is besieged by a Shadow Army.

Shadow Ruler Die

The Shadow Ruler die enters play after the first Dark Chieftain enters play, and will be added to the Action Dice Pool in the following turn. It remains in (or returns to) play as long as at least one Dark Chieftain is in play.

The Shadow Ruler die cannot be allocated directly to the Hunt Box and must always be rolled during the Action Roll phase.

When the Ruler die is in play, one Action die (either the Ruler die or another Action die) must be discarded after the Action Roll. The Shadow player may always choose their Ruler die as the die to be discarded, even if it shows an Eye result.

The Shadow Ruler die can be used:

as a normal Action die;
to play a Dark Chieftain, as indicated on his card.

Chapter V: Variants

Playing with 3 or 4 Players

When playing Kings of Middle-earth with 3 or 4 players, use the following rules.

Free Peoples

A Sovereign can only be awakened by the player controlling the corresponding Nation.
The abilities of an Awakened Sovereign can only be used by the player controlling the corresponding Nation.
Corruption can be removed by either Free Peoples player.
A Corrupted Sovereign can be removed by either Free Peoples player.

Shadow

Both Shadow players can attempt to corrupt any Sovereign.
If multiple attempts to corrupt Sovereigns are made in a turn, the Shadow players must alternate between performing the attempts. Use the Corruptor token as a reminder of the last player who performed a corruption attempt. Either player may be the first to initiate a corruption attempt in each turn, regardless of the last player to do so (if any) in the previous turn.
Only one corruption attempt per Sovereign (except when using Event cards) may be done between the Shadow players each turn.
A Dark Chieftain can only be played by the player controlling the corresponding Nation.

Playing with Other Expansions

You can play Kings of Middle-earth together with the base War of the Ring game using the rules explained in the previous pages. Expert players who want to combine it with other expansions can use the following rules.

Dismay Tokens

This rule is optional, but recommended, for use when playing Kings of Middle-earth together with Lords of Middle-earth and/or Warriors of Middle-earth.

When a Ruler token is used, or when an Awakened Sovereign who did not use his token is eliminated from play, the Shadow Player receives that Sovereign's Ruler token, flipping it to its "Dismay" side. After the Action Roll phase, the Shadow player can use a Dismay token to either re-roll their own Ruler die or force the Free Peoples player to re-roll their Ruler die. The token is then removed from the game.

Lords of Middle-earth

When selecting the die to discard during the Action Roll phase, a player can only discard a normal Action die, or the Ruler die. A player cannot discard a Keeper or Lesser Minion die in this way.
Sméagol tiles are ignored and redrawn during a corruption attempt, similarly to Special tiles.
Dice added to the Hunt Box due to the effect of the "Captain of Despair" Event card are not counted for the purpose of Sovereign corruption — they cannot be discarded to attempt the corruption of a Sovereign, and do not add to the number of tiles drawn in the attempt. To keep track of these dice, place the ones added by the "Captain of Despair" effect in the right half of the Hunt Box and the "normal" Hunt dice in the left half.
Eye results rolled on Keeper and/or Lesser Minion dice are counted normally when making a corruption attempt. If removed from the Hunt Box to initiate an attempt, they are placed with the Free Peoples player's used Action dice afterwards.
If you use the Council of Rivendell rules:
- the Shadow player may spend an Action token together with any eligible Action die result to play one Dark Chieftain, even if his normal prerequisite has not been met;
- characters without a Nation icon cannot remove Corruption from a Sovereign, or remove a Corrupted Sovereign from play. For example, Boromir, Captain General of Gondor cannot remove Corruption from Denethor or remove Denethor, Corrupted Ruler from play.

Warriors of Middle-earth

When selecting which die to discard during the Action Roll phase, a player can only discard a normal Action die or the Ruler die. A player cannot discard a Faction die in this way.
You cannot forfeit a the effect of a Call to Battle card to activate the Combat Special Ability of Brand or a Dark Chieftain (see Rulers' Combat Special Abilities, page 7).

Fate of Erebor

Dáin and Brand are not used. There is no King under the Mountain, and Dale is in ruins. Do not replace "Dain Ironfoot's Guard" and "King Brand's Men" with the new Event cards included in this set.

Competitive/Tournament Rules

The following rules have been proposed as variants by experienced tournament players, and you may consider adding them to your games:

Visible Corruption tiles. Do not place Corruption tiles on a Sovereign face down: they remain visible to all players. When using this rule, if a card effect refers to "hidden Corruption tiles", read this as meaning "any Corruption tiles other than Kings tiles".
Sequential Corruption tile draw. The Shadow player can decide to stop drawing tiles in a corruption attempt when they want (up to the maximum allowed). The last tile to be drawn must be used.
Removing Ruler tokens. When playing Kings of Middle-earth together with Lords of Middle-earth and/or Warriors of Middle-earth, do not use Ruler tokens. Dismay tokens will only be granted to the Shadow player when an Awakened Sovereign is eliminated.

Chapter VI: Card Replacement Reference

Lords of Middle-earth

Title	Type	Number
A Balrog is Come	Character	17

Warriors of Middle-earth

Title	Type	Number
The Western Way	Character	15
Premonition of Danger	Character	18
Swift Boats	Character	19
Majesty and Glory	Character	20
Take Someone You Can Trust	Character	21
Long Battle	Character	22
Not on Anybody's Side	Character	1
Strongly Guarded	Strategy	10
Great Winged Creatures

Kings of Middle-earth

Title	Type	Number
House of the Stewards	Character	23
Wisdom of Elrond	Strategy	8
Riders of Théoden	Strategy	16
King Brand's Men	Strategy	19
Dáin Ironfoot's Guard	Strategy	22
Thranduil's Archers	Strategy	24
Return to Valinor	Strategy	1
Denethor's Folly	Strategy	3
Threats and Promises

Lords of Middle-earth

Chapter I: Introduction

Lords of Middle-earth is an expansion for the War of the Ring Second Edition boardgame. It presents new game mechanics designed to introduce fresh gaming opportunities, inspired by events and characters not fully explored in Tolkien's novels. Important personalities from The Lord of the Rings, previously featured in the game only through the use of Event Cards, are now represented by specific figures and rules. Alternate portrayals of some of the main characters are also included.

Components

The Lords of Middle-earth expansion includes the following components:

This Rulebook
3 Keepers of the Elven Rings Special Action Dice
2 Lesser Minions Special Action Dice
6 new plastic figures
- 1 figure representing Lord Elrond
- 1 figure representing Lady Galadriel
- 1 figure representing The Balrog of Moria
- 1 figure representing Gothmog
- 1 figure representing the Mouth of Sauron, Black Númenórean
- 1 figure representing the Witch-king, Chief of the Ringwraiths
2 bonus plastic figures
- 1 figure representing Aragorn, Heir to Isildur
- 1 figure representing Gandalf the White
11 cardboard counters and markers, including:
- 4 Sméagol Hunt Tiles
- 1 Sméagol Character counter
- 1 Balrog Status counter
- 3 Elven Ring counters
- 2 Shadow Action tokens
1 Sméagol special Event Card "We Shall Get It"
3 new Companion Cards: Elrond, Galadriel, Sméagol
7 alternate Companion Cards: Boromir, Gandalf, Gimli, Legolas, Meriadoc, Peregrin, Strider
2 new Lesser Minion Cards: The Balrog and Gothmog

Note: two additional Sméagol Hunt Tiles are included in a larger size, for use by owners of the War of the Ring Collector's Edition.

For the purpose of game balance, all rules and game elements introduced in Lords of Middle-earth are meant to be added in their entirety to every War of the Ring game. Using separate elements is certainly possible, but can alter the game balance. Alternate Companions (see The Council of Rivendell, page 30) may be included in the game or not, at the players' discretion.

Setting Up the Game

To start the game, use the normal War of the Ring setup, with the following additions:

Either Strider or Gandalf the Grey (either version) may be chosen as the starting Guide of the Fellowship.
Use the new Elven Ring counters to replace the Elven Ring counters included in War of the Ring. The new counters show a portrait of the Character who is the Keeper of that Ring.
Take the new Event Cards (six for the Free Peoples player and seven for the Shadow player). One of the Shadow Event Cards ("A Balrog is Come!") must replace the card with the same number (# 17, "Balrog of Moria") in the War of the Ring Shadow Character Event deck. The remaining twelve cards are simply added to the appropriate Event Decks (four cards each for the Free Peoples and Shadow Character Event decks, and two each for the Free Peoples and Shadow Strategy Event decks).
At the beginning of the game, place two of the four Sméagol Tiles in the Hunt Pool, in addition to the Standard Hunt Tiles.
Set aside all the other components for later use. The alternate Companion cards and Shadow Action Tokens are only used with the Council of Rivendell optional rules (see page 30), except Gandalf, Keeper of Narya (see page 19).
The Gandalf the White and Aragorn figures are only provided for visual enhancement of the game and are used when the appropriate character enters play. No new rules are necessary to use them.

Note: for the sake of brevity, the rules refer to the "Recover Action Dice and Draw Event cards" phase simply as the "Recover Action Dice" phase.

Chapter II: New Rules

New Terminology

Unconquered

The adjective unconquered is introduced to indicate a Settlement which is controlled by the same player who controlled it at the beginning of the game. A Settlement which was captured by the opponent, and then recaptured by its original owner, is considered to be "unconquered" once again.

A Stronghold under siege is considered unconquered if the besieged Army belongs to the original owner.

Non-Flying Minion

Some of the new Minions of the Shadow (The Balrog, Gothmog) are not able to fly like the Nazgûl (and the Witch-king), and for this reason they are referred to by these rules as Non-flying Minions. They move with the same limitations as the Mouth of Sauron, the only Minion of this type in War of the Ring (as the Witch-king flies like a Nazgûl and Saruman does not move at all), which are repeated here.

A Non-flying Minion:

If moving without an Army, can move a number of regions up to his Level, and ignores any enemy Army.
Cannot cross impassable terrain.
Cannot leave or enter a region that contains a friendly Stronghold besieged by an enemy Army.
If moving without an Army, cannot be moved into a Stronghold controlled by the Free Peoples, unless it is besieged by a Shadow Army.

New Special Action Dice

This expansion introduces new Special Dice, the Keepers of the Elven Rings dice (Keeper Dice for short) and the Lesser Minion Dice. These Special Dice use similar rules, which are explained here, and have some differences which are explained immediately afterward.

New Rules for the Action Roll and Recovery

When these Special Dice are in play, modify the rules for the Action Roll and Recover Action Dice phases as follows:

When in play, these dice are rolled together with the Standard Action Dice.
If a player rolls multiple Special Dice he must choose one of the rolled results and discard the others for this turn, before proceeding to the Action Resolution phase.
- If one or more of a player's special action dice rolls is an Eye result, the choice must be an Eye.
- In case both players have to choose which die to use, the player who rolls the highest total number of dice must choose first (in the case of a tie, the Free Peoples player must choose first).
Dice which have not been chosen will be recovered during the Recover Action Dice phase of the following turn, together with the used dice.

New Action Dice Results

The new special Action Dice include some new icons:

The Card Draw result allows a player to draw one Event Card from either one of his Event decks.
The Use Balrog result, appearing on the Balrog die, is fully explained under the rules for this character (see pages 23-25).
The Remove symbol appears on some die faces together with another action symbol and means that, under the appropriate conditions, the die is permanently removed from the game after use. See Recovering and Removing Keeper Dice (page 10) and Recovering and Removing Lesser Minion Dice (page 11).

Note that the Eye symbol also appears on the Special Dice of the Free Peoples player. When this result is rolled, the Free Peoples player does not get an additional action, and in fact, improves the power of the Shadow in the Hunt for the Ring for the current turn.

Choosing a Special Die Result

If a player rolls more than one Special Action Die during the Action Roll phase, he must select one die result among all those he produced with the roll and discard the others until next turn. The player will use the chosen result normally, during the Action Phase. However, if any of the dice rolled produced an Eye result, the player must choose the Eye result and discard the other dice. If more than one Eye is rolled, only one die is chosen, and the player may choose which die with an Eye result to use.

The chosen die is placed in the Hunt Box, and treated just like an Eye die result placed or rolled by the Shadow player.

Using a Special Die Result

Unless the chosen result was an Eye, the selected die is used normally during the Action Phase and is counted as part of the Action Dice Pool for the purpose of deciding which player has more dice. All the results are used in the way indicated by their icon.

Note: any special die result (except an Eye result, of course) may be used to fulfill the requirement of using "Any Action Die Result," which appears on some Event Cards and Character abilities.

Removing Special Action Dice

A Special Action Die is removed during the Recover Action Dice phase, if the character associated with it was eliminated from the game during the previous turn. See Recovering and Removing Keeper Dice (page 10) and Recovering and Removing Lesser Minion Dice (page 11) for additional conditions about removing these dice.

The Keeper Dice

The Keepers of the three Elven Rings wielded hidden powers that, if activated, could aid the Free Peoples. Yet, they also ran the risk of drawing Sauron's attention to the fate of the One Ring. Such power, and the danger inherent in using it, is represented in the game by their Special Action Dice, as well as by their other abilities.

The Keeper Dice Icons

[The face-by-face icon layout for the Elrond (Vilya), Galadriel (Nenya) and Gandalf (Narya) dice is printed as a graphic on page 10 of the rulebook. The text layer of that graphic does not reliably map each label to its die face, so it is not transcribed here. The icons used are: Army, Muster, Event, Card Draw, Character, Eye, and the Remove symbol.]

Adding Keeper Dice to the Dice Pool

When either Lord Elrond or Lady Galadriel is in play, or when Gandalf the Grey, Keeper of Narya is the Guide of the Fellowship, that character's specific die is added to the Dice Pool. Elrond adds the Vilya die and Galadriel the Nenya die when each of these characters enters play (see the rules for these characters on page 16 and 18). Each specific die is added to the Free Peoples' player Action Dice Pool at the start of the turn after either Elrond and Galadriel enters play.

The Narya die is added to the Action Dice Pool if, during the Recover Action Dice phase, Gandalf the Grey, Keeper of Narya is the Guide of the Fellowship (see Gandalf the Grey, Keeper of Naria, pages 19-20).

Recovering and Removing Keeper Dice

During the Recover Action Dice phase, both used and unused Keeper Dice in play are recovered. Rules that apply to the recovery of Free Peoples Action Dice from the Hunt Box (such as the mandatory allocation of one die to the Hunt for the Shadow Player; or the Guide ability of Gandalf, Keeper of Narya) do not apply if the die recovered from the Hunt Box is a Keeper's die that rolled an Eye result.

If Gandalf the White is in play when recovering Action Dice at the beginning of a new turn, eliminate the previous turn's chosen Keeper Die if its result has a (Remove) symbol.

The Lesser Minion Dice

While not as prominent as his other servants, the Balrog of Moria and Gothmog, the Lieutenant of Morgul, served well the purposes of the Dark Lord. Their powers are represented in the expansion by the special Action Dice they add, as well as by their other character abilities.

The Lesser Minion Dice Icons

[The face-by-face icon layout for The Balrog and Gothmog dice is printed as a graphic on page 11 of the rulebook. The text layer of that graphic does not reliably map each label to its die face, so it is not transcribed here. The icons used are: Character, Use Balrog, Muster, Army, Card Draw, Eye, and the Remove symbol.]

Adding Lesser Minion Dice to the Dice Pool

When either The Balrog or Gothmog is in play, that character's specific die is added to the Dice Pool. Each specific die is added to the Shadow player Action Dice Pool at the start of the turn after either The Balrog or Gothmog enters play.

Recovering and Removing Lesser Minion Dice

During the Recover Action Dice phase, both used and unused Lesser Minion Dice in play are recovered.

If the Witch-king (any version) is in play when recovering Action Dice at the beginning of a new turn, eliminate the previous turn's chosen Lesser Minion Die if its result has a (Remove) symbol.

Examples of Play

Gandalf the Grey in play

On turn 1 the Free Peoples player selects Gandalf the Grey, Keeper of Narya as the Guide. He rolls the Narya die together with his four regular Action Dice: the result is a Card Draw, and the Free Peoples player has five actions to resolve on this turn. If the roll was an Eye, the die would have been added to the Hunt Box, and the Free Peoples player would have only four actions.

Gandalf the Grey and Galadriel in play

At the beginning of the following turn, Gandalf the Grey, Keeper of Narya is the Guide and Lady Galadriel is in play. The Free Peoples player adds both the Narya and Nenya Keeper Dice to the Action Dice Pool. The Narya die rolls an Army result and the Nenya die rolls an Event result. The Free Peoples player must now choose one die result before proceeding to the Action Resolution phase. He selects the Event result. The Narya die is left unused, and is momentarily discarded. It will be rolled again next turn if the appropriate conditions are met (that is, Gandalf is still the Guide and at least one Free Peoples Action Die is recovered from the Hunt Box).

Elrond, Galadriel and Gandalf the White in play

On a later turn, Lady Galadriel and Lord Elrond are in play, and so is Gandalf the White. The Free Peoples player adds the Nenya and Vilya Keeper Dice to the Action Dice Pool and both roll Eye+Remove results. Only one Eye must be added to the Hunt Box, and the Free Peoples player must select which Keeper Die to use. The decision is important as both dice show remove symbols and, provided Gandalf the White is still in play during the next Recover Action Dice phase, his presence will cause the chosen die to be removed from play for the rest of the game. The Free Peoples player decides to use Vilya. The unused Nenya die is set aside and will be rolled again next turn if Galadriel is still in play.

The Balrog, Gothmog and the Witch-king in play

Gothmog, the Balrog of Moria and the Witch-king, Chief of the Ringwraiths are all in play at the beginning of the turn. Gothmog's die rolls an Army+Remove result and the Balrog's rolls a Card Draw. Although the Army result would be more useful, the Shadow player chooses the Card Draw result because it does not have a remove symbol, and adds the Balrog's die to his available actions for the turn. If he had chosen the Army result, Gothmog's die would be removed from the game during the next Recover Action Dice phase (provided the Witch-king remained in play).

The Elven Rings

Lords of Middle-earth introduces three new characters related to the Elven Rings: Lord Elrond, Lady Galadriel, and Gandalf the Grey, Keeper of Narya. The rules in this section describe how the use of the Elven Rings is modified by their introduction.

The Elven Rings Counters

Lord Elrond, Keeper of Vilya; Lady Galadriel, Keeper of Nenya; and Gandalf the Grey, Keeper of Narya each have a special ability that makes use of the named Elven Ring specified in the character's title. To make the three Rings easier to tell apart from each other, new Elven Ring counters are included in this box, which show both the image of the Ring and the image of the Keeper associated with it.

Using the Elven Rings

Each Elven Ring can be used as in the standard War of the Ring rules, or to activate an individual special Ring ability (see below). As far as the normal use of a Ring is concerned, once per turn the Free Peoples player may use a Ring to change the result of an Action Die. This use of a Ring is always available, whether the character depicted on the Ring token is in play or not.

An Elven Ring cannot be used to change the result of a Keeper Die or a Lesser Minion Die.

Once used, a Ring token is flipped on its back side and given to the Shadow player (who is entitled to use it to change one of his Action Die results, following the standard rules).

When the Free Peoples player uses a Ring to change a die result, he must choose a specific Elven Ring token, as that Ring won't be available later to be used for its special ability.

Note: Any use of Elven Rings by the Free Peoples player to activate the special abilities of the Keepers is in addition to the limit of one normal Ring use per turn.

New Special Ring Abilities

A Ring's special use is only available when the Character associated with it is in play and is indicated in the description of each of the three Keepers. When a Ring is used for its special ability, the corresponding token is flipped over to its "Flaming Eye" side and given to the Shadow player.

The "Three Rings for the Elven-Kings" Event Card allows the Free Peoples player to recover a Ring he used previously.

Special Abilities of the Elven Rings

Lord Elrond (Vilya, Mightiest of the Three)

Use the Elven Ring Vilya to keep an Action Die you just used (except a Will of the West) among the available results. The used die is not discarded, or placed in the Hunt Box.

Lady Galadriel (Nenya, the Ring of Adamant)

Whenever a standard Eye tile is drawn, use the Elven Ring Nenya to cancel its effects and draw another tile in its place. The cancelled tile is removed from play for the remainder of the game.

Gandalf the Grey (Narya, the Great)

If Gandalf the Grey, Keeper of Narya is in an unconquered Settlement of a Free Peoples Nation, use the Elven Ring Narya and any one Action Die result to activate that Nation and move it directly to the "At War" step.

When this happens, he may choose the Ring(s) of his choice, as long as he first chooses from Rings which are out of the game, then from Rings in the possession of the Shadow player. In this case, the special Keeper ability becomes available again, if that Keeper is still in play.

Multi-Player Rules

When playing with multi-player rules:

Lord Elrond and Lady Galadriel are controlled by the Gondor player, but the Leading Free Peoples Player chooses the result of the Elven Keeper Dice roll, and either player can use it.
If either of the Free Peoples players uses an Elven Ring to change a die result, the Gondor player chooses which specific Ring to use.
The Balrog of Moria and Gothmog are controlled by the Witch-king player, but the Leading Shadow Player chooses the result of the Lesser Minion Dice roll, and either player can use it.

Chapter III: New Characters

Lords of Middle-earth presents a number of new Characters. Six of them, alternate versions of Strider, Boromir, Gimli, Legolas, Merry and Pippin, are introduced in the game exclusively through the optional rules contained in the The Council of Rivendell chapter (see page 30). The remaining Characters are presented here and should be added to all games using this expansion.

These Characters are:

The three Keepers of the Elven Rings (Lady Galadriel; Lord Elrond; Gandalf the Grey, Keeper of Narya);
Sméagol;
The two Lesser Minions (The Balrog of Moria; Gothmog);
The Mouth of Sauron, Black Númenórean;
The Witch-king, Chief of the Ringwraiths.

Sméagol is included without a figure, since he is always part of the Fellowship of the Ring when he is in play. The alternate versions of the Companions are also not represented by new figures, as the choice of using them or not must initially be kept secret from the Shadow player (see The Council of Rivendell, page 30). All rules necessary to use these new Characters are explained here in detail and are summarized on each of the appropriate Character Cards.

Lord Elrond, Keeper of Vilya

Elrond, Lord of Rivendell, was once the herald of Gil-galad and is among the most stalwart opponents of the Dark Lord left in Middle-earth. He is the Keeper of Vilya, mightiest of the three Elven Rings, and can prove a dangerous enemy to the Shadow - but what is the price to pay for revealing a Ring of Power to the Eye of Sauron? The following rules explore this possibility.

Elrond's statistics are the following:

Level: 0 (Elrond cannot leave Rivendell)
Leadership: 2
Nationality: Elves.
Adds the Vilya Keeper's die to the Free Peoples Action Dice Pool.

How Elrond Enters the Game

If Sauron or the Elves are "At War" and Rivendell is unconquered, the Free Peoples player may use a Muster Action Die result to play Lord Elrond in Rivendell.

Elrond in Play

Elrond is one of the three Elven Ring Keepers, and he adds the Vilya Die to the Free Peoples Action Dice Pool while he is in play.

The Vilya Die is an Elven Ring Keeper Die, and is used according to the rules on page 9.

The Vilya Die is removed from the game during the Recover Action Dice phase, if:

Elrond has been removed from play, or
Either its Army result or its Eye result (which show the remove symbol) was chosen and Gandalf the White is in play.

Special Abilities

Vilya, Mightiest of the Three. The Free Peoples player may use the Vilya Elven Ring counter to keep an Action Die he just used (except a Will of the West) among the available results. The used die is not discarded or placed in the Hunt Box.

The Household of Elrond. Each Elven Elite unit in the same region with Elrond is considered to be a Leader as well as an Army unit for all combat purposes.

Additional Rules

Elrond is considered a Level 3 Companion for all Combat Card effects purposes.
Elrond can never leave Rivendell and is removed from play if Rivendell becomes controlled by the Shadow player.

Lady Galadriel, Keeper of Nenya

Lady Galadriel, Queen of the Golden Wood, is one of the most powerful Elves left in Middle-earth, but as the Keeper of Nenya, the Ring of Adamant, she decided a long time ago to hide from Sauron. What might have happened if Galadriel used her power more openly to help the Free Peoples, thus revealing herself to the Eye? The following rules explore this possibility.

Galadriel's statistics are the following:

Level: 0 (Galadriel cannot leave Lórien)
Leadership: 2
Nationality: Elves.
Adds the Nenya Keeper's die to the Free Peoples Action Dice Pool.

How Galadriel Enters the Game

If Sauron or the Elves are "At War" and Lórien is unconquered, the Free Peoples player may use a Muster Action Die result to play Lady Galadriel in Lórien.

Galadriel in Play

Galadriel is one of the three Elven Ring Keepers, and she adds the Nenya Die to the Free Peoples Action Dice Pool while she is in play.

The Nenya Die is an Elven Ring Keeper Die and is used according to the rules on page 9.

The Nenya Die is removed from the game during the Recover Action Dice phase, if:

Galadriel has been removed from play, or
Either its Character result or its Eye result (which show the remove symbol) was chosen and Gandalf the White is in play.

Special Abilities

Nenya, Ring of Adamant. Whenever a Standard Hunt Tile showing an Eye is drawn, the Free Peoples player may use the Nenya Elven Ring counter to cancel its effects and draw another tile instead. The cancelled tile is removed from play for the remainder of the game.

Valour of the Elven People. The Free Peoples player can recruit in Lórien even if the Stronghold is under siege.

Additional Rules

Lady Galadriel is considered a Level 3 Companion for all Combat Card effect purposes.
Lady Galadriel can never leave Lórien and is removed from play if Lórien becomes controlled by the Shadow player.

Gandalf the Grey, Keeper of Narya

Unknown to everyone but the Wise, Gandalf was the Keeper of an Elven Ring, Narya the Great. It was entrusted to his keeping by Círdan of the Grey Havens when the Wizard first came to Middle-earth. In The Lord of the Rings, Gandalf appears to make subtle use of the Ring to give strength and courage to those around him, but what would have happened had he decided to wield its powers more openly? This alternate version of Gandalf the Grey explores such a possibility.

Note: Given the importance of this Character in Lords of Middle-earth, the Free Peoples player is given the option to use him even if The Council of Rivendell variant (see page 30) is not in use.

Gandalf the Grey, Keeper of Narya's statistics are the following:

Level: 3
Leadership: 1
Nationality: Free Peoples.
Adds the Narya Keeper's die to the Free Peoples Action Dice Pool if he is the Guide of the Fellowship.

How Gandalf the Grey Enters the Game

At the beginning of the game, the Free Peoples player may choose to replace the standard version of Gandalf the Grey with Gandalf the Grey, Keeper of Narya. To do so, he adds the appropriate card in the Fellowship deck (without revealing his choice to the Shadow player, unless Gandalf is the starting Guide of the Fellowship).

Gandalf the Grey, Keeper of Narya may be separated from the Fellowship following the normal rules.

Gandalf the Grey in Play

When guiding the Fellowship, Gandalf the Grey, Keeper of Narya, is one of the three Elven Ring Keepers (see page 9, page 14, and the rules below).

Special Abilities

Guide. If Gandalf the Grey, Keeper of Narya, is the Guide during the Recover Action Dice phase, and the Free Peoples player recovered at least one Free Peoples Action Die from the Hunt Box, add the Narya die to the Free Peoples Action Dice Pool.

This means that the additional die granted by Gandalf is only added to the Action Dice Pool if he is the Guide and the Fellowship moved at least once using a Character result in the previous turn. Narya is an Elven Keeper Die and is used according to the rules on page 9.

Note that if Gandalf becomes the Guide during the Fellowship Phase, the die will only be added the following turn, if he is still the Guide at that time.

Exception: If Gandalf is appointed Guide of the Fellowship at the beginning of the game, add the Narya die to Action Dice Pool in turn one.

Narya, the Great. If Gandalf the Grey, Keeper of Narya, is in an unconquered Settlement of a Free Peoples Nation, the Free Peoples player may use the Narya Elven Ring counter and any one Action Die result to activate that Nation and move it directly to the "At War" step.

Emissary from the West. If Gandalf the Grey, Keeper of Narya, is not in the Fellowship, he can be replaced by Gandalf the White in the same way as Gandalf the Grey, the Grey Wanderer.

Sméagol, Tamed Wretch

In The Lord of the Rings, Gollum is spotted following the Fellowship as the heroes leave the depths of Moria, but he joins the Ring-bearers only when Frodo and Sam are finally alone on their quest. What might have happened if this wretched figure was tamed by the Companions of the Ring before the Breaking of the Fellowship? The following rules explore this possibility.

Sméagol's statistics have the following values, which have special meanings:

Level: X (Sméagol's Level is equal to that of the highest-level Companion in the Fellowship.)
Leadership: 0 (Sméagol may never be used as an Army Leader.)

How Sméagol Enters the Game

When a player draws a Sméagol Tile from the Hunt Pool, the Hunt Damage is 0 and Sméagol enters play as a special Companion, always serving as the Guide of the Fellowship.

Place the Sméagol Character Card in the Guide of the Fellowship box, and place the Sméagol Companion Counter with the other Companion Counters. Remove the drawn Sméagol Tile from the game. All of Sméagol's special abilities are immediately applied.

Note: Sméagol is not Gollum. Game events that require Gollum's presence or card effects that are modified if Gollum is in play are not affected by the presence of Sméagol.

If Gollum enters play before Sméagol (or if Sméagol has already been in play and subsequently discarded), Sméagol is not played when a Sméagol Tile is drawn. Discard the tile and draw another one.

Sméagol in Play

Sméagol is considered a standard Companion, except that he is always the Guide. He adds one to the number of Companions for purposes of the number of Action Dice the Shadow player may place in the Hunt box and he may be taken as a Hunt casualty in the same way as any other Companion.
Sméagol has "Level X". This means that Sméagol's Level is equal to that of the highest-level Companion in the Fellowship.
Sméagol may be separated from the Fellowship as any other Companion, but he is discarded if this happens.
Discard Sméagol if the Fellowship is declared in an unconquered Free Peoples City or Stronghold.
If Sméagol is eliminated or discarded in any way, the "We Shall Get It" Shadow Event Card immediately enters play.
If, at any time, Sméagol is the only Companion in the Fellowship, replace Sméagol with Gollum. "We Shall Get It" does not enter play when that occurs.
If a Sméagol Tile is drawn after Sméagol leaves the game, discard the tile and draw another one.
If Sméagol is no longer in play, Gollum can enter play normally.

Special Abilities

Guide. If a Sméagol Hunt Tile is drawn, the Hunt Damage is considered to be 0. Remove the drawn Sméagol Tile from the game.

Sméagol and Event Cards

Some of the new Event Cards included in this expansion modify the effects of the presence of Sméagol when they are played:

"You Know the Way There" adds the third and fourth Sméagol Tiles to the Hunt Pool.
"We Won't Go Back" turns the presence of the Sméagol Tiles in the Hunt Pool into an advantage for the Shadow player.
"Safe Paths in the Dark" allows the discard of "We Shall Get It" or "We Won't Go Back," avoiding the drawbacks of Sméagol.

The Balrog of Moria, Evil of the Ancient World

The Balrog is a survivor of the ancient wars, a demon from a forgotten time hiding under the mountains. This slave of Morgoth could have unleashed terror upon the land, but instead met its fate at the hands of Gandalf the Grey on the peak of Zirak-Zigil. What might have happened if this minion of evil had the time to fully spread its influence into the heart of Middle-earth? The following rules explore this possibility.

The Balrog's statistics are the following:

Level: 0 (The Balrog cannot leave Moria unless it is activated, see below)
Leadership: 3
Adds the Balrog's Lesser Minion Die to the Shadow Action Dice Pool

How the Balrog Enters the Game

The Shadow player may use a Muster Action Die result to play the Balrog in Moria. If Moria is unconquered and not under siege, the Shadow player can also recruit one Sauron unit (Regular or Elite) there.

When the Balrog is played, the Elven and Dwarven Nations advance one step each on the Political Track.

Place the Balrog Status counter so that it shows its "Inactive" side.

Balrog Status Counter: Front: Active. Back: Inactive.

The Balrog in Play

The Balrog is a Lesser Minion and adds its specific Lesser Minion Die (see page 11) to the Shadow Action Dice Pool while it is in play.

The Balrog's die is removed from the game during the Recover Action Dice phase, if:

The Balrog has been removed from play, or
Either its Character result or its Eye result (which show the remove symbol) was chosen and the Witch-king (any version) is in play.

Special Abilities

Fire and Shadow. If the Fellowship is revealed or declared, and as a result moves through, moves from, moves into, or remains stationary in the region occupied by the Balrog, draw a Hunt Tile and apply its effects, ignoring any Reveal icon. If the drawn tile is an Eye, eliminate the Balrog and the Guide of the Fellowship (but discard the Eye tile without either effect if Gollum is the Guide).

Flame of Udûn. If the Balrog is in a battle, add two to the Combat strength of the Shadow Army (you can still roll a maximum of 5 Combat dice).

Activating the Balrog

Initially, the Balrog is inactive – it is Level 0 and cannot leave Moria. However, if the Shadow player rolls and chooses the Use Balrog result of the Balrog's Lesser Minion Die, or the "A Balrog is Come!" Event Card is played, the Balrog becomes active. Flip the Balrog Status counter to the "Active" side as a reminder.

Effects of the Activation

The Level of the Balrog is considered to be 2 while the Balrog is active.

The Balrog can leave Moria when it is active, and moves as a non-flying Minion, with a movement of 2.

If the Balrog is already active, a new Use Balrog result may be used to perform ONE of the following actions:

Move an Army with the Balrog, or
Attack with an Army with the Balrog, or
Move (only) the Balrog on the board.

Making the Balrog Inactive

Once the Balrog is activated, it remains active until the Free Peoples player makes it inactive.

The Free Peoples Player can make the Balrog inactive either by:

Using a Will of the West Action Die result, or
Using a Character Action Die result, if Gandalf (any version) is in the same region as the Balrog.

If the Balrog is made inactive when it is not in Moria it is eliminated. If made inactive while in Moria, its Level simply reverts to 0. Flip the Balrog Status counter to its "Inactive" side as a reminder.

Additional Rules

The Balrog is not considered a Minion for the purpose of playing Gandalf the White.

Gothmog, Lieutenant of Morgul

The true nature of the Lieutenant of Morgul is never revealed in The Lord of the Rings. We know that he steps in as commander-in-chief of the Shadow armies after the Witch-king is destroyed on the fields of Pelennor, so clearly he is among the most powerful of the servants of the Shadow. Had it not been for the timely arrival of Aragorn, he might have succeeded in turning the tide of the battle in the Shadow's favor. What if Gothmog had been entrusted with the command of the armies of Mordor sooner, while the Witch-king was attempting to bring the One Ring back to its master? The following rules explore this possibility.

Gothmog's statistics are the following:

Level: 3
Leadership: 1
Adds Gothmog's Lesser Minion Die to the Shadow Action Dice Pool

How Gothmog Enters the Game

If Sauron is at War, Minas Morgul is unconquered, and The Witch-king, the Black Captain is not in play, the Shadow player may use a Muster Action Die result to play Gothmog in Minas Morgul.

Gothmog in Play

Gothmog is a Lesser Minion and adds his specific Lesser Minion Die (see page 11) to the Shadow Action Dice Pool while he is in play.

Gothmog's die is removed from the game during the Recover Action Dice phase, if:

Gothmog has been removed from play, or
Either its Army result or its Eye result (which show the remove symbol) was chosen and the Witch-king (any version) is in play, or
The Witch-king, The Black Captain is in play.

Fling them into the Fray

If Gothmog is with a Shadow Army in a free region, the Shadow player may use a Muster Action Die to recruit one Sauron Regular unit in that region or to replace one Sauron Regular unit with an Elite unit.

Additional Rules

Gothmog is not considered a Minion for the purpose of playing Gandalf the White.
Gothmog moves as a Non-flying Minion.

The Mouth of Sauron, Black Númenórean

In The Lord of the Rings, The Mouth of Sauron is an envoy and military leader, soon to become the tyrant of the Free Peoples, should Sauron win the war. But the Mouth of Sauron was a Black Númenórean sorcerer wielding great power – what could have happened if the Dark Lord had chosen to unleash this cruel general upon his enemies sooner? The following rules explore this possibility.

The Mouth of Sauron's statistics are the following:

Level: 3
Leadership: 2
Adds one Standard Action Die to the Shadow Action Dice Pool.

How the Mouth of Sauron Enters the Game

If the Free Peoples player has 1 or more Victory Points, the Shadow player may use one Muster Action Die to play the Mouth of Sauron, Black Númenórean in any region with an unconquered Sauron Stronghold.

The Shadow player may also decide to muster The Mouth of Sauron, Black Númenórean instead of The Mouth of Sauron, Lieutenant of Barad-dûr, when the Fellowship is on the Mordor Track.

Note: Either version of The Mouth of Sauron (Black Númenórean or Lieutenant of Barad-dûr) cannot be played if the other version of him is in play or was previously eliminated.

The Mouth of Sauron in Play

Evil Knowledge. If the Black Númenórean is with a besieging Army, the Shadow player may extend the battle by one round, once per action, without reducing an Elite unit.

Great Sorcery. If the Black Númenórean is with a Shadow Army, once per turn the Shadow player may use a Muster Action Die to use that Army as if a Character die was used (that is, to move or attack with that Army).

The Witch-king, Chief of the Ringwraiths

In The Lord of the Rings, after the defeat of the Nazgûl at the Fords of Bruinen, the Witch-king is raised to a new demonic stature and returns as the Black Captain of Sauron, guiding the main assault against Minas Tirith. What could have happened if Sauron again assigned the Chief of the Ringwraiths to the task of searching for the One Ring, instead of conserving him for the war? The following rules explore this possibility.

The Witch-king's statistics are the following:

Level: ∞ (The Witch-king moves as a Nazgûl)
Leadership: 1
Adds one Standard Action Die to the Shadow Action Dice Pool.

How the Witch-king Enters the Game

If the Fellowship is not in a region which contains an unconquered Free Peoples Stronghold, the Shadow player may use a Muster Action Die result to play the Chief of the Ringwraiths.

If the Witch-king, the Black Captain is not in play, place the Chief of the Ringwraiths in the region containing the Fellowship. Otherwise, replace the Black Captain with the Chief of the Ringwraiths in the region that he occupies.

The Witch-king in Play

Mustering the Black Captain

If the Chief of the Ringwraiths is in play, the Shadow player may replace him with the Black Captain by spending a Muster Action Die result, if the pre-requisites for playing the Black Captain apply. The Black Captain is placed in the same region where the Chief of the Ringwraiths was located.

Note that the Witch-king may be replaced by an alternate version only once per game. If the Shadow player already replaced one version of the Witch-king with another version once, he cannot do so again, nor can he play the Witch-king if either version was eliminated previously.

Special Abilities

Spear of Terror. If the Chief of the Ringwraiths is in the region with the Fellowship, when the Shadow player plays a Character Event card, he may immediately draw another Character Event card.

Note: If the Shadow Event Card "Palantir of Orthanc" is also in play, only one card is drawn, not two.

He Sees, He Knows. If the Fellowship is declared in a region which does not contain an unconquered Free Peoples Stronghold, the Shadow player may immediately move the Chief of the Ringwraiths to the region containing the Ring-bearers without using an action.

Additional Rules

The Witch-king, Chief of the Ringwraiths is not considered a Minion for the purpose of playing Gandalf the White.
All Event and Combat Cards referring to "the Witch-king" can be used in conjunction with The Witch-king, Chief of the Ringwraiths.

Chapter IV: The Council of Rivendell

The Council of Rivendell rules constitute a stronger departure from the Lord of the Rings story as we all know it. For this reason, they are presented as optional.

What would have been the course of the War of the Ring if the Council of Rivendell, instead of dispatching a Fellowship of nine Companions to accomplish the Quest for Mount Doom, sent one or more heroes back to their homelands? The Council of Rivendell variant explores such a possibility.

Alternate Companions

During setup, the Free Peoples player may replace any or all of the Fellowship Characters included in War of the Ring with the matching Character from this expansion. Place the chosen Companion Cards in the Fellowship deck.

The choice of Companions is not revealed to the Shadow player, except that the Guide is always visible. Any other character must be revealed if:

he becomes the Guide, or
he is selected as a Hunt casualty, or
he is separated from the Fellowship.

Activation Abilities of New Companions

Note that some of the new Companions do not have any Nation icon shown on their card. This is deliberate: the only way these Companions can activate a Nation is using the appropriate special ability.

Companions Outside the Fellowship

Some of the new Companions (Meriadoc, Peregrin, Boromir, Gimli and Legolas) may start the game outside the Fellowship, in their respective homelands.

This represents the fact that they left Rivendell before the Ring-bearer, and were able to reach their homelands by the time the journey of Frodo and his Companions started.

During the Fellowship Phase of the first turn, the Free Peoples player may declare one or more of these Companions to be outside the Fellowship. Remove these Companions from the Fellowship and place them on the board in their starting locations, stated on their cards. For all game purposes, they are treated just like any Companion who separated from the Fellowship.

If these Companions are not declared to be outside the Fellowship, they travel with, and can be separated from, the Fellowship as usual.

Shadow Action Tokens

If any Companions start the game outside the Fellowship, the Shadow player receives:

one Action Token of his choice, if only one Companion is outside the Fellowship;
both Action Tokens, if more than one Companion is outside the Fellowship.

There are two Action Tokens the Shadow player may choose from:

Move Nazgûl and Minions (same as the option allowed by a Shadow Character die result)
Advance a Shadow Nation on the Political Track (same as the option allowed by a Shadow Muster die result)

[Token faces as printed: "Front: Move Nazgûl and Minions" and "Front: Advance a Shadow Nation on the Political Track".]

The Shadow player may use an Action Token during Action Resolution, in place of using an Action Die result. Each Action Token can only be used once during the game and can only be used for its specific effect. It cannot be used as "Any Action Die result" (to activate Event Card or Character abilities) and cannot be modified by an Elven Ring. Only one Action Token can be used in a turn. Action Tokens are not counted among the number of actions available to the Shadow player for the purpose of deciding if he can pass an action. In a multi-player game, either Shadow player may use an Action Token.