The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-earth

To set up, place the central board in the middle of the play area. Below it, assemble the two Quest of the Ring track pieces, ensuring the clear tray is placed on its left side with the illustrated side face up, covering half of the track so the ring icon aligns. Add the Nazgûl piece to the far left of the plastic tray, aligning its black ring with the leftmost icon. Organize the double-sided alliance tokens into piles based on their matching backs, shuffle each stack separately, and place one into each notch above the central board in any order. Shuffle the landmark tiles into a face-down stack, then deal three face-up into a row beside it. Players choose to play as either the Fellowship or Sauron and collect their respective units and fortresses. Create a reserve of coin tokens, giving the Fellowship player three and the Sauron player two. Finally, sort the chapter cards into three separately shuffled decks based on the runes on their backs. Take the Chapter 1 deck and deal the cards into a pyramid arrangement as shown in the rulebook diagram, with some cards face-up and others face-down. The three leftover cards are placed face-down into a shared discard pile.

The objective of The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-earth is to be the first player to achieve any one of three specific objectives. The Fellowship player wins if they successfully advance the One Ring (represented by the yellow ring on the Quest of the Ring track) to the Mount Doom space at the end of the track. Conversely, the Sauron player wins if they move their Nazgûl piece to the One Ring's current space before the One Ring reaches Mount Doom. The third objective allows either player to win by conquering Middle-earth, which is achieved by having at least one of their pieces (either a unit or a fortress) present in every single named region on the central board.

The game is played over three rounds, known as chapters, starting with Chapter 1. Turns alternate between players, with the Sauron player taking the first turn. On your turn, you have two main action choices: take a chapter card or take a landmark tile. If you choose to take a chapter card, you select any available (uncovered) card from the pyramid display. You can then either play the card in front of you for its benefits (paying any required skill or coin costs) or freely discard it to gain coins equal to the value shown on its back. If you choose to take a landmark tile, you must pay its skill and coin costs (based on your current fortresses on the central board) and then immediately gain its benefits. After you complete your chosen action, your opponent takes their turn. If taking a chapter card reveals a face-down card, it is flipped face-up at the end of your turn.

The game ends immediately when any player successfully achieves one of the three objectives: the Fellowship player reaching Mount Doom with the One Ring, the Sauron player intercepting the One Ring with the Nazgûl, or either player establishing presence in all seven regions of Middle-earth. If, by the end of Chapter 3 (after all cards have been taken and resolved), none of these immediate victory conditions have been met, the game proceeds to a final scoring. In this scenario, the player who has established presence (at least one unit or fortress) in the most regions on the central board is declared the winner. If there is a tie for the most regions, the tied players share the victory.

The game ends immediately when a player fulfills any one of the three victory conditions. The Fellowship player wins if they advance the One Ring to the Mount Doom space on the Quest of the Ring track. The Sauron player wins if they move their Nazgûl piece to the One Ring's space before it reaches Mount Doom. Alternatively, either player can win by conquering Middle-earth, which means having at least one of their pieces (unit or fortress) in all seven named regions on the central board. If, after all three chapters have been played and no player has achieved an immediate victory, the game ends. In this case, the player who has established presence in the most regions on the central board wins. If there is a tie for the most regions, the tied players share the victory.