War of the Ring: The Card Game

Setting up the Fellowship of the Ring scenario involves removing unused cards to create dedicated Shadow and Free Peoples decks. Both players choose specific battleground and path cards for the round and start with a hand of five cards, which they then cycle down to refine their starting hands. The Shadow player is designated as the starting player and activates the initial path and battleground for round one.

The main objective for the Free Peoples player is to journey through the designated paths from the Shire to Mount Doom to destroy the One Ring, while managing defenses against Shadow forces. Conversely, the Shadow player aims to corrupt Frodo by accumulating victory and corruption points through successful attacks at active battlegrounds and paths.

Each round follows a structured sequence: starting with location activation and card cycling, followed by an action phase where players alternate playing cards from their hands to paths, battlegrounds, or reserves. Players pay costs by cycling cards and can utilize reserves in later rounds. Once both players pass consecutively, combat is resolved by comparing attack and defense icons across all active fronts.

Scoring happens during combat resolution at the end of each round. Attackers compare their attack icons against the defender's defense icons, adjusted for any faction-specific rules, items, or leadership bonuses. Surplus attack icons generate victory points for the attacker or corruption points against Frodo, while ties and successful defenses favor the defender.

The game typically concludes after the final path is resolved, but an instant victory occurs if either player exceeds their opponent's score by 10 or more points during any victory step. Otherwise, points are tallied after the final round to determine the winner based on accumulated victory and corruption points.