War of the Ring: Kings of Middle-earth

2023 · Novel-based

War of the Ring: Kings of Middle-earth

Explores five sovereign rulers of the Free Peoples and Sauron’s earlier attempts to undermine them. Adds new leader figures and rules that represent Theodén, Denethor, Dáin, Brand and Thranduil, expanding their roles and vulnerabilities during the period before and during the War of the Ring. Includes additional Shadow Army units and mechanics for Dark Chieftains that increase the options available to the Shadow side and alter strategic interactions between rulers, armies and corruption.

Players
2–4 best 2
Playing time
150 min
Age
13+
Complexity
3.8 / 5
6.3 on Ludoyafrom $33.70FantasyFightingArea Majority / InfluenceDice RollingHand Management

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Rules questions

Answered from the rulebook by Ludoya's rules assistant.

When does the Ruler die join my dice pool, and do I have to discard a die when I roll it?

The Free Peoples Ruler die is added in the turn after the first Sovereign is awakened; the Shadow Ruler die is added in the turn after the first Dark Chieftain enters play. If your pool includes your Ruler die, you must discard one die after the Action Roll—the Shadow player chooses first, then the Free Peoples player (p. 6).

Can the Shadow player try to corrupt a Sovereign whenever there are Eye dice in the Hunt box?

Only if the Free Peoples player has at least one unused Action die and there is more than one Eye in the Hunt box. The Shadow player removes one Eye, then draws tiles equal to the Eyes remaining, up to three, and places one chosen tile face down on an eligible Sovereign (p. 11).

What happens if a Kings Hunt tile is drawn while trying to corrupt a Sovereign?

Reveal it and add it to that Sovereign immediately; it counts as 0 Corruption, and no more tiles are drawn for that attempt. Return any other tiles drawn in the attempt to the Hunt Pool (p. 12).

Can a Sovereign still be awakened after the Shadow starts corrupting them?

Yes. A non-Awakened, non-Corrupted Sovereign can be awakened using the action on their Awakened card; any Corruption tiles on them are returned to the Hunt Pool, and they cannot be corrupted once awakened (pp. 10–11).

How do we get rid of a Corrupted Sovereign? Can they be defeated in battle?

A Corrupted Sovereign is not affected by battles. With an appropriate Companion in the same region, the Free Peoples player can spend a Character Action die to remove them; this is the only way apart from Event card effects (p. 13).

Opens Ludoya's rules assistant, which reads this game's rulebook.

Game facts (players, playing time, age, credits) from BoardGameGeek.