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How to play
Grounded in The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-earth's rulebook — cite-checked answers, not guesses.
Get a straight answer with the exact rulebook passage to back it up.
The easy-to-forget bits, straight from the rulebook.
Sauron starts
The Sauron player begins the game.
Fellowship starting coins
The Fellowship player takes 3 Coins at setup.
Sauron starting coins
The Sauron player takes 2 Coins at setup.
Chapter end
A chapter ends once the final card of this chapter has been taken.
Next chapter start
The player who ends a chapter does not begin the next one, unless they are using a "Take another turn" effect.
Discard card coins
Discarding a Chapter 1 card gives 1 Coin, Chapter 2 gives 2 Coins, and Chapter 3 gives 3 Coins.
Skill cost
If you do not have the required Skills to play a tile or card, you may pay 1 Coin per missing Skill symbol.
Landmark tile cost
Landmark tiles have an additional Coin cost equal to the number of your Fortress pawns already on the central board.
Skill use limit
Each Skill symbol from Grey cards may only be used once per turn.
To set up The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-earth, follow these steps: 1. Choose or randomly determine who plays as the Fellowship and who plays as Sauron, then place your Unit and Fortress pawns in front of you. 2. Place the central board between you and your opponent, next to the central play area. 3. On the central board, place 2 Fellowship Units on Arnor and 2 Sauron Units on Mordor. 4. Assemble the Quest of the Ring track as shown in the diagram and place it below the central board. 5. The Fellowship player takes 3 Coins, and the Sauron player takes 2 Coins. Make a reserve with the remaining Coins. 6. Sort the Alliance tokens by their backs to create one stack per Race. Shuffle each stack separately and place them, facedown, in the dedicated notches above the central board. 7. Shuffle the Landmark tiles and place 3, faceup, on the table. Make a facedown stack with the remaining tiles. 8. Sort the Chapter cards into three decks according to the runes on their backs ([CHAPTER 1], [CHAPTER 2], and [CHAPTER 3]), then shuffle each deck separately.
On your turn, you have two main options: * **Take a Chapter card**. If you choose this, you pick an available card from the central play area and either: * Play it in front of you by paying its cost and immediately benefiting from its effect. * Discard it, face down, and take Coins equal to the current chapter (1 Coin for Chapter 1, 2 for Chapter 2, 3 for Chapter 3). Your turn ends by revealing any new available cards. * **Take a Landmark tile**. If you choose this, you pick one of the faceup tiles, pay its cost, and place it in your play area. You then immediately place a Fortress pawn on the corresponding region of the central board and benefit from its other effects. Your turn ends without revealing a new tile.
You can win The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-earth in a few ways: * **Complete the Quest of the Ring** * For the Fellowship: If Frodo and Sam reach Mount Doom, you immediately win. * For Sauron: If the Nazgûl catch Frodo and Sam, you immediately win. * **Rally the Support of the Races** * If you gather 6 different Race symbols on your [GREEN] cards, you immediately win. The Eagle symbol on an Alliance token counts as one of the required symbols. * **Conquer Middle-earth** * If you are present in all 7 regions (with a Fortress and/or at least 1 Unit), you immediately win. * If none of the immediate victory conditions are met by the end of chapter 3, the player present in the most regions (with a Fortress and/or at least 1 Unit) wins. In case of a tie, victory is shared. The game plays over 3 successive chapters.
Rules summaries are AI-generated from the official rulebook and may contain mistakes — check the manual for anything critical.
The game does not have traditional scoring. Instead, players win immediately by fulfilling specific victory conditions. If no player achieves an immediate victory by the end of chapter 3, the winner is determined differently. Here are the ways to win: * **Immediate Victory Conditions**: * **Quest of the Ring** (also called "complete the Quest of the Ring"): * For the Fellowship: If Frodo and Sam reach Mount Doom. * For Sauron: If the Nazgûl catch Frodo and Sam. * **Support of the Races** (also called "rally the support of 6 different Races"): If you gather 6 different Race symbols on your [GREEN] cards. The Eagle symbol on an Alliance token counts as one of the required symbols. * **Conquering Middle-earth** (also called "conquer Middle-earth"): If you are present in all 7 regions with a Fortress and/or at least 1 Unit. * **End of Chapter 3 Victory Condition**: If none of the immediate victory conditions are met by the end of chapter 3, the player who is present in the most regions of Middle-earth (with a Fortress and/or at least 1 Unit) wins the game. In case of a tie, the victory is shared.
The game ends in one of two ways: 1. **Immediate Victory Conditions**: A player can win immediately by fulfilling one of three specific conditions: * **Conquer Middle-earth**: Be present in all 7 regions (with a Fortress and/or at least 1 Unit). * **Quest of the Ring**: For the Fellowship, if Frodo and Sam reach Mount Doom. For Sauron, if the Nazgûl catch Frodo and Sam. * **Support of the Races**: Gather 6 different Race symbols on your [GREEN] cards. The Eagle symbol on an Alliance token also counts as one of the required 6 symbols. 2. **End of Chapter 3**: If none of the immediate victory conditions are achieved by the end of Chapter 3, the game ends. The player who is present in the most regions of Middle-earth (with a Fortress and/or at least 1 Unit) wins. In case of a tie, players share the victory. A game plays over 3 successive chapters.