CHARACTERS

PLAYING FREE PEOPLES CHARACTERS

Free Peoples Characters (Companions) are brought into play in two ways:

— Companions enter play when they are separated from the Fellowship;

— Gandalf the White and Aragorn – Heir to Isildur, are brought into play using a Will of the West die. Use the rules specified by their Character card.

PLAYING SHADOW CHARACTERS

Shadow Characters (Minions) are brought into play using a Muster die. This use of a Muster die does not follow the normal rules for recruitment — use the rules specified by the Character card.

MOVING CHARACTERS

Characters are moved on the game board during the Action Resolution phase by using a Character Action die result (the Sword icon), or by playing an Event card that allows the movement of Characters.

A Character Action die result can be used:

— To move all Companions who are not in the Fellowship (Free Peoples player only).

— To move all Nazgûl and Minions (Shadow player only).

Note: If a Character’s Level is 0, he cannot move, even when attached to an Army.

Moving Companions

When the Free Peoples player uses a Character Action die result to move his Characters, all Companions on the map may be moved a number of regions equal to or less than their Level.

However, a group of Companions in the same region can be moved to a common destination at a distance equal to or less than the highest Level in the group.

The Free Peoples player can create more than one group from the Companions in the same region, which may then move independently to different destinations.

When Companions move, they are subject to the following rules:

— They are unaffected by any enemy Army. When moving alone or with other Companions, they can enter or leave a region that contains Shadow units, but must stop upon entering a region containing a Stronghold controlled by the Shadow player.

— They can never leave or enter a region containing a friendly Stronghold besieged by an enemy Army (except as a result of certain Event card effects).

— They cannot cross impassable terrain (black borders).

Moving Nazgûl and Minions

When the Shadow player uses a Character Action die result to move his Characters, each Nazgûl (including the Witchking) can be moved to any region on the game board with a single move. One, some, or all Nazgûl can be moved this way using a single Character Action die result.

The only restriction is that the Nazgûl can never move this way into a region that contains a Stronghold controlled by the Free Peoples player, unless that Stronghold is besieged by a Shadow Army.

Note that in War of the Ring, for the purposes of rules clarity, the Witch-king is considered to be a Nazgûl (including with respect to all references to “Nazgûl” on Event cards, unless differentiated in the card text by the use of his name or the “Minion” title).

The Mouth of Sauron and Saruman do not possess the unlimited movement ability of the Nazgûl; they are subject to the following rules:

— Saruman can never leave the Orthanc region.

— The Mouth of Sauron can move up to three regions if moving alone. Like Companions, he cannot cross impassable terrain, he ignores any enemy Army when moving alone and cannot leave or enter a region that contains a friendly Stronghold besieged by an enemy Army.

Like the Nazgûl, any Minion moving without an Army cannot be moved into a region containing a Stronghold controlled by the Free Peoples unless it is besieged by a Shadow Army