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In the hotter and wetter day of this tropical 2003 summer, I received a call from Nexus CEO Roberto Di Meglio. He told me to go Venice to playtest a new and still enigmatic ‘monster game’ based on The Lord of the Rings... A game that we now know as War of the Ring!
This article reports that afternoon of playtesting.

So there I am, in Venice, in the hottest hour of the hottest day of the hottest summer, sweating my soul. I am looking for the game shop “Lanterna Magica”, owned by Marco Maggi and Francesco Nepitello (known as the authors of the game X-Bugs). They are co-creators of War of the Ring, in team with Roberto Di Meglio.
In the shop, Roberto and Francesco are busy sleeving lots of coloured cards in protective sleeves, while on a table stands a big black-and-white map of the Middle Earth. The map is divided in nations (Isengard, Gondor, Mordor etc.) which are in turn subdivided in smaller regions, for a total of approximately a hundred regions.
Near the map there are tokens, markers, normal and special dice; the game seems to be epic in scale at first sight!

After the preparation, we start a real game: me versus the almighty Roberto “Demiurge” Di Meglio. He kindly lets me choose my side: Sauron or the Free Peoples? I follow my inner nature, choosing Sauron.
I have to point out that the game has been designed to provide the most satisfying game experience with two players, even though it is a proper ‘monster game’. There are variants and rules for playing with four people, though they are still in playtest.
The structure of the game is quite articulated, but its core mechanics are simple and immediate.
In brief, each player has a variable dice pool, made with special dice that show symbols instead of spots. To the starting number of dice you add the dice provided by playing some important characters (the Witch King, Aragorn as Heir to the Throne of Gondor, Saruman and Gandalf the White). These dice are rolled to determine which actions you can perform during your turn.
However, the structure is not so random as it could seem at first glance. First of all, Sauron has to assign a certain number of his dice to find and stop the Fellowship of the Ring; the remaining ones will be destined to military actions. This strategic decision, made at the start of every turn, is fundamental: in fact, if Frodo gets successfully to Mount Doom and throws the Ring in the volcano the Free People win the match.
In order to win, Sauron must conquer a certain number of Free People’s capitals, such as Gondor, Hobbiton, Lorien, Rohan etc. The point is that the mission of the Fellowship imposes on him a ‘time limit’ to succeed, and Sauron’s forces are not very quick to mobilize.
The dice show symbols referring to areas of action: military actions, movement actions, Fellowship (or anti-Fellowship) actions and so on. Each symbol may be played in various ways. Thus each player, after throwing his dice, must decide how to use the obtained symbols. For example, he may use the ‘military’ symbol to draw an event card from its deck, or to attack an army in an adjacent region.
The many cards represent events, particular characters, resources and so on, that can intervene before, during and after the battles. Battles are started by simply moving a warring nation’s army in a territory occupied by enemy units. To resolve battles, you use six-sided dice.

There are three types of units: standard, elite and leader, each one with different characteristics. Normal units provide the brute force of an army, while elite units are more durable and leaders hit harder.
Obviously, every nation in play starts the game with a certain number of units already on the map; by using dice and cards, you can recruit more units.
However, it is very important to point out that at the start of the game no nation is in a ‘warring’ state; while ‘non-belligerant’, no nation may attack or recruit new units. To alter this state, you must use your dice to move your nation markers on a special track, which shows how much effort you need to convince a nation to wage war. For example, Dwarves need a lot of effort (and actions), while Southrons, Easterlings and Mordor’s troops just need a little slap on the shoulders! A member of the Fellowship can help this mobilitation by alerting a nation entering its capital.
Lastly, the Fellowship’s movement is hidden. Sauron knows only how many regions the Fellowship moved; however, he does not know WHERE it moved. He can just guess, and he can try to use his actions to hunt it down, to stop it, to divide it or to kill some of its members.
When discovered, the Fellowship reveals itself; then, Sauron must adapt his strategy to the Fellowship’s position.