Wow, that looks great. I actually started a similar attempt a while ago didn't have a chance to complete it yet. You ideas seems great. Though I agree with others that gameplay may need some clearing but it's more complete than mine. I may try to gether the ideas I had from scattered papers and share them with you if you like, it seems different than yours and not as complete yet but to the same goal of stratigic map.

love the new cards!!

And now, for the cards at the disposal of the Dark Lord Sauron and his minions:

The Ring of Power 15
Corrupting Influence: Choose any Good Hero besides Frodo or Sam in the same territory as the Ring. That Hero receives 1 pt of Corruption, 2 points if they fail a Courage test. (x4)
The Ring Wants to be Found: if Frodo puts the Ring on in any scenario, play this card and 2 turns later a Ringwraith will arrive in the battle.
So Heavy A Burden: the Ringbearer receives 1 pt of Corruption, two if he fails a Courage test. (x6)
My Preciousssss: Search your draw pile for any Gollum card of your choice. (x2)
Men, Who Above All Else, Desire Power: Any Hero of Men included in the current battle must take a Courage test every turn they are within 6" of the Ring. If failed they are controlled by the Evil Player for 3 turns before reverting back to normal rules.
Men, Who Are So Easily Seduced By its Power: Any Hero of Men included in the current battle must take a Courage test every turn they are within 6" of the Ring. If any are failed, at the end of Men's turn move Frodo and his companions hostage to the nearest Mankind Site of Power.

The Great Eye 15
The Black Gate Opens: Recieve 10 battalions in the Udun Vale. Units may now pass out of the Black Gate; however, Men will automatically be brought into Open War if not already there.
The Dawnless Day: No reinforcements may be placed in Gondor for Men's next two turns.
The Gathering of All Evil: Gain 1 battalion in one territory of your choice that you control in Haradwaith, Rhovanion, Mirkwood, and Rhun. (x5)
There Can Be No Victory: Gain 10 battalions in Barad-dur. (x2)
The Lidless Eye Sees All: Look at your next 4 cards, draw one into your hand and re-order the others as you see fit. (x2)
The Old Alliances Are Dead: No units may cross the Rohan/Gondor border.
The Pyre of Denethor: If Denethor has even one Corruption point, the scenario of the same name is added to the "Siege of Gondor" camapign.
The Tower of Cirith Ungol: If Good wins the "Shelob's Lair" Scenario they must also win the scenario "Tower of Cirith Ungol" from RotK Rule Book to pass out of Minas Morgul.
Sauron the Deceiver: If a Good player looks into your hand, that Hero gains a point of Corruption. You may also choose to discard your entire hand back into your draw deck to reshuffle it and draw a new one of equal size.

The Witch-King 6
This Is My Hour: Witch-King gains +2 Might and +1 Fate during the current battle.
His Deadliest Servant: A fully-equipped Witch-King on a Fell Beast is placed in Minas Morgul. This will set the Race of Men to Open War if not already there.
A Mind of Malice: During any battle in the Morgul Vale or Minas Morgul, all Good models must make a Courage test every turn and if they fail they are controlled by the Evil player during that turn.
I Will Break Him: Gandalf may not cast spells against the Witch-King in the current battle.
The Morgûl Blade: If Frodo is in the same territory as the Witch-King he receives a Corruption point.
Spells of Ruin: If Grond is in contact with an enemy fortress gate, say aloud to immediately break open the gate...
"No Wall nor Gate before, No endurance of Souls against;
Grond- Hammer of the Underworld- and the Will of Mordor."

Gollum 3
We Could Have Her Do It: When the Ring passes any part of Minas Morgûl, Frodo and/or Sam must survive the “Shelob’s Lair” scenario from the RotK Rule Book in order to move on.
The Precious Will Be Ours...: Play anytime after "The Taming of Smeagol". If Sam plays a card this turn it has no effect and is placed at the bottom of Good's draw pile.
..Once the Hobbitses are Dead: In any one scenario of your choosing Sam may not be placed on the board for the first 5 turns, after which, Good rolls 1d6 every turn and he will arrive on only a 6.

The Nazgul 2
They Will Never Stop Hunting You: If Frodo is in the same territory as any of the Nine, and there is a battle the Ringwraith and Frodo & Sam must be included in it and they are free. (x2)

Gothmog: 5
The Age of Men is Over: if Gothmog is the most expensive Villain in a force that conquers Osgiliath, draw 3 cards rather than one.
The Time of the Orc Has Come: gain 3 battalions anywhere Gothmog is.
What of the Wizard?: Search your draw pile for any Witch-King card of your choice.
Quiet…: Gothmog can make one surprise attack during the Race of Men’s turn after they place reinforcements but before their first attack.
Bring Up the Wolf’s Head: Grond, Hammer of the Underworld may be included in your current invasion force for the price of 4 battalions.

Dalamyr 1
The Black Fleet: No battalions from Harad may enter Umbar or vice versa, but ships are built in the harbor of Umbar at 80% price.

Suladan 4
The Striking Serpent: Starting the "Striking Serpent" Campaign from the Pelennor Fields Sourcebook does not cause Men to move forward on the Diplomacy Track.
A Blade in the Night: Make an assassination attempt against any Good Hero in a territory adjacent to Suladân with “A Blade in the Night” scenario from the Pelennor Fields Sourcebook.
Ascendant: Gain 2 battalions wherever Suladân is. (x2)

Khamûl 1
The Shadow in the East: If Khamûl is in Dol Guldûr, gain 4 battalions there.

ROFL Sudden memories of Jumanji, love it! The idea of playing a card and playing a scenario such as the Shelob's lair scenario, great idea!

Reading back over the rules I'm still having trouble as to the campaign sequence and special events. You mention it is like Civilisation but then go on to say that in anyones turn ...


When do you carry out the SBG side of things, for example as Elves go first and say engage a Mordor army, do they fight now or do they wait until all campaign players have moved? To be honest I would prefer it if there was a priority role, therefore it is more random so you may get elves winning it one turn and then losing it entirely in the next campaign turn meaning they have to wait for everyone to take their turn twice!

Also the LOTR Risk Map is broken into smaller regions of Middle Earth, how many battlians can you have in a region? Furthermore, could you explain those 'actions'. All I can see are titles and while some make obvious sense, I don't understand no.6 for example.

Pardon all those questions, if you are still designing it then I guess they are some pointers that need answering

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The Southern Fiefdoms: http://www.one-ring.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=21928

yet again, i love the new cards. however, i too need it explained some more. you have said that some things are worth 3 actions, etc, but how many actions can you make in one turn??

Well, I have stumbled upon a game also called 'War of the Ring' and it has made me revisit some of the ideas I had for my rulebook. I am editing it slightly to, haha, steal their best ideaas while keeping most of what I have already devised.
I hadn't given any thought to a priority roll to determine who's turn it is in the campaign. I like the unpredictability it would add, but it could seriously unbalance the game- especially if the weak, divided, and leaderless Race of Men didn't get to go for a turn or two or possibly more. They could fall before the Fellowship reaches Rauros... I'll have to think about that one.

personally, i like the system as it is. but it is up to you whether or not you choose to change it and make a priority roll or not. obviously the largest armies will come from mordor and it is therefore suited that they go last, as it means that cannot destroy every other army before they have a chance to act!!

I had intended for Mordor to go after Men so that Gondor and Rohan would have a chance to shore up their defenses as best they could before the Dark Lord's onslaught or maybe make a preventative strike. I have decided there will be no priority roll.

More to follow soon, just soaking up any comments for now.

If anyone hyas the 'Shadow in the East' or 'Shadow and Flame' supplements and wants to offer some kind of camapign ideas for Rivendell, the Rangers and Lorien that would be great. I only Siege of Gondor and Pelennor Fields, so I'm pretty much set with the Race of Men. The ideas is that some mini-campaigns exist within the overall larger one and battles taking place in areas that aren't included in a campaign are resolved using 'Legions of Middle Earth' where they randomize scenarios.

I was actually planning a game like this about 5mins before i read it.

I have just about finished the rules for this campaign game and will start playtesting soon if anyone is interested.

we sure are, I am at the very least

_________________
It's not about our past.
It's about our future.

I have to come to this thread rather late, but have found it interesting.
I have not played the LOTR Risk version as yet, although have it and have skimmed through the rules once.
I have also played FantasyFlights War of the Ring Boardgame.
This does a very nice job of handling the all the drama of the quest of mount doom within the greater War of the Ring itself.
It plays similarly to Risk with army tokens, and has a great many card actions that you may get some useful ideas from.
It also has a gorgeous large gameboard to play on.
Now available as a collectors edition!
http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_ ... p?eidn=894

_________________
www.scottswargaming.blogspot.com

Alright, while I'm not sure of the forum ettiquette guiding this, I will begin my final draft for my 'One Campaign to Rule them All: The War of the Ring".

To begin, this game is actually a fusion of two existing games, with my contribution being the general rules system and card decks. As such, alterations have been made to the original games, but they will be explained, and I believe most Tolkien scholars and gamers alike will at best like the changes or at worst barely notice them. In effect the RISK board shows the progress of the overall campaign, individual battles are resolved by using the SBG with each RISK batttalion you bring into the game effecting how many pts you have at your disposal in said battle.

To play you will need
1. Lord of the Rings RISK: Trilogy Edition
2. Whatever forces you can muster of Citadel LotR Figures, a new Stategy Battle Game rule book, Legions of Middle Earth Sourcebook, and any sourcebooks would be helpful.
3. A modular terrain board
4. TIME... this is not a game designed to be played over a weekend, fortnight, month, maybe not even a year. It is meant to encompass the War of the Ring, and could be as grand or as realistic as you wish, based on your collection and your level of commitment.


In the beginning, the combatants must unwrap and open the RISK board. You will notice first the large cardboard map of Middle Earth. All locations of importance in the lands of Middle Earth are represented here as either

1a. TERRITORIES , the basic representation of land on the board. These are the wide expanses of wilds in Middle Earth, generall divided along lines of natural terrain features or political allegiance. Examples would be Dunland, Eregion, Gorgoroth, North Mirkwood, etc. (Note that sometimes in these rules that "territory" may be used as an inclusive term referring to 1, 2, and 3 presented here).
2. a SITE OF POWER, important landmarks of Middle Earth, usually inhabited or at least occupied by the Peoples and creatures of Middle Earth. Examples would be Edoras, Hobbiton, the Dead Marshes, etc. They grant any defender in control of them certain bonuses, penalties to invaders, and some may have their own cards to play.
3. a STRONGHOLD , similar in all aspects to a Site of Power and then some. They are denoted in yellow on the board, and grant anyone in control of them reinforcements every turn. In addition, should a faction lose all of its strongholds, then that faction is knocked out of the game, potentially ending the game. Examples are Minas Tirith, Barad-dur, Isengard, etc.
4. a REGION , a large collection of territories, Sites of Power, and Strongholds. Should a faction control every territory, Site of Power and Stronghold in a region, then that faction receives bonus reinforcement battalions there (like continents in normal RISK). Examples are Gondor, Arnor, Mordor, etc.

Moving on from the rules for land, your ability to effectively recruit more reinforcements for your armies will ultimately prove a deciding factor in the coming war. The unit used to measure these will be a battalion. Using the RISK game you have 1, 3, and 5 battalion pieces. These battalions all have the ability to move up to but not more than 2 territories per game turn. Mountains and rivers without bridges/fords are impassable. Each battalion is worth 50 battalions in a Strategy Battle Game when your enter a battle. Battalions can be gained in a number of ways...
....every stronghold automatically receives 1 free battalion per turn.
....at the beginning of your turn, add up all the territories, sites of power, and strongholds you control, and divide this number by 3 (drop decimals). You may then add these battalions to any Site of Power or stronghold you control. (Note that there are bridge spaces on the board seperating some territories. Holding these territories does not add to your number of territories. A bridge or ford is considered neutral unless some faction has stationed battalions there)
....many cards also add reinforcements to the board.
....refer to the chart on the RISK board for reinforcement bonuses when controlling an entire REGION. These bonus battalions may be deployed anywhere in the region you control.

Now, with the RISK board under your grasp, its time to grab for the colorful figures still in the box! You'll notice 4 colors of two different types of plastic pieces. For Evil Red and Black, for Good Green and Yellow. Which color you assign to which is up to each individual playing this game, but I suggest...
RED denotes the "Realms of the Dark Lord" faction...
BLACK denotes the "Dark Forces Rising" faction...
GREEN denotes the "Elder Races" faction...
and YELLOW denotes the "Race of Men" faction.

Once you have chosen sides, it is time to set up for war. It is difficult if not impossible to keep battalions seperated on the board at all times. I suggest ringing the outside of the board with territory cards of all Sites of Power and Strongholds found in the RISK box. These are not used in the 'One Campaign', but are still useful. Place the card face up as near to its location on the RISK board as possible, and place any battalions deployed in the Site of Power/Stronghold
The factions are deployed as follows.
*Stronghold
^Site of Power
#Naval space

Realms of the Dark Lord
-Barad-dur* and the surrounding territory, hereafter referred to as Outer Barad-Dur
-Minas Morgul* and the surrounding territory, hereafter referred to as Morgul Vale
-the Black Gate/Udun*
-Udun Vale
-Gorgoroth
-Mt. Doom
-Nurn
-Dagorlad^
-The Dead Marshes
-Emyn Muil
-The Easterling Encampment^
-The Brown Lands
-Rhun Hills
-City of the Corsairs*
-Umbar
-The Havens of Umbar#
-Deep Harad

The Dark Forces Rising
-Isengard*
-Dunland
-The Gates of Moria^
-Eregion
-The Mines of Moria*
-Moria
-The Gladden Fields
-The Anduin Valley
-South Mirkwood
-East Mirkwood
-Dol Guldur*
-Withered Heath
-Forodwaith
-Carn Dum^
-Mt. Gundabad^
-Eastern Angmar
-Angmar
-The Old Forest

The Elder Races
-Fangorn
-Lothlorien^
-Lorien
-Esgaroth
-Erebor^
-The Elven Halls of Mirkwood^
-North Mirkwood
-The Carrock
-Rivendell*
-Rhudaur
-The Weather Hills
-Weathertop^
-Fornost
-Bree^
-Buckland
-The Shire
-Hobbiton^
-Annuminas*
-Evendum Hills
-The Grey Havens^
-Mithlond
-The Havens of Mithlond#
-Harlond^
-Harlindon

The Race of Men
-Minas Tirith* and the surrounding territory, hereafter referred to as the Pelennor Fields
-Osgiliath^ (note that Osgiliath is treated as if the Site of Power is located in place of the bridge space straddling the River Anduin)
-Ithilien
-South Ithilien
-Harondor
-Lebennin
-Pelargir^
-Belfalas
-The Havens of Belfalas#
-Dol Amroth^
-Lamedon
-Erech^
-The Vale of Erech
-Andrast
-Edoras^
-The Gap of Rohan
-Helm's Deep*
-West Rohan
-Rauros Falls^
-The Wold



I think that's plenty to digest for now, and the hour grows late. I urge anyone who really wants to understand this, you will need LotR RISK. I hope you like so far![/b]

Hey, amazing Idea. . Will you post how the campaign is progressing as you do it?

Also, congrats on getting my 100th post on this forum.

_________________
*INSERT SIGNITURE OF YOUR CHOICE HERE*

I'm interested in the playtest.

I will post more rules in a complete rulebook soon. However, I would first like to add that the first playtesting results are in.

In the first to game, Evil made no attempt to capture the ring as it moved into Rivendell and instead made a huge assualt upon Dain and Thranduil in the Woodland Realm and Lonely Mt., overrunning both.
Meanwhile Frodo moved easily to Rivendell. With such an easy path for the Ringbearer Good sent Aragorn early to Minas Tirith and let the Ring sit in Rivendell.
Evil's now massive army gathered for its attack on Rivendell, but in a cunning move Good moved the Ring out just in time and Radagast the Brown was called to Rivendell, thus the assualt was repelled.
With so much of their resources spent on attacking the main Good holds in the North, and with the King Aragorn Elessar already in the South, the Race of Men conquered Sauruman's Isengard before they ever played a role in the war. After this Evil conceded the first play test (despite the fact that we were set for a massive battle in Osgiliath with each side bringing in over 3000pts.).

So far the rules worked great and as you can see there are options for all sorts of strategies. I played as Good and my friend as Evil. He felt he was too aggressive with his armies and not aggressive enough to capture the Ring. Next time I doubt I will catch Sauruman napping so easily, and I doubt Evil will let the Ring pass unhindered by the Nazgul. The War of the Ring was still in doubt as Evil controlled everything East of the Anduin and Good controlling everything to its West. However the Ringbearer would have had an easy path to Mt. Doom through a friendly Gap of Rohan and a restored kingdom of Gondor.
Let me know what you think...
Until next time!