THE LORD OF THE RINGS: BATTLE FOR MIDDLE EARTH

Players fight on the side of Aragorn, Gandalf, Gimli, Legolas and other companions against the enemies of Mordor.

In The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth Card Game there are always three enemy cards on the table. Each enemy card shows a combination of one (eg Orc Patrol) to four symbols (eg Balrog). In total, there are six different symbols in the game: sword, axe, spear, bow, fist and shield. The symbols are unequally distributed; some are associated with magic and are thus rarer than those representing ordinary weapons.

To defeat the enemies, players must collect "communities" (groups) of companion cards that display a selection of these six symbols in front of them. When the symbols in a group match one or more enemy cards, the player can send this group into battle to win over the enemy. The group is then discarded.

On their turn, a player can do the following:

• Play one companion card to one of their groups, and attack if possible.
• Start a new group, and attack if possible.
• Draw a card from the deck. If it is a Mordor card, it is placed on the table and the player draws again. This continues until a companion card is drawn, which is placed in the player's hand.

When the third Mordor card lands on the table, a counterattack is triggered that affects all players. They must then lose either a card from their hand, a card from one of their groups, or an already defeated enemy card, depending on the text on the Mordor card. Then one of the enemy cards is discarded, and the game continues with the player drawing another card from the deck.

The game ends when there are no more enemies left. Each enemy card gives 1-10 points, and the player with the most points wins.