War of the Ring: Second Edition
Fight the War of the Ring as the Free Peoples or the Shadow while the Fellowship’s hidden journey toward Mount Doom runs alongside the military campaign.
The Shadow controls larger armies and presses a military campaign across Middle-earth while the Free Peoples defend strongholds and guide the Fellowship.
Action dice determine available actions each round, and the hidden Fellowship track creates a second strategic layer of search, corruption and movement.
Why We Love It
War of the Ring runs two conflicts at once. The Shadow can win militarily, while the Free Peoples may survive through the Fellowship’s hidden journey to destroy the Ring.
About War of the Ring: Second Edition
The Shadow controls larger armies and presses a military campaign across Middle-earth while the Free Peoples defend strongholds and guide the Fellowship.
Action dice determine available actions each round, and the hidden Fellowship track creates a second strategic layer of search, corruption and movement.
Game at a Glance
Move the Fellowship
Advance secretly toward Mordor while managing corruption.
Fight the War
Recruit, move and battle across Middle-earth.
Use Action Dice
Each roll determines which strategic options are available that round.
Pursue Two Win Paths
Military victory and the Ring quest remain in tension throughout the game.
What is War of the Ring: Second Edition?
War of the Ring: Second Edition is the Ares Games grand strategy adaptation of The Lord of the Rings for 2–4 players. Ares lists sessions at 120+ minutes and age 14+.
At two players, one side controls the Free Peoples and Fellowship while the other commands the Shadow. Three- and four-player games divide those factions into teams.
How the game works
Action dice determine the types of actions available each round, including moving armies, advancing or hunting the Fellowship, recruiting, playing cards and resolving character actions.
The Shadow can win through military conquest or by corrupting the Ring-bearer, while the Free Peoples can win militarily or by successfully completing the Ring quest.
The decisions that define it
The Shadow must decide how much pressure to devote to hunting the Ring versus conquering strongholds. Too much focus on one front can give the other victory path room to develop.
The Free Peoples faces the opposite tension: reveal too much military strength and the Fellowship may stall; focus only on secrecy and the map can collapse before the Ring reaches its destination.
Who is it for?
Choose War of the Ring if you want an asymmetric, narrative-heavy strategy game designed primarily around a two-side conflict.
Choose Star Wars: Rebellion for a similar hidden-target structure in a science-fiction setting.
Learn War of the Ring: Second Edition in depth
Publisher sources & scope
Checked September 16, 2026. This hub covers War of the Ring: Second Edition. Expansions and the separate card game are outside this page.