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The Lord of the Rings : Duel for Middle-Earth
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A dark rumour rises from Mordor. The Eye turns to Middle-earth. The hour has come. The Fellowship is reunited. The Heroes prepare for battle.
“The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-earth” is a strategic two-player board game where players face off as either the Fellowship or Sauron’s forces in a bid to control Middle-earth. Designed by Antoine Bauza and Bruno Cathala, this game unfolds across three chapters. Players draw and play cards that represent Skills, Units, and Alliances, navigating quests, territories, and races. The game features three paths to victory: the Fellowship can destroy the One Ring at Mount Doom, Sauron can capture Frodo and Sam, or either side can conquer all regions or rally the diverse races of Middle-earth to achieve domination.
The fate of Middle-earth is in your hands!
Players: 2
Playing time: 30–45 Min
Age rating: 10+
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Description
A dark rumour rises from Mordor. The Eye turns to Middle-earth. The hour has come. The Fellowship is reunited. The Heroes prepare for battle.
"The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-earth" is a strategic two-player board game where players face off as either the Fellowship or Sauron’s forces in a bid to control Middle-earth. Designed by Antoine Bauza and Bruno Cathala, this game unfolds across three chapters. Players draw and play cards that represent Skills, Units, and Alliances, navigating quests, territories, and races. The game features three paths to victory: the Fellowship can destroy the One Ring at Mount Doom, Sauron can capture Frodo and Sam, or either side can conquer all regions or rally the diverse races of Middle-earth to achieve domination.
The fate of Middle-earth is in your hands!
Players: 2
Playing time: 30–45 Min
Age rating: 10+
Frodo and friends are on it. The Fellowship is hotfooting it to Mordor to bin off the One Ring that rules them all. But, and such is life, sketchy Sauron is snapping at their heels. You wouldn’t think a single horsepower would present much of a threat. However, Sauron has victory on his mind and so he’s leaving little to chance. Will he succeed or will The Baggins Boys thwart his efforts and save Middle Earth? Well, ultimately that’s down to you and your skills. But I can tell you that you are going to have fun finding out!
Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle Earth is (as you would expect from the title) a game for 2 players (age 10+) which plays in around 30 minutes. It plays over 3 chapters which, although follow the same pattern, will have a different emphasis based on what is available to draft and where each player is on the Map, the Ring Track and what they have collected to date.
To win, you need to be first to have collected cards from all 6 Races, have a presence in all 7 areas on the Middle Earth Map, or have either reached Mordor (if you are the Fellowship), or caught up with Frodo and friends (fi you are Sauron).
Set up is super simple –
· the relevant Chapter deck is shuffled, and cards are arranged according to the pattern show in the rules. Each time, this will be a mixture of face up and face down with overlaps to “lock in” cards until the ones partially covering them have been taken.
· Landmark tiles are shuffled and three are chosen randomly,
· The Races bonus shields are shuffled and piled up face down according to their type.
· The Ring Track is also laid out – this has a cool plastic overlay where you’ll see Sauron sliding along to try and catch the super speedy Fellowship.
· Finally the mini map board is placed in proximity to the players, and each person is given their troops and fortresses, as well as 5 coins.
· There’s also a handy reference guide explaining the various icons which appear on tiles and cards during the game, so keep that handy for your first game.
Turn structure is also really straightforward. Each turn you can either –
· Take an unlocked card – the cost will be based on the Chapter number (1, 2 or 3 coins), or potentially free if you have icons on cards you have previously taken. The card you take will either push you along the Ring track, give you coins, allow you to place and/or move your troops around the Middle Earth Map, or gain you a Race.
If you collect 2 matching Races you can take one of the top two shields showing the matching icon, choose one and return the other. Furthermore, once per game, you can do the same if you collect 3 different Race cards.
· Discard the card for money; or
· Take a Landmark Tile – again the cost will be shown on the Tile and will be a combination of many icons (you have hopefully collected over the course of the Chapters!), but you can sub a coin for each one you haven’t got. Plus, if you already have a fortress on the Map at the time you take the Tile, it will cost you additional money. Landmark Tiles give you the ability to place Fortresses, troops, and move troops about, and there are only ever three per Chapter.
Players take it in turns and, once all the cards in a particular Chapter have been taken, so long as a winning condition hasn’t been met, the tableau is laid out for the next one to begin!
Final thoughts!
Duel for Middle Earth is brilliant! I know a lot of comparisons are being made to 7 Wonders Duel, but honestly it stands on its own. And, for me at least, I think it actually tops it on the fun factor because it feels more accessible. I like 7WD for sure, but it can confuse me. I find it hard to remember how the different conditions to building a wonder work, and the to and fro of the military track can be punishing if you never get a military hold. I also fail to leverage the yellow or purple cards to my advantage every time I play.
But Duel for Middle Earth uses those same set collection, area control, and pure race mechanics and somehow takes the pressure off whilst simultaneously keeping /the fun tension bubbling! The way icons chain together to allow combination turns, as well as the variety of ongoing and immediate bonuses you are rewarded with, injects a generosity and sense of satisfaction into the gameplay. And there are fewer icons to worry about which, we felt, became easily intuitive after just one play.
The variable pace is also exciting. First Chapter goes past in the blink of an eye. It is focussed on taking cards and building your skills icon engine. Then, in Chapters 2 and 3, the area control of the 7 Regions starts to intensify, as does the dash along the Ring Track. Seeing Sauron catching up is a thrill (and the plastic overlay track is very cool!). Knowing which Races are already claimed also gives an urgency to take green cards to stop your opponent gaining matches for bonuses and all 6 for victory! Smarties will likely calculate the odds of gaining a Race victory based on which cards are already claimed and how many are likely to be left hidden amongst the untapped pyramid. Similarly, stealing Landmark Tiles before your opponent can gain sufficient icons to snatch them becomes more urgent as the chapters pass. The availability of each will fortify or flip a strategy mid game.
The way the Races’ ongoing bonuses interact with the cards on offer creates wonderful decision dilemmas which intensify as you go into the final chapter. The cards that come out in every phase feel purposefully balanced to keep the tension high. The area control is also simple but clever. Taking away opposition troops equal to those you are allowed to place, but having semi-permanent presences via fortresses, keeps the battle for regions raging. And in a way this felt better for us than the linear to/fro of the 7WD military track. When purple cards start to emerge, the extra troop movements means that this element cannot be ignored even if it is not your personal primary tactic in the pursuit for victory.
The rules learn is light (even without knowledge of 7WD) and so we were comfortable within a few turns. The Vincent Dutrait artwork is also easily recognisable and spot on. And whilst we are big fans of the fantastical turn this game has taken, I’m so glad this isn’t just a LOTR re-skin of 7WD. The twists, tweaks, and streamlining make this a wonderful game in its own right.
If you like head to head battles with multiple paths to victory and a short play time, Duel for Middle Earth could just be your next great game!
Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle Earth is a strategic two-player card game. The game is designed by Antoine Bauza and Bruno Cathala, beautifully illustrated by: Vincent Dutrait, and published by Asmodee and Repos Production.
When I started dating my wife over a decade ago, I quickly learned that she’s a massive Lord of the Rings fan. Since then, she’s tried every trick to get me to watch the movies or join her for anything Lord of the Rings related. But I held my ground, figuring it just wasn’t my thing. That was until we ordered Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-Earth. Given our shared love for 7 Wonders and 7 Wonders Duel, this game had us curious, so we decided to give it a shot. I was hesitant, armed with zero background knowledge of LOTR and thinking I’d miss out.
Joke’s on me-I’m now invested. This game is so good that I am going to watch the movies, and I’m contemplating reading the books. Will I let her persuade me into watching the extended edition films? Maybe not. But I’ll admit, this game might have turned me. You don’t need to be fluent in Middle-earth lore to play, but don’t be surprised if, like me, you end up hooked on Lord of the Rings.
Overview: The Ring, the Races, and Conquest
In Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle Earth, you’ll either lead the Fellowship or command Sauron’s forces to battle for dominance across three epic chapters. The chapters intensify as you go, giving each side chances to strategize, adapt, and come out on top. If you play with the Fellowship, you can win the game by either:
Completing the Quest of the Ring: lead Frodo and Sam to the end of the Quest track to destroy the One Ring
Rallying Allies: recruit six different races to your side to forge a united Middle-earth
Dominating the Board: have the Fellowship control all seven regions on the central board
The Sauron has the same three winning conditions:
Capture the Fellowship: reach Frodo and Sam on the Quest track and stop the One Ring’s destruction.
Overpower the Regions: spread Sauron’s influence by controlling all seven regions
Amass Allies and Power: acquire all six races to overwhelm the Fellowship
Components
Inside the box, you’ll find:
A succinct and well written book
One player aid–I wish there were two!
A Quest of the Ring track in four pieces that comes together in a beautiful manner
69 Chapter cards, 23 for each of the three chapters with color blind friendly symbols
15 Units and 7 Fortresses for each side, yellow for the Fellowship and grey for the Sauron
18 Alliance tokens, three per race
7 Landmark tiles
1 central board
30 Coins
The game comes with almost zero plastic! And it comes with an insert that allows for easy storage of the game.
Setup
Place the central board in the middle of the table
Shuffle and stack alliance (race) tokens on top of the central board
Shuffle first chapter cards and assemble them according to the diagram to see which cards go face up and which go face down
Shuffle the seven landmark tiles and place three face up
Determine Roles
Sauron:
receives two coins
gets all grey units and towers
places two grey units on Mordor
The Fellowship:
receives three coins
gets all yellow units and towers
places two yellow units on Arnor
Turn Overview
Sauron goes first at the start of the game. Then, the Fellowship and Sauron take turns. During each turn you may either:
Take a Chapter Card: by picking a face up card from the play area.
You can pay any costs to place it in front of you, or
discard it for one coin during the first chapter, two during the second chapter, and three during the final chapter
Take a Landmark Tile: by selecting one of the three face-up tiles, paying its cost, and placing a fortress in the corresponding region. Each landmark tile provides one time unique bonuses and you can substitute coins for each skill you do not have
Cards, Skills, Chaining and End of Chapter
The Chapter cards come in six colors, each with unique symbols for colorblind accessibility. The card types are:
Skills: depicted in grey and with a diamond shape. These cards provide abilities to help play other cards and tiles
Races: depicted in green and with a triangle shape. These cards allows you to form alliances with the Races of Middle-Earth. Whenever you get two matching symbols or three different race symbols, you get bonuses. Additionally, if you ever secure one of each of the race cards, you immediately win the game
Units: depicted in red and with a x shape. These cards allow you to place units in a region
Quest: depicted in blue and with a rectangle shape. These cards allow you to move your character along the Quest of the Ring. As your character moves, you may get bonuses
The Fellowship’s ultimate goal is to reach Mount Doom to destroy the ring and win the game
Sauron closes in and tries to reach Frodo and Sam to prevent them from destroying the ring and immediately win the game
Maneuvers: depicted in purple and with a star shape. These powerful cards are only available during the final chapter, and they allow you to either move your units, make your opponent lose coins, or remove enemy units.
Coins: depicted in yellow and with a circle shape. The cards supply you with currency
The game progresses through the three chapters. Each chapter with more powerful cards that can allow you to chain symbols, so you can play cards for free.
Chapters conclude once all cards have been claimed. Then shuffle the next chapter cards and set them up according to the diagram found in both the box and rulebook
Pros
Diverse Paths to Victory: Three win conditions keep both players on their toes
High Replay Value: Each game takes new direction depending on chosen strategies
Language Independent: The game has icons which allow for this game to be played with anyone! I really like this feature as I play games in both English and Spanish and some of my friends do not speak both languages
Colorblind Friendliness: The game has symbols to accommodate colorblind needs
Cons
Only one player aid! That does not include all the symbols, so this can be confusing during your first games
Conflict Resolution: Battle outcomes are straightforward but might feel too repetitive for some.
Final Thoughts
Even though I’m not versed in Lord of the Rings (yet), I found the theme in Duel for Middle-earth quite captivating. The artwork is stunning. The game is both strategic and straightforward, offering three distinct winning conditions-conquering regions, advancing on the Quest of the Ring, or forming alliances. This variety keeps the gameplay interesting and ensures that every choice feels significant. I warn you, if you are not a Lord of the Rings fan, you may become one after trying this game!
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Zatu Score
You might like
- Easy to learn
- Fast, pacey play
- Tense and fun
Might not like
- Not winning! Haha