LORD of the RINGS: THE CONFRONTATION

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Can a Fellowship or Sauron character retreat upstream on the Anduin river?

The river doesn't prohibit any normal rule or ability. It simply allows movement or
attack by the Fellowship player in the downstream direction for characters that
can't normally move/attack laterally. So if someone uses the river, they'd have to
retreat in the normal "backwards" (towards the Shire) direction, in the general case.
No other Fellowship/Sauron rule or ability should be affected, including rules
about sideways retreats (which are perfectly valid up/down stream).

Can the Flying Nazgul fly backwards (towards Mordor) with his ability to go to any
space with a single Fellowship character?
The Flying Nazgul can move anywhere there is a single Fellowship character,
including backwards or from one mountain to another.

Can Shelob and Treebeard move through "full" regions?

They are placed directly into their respective regions; they don't move through any
regions to get there. It is as if they are teleported.

When can an attacker choose the specific enemy to attack?

This rule only applies to characters that are currently revealed on that turn.
Characters that had been revealed in previous battles can not be specified as attack
targets. Example: The Watcher character in the variant version, who once revealed
remains revealed for the rest of the game.

Is the Balrog's ability mandatory? Is Sam's ability mandatory?

No, their abilities are not mandatory. The Balrog must be revealed to kill, but the
Sauron player could choose not to reveal the Balrog. Frodo and Sam must be
revealed to give Sam the bonus, but the Fellowship player could choose not to
reveal either character.

When is Sam's ability revealed?

After the Sauron player moves a piece to attack and (randomly) selects an
opponent. Sam's ability may then be revealed if the chosen opponent is either
Frodo or Sam.

If Gandalf reveals himself to add 1 to the strength of another card, does that apply
before or after the Sauron player chooses a discarded card when using a Magic card?
Before. Gandalf adds 1 to the value of a character - not the card. So Gandalf can
still use his power even if the Fellowship player uses Elven Cloak.

Can Gollum retreat forward into the region from which his attacker has come or only
into another empty forward region?
Any retreat can be made into the territory just vacated by the attacker as long as
that region is now empty.
 When retreating backwards, do you have to go back to the region you cam from? Or
you can choose? The same with retreating sideways.
You can choose from any valid available retreat space.

What happens if the last card left in the Sauron player's hand is Retreat (sideways) but
he cannot use it (due to the adjacent field being full, occupied by an enemy piece, or
the battle is taking place in the mountains)?
You can always play the card. You may not always be able to execute what the
card says. In this case you play Retreat but cannot move so the fight is resolved
with your combat strength being what is printed on the unit.

What happens when both players use Retreat?

The Sauron player's card is resolved first. Thus, the Fellowship player can see
where the Sauron piece is withdrawn to and then apply his own Retreat.

What exactly happens if two players both use magic at the same time? Does one
player choose and reveal his card first, allowing the other player to react to it?
In the rules it says whose text card goes first if there are two text cards played - it is
Sauron. So the Sauron player gets to pick first. Of course, if Eye of Sauron is in the
discards, he can use that to cancel the Fellowship player's use of Magic, which will
normally allow The Sauron player to win (Sauron has stonger characters).

If variant Sarumon plays Magic and forces the Fellowship player to play another card,
must the Sauron player replace Magic with a card before the Fellowship plays another
card?
No. Character abilities are resolved first, so the Fellowship player must first play
another card. Then Sarumon resolves his Magic card.

For the A King Revealed card, can the Fellowship side choose a Sauron character that
cannot move?
You may only choose a piece that can make at least one legal move.

Can Gwaihir be used to save Gandalf from variant Saruman?

Gwaihir replaces the character text of the Fellowship character. You resolve the
character text of the Fellowship character first, then the character text of the Sauron
character (with the exception of the Warg). Yes, Gwaihir saves Gandalf.

How does the Sauron use the Crabain of Dunlan card?

The Sauron player chooses a piece from the board to be revealed. He does not get
to name a specific character.