How to Play The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-Earth – Allies

Objective of the Game

In The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-earth - Allies, players use Power tokens to secure help from faction-specific allies. While this expansion modifies some base game rules, the core victory conditions remain unchanged. Consult the manual for details on this section.

Preparation (Setup)

1. Separate the Ally cards by their card backs (Fellowship or Sauron).
2. Shuffle your faction's 7 Ally cards and draw 3 randomly, keeping them hidden from your opponent.
3. Set aside the remaining 4 Ally cards (they won't be used this game).
4. Each player takes their player aid and 1 Power token.
5. Place unused Power tokens nearby for later use during chapter setup.

Preparing a chapter: At each chapter's start, place 2 Power tokens as shown in the setup diagrams (page 6 of manual).

Game Flow

The expansion introduces two key actions during your turn:

• Gain a Power token: Whenever you reveal a card with a Power token in the central play area, take that token before flipping the card.
• Call upon an Ally: This special action can be taken anytime during your turn (even after revealing new cards) to activate ally effects.

Actions and How to Play

Call Upon an Ally

This action is performed in addition to normal turn actions, but limited to once per turn. Ally cards have:

• Enter effect (left side): Must be used before exit effects. To activate:
  1. Discard 1 Power token
  2. Reveal an Ally card from your hand and place it in front of you
  3. Apply its enter effect (described on player aids)
• Exit effect (right side): To activate:
  1. Discard 2 Power tokens
  2. Apply the exit effect of an Ally already in play
  3. Set that Ally card aside (it's removed from the game)

End of Game and Scoring

The expansion doesn't modify victory conditions from the base game. Consult the manual for details on this section.

Tips to Win

• Time your Ally effects: Since you can only call one Ally per turn, plan when to use enter vs. exit effects strategically.
• Manage Power tokens: Exit effects cost twice as much as enter effects - ensure you collect enough tokens before committing to powerful combos.
• All effects are summarized on the player aids - keep them handy for quick reference during play.