“They were foes of the Dark Lord, but they were overcome by the evil king of Carn Dûm in the Land of Angmar.”

–Tom Bombadil, The Fellowship of the Ring

Driven by hatred and fueled by dark sorcery, the Orcs and Wargs of Carn Dûm have massed outside of Annúminas, the ancient capital of Arnor. As the Dúnedain within the city's walls ready their defenses, they call for the aid of every available hero. Will you join them?

Sharpen your blade, feather your arrows, and make haste to join the The Siege of Annúminas!

This thrilling standalone scenario for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game first made its debut at Gen Con 2016 and later served as the centerpiece of the 2016 Fellowship Event. Its sixty-one cards (including three rules cards and an FAQ) pit you and and your friends against the hordes of Carn Dûm. And it comes with rules for both Standard Play and a unique Epic Multiplayer Mode, in which you can fight the evils of northern Middle-earth alongside as many as eleven other players!

The Siege of Annúminas is now available via FFG's in-house manufacturing.

An Epic Multiplayer Experience

With its host of Orcs, Wargs, and other Creatures—plus the deadly Lieutenant that leads them to battle—The Siege of Annúminas rushes at you in a series of heated battles no matter how you play it—Standard Mode or Epic Multiplayer Mode. But there's no doubt that the real novelty of the scenario lies in its Epic Multiplayer experience.

In its Epic Multiplayer Mode, The Siege of Annúminas allows three to twelve players to join their forces for a truly memorable game. This version of the game requires three copies of the scenario and then requires that you and your friends divide yourselves into three separate teams, each of which will combat the forces of Angmar at its own "stage."

For the most part, the teams at the different stages—even if those teams consist of only one player each—must concern themselves with their own game. Your team quests alone, defends against its own enemies, and cannot rely on any of the other heroes to aid you with your attacks. In fact, each stage is even treated as a separate game for the purposes of card uniqueness, making it easier for your whole group to balance heroes between teams or call upon the aid of Gandalf (Core Set, 73) at multiple stages.

Despite the fact that you quest, defend, and fight as your own teams, however, you and your friends are all united by a common goal. You must prevent Annúminas (The Siege of Annúminas, 12) from falling to the forces of darkness.

Together We Stand

Throughout the adventure, various mechanics allow your teams to lend each other aid. For the first three rounds, you and your friends will all be working to shore the city's defenses and rally its defenders ahead of the onslaught, and if you make enough progress on your quest, you can help another team.

For example, if you're at Stage 1D, you can remove ten progress from the quest to give the first player at each stage control of a Dúnedain of Annúminas ally (The Siege of Annúminas, 18). And if you're at Stage 1F, you can remove ten progress from the quest to reduce the number of encounter cards each other stage reveals by one—to a minimum of zero.

The teamwork continues even as the adventure progress past the third round and the forces of Angmar fall upon the city with a terrible bloodlust. As enemies rush in from all sides, each team progresses to Stage 2 and must withstand the assault for as many rounds as it takes to make fifty progress on the quest. However, even as each Stage 2 quest comes with its unique challenges, it also offers a unique Response that you can trigger at the end of the round.

One of these effects grants healing, one grants resources, and one grants card draw. And all allow you to choose the stage at which they should be applied. In this way, you can try to bolster a team that's getting slightly ahead of its quest, support a team that's lagging behind, or just focus on surviving the challenges in front of you.

And while you're trying to make your progress, the forces of Angmar are knocking on the gates, trying to damage the city. The real threat in the adventure is that Annúminas may have its strength reduced to zero. If it does, it falls, and you and your fellow heroes are forced to flee the overrun ruins. Accordingly, you need to limit the amount of damage it suffers each round. And this means engaging enemies from the staging area, preventing breaches of the City Walls (The Siege of Annúminas, 20), and stopping the Hosts of Angmar (The Siege of Annúminas, 17) that want to race from Stage 2F through Stage 2D to Stage 2B and then into the city itself.

In Epic Multiplayer Mode, each Stage 2 gains: “Forced: At the end of the round, each Host of Angmar in the staging area moves to the next staging area in descending alphabetical order. If it cannot move, discard it and deal 9 damage to Annúminas.”

It's unlikely the city can withstand such repeated battering, so the sooner a group can get to Stage 3, the better. At that point, your team can help the members of another stage by raising your threat by one and revealing an encounter card in order to discard a non-unique enemy worth no victory points—such as a Host of Angmar. It's only one enemy per round, but it might be just enough help to see the city survive another day…

The Spirit of the Dúnedain

Even against the seemingly overwhelming numbers arrayed against you in The Siege of Annúminas, the Dúnedain that you've come to aid will never back down. These are the descendants of Númenor. They share the blood of kings, and they have long withstood the spread of evil.

Nevertheless, their numbers have dwindled, and they now need your aid. Will you join them?