War of the Ring

War of the Ring (abbreviated WOTR) is a turn-based strategy game-mode in all BFME games that is played across all of Middle-earth's territories. In this game-mode there is more strategic depth than in Skirmishes, for each territory has its own bonuses, and heroes and armies must be managed across the map, as must the player's sources of income.

Each turn is made of three phases: the Tactical Phase, during which all factions plan their moves and constructions, the Battle Phase, during which any enemies that have ended up in the same territory battle each other (either with Auto-Resolve or with Real-Time, which takes the player into a skirmish), and the Retreat Phase, during which any conquered host retreats back into a certain territory of theirs.

Differences with Skirmish mode

 * It is turn-based.


 * Each faction's resource amount is called their Treasury
 * Each faction begins a game with two or three of its heroes
 * Until The Rise of the Witch-king, Ring Heroes are not summonable
 * There is no Initial resources setting pre-game.

In The Battle for Middle-earth II
In BFME 2 there are thirty-five conquerable territories, all of which are also Skirmish maps.

Scenarios

 * Sole Survivor - Win by conquering all of the enemies' territories. Player presets how many factions there are.
 * War of the Ring, Capital assault - Win by conquering each enemy's capital territory (i.e. starting territory). Player presets how many factions there are.
 * War in the North - A War of the Ring scenario restricted to the northern half of Middle-earth
 * War in the South - A War of the Ring scenario restricted to the southern half of Middle-earth
 * One To Rule Them All - Win by conquering all territories that there are. Player presets how many factions there are.
 * Strongholds of Middle-earth - Win by capturing Dol Guldur, Minas Tirith, Minas Morgul, Isengard, Rivendell, Erebor, and Helm's Deep. Player presets how many factions there are.

In The Rise of the Witch-king
In the Expansion pack to BFME 2 there are eight territory-additions, and a noticeable change in the available scenarios.

Added places

 * Lake Evendim
 * Carn Dum
 * Angmar
 * North Downs
 * High pass
 * Barrow-downs
 * Rhudaur
 * Cardolan

Scenarios

 * Historical - All six factions excluding Angmar go to war, Good against Evil, starting in their historical locations.
 * War of the Ring - Win by conquering all of the enemies' claimed territories - The only scenario in which the player presets how many factions there are.
 * War in the North - A War of the Ring scenario restricted to the northern half of Middle-earth
 * War in the South - A War of the Ring scenario restricted to the southern half of Middle-earth
 * Fall of Arnor - Angmar goes against allied Men of Arnor and Elves, and the player chooses one of them