The Absurdity of Victory Points

[animalmother]

Excellent game and discourse both.

My House Rules:

1. Shadow wins by controlling all 20 VP worth of FP Strongholds and Cities, or by Corrupting the Fellowship.

2. Free People win by controlling Shadow Strongholds and Cities worth 10 VP, UNLESS at some point the Shadow controlled FP Strongholds and Cities worth 10 VP. In the latter case, the FP can win only a DRAW by controlling 10 VP worth of Shadow Cities and Strongholds. The 10 VP goal of the Shadow is called the "Trashing of the West." Minas Tirith must be among the 10 VP controlled for the "Trashing of the West" to be achieved. Sauron was a mean guy, very much into Schadenfreude, and it would have comforted him much to know before he expired that he had killed many and broken much.

3. If the One Ring is destroyed, the game does not end, but all of the following are permanently destroyed: all Nazgul, including the Witch King; the Strongholds of Barad Dur and Morannon, whose foundations were laid with the power of the One Ring, and all units in them. All Mordor Elite units remaining are reduced to Regulars. Then, one-half of all Mordor Regular Armies are eliminated from each Region, rolling a d6 die to eliminate odd units in a region on a 4,5, or 6. Saruman, Mouth of Sauron, Wolf Riders, Uruk-Hai, Southrons, Easterlings. and remaining Sauron infantry carry on the fight. The Shadow loses two Action Dice for the destruction of the One Ring. In addition, if they are not already FP controlled, the Shadow also loses one Action Die for the destruction of Barad-Dur, and loses one Action Die for the destruction of Morannon. If the Witch King is not laready dead, he dies with the One Ring and with him goes his one Action Die.
So loss of the One Ring will usually cost the SP five Action Dice. Shadow units may not be re-mustered after the destruction of the One Ring.

4. The FP lose an Action Die if Minas Tirith is Shadow controlled.

5. The SP lose an Action Die for each Shadow Stronghold which is Free People controlled.

6. Tactically, I give Elf Leaders two re-rolls when they are defending an Elven Stronghold Region or Stronghold. Also, Elvish units can retreat before combat if in one of the ten forest Regions on the map (seven in Mirkwood, Fangorn, Lothlorien, and Old Forest).

7. Dwarfs in Stronghold of Erebor suffer hits only on rolls of 6, even in rounds after the first round of combat.

8. Many other house rules.

[marcon]

7. Dwarfs in Stronghold of Erebor suffer hits only on rolls of 6, even in rounds after the first round of combat.

How is that different from the normal game? You always need 6s to hit units defending in a Stronghold, even beyond the first round.

-Marcon

[animalmother]

Dear Marcon, you are right. My mistake. Thanks for the keen read. How about:

7. Each Dwarf Leader gets two re-rolls when defending inside the Stronghold of Erebor. The last Dwarf Regular defending inside the Stronghold of Erebor can only be killed by two hits inflicted in the same Combat Round.

[animalmother]

Here's a simple way to end the game, which should satisfy the realism objections first raised in this thread, should be suitable for tournaments, and rewards the most skillful play.

1. The game ends when either the Fellowship is Corrupted, or the Ring is Destroyed.

2. Shadow Victory Condition: Corrupt the Fellowship and control at least 12 VP of the original 20 Shadow VP Strongholds/Cities. (Barad-dur, as Shadow capital, counts as 4 VP, not the usual 2 VP).

3. Free Victory Condition: Destroy the Ring and control at least 12 VP of the original 22 Free VP Strongholds/Cities. (Minas Tirith, the premier city of Free Peoples, counts as 4 VP.)

4. Draw: neither side achieves its Victory Condition.

5. Victory Score: add VP value of all Strongholds/Cities the victorious player controls, then add +20 VP.

6. Defeat Score: add VP value of all Strongholds/Cities the defeated player controls, then subtract 20 VP. No score is less than zero.

7. Draw Scores: add the VP values of the Strongholds/Cities each player controls. then subtract 10 VP from the scores of both players. No score is less than zero.

8. Tournament bidding: as it is generally allowed that the Shadow is favored, flip a coin. The winner offers to give the other player the Shadow with an X VP Handicap number to be subtracted from the final Shadow Score and added to the final Free Peoples Score after the Scores are calculated as in 5), 6), and 7) above. E.g., one player opens with "I'll give you the Shadow at 12" means I'll let you play the Shadow if you agree 12 VP will be subtracted from your Shadow score and 12 VP added to my Free Peoples score. If the bid is refused, the other player replies with "Shadow at 11," meaning he'll gve you the Shadow if you agree to subtract 11 VP from your Shadow Score and add 11 VP to the Free Score. Bidding continues lower and lower until one player accepts the Shadow with the Handicap offered. After adjusting for the Handicap, the Shadow Score may be less than zero.

The rationale for the Draw result is that Ring Destruction will not bring peace to Middle Earth if the FP do poorly on the battlefield, as even without Sauron the Shadow powers remain strong relative to the Free powers. Corruption of the Fellowship with military defeat for the Shadow causes a strong minion, officer, or ally of Sauron to rebel against him (The Weakling!) and seize the One Ring for himself, creating a new balance of power and continued conflict on Middle Earth, beyond the scope of the game. Thus players win only if they have their way with the One Ring, AND hang on to at least 12 VP worth of their own VP Strongholds and Cities.