Not long ago I had occasion to break out my old copy of SPI's War of the Ring game. I felt certain that the game must have generated errata but couldn't find any with the game. A post on the Internet brought a number of interesting replies, but no errata. I was directed to the three articles on the game that appeared in Moves magazine; while all of these pieces contained interesting ideas and suggestions for changing the game, none contained errata per se, although one did feature what was an official revision and expansion of the three-player rules. Several responses indicated that the rules appeared in at least two editions but I was unable to determine how they were differentiated. This mystery was cleared up to some extent when one of my correspondents, Mr Roger Cox, produced a copy of a note he had he received from one of the game's designers, Richard Berg, stating that there was a second edition of the rules, but that this new edition was not identified as such in any way. Indeed, none of those I was exchanging information with could find anything identifying their copy of the rules as a second edition. Roger was good enough to send me his rules, and I was determined enough to get to try to get to the bottom of this to compare them line for line with my set. Interestingly enough, I did find some changes.

The following information comes out of that comparison. Lacking anything definitive or official to go by, my determination of which rules are the 1st edition and which the 2nd is somewhat arbitrary. I have designated the rules sent to me by Mr Cox as the "2nd Edition" for the following reasons:

1) My copy of the game is in the old SPI plastic flat box format, and if memory serves after two decades, I believe I ordered my game from SPI not long after it was first announced. Roger's copy of the game (acquired second-hand) is in the book case format, which I think appeared a bit later.

2) Some of the changes I noted in Roger's rulebook seem to be attempts to clarify some of the rules, although that assumption is shaky. In my opinion several of these clarifications only seem to muddle things more and were poorly implemented. For each change I could find, I have listed the main rule, and the page and column. I have tried to indicate how the rule has been modified and offered what I see as the main effect of the change.

It's ironic, but not entirely surprising, that none of the rules that I found in need of change or clarification and for which I originally began my search for errata were in anyway changed by the modifications in the 2nd edition! I owe a debt of thanks to all those who provided me with ideas and information, and particularly to Roger Cox.

How to Read the Rules (pg 1, col 1)

1st "It may mean at first that you will have to refer to the rules fairly often in the course of a game, but not only will you soon find that unnecessary - you will probably end up learning the rules better and more quick-ly by having an application immediately in front of you (i.e., the game which you are in the midst of playing) than by trying to puzzle out the abstractions of the rules "blindfolded," without really seeing how the rules relate to the play of the game."

2nd "It will be easier to play the game this way, even though you will have to refer to the rulesbook several times the first time you try it. However, none of the rules are too difficult, and after a few turns you will find that the Event Cards are self-explanatory and the game flows smoothly. We heartily recommend you try this approach." Effect: Slightly better written and a bit more clear.

F Movement of the Characters (pg 9, col 3)

2nd Add "Mobilization (Section T) may restrict the movement of certain units in the campaign game." to the end of the paragraph.Effect Minor clarification. The rule is discussing character movement and the units affected by the mobilization rules are army units.

F.4 Impassable Terrain and Special Restrictions on Movement (pg 10, col 2) 1st "Rivendell and Lorien. The Dark Power Player may not move any of his forces into Rivendell (W2912) or the Province of Lorien. Exception: in the Campaign Game, The Dark Power Play may move Armies and any accompanying Characters into Rivendell and Lorien."

2nd "Rivendell and Lorien. The Dark Power Player may not move any of his forces into Rivendell (W2912) or the Province of Lorien. Exception: in the Campaign Game, The Dark Power Play may move Armies and any accompanying Characters into Lorien."

Effect Change. The Dark Power Player is prevented from moving into Rivendell.

F.4 Impassable Terrain and Special Restrictions on Movement (pg 10, col 3)2nd Remove the paragraph reading: "Rivendell (Campaign Game only). Armies may be moved into Rivendell only if Elrond is dead." (This paragraph appears in the middle of the run describing the effects of trails and roads on movement!) Effect Change. If used as written, the 1st edition rule would prevent armies from both sides from moving into Rivendell. Further, the revised rule on moving into Rivendell and Lorien (see above) renders the rule moot, by preventing the Dark Power forces from moving into Rivendell in any circumstances.

J.1 Search Procedure During the Search Phase, Search (pg 13, col 1) 1st "However, if an Orc band is split into two groups to search two hexes, the Dark Power Player must expend two Shadow Points." 2nd "...the Dark Power Player may split the listed force in any manner hr see fits to search (sic) is split to search two hexes, the Dark Power Player must expend two Shadow Points." Effect Minor clarification/confusion. Substituting 'listed force" for 'Orc band' makes it a bit more clear that searching Nazgul may be split up. However, grammatically, the sentence is a mess and the meaning muddled.

L.8 Elven Cloak and Elven Rope (pg 16, col 2) 2nd To the final pa-ragraph, discussing Elven Rope add: "Elven Rope may not be used for tunnels, passes, or gates." Effect Change. Previously Elven Rope could be used in any hex, without restriction.

N.2 Holding Event Cards (pg 18, col 2)1st "If the Dark Power Player has three Event Cards and draws a fourth, he must discard one or play (at least) one immediately, before the Fellowship player draws his Event Card."

2nd “If a player has three Event Cards and draws a fourth, he must discard one or play (at least) one immediately, before the other player draws his Event Card." Effect Clarification. The above sentence in the 1st edition is followed by another essentially saying the same rule applies to the Fellowship Player. The change in the 2nd is more concise (but is nonetheless followed by a now superfluous sentence applying the rule to the Fellowship Player.)

O.1 Fellowship Victory (pg 19, col 2) 2nd The sentence "This is the only way the Fellowship Player can win the game." has been removed. Effect Clarification. While somewhat unnecessary, the sentence did help to clarify the victory conditions.

P.1 Campaign Game Sequence of Play (pg 19, col 3) 2nd "See Section S." has been removed. Effect The direction was superfluous.

Q.1 The Game Map (pg 20, col 1) 2nd The entire subheading has been removed. Effect Minor change. Since the instructions for preparing the map for the campaign game are the same as for the character game, this section is not needed. The subheading "How to Set Up the Counters" has been moved to Q.1 but the section that follows it remains Q.3 resulting in no Q.2 subheading.

Q.2 How to Set Up the Counters (pg 20, col 2) 2nd An additional counter type has been added to the "Summary of Counter Types". Two sentences have been added. "Most of the counters used in the Initial Set Up have their location (name) printed on the counter; e.g. the Men (W. Allies) that set in Bree have 'Bree' written on the counter. This is solely for 'historical' purposes. The only important features are the Strength and Movement numbers." Effect Clarification. The new information helps in the setting up of the game.

R. 15 Woses Ally with the Free Peoples (pg 22, col 3) 2nd The phrase "without being Searched or Attacked by Dark Power units" is added to the explanation of the card. Effect Change in effect of the card.

R. 18 Corsairs of Umbar (pg 22, col 3)

1st "If the Event Card Nr. 94 is played, up to fifty Strength Points of Haradrim may be moved instantly from Umbar (hex W2842) to any other Port hex on the game map. Any number of Strength Points (up to fifty) may be moved, but they must all have been in Umbar at the beginning of the Game-Turn, and must all be transported to the same hex. This card can be played only once in the game."

2nd "If the Event Card Nr. 94 is played, up to fifty Strength Points of Haradrim Infantry may be moved to Umbar (hex W2842) by normal means. Once reaching Umbar they may then be to any other Port hex on the game map. Any number of Strength Points (up to fifty) may be moved, but they must all first move to Umbar (or be there) before being shipped out. They must all go to the same hex. This card can be played only once in the game." Illustration of Corsairs unit has been removed.

Effect Change The card is more versatile in that the units need not start in the Umbar hex to use the special movement. However, the strength points must be Haradrim infantry, not any other type of unit.

S.1 Army Units (pg23, col 2) 2nd The list of unit types for each side has been eliminated. Effect Minimal change, since the players can deduce what types of units there are by looking at them, but the information in the 1st edition was helpful. No changes were found in the game's Charts and Table sheets.