To me, the major flaw in Fact & Fantasy's otherwise delightful Siege of Minas Tirith is the absence of the Nazgul from the battle. True, the Lord of the Nazgu I is present (is he ever!), but his eight companions are not. Their effect on the battle is well known to historians of the Third Age, particularly the shocking impact they had on the morale of the otherwise brace and hardy soldiers of Gondor. Hence, the following rules, which apply only to the Siege of Minas Tirith (and not to the Battle of the Slag Hills) are in order.

Before proceeding any further, however, two problems must be dealt with. First, how many Nazgul were present at the battle? Secondly, who was Gothmog? The late Professor J.R.R. Tolkien, that most assiduous historian of Middle Earth, states that five Nazgul were initially present over the Pelennor (Ballantine, Return of the King, pp. 99-100). At no point in his account does this number change. Thus, we must assume that five, and only five, Nazgul participated in the siege of Minas Tirith. This, of course, does not include the Lord of the Nazgul, the highly skilled commander-in-chief of the Dark Lord's Western Army.

Where, then, are the other three Nazgul? One is definitely left behind in Mordor, suspicious of the strange happenings in and around the Staircase and Minas Morgul. The remaining pair can be safely accounted for by remembering that the Dark Lord's campaign against Gondor was by no means his only military effort in Middle Earth.

He had two other major campaigns underway. One army (the Central Army) was directed to crush Celeborn and his elves in Lorien, while the third force's task (the Northeastern Army) was to smash the combined army of Men and Dwarves under Kings Brand and Dain Ironfoot at the Long Lake and Erebor (it should be noted in passing that this latter campaign was by far the most successful for the Dark Lord, at least initially). Finally, a fourth army (the Central Detachment) was launched against Thranduil in Mirkwood, but this seems to have been only a minor affair at best.

We can assume, therefore, for lack of more concrete data, that one Nazgul commanded the forces based near Dol Guldur (the Central Army and the Detachment), while the ninth and last Nazgul led the Northeastern Army near the Long Lake. Finally, it should be remembered that the Dark Lord undoubtedly recalled all eight Nazgul back to Mordor after the disasterous news of the death of the High Nazgul and the subsequent shattering of his Western Army had reached Barad-Dur.

Little is known of Gothmog, but from the knowledge we have it can safely be assumed that he was a Nazgul. Gothmog is referred to (Return of the King, p. 148) as the lieutenant of Morgul. Morgul was of course the ghostly city of the Nazgul, and their term is also often identified with the Lord of the Nazgul himself. The sorcerer known only as the Mouth of Sauron is also called the lieutenant of Barad-Dur (p. 202). Hence this would make him the Dark Lord's direct servant, whereas Gothmog seems to have taken his orders from the King of Minas Morgul (the High Nazgul). He in turn was directly answerable to the Dark Lord.

In summary, it is best to think of Gothmog as wearing the moon and death's head insignia of Minas Morgul, unlike `Mouth", who bore the emblem of the Red Eye peculiar to Barad-Dur.

A. There are five Nazgul present in the initial Mordor order-of-battle, not including the Lord of the Nazgul. Each is a 1-16 in strength.

B. The Nazgul are flying units. They are not restricted by terrain, and count each hex moved into (flown over) as one movement point.

C. The Nazgul may stack with any unit, of either side, and they add their combat strengths in with the strength of a Mordor unit for melee attack or defense.

D. The Nazgul can never be destroyed by melee, but they are subject to missle fire (only on the second and third daylight segments of each turn). Each Nazgul has an archery defense strength of three, regardless of the terrain they occupy.

E. The Nazgul have no zones-of-control, nor are they subject to the ZOC's of Condor units. They may freely fly over or even land on enemy units without having to stop or attack.

F. On all night turns each Nazgul becomes a 2-16 in strength.

G. On all night turns the Nazgul may demoralize Gondor units in the following manner: at the end of the Mordon player's turn, any Gondor unit which is stacked with a Nazgul counter may not attack, and if attacked, defends at half strength (round up) ' This demoralization automatically ends on the second daylight turn of each day, or if Gandalf passes through the demoralized square. Only those Gondor units not in forts are subject to Nazgul demoralization.

H. The Nazgul may not attack Gondor units unless at least one Mordor melee unit is participating in the attack. The Nazgul, on all night turns, may attack Gondor units without Mordor melee present.

I. The Nazgul are not leader units, hence they can never raise Mordor morale (indeed, in the actual battle the soldiers of Mordor were themselves quite afraid whenever the Nazgul appeared). They do have, however, an effect on Gondor morale as follows:

1) On night turns, any Gondor unit stacked with or adjacent to a Nazgul undergoes a -1 loss in morale.

2) On the first and fourth daylight turns any Gondor unit wKich is within three hexes of a Nazgul undergoes a -1 loss in morale.

3) On the second and third daylight turns, the Nazgul have no effect on Gondor morale.

4) The effects of the Nazgul upon Gondor morale are cumulative. For example, if all five Nazgul attacked a Gondor unit at night, the Gondor unit would undergo a -6 loss in morale.

5) The Nazgul affect Gondor units whether the latter are attacking or defending.

6) No Nazgul counter may ever end its turn in the hex occupied by Gandalf.

7) Gandalf may conduct melee attacks against the Nazgul (actually, this would be a form of magic rather than melee) and they may do the same to him. Gandalf defends against Nazgul attack with a defense strength of five. Morale has no effect upon any of these battles. Other leader units may join in such a battle, but no melee or archery units can.

8) All demoralization of Gondor units described in part "I" apply regardless of location of the Gondor unit(s) in question, whether in the open, in a fort, or in Minas Tirith itself.

J. On the 14 Marchturn marked "W", replace the Lord of the Nazgul counter with the Gothmog piece. Gothmog continues to act as a normal Nazgul for the remainder of the game, although he now takes on leader capabilities also. This placement is for historical purposes only. He is also a 1-16, not a 1-5,

K. Also on the "W" turn, one additional Nazgul counter is permanently withdrawn from the game. This is the messenger who sped to the Dark Tower with the news of his lord's death (p. 240).

L. On the final turn of the game, none of the Nazgul become 2-16's, as they normally do at night. Further, they may not demoralize any Gondor units (this would be senseless anyway, since it is the last turn of the game). On this last turn, the Nazgul may also not attack Gondor units unless a Mordor melee unit is present. The Nazgul, however, still may each bring a -1 morale loss to all Gondor units either stacked with or adjacent to them. In other words, the Nazgul may demoralize there as per case 1, not case G.

M. Note that all of the above apply only to the five regular Nazgul, not to the Lord of the Nazgul. Rules pertaining to him alone, along with miscellany, are below.

N. Eight Nazgul are present at the Battle of the Slag Hills, not five. Their use in that game is confined to the rules for Slag Hills.

O. The Nazgul in Slag Hills may be withdrawn to achieve a risky Mordor victory (see the "Sauron Aware" option).

P. If the Lord of the Nazgul is stacked with the Grond counter before the Great Gate, two turns waiting is not necessary. The Great Gate falls immediately. Both Grond and the Nazgul Lord must, however, begin their turn stacked before the Great Gate.

Q. On all night turns the Lord of the Nazgul becomes a 4-16 in strength.

R. At any time in the game Gandalf and the Lord of the Nazgul may have at it. Both must be stacked in the same square. if the Lord of the Nazgul elects to destroy Gandalf, he must roll a six. If Gandalf wishes to eliminate his opponent, he must shake two sixes in a row. (Players may opt to chuck this rule out the window and use the War of the Wizards game instead, giving the Lord of the Nazgul the advantage). once eliminated, the defeated wizard/witch-king is permanently withdrawn from the game. Note that it is entirely possible (though highly unlikely) for both "men" to destroy each other. In the event of this remove all units (of either side) within a three-hex radius of Gandalf and the High Nazgul. This is due to the tremendous explosion resulting from the simultaneous deaths (through magic) of the pair.

S. On the turn labelled "M4", the Lord of the Nazgul is removed (killed) from the game only if he is inside Minas Tirith (by Pippin), or if he is stacked with or adjacent to the Theoden counter (by Merry and Eowyn), at the end of the Gondor player's turn. In the event of the latter, the Theoden counter is also removed from play. If neither situation applies, the Lord of the Nazgul remains in the game, Gothmog remains a regular Nazgul, and the messenger to the Dark Tower also stays in the game.

T. On any turn after "M4", the Lord of the Nazgul is removed from the game at the end of Gondor's turn if he is either inside Minas Tirith or stacked with or adjacent to the Theoden counter. The Theoden counter, in case of the latter, is also automatically destroyed. Theoden can thus seek out the High Nazgul, with both destroying each, other. If in Minas Tirith, the Lord can smash down one last gate after "M4" before he is destroyed. If and when this occurs, Gothmog appears on the next Morclor turn and one other Nazgul (the messenger) is permanently removed from play.

U. Note that Cases S and T supercede cases J and K. This is for players who do not view the death of the Lord of the Nazgul as a constant. Finally, bear in mind that regular Nazgul have no gate-breaking ability.

"SAURON AWARE" OPTION

Just prior to the Battle of the Slag Hills, The Nameless One received several warnings from the Nazgul and Orcs stationed near Minas Morgul that several rather strange incidents had occurred, both on the Stairs and in the Tower of Cirith Ungol. He, however, had diverted all of his attention to the activities of the Gondorian Army and brushed aside their warnings as insignificant.

Most importantly, the capture of Frodo by the Orcs should have told him of the danger. Unfortunately, however, the Orcs Gorbag, Snaga and Shagrat were too busy fighting each other for the mithril coat to report Frodo's capture to the Nazgul, who thus was unable to tell the Nameless One anything of this. And Sam, good old Sam, was able to take advantage of the Orcs' quarreling and whisk Frodo out of the Tower to relative safety.

But what if The Nameless One had been told of Frodo's capture, told with enough time remaining to take sufficient action? Hence, on the sixth turn of the game all the Nazgul are withdrawn from the Slag Hill mapsheet. Beginning on the seventh turn, roll the die. A one through five has no effect, but if a six is shaken, they have found Frodo and Sam and taken The Ring. The strength of the Dark Lord and the Nazgul automatically increases tenfold, and Mordor wins the battle, the game, and control of Middle Earth!