Fate of the Fellowship: Episode V (Turns 21 - End)

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Whoa, day four of actually playing this single game of Fate of the Fellowship. It is nearly over, and to be fair to myself, the majority of the time has actually been writing this blog about it. I know no one will actually read it, but it is making the game more interesting for me.

Turn 21 Actions (Frodo, Sam, Legolas)

Well, I think I am going to have to leg it from Rohan to Gondor, so it’ll need to be four moves for the hobbits.

Frodo and Sam’s actions:

• Prepare: discard Rohan for a resistance token and gain a friendship token due to Elrond’s support
• Travel from Helm's Deep to Edoras, bringing Merry and Pippin, discarding Rhudaur to avoid rolling a search
• Travel from Edoras to Drúadan Forest, bringing Merry and Pippin
• Travel from Drúadan Forest to Drúadan Forest, bringing Merry and Pippin

Legolas’ action:

• Sure Shot at Osgiliath, spend Mirkwood and remove 1 shadow troop

Turn 21 Player Cards

• Rhovanion
• Mirkwood¹

Turn 21 Shadow Cards

• Advance: Near Harad to Helm's Deep
  • 2 shadow troops move from Drúwaith Iaur to Fords of Isen
  • 1 shadow troop moves from Near Harad to Harondor
• The Drums of War
  • +1 shadow troop in Minas Morgul
  • +1 shadow troop in Barad-Dûr
  • +1 shadow troop in Udún
• Advance: Near Harad to Helm's Deep
  • 1 shadow troop moves from Harondor to South Ithilien

Eeep, Helm’s Deep might fall before we can destroy the ring. I have 4 more turns to use, maybe I can get Éowyn back home to defend before I lose three more hope?

Turn 22 Actions (Merry, Pippin, Éowyn)

Well, Éowyn should probably run back to Helm’s Deep, just in case.

Éowyn’s actions:

• Travel from Osgiliath to Minas Tirith, taking 1 Rohirrim along
• Travel from Minas Tirith to Drúadan Forest, taking 1 Rohirrim along
• Travel from Drúadan Forest to Edoras, taking 1 Rohirrim along
• Travel from Edoras to Helm's Deep, taking 1 Rohirrim along

Merry and Pippin’s action:

• Give us a Song!, gain 2 hope, spend 3 friendship tokens

Turn 22 Player Cards

• Skies Darken
  • Threat increases, now draw four shadow cards each time
  • Move the Eye to Gondor
  • +3 shadow troops in Tharbad
  • Shuffle shadow discard pile and replace
• Mirkwood

Turn 22 Shadow Cards

• Advance: Near Harad to Helm's Deep
  • 2 shadow troops move from Fords of Isen to Helm's Deep
  • Battle: Two dice: Overrun and Nazgûl!²
  • Remove one Nazgûl from the game
• Advance: Núrn to Minas Tirith
  • 2 shadow troops move from North Ithilien to Osgiliath
  • 1 shadow troop moves from Udûn to North Ithilien
  • 8 shadow troops move from Mount Doom to Udûn³
  • 2 shadow troops move from Núrn to Plateau of Gorgoroth
• Reinforce Moria
  • +1 shadow troop in Moria
  • Roll a search in Frodo’s region, no Nazgûl and no shadow troops in Frodo’s location, so no rolling
• Reinforce Dunland
  • +1 shadow troop in Dunland
  • Move two Nazgûl closer to Frodo’s region (two move from Rohan)⁴

Turn 23 Actions (Frodo, Sam, Legolas)

Ok, it is time to challenge Sauron, power on through Mordor to Mount Doom, and throw that ring into the fire.

Legolas’ actions:

• Muster in Minas Tirith, +1 Gondor troop, spend a friendship token
• Travel from Minas Tirith to Osgiliath, bringing 3 Gondor troops, 2 Rohirrim troops, and 2 elven troops along
• Travel from Osgiliath to North Ithilien, bringing 3 Gondor troops, 2 Rohirrim troops, and 2 elven troops along
• Walk Silently: Gain one stealth token

I have now completed the objective Challenge Sauron. The Eye shifts to Ithilien, and all shadow troops in Mordor move to Udún, which is a lot. There are now 16 shadow troops in that location.

It is now possible to attempt to Destroy the One Ring.

Frodo and Sam’s action:

• Travel from Drúadan Forest to Minas Tirith, bringing Merry and Pippin along

Turn 23 Player Cards

• Rohan Lends Horses
• Rohan (discarded due to hand-limit)

Turn 23 Shadow Cards

• Reinforce Near Harad
  • +1 shadow troop in Near Harad
  • Deploy 3 Nazgûl from Mordor to the Eye
  • Two move from Rohan to Ithilien, one from Gondor to Ithilien
• Advance: Dol Guldur to Erebor
  • 1 shadow troop moves from Southern Mirkwood to Old Forest Road
  • 3 shadow troops move from Dol Guldur to Southern Mirkwood
• The Drums of War
  • +1 shadow troop in Minas Morgul
  • +1 shadow troop in Udún
  • +1 shadow troop in Barad-Dûr⁵
• Advance: Isengard to Helm's Deep
  • Battle in Helm's Deep
  • Roll two dice: Rout and Nazgûl!
  • Remove 1 shadow troop
  • Remove 1 Nazgûl from the game⁶

Turn 24 Actions (Frodo, Sam, Legolas)

The only goal now is to get Frodo and Sam to Mount Doom. There are currenly no shadow troops at that location.

The quickest route, and honestly the only route available due to how many cards and shadow troops are left, is to go from Minas Tirith, to Osgiliath, to South Ithilien, to Minas Morgul, and finally on to Mount Doom.

There I can spend one action to throw the ring into to fire, roll a final search, and hopefully survive.

To do this I will need 8 stealth symbols. I currently only have 4. I am now thinking I should have saved those stealth symbols that Legolas was generating. I am not sure I can easily move through Mordor now without dealing with the search rolls.

Legolas will have to generate a stealth token as there aren’t any more resistance cards left in the draw deck. By my calculations there is one more event card, one more valor card, and two more resistance cards left. That event may prove crucial, we will have to see how this plays out. I am not feeling particularly hopeful despite it being a 7/8. My personal hope level is more at a 2 right now.

Legolas’ action:

• Walk Silently: +1 stealth token

Frodo and Sam’s actions:

Urgh, well, I am kind of stuck as I don’t want to leave Minas Tirith and risk losing search rolls and then just losing the game entirely. I do have one more turn I could use for Frodo and Sam, and Rohan Sends Horses might be useful to get to South Ithilien for free.

• Prepare: convert Enedwaith into a resistance token, gain 1 friendship token
• Prepare: convert Gondor into a resistance token
• Prepare: convert Mirkwood into a resistance token
• Prepare: convert Rhovanion into a stealth token

Turn 24 Player Cards

• Dale
• Elven Cloaks and Rope

Say whaaat? What a fortuitous event to draw right now!

I will play Conflicting Orders to move the shadow troops in Osgiliath to South Ithilien so Frodo will (hopefully) not need to roll an extra search while moving, and give Minas Tirith a bit of breathing space.

Turn 24 Shadow Cards

• Advance: Near Harad to Helm's Deep
  • Move 3 shadow troops from South Ithilien to Osgiliath
  • Move 1 shadow troop from Near Harad to Harondor
• Advance: Dol Guldur to Erebor
  • Move 1 shadow troop to Woodland Realm
  • Battle, roll one die: Rout, remove 1 shadow troop
  • Move 3 shadow troops from Southern Mirkwood to Old Forest Road
• Advance: Núrn to Helm's Deep
  • Move 3 shadow troops from Osgiliath to Minas Tirith
    • Battle, roll three dice: Rout, Rout, Exchange, remove 3 shadow troops and 1 Rohirrim troop⁷
  • Move 1 shadow troop from Minas Morgul to South Ithilien
• Reinforce Moria
  • +1 shadow troop in Moria
  • Move two Nazgûl to Frodo (two from Ithilien to Gondor)

Turn 25 Actions (Merry, Pippin, Éowyn)

Whoa, final turn for Player 2. They need to keep the Eye away from Ithilien and Mordor long enough for Frodo to hoof it to Mount Doom. Let’s go!

Éowyn’s action:

• Attack in Helm's Deep⁸
  • Shift the Eye to Rohan
  • Roll one die: Exchange, remove 1 shadow troop and 1 Rohirrim troop

I would say that was a successful gamble. There are no shadow troops right next to Helm’s Deep and with only one more shadow card draw to go, it is unlikely to be flipped to a stronghold.

Merry and Pippin’s actions:

• Travel from Minas Tirith to Osgiliath with Frodo and Sam
• Travel from Osgiliath to South Ithilien with Frodo and Sam, discard Eriador to ignore a search roll
• Loyal Friend: Gain 1 friendship token
• Do nothing for the fourth action

Turn 25 Player Cards

• Misty Mountains
• Dale (discarded due to hand limit)

Turn 25 Shadow Cards

• Advance Núrn to Erebor
  • Move 3 shadow troops from Old Forest Road to Woodland Realm
  • Battle: Roll three dice: Exchange, Exchange, Rout
  • Remove 3 shadow troops and 1 elven troop from Woodland Realm⁹
  • Move 1 shadow troop from North Ithilien to Dagorlad
  • Move 16 shadow troops from Udûn to North Ithilien
  • Move 1 shadow troop from Barad-dûr to Udûn
• Reinforce Near Harad
  • +1 shadow troop in Near Harad
  • Move 2 Nazgûl closer to Frodo (two from Gondor to Ithilien)
• The Wheels of Saruman
  • Break Oath: Remove 1 Gondor troop from Dol Amroth and 1 elven troop from Grey Havens
• Reinforce Dunland
  • +1 shadow troop in Dunland
  • Deploy 3 Nazgûl to Frodo (all remaining 5 Nazgûl are now in Ithilien)

Turn 26 Actions (Frodo, Sam, Legolas)

This is it, the final round, where we are either going to destroy the one ring, or be mauled by Nazgûl.

Legolas’ action:

• Walk Silently - gain a stealth token (just in case)

Frodo and Sam’s actions:

Right, here we go.

• Travel from South Ithilien to Minas Morgul with Merry and Pippin, spending two stealth tokens
• Travel from Minas Morgul to Plateau of Gorgoroth with Merry and Pippin, discarding Ithilien
• Travel from Plateau of Gorgoroth to Mount Doom with Merry and Pippin, spending two stealth tokens
• Destroy the One Ring: Spend 5 resistance tokens
  • Roll a search with 1 search die: Exposed, lose one hope

And that’s it - objective Destroy the One Ring is completed.

Right down to the wire too. If I didn’t win the game there I am not sure I would have won at all. I am now out of cards to draw, so I would have lost two hope, I suspect Minas Tirith would have been turned into a stronghold soon due to the massive shadow army in North Ithilien, which would have lost me another 3 hope, and then I would have had to have rolled a search with seven search dice.

I may still have won though, as I had a resistance card and three friendship tokens in Player 1’s hand, and six resistance cards in Player 2’s hand to help with those re-rolls.

Anyway, well done me.

Here is a picture of the final board position:

« Part IV | Part V |

19th August 2025