The Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation FAQ
77 questions players ask · Updated Nov 12, 2026 · Full rulebook
Movement, Rivers and the Tunnel
- Is the Tunnel of Moria a space that characters can occupy?
- Does the Balrog in Caradhras defeat a character that simply moves into Caradhras?
- Can a Fellowship character use the Tunnel of Moria past a region full of its own characters?
- Do the Anduin river arrows change the direction of retreats or sideways attacks?
- If a Light character is killed by the Balrog in the tunnel during its move, does Dark move next?
- Can a Light character use the tunnel when another Light character is in Caradhras?
Special Movement
- Do characters with special movement have to reveal themselves to use it?
- Does the Flying Nazgûl's character ability resolve when it is revealed in battle?
- Which regions can the classic Flying Nazgûl attack?
- How does the variant or deluxe Flying Nazgûl move?
- Can the Flying Nazgûl attack a Fellowship character in the Shire on turn one?
- Can the Black Rider move sideways or backward?
- Does revealing and moving Uruk-Hai count as the Sauron player's move?
Battle and Revealing
- When two enemy characters are in a region, who chooses which one is attacked?
- When a region holds a revealed and a hidden enemy, must the revealed one be fought first?
- Can an attacker target a character revealed in an earlier battle?
- Do characters stay revealed after a battle?
- In what order do character abilities and text cards resolve in a battle?
- What happens when a character enters a region with several opposing characters?
Retreats
- Can Frodo retreat backward when he is attacked?
- Can Frodo retreat sideways when he is attacked in the mountains?
- When can Pippin retreat backward?
- Where can a Fellowship character retreat to after attacking through the Tunnel of Moria?
- Can a sideways retreat go upstream against the Anduin River current?
- Can the variant Faramir retreat sideways in the mountains or along the Anduin River?
- Can a character retreat backward to any region, or only back to the region it came from?
- If Frodo retreats sideways from a Flying Nazgûl attack, can he still enter Mordor on his next turn?
- Can Gollum retreat into the region his attacker came from?
- Can Sauron characters retreat without a Retreat card?
Combat Cards
- Can Sauron play the Retreat combat card when a retreat is impossible, such as in mountains?
- Does The Eye of Sauron cancel a Fellowship Magic card?
- If both players play Magic in the same battle, who resolves their replacement card first?
- Does The Eye of Sauron cancel Fellowship strength cards?
- Must a player play a combat card in every battle?
- What happens when a player has played all of their combat cards?
- Are discarded combat cards public information?
- Can a player play a Retreat card just to discard it without retreating?
- What happens when both players play a Retreat card in the same battle?
Special Cards
- Can A King Revealed force Sauron to move a character that cannot legally move?
- What happens if A King Revealed picks The Watcher?
- Can The Dark of Mordor move a Sauron character into a region that already holds a Sauron character?
- How do you choose a character for Crebain of Dunland or A King Revealed?
- Can Gandalf the White be played when Fangorn is already occupied?
- Are the Special Cards and defeated characters open information?
- How many Special Cards are there, and how are they chosen and used?
- Does a Palantír reveal last past the moment it is played?
- Can Sauron play Recall to Mordor after A King Revealed?
- Must Shadowfax move the same piece as the regular move?
- Can Gwaihir the Windlord stop Variant Saruman from defeating Gandalf?
- Does Gandalf the White still get defeated by Variant Saruman?
Fellowship Characters
- If Sam replaces Frodo in battle and loses, can Frodo retreat?
- Does Gimli defeat the Orcs when the Orcs attack him?
- Can Treebeard attack a Sauron character in Fangorn from another region?
- When can Sam take Frodo's place when Sauron attacks Frodo?
- Does variant Frodo's ability stop Sauron's text cards, such as the Eye of Sauron?
- When Sauron plays Magic against classic Gandalf, when does the Fellowship player choose a card?
- Can Aragorn attack into a region that already holds two Fellowship characters?
- Does variant Gandalf's +1 apply before a Magic card is resolved?
- Does variant Gandalf stay revealed after his power is used?
- Can Sam replace Frodo or use his strength-5 bonus when the Warg attacks Frodo?
- What strength does variant Sam have when Wormtongue attacks him?
Sauron Characters
- How often can the Orcs use their instant-defeat ability?
- Does the Orcs' instant defeat work when the region holds only one character?
- If the Orcs attack Frodo or Pippin, can the character retreat before the Orcs' instant defeat applies?
- What happens when the Orcs attack Boromir?
- What counts as an empty region for Uruk-Hai, Wormtongue, and The Dark of Mordor?
- Can a defeated Wormtongue retreat, and where can he go?
- What happens when Wormtongue is defeated by Boromir or by Noble Sacrifice?
- When can Mouth of Sauron replace his played card?
- What happens when Cave Troll is attacked and the Sauron player's card has no effect?
- Does the Warg cancel a Fellowship character's text ability when it attacks?
- Can a revealed Watcher still move, attack, or be recalled and move again?
- If variant Saruman forces a new Fellowship card after Sauron plays Magic, does the Magic still resolve?