History Main / WarOfTheRing

''War of the Ring'' is a 2003 ''LordOfTheRings'' RealTimeStrategy game by LiquidEntertainment. Though overshadowed by the later ''BattleForMiddleEarth'' and its sequel, ''War of the Ring'' still remains a decent game of its own. Unlike the aforementioned other game, ''War of the Ring'' is based on the books rather than the films (though some film references always slip in).

!!''War of the Ring'' gives examples of:
* TheAlliance: The good side.
* AllWebbedUp: Some rangers in the Pursuit of Gollum mission have been webbed up, kill the spiders and cut them loose to get the on your side.
* AnAxeToGrind: Dwarf Axe-Throwers and Beornings, as well as Gimli, of course.
* BaselessMission: There are some, including The Pursuit of Gollum and Helm's Deep.
* BoisterousBruiser: [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Dwarf]] Axe-Throwers and Shieldbreakers. And Gimli.
* CombatMedic: Beornings can both heal allies and cut down orcs with their axes. Aragorn can also use his healing skill on his allies.
* ConstructAdditionalPylons: The good side uses traditional buildings for population, but the evil side uses slavemaster units.
* TheCorruption: The evil side must build their structures on corruption, which is spread by war posts summoned by slavemasters. The Lord of the Nazgûl (the Witch-King) has an ability that allows him and nearby wraiths/nazgûl to teleport to any corruption on the map.
* DarkActionGirl: Saleme the Haradrim huntress.
* DrillSergeantNasty: Your instructor in the evil tutorial is like this.
* DropTheHammer: Dwarf Shieldbreakers.
* DualWielding: Dwarf Axe-Throwers fight with two axes if they get in melee range, and Haradrim Slayers use twin scimitars.
* EliteMook: Orc Captains.
* GiantMook: Trolls.
* GiantSpider: The spiders of Mirkwood, serving the evil side.
* HeKnowsAboutTimedHits: The fourth wall is absent in the tutorials.
* HeroMustSurvive: Almost always present in campaign missions.
* HeroUnit: Both sides have them, representing major characters in the story. They are summoned with Fate points (except in the campaign), and usually have abilities unlockable with further Fate points. Like in WarcraftIII they become more powerful as they level up and can be re-recruited without experience loss if slain (unless empowered with the Heroic Legacy good side Fate power).
* HoldTheLine: The Helm's Deep mission consists of several, culminating in a ten-minue stand against Saruman's army before reinforcements arrive.
* LostSuperweapon: The Ancient Catapult of the dwarves early in the good campaign. Not as old or lost as most examples, but certainly a superweapon.
* TheLostWoods: Mirkwood.
* [[OminousLatinChanting Ominous]] BlackSpeech [[OminousLatinChanting Chanting]]: The One Ring inscription is chanted in the intro, and during the evil campaign.
* ProtectionMission: The Lórien mission has two huge mallorn trees that can keep the orcs out of the forest. In order to reactivate their power the Fellowship must first take control of both and then protect them until they power up (beware, the timer resets if you lose one of them).
* SummonMagic: The good side can summon an ent, the evil side a balrog.
* TacticalRockPaperScissors: Normal units have one of three weapon types, each one effective against another in a classical rock-paper-scissors cycle. Heroes have their own, effective against all three normal types.
* TechTree: Your Stronghold/Fortress of Mordor can be upgraded several steps, each giving access to more buildings, including buildings where you can research upgrades for a particular group of units.
* TheUndead: The evil side can train wraiths, those slain by dark magic like Morgul-blades. They are weak in combat, but are invaluable support units for their detection ability (and later also the ability to conjure obscuring darkness). The Lord of the Nazgûl can use one of his abilities to turn one of them into a nazgûl (with a limit of eight at any one time), and bring them with him when he uses his shadow walk ability to teleport to areas affected by TheCorruption. GameplayAndStorySegregation prevents any of the nazgûl from actually creating wraiths, though.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Beornings can shapeshift into bears.
--> '''Gimli:''' 'Tis a man-bear!
* WhenTreesAttack: Huorns and summoned ents.
* WorkerUnit: Present on both sides, behaving like worker units typically do.
* YouRequireMoreVespeneGas: The two main resources are Food and Ore. There is also Fate, used to recruit heroes and use certain powers.
* ZergRush: The evil side's goblin units are both cheap, fast to train, and weak, as well as trainable from the resource dropoff building. Perfect for a rush.

* ProtectionMission: The Lorien mission has two huge mallorn trees that can keep the orcs out of the forest. In order to reactivate their power the Fellowship must first take control of both and then protect them until they power up (beware, the timer resets if you lose one of them).