board generally 4 feet long and 4 feet wide (16 square feet, or 1.486 square meters), usually deployed within 6 inches of opposite board edges. Similar to Warhammer Fantasy, the game uses a "points-system" to assign values to each miniature, allowing players to ensure that their armies are evenly matched. The game is primarily a skirmish game, but can be played in varying scale: Scenario - These are based on an event in the book or film, and the armies are predetermined and fought using Special Scenario-specific Rules. Points Match - These are played between two forces of equal size, generally of 500 Points each (which is usually no more than 50 miniatures per side). War Party - This is a stricter form of the Points Match, using forces of no more than 250 Points. Battle Company - This is an experience-based system which is played out with no more than 25 miniatures. The turn-system game was played using four phases originally, but is now played using five under the current rules: Priority Phase - The players roll dice to see who gets to take their Turn first. Move Phase - The players move their miniatures (to a maximum distance that is usually 6 inches). "Magic" (e.g. "Compel") is also used during this phase. Shoot Phase - Missile-armed miniatures can shoot. Fight Phase - Dice are rolled for each group of miniatures in base contact with each other to see which wins the combat. End Phase - Reinforcements arrive, as well as general book-keeping While the game is designed usually for play by only two players (as the force lists are divided into "Good" and "Evil"), very large battles (generally with more than 100 models each side) become easier to manage with multiple players working together on teams. Troop types There are two types of troops: Warriors and Heroes. Heroes have characteristics which set them apart from the Warriors they lead, and can be named or unnamed characters: Aragorn, Frodo, Captains, etc. Warriors are the core of the army: Warriors of Harad, Riders of Rohan, Men of Gondor, etc. Each army must be either Good or Evil, and can only include miniatures from that side (each model is named in the rules as being either Good or Evil). As Tolkien's world is very rich in detail, players generally prefer to base their armies around one of the following themes: The