You'd think I would know this with all the times I've played this game, but I blanked on it when it came up the other day and can't seem to find the definitve rule:

Gandalf the White will grant the FP player and extra Action Die; the Witch King similarly grants the SP an extra die.

When playing with the expansion, Galadriel and the Balrog do the same thing, respectively, if they are deployed when Gandalf/Witch King are not in play. In other words, only one extra die is acquired for each pair of these characters. My confusion is this: The rules for the Action Pool (pg 26) state that " Both the Shadow and the Free Peoples player lose the additional die if the corresponding Character is eliminated. "

So if say, Galadriel and GtW are both in play, and one of them is eliminated, do you lose the Action Die? Or is it only if both are eliminated?

Similarly, if Galadriel enters play (gain the AD) and is then eliminated (lose the AD); and then GtW enters play, do you get the AD back?

Thanks.

The rule you quoted is for the base game without using Galadriel or the Balrog.

In the event that you have both Galadriel and GtW in play, you would not lose the action die if only one were eliminated. The same goes for the Balrog and the Witch King.

If Galadriel is in play and then eliminated, her action die would be lost. However, the FP could regain the action die by bringing in GtW.

Thanks for your response.

I know the rule I quoted was from the base game. But there was no rule from the expansion (that I could find) that covered the scenarios I mentioned. The closest was " While Gandalf the White/the Witch-king is in play, Galadriel/the Balrog does not add one die to the Shadow Action Pool ." Not that helpful.

I agree with your answers and that's the way I have always played it. I was just wondering if there was a rule/FAQ I could site to support it?

I don't think it's stated in the FAQ, but it's been discussed on the forums at BBG, here and here .

You'll notice that the answer was thumbed by Krieghund, the WotR Answer Guy in the first link.

In the second link, Veldrin (aka the WotR FAQ Guy) states: If the W-K also is in the game the Balrog will not take the extra Action die with him when he dies.

This is true for all Character/Minions who share an Action Die.

While this situation isn't addressed directly in the rules, it is covered by them. When Galadriel is played, the Free Peoples player gains an additional Action Die on the next turn. When Gandalf the White is played, the rule on Galadriel's Character card kicks in, so she no longer adds a die. Technically, the Free Peoples player loses the die for Galadriel and gains the die for Gandalf, but this is a wash from a practical point of view, as both events occur simultaneously.

If Gandalf then is eliminated, his die is eliminated with him, but Galadriel immediately adds her die, since Gandalf is no longer in play. Again, this is a wash for practical purposes. If Galadriel is eliminated while Gandalf is still in play, no die is lost because she is not providing one. Either way, the total number of Action Dice in play will not be reduced unless both Characters are eliminated.