Tidings of War

Tidings of War was released in 2003 as part of The Hobbit expansion for the Decipher Middle-earth Collectible Card Game. The set was designed to bring the narrative focus back to Bilbo Baggins and the events of the earlier Third Age, following the game's initial concentration on The Fellowship of the Ring. As a card within this release, it reflects the game's mechanics of translating J.R.R. Tolkien’s lore into tactical play, emphasizing the gathering of information and the impending threats faced by the company of dwarves.

The art and design of the set were heavily influenced by the visual identity established by the contemporary New Line Cinema film adaptations. Decipher utilized a mix of promotional imagery and original illustrations to capture the tone of Middle-earth. Tidings of War, like many cards of its era, was well-received by the active competitive community for its integration into specific deck archetypes, helping to solidify the game's reputation for deep, thematic mechanical design that required players to balance resource management with character-driven narrative moments.