Ares Games War of the Ring 2nd Edition Board Game

Product Information

Special Actions: The FP’s “Will of the West” is a wildcard that can be set to any other face, while the SP’s “Eye” is added to the hunt box. (more on hunting later) More Key Concepts Against this onslaught, the Free Peoples player leads an allegiance of Elves, Dwarves, the riders of Rohan, men of Gondor, and men from the North—a fragile union trying to defend the last free realms of Middle-earth, and to gain precious time to allow the success of the Quest of the Ring-bearers. It has been awhile since I’ve played the FFG version, so I had to go through and relearn the specifics for this one all over again. As I mentioned, it is not a simple game. There are many rules and little things to remember. There are two player aids, but you will still find yourself paging through the rules for the first few games. You can rely on common sense for the most part. For example, you can’t recruit troops into a stronghold that is under siege, duh!

The second victory condition involves the more canonical element of the “one ring.” If at any time Frodo reaches the final space of Mt. Doom, casting the ring into the fire, or if he becomes too corrupted by said ring, the game is instantly over, with either the FP or SP respectively emerging triumphant. How to Play:In 2004 we saw the release of a new War of the Ring from NG International (Nexus) and published in the USA by Fantasy Flight Games. It was a beautiful game, complex, and had victory conditions achievable by either side. War of the Ring is everything a fan of Lord of the Rings could want in a board game. It has strategic warfare where heroes can lead forces to victory and the legendary fortresses and cities from the stories will have a huge impact in battle. War of the Ring also has the hope of the free peoples pinned to the ringbearers reaching Mount Doom. The cat and mouse chase for the Ring keeps each turn exciting and influences a lot of macro decisions when armies are being recruited and moved. War of the Ring is a 2 to 4 player area of control and hidden movement game that takes about 2 hours to play. War of the Ring captures the epic battles between good and evil featured in the Lord of the Rings and the perilous quest of the fellowship of the ring as they try to avoid the Nazgul on their way to destroy the ring in Mt. Doom. Gameplay Overview: Ares also announced that it has plans to release the first expansion for the Lord of the Rings hidden movement game Hunt for the Ring, Light and Shadow, this year, following the game’s release in 2017. Following Frodo’s journey from the Shire to Rivendell as he’s chased by the Nazgul at the beginning of Fellowship of the Ring, the two-chapter game can be played as a prologue to War of the Ring, with specific gameplay implications.

While armies clash, the nine Companions of the Fellowship of the Ring travel towards the very heart of the domains of the Dark Lord—Mount Doom—to destroy the One Ring in the Mountain of Fire. Beyond the military conflict side is the quest of the Fellowship of the Ring to get to Mount Doom and throw the ring into the fires, destroying the power of the dark lord forever. The Fellowship consists of all of the characters from the books and movies, at least in the beginning. You may lose companions along the way, or they could be forced to leave to try to save another part of Middle Earth from the unrelenting march of the Shadow’s armies. Face the evil minions of Sauron on the field of battle in a desperate attempt to delay their onslaught, while you lead the Fellowship of the Ring in the Quest for Mount Doom.

War of the Ring: Pre-orders for Kings of Middle-earth expansion are open

What is it in WOTR that achieves this success? For me, it is the perfect mixture of the following vital elements. Conventional area movement, combat and sieges. Character figures with functions that inevitably mirror the break-up of the Fellowship as individuals need to be sent to rouse the Free Peoples and bring them in to the war. The separate journey of the Ring-Bearers with its hidden element and the accompanying Hunt for the Ring. Just as in thebooks the One Ring binds them all,so in the game the Action dice brings together all these elements. The limitations and uncertainty of these Action dice and what potential Actions can be taken that turn combine with the Event cards that each offer a dual choice. Thismakes for the variety and multiplicity of choices in a game that I value highly in any game of substantial weight and is central to my enjoyment in playing the game. An interesting aspect of the game is how different named characters, or the ring bearer, can activate and move different armies to a war footing. We really enjoyed that the heroes (or the conflict itself) had to move different Middle Earth nations to war. The action dice for both good and evil. What you roll will dictate what actions you take. Play is compelling and challenging, and the experience really does immerse the players in Middle Earth and bring to life various events and characters. The use of action dice means that each player has to make decisions as to which action to take depending on what face of the die is rolled. This can be things like move armies and start battles, play an event card, hunt for the ring, move the fellowship or a character in it and so on. Usually there is more than one thing which can be done with a die, so there are always decisions to take. This is highlighted superbly in War of the Ring by the game mechanics of moving the Fellowship. While we know canonically that the party starts at Rivendell, the journey that the Fellowship takes is primarily in secret. This is accomplished by a very clever set of mechanics. The board is a beautiful depiction of Middle Earth. The character and event cards really bring the theme of the game to life, the figures are solid if nothing special, and the action dice mechanic forces players to constantly make decisions based on what actions are possible.