“Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men, doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.”
Dohdle’s Review of War of the Ring (Second Edition):
WARNING: This review contains slight spoilers of gameplay, and of event cards that may occur in your game. This review may also cause you to spend money. You have been warned.
Published: 2012
Playtime: 3 – 5 hours with 2 players; (4 – 6 with 4 players)
Classification: Ameri-trash Wargame
Amount of Plays Thus Far: 12
Source taken from: https://jamesplaysgames.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/2013-08-...
“The board is set, the pieces are moving. We come to it at last, the great battle of our time.” - <PERSON>
War of the Ring is a thematic war-game set in <PERSON> Masterpiece. Drawing heavily from inspiration from the books and movies, no other board game, nor video game has managed to capture the feel, theme or scope of the War in the 3rd Age, waged between the Dark Lord Sauron and the Forces of the Free People of Middle Earth (Hereon referred to as Free People). On BoardGameGeek, it is rated the no.3 most thematic game of all time, challenged only by the colossal Titans that are Star Wars: Rebellion (also an absolutely terrific thematic war game) and Pandemic Legacy Season 1. The game is built up on inspiration from the books and from the movie-verse, with tight mechanics that are built from the ground up to reflect the narrative perfectly. The power of this game is through the narrative it creates, weaving a story as the forces of Middle Earth clash in an epic struggle, the grim determination of the Free People to hold onto their lands and their strongholds, the long and treacherous journey of the fellowship, and the overwhelming power of the Dark Lord’s war machine bent on the subjugation and annihilation of all living things.
Gameplay:
The game is built from the ground up with 2 ways for each side to achieve victory each.
Evil Victory 1: Corrupt the Ringbearers (will get to this later in the review)
Evil Victory 2: Achieve 10 victory points (by taking over cities and strongholds)
Free People Victory 1: Destroy the One Ring
Free People Victory 2: Achieve 4 victory points
The game makes complete thematic sense, except for one of the Free People's victory conditions to try and achieve 4 victory points. This is one of the few negatives to this game, as the rulebook puts it 'Sauron is banished from Middle Earth.' Thematically, this doesn't make sense, although if you look through the literature and rich lore of Middle Earth, you will note that the White Council (<PERSON>, <PERSON>, <PERSON> etc.) did attack Dol Guldur and in a way 'banish' <PERSON> from the place. Besides this one way to win, the other victory conditions make perfect sense. 200
This is one of the few knocks on this game.
Evil wins the game by either corrupting the <PERSON> (through hunting for the Ring, whereby if the ringbearers move and Evil has committed dice to searching for the ring, then there is a possibility a hunt tile is drawn).
The game takes place just as the Fellowship departs from Rivendell (There is an alternative starting scenario available from Ares Games Website of the aftermath of <PERSON>). <PERSON> and <PERSON> are aptly represented by 1 figure only, showing their unbreakable bond. The other companions of the fellowship are free to the player's whims. This creates a series of ‘what if’s. What if <PERSON> decided to go to Lorien to rally the elves, or if <PERSON> headed to Erebor to rouse the powerful dwarves. What if <PERSON> did not fall in Moria, but instead led <PERSON> all the way to the very peaks of Mt Doom. Or if <PERSON> survived, and helped defend Minas Tirith. The power in this game is the unlimited replayability in actions, and in what narrative scenarios you can create. To further strengthen the replay-ability, event cards crop up. In a 2 player game, each player draws 1 event card from 2 separate decks, where even more of these 'what if' scenarios occur. 17