Ares Games War of the Ring 2nd Edition Board Game

Product Information

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. Here once more you can also see the new size and quality of the Character and Event cards for both sides. As before, the game can be played as a two player or four player working in teams of twoand I must confess to much preferring to play two-player. However, this is very much a personal choice, mainly because I only tend to like such teaming of players on one side when there can still only be one winner. So, Wars of The Roses by Z-man Games and Ragnar Brothers' Promised Land are both games I hugely enjoy, whereas WOTR is definitely a 2 player for my money! Definitely! I’m no stranger to big war games after having played regular games of Twilight Imperium, dabbling in old classics like Warrior Knights, and loving an epic miniatures game when you have a free day. And with all that said, this has got to be one of the best out there. The mechanics used for your actions are the classic dice roll, requiring different symbols to be revealed to allow them to be spent as those actions. Sauron’s side start with more dice as they are more prepared to take the world by force. The Fellowship have an extra symbol on their dice that allows it to be spent as any other symbol, giving them more flexibility to react to impending doom! The game turn is broken down into 6 phases with most of the game occurring in the Action Resolution phase. The Fellowship of the Ring area with character guide cards. In the event any translated versions of the Anniversary Release are announced to become available, customers can choose to switch from the English version to another version free of charge.

Final Score: 5 Stars – A deep strategy area of control game with multiple aspects that keep it fresh and deserving of the Lord of the Rings brand. War of the Ring is an area control strategy war game based on the events of Lord of the Rings. The game plays best with two players, on one side is the Free Peoples, on the other are the forces of Shadow.Fellowship Phase: The FP can choose to declare the location of the fellowship, allowing them to potentially activate a nation, heal corruption damage, or change out their guide. If you’re a hardcore megafan of The Lord of the Rings, or just want a complex fantasy wargame to wrap your head around, this is easily the product for you. However, anyone not willing to put a considerable amount of time into learning rules and set up for a huge game should probably look elsewhere for their entertainment. Character Action: Move armies that contain a leader, move the special characters (Companions for FP, Minions for SP), or play a Character Event Card. FP can also use this action to move, hide, or split up the fellowship. Each side of the war has several factions, but these factions generally are only separated by the physical differences in the models, making it challenging to immediately tell at first glance which units belong in which spaces. Over time it is something you can get used to, but it really does make getting the game out, and convincing your friends to wait for you while you set it up, more of a challenge than it needed to be. Still, on the plus side, this means you won’t miss the convenience of color-coded models if you decide to paint them, but it’s still worth bearing in mind if you’re the sort of person who enjoys small quality-of-life design decisions.

If you aren’t a fan of Lord of the Rings and think playing one game for roughly 6 hours with only one friend (the rules allow 4, but it’s just two teams so it might not work as well) is a bit too much, then I wouldn’t advise it. The game is long and can be a bit dry when learning it/teaching it to others. All the counters and markers are of very sturdy cardboard and I particularly like the new squareArmy markers [which replace the former, smaller round ones]inscribed with elven script that can be used to replace large numbers ofunits that are then placed in the Army Holding boxes on the map. Beside the few physical changes, overall there have been very limited minor changes and additions to the rules- why change what was very good in the first place? 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. 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: As the Shadow player you lead the hordes of the Dark Lord and his most powerful minions as they try to bring darkness to Middle-earth. Legions of Orcs, Trolls, Wolfriders and the dreadful Ringwraiths await your command. Hunt the Ring-bearer and bring the precious Ring to his Master, or crush your enemies with your unstoppable armies.

Get in touch

War of the Ring is the greatest board game based on THE LORD OF THE RINGS™ ever created! WAR OF THE RING is a grand strategy board game that allows its players to immerse themselves in the world created by J.R.R. Tolkien and experience its epic action, dramatic conflict, and memorable characters. War of War of the Ring is an asymmetrical 2-player game where one person controls the evil forces of Sauron, called the Shadow, while the other plays the Free Peoples – the “good side” narratively speaking. While there are technically rules for multiplayer, like challenging a cave troll to an arm-wrestling contest, I highly recommend against it. How to Win: War vs Will