Review

War of the Ring is a new board game from Fantasy Flight Games. The game can be played with as many as four players, but is intended for two, where one player leads the "Free Peoples of Middle Earth", while the other controls the "Shadow Forces of Sauron ". For anyone who has seen the movies (or better yet, read the books) the basic idea is the same. The "good guys" want to defeat Sauron or destroy the One Ring, while Sauron wants to control all of Middle Earth, or recover his ring.

There is a lot to this game... here are the basics.

FROM THE BACK OF THE BOX:

"All about the hills the hosts of Mordor raged. The Captains of the West were foundering in a gathering sea. The sun gleamed red, and under the wings of the Nazgul the shadows of death fell dark upon the earth.

From the land of Mordor, the dark lord Sauron seeks to conquer Middle Earth and its people. To be sure of domination, he lacks only the One Ring, the master ring; the artifact that forms the very foundation of his power, but cut from his hand long ago."

When the game begins, the Free People Nations do not want to get involved in the war. The only way that they join the fray is if they are either attacked, or if one of the members of the Fellowship can persuade them to take up arms against the Forces of Shadow. As the Fellowship moves across the board (in secret) members can leave to rally troops and aid in the defense of Middle Earth.

When the members of the Fellowship split off they can act as "leaders" for armies and can influence a nation to enter into a war. The game has a "Political Track" that shows if a Nation is ready to fight in the War of the Ring or if they are remaining passive. In the beginning of the game the Fellowship moves about the board "in secret", causing all sorts of "goody-goody" mischief. However, Sauron is actively looking for his ring. Each round the Shadow player must expend some of his resources searching for The Fellowship and The One Ring.

The more characters in the Fellowship (that are still together) the more resources he can expend on "hunting" for the ring. So while the characters of the Fellowship can help, guide, and protect the Ring-Bearers, they also can increase the chance of being spotted. In order to win the game the Free Peoples player must rally troops and help defend Middle Earth. If Sauron captures too much land, he wins. They have to muster help from other nations... and still keep the ring safe.

While the Free Peoples have characters like Gandalf, Aragorn and Boromir... the Forces of Shadow have the Nazgul, The Mouth of Sauron, Saruman and The Witch King to lead the dark armies against the Fellowship and the Free Peoples. Like the "hero" characters they can lead armies, aid in battle, and use their abilities to influence the game.

There is a good amount of strategy and luck involved with this game.

FROM THE BACK OF THE BOX:

"Never suspecting a threat to the ring itself, Sauron fears above all that a mighty leader will emerge in the west with the power to wield the ring and threaten his dominion. Before such a threat can take shape, the lord of Mordor knows that he must strike fast and hard, quickly laying waste to all resistance.

The War of the Ring has begun!"

The game has both a "plot" resolution (the One Ring is destroyed or the Ring-Bearers are corrupted and join the side of Sauron), but there is also a military victory. If the forces of Mordor captures 10 (or more) victory points in settlements Sauron enslaves Middle Earth. If the Free People capture Shadow Stronghold Settlements worth four (or more) victory points they crush the Shadow Forces and the Fellowship is considered to have destroyed the ring.

The look of the game is OUTSTANDING. The plastic minis are finely detailed, the art is top-notch, gameplay is fun and the price (although nearly $60) is appropriate for this game.

There are only two issues I have with this game that robs it of a perfect score of 10.

1) The Rulebook and Quick Start rules... they are a bit oddly organized at places and need a few clarifications. The Quick Start rules are not needed at all.

2) Replay = Repeat... While it takes a few games... there are a few strategies that emerge that players will tend to repeat over and over since they help ensure victory

Despite these issues, I enjoyed the game. Over all I have to give War of the Ring a high recommendation.