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Board Game Reviews

Galaxy Trucker by Czech Games Edition 2007

Designer: Vlaada Chvátil

A long time ago there was a really bad movie called Space Truckers, it’s something of a cult classic now, but when I first heard about Galaxy Truckers the board game it instantly reminded me of that movie. In Galaxy Truckers players must construct space worthy ships using whatever spare components they can find and traverse the dangerous galaxy in hopes of delivering cargo to the other side of the galaxy. It’s a humorous, timed game that borders on being more a funny party game than anything you might take seriously. In fact, I’m not entirely sure there is any strategy to it at all, it’s really one of those games that is just for shits and giggles. You build your ship and hope it doesn’t fall apart on you before it reaches the goal line.

The game is broken down into two main phases. The construction phase and the flight phase. During the construction phase players are presented with individual gameboards, outlines of the ship they are going to build and a pile of tiles representing the many random components they can use to build their ships. Components include things like engines, weapons, shields, batteries, cabin quarters, cargo space and things of that nature. Spacy sounding stuff.

When a construction round begins players must as quickly as possible build there ship because a sand timer can be flipped over and started at any time by any player. Hence the faster you can build your ship the more pressure you can put on the other players. Once the timer is flipped and the time runs out the construction is immediately over.

If it wasn't for the timer constructing a functional ship would be easy, but since anyone can flip the sand timer at any time, you have to work fast.
If it wasn’t for the timer constructing a functional ship would be easy, but since anyone can flip the sand timer at any time, you have to work fast.

Constructing a functional ship under pressure is a lot harder than it sounds because each component has different types of connectors and you must construct the ship by fitting these different connectors to each other. There are three types of connectors and the square tiles have 4 sides, some sides don’t have any connectors at all. Now during the construction phase you can only grab one tile at a time, but you can grab as many as you like. Each time you want to pick up a new tile you must put the other one down, which in turn makes it available to other players. Hence the more tiles you don’t use the easier you make it for the other players to construct a functional ship. So the trick is to build quickly, efficiently and with as many of the components as you pick up.

Each component has a different function, batteries for example allow you to power different parts of your ships like shields, weapons and engines. You need crew to survive the flight so the more crew cabins you have the better. You need cargo space so that you can collect cargo so that you can earn money (the player with the most money at the end of the round wins). In essence you need a fast ship, well armed, with plenty of crew, well defended by shields with lots of cargo space. It’s a lot harder than it sounds, in fact, most of the time you end up with a half-cocked, lop sided mess that is barely space worthy.

There are three rounds in the game, the player with the most money at the end wins. Each round has you building a bigger ship.
There are three rounds in the game, the player with the most money at the end wins. Each round has you building a bigger ship.

Once everyone has constructed their ships its time for the race to begin. During the flight phase players will be using a deck of cards representing different hazards along their flight. Each turn a card is flipped over and players must deal with whatever horrific things space throws as them. This might be asteroids, pirates, abandoned stations, trade planets, events like disease outbreaks and all manner of things all designed to blow you out of your sky. You can use your weapons and shields to protect yourself, race to the front using your engines and pick up cargo with your cargo bays.

There are several expansions for the game which adds to the chaos but might over complicate the game. I prefer the simple base version but there is an anniversary edition that puts a couple of the expansions into a single box.
There are several expansions for the game which adds to the chaos but might over complicate the game. I prefer the simple base version but there is an anniversary edition that puts a couple of the expansions into a single box.

During your flight your ship is going to get hit by all manner of things (guns, asteroids etc..). As it does, pieces of your ship will break off (components). In order to complete the race your ship must survive, reach its destination and have at least one crew member when you get there. Largely the flight phase is kind of out of your hands, most of the things just “happen” to you and you can only hope that you did a good enough job during the construction phase that your ship will survive the hazards.

Galaxy Trucker is actually a pretty hilarious game, you naturally want to make sure the people who are going to play it with are in the right mood. If you’re looking for a serious strategy game, this isn’t it. This is a game you play for the sheer fun of it, almost like you would a dexterity game or a party game. This game has a lot of really great moments between the race to construct your ship and the race to the finish line. It falls in the same line as games like Formula D or Robo-Rally, the sort of thing you play just to have some laughs.

I really like this one, in fact, I was quite surprised how much praise it given it’s rather silly and random nature. Most of my gaming groups are at least semiserious and very few silly games hit the table, but this one has crept into our consciousness. It’s a very family friendly, really a great family board game night in a box.

Highly recommended if you want to break up the seriousness in your gaming group with a bit of silly fun.

Board Game Reviews

Kingsburg By Fantasy Flight Games 2007

Designers: Andrea Chiarvesio & Luca Iennaco

Euro games are hit and miss with me, that’s no secret if you read this blog, but I had heard about Kingsburg repeatedly from a number of sources, each more reputable than the next that Kingsburg was a really great game. I took the plunge this month, so here is your review.

Kingsburg is a game in which players take on the roles of governors who must gather resources, construct buildings and protect their investment. Most of the elements of this are fairly abstract, this is a very Euro game and largely handled through an interesting take on the worker placement mechanic.

It's a very pretty game and while busy, very clear, a trademark of Fantasy Flight Games organization and quality.
It’s a very pretty game and while busy, very clear, a trademark of Fantasy Flight Games organization and quality.

In Kingsburg, the game is broken down into 5 years, during which you have different seasons in which to act. Various events transpire but you are largely doing worker placement to gain resources and then constructing advantageous buildings all while scoring points. The worker placement mechanic is represented by 18 of members of the kings court (including the king and queen herself). During each season players will roll 3 (sometimes more) six sided dice and use those dice to purchase the favor of one or more of the members of the kings court. Doing so, earns you the benefit of that noblemen and of course as all worker placement games, blocks other players from claiming that spot.

For example if you roll a 3, 5 and 6, you could secure a higher member of the court for the full amount 14, or you could split the dice up and take several lower positions perhaps a 6 and 8 (3+5). The various buildings you construct during later phases can allow you to manipulate the dice results, there are ways to get additional dice and various other benefits all forming a pretty wide variety of strategies for this ultimately pretty simple worker placement game. There are other elements including raising armies to face the threat that comes at the end of each winter, ways to manipulate turn order and a few other little moving parts.

What you construct defines what sort of strategies will open themselves up to you. There are plenty of different ways to approach the game which is great for replay-ability.
What you construct defines what sort of strategies will open themselves up to you. There are plenty of different ways to approach the game which is great for replay-ability.

Ultimately though like most worker placement games it’s all about smart use of your workers, resource management and finding openings to score points since naturally the player with the most points at the end of the year wins the game.

I’ve got a few worker placement games under my belt now, including my favorite, Lords of Waterdeep. I really think Kingsburg stands out compared to most of the worker placement games I have played thanks to interesting inclusion of the dice into the mix, the many ways you manipulate the games positions and I in particular liked the fact that there was a lot more player interaction (which lacks in a lot of worker placement games). The board is really tight, in particular in a 4 or 5 player game so there is pretty stiff competition and the games are very clutch.

While the worker placement mechanic is driven by dice, it also drives the turn order while offering ample ways to mitigate dice rolls. It has randomness but you would have to be pretty unlucky consistently for it to have any impact.
While the worker placement mechanic is driven by dice, the dice also drives the turn order while the game offers ample ways to mitigate dice rolls. It has randomness but you would have to be pretty unlucky consistently for it to have any impact.

I’m not sure that the game did a particular great job of presenting the theme, though the theme itself is pretty vague. I think Kingsburg art helped it a great deal to make it aesthetically pleasing and the game board itself is incredibly functional with easy to read iconography.

I’m not entirely sure I can say I love Kingsburg, I think it’s a fine game, but it has not dethroned Lords of Waterdeep for me. It’s a pretty quick game and I like that and unlike Lords of Waterdeep, it plays quite well with just 3 players. My understanding is that the expansions is well worth getting though I’m not sure I like the base game enough to actually pick it up. I don’t have any particular beef with it, but like many Euro designs, Kingsburg lands in a kind of neutral area for me. It’s got a great spin on an already established mechanic, its production quality is high and I find it appeals a lot more to kids thanks to this art style and randomness of the dice mechanic. I think given the option I would still rather play Lords of Waterdeep but Kingsburg is not an altogether shabby alternative, though it certainly didn’t blow me away.

Gaming Articles

Games That Get Better With Time

One thing I can say about board games is that I like most of them at first. The truth is that board gaming as a hobby is actually less about the games for me and more about spending time with friends. It’s a social occasion, which is why I have never enjoyed playing games online (I have tried many times). The experience is just not the same.

That said however I do find that over time, most games I tire off. In fact, despite having played hundreds of games over the years, my actual collection is quite thin. I don’t hold onto games I don’t have an itching desire to play and the result is that there is a tremendous amount of culling of the collection that happens.

There are some games however that have made it into my collection and have proven themselves to have lasting power, some for over decades. Today I will talk a bit about some of these great old school games that, even though they didn’t make my top ten lists, I would never get rid of. It’s not so much that they are amazing games by today’s standards, though they are good in their own way, but it’s that they have a certain element to them that just makes them keepers for me.

Ikusa (Formally known as Milton Bradly’s Shogun or Samurai Swords)

This 1980’s classic has been in my collection since I started gaming nearly 30 years ago. It’s a game that hasn’t aged particularly well in light of modern mechanics and is often referred to as “RISK like” which has its own negative connotations to gamers. It’s a long game and it can be a bit mean given the potential for player elimination, but I still love it for its purity as a classic war game.

While many gamers consider dice chuckers like RISK to be beneath them, to me Ikusa has sufficient "extra's" to make it a quality strategic game. The fact that it looks amazing on the table is just a cherry on top.
While many gamers consider dice chuckers like RISK to be beneath them, to me Ikusa has sufficient “extra’s” to make it a quality strategic game. The fact that it looks amazing on the table is just a cherry on top.

There are many war games made today but very few of them go for the pure war mechanic. Most are filled with card play, overly complicated, have various euro style abstractions, some even go the gimmick route and while I like many of these games, classic RISK style dice chucker war games still appeal to me. I grew up on games like Fortress America, Axis and Allies and Ikusa.

Ikusa is actually seriously underrated as a board game even for today’s standards. It is a dice chucker for certain, but it has a pretty considerable depth to strategies that can be employed and there is far more to it than simply building units and fighting, there is a kind of sequence of events that transpires. First there is this war preparation period, the consolidation of troops, the choosing of battlefields, the defining of borders and alliances. In the second part of the game all hell breaks loose, pure chaotic war, when players make all of their big moves. Than in the final rounds there is that last man standing period where players get clever and try to push the limitations of their forces and prepare for the end game. The climatic finish usually comes in the form of two or three contending players fighting out a couple of critical make it or break battles that define the winner. It’s always clutch in the end and though usually a couple of players lose the war much earlier, there are always two or three contenders for the win in the final rounds.

The game can stagnate in the sense that these “periods” in the game can get pretty extensive, but it’s a war game made for gamers who are accustomed to 4 to 5 hour games. Faulting it for taking a long time is like faulting golf for being played over 18 holes instead of a more manageable 5. It’s part of the game and you kind of embrace it or don’t play it.

Ikusa has never disappointed me, it’s always fun to play and just easy enough to teach to anyone. While its mechanics have aged a great deal in comparison to some modern improvements in war games it still holds up quite well in my opinion and remains one of my favorite games to pull out for that pure war game itch. I actually love many of the old Milton Bradly classics but games like Axis and Allies and Fortress America are really two player games, Ikusa is the only one in that group that works well with multiple players and yes, it’s a far better alternative to RISK.

Ticket To Ride
I have never played a game of Ticket to Ride I didn’t enjoy. Despite its simplicity and casual nature, it’s one of those games that just finds its way to the table out of convenience. It’s so easy to teach, it’s very kid/family friendly and really requires very little of your attention so it makes for a good beer and pretzels, not too serious type of board game night. While light on the theme, it’s clearly a game about trains which I think is a topic that has always appealed to me.

Ticket to Ride is a simple game, doorway game that is perfect for introducing people to the hobby of board gaming. It's theme is attractive and strategies immediately apparent.
Ticket to Ride is a simple game, doorway game that is perfect for introducing people to the hobby of board gaming. It’s theme is attractive and strategies immediately apparent.

Despite this casual nature though the game has some mini depth, there is actually quite a few strategic options and if analyzed a little closer can actually get people involved on a higher than normal casual game level. It’s a doorway game one I played a decade ago and fully expect to still play a decade from now, it’s a staple game.

The Great Dalmuti

Simple trick taking card games like the Great Dalmuti are ideal for camping trips.
Simple trick taking card games like the Great Dalmuti are ideal for camping trips or as fillers.  It’s ability to handle larger amounts of players can allow it do double as a small after dinner party game.

A very simple trick taking card game it is THE game that goes into a backpack on any road trip, camping trip or anywhere else where I might find myself with a group of bored friends wanting to relax and pass the time. There are many such games out there but The Great Dalmuti is definitively a social game and plays as well with 4 players as it does with 8 players. It has this addictive nature to it, I’ve never introduced it to any group who ended up only playing it once, it always gets repeated plays and over the years I have had to replace my copy 3 times because of wear and tear. Great, simple game, an old stand-by classic.

REX (Formally DUNE)
A long time ago when I first got into board gaming on a bit higher level there was a game based on the beloved franchise DUNE (called not surprisingly DUNE). It’s a quasi-war game, though it plays more like chess where multiple players fight to control of the thematic spice planet. Each player had unique and very different special powers depending on which house they represented. With immense replay ability, great strategic depth and a lot of intrigue, negotiation and surprises, its one of those games that I vividly remember playing.

REX is a really deep game, but relatively simple to teach. It's not really a war game, but there is plenty of conflict via intrigue, diplomacy and bluffing.
REX is a really deep game, but relatively simple to teach. It’s not really a war game, but there is plenty of conflict via intrigue, diplomacy and bluffing.

When the game was reprinted using the Twilight Imperium Franchise I naturally jumped on the opportunity to revisit it and while a bit different than Dune, REX is just as good and carries the game thematically just as well as the old classic.

REX is relatively easy to teach, but it is definitively a gamers game, in fact, I find most people either absolutely love it, or absolutely despise it. It can be a rather infuriating game because there is so many things to consider and the human element has such an enormous impact on the outcome of the game. It’s a purely strategic game with no luck element and is perhaps one of the most balanced games I have ever played. Absolutely fantastic and the truth is that if I had the opportunity to play it more often it would very likely creep it’s way to my top 10 list. If you find a likeminded group who appreciates intrigue games, REX can be a beautiful thing.

Illuminati
Steve Jackson is a notorious game designer, notorious because his games are always very different than anything that has come before it. Whether it’s GURPS and its focus on realism, Munchkin which pokes fun at other games or Illuminati, quite possibly one of the meanest and infuriating games you will ever love to play.

A cult classic, a pain to teach and kind of mean, its one of those games I love to play with people who already know how to play and love it to. Teaching it to new players is a real bitch.
Not a game I play often, definitely a “gamers” game-

Illuminati no doubt deserves far more praise from me than I give it, but the truth is that I haven’t played it for years. It’s main drawback is that Illuminati is a bit mathi and it’s a bit difficult to teach. Those two flaws however when overcome like a lot of great complex games, results in a fantastic gaming experience. It’s pure brutality, but it’s so well balanced and so fun to watch people squirm. It’s one of those games where you have “I can’t believe you just did that” moments.

It’s in the same category as Race For The Galaxy for me and see’s little play for the same reason, I love playing it, but hate teaching people how to play it. It’s been in my collection for over a decade, built into its gameplay are nostalgic memories of friends from years ago I miss very much. A game I never see myself getting rid of.

Carcassonne

There are many expansions for this game, but for me personally the simplicity and elegance of the base game makes this a perfect warm up game. I'm always happy to play it, though I would be hard pressed to give you a good reason, its just fun.
There are many expansions for this game, but for me personally the simplicity and elegance of the base game makes this a perfect warm up game. I’m always happy to play it, though I would be hard pressed to give you a good reason, its just fun.

I don’t know why this game lingers as it does, it’s really kind of simplistic and while the expansions (of which there are many) add a lot of variety, I rarely ever play anything but the base game. I suppose it’s got that “Monopoly” thing where it’s a game everyone knows, requires little explanation and is quick to play. I don’t love it but always enjoy playing it, there is no denying its appeal as a simple, quick game.

Board Game Reviews

Lords of Waterdeep by Wizards of the Coast 2012

Designers: Peter Lee, Rodney Thompson

I really love it when American companies and American designers put Euro mechanics into their games because the result is usually the best of both worlds. You get the thematic fun factor of Ameritrash games and you get the cleverness of Euro style mechanics. Some of my most beloved games are blending’s of American and European design’s, for example Fantasy Flights Twilight Imperium 3rd edition. Lords of Waterdeep is also such a game, a worker placement game thick with Euro design but layered with the fantastic Dungeons and Dragons franchise from the Wizards of fantasy themselves.

In Lords of Waterdeep you take on the role of one of the many powerful lords in the city of splendors, vying for control of the city through dirty politics, economic exploits and back alley deals. While this theme is prevalent visually through the use of Intrigue and quest cards, like most worker placement games it’s a thin visual layer rather than a mechanical link to the games theme. Sure you’re a Lord of Waterdeep, you have a card that represents who you are tucked away throughout the game that has a special mission for you but at the end of it all it’s a game about scoring points through the management of resources. This game could have easily been done with pretty much any theme you can think of, D&D however was a very good choice as it’s visually pleasing and familiar to most gamers. As a D&D fan, it really did it for me.

To win the game you must score points and like Caylus where much of the design was borrowed there are quite a few ways to do this. It’s all about those little workers representing the very limited resource you have to work with. The player that manages them the best will win the game.

Each round players will place one of their workers on spots on the gameboard represented by different parts of the city. Each spots yields a resource of some sort or allows you to take some sort of action. Typically you earn different types of resource cubes that technically represent mercenaries you hire (Wizards, Fighters, Clerics etc..). Some spots earn you money, others allow you to draw or play intrigue cards. One of the spots gets you the all-important first player token that will give you first dibs on the board the following round, while others allow you to draw quest cards which when completed by turning in the required resources earn you points. You can also place your workers on the only construction spot which lets you add buildings to the board, those buildings become new spots for workers expanding the types of actions players can take in the future, but each time someone uses that spot the player who owns the building gets a reward which is typically more points or resources.

If this looks like a Euro game to you, it's because it very much is.
If this looks like a Euro game to you, it’s because it very much is.

The key to the game is completing quests. Quests come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes from mini quests that earn you 4 or 5 points, to mega quest that can earn you 25+ points. Each quest requires a different amount of resources to complete, so managing your workers to earn those resources, to fill your quests is the most critical way to earning points. However these quests once completed often give you new special powers as well that have lasting effects so there are other advantageous to be gained for completing quests aside from points.

Finally there are the intrigue cards which are a vital interaction between players and create a great deal of tension and sometimes outright hostility. It’s how you can impact the plans of other players and it’s very effective. Often playing a single intrigue card can prevent all of your opponents from completing a quest in any given round, so if used wisely, intrigue cards can lead you to victory.

Lords of Waterdeep takes a lot of its design from the classic worker placement game Caylus, having the same level of strategic depth, but with less complexity. This worker placement game is in fact so easy that you can setup and start playing without explaining the rules and simply learning to play on the run. That in itself makes Lords of Waterdeep a far superior game to the much more difficult to teach/learn Caylus. I think the most attractive element of Lords of Waterdeep is that it’s really tight, every decision you make, every round is a tough one, but the game (when no one is suffering from analysis paralysis) moves very quickly. It’s one of the few games I have ever played that says 60 minutes to play and the game can actually take 60 minutes, even in a five player game.

The theme is thin, but the art style does give you some sense of place.
The theme is thin, but the art style does give you some sense of place.

I think in terms of worker placement, Lords of Waterdeep is probably one of my favorites right now. It’s worth mentioning that while the base game is great, the expansion, Scoundrels of Skullport adds a tremendous level of depth to the game and really pushes this into the love it category for me. It’s really a must have. Scoundrels of Skullport adds new spots on the board, new buildings, new intrigue cards and new quests, but it also adds the new mechanic corruption. Corruption effectively allows players to take advantage of more powerful effects via buildings, worker placement spots and card (quest and intrigue), but using them earns you corruption which are worth minus points at the end of the game. The trick is that the more corruption there is in the city (the more players get them) the more minus points each corruption is worth. There are ways to give players corruption and get rid of your own. This creates yet another level of hostility and competition between the players, it really becomes a knife fight in a phone booth. It’s wonderful and any fan of Lords of Waterdeep should consider their game incomplete without the expansion, it’s that good.

2012 was really a great year for board gaming, we got Star Wars X-Wing, Descent 2nd edition, Robinson Crusoe, REX, Android Netrunner. It was just amazing and Lords of Waterdeep very deservingly should have it’s name mentioned in that list. It would easily make my top 10 of 2012 and if it wasn’t for that damned Star Wars X-Wing I would seriously be considering it for the number one spot, that is how much I like it.

Highly recommend, in particular if you’re a fan of Caylus, this game will easily replace that game for you. I’m not sure I would consider it a good game based on the theme alone though, it’s quite thin so for D&D fans who played other Peter Lee & Rodney Thompson from some of their previous D&D games you should know that the theme is quite thin. This is not so much a good D&D game as it is just a great worker placement game. It’s greatness is firmly in its mechanical design and the clever interaction between players. It’s a no brainer for me, this is a game that deserves previous shelf space.

Board Game Reviews

War Of The Rings By Ares Games 2004

Designers:  Roberto Di Meglio, Marco Maggi, Francesco Nepitello

War of the Ring is a two player game (though there are some gibberish rules for 3 or 4 players) that depicts the epics story that is The Lord of the Rings.  One player takes the side of the free people’s of middle-earth on a quest to defend the realm while the fellowship of the ring attempts to carry the one ring of power to Mount Doom while the other player takes on the evil forces of Sauron trying to crush the people of middle-earth and re-claim the ring of power.  In a nutshell you are effectively re-writing the history of the Lord of the Rings story in the form of an epic board game with every finite detail from the books and movies imaginable built into the mechanics.

To say that War of the Ring is anything but one of the most thematic games ever made would be a major understatement.  It IS the story of the Lord of the Rings and every mechanic, every card, every action and every nuance of the game reeks of the middle-earth theme.  I have played many Lord of the Rings board games, card games and miniatures games but none come even close to capturing the story with as much gusto and detail as War of the Rings.  War of the Rings however isn’t just an amazing re-telling of the story in board game form, it’s actually mechanically one of the most intuitive two player board games I have ever played.  The game is epic in scale, which means that you can expect a game to last at least 4 hours. There is no question that to tell a story like that of Middle-Earths great conflict depicted in the Lord of the Rings books and movies, nothing short of epic board game would do it justice and as such it’s one of the very few long games I think is worth every moment of time spent playing it.

A collectors edition exists for true fans, though the hefty price tag will likely have you running for the hills.
A collectors edition exists for true fans, though the hefty price tag will likely have you running for the hills.

There are many clever way’s the story is depicted mechanically in the game, most notably the all-important story of the fellowship of the ring.  From movement of the fellowship itself, with the evil forces always at their heels, the corruption of the ring and how each character and villain is represented with his own card and figure, all making plays as the fellowship moves towards Mount Doom.  You have a clear sense of the journey, an important part of the story.  These characters are used to support the fellowship itself in various ways but can leave the fellowship for various tasks like rallying the people of middle-earth or even directly leading critical battles on the game board.  Suffice to say that these mechanics, the characters, they all do what you hope they could in this game, giving the characters of the Lord of the Rings story as much relevance in the great war as they do in the books.

Then there are the amazing event cards, each depicting scenes and story elements of the books and movies, tied to the mechanical advantages they yield to each player, ones that feel thematically correct, each more epic than the last.  These cards not only help to tell the tale but there use is critical to each side winning the game as they depict important events in the story, they also bestow powerful advantages.  Often despite the great war happening on the army filled map of middle-earth that is the game board these cards turn battles with a single play and sway the flow of power.

Finally there is the amazing use of specialty dice, the precious resource that determines what sorts of actions will be available to you from round to round.  While sometimes unwieldy, the dice themselves shift the focus of the game and allow for maneuvers, tactical and strategic decisions that give each game despite being setup identically each time a completely unique feel.  Each play of the game ends up being definitively a different version of the story as a result.  It’s often like watching the movies but with alternative story arches that pull you towards unique side story’s you would not expect, but still fit like a puzzle piece into the story and the game as a whole.  It’s amazing how in each game I have played different area’s become the focal parts of the story.

You also have events being tracked via the very important political tracker, which is a critical element to the game making things much more difficult for the free peoples player.  In essence most of the nations in the game are reluctant to join the war and this political track represents this element of the story in the game.  This basically means that despite the evil player being able to quickly push his forces to war and start raising armies, as the free people’s player you must first rally all the nations to the cause before you can take advantage of the weight of their armies.  This is difficult and forces the free peoples player to make hard choices between using his companion characters to protect the ring, or to send them out to rally the nations to war (yes just like in the books!).  Yet another wonderful mechanic that puts the players to making endless streams of important decisions while always thematically bringing out the Lord of the Rings story.

The question of balance (equal chance of winning) is often discussed in this game and I will grant the nay sayer’s that the Free People of Middle Earth side is a bit tougher to win with, at least in the sense that the war itself is obviously rigged. The free people have a limited amount of time to succeed in getting the ring to Mount Doom before they are crushed by the forces of evil militarily.  The evil forces outnumber you greatly and have an unlimited re-supply of combat units that floods the board turn after turn.   It so happens now and again that the evil player blunders by mismanaging his resources opening the window to make a rare military victory but in most games the free people must get the ring to Mount Doom and they must do so under the overwhelming forces of evil.  It’s tough, perhaps tougher to win for the free people but the more you learn about the nuances of the game the less impact this slight imbalance has on game play.  Two veteran players of the game stand a pretty equal chance of winning in my opinion, the divergence comes largely from inexperienced players as the actions of the player controlling the evil forces of Sauron has more room to make errors than the free peoples player.

I think the main difference between playing the two sides is that one player, the free peoples player dictates the direction of the game for both players.  Another words  if the free peoples player focuses on moving the fellowship, his opponent must respond, if the free peoples player gets aggressive with cards, the opponent must respond, if the free peoples player gets aggressive in the war, again, his opponent must respond.  In a way whenever the forces of Sauron lead the action by pushing a strategy not opposing the one the free people’s player is deploying, they are at a disadvantage as any action that isn’t a direct response to the tactics of the Free People player will typically result in him having a very easy time of executing it successfully.  As such one side is more responsive while the other directs the action.

A good example is moving the ring.  The Sauron forces player must dedicate his action dice to the hunt, if he does not, the result can be that the Fellowship moves very quickly to Mount Doom unharmed.  If he does however commit action dice to the hunt, he gets fewer actions which in turn buys the people of middle-earth time to rally their forces as the free peoples player can simply choose not to move the fellowship if it’s too dangerous without affecting his action dice resources.  As such, the evil forces must be wary of what the good people of middle-earth are trying to accomplish and making smart decisions when to try to block a strategy and when to recognize it as a rouse to buy time.

The strategic elements and choices players in the course of the game make create an amazing array of cause and effect, it’s almost a game that combines bluffing and miss direction at times, where you make sacrifices to get your opponents attention in one place as you sneak it an action that will help you win in the long term.  The subtlety and nuances of this game take time to pick, it’s very likely that if you play against someone who has played before you may play several games before you can beat him.  It’s worth the trip however, as the game rewards you over and over with amazing story’s of that time when you played War of the Rings.

If it’s not only clear that this game gets my highest recommendation, than let me re-affirm it, if you love the Lord of the Rings as much as I do, this game belongs in your collection.  There are no better games on the market that depict the Lord of the Rings story, in fact, this one is so far ahead of the pact you will find that once you play this, all other Lord of the Rings games seem very flat by comparison.

One game to rule them all, War of The Rings.