I bought this game long ago when it came out and have never actually played due mainly to the fact that I moved, boxed it up and actually forgot I had it. Recently I got a call from my old man who told me, hey I found this game in a box and low and behold I own War of the Rings.

Anywho, I'm getting ready to dust it off and introduce it to my gaming group. We have been looking for a couple of games to fill the 2 player spot (We recently got Tide of Irons as well).

Anyway i was hoping to get some feedback on the balance of the game, specifically I would like to know.

1. Is the game balanced as a whole (another words does either side have an equal chance of winning or does the game lean to one side or the other).

2. What suggested house rules to compensate for mechanics that are less then stellar does the community use ?

3. Is the expansion a 'must have' or is the base game good in its own right? I ask because I have found with FFG games that expansions are more often the not 'fixes' for a game.. An example is Twilight Imperium which without the expansion is a pretty poorly constructed game, but the expansion makes it double platnium.

4. Finally what category of gaming is this game? It seems to be kind of a cross between war game and adventure game. Does it lean more to one side or the other?

Thanks for any replies

Gamer4Life said:

Gamer4Life said:

Gamer4Life said:

Gamer4Life said:

It's more of a wargame, but the Fellowship mechanic makes it a very untraditional one.

1. The game, on it's own, is reasonably balanced if players don't think too hard. There are some powerful strategies for the shadow (or so I'm told), but it should be an even match if you simply sit down and play the game.

2. None, the game is really complicated as it is, and the unbalancing factors are things you actively have to use. Unless one of your players is actively using one of those 'powerful strategies' house rules are really quite unnecessary.

3. I have a ton of fun with the base game, without ever having played the expansion. So, I guess I dunno how to answer this one.

4. It is certainly a wargame. The fellowship mechanic provides a somewhat separate arena for the players to play in while moving troops, laying sieges and other battles, but by and large the nuts and bolts of the game will be the clash of armies. This doesn't mean the fellowship is quite as important, but you'll certainly find the fellowship stuff to be some dice rolling once or twice a turn, and something of a clock for the game.