I just got the game awhile back but I can only get past the stepup. I know that that sounds lame but its true.

Welcome to the club. I was in the same situation as you. I think I owned WotR for a good 4 months and got about as far as you. Every couple of weeks, I would set up the starting armies and play with the dice.

Fortunately, I had a friend who was interested in playing so I asked him to download the rules and I reread my copy and we played our first game.

The game lasted over 6 hours and was mistake ridden, but it was a blast. The game moved slowly because we had to look things up fairly regularly. We agreed to play again in a week and during the time, reread the rules and check out various gaming forums. Our second game ran about 3 hours and we only made a few mistakes. We played again about a week later and that game was free of any glaring errors.

I try to get the game on the table at least once a week. Our games now average about 2 hours. We occasionally have to consult the FAQ when we come across an event card that we're not sure how to resolve.

If you can find a teacher, that's your best bet, but there's no reason you and a friend can't learn it from the rules on your owhn. Don't expect to get everything right the first or even second play. If I were to do things differently, I would have played through some of the game elements prior to my first session. It's a good idea to roll the dice and play out some actions, i.e.: movement, attacking, playing event cards, etc. It's also a good idea to do some practice combats. Not necessary, but it'll get you a lot further than just setting up the game and looking at all the wonderful minis.

I personaly tried the cpu EXE version of the game made by some fan and posted in another thread, just to get how the game works, and see if I should buy it or not (not a huge fan of lotr, neither has any friend fan of it). Well I didn't get it at all, even with the rules pdf and that software. That doesn't help me wanting to buy it, for sure. That's sad, because it looks promising. I remember that some tutorial for TI3 found on the web really helped me understanding the game (and liking it, for sure). A guy had imagined a three players game, and wrote everything in a php website. Very clear, and informative. Someone should always do that for somehow complex games.

The game itself is not overly complex at all. The rules are just not the most clear. I've had pretty good success teaching others to play, acting more as a coach/referee and not actually playing myself. That way I can offer strategies to both sides. After a couple of turns, most people are ready to go on their own, but I'm still available to answer questions. I've also done pseudo 4-player games, but it was really just the two player rules with teams of two people. Each side had an experienced player paired with a newb.

Like Tsugo above, I played my first game with another newb right from the rules. We almost didn't finish our first game. Unfortunately, we spent just as much time going through the rulebook as we did taking actions. Before playing our second game, we talked about all the mistakes we realized we had made. We still made a few cardmistakes, but things like the hunt and combat were played correctly.

I play with the same friend at least once a week and we get two games in when we play (we randomly draw for sides and then switch for the second game). We can usually get the two games in about 2 1/2 - 3 hours.

AKA George said:

I've thought of doing this in the past. I think I'll try the next time we teach it.

alot of info here. thank guys!

Check out my site at www.warofthering.eu . There is a section called Example of play that takes you through two inital rounds of a game, with commentary.

Direct link: http://www.warofthering.eu/example.htm

Tsugo said:

We taught a couple of people to play using this method over the past weekend. We had an experienced player team up with a newb. We played the first 4 turns together and then left them to complete the game by themselves. We set up a second copy next to them with the two of us experienced players playing our own game.

Occasionally, one of the players would ask for a rules clarification or advice, but they seemed to get the basics. It was fun watching the wild plays being made. It ended up with the FP losing from corruption, but they were only two steps away, so it was close. Both of the players are interested in a second game. More than likely, we'll set up a game for the both of them again. By then, then they should be pretty comfortable the rules and the strategies will make more sense to them.

Thanks for all the good tips I will try them out. I am a major Lord of The Rings fan long before the movies.