hello all

We've played the game many times now (about 15?) - all 4,3 and 2 player variants and only twice did the good guys win. We know the rules, so it's not a newbie vs. experienced problem. It just seems that the game is very hard to win for the alliance. Shadow starts with more dice, starts accumulating armies, unleashes them - and all the while the corruption is trickling for the fellowship. Even if the ringbearers enter Mordor with 0 corruption, it's very easy for Shadow to bring up with tokens and cards...

So, what is your advice? And win/lose ratio?

FSP should move 2 times each turn when outside Mordor, regardless of the # of Eyes in the Hunt Pool. You need to get to Mordor as fast as possible. How many people do you have left in the FSP in Mordor? If you only have Gollum as Guide (which I prefer to have), SP can allocate 1 Eye to the Hunt Pool and though they may roll more, 1 Eye let's you move quite comfortably once, probably twice a turn. 0 Corruption is very nice going in. Played a game today where the FSP declared in Mordor turn 9 (normally, I'd want to declare on turn 7, turn 8 tends to be too late), with 5 Corruption. Turns 9 and 10 saw them move once on each turn, but still Corruption went to 9. Turn 11, FP rolls WotW and 4 Character die, while SP allocates 1 Eye, rolls 3 more. FSP moves, draws a 3 Tile, so Gollum reveals them, leaving FSP at 11 Corruption. FSP hides, then move again, -1 Tile drawn, at 10 Corruption. Last die (WotW was used to Muster), they move, 0r tile, Ring is destroyed. Looking at the Hunt Pool afterwards, there were 9 Tile which win the game for the SP (4 Red Tiles, 3 Eye and 2 3s) and 6 Tiles that win the game for the FP. And turn 11 was made possible by a Gandalf led Rohan Army retaking Helm's Deep with the final FP die on turn 10, otherwise SP would've won Military on turn 10.

If you are just playing with the base game, I completely agree with Dam. I mainly play against the same person and moving the Fellowship at least 2 regions a turn is a must. Other than Strider, I kept most of the Companions with the Fellowship to absorb damage. If Gollum isn't the guide by the time the Fellowship is ready to be declared, I separate any remaining ones. Of course if I get certain cards, such as Fear! Fire! Foes! early on, Companions will separate to take advantage of them.

Lately we have been using the expansion, which favors the Free Peoples player and balances the game. It enables the FFP to get additional dice earlier and also slows down the rate at which the SP can take points. This gives the Fellowship time to get to Mordor, but also stop to reduce corruption. This means that separating companions early isn't as risky because you aren't relying soling on them to control corruption.

Before adding the expansion, the FPP was winning around 40% of the time. Now it is right around 50% of the time. Several of our most recent games ended with victory hinging on a single tile or last turn. For example, in our last game, the SP had captured 10 VP, but the Fellowship was only one step away from destroying the ring. Only they were at 11 corruption, had no more rings, and one die remaining to move. Of the 8 remaining tiles in the hunt pool, two of them were helpful. On the last move of the Fellowship, the SP drew the 0 tile. Quite a nailbiter.

But to move twice per turn, you need 2 sword icon dice per turn - sometimes it's just impossible...

Skie said:

True. Sometimes that means using a ring. Or you muster the elves towards war. Or you play cards. Or you pull out your hair in frustration.

Skie said:

Don't have to tell me, I'm known to start with 3x Muster, 1x Palantir . But on average, you have 50% chance of each die coming Character (2 Sword faces and WotW face), so with 4 dice, you should be able to move twice. Of course, the game before today's game, FP rolled 4x WotW on the first turn !

Oh yeah, I only have base game, though have been looking into the expansion.

Thanks for the advice, we'll give it another try once we get over our grief and soothe our minds with MEQ

MEQ usurped the "Middle-Earth fix" game slot from WotR. Given WotR a few plays this month, but it has only 20 plays since getting it in April 08, MEQ saw its 50th play today, after getting it in August 09.

While I enjoy MEQ, nothing could sway my love for WotR. It's the only thing that can really scratch my LOTR itch. WotR hits the table at least once a week, sometimes twice. MEQ, maybe once a month.

Going OT here, but I think the reason I prefer MEQ > WotR is that MEQ feels more open, less scripted/linear. Each side has 5 Missions, so they go about them in different ways. Additionally, Plots can pop up here, there and everywhere, same for monsters and Shadow Cards. Thus, the Heroes don't do the A to B (Rivendell-Mordor) stuff they always do in WotR, making every game feel different, while in WotR, if I'm FP, I know FSP to Mordor is given. Going for FPMV with magic gecko's "separate all companions right away, never move FSP" could be an option, but IMO there is very little incentive to go for that, since for one, it goes against the theme and for another, Ring wins have been more frequent of late.