I've investigated this game a lot as it is one of the games I would like to acquire some time in the future.

But I've found through comments on boardgamegeek that a lot of people complain about there only being two colors for the figures.

Does it affect the game much? I'm not one who usually paints his figures so I want to know if this creates any kind of confusion while playing the game.

Also, is there any kind of revised edition in the works to solve this? (I know there's a deluxe edition coming out but I don't have that kind of cash so I'm talking of a "normal" version).

I don't think there is another edition than the deluxe edition coming out, but it can be a little hard to see the difference between the different units, especially the free people's units. Some look very similar. One easy fix for it is to just paint the bases in easily distinguishable colours.

The main problem with the units being similar is in sorting them out for setting up, rather than in actually playing the game (at least for me). You can solve that by placing each Nation's forces in a separate plastic bag.

However, if you do need help differentiating them while playing, the suggestion of painting the bases is a good one. That's what I did, and it didn't take all that long. Some people have spray-painted their figures in the colors of each Nation (examples are here and here ).

Apparently links work differently here than they do in the rest of the world. I'll try again:

www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/332032

www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/304821

At first I played the game with unpainted miniatures.It was awesome.Sure you had to spend more time separating the nations from one aonther,but that didn't bother me that much.I painted the miniatures some time ago,not in detail,but in their nation's color,leaving the leaders grey,except for their banners and bases;oh ,and of course the Nazguls are black .All in all,paint the miniatures,it doesn't take that much time + the game will be more colorful.It will look a whole lot better.

Cheers

Thanks for all your suggestions. I haven't got the game yet. But I guess sometime in the next year I'll end up buying it.

I didn't have any difficulty at all distinguishing between the different good nations and different evil nations. They're really, really, different. Yes, they're the same color, but they're different *shapes*, meaning I can distinguish between them the same I can tell the difference between a tomato and a fire truck. The guys with bows are *elves*, the short guys with beards are *dwarves*, the elephant is harad, the Troll isn't, etc... It's honestly no problem at all.

Riiiight. Next time, try seperating the Rohan, Gondor & North Elites (cavalry all)...

The guys with giant plums are Rohan, the guys with spiky armor on the horses are Gondor, and guys with hoods are Northmen.

They're different shapes folks, it's not hard.

I think you're talking about the guys with the giant plumes .

The guys with the giant plums are probably playing Agricola.

Due to the coloring and the otherwise long setup time, I've seperated the nations out into their own bins inside the box. It makes things so much easier.

As to problems during gameplay, I find the red units to be shaped differently enough to not be a problem, and it is something of a rarity for my free people to mix thier units. In short, I don't find it troublesome.

Well, replacing the figures with fruits and vegetables is always an option to help keep them straight.

It's not that its hard but can be a bit annoying as with most boardgames you can spot the different playing pieces/unit 5 paces away.

Can't say the same for WoTR.

Keeping them in seperate bags is a very good idea though.

AMBusam said:

This agrees with my own experience:

1. Keep the units sorted in the box. For example, I usually keep gondor and mordor in one bag, rohan and Saruman's troop in another bag and so on. This makes set up much easier.
2. For most of the time, it is easy to know which troops are which by their position on the board ... and their sufficiently distinctive scuplts (particularly shield designs - white tree for Gondor, horse for Rohan and no shield for men of the North)
3. It usually doesn't matter so much during the game if the units are mixed up, except for the odd exception where one is at war and the other isn't ... in which case you tend to remember that fairly easily (yes, the men of the nrth retreated to the Woodland Realms)

That said, different coloured bases sounds like a good idea too ...

In terms of actual game play, it doesn't really matter. All you need to remember is small bases = regulars, large bases = elites, and grey figures = leaders.

For set up though, I do keep all the nations in separate containers. If I can get my hands on the CE, then there's no need for paint, but if I can't, I plan to paint the bases according to nation.