So im a huge Lord of the Rings fan and i saw this game on FFG page and i got my eye on it but since its kinda expensive i would like to know if its worth ?

is it equal or better than Mansions of Madness or Imperial Assault, since it seems to resemble that ? Is the game good for Lotr fans ? Will it have more content within next years or is it having bad lucry ? i know they are releasing another small expansion but dont know how popular it is atm

So I can’t answer the question on how it relates to the other games but I just purchased this last week and got everything.

So far I am really impressed with how everything is put together. The app integration, the quality of the game pieces, everything flows really smooth. If you are a lord of the rings fan I think you will really enjoy it.

Some of the drawbacks. The rules take some time to learn. YouTube is a powerful tool while reviewing the game manual. A lot of the characters don’t make sense, like Bilbo and Aragorn teaming up. But I think it’s meant to be fun, so don’t expect the game to be tied closely to the movies or books.

Overall I give this a 10 out of 10. They clearly put a lot of thought into the game, the app, the game seems balanced so far with Pace and enemy activation. Plus the fact that I can play at Solo, or with friends was a huge plus for me. This is something I could definitely see myself doing by myself. So far my friends who have played it with me seem to really enjoy it.

* I do believe they are making more content. They are regularly adding more campaign stories in the app. Plus they are hinting at a big expansion next year already.

But yeah it’s extremely expensive. But no regrets so far

I know that "expensive" is definitely a relative term, but is JIME extremely expensive? Nah.

... at least JIME is cheaper than MOM right now (base sets):

That said, if we only stick to FFG then JIME is my wife's favorite, MOM is my daughter's favorite and RTL is my favorite. 😄

53 minutes ago, doubletapdaddy said:

I know that "expensive" is definitely a relative term, but is JIME extremely expensive? Nah.

... at least JIME is cheaper than MOM right now (base sets):

that deal is only in America , im in Europe.. still a nice deal

4 hours ago, gmcc said:

Will it have more content within next years

Others have already answered about the gameplay and I have nothing negative to say there—this is one of my favorite games. As for new content, the yearly cycle so far seems to be releasing one big box (with a campaign), a DLC campaign, and a small box with extra miniatures; that’s about it. It might not seem like much, but the first full expansion we got, Shadowed Paths, is practically as big as the core game, so there’s so much content.

If I recall correctly, the devs mentioned that this game has a sort of fixed lifespan? They have a certain amount of years’ worth of content planned, and that’s that? But even if that were the case initially, they could always change their mind and keep making more content. And the bigger thing, IMO, is that if we get a couple more years at this rate of content, it’ll be a really solid, replayable game.

On 8/11/2020 at 11:22 AM, SpiderMana said:

If I recall correctly, the devs mentioned that this game has a sort of fixed lifespan? They have a certain amount of years’ worth of content planned, and that’s that? But even if that were the case initially, they could always change their mind and keep making more content. And the bigger thing, IMO, is that if we get a couple more years at this rate of content, it’ll be a really solid, replayable game.

Especially given the fact that each new expansion you buy will change up all the older campaigns with new tiles, enemies, titles, etc.

Back to OP's original question: I haven't played Imperial Assault (though I do have friends who love it) but having played MoM I do wish that it had actual campaigns like JiME instead of just solely standalone missions (even if I do love those standalone missions). All my friends that I have played JiME with have loved it so far and I can't wait to actually start Shadowed Paths.

1 hour ago, Setukh said:

Especially given the fact that each new expansion you buy will change up all the older campaigns with new tiles, enemies, titles, etc.

Back to OP's original question: I haven't played Imperial Assault (though I do have friends who love it) but having played MoM I do wish that it had actual campaigns like JiME instead of just solely standalone missions (even if I do love those standalone missions). All my friends that I have played JiME with have loved it so far and I can't wait to actually start Shadowed Paths.

Funny, my family and I were just discussing how nice an MoM campaign would be.

I own all three games between Imperial Assault, Mansions of Madness, and JiMR. All three are very good, but it's more of a question on what you want out of a game.

IA and JiMR are both campaign style games, whereas MoM just has one-off scenarios. If your game group has a shorter attention span and can't handle the commitment of a long running campaign, MoM is your best bet.

IA is also a competitive game, whereas MoM and JiMR are cooperative. If you go with IA, depending on the skill disparity between the people in your group, it could become a frustrating experience. Especially if the Imperial player ends up wiping the floor with the rest of the group. (And similarly, if your best player is among the Rebels and winds up dictating their entire plan, your Imperial player could get equally frustrated) IA is an incredibly fun game, but it's not for every game group. I haven't played Skirmish mode yet, but that will offer some extra replayability if you like competitive games.

Obviously, there's the question of theme. I'm personally a huge fan of the whole Lovecraft / AH aesthetic, so MoM is right up my alley. And I also really enjoy the sleuthing aspect of it. But if you prefer the Star Wars IP, or LotR, that can also help influence your decision. Both IA and JiMR represent their IPs very well.

And of course, there's the issue of cost. If you don't care about expansions and just want the core set, all three games cost roughly the same amount, depending on where you buy them from. If you want everything , IA is by far the most expensive. Not only are there a ton of expansions and figure packs, some of them are very hard to find anymore, and you might have to pay more than their retail value to get your hands on them. MoM has a large number of expansions as well, but FFG does a better job of keeping those in stock. They're still quite expensive, but not quite as bad as IA. JiMR is by far the cheapest to get a hold of right now, but it won't be forever. Assuming it winds up getting roughly the same number of expansions as IA and MoM before it, it'll probably wind up being somewhere inbetween in terms of cost. It has figure packs and DLC like both IA and MoM respectively, but not nearly to the same extent. Long-term it'll certainly add up, but you can grab everything available for JiMR for about 200 dollars right now. Not too bad considering how much content you're getting out of it.

I could go on and on are how each game compares based on what you're looking to get out of the experience, but it really depends on what's most important to you and your game group.

Experienced players and completely new board game players have enjoyed JiME when I've played with them. More so if they are Lord of the Rings fans.

The price is high to get in, like the others, but you are getting a lot of hours with just the core set and the DLC is decently priced.

We use MOM to introduce new players to app assisted FFG games. From there we move on to JIME or RTL campaigns.

16 hours ago, doubletapdaddy said:

We use MOM to introduce new players to app assisted FFG games. From there we move on to JIME or RTL campaigns.

I'd definitely second this notion as well. Of FFG's various app assisted board games, MoM is probably the simplest. Anyone I've introduced to JiME, I basically preface it by describing it as "MoM but with cards instead of dice". It's slightly more complex than MoM, but playing MoM first makes JiME incredibly simple to understand.

It’s a great game. My board game group has enjoyed every campaign. It has a bit of a learning curve, but you can sort most of it out in the first few adventures.

if your a staunch Tolkien purest you may find presence of certain characters together a bit of a turn off... if you’re simply looking for some fun in middle earth, this games got it.

my only disappointment was no James Horner and minimal voice over.

for $80-$90 you get a good set of gaming nights in with friends... worth it.

Agree with the general responses, but then, most people hanging around here are probably b/c they like the game

My son (12) and daughter (11) both love JiME, and we've played all 3 campaigns, the first 2 multiple times. Looking forward to October campaign too.

My daughter never got into IA. My son and I tried it, like, we really wanted to like it, but finally just accepted it sucks. Hate the dice, not much to improve there (unlike scouting your decks), and not nearly as balanced as JiME. We tried mixing the rules, like double threat for instance, but couldn't find a way to make each mission fun. Not the case with JiME. We won't get any IA expansions, which seem to all be at least $30, whereas there are 2 DLC campaigns for JiME for under $10. For under $100 you could have base game and 2 other campaigns.

I wish they'd make a harder level though. And open up the ability for making your own campaigns a part of the app. That'd give it even more legs.