If you haven't checked out my blog yet, please take a look and see if you like it. For each featured card, we explore the lore, artwork, and thematic play of the cards. My newest post finds forgotten footnotes, time traveling Tolkien tales, and a load of locations to discuss the original destination of LOTR LCG -- the Old Forest Road.

Link to article: http://masteroflore.wordpress.com/2013/09/23/old-forest-road/

I really love your blog, keep up the good work.

Nice job as usual.

Thanks Pharmboys2013 and Glaurung, I'm glad you enjoyed it and appreciate the kind feedback!

Great work.

Back in the day, there was a game called Middle Earth: The Wizards, later MECCG. I wrote the Card of the Day for a while to a largely appreciative e-mail audience.

As a final hurrah, the last ever Card Of the Day I did was about Rivendell. It was the site where your fellowship of heroes would start the game and as such had a very similar feel to the Old Forest Road in this game.

Reading your Master of Lore blog sent me back to looking for that particular entry, but unfortunately so far it looks like it has sailed to the West...

Great article!

This game really has a devoted and well versed player base! I love the way you use tolkien lore and the game mechanics.

Hulde!

Great work.

Back in the day, there was a game called Middle Earth: The Wizards, later MECCG. I wrote the Card of the Day for a while to a largely appreciative e-mail audience.

As a final hurrah, the last ever Card Of the Day I did was about Rivendell. It was the site where your fellowship of heroes would start the game and as such had a very similar feel to the Old Forest Road in this game.

Reading your Master of Lore blog sent me back to looking for that particular entry, but unfortunately so far it looks like it has sailed to the West...

That's too bad. I've been increasingly curious about the MECCG. I've never played it or even seen it, but as I've done web searches for artwork for my blog, I'm always pleasantly surprised at some of the more obscure lore represented on those cards such as The Sapling of the White Tree, Forlong, and Bergil.

Great work.

Back in the day, there was a game called Middle Earth: The Wizards, later MECCG. I wrote the Card of the Day for a while to a largely appreciative e-mail audience.

As a final hurrah, the last ever Card Of the Day I did was about Rivendell. It was the site where your fellowship of heroes would start the game and as such had a very similar feel to the Old Forest Road in this game.

Reading your Master of Lore blog sent me back to looking for that particular entry, but unfortunately so far it looks like it has sailed to the West...

That's too bad. I've been increasingly curious about the MECCG. I've never played it or even seen it, but as I've done web searches for artwork for my blog, I'm always pleasantly surprised at some of the more obscure lore represented on those cards such as The Sapling of the White Tree, Forlong, and Bergil.

As a Tolkien card gamer, you should at least check it out. Here are some rather obscure lore references, and these are only from the first set!

Man, those cards are taking me back...

Man, those cards are taking me back...

Yeah, me too. I'll admit it's mostly nostalgia, but there's something about them that I really love. Maybe it's the now retro style art which I find incredible or the fact that they made so many obscure Tolkien references and tried to have a scope of Middle Earth as wide as possible. I hope this game achieves that some day, so that we can explore as many areas of Middle Earth as we can (they seem to be aiming towards that). One thing that I find the most interesting about that game is the travel mechanics, where you can just go to any place you want if they're available.

As a Tolkien card gamer, you should at least check it out. Here are some rather obscure lore references, and these are only from the first set!

Oh wow! That's incredible! And here I've been singing FFG's praises for plumbing the depths of Tolkien's lore. It looks like the Wizards game must have had the license to Unfinished Tales and The Silmarillion, whereas FFG only has The Lord of the Rings Appendices. FFG's doing a great job, but it's really exciting to think what would be possible if the entire legendarium was available to them. It might be time for me to start hunting around for MECCG on eBay...

Great work.

Back in the day, there was a game called Middle Earth: The Wizards, later MECCG. I wrote the Card of the Day for a while to a largely appreciative e-mail audience.

As a final hurrah, the last ever Card Of the Day I did was about Rivendell. It was the site where your fellowship of heroes would start the game and as such had a very similar feel to the Old Forest Road in this game.

Reading your Master of Lore blog sent me back to looking for that particular entry, but unfortunately so far it looks like it has sailed to the West...

That's too bad. I've been increasingly curious about the MECCG. I've never played it or even seen it, but as I've done web searches for artwork for my blog, I'm always pleasantly surprised at some of the more obscure lore represented on those cards such as The Sapling of the White Tree, Forlong, and Bergil.

MECCG amazing game. The best card game about Tokien. Even now is 20 years old but still lot of people play it. Actually FFG take a lot of idea from this game to they LOTR lcg. I love ME CCG and every year in Germany they have bog even when all players gather in old German Middle Age Castle and play and have fun. This year i wonna got there. In March 2014

You should to check this game. IS very deep in Tolkien lore and also very playable solo.

As a Tolkien card gamer, you should at least check it out. Here are some rather obscure lore references, and these are only from the first set!

Oh wow! That's incredible! And here I've been singing FFG's praises for plumbing the depths of Tolkien's lore. It looks like the Wizards game must have had the license to Unfinished Tales and The Silmarillion, whereas FFG only has The Lord of the Rings Appendices. FFG's doing a great job, but it's really exciting to think what would be possible if the entire legendarium was available to them. It might be time for me to start hunting around for MECCG on eBay...

IIRC, they had special dispensation to use the two Wizards from Unfinished Tales, Alatar and Pallando, as in the game you would play a Wizard and they wanted more choice than the 3 LotR Wizards. later on, you could play as one of the nine Ringwraiths, Sauron, The Balrog, or a Fallen-Wizard (i.e., a Saruman-type Wizard gone bad). To be honest, MECCG's staggering complexity was its downfall.

They did not have a licence for any of the Silmarillion or "unpublished" works, but ICE did a great job of mining the available texts (hobbit and LotR + appendices) for anything referencing earlier events.

The game had cards for Aiglos, Scatha the Worm, The Iron Crown etc. But my favourite lore reference is possibly the game's control of environment, depending on whether the Gates of Morning or Doors of Night were in play, hero or hazard effects would be stronger.

Oh, and its One Ring was a thing of beauty.

Found it!

http://web.archive.org/web/20050519161919/http://fan.theonering.net/morgulrats/cotd/cotd850.html

Long live the Wayback Machine.

And many apologies for hijacking this thread.

If you've never played MECCG that article won't make much sense but boy does it bring back memories. The Arthedain Motorway! Anarin, the Moria Elf! Marvels Told with Ioreth!

As a Tolkien card gamer, you should at least check it out. Here are some rather obscure lore references, and these are only from the first set!

Oh wow! That's incredible! And here I've been singing FFG's praises for plumbing the depths of Tolkien's lore. It looks like the Wizards game must have had the license to Unfinished Tales and The Silmarillion, whereas FFG only has The Lord of the Rings Appendices. FFG's doing a great job, but it's really exciting to think what would be possible if the entire legendarium was available to them. It might be time for me to start hunting around for MECCG on eBay...

IIRC, they had special dispensation to use the two Wizards from Unfinished Tales, Alatar and Pallando, as in the game you would play a Wizard and they wanted more choice than the 3 LotR Wizards. later on, you could play as one of the nine Ringwraiths, Sauron, The Balrog, or a Fallen-Wizard (i.e., a Saruman-type Wizard gone bad). To be honest, MECCG's staggering complexity was its downfall.

They did not have a licence for any of the Silmarillion or "unpublished" works, but ICE did a great job of mining the available texts (hobbit and LotR + appendices) for anything referencing earlier events.

The game had cards for Aiglos, Scatha the Worm, The Iron Crown etc. But my favourite lore reference is possibly the game's control of environment, depending on whether the Gates of Morning or Doors of Night were in play, hero or hazard effects would be stronger.

Oh, and its One Ring was a thing of beauty.

Amazing game. the best way to start buy 5 challenge deck on ebay. Each different wizards Radagast, Gandalf, Saruman, Pallando and Another one i forget...shame.......

Alatar, Glaurung. Alatar the Hunter. One of the two Blue Wizards parachuted into the game from Unfinished Tales.

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Alatar, Glaurung. Alatar the Hunter. One of the two Blue Wizards parachuted into the game from Unfinished Tales.

.

And many apologies for hijacking this thread.

If you've never played MECCG that article won't make much sense but boy does it bring back memories. The Arthedain Motorway! Anarin, the Moria Elf! Marvels Told with Ioreth!

This thread is most definitely not hijacked.

Pallando and Alatar are very, very obscure references (and IIRC the Maia versions of the names like Olorin and Curumo are to Gandalf and Saruman) so we don't know what they might have been called by Elves or Men in Middle-earth.

If MECCG can be played solo, then I'm ready to climb into my own Wayback Machine and find some cards to play with. Thanks for kindling my interest in this game.

It was never meant as a solo game but I do believe there was an official solo-variant with rules released or at least approved by ICE.

It was a great way to test the fellowship portion of your deck against a number of hazard strategies.

It was never meant as a solo game but I do believe there was an official solo-variant with rules released or at least approved by ICE.

It was a great way to test the fellowship portion of your deck against a number of hazard strategies.

Yes they are the rules for solo. And this rules a very ok believe me. In youtube have some video Guy Name Calsmar he play his a but changed solo rules. Very cool videos i suggest to look. Amazing game, big shame this game is dead now.....