Item Cards are played onto characters that have already been played. They usually convey buffs or alter some of the game rules so that they don’t affect the character they are played to. I loved this game, but before I explain why, let me just point out the only reason I can see for not liking the game. War of the Ring: The Card Game released last year as a spin-off from the beloved board game based on Tolkien’s epic fantasy trilogy. The game pits two to four players - split into teams representing the Free Peoples and the Shadow led by Sauron and Saruman - against each other in a battle to control locations across Middle-earth and corrupt the Ring-bearer. The Path and Battleground cards depict key locations in Middle Earth. The path cards feature significant places that feature in the Lord of the Rings narrative, like Bag End, Moria, or The Dead Marshes. Battlegrounds depict the places fought over in the War of the Ring, for example, Minas Tirith, Morannon, or Isengard. The locations in the game very much give War of the Ring players thesense of being immersed in the saga. Step 2 – The Action Step Then, items are a very feast or famine type of card, where they can be good to AMAZING if you get to play them on a very specific character, but useless otherwise. If you lost the host card, whether through fault of your own or through a random forsake, then they’re utterly useless and really cut decision making. Feasting looks like: Frodo GETS mythril armor on a path, the one item that is equipped to him, adding TWO defense to a path where FP already win ties is amazing.

Shadow isn’t weaker, but need careful playing and do not follow the rulebook’s marketing. If you’re a really careful gamer, this won’t be an issue. I won’t spoil the details of the strategy: but essentially you cannot get concerned that the FP are utterly destroying you in points- you just need to keep that a little below 10 until late game, where paths 8/9 are very shadow favored. This po-tay-toe based stew is definitely gonna taste different for your playthroughs with the draws, but WOTR CG CAN jump through all of its hurdles, and there can be really cool moments when the cards line up and its so close to what happens in the storyline… a truly shorter version of the board game.Players can enter the world of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and imagine their own version of the epic battle between the Dark Lord, Sauron, and the Free Peoples of Middle-earth in War of the Ring – The Card Game, which was inspired by the best-selling and award-winning War of the Ring board game.

Frodo– Free Peoples: Dwarf, Hobbit, Rohan, and Wizard cards (Sidenote: “Dwarf” is just Gimli and his axe!) Like, you might have asked yourself, what if Minis Tirith gets flipped over round one? Well this THREE point battleground is gonna be pretty hard to Shadow to get with its defense and free people helping ability… and remember Free People don’t even have to commit troops there to necessarily win! the walls And if you do the math, Shadow needs between 2-3 troops to get over Minas Tirith’s base defense value AND the troops need to match the battleground type… this is a LOT to ask on the first turn, so the shadow HAS to essentially give it up, giving FP an early VP lead, putting the burden on the Shadow to later re-activate this place, spending their own resources. Starting with components, yeah, this game has a ton of component polish, with a fantastic insert, sturdy chits, and just good feeling cards, whether big or small. War of the Ring: The Card Gameis a game about choices. The Free Peoples players have less leeway to make sub-optimal decisions, so it suits the game best if you give the Shadow cards to the less experienced players. Because it’s semi-cooperative I found it possible to play with my youngest son, for whom the game would probably be a little too hard for him to play solo. His big brother could help to explain his options. Inspired by the best-selling and award-winning War of the Ring board game, War of the Ring: The Card Game allows players to journey to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and create their own version of the dramatic conflict between the Dark Lord, Sauron, and the Free Peoples of Middle-earth.My Comments: I like how the mechanisms of this game create a lot of hard choices. There are never enough cards to do everything, and every choice to do something is also a default choice not to do something else. Trying to figure out the best course of action is an engaging challenge. I also like asymmetry that is built into the game. Or how about when you see hobbits on a path- shouldn’t you be putting Nazgul on there to search for the ring- no actually you don’t want to do that in this game because Nazgul ALL DIE AFTER GOING ON PATHS, and Hobbits ALWAYS survive, don’t have the Nazgul tap themselves out too early from going on the hunt for the ring they’re thematically supposed to do… War of the Ring: The Card Game has launched an interest in Tolkien in my kids that I’ve been quietly hoping would come along for about 15 years. (Admittedly, my oldest was 2 then, so I was perhaps being a little premature.) I played the game with my 3 boys, 17, 13, and 10. They were all very taken with it. My youngest in particular has now wanted to learn more about Middle Earth ,its stories, and characters. I am in clover! War of the Ring is the greatest board game based on THE LORD OF THE RINGS™ ever created! WAR OF THE RING is a grand strategy board game that allows its players to immerse themselves in the world created by J.R.R. Tolkien and experience its epic action, dramatic conflict, and memorable characters.

Her Comments: For the most part I liked the card play and the choices present, but it was annoying to feel like I could not do anything at times because I did not have the needed cards required for a path or battlefield. Her Comments: There is enough variety in the cards and locations that the game will often play out differently. I also appreciate that the two player game and the team game are different experiences.Now with locations explained, the first thing to know about rounds is that you take turns doing one action each. Eventually, everyone will pass, then you resolve each of the locations. But before you get carried away from all these cards in hand, there’s one REALLY important rule: every time you drop something from your hand, you HAVE to discard another card in your hand as a cost, this is called ‘cycling’.