War of the Ring 2nd Edition Reviews

4.7 Rating 9 Reviews

In War of the Ring, one player takes control of the Free Peoples, the other player controls Shadow Armies. Initially, the Free People Nations are reluctant to take arms against Sauron, so they must be attacked by Sauron or persuaded by Gandalf or other Companions, before they start to fight properly: this is represented by the Political Track, which shows if a Nation is ready to fight in the War of the Ring or not. The game can be won by a military victory, if Sauron conquers a certain number of Free People cities or vice versa. But the true hope of the Free Peoples lies with the quest of the Ringbearer: while the armies clash across Middle Earth, the Fellowship of the Ring is trying to get secretly to Mount Doom to destroy the One Ring. Sauron is not aware of the real intention of his enemies but is looking across Middle Earth for the precious Ring, so that the Fellowship is going to face numerous dangers, represented by the rules of The Hunt for the Ring. But the Companions can spur the Free Peoples to the fight against Sauron, so the Free People player must balance the need to protect the Ringbearer from harm, against the attempt to raise a proper defense against the armies of the Shadow, so that they do not overrun Middle Earth before the Ringbearer completes his quest. Ages 13+, 2-4 players, 150-180 minutes playing time

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“If you like lord of the rings and want something to stick your teeth into this is for you. A little time, effort is needed to learn but once it gets you.. you’re in for a wild ride. I love it. Ideally need a second person to really put as much time into playing as you to get full effect.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 months ago

“A great game experience that brings Middle Earth to your table! Showing my age a bit, the game is reminiscent of the 80's SPI game of the same name but with a far easier and more intuitive rules system that is quick to pick up .... but difficult to master! As the shadow player you have to balance your need to build up and concentrate your armies to take the critical strongholds with the need to stop Frodo and his friends delivering the sucker punch! Move too early and you risk dashing your armies against the walls of Minas Tirith and Helms Deep with little reward. Move too late and Frodo may make you disappear with a whimper if you can't turn him to your will! You are always on the back foot as a free peoples player. It takes time to persuade the different factions to mobilise & join the war and time is something you may not have. A military victory is possible but very unlikely. Delay Sauron as long as you can, get Frodo safely to Mt Doom and all is saved. Lose too many strongholds or see Frodo fall to corruption and all is lost! The game parts are good quality and provide a great visual experience. A previous review did comment that its difficult to tell some units apart. I agree that this was a bit frustrating at first so i spent a day painting the bases and applying simple washes to the figurines which solved the problem and brought out the detail quite nicely! If you have the extra 30 quid I would also recommend buying the insert/organiser which tidies up the organisation inside the game box and makes getting the game ready to play a lot less time consuming.”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 year ago

“We haven't played it yet. So far, the game is extensive and looks amazingly fun. We received the game quickly considering the distance and COVID.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“War Of The Ring is a board game experience like no other. Whilst faithfully recreating and representing the world of Tolkien, it also gives you an amazing amount of freedom to create your own narrative based on the events of the War of the Ring. By the time the game has ended, you may find yourself slumping back into your chair and marvelling at the sheer scope of the game you have just played. From skirmishes to mighty battles, sieges and subtlety, heart pounding victories and heart wrenching deaths, every game will give you a new and unique narrative to this awesome setting. The game has a number of systems working away in tandom. Actions are determined by custom action dice, and players each have a hand of cards that can be used in a variety of ways. You will engage in politics to get your allies onto a war footing, and will marshal mighty armies to destroy your enemies. Gameplay is assymetric with each side having a preference towards one of two victory conditions- either capturing or destroying the ring, or through military victory- but either route is possible if you can react to the hand of cards and dice rolls, and to the movements of your enemy! The Shadow player will take control of the forces of Sauron and seek to corrupt the ring bearers or destroy enough freepeoples strongholds and cities to gain the required amount of victory points. The freepeoples must weather this assault to buy enough time for the ring bearers to slamdunk the ring into the fiery chasm of Mount Doom, or capture some strongholds of the dark force’s and claim a military victory of their own. The ring bearers move in secret across middle earth with the assistance of the fellowship, but these characters can be killed to prevent corruption of the ring bearers, or split off to become captains of armies to assist in the defence of the freepeoples strongholds. Any fans of Tolkien will be at home with this game, though it is designed with the books in mind rather than the films. Some of the references on the cards may not make sense to fans who have yet to read the books, but that won’t diminish your enjoyment of the game at all. The rulebook is well written and though it may seem like there are a lot of rules, the core ruleset is very intuitive and much of the detail is in thorough explanations of pretty much every eventuality the game can produce. If you come across something you can’t resolve immediately it’s highly likely that it is covered in the rulebook. Overall, this is a supremely confident game that delivers an experience few games can match. You will need to set aside a good few hours to play it (quickest game I’ve had was two hours, longest was around 4/5) and I’d recommend having some practice run throughs before playing, or watching some YouTube videos to familiarise yourself with it. But it will be worth it. If you can find someone to play regularly with, you’ll be incredibly entertained for years to come.”

3 Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“I love the game but zatu games are ruining it. This is the only place to by the game however, why do they everyday rise the price a few weeks ago this game was around £70 but now for some reason They have raised the price to £100. Can someone please explain why they continue to rise the price? Can't they just put it on retail price?”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

Christopher M

Verified Reviewer

“Fantastic, can't get enough!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Epic and thematic two player board game which puts in you in the world of Lord of the Rings.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“What a game! Superbly balanced between the two factions, yet thematically, the Free Peoples are really up against it. Lots to think about and your choices vary with each game. Mostly this is because of the cards you draw at the start of your turn. Many come with conditions that you need to meet and the fun is trying to engineer your turn to work towards being able to play the card at its most efficient. It's a must for any LotR fans.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago