Reviewer: Marcus Meredith
Date Submitted: 07/23/2005
A shadow has fallen over Middle Earth. Sauron, servant of Melkor, long thought to be dead, has stirred up his forces in Mordor. The goblins of Moria grow restless, Saruman has revealed himself to be in league with Sauron, a dark presence is rising in the northern wastes, and the Haradrim and Southerons are on the move. The only thing that can truly stop them is not the armies of men, but a single hobbit, holding the strength of Sauron around a chain on his neck. But will he make it to Mordor to cast the ring into Mount Doom, or will he fall into corruption and give into Sauron's will?
This is one of the best wargames I've ever played. Every single element of the War of the Ring is depicted perfectly. The fellowship begins in Rivendell, ready to set out on their quest. Each army begins somewhere on the "Political Track" on the right side of the board, and are either Passive, or Active. Your goal at the beginning of the game is to turn your inactive forces active, and then bring your forces to War. While passive, you cannot build up your forces, and while you are not at war, you cannot leave your territories. The forces of evil all begin active, and only require a single roll to bring them to war. Just as it is in the books, however, the forces of good require a bit more convincing.
Along the way, the fellowship may split up, have members perish (Gandalf in Moria? Boromir at Amon Hen?) and many other options. The goal is to get Frodo to Mordor without having him become completely corrupted by the ring.
Though all the rules are a bit to take in, after a couple of plays the rules flow very smoothly.
Example of play: I played the forces of Good, while my friend Ben played the forces of Darkness.
The fellowship began their quest, but Ben played Bad Weather on them, driving them off course, and over a mountain range, forcing them to take the long way around the Misty Mountains. I played "A Power Too Great", which made it so that he could not attack any elven settlement, and "Tom Bombadil Holds Power Here", which makes it so that he may not attack the Shire, Old Forest, or Buckland. I was feeling pretty good about that, until the Witch King arose in Angmar to the north, very close to the Fellowship. I decided that getting the Fellowship to Mirkwood was the best course of action. Legolas split from the party, and headed to Mirkwood to muster up the elven forces to war. Boromir left the party to go warn his people in Gondor. As the party forced its way to Mirkwood, Saruman played his hand early, sending Uruk Hai and Warg riders to Helm's Deep, aided by one of the Nazgul, crushing it before the Rohirim could get there. The ring grew heavier and heavier, and in the end, Frodo fell to the ring before he made it to Mirkwood. The Forces of Good have fallen...
We made a lot of mistakes, and forgot some of the rules along the way, but it helped us grasp the concept, and it looks like a good game will follow.
Unfortunately, only 5 stars are possible for my rating, but I would give it a 7.
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