The Tao of Gaming

Got to All Fun and Games and explained Power Grid to a group of new players. Do I want to play? No thank you, as in walked an opponent for War of the Ring. Explained the rules and set up the game. I played the Fellowship; I believe they have to track more rules, making Shadow easier to learn. [I suspect Shadow may be harder to play well, but they do have less rules].

Saruman arrived on the field while the fellowship set off from Rivendell. The second move revealed them -- I decided to go through High Pass and take the long way, avoiding Moria.

I had decided on a fast fellowship strategy, not splitting off anyone unless absolutely necessary. The first successful hunts only did minor corruption or revealed the fellowship, so I didn't sacrifice Gandalf, figuring that Lorien would soak up a point. Muster events gathered the entire Elven army (save for one regular), so spare muster dice went to put the Elves at war so they could sortie.

Saruman built up a small, but reasonable force and entered Rohan. Meanwhile, the Witch King arrived and marched for Minas Tirith. My opponent (Justin) got mildly unlucky in battles, balanced with moderate good luck on the hunt. Gandalf was still Grey, so Isengard didn't worry about Ents (I did disclose the existence of a few cards).

Disaster struck when the fellowship's move into Lorien got detected, revealing them prematurely. With only three corruption, I decided to press ahead. Isengard conquered Helm's deep with little trouble. (I never saw a Rohan Muster event, and didn't spend the actions to put them at war).

A minor orc army (with a Nazgul) landed on the fellowship, providing two hunt rerolls. Then I made a huge mistake: I decided that Lorien could defeat the orc army and threaten Dul Guldor (which was empty) even though another minor army could counter-attack. I destroyed the first army, but the counterattack eliminated the elves. (Total of about 6 orcs (1 elite) and 2 Nazgul vs 5 Elves (4 Elite) + Leader). The orcs waltzed into Lorien, although the fellowship scampered away unhindered.

The Witch King sat at the Gates of Minas Trith, which was too lightly defended to stand for long, so (using "I will go alone") I sent Strider and Legolas for support. Next action, I crowned Aragorn and prayed that Minas Tirith could last for several rounds of battle. I had a handful of cards that help Aragorn defend Rohan or Gondor. If I could cripple the Witch King's army, Dol Amroth (besieged by a small force) would never be seriously threatened.

Minas Tirith fell in the opening wave.

Suddenly desperate, I rushed the fellowship towards Mordor. Gandalf (finally) died and re-appeared in Fangorn. The Roharim formed (through massive muster cards) in Edoras to threaten either the Witch King or Isengard army, should they leave a stronghold. Then Saruman decided to attack Edoras.

That turn saw six hunt dice (four allocated, two rolled), so I had two more dice. Saruman emptied Helm's Deep to take out Rohan's final army, and launched the attack with his last die. These mistakes proved costly as "scouts" allowed a retreat before battle and the Rohan army ran back to reclaim Helm's Deep with my last two actions.

Meanwhile the fellowship arrived in Mordor. By this point, I had played the "Phial of Galadriel" (the '-2' corruption tile) as the only special tile, so the hunt tiles were favorable. "Worn with Sorry and Toil" (which causes one random discard per fellowship death) was on the table. Sauron has six of the necessary ten points, while besieging Dol Amroth and preparing to retake Helm's Deep.

The next turn I played "Elven Rope" (another favorable hunt tile) and advanced twice (sacrificing a character and losing a card both times). Helm's Deep succumbed to the onslaught.

The final turn saw the free people muster an elite unite in Dol Amroth and play "Mithril Coat and Sting" (which allows for a hunt tile redraw) before taking the final steps to the Crack of Doom. The desperation siege of Dol Amroth failed and the fellowship dunked the ring. Without any stops or corruption tiles, only two reveals out of the first three tiles could stop me (as I could reject the first unfavourable tile).

Another tense game. All three of my games have come down to the wire. Justin played well. The first game overwhelms with details. Having to read each card, study characters, the board and asking what your opponents cards do can be taxing. There is a lot to keep track of, even beyond the rules. If Justin had know about the 'Scouts' card, he probably would have won before the Fellowship arrived in Mordor.

The game took a touch under three hours (including rules, setup and cleanup).

Despite the expense and acknowledging War of the Ring's flaws, it's a blast. The game oozes theme and time flies by. Now I just need someone to paint my set ...

Next on the table: a three player game of Lawless, a game by another Bruno from France, Mr. Cathala. Each player tries to build up their ranch by playing land, cattle (which needs land to graze) and cowboys (to keep the cattle from wandering away). Each turn you get six actions to draft face up cards (which cost 1-6, depending on slot) and play cards (cost on the card). Apart from the three basic types (Land, Cattle, Cowboys) the deck contains various thematic cards, mainly of the "Take that!" variety. You earn money by selling cattle and can spend money for extra actions. Lawless ends when either the bank or deck runs out, at which point you score based on land, cattle, cowhands and money. Our game took an hour, with two mitigating factors: the only experienced player re-read the rules while explaining them, and one of the opening cards (The Mayor) allows its owner to re-arrange the draftable cards each turn. Future plays should clock in at thirty minutes or so. An agreeable filler, but I'm happy playing someone else's copy.