War of the Ring

Players: Christian, Brian, 2/6/09

Games of this magnitude can rarely be conquered in one sitting, but this doesn’t mean they can’t be enjoyable. Even as we fumbled though the 24 page rulebook and the 15 page FAQ we knew we were onto something good. Christian playing the Sauron, quickly used their military might to make a number of Free People homeless. The FP, for their part, kept a low profile and the Fellowship chose to remain hidden. Sauron’s relentless attacks took two strongholds and 4 out of the 10 victory points needed for a win.

But then, after reaching 6 (out of 12) on the Fellowship progress track, the hobbits made a bolt for Mount Doom in an effort to meet their victory conditions, while the Free People staged a counter attack to retake a stronghold and also capture one held by the dark forces. The game then, was finely balanced but the opposing armies decided it was too hot for all this battle malarkey and called it a day. Both relished the challenge and I’m sure they’ll meet again (don’t know, don’t know when but I’m sure…etc).