The War of the Ring

If you’re not familiar with War of the Ring: it’s a Lord of the Rings-themed board game. And according to boardgamegeek, War of the Ring (the Second Edition) is the 12th best board game ever.

My first attempt at War of the Ring was around 10 years ago. I met with a couple of friends, and one of them brought a brand new copy of War of the Ring, first edition.

We started off around 20:00: unboxing, grouping the different figures together, reading the rulebook, … When we were ready to start, it was nearing midnight, and way too late to start. So unfortunately we actually never got to play the game.

This year, it was time for a second try: I spent a couple of days studying the rules, and I’ve set up the board in advance (two times actually: the first time my cat ran through it and I could start all over again)

And this time, we could actually play it! As Gandalf would say it: “The board is set, the pieces are moving”. And – with some luck – we even succeeded in finishing it in one evening. Just like in the books, the good guys won (even though it looked very differently at times).

I can really recommend this game. The basics are a bit like Risk, but with so much more. There’s a political aspect to it, you can play with the fellowship, there are different armies, … It’s good vs evil, and the fun thing is that both sides play differently.

The game does a very good job at simulating the books. All you have to decide, is whether follow the books, or try your own path…

Interested in more board & card games? Check my post about The Mind