There are several possible path cards for each of the game's nine rounds, providing plenty of variation between plays. It does take at least 3 games to start to form strategies. To work out the best way to be efficient with your cards, and even then, I’m sure there are many nuances I’ve yet to discover. The depth of the game is truly impressive. Many cards work well together, but which combination do you go for? Because your cards are also currency, you can’t ever play them all. This game has received post game support including new scenarios to try which can be found online and I’m excited to hear they’ve just announced a solo and co-operative mode to be released via an expansion later in the year, meaning you’re going to have a wide array of options to play this game depending on what fits your mood. Is This The One Ring? Her Comments: There is enough variety in the cards and locations that the game will often play out differently. I also appreciate that the two player game and the team game are different experiences. Now with locations explained, the first thing to know about rounds is that you take turns doing one action each. Eventually, everyone will pass, then you resolve each of the locations. But before you get carried away from all these cards in hand, there’s one REALLY important rule: every time you drop something from your hand, you HAVE to discard another card in your hand as a cost, this is called ‘cycling’.

Her Comments: For the most part I liked the card play and the choices present, but it was annoying to feel like I could not do anything at times because I did not have the needed cards required for a path or battlefield.War of the Ring: The Card Gameis a game about choices. The Free Peoples players have less leeway to make sub-optimal decisions, so it suits the game best if you give the Shadow cards to the less experienced players. Because it’s semi-cooperative I found it possible to play with my youngest son, for whom the game would probably be a little too hard for him to play solo. His big brother could help to explain his options. Item Cards are played onto characters that have already been played. They usually convey buffs or alter some of the game rules so that they don’t affect the character they are played to. Character Cards (Like Aragorn or Saruman) can be played to Battlegrounds or Paths. Again they must have a matching icon. In the case of paths, there are no icons, but each character has a set of path numbers printed on them. This tells you which path you can play cards to. Not every character can be played to every path card. The Balrog can’t, for example, be played to Bag End and you can’t deploy Fatty Bolger to Khazad Dùm.

Set up of the game is straightforward. Assuming you are playing the full trilogy scenario for 4 players the game is set up as follows. All images and assets belong to Ares Games, if you enjoy this mod please consider supporting the official publishers.We are using a custom rating scale. Each game will be evaluated by both of us on 1 to 10 scale in five areas. When combined, this creates a possible score out of 100. At the beginning of each round a new path card is selected. These cards represent the locations the fellowship visits on their path to Mordor. A battlefield will also be put into play. Whichever side is the start player will be the defending side for the battlefield. War of the Ring: The Card Game centres around two locations played in the middle of the table each round. One is a battleground representing one of the key battles between the Free Peoples of Middle-earth - elves, dwarves and the nations of Rohan and Gondor, as well as the Fellowship of the Ring - and the orc and Uruk-hai forces of Shadow, while the other is a path card that divides the journey of Frodo into nine key chapters, from the Shire to Mount Doom. War of the Ring Card Game is not to be confused with the Fantasy Flight Lord of the Rings Living Card Game, or this game’s bigger older sibling ‘The War of The Ring’, Ian Brody brings us this two to four player card game. A card game inspired by both the novels and the game that came before it, distilling the War of The Ring board game experience into a more palatable game length. This is simpler and shorter than its predecessor but make no mistake that this is not a simple or short game.

Choosing where to play cards is sometimes limited by where the location is, so certain cards can only be played to locations that fit with the narrative of the books and so this adds to the tension of a bad card draw but being able to play cards to your reserve area is a positive way of mitigating this or you have the option of cycling two to draw one. You can effectively choose to lose a round, knowing you can use those cards to better effect further down the line. I Have No Memory Of This Place The Path mechanics are particularly clever. Being able to play certain characters and cards only at certain times greatly adds to their power to invoke the central story. After Rivendell, the Ringwraiths can’t be played on paths until later on in the game. There are few things better when Gandalf gets to head the Balrog off at Khazad-Dùm. An occurrence made all the sweeter by the fact it won’t happen in every game. There is also another clever mechanic concerning Gandalf and Aragorn. They start the game as Gandalf the Grey and Strider. You do have access to cards for Gandalf the White and Aragorn, but once they are played, the original incarnations are completely removed from the game. We gotta bring up “Ride to ruin, DEATH!” It is actually it is the epitome of War of the Ring CG. A cool sounding thematic card, promises good teamwork moments between Rohan and Gondor, but ends up needing very specific board states of Rohan HELPING mostly Minas Tirith, which might not even be in a game, or your Rohan troops may all be dead before it CAN trigger… so its usually discard fodder to fuel OTHER Lord of the Rings interactions. War of the Ring - The Card Game is more than just a game; it's also a treasure trove for all admirers of the world created by J.R.R. Tolkien, featuring more than 100 original illustrations from the greatest Tolkienian artists in the world, including an incredible gallery of landscapes from The Shire to Mordor by John and Fataneh Howe.War of the Ring: The Card Game released last year as a spin-off from the beloved board game based on Tolkien’s epic fantasy trilogy. The game pits two to four players - split into teams representing the Free Peoples and the Shadow led by Sauron and Saruman - against each other in a battle to control locations across Middle-earth and corrupt the Ring-bearer. Players will take turns playing cards that represent the people, armies, items, and events of the War of the Ring during the course of the game. Each card they play will either aid or obstruct the Fellowship's progress down its Path or be used to defend or seize Middle-earth's strongholds as they contend for possession of the fresh Battleground cards that are activated each round. Or the rulebook says: “The Shadow must try to slowly cuorrupt Frodo, burdening him with wounds toils, sorrow… blah blah blah.”

With more than 100 original illustrations from the greatest Tolkienian artists in the world, including an amazing gallery of landscapes from The Shire to Mordor by John and Fataneh Howe, War of the Ring: The Card Game is more than a game – it also a memorable collection for all lovers of the world imagined by J.R.R. Tolkien.The Path and Battleground cards depict key locations in Middle Earth. The path cards feature significant places that feature in the Lord of the Rings narrative, like Bag End, Moria, or The Dead Marshes. Battlegrounds depict the places fought over in the War of the Ring, for example, Minas Tirith, Morannon, or Isengard. The locations in the game very much give War of the Ring players thesense of being immersed in the saga. Step 2 – The Action Step There are a number of actions you can take. Mostly you’ll be playing cards. Three Dùnedain Cards. An item, a character, and an army. Play Action With more than 100 original illustrations from the greatest Tolkienian artists in the world, including an amazing gallery of landscapes from The Shire to Mordor by John and Fataneh Howe, War of the Ring - The Card Gameis more than a game – it's also a memorable collection for all lovers of the world imagined by J.R.R. Tolkien. If the number of Free People’s shields can cancel out all of the skulls, they win and take the Path card into their victory pile. Inspired by the best-selling and award-winning War of the Ring board game, War of the Ring - The Card Game allows players to journey to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and create their own version of the dramatic conflict between the Dark Lord, Sauron, and the Free Peoples of Middle-earth.