| Archive for Axis & Allies ForuMINI Specialised in the World War II Axis & Allies Miniatures and War At Sea Games |
| hey_yu |
War of the RingI was wondering if anyone played FFG War of the Ring. I saw on the website they are going to release a collectors edition of the game for around $400.00
http://store.fantasyflightgames.com/productdetails.cfm?sku=LTRCE1 |
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| carrion |
Are the pieces dipped in gold and have rubies for eyes. | ||||
| NoMoreHexes |
It looks very nice, but never having played it I wondered if each play-thru would have enough variation to justify the premium edition. Of course, I also am wondering the same thing about Space Hulk when I see painted versions going for $700+. | ||||
| hey_yu |
One could only hope. Gold prices are going sky high.
It does look gorgeous though... 
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| hey_yu |
I've seen people charging an arm and leg for 'professional' painting for 40k pieces on Ebay. Space Hulk game itself is going for less than $200 right now. |
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| NoMoreHexes |
Go to boardgamegeek.com and look at pics of the 'normal' version setup on the map. I don't think all those nicely painted minis can fit and you will end up using card-counters stacked beneath your few nicely painted figures that can fit. If that's the case then it wouldn't be worth it for a new player, but for a fanatic only maybe a 'must have'. | ||||
| hey_yu |
From the images it looks like this collectors edition has the War of the Ring and the Battles of the Third Age Expansion. I base it on the Ent figure which was introduced in the Expansion. Both of these games retail for $79.95 + $59.95.
Yeah, I've seen it before on boardgamegeek. From reading it sounds like a good game to play. Just was wondering if the game is pretty good from the folks that have played it. |
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| NoMoreHexes |
Well, adding it to the cart shows it still in-stock from the limited production run. I know you want to do it...and it does look very attractive...a test of willpower to resist the Ring... 
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| hey_yu |
me wants it... yes... my precious... | ||||
| NjCo |
I own the original War of the Ring and have played it a number of times. It's a really nice game although usually only the LotR fans like it. You don't have to be a fan to enjoy the game but with all of the cards and events it certainly adds tot he enjoyment.
Overall it's a classic asymmetrical wargame and a good one at that. You hear a lot of talk about this being a game with only a few viable strategies. I'd say that's not true. There are a few strategies that are really good for one side or the other but the game mechanics makes it very hard to try the same thing the same way every game. First, the actions you are able to perform on a given turn are dictated by rolling an assortment of dice. If you want to build up your army and you don't have a muster die then you're out of luck. If you want a card but don't roll the appropriate symbol then you don't get a card. And then there are the event cards. These have a big influence on the game but you only have a few in your hand at any one time. So while not impossible to perform the same strategy every time you play there are certain aspects of the game which require you to be flexible and adapt to the realities of the board in front of you. And I think it makes for a surprisingly tense and enjoyable game. The collectors edition is VERY nice and has been in the works for several years. Every aspect of the original game has been updated. All the minis are painted and the entire board has been made bigger and better. Looks like a nice version if you can afford it. |
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| NoMoreHexes |
Thanks for the review, NjCo. If two experienced players are playing can an average game be finished in 4 hours or what has your experience been? | ||||
| NjCo |
About 3 hours on average for experienced players. With new players the time range would be more like 2 to 5 with the average being around 4. Set-up does take a while though just because there is SOOO much stuff in the box. The way I've usually played is the game was arranged ahead of time and one person that owned the game was in charge of setting up ahead of time. I've seen people here complaining about the set-up time of Memoir '44. I can set up a game of Memoir in less than 10 minutes. War of the Ring is more like 20 minutes to a half hour usually. Also, the rules are pretty dense. This is not a game where you sit down with a new player, set up the game and break out the rules and start reading. Your opponent will shoot you before the game gets going! Fantasy Flight didn't do a very good job with organizing the rules. They are not horrible mind you, I've certainly seen worse, but not great. The rulebook is a good 30 pages long and the FAQ document itself is 15 pages! In order to teach a new player this game you have to be familiar with the rules. This is generally my approach to teaching games in general but in some games it's more of a necessity than others. Luckily playing through a solo game is fairly enjoyable and it's the best way to learn the game. One of the most difficult things to do in the gaming world is to take a story or theme that people know and love and make a game out of it that is consistent with the theme but isn't scripted to the story so that there is still an enjoyable game underneath all that theme. The designers of War of the Ring did just that. |
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| hey_yu |
Njco thanks for the review. I read somewhere the pieces in the original War of the Ring are all the same color making it difficult at times to distinguish the pieces. Is this the case? | ||||
| general Hoth |
LOL. I'm tempted too. Read the book 4 times now. Twice in english, twice in french. 
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| NjCo |
That's not quite right but there can definitely be some confusion. The pieces come in four colors. Red plastic for basic dark side troops and blue plastic for basic fellowship pieces. Then there are light grey leader units (for both sides) and dark grey hero level units (for both sides). While there is plenty of differences between most units to easily tell them apart without paint the fellowship calvary units can be hard to distinguish between the different factions. What many people do is to paint the base of the figures a distinct color for each faction. It's a simple and quick fix that makes a big difference. If you look at the pieces in the collectors edition you can see that that is also the approach taken with those pieces even though they are fully painted. Just painting the minis doesn't make them any easier to tell apart, you have to paint the base. |
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| NjCo |
Another thing about this new version is that it looks like it will include everything needed to play with the expansion as well. The expansion, Battles of the Third Age, is two games in one. One part is a tactical battle game and the other adds additional unique hero and faction figures to the base game. It looks like the collectors edition will include the additional hero and faction figures. That's good since the expansion adds a few nice touches to the overall game. Included are the Ents, Dunlendings, Siege Towers, Catapults, Corsairs, Southron Cavalry. Galadriel and the Balrog are added as new hero level figures in addition to a 2nd figure for the black captain which allows you to play that piece in two entirely different ways. | ||||
| NoMoreHexes |
Hey-Yu,
Well, after I said you were being 'seduced' by the game...I ended-up buying a copy...so much for resisting the 'precious' 
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| hey_yu |
I tried reading the book, but got a little bored with all the detail in the first couple chapters and never made it past that. Glad they came out with trilogy of movies. Got to enjoy it. |
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| hey_yu |
Scratches head... I'm still trying to figure out how to order it online. Go where and hit what key????? 
jk. I'm tempted to get it. However, at $400.00 and X-mas coming up I'm not too sure yet... |
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| general Hoth |
I'm saving to get the collectors edition. Never played the game yet but this one, with painted minis looks awesome. 
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| NoMoreHexes |
Yeah, I fell for the pictures myself and ordered the game. I'm looking forward to playing at Xmas. | ||||
| general Hoth |
It goes for 300 euros here. A lot of money. But my will is weak when it comes to games...
I'll tell my wife it's only 30 euros.
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| Duck Crusader |
She'll find out. We played a campaign with the LOTR Risk game once, with points values assigned to the pieces. You could either do a 'quick fight' with the Risk rules or build an army for your faction with the points value of the pieces involved. It was loads of fun, and some of the lopsided battles had interesting outcomes. |
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| carrion |
The concept sounds alot like "Mighty Empires" from Games Workshop in the nineties, ever play it. |
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| Duck Crusader |
Yup, and though it wasn't my idea I'm pretty sure that's where they got it from as well. | ||||
| carrion |
Sound concept and adds something to the same old game. | ||||
| general Hoth |
My credit card is burning! 
I've placed my order... |
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| NoMoreHexes |
You know how 'misery' loves company I'm blaming my girlfriend who has read all of Tolkien's books and loves the movies and has wanted to play the game. So, I threw my credit card into Mt. Doom just like you did. 
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| general Hoth |
Nothing like a good game by the fireplace when its snowing outside. I know what we'll do this winter.
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| general Hoth |
I've had confirmation of my order from the italian company.
Cant wait!!! they said late November for the special edition. |
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| hey_yu |
Take some pics of it. December looks like the anticipated US release date based on a seller's website. | ||||
| NoMoreHexes |
General and hey_yu, I'm confirmed for my copy of the game as well. We will takes some pics when it arrives. Meanwhile General, I'm jumping in for one of these custom Mount Doom pieces as well.
http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/460343 |
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| hey_yu |
Oh man. I'm still on the fences on this one. | ||||
| TorontoBizz |
That sounds like a nice investment.
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| general Hoth |
I always tell my wife that i'm a game collector (i own 100+) and that in X years this X game will be worth That amount. then came along a good friend who told me: "you're never gonna sell this games"... I was speechless.
GameGeek
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| smeagol |
Looks at all his LOTR painted figures, collected over teh years and thinks...... nasty tricksey hobbitsesssss at GW then ponders if his missus will be kind to poor smeagol for chitsmassses  then think nah the DARK LORD thinks i need new cloths, bahhhhhhh
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