[The Saucepan Man]

Greyhame [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] Great topic - you beat me to it! As both a fan of JRRT's works and an avid game player, I was going to start a thread about LotR board games myself.

I was given LotR Risk for Christmas and have only played it once so far. I agree, though, it does seem to be a great take on the original. The adventure cards look like they can really turn things round. I always thought that one of the problems with the original (in a 2 player game anyway) is that, once one player starts winning, it is quite difficult for the other to turn things around. The gameboard is great, although I can't understand why it stops just above Mor-dor.

I have a number of other LotR games, including a very old SPI game (long since out of print) which combines the journey of the Fellowship with a wargame involving the various armies of the War of the Ring. It has a huge and wonderful map/board and great artwork on the cards. The only problem with it is that it is quite predictable because there are only really two ways for the Ringbearer to get into Mor-dor and it always ends up in a fight there before the armies have really got going.

The other LotR game that I like is the recent one where the players play each of the Hobbits as a team, trying to beat the game, and go through the major events of the book. However, we have found it very difficult to beat the game, especially with two people. In fact, we haven't managed yet.

I'd be interested to hear of any other experiences of the various LotR board games. I see that a new one is advertised on the Tolkienworld website, but is only currently available in the US. Anyone know what it's like?

[ January 21, 2003: Message edited by: The Saucepan Man ]