Risk: Lord of the Rings Re-Visited

Pictured: Shaun of the Dead Cards

by Sean Minch

I like Risk LOTR a lot more now that I've played three player.
I stomped pretty well in the end but only because
another guy had more a vendetta vs the other
guy at first leaving me okay to solid up my secondary
"gnarly" front before committing to too much expansion.

I think the game is a very good one for breaking
the cycle between heavy and long long term games
like Pax Britannica or A and A and the
lighter games like Settlers or the like.

Like Risk, Risk LOTR has the dice and the
territory cards which make up various sets
of reinforcements both of which are only arbitrary.
Still, Risk LOTR has a very good power card device
which can be used to stylize your own game play or
to just pound crap out of someone once in a while... also
event cards rarely but punishingly happen... ouch!

The power cards can only be got by taking certain
territories with forces accompanied
by a leader of which there can only
be two max and which can be
lost. These ideas are enough to make it
a meaty-sh game but don't
forget that, unlike Risk games that
I have played where you can take
your army and roll like the Mongols,
in this one, you can only take a
maximum of three units with you when
you win the first territory and
the next territory from there can only
be attacked by two units and
if you win you can only move in with one unit.

This seriously changes the way Risk heads have to think and really
makes things interesting, even on such a relatively small playing
area. Also, the sea routes combined with serious choke points and
fortifications add a lot to this LOTR game. I like it.

Risk: Lord of the Rings

Pictured Top: Risk LOTR, Pictured bottom: The very popular boardgame Risk

by Sean Minch

I'm especially glad to report that I have finally found a gamer here
in Memphis, Tennessee, USA with whom I can get some gaming done.
Yess!! And, boy, does he have some neat games, too.

Last night we
played Risk's Lord of the Rings. Oh, man.

This is a very very good
game for two to four players. The map is simple enough to understand
after a bit of time but complex enough to keep even clever people on
their toes. Also there are cards that can and sometimes must be
played that can really affect battles or create random events to
modify everything, if briefly. Yes, Guillaume, there is certainly a
randomness factor in the dice but, like most in most things, you make
your own luck (read: even though I had some awesome lucky streaks, I
still lost!). Good game. Took us about 6 hours. Oh, there is one
other component besides the regular features of winning a territory
card for taking territory on your turn which can be mixed/matched for
units later. There is a ring. It must travel across the map along a
plotted course and reach Mt. Doom in order for the game to end and
points be counted up. There are various little things that can
affect this movement... in case you are winning and want to hurry it
up or the opposite. Just a little neat touch. Also prevents
looooooong games from hell where nobody seems to be able to 'win the
game' by 'risking out' the other guys. Good game. Check it out!