War of the Ring

Jeff and I enjoyed a wonderful afternoon playing War of the Ring yesterday. Although we played with the non-expanded version of the game, our session still featured enough high drama, epic battles, and daring escapes to make it a very memorable experience. As neither of us had played recently we spent a wee bit of time looking up rule details as we played, so the game clocked in at just under 4 hours. The time did fly by though, and only my grumbling stomach eventually forced me to consult my timepiece.

Highlights of the game:

• The Army of the Dead came to the rescue. Minas Tirith and most of Gondor fell for the first time very early in the game due to a well executed invasion by the Dark forces. Just a few poorly equiped and demoralized conscripts huddled on the shore of Dunkirk... I mean Dol Amroth, praying for rescue. The evil legions marched forward for the final stroke to knock Gondor out of the war. Then, out of nowhere Aragorn and a horde of undead soldiers from the past came hurtling in from the sea, totally destroying the Army of the Shadow and slaying two Nazgul! Minas Tirith was soon retaken along with all of Gondor, and Isildur's Heir was crowned.

• Both Minas Tirith and Helms Deep changed hands multiple times in very bloody sieges. Finally Gondor was bled down to a few peasants with pitchforks and Isuldur's Heir received his ultimate spanking. Helm's Deep, once recaptured, started doing its best Bastogne impression and never fell again.

• The game ultimately came down to a final draw out of the Hunt Bag. A happy tile meant goodness and light would prevail; a bad tile would mean fresh hobbit stew for the boyz. Everyone held their breath as the Dark Lord reached his twisted black claw into the Sack of Doom, only to pull out a tile that was only mildly bad... resulting in an almost totally corrupt, but still functional hobbit hero doing his duty.

What a great game! Many thanks to Jeff for hosting the session at his ultimate gaming pad. I sincerely look forward to playing again, and hopefully trying out the expanded version sometime soon!