http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1187 en-us Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:20:28 -0500 Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:20:28 -0500 aldie@boardgamegeek.com BoardGameGeek features information related to the board gaming hobby Detail from the front cover including the text. <br> <img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic354969_mt.jpg"> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/354969 2008-07-25T03:35:45+00:00 fractaloon The full map <br> <img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic354968_mt.jpg"> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/354968 2008-07-25T03:33:55+00:00 fractaloon Back of the box. <br> <img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic354967_mt.jpg"> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/354967 2008-07-25T03:30:35+00:00 fractaloon Thanks! The missing card is the Saruman Agent (Isengard). I will photoshop one of the other agents onto one of the blanks. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2164542#2164542 2008-03-17T21:51:56+00:00 Simwork Sounds like you only need an evil card manifest. If you need more info, drop me a GM. <br> <br><b><u>MORGOTH MINIONS</u>:</b> (Red cards with crossed claw and sword) 11 cards total -- Corsair Fleet, Kraken #1, Kraken #2, Balrog, Werewolf, Wight, Fire Drake, Giant Spider, Cold Drake, Vampire, 1 x BLANK. <br> <br><b><u>SARUMAN'S MINIONS</u>:</b> (White hand on black) 7 cards total -- Saruman, Saruman Agent (Isengard), Saruman Agent (Edoras), Saruman Agent (Bree), Saruman Agent (Shire), 2 x BLANK. <br> <br><b><u>SAURON'S MINIONS</u>:</b> (Red Eye on black) 32 cards total -- THE RING, Witch King of Angmar (aka Nazgul #1), Khamul (aka Nazgul #2), Nazgul #3 to #9 (seven cards), The Mouth of Sauron, Fell Creature #1 to #9 (nine cards), Sauronic Agent (Bree), Sauronic Agent (Minas Tirith), Sauronic Agent (Calembel), Sauronic Agent (Pelargir), Sauronic Agent (Dol Amroth), Sauronic Agent (Long Lake), Sauronic Agent (Edoras), 5 x BLANK. <br> <br>Enjoy! <br> <br>TT http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2164094#2164094 2008-03-17T19:26:13+00:00 Herr Niemand Anyone have a card inventory for this game? For the large cards, the rules list 50 event cards, 50 good guy cards, and 50 bad guy cards (of which I have 49!). Since there are several blanks, I am hoping ... http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2163869#2163869 2008-03-17T18:20:16+00:00 Simwork I am making a combat reference sheet and have confusion regarding Ambush [9.14]. There seems to be some misdirected antecedents in the explanation. Does a card with ambush capabilities have the option to stay and fight after its ambush attack, and does "attack" refer to card to card die roll: Can attack mean the EP attack/combat? <br> <br>Do all EP cards have the option of joining the next attack with the rest of its cards or is the attack restricted to just the ambusher? <br> <br>help <br> <br> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1291696#1291696 2007-01-23T00:34:54+00:00 flaney counters (back) <br> <img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic121908_mt.jpg"> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/121908 2006-03-24T16:06:32+00:00 monf.no counters (front) <br> <img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic121907_mt.jpg"> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/121907 2006-03-24T16:05:46+00:00 monf.no also starring these Supporting Characters <br> <img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic105809_mt.jpg"> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/105809 2005-12-12T18:51:30+00:00 Herr Niemand The Shire and environs <br> <img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic105808_mt.jpg"> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/105808 2005-12-12T18:51:30+00:00 Herr Niemand possible Random Encounters <br> <img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic105807_mt.jpg"> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/105807 2005-12-12T18:51:30+00:00 Herr Niemand Minions of Morgoth <br> <img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic105806_mt.jpg"> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/105806 2005-12-12T18:51:30+00:00 Herr Niemand The Fellowship of the Ring <br> <img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic105805_mt.jpg"> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/105805 2005-12-12T18:51:30+00:00 Herr Niemand <b>THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING remembrances</b> <br> <br>I bought this game when it was first published in 1983 by Iron Crown Enterprises, and have easily played more than 50 times since then. I last played about five months ago after about a decade of sad neglect -- at the request of my roleplaying buddies. So this review accommodates both the impressions of the past seen through "rose-colored glasses" as well as a current appraisal of the quality of play. <br> <br>The Fellowship of the Ring is quite unlike either SPI's 1977 War of the Ring or FFG's recent game of the same name. The latter games incorporate considerable army combat, while ICE's game is purely personal. Only individual members of the Fellowship (plus Allies), as well as the Enemy are represented. This game concentrates on individual valor and so has more in common with Runebound than the various War of the Ring games. <br> <br>This game also represents only Tolkien's first book, The Fellowship of the Ring. The game ends when the Fellowship breaks up, i.e., the Ring doesn't have to make it all the way to Mount Doom (or even into Mordor) for the Fellowship to win. Some people might be put off by this truncated story. <br> <br><b>COMPONENTS</b> <br>- 21" by 26" game map puzzle-cut into six pieces <br>- 72 small encounter cards <br>- 150 large fellowship, enemy, and event cards <br>- 65 teeny, tiny dice in four colors <br>- two sets of stickers (for the teeny, tiny dice) <br>- one counter sheet <br>- two display boards <br>- two charts and table sheets <br>- one 20-sided die (numbered 1-0) <br>- one very dense and abstruse rules book <br> <br><b>THE ELDER DAYS</b> <br>This was one of the first attempts to merge fantasy RPGs with board games. S. Coleman Charlton took ICE's MERP stats, divided by 20, and designed this game. As a template to run a fantasy RPG session in the later days of the Third Age of Middle Earth, this game excels. Back in the '80s, I ran several LOTR roleplaying campaigns using this game as a framework for encounters, events, and so on. <br> <br>The rules are structured like Fantasy RPG products of the day, with vital information scattered hither and yon throughout the book (and in some instances hidden from mortal sight!). Understanding the game required reading all 23 pages of rules several times (in eye-blistering 8 pt font), while simultaneously having an inherent grasp of many concepts from ICE's Middle-Earth Role-Playing game. Without a firm grounding in fantasy roleplaying, I'm sure a general feeling of incomprehensibility and incredulity would prevail. But I'd been playing RPGs since 1974, so I had no troubles forging ahead. If you think of it as a roleplaying game in board game format, it's much easier to understand and enjoy. There's an immense amount of detail here; I'm tempted to use the word "minutiae." <br> <br>The mapboard takes some getting used to. Hexagons are rated for the dangers contained within, from safe Havens and Civilized hexes, through Border and Wild lands, all the way to areas of Sauronic Activity. This is important only to determine whether encounters occur. Characters do not move into hexagons, but rather <i>through hexsides.</i> These hexsides contain terrain like Roads, Rivers, Woods, Mountains and other harder to spot features such as Ferries, Passes, Tunnels, etc. To the North and West are off-map regions, which are quite hazardous to the Fellowship unless Gandalf or Aragorn is present. The map is further divided into Random Group Encounter Regions which detail what kinds of creatures might be encountered. Got that? <br> <br>As in any fantasy roleplaying game, the random encounters are quite varied. The Enemy player also gets to place a number of Minions of Morgoth, horrible creatures from the First Age of Middle Earth (as described in The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales). Including Fire Drakes, Barrow Wights, Vampires, Werewolves, and Giants is a nice touch. <br> <br>The game starts out with a bang as Frodo and Sam leave Bagshot Row far too late, with Nazgul on all sides. Meanwhile, Gandalf has just been rescued from Orthanc by the Lord of the Eagles Here's where this game gets pretty cool. The Fellowship player can decide to send out the hobbits (Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, and Fredegar Bolger) as any number of groups. A group is one of those teeny, tiny dice mentioned above. Whichever side shows face up determines the Group's Transport Mode (Sneak, Foot, Horse, Boat, Ship, or Flying). A Group can spawn a <i>Rumor</i> when it moves (or up to three if the Group is spotted). Rumors and Groups are indistinguishable to your opponent, and the Nazgul have quite a task following up each teeny, tiny die to see if "the Baggins" is therein. Groups or Rumors can also mobilize other dormant Groups elsewhere. So the Enemy player is presented with a veritable explosion of teeny, tiny dice to hunt down as the game begins. <br> <br>Here's another cool aspect: as the Fellowship you're free to try any possible route. I read on FFG's website that in WotR there are essentially five viable routes to get the Ringbearers to Mordor. In the Fellowship of the Ring, you can follow through with the most harebrained of schemes -- and it might work if you fake out the Enemy into searching the wrong areas. The Fellowship could go North of the Misty Mountains and make their way East. Or they could make for the Grey Havens, sail an elven ship down the coast of Eriador, and land in Pelargir. Or they could take the East Road to Rivendell. Or head straight south to the Gap of Rohan. Or hook up with Tom Bombadil. Gandalf could go to Edoras, Fanghorn, Lorien, or head towards Rivendell. Each turn offers new choices and possibilities. And that's just a small sampling of the routes I've seen succeed for the Fellowship -- there's plenty more. <br> <br>Eventually, the Fellowship will be found and attacked, either by Nazgul, Minion or Random Encounter. Combat is highly stylized MERP combat resolution. An attacker's Offense Rating (OR) is reduced by the defender's Defense Rating (DR) and that number or less needs to be rolled in order to hit. If you hit, your character does damage equal to his Damage Number (DN). All damage is marked off on a record sheet. When a character receives a total amount of damage equal to his Endurance (EN), he goes unconscious. When damage equals double EN, the character dies. Combat occurs in one or two lines of individual combatants. There is very little opportunity for outflanking or ganging up on one character. <br> <br>If the Ringbearer dies, he drops the Ring -- and somebody better pick it up quick! Hobbits are preferred Ringbearers since they have such high Ring Transfer Numbers (i.e., it's easy for them to give the Ring to someone else). However, anyone can be Ringbearer; it just weighs heavily on their souls... Once the Ring is fumbled though, some amazing upsets can occur. I've seen Saruman get the Ring, go to Orthanc and win! I've seen the Ring lost in Moria where the Balrog gets it and founds his own rival Dark Empire! That game was a Draw. <br> <br>As the Fellowship nears Mordor, the player must decide when to dissolve the Fellowship (and end the game). Victory Points are awarded for how far the Fellowship has gotten, how many turns have elapsed, who is the Ringbearer, who all has died, etc. I'd say the game is pretty well balanced, with both sides winning about 50% of the time (although there was that one Draw...). Start to finish this game takes in the range of 3-5 hours to complete. <br> <br><b>THE ONCE AND FUTURE RING</b> <br>About five months ago, Graham and Evan mentioned they'd like to play The Fellowship of the Ring after I had showed it to them. Wisely, I demurred in order to reread the rules. I was beset by needlessly complex rules (to accommodate the RPG data), downright contradiction in the rules from one sentence to the next, combat rules that seem (to say the least) counterintuitive, and a total lack of rules' organization. After reading the rules through for the third time I felt reasonably competent to play. However, when I tried to teach them the following week, their eyes began to glaze over almost immediately. <br> <br>I didn't want to disappoint them, so I decided to be the Gamemaster. Evan would play the Fellowship, while Graham had the Enemy forces. That way, only I really needed to know all the rules, and I could help each player in their turn. I'm not sure if they would have had the patience to learn this game's rules enough to play solo. There's just too much detail, and so much of it is of no importance -- until a situation arises where it becomes paramount. <br> <br>By gamemastering, the game flowed smoothly and Graham caught Evan flat-footed right outside the Old Forest. Then in a span of two turn (about 10 days) an amazing sequence of events transpired. Frodo, traveling alone, was killed by the Nazgul, but Tom Bombadil showed up and subsequently destroyed them! Having no regard for the Ring, Tom Bombadil just left it laying among the grassy barrows! Merry stumbled upon Frodo's grave and then found the Ring, but was rendered unconscious by Gollum! Gollum slipped on "My Precious" just as Tom Bombadil reappeared and put the poor creature out of its misery. Tom took Merry back to his house to heal, but once again left the Ring! In Bree, Aragorn had heard rumors of great battles in the Barrow Downs, and hearing nothing from Gandalf, he decided to investigate. It was Aragorn who found the one Ring, glinting in the sunlight upon a crumbled stone wall. Returning to Bree, Aragorn met up with Pippin who was wondering where all his buddies had gotten to. Against his better judgment, and requiring a tremendous exertion of will, Aragorn transferred the Ring to Pippin. The burden was too great and he knew Gandalf wanted a Hobbit to carry the thing. Aragorn decided that evening to make for Rivendell at top speed, so he bought a sturdy horse. He and Pippin rode like the wind for Rivendell. FYI, Sam had gone to the Grey Havens with Nazgul hot on his trail, while Gandalf acquired Shadowfax in Edoras, then mobilized the Rohirrim and Gondorians. <br> <br>I'll save the rest of the tale. You get the idea. Anything can happen -- the game is wide open (like a roleplaying game). Both Evan and Graham had a very enjoyable game experience. On the other hand, without my services as Gamemaster and facilitator, the rules and the mass of detail almost certainly would have frustrated them into abandoning the game. <br> <br><b>RECAPITULATION</b> <br>In its day, this was the best melding of strategic wargame and roleplaying game. Now it shows its age. Its unnecessary complexity, as well as the voluminous and sometimes contradictory rules condemn this to board gaming purgatory -- I cannot imagine playing this one again on the spur of the moment or without a terribly good reason. Having said that, as a framework for an extended roleplaying campaign based on the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I'd still use this in a heartbeat. <br> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/725167#725167 2005-12-10T08:41:22+00:00 Herr Niemand This article is one part session report, one part review, and one part rant about rose-colored glasses. <br> <br>I dusted off my copy of Iron Crown Enterprise's Fellowship of the Ring to play with my brother, David, last night. I bought this game when it first came out in the early 80's, and we have memories of enjoying it at that time. <br> <br>This game allows players to recreate the events of The Lord of the Rings. There is no implementation of army combat, only character interraction. It differs from SPI's War of the Ring game in two other major aspects. First, units can generate rumor units that allow a degree of hidden movement for the Fellowship. Second, as the title implies, this game is intended to follow the Fellowship until the Ringbearer declares it to be broken. At this point, an array of graduated victory levels are possible. The Fellowship player does not actually need to reach Mount Doom to declare some form of victory. <br> <br>After re-reading and discussing the rules, we sat down to play with David picking the Enemy side and leaving me with the Fellowship. The first thing that struck me was the distortion of the map so that Hobbiton is much further from Rivendell that it should be. The Fellowship starts with six mobilized units: five Hobbits in the Shire and Gandalf in Isengard. The Enemy starts with nine Nazgul close to the Shire but unmobilized, plus several unmobilized monsters positioned around the board. <br> <br>I began by splitting my Hobbits into three groups. I sent Merry as a decoy along the expected route to Rivendell. I sent Fatty to the Grey Havens to ride a ship around the coast. Dave's most enduring memory of this game from our youth was of me pulling this stunt very successfully with the Ringbearer, so I knew he would have to commit some resources to this diversion even though he probably knew it was a bluff. The other three Hobbits took the Old South Road towards Isengard. <br> <br>This was a major strategic mistake. A group with only Hobbits is forced into sneak mode and can only move one hex per turn. Well, it's 21 hexes to Mount Doom on the shortest path, and you'll always be delayed by terrain rolls and obstacles. I think the Fellowship player must at least pick up Aragorn in Bree to allow the group to switch to foot mode and double it's maximum movement rate. <br> <br>Meanwhile, Gandalf picked up Shadofax from Edoras and began heading back to the West to help the Hobbits while his rumors headed East to mobilize other units. A rumor can mobilize units, and this became a major strategy for me since David (perhaps unwisely) declined to use the "challenge units" rule that allowed him to remove rumors at the risk of losing his turn if he picked wrong. David went after Gandalf with a Vampire, and I was actually very pleased to lose Gandalf on turn 2 so that I would get Gandalf the White on turn 5. While Gandalf held off the Vampire, Eomer escaped to join the Hobbits. <br> <br>Here's one criticism of the theming of the game. None of the minor character cards have names. Fatty's card says Hobbit Decoy, and Eomer's card says Man Decoy (Edoras). The rulebook mentions that the decoys represent minor characters like Fatty, Eomer, Faramir, etc., so why didn't they put their names on the cards? Maybe they didn't want to pay for extra artwork. <br> <br>I should now interject my rose-colored glasses comment. This game was a chore to play. I really don't understand how we had the stamina to do this when we were younger, and I also understand the appeal of German-style games today. The rules for Fellowship of the Ring are kind of fiddly, even if they are lightweight for a game from this era. Worse than that, they are written very poorly. In some cases two sentences in the same paragraph explicitly contradict each other! The game runs for 20 turns if it doesn't end sooner. We quit after eight turns and six hours! Granted we started out very slowly as we got a feel for the rules, but it's still not something that I have time for at this stage in my life. <br> <br>So, back to the session report. I ended up with my Hobbits, finally in foot mode with the addition of Eomer getting cornered by the Nazgul. I tried to swim across the river to Enedwaith a few times without success. Still, I managed to keep evading the Nazgul. Eventually, they met up with Gandalf and another one or two minor characters and actually managed to acquire horses for faster movement. When we quit at the end of the 8th turn, I was just to the west of Isengard. <br> <br>Who would have won if we had gone on? It's hard to say. David hadn't activated a search in Isengard for my next turn, so I could have gotten past it without incident, and then I would have had a straight shot over open terrain across Rohan and Gondor. With luck the Nazgul would have had trouble with the ford over the River Isen. However, Gandalf and Frodo both had poisoned Nazgul wounds. I had plenty of time to get to Edoras for healing, but that delay would have allowed the Nazgul to catch up. I had mobilized several other minor characters on the road between Isengard and Mordor, but a Nazgul whose horse I had killed earlier would have returned on the next turn mounted on a Fell Creature. <br> <br>I mentioned before that the rules are poorly written. The combat rules are exceptionally obtuse and must be replaced to turn this into a fun game. I used Bernd Wechner's play aids which are posted here on the Geek. Thanks Bernd! They were very helpful, but there's only so much you can do without rewriting the rules. <br> <br>So, what would I do to make this game better? Something needs to be done to streamline things. Each individual fiddly thing didn't take too long, but when you add everything up the time becomes an issue. I'm not sure the search and encounter system meshed well with the theme. The way the game system works, the Fellowship can end up often getting into random encounters with groups of random men, orcs, and animals. Once you get into the combat phase, it's relative easy for the Fellowship to disengage and escape. It seems to me that tweaking the search and encounter system so that more of the delays were to avoid contact with primary Enemy groups (Nazgul, and possibly orcs added in a variant) rather than fighting briefly and then escaping animals would make the game fall more in line with the book. <br> <br>Having said that, I must say that one part of the existing search and encounter mechanic worked in conjunction with the rumor mechanic. On each of the last four or five turns we played, I thought Dave was going to get me for sure. Each time, I escaped by the skin of my teeth. If I or anyone else ever modified the search and encounter system, I would like to see this tension remain. I just don't think you need to go through the hassle of going into the combat phase. There is a retreat mechanism in the game where the Enemy player designates certain hexes that the Fellowship can't retreat to. Retreats occur after disengaging from combat or as the direct result of certain encounters. The retreat mechanism works great because it forces the Fellowship player to change their path on the fly to a sub-optimal path in reaction to an encounter. It just seems to me that things would work better if more encounters led directly to forced retreats rather than combat. <br> <br>So that's my session report / review / rant about Fellowship of the Ring. I'm a HUGE Tolkien fan, but I can't see myself playing this game again as-is. Here are some of things I would change: <br> <br>1. Reduce the amount of table lookups and die roll modifiers required. <br>2. Correct all contradictory and unclear rules. <br>3. Change the guardians to mobilized but non-moving blocking units, and perhaps give the Enemy player a few roving bands of Orcs to make up for this. <br>4. Totally rewrite the combat rules to make them simple and clear. <br>5. Tweak the encounter rules so that the Fellowship player suffers more forced retreats and less combats. However, more combats should be with enemy minions rather than random animal groups. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/45569#45569 2004-07-19T23:00:28+00:00 slider bwechner (#19251), <br> <br>I have obtained a new copy of the game and am scanning/uploading the unpunched contents for everyone's reference. I am also toying with the idea of rewriting the rules at least for readability. I find they are horribly overdone, often too wordy, and very poorly organized--not that this makes it a standout for the time. Still, there is much room for improvement and it seems like it would be fun to play with the appropriate treatment. Stay tuned... http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/23873#23873 2003-12-16T15:42:12+00:00 SalladDazed bwechner (#21737), <br>Ok, for some balance-- I think replay is pretty decent. New routes, groupings, and so on. I think the rules are not as bad as everyone makes out; a couple things to iron out, but that&#039;s it. Quite good atmosphere, but tough to play Sauron. Players must remember they are playing the 1st book, and not expect to get all the way to Mt Doom! http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/21752#21752 2003-11-07T06:50:23+00:00 mi_de I&#039;d question the need too. While I like it (memories) and it has a good feel to it once you master it, it&#039;s one of those games that does seem to cost you more in decrypting energy than it pays back in enjoyment. If only it were easier to learn to play and you didn&#039;t need to have three practice games before you felt you could actually play it sensibly ... http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/21737#21737 2003-11-07T00:47:39+00:00 bwechner mopey_marmite (#21246), <br> <br>The answer to this question is always &quot;set up a search on eBay&quot;. Look for a complete or virtually complete but slightly beat-up copy, and be patient. <br> <br>To be honest, though, I wouldn&#039;t bother. I played this game recently and was amazed at how weak it was, given it&#039;s rather solid reputation. I&#039;d invest your energies in the classic ICE CCG Middle-Earth: the Wizards, not that expensive anymore, or Wizard Kings, or one of the classic Columbia titles (Napoleon, War of 1812) or maybe even Hannibal: Rome vs. Carthage. Only one is set in Middle-Earth, of course, but Fellowship of the Ring is a lot of work for not much payoff and a rather low replayability. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/21257#21257 2003-10-27T18:35:22+00:00 cfarrell Eggo (#3695), <br> <br> <br>I am desperatly trying to acquire this game, had it as a kid and foolishly lost it, Now want to introduce it to my son, anyone any ideas about how i get it <br> <br>Cheers http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/21246#21246 2003-10-27T17:54:00+00:00 mopey_marmite bwechner (#21096), <br> <br>My first try to play was this weekend questions are coming! <br> <br>Movement and mobilization: <br> <br>If I understand correctly the EP places all the (red) guardian units in dormant mode, all the (white) Saruman forces in dormant mode. Then places all the (black) Sauron forces. The Nazgul are in horse mode, split up in three groups of three placed north of Isengard and west of the Misty Mountains. The agents are placed in foot mode. Three rumors are played along with the Nazgul and no black makers may be adjacent to any other black marker. <br> <br>The FP starts with five hobbits in the shire and Gandalf the Grey in flying mode in Isengard (only able to move two spaces on turn one). The FP can only mobilize other forces IF they move into an area where the other forces are based? i.e. you can only mobilize an Iron Mountian (north or south) dwarf if you move a FP maker into a Iron Mountain area? OR if the forces are mobilized automatically, i.e. Aragorn on turn three? <br> <br>The EP may move all the (black) Sauron forces on every turn. He may also mobilize (and move?) three other forces on turn one, then 2 on two and 1 on each other turn. The (white) Saruman forces all count as one for the purpose of mobilization and movement? Does that mean that on turn 5 the EP can move all black forces and one of either the red or white forces or can he move all the black and all of the non-dormant red/white forces? <br> <br>Can a group of only hobbits switch to foot mode or horse mode or are they forced to always be in sneak mode? <br> <br>Searching: <br> <br>If the FP marker is a rumor on an active area it is removed on a search roll hitting anything “greater than or equal to” an ‘S’. <br> <br>If the EP places a search marker on three different locations with FP markers and misses all the rolls does the FP also make a search roll on the FP turn for those same search markers? Does that only happen if the marker moves or does it matter? <br> <br>Are there any other ways of making an area active other than the FP active area roll and the EP search markers? <br> <br>Combat: <br> <br>Can you flank with more than four units? <br> <br>Can you place all your units on the front line without any reserve? <br> <br>Thanks for your help. I think once I get through the game once it will be pretty easy. <br> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/21234#21234 2003-10-27T14:52:07+00:00 ScrewTape Thanks! I just found the rules impossible myself. Still do in many ways. Great mechanics, just so poorly written up. Now we have one sheet each to guide us through our turns with relevant info and relative clarity. <br> <br>What I should still add is a better summary for board setup at start. <br> <br>One thing that perplexes us still is the word &quot;may&quot; in the rules under setup of the EPs guardians. The EP may set up the guardians and rumours as follows it says. We just can&#039;t work out what advantage the EP would have not to do so. I&#039;m guessing they could be mobilized during the game in spots that are more relevant to the current knowledge of where the fellowship roughly is, but that&#039;s offset rather heavily by how fast the EP can mobilzie anything at all ... weird wording. We kind of read it as &quot;the EP sets up his guardians as follows&quot; not &quot;The EP may set up his guardians as follows&quot;. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/21184#21184 2003-10-25T08:09:32+00:00 bwechner bwechner (#21096), <br>Brilliant! I just started re-reading the rules to this game today, and was pleasantly surprised to see your new play aids. Thanks! http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/21156#21156 2003-10-23T23:20:51+00:00 slider bwechner (#21096), <br> <br>Thanks a TON! I have just purchased this game for the second time in my life (I had it new as a child and at some point in time my mother decided that goodwill needed it more than I did) and I was going to start working on a play guide. Now I know that I do not have to start that project. <br> <br>Thanks again! <br> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/21147#21147 2003-10-23T17:03:04+00:00 ScrewTape I just posted my summaries of rules as noted from my copy of the game which I bought when it first appeared on the shelves some 20 years ago. We played it then and quite loved it, but were amazed at the complexity of the game as well. Looking at it now, I am amazed even more that we managed to play it at all. It&#039;s got to be one of the worst set of rules I have ever read. Which is a fine irony as they are rules to one of the best games capturing the Lord of the Rings environment that I have ever played. Wow. <br> <br>Now I&#039;m wonderig if there was ever a second edition or perhaps the 1st releaszed with an errata sheet that I don&#039;t have. There are two clear errors on the included sheet of tables I have. One we have resolved, the other I am still stuck on. <br> <br>1) T.6 has AK entries yet AK doesn&#039;t appear in the legend. We have concluded that because AS appears in the legend but not the table that AK is in fact AS. This issue we&#039;re on top of. <br> <br>2) T.5 has a footnote reading &quot;* No modifications except from EP searches&quot;. This is cryptic and meaningless to us. There is no entry in the table that has a * footnote reference, which we&#039;d expect(that is, the designers intended that some area types allow no modifications to search rolls in the FP player turn perhaps). I can&#039;t really apply to the whole table because there is no mention of this in the rules and it&#039;s presented in the same manner as * footnotes in T1 and T.2 for example - i.e. applying to some entries marked witha *). And finally, there is no such distinction as EP searches in our mind as all searches are EP searches (the EP is doing the searching). There are however EP searches during the FP player turn and EP searches during the EP player turn and I suspect they mean the latter. Does anyone have any clues on what this footnote was intended to mean? http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/21096#21096 2003-10-22T22:47:47+00:00 bwechner Well I typed up a summary of FP mobilizations last night because I just couldn&#039;t play FP with the obscure eferences in that crypologists version of rules they supply. Will upload it some time. Will also make one for EP I&#039;m sure. Invaluable for gaining that overview of what characters are available where, when and what good they are. <br> <br>Me and my gal spent 15 minutes of painstaking searching to try and identify where the Long Lank man decoy mobilized. Not referenced anywhere in the rules we can find and no Long Lake on the map. We gave in and concluded it must be Lake Town, which is on the Long Lake of Esgaroth (not labelled in the game anyway mind you). <br> <br>We similarly spent ages trying to work out what AK was on the encounter table. Concluded after painstaking head scratching and banging analysis and thought, that it was typo and should read AS. <br> <br>Finally, we got really stuck trying to work out what the crypitc comment under the search table on the player aid sheet meant that read something like &quot;* Modifications only allowed for EP searches&quot;. The rules make no reference of this. My partner read it to mea, I don&#039;t get -1 for being in snak mode when rolling during the FP turn, only during th EP turn. We discarded that notion as somewhat absurd. Still don&#039;t know what the footnote on that table means. <br> <br>Yep, all this games needs is a solid rework and it would stand out like a gem. Rumour generation is such a grand mechanic ... it really adds flavour to the play. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/19289#19289 2003-09-11T01:52:20+00:00 bwechner Eggo (#3695), <br> <br>Yes, I agree. If I find time, as we&#039;ve just pulled it out of my archives and dusted it off, Im ight take notes and type up a good summary to make life easier! But then again ... noone else done that? http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/19252#19252 2003-09-10T06:20:04+00:00 bwechner SalladDazed (#10507), <br> <br>Alas I don&#039;t, I was just looking here for something similar. It is a grand game but falls down on account of hellishliy complicated rules with no good summary sheets and apparent typos here and there on the summary sheet they have which just cause endless confusion! Lord help us. All this game needs to be near perfect is good German production! http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/19251#19251 2003-09-10T06:18:28+00:00 bwechner Does anyone have any idea if the rules were or ever have been revamped from their original publication? I have just acquired the game and finding the instructions wordy and confusing. It is frustrating because it looks to have all the elements of a great game--but looks like only one person wrote the instructions or something with no editing. <br> <br>If anyone knows of any &quot;New &amp; Improved&quot; rules for this game, or discussion groups that exist anywhere online, etc. I would love to know about it! Sorry if this is in the wrong place I was not sure where to post this... http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/10507#10507 2003-07-15T19:41:47+00:00 SalladDazed Don't be deceived by the rating: This is THE LOTR game for true fans. True to the book, detailed and very original. Get it and forget practically all newer games about this theme, including, in my opinion, the Knizia effort. <br>Shame about the rules though - they are fiddly, partly unclear and probably one of the reasons why people don't like this game. <br>Moritz Eggert http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/3695#3695 2002-09-23T13:05:47+00:00 Eggo