<rss version="2.0" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">
<channel>
	<title>Game: Lord of the Rings - The Confrontation: Deluxe Edition</title>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/18833</link>
	<language>en-us</language>
	<lastBuildDate>Sat, 30 Aug 2008 11:45:35 -0500</lastBuildDate>
	<pubDate>Sat, 30 Aug 2008 11:45:35 -0500</pubDate>
	<webMaster>aldie@boardgamegeek.com</webMaster>
	<description>BoardGameGeek features information related to the board gaming hobby</description><item>
	<title>Thread: How do you play LotR: Confrontation?</title>
	<description>I just got back from a nice vacation where I got my first bunch games of Confrontation. I had a great time, and it got better with each play; my nephew and I had a competition back and forth to see who could win the most!&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;At first we played the original edition without the &quot;variant cards&quot;, then we added them in and found that they made a fun game even better. Which leads me to the point: How do you like to play this? I'm curious to see what people say. Reading the deluxe edition characters, they don't seem as interesting as the originals, but I haven't played them yet so I can't be sure.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;[poll=13101]&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Edit: Oops, I see that back in March somebody did this poll as a geeklist. I guess I'll leave this anyway, since the results should be nicer in poll form, and they didn't ask about the variant cards.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2586395#2586395</link>
	<pubDate>2008-08-25T00:27:30+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>wmshub</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Teaching: Lord of the Rings - The Confrontation</title>
	<description>This is why I come to the 'Geek.  Thank you Adam for posting this.  I found it to be very helpful as I'm often called on to teach a game and it's not really my strong suit. </description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2580375#2580375</link>
	<pubDate>2008-08-22T13:04:02+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>troubadour27</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Rating this game a 1</title>
	<description>&lt;b&gt;Archoboy wrote:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;i&gt;Thanks for changing the Subject Line, John. That demonstrates real class &lt;img src=&quot;http://files.boardgamegeek.com/images/smile.gif&quot; alt=&quot;:)&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Glad it worked ... I was not sure if it was possible  &lt;img src=&quot;http://files.boardgamegeek.com/images/smile.gif&quot; alt=&quot;:)&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2575836#2575836</link>
	<pubDate>2008-08-21T03:57:18+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>johnclark</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Rating this game a 1</title>
	<description>Thanks for changing the Subject Line, John. That demonstrates real class &lt;img src=&quot;http://files.boardgamegeek.com/images/smile.gif&quot; alt=&quot;:)&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2575625#2575625</link>
	<pubDate>2008-08-21T02:50:36+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>Archoboy</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: The Harengel family and rating this game a 1</title>
	<description>Just to clarify, I do not have any problem with people rating this game a &quot;1&quot; - everyone is entitled their own opinion and I did not complain about either of the other two people who gave a &quot;1&quot; rating.  I am not &quot;intimidating people I disagree with&quot;.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I am simply pointing out some publically available information which I feel is against the spirit of BGG.  I would be equally annoyed if this person had given this game a &quot;10&quot; four times rather than a &quot;1&quot;.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I think that some of the problems with bogus accounts could be managed if there you could select an option to calculate ratings based only on those from users who have, say, 20 rated games or some other criterion.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;That said, I do regret putting the name of the person in the Subject line - in retrospect maybe I should not have done that (this was simply a case of posting in a rush and with not enough thought) and I will see if the subject can be changed.&lt;br&gt;</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2575132#2575132</link>
	<pubDate>2008-08-20T23:26:37+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>johnclark</dc:creator>
</item><item>
	<title>Thread: Re: The Harengel family and rating this game a 1</title>
	<description>   I think the OP is pointing out that some BGG'ers seem to have multiple profiles for effectively the same person simply to add more ratings, negative or positive....&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;   I haven't a clue as to how to stop phoney profiles.  Are they really much of a problem?  I ignore '1' ratings for a game I personally rate very high.  The ratings are meaningless without comments as far as I'm concerned.  Comments like 'reissue' for a game that includes new expansion pieces and rules are misleading at best.  </description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2574791#2574791</link>
	<pubDate>2008-08-20T21:42:46+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>flapjackmachine</dc:creator>
</item><item>
	<title>Thread: Re: The Harengel family and rating this game a 1</title>
	<description>er... I say again... M U P P E T S&lt;br&gt;(only this time I don't mean the Harengels.)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Now, please will you all go and rate Agricola &quot;1&quot; because it doesn't deserve to be higher than Puerto Rico, especially without the animeeples.  &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;(Oh no, it's catching... &lt;img src=&quot;http://files.boardgamegeek.com/images/zombie.gif&quot; alt=&quot;zombie&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt; )</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2574716#2574716</link>
	<pubDate>2008-08-20T21:22:28+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>tomski</dc:creator>
</item><item>
	<title>Thread: Re: The Harengel family and rating this game a 1</title>
	<description>&lt;b&gt;Archoboy wrote:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;br&gt; Yet, I'm the one who is intimidating and Gestapo like for mentioning the obvious moral and tactical similarities used by the Gestapo and others who want to shut people up with whom they disagree? &lt;/i&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Indeed you appear to be the only contributer so far who feels such a comparison to be appropriate. Believe it or not, you are not holding the moral high ground at the moment although you clearly seem to think that you are.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I would suggest its perhaps time for a sense of proportion and a reassessment of the facts. </description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2574548#2574548</link>
	<pubDate>2008-08-20T20:40:39+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>Big Bad Lex</dc:creator>
</item><item>
	<title>Thread: Re: The Harengel family and rating this game a 1</title>
	<description>&lt;b&gt;Rock Photo Star wrote:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;b&gt;Archoboy wrote:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;i&gt;Wow. I never knew BGG had ratings Gestapo. I get it, let's all intimidate BGG'ers who we don't agree with! Yeah. It'll be fun. We can have a mock trial and everything!&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I think he's questioning the authenticity and is simply pursuing publicly available information.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The trustworthiness of ratings is a legitimate concern. Reviewing public information is totally valid and done so everyday in numerous professions.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Intimidation is rediculously trying to paint someone as acting gestapo like.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Let's recap.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Someone digs through another's game ratings, doesn't agree with it or otherwise like what he sees, fanatically researches that person AND his family to acuse them of the heinous crime of game rating treachery (God forbid, with ratings being SO important after all), then posts that person's name in the heading of a game forum to call him to the carpet for his suspect motivations. Let's make sure everyone on the BGG knows that the Harengel Family rated this game as a 1. That will get them. Those Harengels are obviously bad, bad, bad. And we know it because we're good, good, good, and they don't agree with us. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;And you don't find anything disturbing about that? Yet, I'm the one who is intimidating and Gestapo like for mentioning the obvious moral and tactical similarities used by the Gestapo and others who want to shut people up with whom they disagree? Sends shivers down mine spine. I personally don't care what the Harengels' motivations are - probably made a bundle rating the game so low, though. I just hope I'm not accused of being a witch next (I don't float &lt;img src=&quot;http://files.boardgamegeek.com/images/wink.gif&quot; alt=&quot;;)&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt; ). Or worse, someone may go through my ratings and profile and find my deep, dark secrets...</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2574334#2574334</link>
	<pubDate>2008-08-20T19:48:41+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>Archoboy</dc:creator>
</item><item>
	<title>Thread: Re: The Harengel family and rating this game a 1</title>
	<description>&lt;b&gt;Archoboy wrote:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;i&gt;Wow. I never knew BGG had ratings Gestapo. I get it, let's all intimidate BGG'ers who we don't agree with! Yeah. It'll be fun. We can have a mock trial and everything!&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I think he's questioning the authenticity and is simply pursuing publicly available information.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The trustworthiness of ratings is a legitimate concern. Reviewing public information is totally valid and done so everyday in numerous professions.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Intimidation is rediculously trying to paint someone as acting gestapo like.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2573569#2573569</link>
	<pubDate>2008-08-20T16:34:54+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>Rock Photo Star</dc:creator>
</item><item>
	<title>Thread: Re: The Harengel family and rating this game a 1</title>
	<description>&lt;b&gt;Archoboy wrote:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;i&gt;Wow. I never knew BGG had ratings Gestapo. I get it, let's all intimidate BGG'ers who we don't agree with! Yeah. It'll be fun. We can have a mock trial and everything!&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Then, does that make you the commissar, who ensures that everyone posting has the proper attitude toward the motherland? &lt;img src=&quot;http://files.boardgamegeek.com/images/biggrin.gif&quot; alt=&quot;:D&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2573459#2573459</link>
	<pubDate>2008-08-20T16:02:25+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>dbuel</dc:creator>
</item><item>
	<title>Thread: Re: The Harengel family and rating this game a 1</title>
	<description>Hmm, the ratings gestapo thing stings a little but, uh, it appears he's right.  So it's ok to screw with the ratings as long as nobody is watching?&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2573325#2573325</link>
	<pubDate>2008-08-20T15:24:40+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>TheCollector</dc:creator>
</item><item>
	<title>Thread: Re: The Harengel family and rating this game a 1</title>
	<description>From Harengel to Godwin in 4 easy steps...&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The guy obviously has a particular interpretation of what a &quot;1&quot; rating means. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;An interpretatin which has some basis in the description, strange as it may seem. &quot;Defies description of a game&quot;...well it looks like he thinks these games aren't really games, just variants/expansions and as such should be rated '1'.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Possibly I'm just rationalising though. Its not a position I agree with anyway.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2573285#2573285</link>
	<pubDate>2008-08-20T15:11:33+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>Philip Thomas</dc:creator>
</item><item>
	<title>Thread: Re: The Harengel family and rating this game a 1</title>
	<description>Wow. I never knew BGG had ratings Gestapo. I get it, let's all intimidate BGG'ers who we don't agree with! Yeah. It'll be fun. We can have a mock trial and everything!</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2573250#2573250</link>
	<pubDate>2008-08-20T14:59:13+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>Archoboy</dc:creator>
</item><item>
	<title>Thread: Re: The Harengel family and rating this game a 1</title>
	<description>M   U   P   P   E   T   S</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2572756#2572756</link>
	<pubDate>2008-08-20T12:57:20+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>tomski</dc:creator>
</item><item>
	<title>Thread: Re: The Harengel family and rating this game a 1</title>
	<description>Interesting ... I just don't understand why anyone would do that.  Why create an account for a one year old so you can put in bogus ratings?  Seems pretty lame to me.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2572703#2572703</link>
	<pubDate>2008-08-20T12:40:48+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>johnclark</dc:creator>
</item><item>
	<title>Thread: Re: The Harengel family and rating this game a 1</title>
	<description>Florian, Katharina &amp; Andrea all log on at the same time too. However the Harengels do exist and have a web page;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;A target='_blank' href=&quot;http://www.harengel.de&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;www.harengel.de&lt;/A&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Check out Florian's links to his pics. However he does seem a bit young to be expressing such forthright views on a game, let alone being able to play it.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Stewy watch out.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2572557#2572557</link>
	<pubDate>2008-08-20T11:34:09+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>Big Bad Lex</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Rating this game a 1</title>
	<description>There are a total of SIX ratings of 1 for Lord of the Rings - The Confrontation: Deluxe Edition.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Here are the names of those users who gave those ratings and their comments:&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Taco van Vliet  &quot;theme rip off&quot;&lt;br&gt;Renato Soriano  [no comment]&lt;br&gt;Herbert &lt;b&gt;Harengel&lt;/b&gt;  &quot;reissue&quot;&lt;br&gt;Florian &lt;b&gt;Harengel&lt;/b&gt;  &quot;Not a new game - just a new issue.&quot;&lt;br&gt;Katharina &lt;b&gt;Harengel&lt;/b&gt;  &quot;reissue&quot;&lt;br&gt;Andrea &lt;b&gt;Harengel&lt;/b&gt;  &quot;reissue&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;It seems to me that the Harengel family REALLY hate this game, or at least really hate the fact that it is a &quot;reissue&quot;.  Unfortunately none of the Harengel family give a rating to the original game, so its a difficult to know if it is just the &quot;reissue&quot; thing or something else?&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I was wondering if a representative of the Harengel family might like to comment further on their hatred for this game, which is so great that all four of them felt compelled to give the game a 1 out of 10.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Looking at the Harengel family profiles does not help us much: Katharina and Andrea only rate four games (identically), where the other three are 10s and 9s, including a 10 for Agricola. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Herbert Harengel rates over 300 games, but gives only four games a &quot;1&quot;, as follows:&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Bingo  [no comment]&lt;br&gt;Lord of the Rings - The Confrontation: Deluxe Edition.  &quot;reissue&quot;&lt;br&gt;Ticket to Ride:  Europe   &quot;reissue&quot;&lt;br&gt;Ticket to Ride:  Marklin Edition   &quot;reissue&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Does anyone else doubt the existence of some of the &lt;b&gt;Harengel&lt;/b&gt; family or is it just me?&lt;br&gt;</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2572224#2572224</link>
	<pubDate>2008-08-20T06:59:06+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>johnclark</dc:creator>
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	<title>Image</title>
	<description>
		My &quot;LOTR the movie&quot; -confrontation DL conversion: Noble sacrifice &lt;br&gt;
		&lt;img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic361403_mt.jpg"&gt;
	</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/361403</link>
	<pubDate>2008-08-14T21:34:23+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>Mikmo</dc:creator>
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	<title>Image</title>
	<description>
		My &quot;LOTR the movie&quot; -confrontation DL translation; Frodo &lt;br&gt;
		&lt;img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic361402_mt.jpg"&gt;
	</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/361402</link>
	<pubDate>2008-08-14T21:32:58+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>Mikmo</dc:creator>
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	<title>Image</title>
	<description>
		My &quot;LOTR the movie&quot; -confrontation DL conversion/translation mapboard &lt;br&gt;
		&lt;img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic361397_mt.jpg"&gt;
	</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/361397</link>
	<pubDate>2008-08-14T21:16:33+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>Mikmo</dc:creator>
</item><item>
	<title>Image</title>
	<description>
		My &quot;LOTR the movie&quot; -confrontation makeover, sauron characters &lt;br&gt;
		&lt;img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic361372_mt.jpg"&gt;
	</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/361372</link>
	<pubDate>2008-08-14T20:29:09+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>Mikmo</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: rule question: Sauron's Retreat</title>
	<description>Yes, you can play cards which have no effect. </description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2554912#2554912</link>
	<pubDate>2008-08-14T10:05:02+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>Philip Thomas</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: rule question: Sauron's Retreat</title>
	<description>Thanks, Matthew!&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Does this mean that I can play the Retreat card any time in a situation where it cannot have an effect just to get rid of it? Or this only applies if I have no other choice?&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;edit: Having re-read MMM's original post, I realized that's exactly what he'd said. Sorry... &lt;img src=&quot;http://files.boardgamegeek.com/images/blush.gif&quot; alt=&quot;:blush:&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2554906#2554906</link>
	<pubDate>2008-08-14T10:00:42+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>malus</dc:creator>
</item><item>
	<title>Image</title>
	<description>
		Time for my ultimate card... Tadaaa ..... &lt;br&gt;
		&lt;img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic360786_mt.jpg"&gt;
	</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/360786</link>
	<pubDate>2008-08-13T04:12:37+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>Deadwood</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: rule question: Sauron's Retreat</title>
	<description>&lt;b&gt;malus wrote:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;i&gt;Hey,&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I've come across a weird situation that I found no resolution for in the rulebook. What happens if the last card left in the Sauron player's hand is the 'Retreat' but he cannot use it (due to the adjacent field being full or occupied by an enemy piece)?&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Is the piece killed, or does the battle take place like he couldn't retreat?&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Sorry if I'm missing something obvious or this has been discussed.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;You can always play the card.  You may not always be able to execute what the card says.  In this case you play Retreat but cannot move so the fight is resolved with your combat strength being what is printed on the unit.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;-MMM</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2542251#2542251</link>
	<pubDate>2008-08-09T23:30:51+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>Octavian</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: rule question: Sauron's Retreat</title>
	<description>Hey,&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I've come across a weird situation that I found no resolution for in the rulebook. What happens if the last card left in the Sauron player's hand is the 'Retreat' but he cannot use it (due to the adjacent field being full or occupied by an enemy piece)?&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Is the piece killed, or does the battle take place like he couldn't retreat?&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Sorry if I'm missing something obvious or this has been discussed.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2542233#2542233</link>
	<pubDate>2008-08-09T23:13:43+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>malus</dc:creator>
</item><item>
	<title>Image</title>
	<description>
		Custom cover art based on the movie &lt;br&gt;
		&lt;img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic358082_mt.jpg"&gt;
	</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/358082</link>
	<pubDate>2008-08-05T15:11:03+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>caltino</dc:creator>
</item><item>
	<title>Thread: Re: Is the game Broken</title>
	<description>Broken games do not appear in the BGG top 50.  If they did, then hundreds of BGGers would be really really stupid, and I don't think that they are ...</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2526672#2526672</link>
	<pubDate>2008-08-04T07:50:48+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>johnclark</dc:creator>
</item><item>
	<title>Thread: Re: Piece-by-piece strategy: Dark</title>
	<description>Great great, article with many interesting thoughts.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I've come up with most of the same conclusions about this game as you.  You'd be a great opponent.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I didn't ever think of the Warg as a Boromir hunter before.  I think he's too valuable to guard Mordor from Frodo though.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2440376#2440376</link>
	<pubDate>2008-07-01T16:27:35+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>jackR24</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Teaching: Lord of the Rings - The Confrontation</title>
	<description>Hey, Great Article!&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;This should help me considering I'm going to try to introduce the Confrontation to my sister today.  It should be a lot of help, thanks.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2421943#2421943</link>
	<pubDate>2008-06-24T16:13:56+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>jackR24</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Teaching: Lord of the Rings - The Confrontation</title>
	<description>&lt;b&gt;Preface&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;This was originally a reply in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2418945#2418945&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; class=&quot;postlink&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;another thread about teaching games&lt;/a&gt;.  I thought it warranted a standalone article, so here it is for your viewing pleasure.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;b&gt;The Teaching&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;I do a fair amount of game teaching.  I was teaching my 8 year old daughter how to play &lt;a class='gamelink' target='_blank' href=&quot;/game/18833&quot;&gt;Lord of the Rings - The Confrontation: Deluxe Edition&lt;/a&gt; yesterday (she loved it, probably because she won!), and I was thinking this morning how to teach her to teach games (a little meta-teaching).&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;What I generally do is present the theme of the game, and say like &quot;We're all different countries&quot; or &quot;I'm the Fellowship of the Ring, and you're Sauron&quot;.  &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I then explained the components in the game insofar as they fit in with the theme.  &quot;See these stand-up things here?  These are guys from the movies.  You have bad guys, like the Balrog and the Nazgul, and I have good guys like Frodo and Gandalf.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;So I showed her what we do on each turn.  &quot;On our turns, we have to move a guy forward.  See how each of these spaces has two other spaces in front of it?  We can move into either of those spaces.  If one of my guys is there, we fight it out.  If not, then your guy stays there.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<![CDATA[<div style=''><a href="/image/288012"><img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic288012_md.jpg" border=0></a></div>]]>Image courtesy of TimothyP&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I then went on to explain the winning / game end conditions.  &quot;I win if I can get Frodo to Mordor.  See how it's at the very end of your side of the board?  It doesn't matter if you still have all 4 guys there; if I get Frodo there, I win.  That's the only way I can win.  I need to get Frodo to Mordor.  It's your job to stop me.  You can do that by killing Frodo.  You get another way you can win though - if you can get 3 guys into my farthest space ('The Shire'), then you win.  So you have two ways you can win: kill Frodo, or get 3 guys in The Shire.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;So I circled back and showed her how to kill Frodo.  &quot;Now when you move onto a space with one of &lt;b&gt;your&lt;/b&gt; guys that has one of &lt;b&gt;my&lt;/b&gt; guys in it, we start a fight.  See how each of these guys has something written on it?  We read those out first.  I get to do mine, and then you get to do yours.  Sometimes that will end the fight right there.  Most of the time, we'll get to play cards though.  We each take a card out of our hand, and then we 'blind bid' it in front of us.  We both put them down face down, and when we both have them face down, we turn them face up.  Then we add the number on the card to the number on the character, and the highest total wins!&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I showed her the reference sheets that come with the game, which I'd set out beforehand.  &quot;You can see my whole team on that sheet, just like your whole team.  And the cards too.  You get 1-6 and 3 special cards, and I get 1-5 and 4 special cards.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<![CDATA[<div style=''><a href="/image/112297"><img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic112297_md.jpg" border=0></a></div>]]>Image courtesy of Ladislaus&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;That's fair&quot; she said.  &quot;I get the 6, but you get one more special card.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;That's right.  And two of our special cards are the same: we both get 'Retreat' and 'Magic', see?&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;As you can see, this method of teaching isn't formulaic, but rather it explains the game in it's own context from theme to simple mechanics to goals to specific info we need to know to play.  I repeat things, and give concrete examples.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I left out some things, like &quot;You can't move sideways in the mountains&quot; and &quot;the Balrog instantly kills somebody trying to move through the Mines of Moria&quot; until we started playing.  I had her place all of her guys randomly to start, and then place all of my guys randomly (without looking at my guys).&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;After she understood the basic rules, I put in those little caveats, along with the river movement (showing her the arrows and tracing the river with my finger).&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;One thing I make clear with children, and people who are new to playing different types of games, is that the first game is a &quot;learning game&quot;.  We try and learn the rules the first game, and learn how to play, and not worry too much if we win or lose.  By the end of the game, you'll have learned the rules and identified some things that you could have done better.  The next time we play, you'll know the rules, but you'll still be learning.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;When I play in larger groups, I usually identify the newer players, and give the person &quot;farthest away&quot; from the newest player the starting player token.  This allows them to see a few people taking their moves before they have to do something.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;There's no magic formula, but there is a logical order to learning a game, and that's how you should teach it.  With my regular game group, I teach strategy by playing the best I can, and talking about it later, particularly if somebody &quot;let&quot; me do something advantageous when they could have stopped it.  Likewise, any devastating moves played to my detriment I highlight; this makes them feel good about the plays, and lets the other players know what happened there.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2418976#2418976</link>
	<pubDate>2008-06-23T18:24:46+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>adam.skinner</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Is the game Broken</title>
	<description>&quot;Broken&quot; is a horrible buzzword that has spread like the plague across gaming in general. No, Confrontation isn't broken, far from it - it's a true jewel.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;People need to learn how to play the games they own instead of dismissing them after a single try.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2382218#2382218</link>
	<pubDate>2008-06-09T21:09:28+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>GreatDeceiver</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Strategies?</title>
	<description>&lt;br&gt; Hmmm, well I just played a game as the Fellowship and won. *laughs* &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt; Thanks for the links too. </description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2379771#2379771</link>
	<pubDate>2008-06-08T22:54:39+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>ChaosReigns</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Strategies?</title>
	<description>If you look here,  &lt;A target='_blank' href=&quot;http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/18833&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/18833&lt;/A&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;and scroll down to the forums section and click on the tab &quot;strategy&quot; you will find plenty of opinions there.  &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;also, if you go here, &lt;A target='_blank' href=&quot;http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/3201&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/3201&lt;/A&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;you will find even more.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2379685#2379685</link>
	<pubDate>2008-06-08T21:40:49+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>frogmind</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Strategies?</title>
	<description>&lt;br&gt; I just bought this game and obviously I'm not very good, because I've lost practically every game I've played. My opponent usually keeps Frodo into the Shire and then sprints him to Mordor, deftly avoiding the two or three pieces that I have left in play using Gwaihir the Wind Lord, Retreat and Frodo's special ability. Is there any way to get around this?&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt; What are your strategies for getting Frodo in the late game? What are some good set-ups for the Sauron pieces? What are some common evil strategies? Lastly what is the best choice of pieces in the draft game for Sauron? &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt; Preferably these strategies should be for the draft or the classic game. Any help is appreciated, thanks in advance.  </description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2379607#2379607</link>
	<pubDate>2008-06-08T20:58:51+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>ChaosReigns</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Online Play Anywhere?</title>
	<description>Hey there!&lt;br&gt;Well, I'd say &lt;u&gt;yes&lt;/u&gt; there is. &lt;img src=&quot;http://files.boardgamegeek.com/images/cool.gif&quot; alt=&quot;:cool:&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt; on the online board game engine Vassal. Just in case u dont know it, here is where u can download: &lt;A target='_blank' href=&quot;http://www.vassalengine.org/community/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.vassalengine.org/community/index.php&lt;/A&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;If you just discovered it now, consider u have now found a completely new place to spent your time &lt;img src=&quot;http://files.boardgamegeek.com/images/laugh.gif&quot; alt=&quot;:laugh:&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;There's an immense archive of so called ''modules'' ranging from all type of boardgames, including Lotr confrontation (base game).&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Hope to see ya around, and in case you'r searching for opponents, just PM me &lt;img src=&quot;http://files.boardgamegeek.com/images/wink.gif&quot; alt=&quot;;)&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2378357#2378357</link>
	<pubDate>2008-06-08T01:31:55+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>DarkS0uL</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: A more subtle magic...</title>
	<description>I definitely agree, Octavian.  Magic becomes a terrifying card when you know it can rez ANY discarded card. A lot more tense with its original rule.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2330991#2330991</link>
	<pubDate>2008-05-21T05:01:15+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>UncleChu</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Online Play Anywhere?</title>
	<description>Looks like no, due to the lack of replies, but I agree it would be fun to see an online version!</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2322146#2322146</link>
	<pubDate>2008-05-17T16:41:44+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>JohnnyDollar</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Is the game Broken</title>
	<description>Is the game imbalanced?  Perhaps somewhat, though by how much is in debate and it's close enough to even.  Imbalanced does NOT mean broken.  Tell your friend to learn which is which &lt;img src=&quot;http://files.boardgamegeek.com/images/wink.gif&quot; alt=&quot;;)&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;-MMM</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2287464#2287464</link>
	<pubDate>2008-05-04T23:18:10+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>Octavian</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Is the game Broken</title>
	<description>Also, if you're using two-game scoring, one side's particular balance isn't going to matter.  But, yeh, don't try to fix the game.  It's perfect as is.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2286937#2286937</link>
	<pubDate>2008-05-04T16:05:17+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>logopolys</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Is the game Broken</title>
	<description>&lt;b&gt;Capitaine Grappin wrote:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;i&gt;One side uses brute strenght, while the other use subtility in a perfect balance.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br&gt;And if you're worried about the Fellowship not having enough brute strength, you can just use some of the Variant characters (which I assume you have, as you're posting this on the DX forums...).  Characters like Treebeard are more than a match for many of the Dark characters, especially if you use Dark Variant characters as well.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2286935#2286935</link>
	<pubDate>2008-05-04T16:03:51+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>logopolys</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Is the game Broken</title>
	<description>Far from broken.  Except to players who don't want to think.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2286932#2286932</link>
	<pubDate>2008-05-04T16:00:53+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>Geosphere</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Is the game Broken</title>
	<description>One side uses brute strenght, while the other use subtility in a perfect balance.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2286917#2286917</link>
	<pubDate>2008-05-04T15:45:13+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>Capitaine Grappin</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Is the game Broken</title>
	<description>&lt;br&gt;Oh man, how many times is this question going to come up? Initially I think there is an advantage to the Dark - it's a much simpler side to play, with higher strength pieces and more obvious strategies. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;However, after only a couple of games you will find that the Light side has a bag of tricks up it's sleeve. Just to give one obvious example, if Light can simply trade pieces one-for-one, they should win in the long game because Frodo becomes almost impossible to pin down. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;It really is an amazingly well themed *and* well balanced game. As the previous poster said, stick with it - you won't be disappointed. </description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2286824#2286824</link>
	<pubDate>2008-05-04T14:21:14+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>ijmcf</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Is the game Broken</title>
	<description>This game isn't broken.  I would say that for a new player Sauron's forces may appear stronger but the reality is both sides are extremely well balanced.  Making such a judgement after a first play is a bit strong, play again and learn the game.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2286807#2286807</link>
	<pubDate>2008-05-04T14:01:21+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>frogmind</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Is the game Broken</title>
	<description>I played my first game yesterday and spome people said that the game was somewhat broken and it only advantage the evil players.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Do you think it's true, is there any other way to work around it to make it more balanced. ( for example, evil player has no text cards).</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2286716#2286716</link>
	<pubDate>2008-05-04T12:51:30+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>larienna</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Online Play Anywhere?</title>
	<description>Is there anywhere this game can be played online, either realtime or turn-based?</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2266823#2266823</link>
	<pubDate>2008-04-26T18:15:43+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>milomilo122</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Do you use the variant characters?</title>
	<description>We play with a mixture of both.  We also do not use the tiles that show each character and which version we used.  You find out when you hit them.  Makes the game more exciting.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2204680#2204680</link>
	<pubDate>2008-04-02T17:51:41+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>Rygel</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Do you use the variant characters?</title>
	<description>Do you use only the regular characters, or only the variant characters on the other side, or some mixture of both?&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Let us all know by voting here, please!&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;A target='_blank' href=&quot;http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/30317/item/628952#item628952&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/30317/item/628952#item...&lt;/A&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;What other variations would be worth knowing what everyone else thinks about?  You can feel free to add more to the end of the geeklist.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;thanks!&lt;br&gt;</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2203158#2203158</link>
	<pubDate>2008-04-02T04:05:03+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>kevinb9n</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Wormtongue and battles that end in a draw</title>
	<description>Thank you for the quick replies. It does make sense that my opponent opened the door by using his better cards with Wormtongue. </description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2179149#2179149</link>
	<pubDate>2008-03-24T16:59:06+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>CobberFootballer</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Wormtongue and battles that end in a draw</title>
	<description>&lt;br&gt;Hi&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;You played correctly, if there is a tie involvong Wormtongue, he retreats if possible and the good character is removed.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Wormtongue can only retreat to an empty space, so he is not too difficult to get rid of. He is a pain to fight against, but not a killer character.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2178887#2178887</link>
	<pubDate>2008-03-24T14:33:50+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>btanchel</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Wormtongue and battles that end in a draw</title>
	<description>You were correct in your ruling. In a draw with Wormtongue, the Fellowship player dies and Wormtongue gets to retreat (assuming there's an empty area behind him). He's definitely an annoying character for the Fellowhship to deal with, but not unbalanced. Given his -1 strength, it's not hard to make sure that the Fellowship character survives.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The important thing to remember is that cards are almost as important as characters. In order for Wormtongue to kill Treebeard, your opponent had to play his 6. That's a huge cost to kill a moderately powerful Fellowship character. The Sauron player can't afford to do that more than once or twice in a game. If he does, he won't have the cards he needs in battles where he might actually lose a vital character. Instead, he uses him to force the Fellowship player to discard moderately useful cards while he discards his worst cards with impunity. Wormtongue shines when battling weak Fellowship characters (1's and 2's) that he may actually be able to kill without to much cost. 3's are 4's are usually not worth it, and 5's are almost definitely not.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Consider the possibility that you won because your opponent spent valuable cards winning battles with Wormtongue that may have been better used elsewhere.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2178711#2178711</link>
	<pubDate>2008-03-24T12:10:32+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>jeffk</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Wormtongue and battles that end in a draw</title>
	<description>  If Worntongue is in a battle and the result is a draw after the use of strength cards both characters are defeated. Does that mean that the Fellowship character is eliminated from the game and Wormtongue is allowed to retreat to an empty region?&lt;br&gt;  I played a game tonight (as the Fellowship) with a friend using the variant characters for the first time. Wormtongue attacked Treebeard and I played a 1 thinking that in a draw Wormtongue would have to retreat and Treebeard would remain where he was. My friend argued that Treebeard should be eliminated. We decided that Treebeard was killed and Wormtongue was able to retreat. Later in the game Wormtongue also managed to kill Sam in the same way. This left a bitter taste in my mouth. I did still find a way to win (plenty of strategical mistakes on both sides, I'm sure). &lt;br&gt;  Both me and my friend felt that Wormtongue is much more powerful than Shelob. How can the Fellowship player deal with Wormtongue? It seems like he is almost impossible to surround. We both got a chance to play with Wormtongue and we both felt like he was more powerful than he should be. When drafting a Mordor squad it seems like he would be the first pick hands down.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Thanks in advance,&lt;br&gt;Matty Mac&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2178601#2178601</link>
	<pubDate>2008-03-24T08:55:30+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>CobberFootballer</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: A more subtle magic...</title>
	<description>This would tilt the balance well into Dark's favor if Frodo doesn't have a choice between Retreating backwards or a high number card.  Considering the game already favors Dark as it is, it is not a variant I would recommend using.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;-MMM</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2155059#2155059</link>
	<pubDate>2008-03-13T22:18:19+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>Octavian</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: A more subtle magic...</title>
	<description>Basically, this variant was born from me misreading the rules, such that this is the &lt;b&gt;only&lt;/b&gt; way I've played the game for the first 10 times orso.  But I think it may be better than the normal rules...&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;It's really simple: &lt;i&gt;When magic is played it &quot;resurrects&quot; the &lt;b&gt;last card played&lt;/b&gt;.  You don't get to choose from all the cards you have played, you just take the top card from your discards.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Basically this means magic is like an &quot;instant replay&quot;.  If you want to use the same card twice, it must be twice in a row.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The effect of this is that you must be more strategic about your battles, and how you play cards.  No more wasting good cards saying, &quot;well it's okay, because I can magic it later&quot;.  If you do then your good cards will get covered up by another card.  Now you must be more careful about the cards you play, the order you play them in, and the order of the characters you choose to fight.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2153271#2153271</link>
	<pubDate>2008-03-12T23:09:48+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>muhd220</dc:creator>
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	<title>Image</title>
	<description>
		Confrontation's ANNOYING box interior &lt;br&gt;
		&lt;img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic292578_mt.jpg"&gt;
	</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/292578</link>
	<pubDate>2008-01-22T03:41:19+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>MrWeasely</dc:creator>
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	<title>Image</title>
	<description>
		The 8 special cards: 4 for Sauron, 4 for the Fellowship - part of the variant game. &lt;br&gt;
		&lt;img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic292273_mt.jpg"&gt;
	</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/292273</link>
	<pubDate>2008-01-21T03:18:18+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>TimothyP</dc:creator>
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	<title>Image</title>
	<description>
		The Dark of Morder special card - used by the Sauron player. &lt;br&gt;
		&lt;img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic292271_mt.jpg"&gt;
	</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/292271</link>
	<pubDate>2008-01-21T03:10:29+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>TimothyP</dc:creator>
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	<title>Image</title>
	<description>
		Shadowfax special card - used by the Fellowship player. &lt;br&gt;
		&lt;img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic292269_mt.jpg"&gt;
	</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/292269</link>
	<pubDate>2008-01-21T03:08:10+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>TimothyP</dc:creator>
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