Risk: Lord of the Rings

PROLOGUE.
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Not so long ago I became and still remain infatuated with the board game RISK. When browsing around a book store a few days ago I stumbled upon ‘The Lord of the Rings Risk’. Although I am not slightly bored with the standard game of ‘Risk’; my opponents are. On finding this game I decided that unfortunately it’s the only way forward if I wanted to keep the interest of my opponents and continue my love ...
...RISK.
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The Lord of the Rings Risk is a special edition of Risk, (released by the parker brothers in 2002); where you will decide the fate of middle earth. You choose to command either a good or evil force, with which you will battle against rival forces in a bid to become victorious and control the land.

The game contains; a board, territory and adventure cards, ‘good and evil’ battalion pieces (representing ... more

PROLOGUE.
-------------

Not so long ago I became and still remain infatuated with the board game RISK. When browsing around a book store a few days ago I stumbled upon ‘The Lord of the Rings Risk’. Although I am not slightly bored with the standard game of ‘Risk’; my opponents are. On finding this game I decided that unfortunately it’s the only way forward if I wanted to keep the interest of my opponents and continue my love affair with Risk.

LORD OF THE RINGS RISK.
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The Lord of the Rings Risk is a special edition of Risk, (released by the parker brothers in 2002); where you will decide the fate of middle earth. You choose to command either a good or evil force, with which you will battle against rival forces in a bid to become victorious and control the land.

The game contains; a board, territory and adventure cards, ‘good and evil’ battalion pieces (representing characters from ‘Lord of the Rings’ book), dice, ‘the fellow ship, represented by the one ring’ and the instruction manual.

Having struggled to understand the manual for the standard game of Risk, I anticipated that this would be no different. Though I assumed that with my knowledge of the game of Risk, it shouldn’t be too hard to figure this version out.
How wrong I was, it certainly helped understanding the basic rules of risk as the ‘turn sequence’ remains the same as well as some basic principles: other than that it is drastically different.
The manual, true to form is ridiculously difficult to grasp. Although the layout was slightly more comprehensive compared with the standard risk version and the index proved quite useful; it still remains very complex.

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The object of the game is to score as many points as possible before ‘the fellowship’ leaves middle earth. When ‘the fellowship’ leaves the board from the dead marshes; the game ends: and the player with the highest number of points wins.

The game board is divided into 6 regions of middle earth (Arnor, Rhovanion, Rohan, Mirkwood, Eriador and Rhun) containing 42 territories; inclusive.
Before the game begins;
Territory cards are distributed between the players;
Each player decides whether to represent a good force or an evil force;
The appropriate numbers of battalions and one leader each is given to the players;
3 adventure/ mission cards are given to each player;
The fellowship is placed on the board.

Each player takes turns in placing their battalions strategically upon their territories ready for play. (Territory cards are then returned and shuffled.)
Roll a dice to begin, the highest roll goes first.
A turn consists of 5 phases;

[1] Reinforcements;
You may reinforce your army at the beginning of each turn; receiving the appropriate number of battalions due (The number depends on how may territories you own; if you own all territories in one region; or if you have any territory cards to exchange for battalions).
[2] Combat;
You may attack territories owned by opponents that border your own. This is done via a battle with dice, should you win, that territory then becomes yours.
Some territories are a stronghold; these can be told apart by a golden symbol on that territory. These territories are stronger in defence, so attack with caution!
You and your opponents have a leader on the board that travels with your battalions; this leader also increases the strength of attack and/or defence.
[3]Manoeuvre;
Having completed all of your attacks you can move any number of battalions from one territory to another territory owned by you. By doing this you can add extra defence to your front line; prepare for an attack next turn; or complete an adventure card.
[4]Drawing Cards;
At the end of your turn you could be eligible to draw cards; that will usually add strength to your position in the game.
If you conquer any territory in an attack, you will draw a territory card, when you have enough of these, you can exchange them for extra battalions in phase one of your turn.
If you have achieved an adventure (mission, event or power up) card, you can declare it complete and draw a replacement adventure card. Completing these will result in rewards and points. (You keep the completed cards in a separate pile next to you as they will be needed to score at the end of the game; the card displays the number of points you receive for completing the adventure.)
[5]Move the Fellowship
The fellowship is a piece of card with a symbol of ‘the one ring’ featured on it. This starts of in the shire and at the end of each turn it is moved on to the next territory. (Its path is indicated on the board.)

Unlike the standard risk game, this is a race to achieve the greatest number of points before the fellowship leaves middle earth.
To earn points, the best way is; to complete the adventure cards. The adventure cards come as either power up; event; or missions. A lot of adventure cards give you points on completion; examples are; you have a leader on the board, which you have to take to various territories on the board, through a combat or manoeuvre phase of a turn. The completion of this results in points and extra battalions.
The other way you earn points is by controlling territories; you gain points for owning territories and regions as well as extra points if any of your territories are a stronghold.

A great feature to this game are the ‘power up and event’ adventure cards. When played they will leave you or an opponent in a weaker or stronger position dependant on the card. An example would be; when someone launches an attack over seas, their battalions are instantly halved.
I love this aspect; someone who looks set to dominate the game can suddenly become significantly weakened. Meaning at no point can a winner be assumed.

~Winning the Game~
When the ‘fellowship’ leaves middle earth; from ‘the dead marshes’ the game ends. All players calculate their points as directed. He/ she with the highest score win.
(In the event of a tie, procedures are followed to determine one player triumphant!)

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I tried to make that comprehensive, but alas; I have concluded it is not a comprehensive game. I do recommend and plea with you to persevere; once you are comfortable with the rules, I ensure countless hours of fun!

This is a game of strategy; you need to do all in your power to be the strongest player; the more battalions you have the stronger you will be in attacks/defence and the completing adventure cards will be easier.
To do this I advise you conquer entire regions and defend them to the death; this is the best and surest way to obtain battalions.
Make allies with opponents; keep them on side until you no longer have use for them, then break your allegiance when it is of benefit to you.
Play callous, cunning and cold – heartedly! Play to win! Let no one stand in your path for triumph!

Well, I am not a The Lord of the Rings (LOTR) enthusiast; however this element of the game needs to be addressed.
The game board is highly detailed, the map drawn in a similar style to that in the actual book and was drawn by an official The Lord of the Rings cartographer. The territories and regions depict places featured in the LOTR book, such as; Brown lands, Mirkwood and Bree.
The strongholds are also places found in the LOTR book, such as; Mines of Moria, Helms deep and Rivendell. The battalions are specially sculpted characters, representing Elven Archers, Riders of Rohan, Orcs, Dark riders, Eagles and cave Trolls.
Illustrations on the box and manual include pictures of characters from the recently released Peter Jackson ‘Lord of the Rings’ film trilogy.

EPILOGUE;

Similar to ‘RISK’ this version feeds my competitiveness. After initial difficulty in understanding the instructions, this soon transpired into being a great game in its own right. Although it holds resemblance to ‘RISK’ this offers a fantastic variation with some great features.

My husband who is a Lord of the Risk’s enthusiast; appreciated the LOTR features and was continually impressed by little things which continually appeared relating to the book. Having said that you do not need to know anything about LOTR to play this and you will not be at a disadvantage should you be as ignorant to LOTR as I am.

I liked having the good and evil forces; the adventure cards rewards differ; depending on if your force was good or evil and the territories you are given initially are located in good or evil regions. Neither; a good or evil force will offer a significant advantage over the other. Really it is just a case of whether it will be good or evil that prevails.

Of course there is an element of luck to this game; it is always good to have the roll of a dice to your favour and it is nice to draw a card that will benefit your strategy. It doesn’t always work out that way and this can be infuriating.
Actually the whole game can be infuriating; it will bring out the worst in you and your opponents, people will play mean and tempers will rise.

The game will last about two hour’s minimum and each minute will be a minute well spent.
It is recommended for 2 - 6 players; the more people that play, the more fun to be had.
It is a game for those who are 10 years or above (I do believe that a 10 year old playing against an adult could potentially be at a disadvantage or used as a pawn (with all the sneaky, strategic tactics being used). Obviously, that is depending on the child and indeed the adult. Overall; I advise that children chosing to play should play against like ages).
The LOTR risk costs £24.99 and can be found in all games shops such as toys R us, WHsmiths as well as some of the larger bookstores. The board and its pieces are very durable, making the £24.99; money well spent.

My reluctant complaints are; the pieces are numerous and susceptible to getting mislaid, there should be something provided to contain them; I mentioned earlier that the map is to the style of the map found in the LOTR book, which is an excellent feature, however, the writing style is particularly hard to read on occasions; my last complaint is that, the manual is so tough to follow, though I really don’t see how this can be resolved due to the complexity of the game.

Comparative to ‘RISK’ I still prefer ‘RISK’ as it is slightly less complex and the quest for ‘world domination’ really appeals to me. RISK and LOTR Risk are two very different games and I believe both would be a great addition to anyone’s board game collection.

To conclude …It is genius!
 

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