inconsequential ruminations

Christo came over last night for a game of War of the Ring. Like me, he has a copy but has been unable to find a local opponent, apart from the basic version with his son. In a nutshell, we had a great time. It is great to play with a serious gamer.

This was my fourth game and I was the Free People. I went for a Mordor victory from the outset, as I had never seen the Free People even get to the Mordor track before. This was Christopher’s first advanced game. As he confesses in his blog, he was a little passive in attack and did not leverage his Nazguls and minions as well as he could have. Losing Saruman cheaply to an event card, difficult to avoid if you are in your learning game, also stung him. This is definitely a game you win through experience, rather than pure talent.

It still took a long time. We started around 8.30 and ended at 12.30. Christopher sensibly suggested playing on Friday evenings in future. We both found it difficult to sleep afterwards. I find this a lot after games nights as my mind reels from the intensity of the workout.

This is still holding up as a major favourite of mine. I know it is not mechanically the best wargame, and the rules are unclear, but that fades into the background compared to the richness of the story arc. I suppose it boils down to how interested I am in the subject. I have always loved Middle Earth above all other themes, far ahead of other fantasy, sci-fi, modern or historical settings.

We used some player aids, which I think are indispensable:

1. Rather than the fiddly, useless army unit replacement pieces, we used sets of two Wallenstein cubes. One to replace the stacks of figures on the board, and the other to mark the pile of figures off the board.
2. We used Fubar’s Game Tables, which are far easier to handle and clearer than the main rules.
3. We used the strategy map to count fellowship moves, find areas mentioned on strategy cards and differentiate settlements.
4. Sadly, the FAQ is also indispensable. I had it open on my computer so I could quickly do word searches.

Although it might be risky, I am seriously thinking about spray-painting my figures in the colours of the different nations. I found some spray for Airfix model aeroplanes in an art shop in Acton. Does anyone have any experience or opinions about using this type of spray for plastic miniatures?