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469 of 482 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
If you like Risk youll love LOTR Risk, November 2, 2002
Durability:3.0 out of 5 stars Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars Educational:4.0 out of 5 stars
Game board:
The game board is a four fold design rather than a two fold design like the standard risk board. This makes the board seem less durable than the standard risk board. The Map:
At first I was a little disappointed with the map, It does not show Gondor or Mordor, and I thought there could have been a little more detail put into some locations. The reasoning for not including Gondor or Mordor is that the manual states the game is based on the first two books of the trilogy. After playing several games on the board I have grown to like the map more and more. The balance of the continents seems to be pretty well thought out. Although Rhun can sometimes be held very easily by evil. Rhun is kind of the Austrailia of LOTR Risk, it isn't worth much bonus, but it is easy to hold. The rest of the continents are balanced well, mostly being hard to gain a bonus from them, especially when you have experienced risk players. Overall I'm very pleased by the map, but it could have been a little better with a few small changes. Leaders:
Leaders and Strongholds can make a very big difference in the outcome of the game. You get to place a leader unit, represented by a shield, at the beginning of the game; you can also get leaders by drawing an "Appoint a Second Leader" Adventure card. What leaders do is travel along with your armies and give a +1 attack or +1 defense bonus to your single highest dice roll. So if you rolled a 5, 4, 1 you then have a 6, 4, 1. As you can imagine having a leader with you in the battle will greatly help your chances of winning. Your leader does not count as an army, it is just there to modify the dice. Strongholds:
Fortresses such as Helm's deep and Isengard provide your units with a +1 to defense (there is no attack bonus for being in a stronghold). This bonus makes holding strongholds easier and can in the case of Moria, be used as a very strong choke point. When you have a leader at a stronghold the effects stack so you have +1 to attack and +2 to defense. So for example if you were attacked with 6, 4, 2 and you had 4, 4. You would have 6, 4 so you would kill two of your enemies armies instead of one each. Cards:
There are two major types of cards, Territory cards and Adventure cards.
Territory cards are just like in Risk, except some territories always belong to evil and some territories always belong to good, so you can't start with Orcs in the Shire. There are three types of adventure cards, Mission Cards
Event Cards
Power Cards
Mission cards give you some kind of mission (hence the name), an example mission is, Bree, if your leader moves into or conquers Bree, you then get a reward, in this case if you are good you get 2 extra armies anywhere in Arnor, if you are Evil you get 6 extra armies anywhere in Arnor.
Event Cards, when you draw one of these cards you play it immediately, an example is `The Entmoot' If Fangorn is controlled by good that player gets two extra armies, If it is controlled by evil they lose to armies there.
Power cards, are cards that you can play when you want and they can help you significantly for example `Courage Alone will not save you' Play in response to an enemy attack on one of your territories, Gain 4 extra armies in the territory being attacked. Some Power cards are also used to slow the movement of the fellowship. The Fellowship, represented by the One Ring is moved at the end of each players turn, it has to move through 15 territories and once that is complete and they arrive at Mordor the game is over, however there are some places where the Fellowship is tied up for a while. In Moria, LothLorien, and Mordor you must roll a die, and it must be a 4,5,or 6 for the fellowship to move on. Some Power cards can slow the movement of the ring, such as the Gollum or Balrog cards. These cards can be used to extend the gameplay. Whoever goes last can have a big advantage since they will be the last to takeover territories from other players and complete missions.
When the game is over, you count up your points. You get 1 point per territory, + points for continent bonus if you hold one. +2 points per stronghold that you own, +points gained by completing missions or playing power cards. 2 player game
The two player game works by having good, evil, and neutral armies, the neutral "player" only defends, does not get reinforcements, and is placed on the neutral territories, the good player gets the good territories and the evil player vice versa. The 2 player game does work well and can be fun, but it seems a little too weighted toward evil, the evil player starts out with territories that are more connected, and with a little easier access to conquering the continent of Rhun right away. 3 & 4 player game
With three or four players this game really shines, it is an absolute blast, it has all the fun and strategy of regular risk but many new twists and tactics to consider. Pros:
A lot of Fun
It's Risk in Middle Earth
Adds news strategies that will keep it interesting for a long time
Works with as little as 2 players
The game seems pretty well balanced for the most part Cons:
The map could be improved
The two player game seems to favor evil
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