Customer Reviews

Risk: Lord of the Rings Edition

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

There are TWO editions of Lord of the Rings: Risk. The latest version is called "Lord of the Rings: Risk - Trilogy Edition." It features a full map of middle earth, including Gondor and Mordor, as well as new missions, strongholds, etc.

Though this is a great game for any LOTR and Risk fan, don't fall victim to this lowball marketing ploy. Both editions were the exact same price when I saw them recently at a toystore - and boy did I kick myself for not waiting on the full version!

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

The picture shows the Trilogy Version, but this is not what I got. Amazon told me they did not stock the Trilogy Version. So if this is the one you want, DON'T order this.

Well, many love the Lord of the Rings and many boardgamers liked Risk (at least in the beginning)...but Risk gets boring with more and more playings, you never have enough "meat". This Risk variant cleverly combines the theme of the Tolkien epic with new Risk elements like cards, leaders and fortresses. Leaders and fortresses give you a +1 on your highest die roll, which can be decisive in smaller battles. The cards are aquired by conquering so called places of power which are spread over the map. The map itself is Middle-Earth in its glory.

Two players are good powers and the other two players evil. Both armies have their own pieces portraying from 1 to 3 to 5 armies each. The fellowship moves over the map and when they leave the game is over...this is a nice timing mechanism which prevents the never-ending Risk games we often see in the old classic game.

All in all, a very worthy Risk variant and a must buy for Lord of the Rings boardgame enthusiasts. Also, followers of Risk should at least look into this variation on the theme, a good addendum for your Risk collection.

If you like Risk, you'll love this! And while you don't have to like LOTR to enjoy it, it certainly adds to your enjoyment. The units (Elven Archers, Orcs, Riders of Rohan, Dark Riders, Eagles and Cave Trolls) are nice eye candy, which stand for 1,3,5 armies. (And I highly recommend you treat them as such since the board will get cluttered otherwise). The variant rules not only make it more fun, but more strategic...

1) Leaders -- increase highest die roll by 1 (offense and defense)
2) Strongholds -- increase highest die by 1 (defense only)
3) Middle Earth map -- some impassable boundaries of water and mountains
4) Three different types of adventure cards -- Mission, Event and Action

Adventure Card Examples...
Mission: Moving a Leader into a Site of Power country grants bonus armies
Event: "Raiders" card... draw three country cards; each loses half their armies
Action: "Wormtongue" card... remove 2 armies from country you're attacking and add them to your country
Action Example 2: "Under the Mountain" card... attack a country through a normally impassable mountain

But what really makes this game shine is the ending. Instead of the often times tedious prolonging end game of regular Risk (one player must conquer everything) this is based on a time limit. Independent of gameplay is the One Ring that advances through one country after each person's turn -- 16 countries/turns. However, that's not set since people can play cards to impede its movement, and there are three countries where a 4 or greater must be rolled before it can advance. One of those is the very last country.

Which means you have no idea who's going to be the last person to play, which can make all the difference in who wins since once the ring slides off the board, the game is over and whoever has the most points wins. Points are totaled from...

1) Number of individual countries
2) Points from owning entire "continents"
3) Numbers on the action cards you've played
4) Two points per stronghold country you own

So the last person can make a bold play at the end, hoping they'll be the last to play. But if not, it leaves them wide open for attack. My friends and I first thought these rules would be less fun than conquering everything, but after only one game, we saw the obvious strategy (and luck) elements which really add to the intensity. Plus, later in the same day we played a regular Risk game with 5 people that lasted for 4 hours -- ugh! We immediately went back to LOTR Risk.

Again, highly recommended for any Risk player. Only limitation I don't care for is 4 players max rather than 6, but otherwise, there's no reason not to buy this if you enjoy Risk.

This is the best version of risk I have ever played!

Hasbro took the time and got this one right! This version of Risk has Strong Holds, Leaders, Chance occurences and a beautful map and pieces!

I won't duplicate the many reviews that describe all the changes, but trust me, this version of Risk is much more sophisticated and allows for an incredible amount of strategy.

However, this year the game was expanded to include territories covered in the "Return of the King!" You must buy the TRILOGY version, otherwise you're getting last year's game.

Amazon apparently is OUT of the Trilogy version!!

Hasbro must have had overstock from last year, because as the Trilogy Editions are selling out, they are selling the old version.

It's unfortunate that they thought no one would care!

To end a good note, the Trilogy version is the best Risk of all time! Buy it soon!

I have last year's release -- the one that seems incomplete due to the lack of Gondor and Mordor territories on the map. (An expansion was released in Europe. But since game publishers in the USA don't "like" expansions, well... the entire game was repackaged THIS year for the North American market.)

I also have the new, expanded version... and the map is truly a marvel... Keep in mind, however, that it is larger and has many MORE territories than traditional Risk. (For many, this will be a PLUS; for others, perhaps not. It really depends on your gameplay preferences.)

In spite of the "incompleteness" of the first release, it still works and plays well. It is, in fact, a full-fledged Risk game. It has the same number of territories as regular Risk and the same number of "continents" with identical reinforcement values.

Ending the game when the Ring finally moves OFF the board shortens the game and forces a different kind of strategy. End game scoring: one point for each territory controlled; 2 points for each stronghold controlled (i.e. Helm's Deep, Moria, etc.); and reinforcement value points for each "continent" controlled. (Also, points are tallied for cards played during the game as well.)

The newer version, as impressive as it is, will take longer. The game now ends after the the Ring arrives at Mt. Doom and is destroyed. Same scoring applies as last year's version. More depth, more time, more cards, more options, and more complexity abound in the newer version. (If you like that, then this will be a very good thing. If you want a shorter game, last year's "model" may suffice.)

(A player can get pretty entrenched in Mordor!)

What version is Toys R Us going to send you? I don't know! But even if you only get last year's release, it's still an enjoyable game in spite of its seeming "incompleteness."

Risk has always been one of the most fun and time-consuming board games ever...starting a game at 10 at night and sitting there until 3 am, trying to crush your friends with military might and conquering the planet...what could be more fun than that?

Well, conquering Middle-Earth as either the forces of evil or good is definitely the answer! Lord of the Rings: Risk Trilogy Edition is an excellent game with many new features that will keep you up long into the night. There are many new types of 'Mission Cards' and 'Adventure Cards' with unique gameplay fetures that will make the game much more interesting. The game pieces themselves are excellent, accurately representing the forces of Good and Evil: Elves, Rohirrim, Eagles for the Good sides, and Orcs, Nazgul and Trolls for the Evil sides. There are 2 Good and 2 Evil armies, and the new Lord of the Rings game options make use of that fact. There are 'Leader' pieces which give bonuses to any batallions within its territory, which help in invading and defending. There are also simplified games for 2 people.

If you've played Risk in the past, then you'll pretty much know what you're doing, but there are many new rule sets for the Lord of the Rings edition that need to be studied before you can play the game properly. It takes a while to get used to, but in the end, its a fun game experience that will last a long time.

I only have one or two things that nag me...the pieces could have been differentiated a bit more. While they look good, I would've liked to have seen some variety in the Evil pieces...perhaps one side could have been Saruman's army, with Uruk'hi replacing the Nazgul and Trolls. Also, the leader pieces are represented as shields, Uruk'hi shields with White Hand designs for evil, and Elven shields for the Good sides. It would have been nice to see the Leader pieces be unique, such as having Evil characters like Saruman, The Witch-King, Sauron, the Balrog or the Two Towers and others, and the Good Leader pieces with Fellowship characters, namely Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli, or perhaps Theoden, Elrond, etc. Minor, if nit-picky complaints, but it would've made the game that much more unique and detailed.

As for a real complaint...the instruction book could have been just a bit more clear...the new rules aren't really explained too well and leaves alot up to interpretation. The instructions almost seem to go as if the player would already be completely familiar with the rules, so you should take some time to look them over thoroughly.

Overall, LotR: Risk Trilogy Edition is a fun game that brought back memories, and a whole new addiction to the game. Just be warned before you buy: there are MANY versions of LotR: Risk going around out there. Apparently, Amazon does not stock the latest version, which is 'Trilogy Edition', which has the newest card packs and gameplay rules and variations. Make sure you are getting the correct one! The game sold out so quickly that it has become hard to find. If you are a Rings fan, then you will absolutely love this game. I very highly recommend it!

This game combines much of the original classic version of Risk, but has lots of new elements to make it exciting and fresh. For example, the map is totally (and beautifully!) redone in full color to look like the familiar Middle Earth map from Tolkien's books. The basic layout of different colored regions is maintained (similar to continents in the first game), but there are new considerations like mountains or rivers, which are impassable (unless two territories are linked by a bridge). The combat units are also similar to the original version, but now the pieces are in the shape of orcs, elves, dark riders, cave trolls, etc. in a way that gives the game a very distinctive LOTR feel.

There are also new concepts like leaders (who provide a combat bonus and can complete missions to gain bonus battalions), strongholds (which give a defensive advantage), and various "Adventure cards" that can add unexpected twists to the "plot" by injecting unforeseen events or assigning missions to your leaders. The map is also dotted with "Sites of Power" which, when captured by a leader, allow that player to obtain an Adventure Card.

Totally new to the game are the "time limit" imposed by the inexorable march of the Fellowship as it bears the One Ring (a replica is included with the game) ever closer to the fires of Mount Doom to end the game. When that happens, a point scoring system is used to determine the winner, with points being earned for playing your Adventure cards.

Overall, I give this one five stars for fun and excitement. Its visual appearance also far surpasses most board games. Yes, this game retains much of the feel of classic Risk, but it also creates a sense of grand adventure as you immerse yourself into Middle Earth and refight the War of the Ring. LOTR Risk is a wonderful treat and a great value for many hours of family "together" time.

My son, who is a total LOTR addict, recently bought this game at the local toy store. Our family of four sat down together and figured out the rules, and before long we were deep into the game and having a wonderful time. The hours passed quickly and before we realized it, it was 1:00 am but no one wanted to quit. LOTR Risk is fast becoming a new favorite.

A couple of years ago, I played regular Risk all the time and loved the diplomacy, strategy, etc. to a point that no other board games seemed worthy of being played. The Lord of the Rings version adds a nicer board (physically and strategically), better pieces, very well refined rules (I love the idea of having leaders and strongholds- you must play it to understand what I mean), and it even comes with a ring replica. Beginners, beware!- you should probably play the original many times before playing this version- your strategy has to be sharp in order to win on this board, as continents are much more difficult to keep.
Overall in my opinion and probably many others' the best board game of all time.