'Lord of the Rings' (by Reiner)
Sunday, March 10th 2002 : "....and in the darkness bind them."
Sunday and it's over to Ian's. Nick has phoned to say he can't make it - he's working (working? this is Sunday evening. for God's sake man, pull yourself together), but he has done that which all true Ragnars only do under threat of the Blood Eagle - he's lent us his Christmas game - and without his being there for its first outing. Who could ask for more? - did he send any snacks with it? (ed.)
'Lord of the Rings' (by Reiner) continues to get excellent press. We haven't yet shelled out for the 'Friends and Foes' expansion kit, but the basic game is on its fifth outing and, what's more, standing up to the pummelling very well indeed. A quick straw poll of Roger, Ian and Dave reveals that Roger has read the book ("a long time ago"), that Ian knows it "very well" and that Dave has, as he puts it so elegantly, "seen the film". A word of caution: anyone who has only seen the first part of the film and does not want to know the ending - avoid this game (and review). Suffice it so say, walking across the fourth board (Mordor) in an attempt to get to the slopes of Mount Doom to try and destroy the ring is what is known in film circles as "a bit of a giveaway". But enough of such maudlin thoughts - it's with a Hey Derry Dingle-O and nary a whiff of Tom Bombadil that we're away to Bag End.
Phil has played the game five times before. This is a curious position to be in with 'Lord of the Rings', as it is a co-operative game, in which half the fun is in not knowing what is going to happen. Being the Ragnar Brothers, the various performances so far have been variable. The fact that the one successful expedition took place in the drink-soaked early morning hours with seven people contriving to be five hobbits perhaps says it all - but two of those actually looked a lot like real Hobbits (ed.). Phil decides on taking something of a back seat, leaving the decision-making to the new players, and merely supplying pithy, well-chosen words of advice.
This admirable stance survives until about five minutes into the first scenario. Suspicions begin to mount that although this is a co-operative game, Merry "admirable stance" Brandybuck has ended up on the safe end of the Corruption Track. Merry's pithy, well-chosen words of advice that someone will need to be in good shape to carry the ring on the final assault into Mordor, are treated with a mixture of scorn, disbelief and outright hostility ("and we've heard that one before"). The ever-so slightly dodgy team spirit is not helped when, after an unpleasant encounter with the Fire of Orthanc, Merry - wisely - uses the Mithril Coat to heal himself of three Corruption Points. The fact that Frodo had taken two Corruption Points only seconds before without any sign of aforementioned Mithril coat, ("I was waiting for a worse die roll" protests the well-meaning Merry) is taken as a further sign that there are several plot-lines going on here.
And yet despite Merry's non-contributions ("I am helping - I've just risked the Gollum dice roll, haven't I?") the expedition is moving along remarkably easily. Boards are being completed, the black Scots Terrier that is the Eye of Sauron sits nailed to the number 15 space of the Corruption track, cancellable events are cancelled, bonus cards collected, life tokens are stacked up like poker chips, dice rolls prove spectacularly undemanding. Phil (who has played five times) suspects that things are proving far too easy - even the drunken late-night assault on Mount Doom was a spawny dice-rolling potshot of a shambles. Roger, Dave and Ian churn through the scenarios like an elite troop of fighting Uruk-hai.
The fourth board offers more of the same. Events are dealt with in their logical order, the shorter tracks are cleared at the right time, all is glorious success. The careful, logical approach seems to be well-nigh unstoppable. Phil is slightly disappointed - he's built this game up to be a vicious brute of a system that delights in slaughtering even the most imaginative of Hobbits. Here we are, half way to Mount Doom and barely a tremor of disquiet. And then someone spots that the Event tiles are beginning to run out. A quick check round reveals that nobody has a decent walking hand. Something drastic needs to be done - quick! And it is. Like rabbits in the headlights, the stunned Hobbits watch as the last three events crunch into place, 'The Ring is Mine!' and - as anyone who has ever followed English cricket knows - there is that moment when victory turns to ashes, and the post-match analysis begins.
Roger is definitely put out. He is of the 'we've done everything right' post-game analysis school of thought. Dave and Ian are up for an immediate rematch with the forces of darkness, but Roger is determined to mull and ponder until next week. The others all agree that the system is too clever for the 'careful' approach. No risks were taken, and as a result there was probably no chance of finishing the fourth board, no matter how the events and dice rolls turned out.
(NOTE: This is the first time in six that the game hasn't revolved around which Hobbit, if any, would avoid being corrupted. I take my hat off to the system - it takes a good game to surprise you like that on its sixth outing).
We then dip our hairy toes into the Cheapass Game of 'Unexploded cows'. Roger says it will be very funny (he played another Cheapass Game once that was), but wacky and zany might be closer to the mark (although using up all the cow puns before the cards had even been dealt may not have helped). Still Phil won by an outrageously huge margin, so the time was not wasted.
Three games of the ever-dependable Liar's Dice complete the evening, and Phil heads home to scour the Shire (well, do the washing up from earlier in the evening).
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‘The Lord of the Rings’ expansion kit - ‘Friends and Foes'.
It has been a frantic weekend at Phil's. His wife is leading 2-1 on late nights, it has been a frantic Sunday afternoon (not least getting the Ragnar 2002 Fantasy Cricket League off and running), and Daughter #1 has chosen this evening to assume her 'aggravating' persona. Fortunately, everyone is ten minutes late, so the washing-up gets done and two disgruntled children are prised out of the bath. It may be the shape of things to come.
Nick has been cajoled into buying 'Friends and Foes', the Lord of the Rings expansion kit, and it is getting it's first outing. Cries of 'ooh' as the Bree map is revealed. The principal addition to the game (other than two rather nice new boards) are the aforementioned 'Foes'. These accumulate as you trot through even the leafy glades of the Shire (slightly discordant note - we haven't yet left the Shire and 'Aaargh! We've stumbled across the Varags of Khand, some Morgul Rats and the Olog-hai'; talk about keeping yourself to yourself!). Acquire too many foes and you're out of the game.
Now, the trip to Bree in the book seemed to be reasonably straightforward. Dodge a few Ringwraiths, patch things up with Farmer Maggot, wander about in the fog, and 'mines a Pint of South Farthing Bitter' at the Prancing Pony. In this version, things are definitely tricky. Yes, the Plucky Travellers make it, but in no condition for the next leg to Rivendell. A gentle stroll this is not.
To cut a long story short, 7.40 finds the party plodding across the (new) Isengard board (rather in the manner of Scott heading across the Antarctic). There seems to be precious few spare cards around, the corruption is piling up and the Brave Hobbts are getting just a little tetchy with each other. Roger "Merry" Greenwood is plugging the 'lets not charge around like mad things' strategy. The other three have an almost uncontrollable urge to do just that.
"Look lads" says Roger. "There's no rush. We're doing alright".
Phil checks the time. 7.42 and counting.
Come 7.47 it's game over. A string of events for which the party had no answer sweeps our Gallant Foursome into the waiting arms of Sauron. Tricky, very tricky. And does the expansion kit improve the game? Hard to say on one playing. It certainly seems considerably more difficult, but perhaps this was a particularly inept performance.
The evening now develops a slightly surreal quality. Lisa appears. Somehow milk got missed at the supermarket earlier in the day. Lisa mutters that she supposes she will have to go out and get some. Dave, though, is made for moments such as this. Off he trots while we put Game One away, and prepare for Game Two. The long-awaited debut of 'Liberte'.
Now much has been written of this game, almost uniformly good. Phil has bought it and feels that the jury is out. Still everyone likes the idea and so it's game on.
Liberte is a little like a lot of games: Web of Power and Russian Revolution (S&T) are two that spring to mind. A decent pedigree.
Winning involves laying blocks in support of the three political parties in Revolutionary France. Resolve the election, and whoever backed the winners the best gets points, whoever backed the second placed party gets a few less points. The game does feel like it has a lot of subtlety to it. Because the early pack favours the Royalists and Moderates, jumping on their bandwagon makes good sense. However, the Radicals have some nasty surprises available - terror and guillotines to name just a couple, as well as being able to spring the Radical landslide victory condition (forget your Victory Points, how well are you supporting the reds?). So building an early Radical position might be an option.
As said, this is all very subtle, but is still some way in the future. You are warned when playing the game - it is like no other you have ever played, you'll not have a clue what you're doing (although we have all met gamers who seem to play every game this way). Certainly the Northern Ragnars live up to this caveat.
Phil has read the rules - three times - tried the game out solo - and read some long reviews of it. Surely it isn't beyond the realms of possibility to get all the rules right? Wrong. Post-game Phil re-reads the rules to find there have been five rules played wrongly, one important idea that has been totally missed, as well as one crucial rule that was known, was mentioned and was then forgotten. Now this is a lot. This is a much worse rate than usual.
Should you be in the same position - see how you go on. But enough for now, more of the game next week. The result after two hours of - admittedly, uncertain - play is a win for Nick by 1 point. Roger has come nowhere and blames it on a dearth of 3-block characters (he may be right).
All in all, very interesting indeed. In the words of Paul Weller , 'beaten and bloody, but we'll be back next week'. This time, hopefully, with the right rules.
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