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Summary
Much like the original RISK, The Lord of the Rings variant is very much a blend of strategy and luck. Fight your way to dominance across the face of Middle Earth, but make sure that you do it before the sneaky little Hobbitses make their way to Mount Doom and destroy The One Ring!
Game Set Up
Lord of the Rings RISK can be played by 2-4 players, but my review here will focus mainly on the 2-player variant. As in original RISK, the game setup process is a little long winded but allows you to have a bit of a noodle on strategy as you’re laying out your armies. This process starts with deploying your armies to territories across Middle Earth.
Unlike the original RISK, you start by separating out your Territory cards into Good and Evil categories using the respective Uruk-hai or Elven shield symbols. This is a neat addition, as it results in a board layout that is reminiscent of how territories are distributed in the novel/films. Evil forces are predominantly sequestered in Mordor, while the Good forces are mostly concentrated in Eriador (The Shire etc.), Gondor and Rohan. In the 2-player variant, it’s really easy to set this up as each player just takes the full stack of Good or Evil Territory cards respectively. 21 of the remaining Neutral Territory cards are assigned to a Neutral defending army, and the remaining territories are assigned on a turn-based system between the two players.
I’ve noticed this final assignment phase can be critical in determining the outcome of the game, as you can more quickly monopolize a Region if you get lucky with the territories left over after Neutral army assignment. Another important thing to note is where Strongholds (gold locations, such as Rivendell) and Sites of Power (black locations, such as Edoras) are located on the map.
· Territories with Strongholds give the defending army and additional unit in the Reinforcement phase (see Playing the Game below) and are also harder to capture, as the defending army gets a +1 to the highest dice roll.
· Sites of Power can be captured by Leaders (described below) if the territory containing them is invaded by an army containing a Leader on that turn. Capturing a Site of Power with a Leader gives the player the opportunity to benefit from another addition to the version of the game: an Adventure card. There are three types of Adventure cards: Missions, Events and Powers. Mission cards do what they say on the tin and give you tasks to complete using your Leaders, gaining players both an instant bonus and end game points. Event cards must be played immediately and are effectively the major events in the Lord of the Rings storyline (e.g., Boromir’s “They’ve brought a cave troll” scene from the Mines of Moria) that can help or hinder one or both armies. Finally, Power cards can be played strategically at a given point to gain an advantage. This can be anything from handicapping another player’s dice rolls to deploying additional battalions for free in response to an invasion. Players get four of these cards each at the start of the game (Mission and Power cards only), so make sure you familiarize yourself with what objectives you must complete and what advantages you have in your back pocket.
Once all territories are assigned, players deploy their starting battalion allowance (60 per player in a 2-player game) across their occupied territories. Choose wisely in this phase – players must ensure that they have a balance of forces ready to push forth and conquer more lands, and those left behind to defend occupied territory.
Once all battalions are deployed, shuffle all the Territory cards and the two Wild Cards back together to generate a draw pile for use in the game. Each player is given a single Territory card as a starting point. Territory cards are important in the game as they allow players to collect additional reinforcements during the Reinforcement phase (described in the Playing the Game section) by trading in three-of-a-kind sets. Each Territory card has a single battalion (Elven archer), 3 battalion (Dark Rider) or 5 battalion (Eagle) symbol on it. The Wild cards can be used as any of the three types of symbols in order to complete a set. Three of the same type of symbol, or one of each, can get you anywhere between 4 and 10 additional battalions to deploy!
In addition to the regular battalions deployed as described above, players get two Leaders. These larger shield-shaped pieces are deployed as a boost to your armies: they give a +1 to your highest dice roll when attacking or defending, which can be the difference between winning and losing a territory. As noted previously, they also allow players to gain Adventure cards when a Site of Power is captured by an invading army with a Leader. My advice: place the Leaders where you plan to attack from, and ideally where they are likely to either (a) gain a Site of Power for you, and therefore an Adventure card, or (b) complete one of the four Adventure cards that each player is dealt at the start of the game.
The final piece of setup is to place The One Ring (yes, precious…) at the start of the Path of the Fellowship track in The Shire. This mechanic is unique to this RISK variant and follows the Fellowship’s journey across Middle Earth to destroy The One Ring. The ring moves forward one territory at the end of a player’s turn, except for territories where there is a die symbol next to the path. In these cases, the player must roll a die to determine if the ring moves forward (rolling greater than 3) or remains in the same territory for another turn (rolling 3 or less).
Playing the Game
Players take it in turns to perform each of the following actions as part of their turn:
1. Reinforce – Start off by placing a single battalion in every territory you control with a Stronghold. Then, count the number of territories you control across Middle Earth and divide that number by 3 (rounded down, to a minimum of 3 battalions). Add your Region control bonus, obtained by controlling all territories in an area of the same colour (i.e., controlling all blue territories gets you a bonus of 4 battalions for controlling all of Rohan). Finally, hand in any sets of three Territory cards you may have to gain between 4 and 10 battalions dependent on what combination of cards you have. The resulting number (territories, plus Region bonus, plus Territory cards) is the total number of battalions you receive to deploy on this turn.
2. Combat – FORTH EORLINGAS!!! Whether or not you choose to throw in a battle cry before you get started, this will be the main part of your turn, where you attempt to conquer more territories. You can choose not to attack at all and skip immediately to step 3, if you are weak from previous battles or are strategically waiting until you have built up a bigger army with which to press forward.
a. Playing Power cards – if you have a Power card that lends you an advantage in attacking, or your opponent has a card that can help them defend, these can be played at any time during the combat phase for a boost. Played Power cards are worth end game points so played should be retained for final scoring.
b. Let battle commence: You can invade from more than one territory over the course of your turn, pitting 3 of your battalions against 2 defending battalions in a series of Battles until all defenders are destroyed or the attacker has insufficient troops to proceed (you must have at least 2 battalions to attack – one to press forward and one to remain in the territory from which you are attacking). You can only invade from a territory you control into an enemy territory that you are adjacent to. Each Battle is a dice roll-off: the attacker and defender roll the number of dice equivalent to the number of troops attacking/defending (i.e., maximum of 3 attackers versus 2 defenders) and the dice are ordered from highest to lowest. Each dice is compared in descending order to determine who wins each fight. If a Leader is present in the battle for either army, they add +1 to their highest die roll. If the defender has a Stronghold in the territory, they also gain +1 to their highest die roll. If both a Leader and a Stronghold are present for the defending army, then this equates to a +2 to their highest roll! In cases where the rolls are tied, including any Leader bonuses, the defender always wins. The battalion with the lowest roll in each contest is defeated and removed from the board until there are no defenders remaining or the attacker concedes.
c. Claiming your territory: If all defenders are defeated, the attacking army must move at least the number of battalions that they attacked with into the conquered territory. If the attacking army has a Leader, the Leader must move with the invading force.
d. Completing Mission cards – You may, in the process of invading a territory with a Site of Power with an army including your Leader, complete the objectives detailed on one of your Mission cards. Achievement unlocked! You can claim the bonus associated with completing this Mission card immediately.
This process continues throughout Middle Earth until the player decides to call it quits for this round. If another played is eliminated in the process of this Combat phase, then the invading player gains all the defeated player’s Territory cards. If this results in a hand of more than 5 Territory cards, you must play a completed set immediately and reinforce accordingly.
3. Fortify – Move as many battalions as you like from one territory to another connected territory, leaving behind at least one defending battalion in the territory your army has moved from. You can move your Leader alone or as part of the force that you are transferring to another area. Note: if you move your Leader into a territory that contains one of the Sites of Power on your Mission cards, you achieve this mission immediately. From experience, I would suggest trying to keep your Leader closest to the attacking front where you can gain benefits from your Mission cards. I made the mistake in early games of neglecting to move my Leader and sorely missed out on their benefits!
4. Gain cards – If you conquered at least one territory on your turn, draw one Territory card from the deck. If you also conquered a Site of Power with your Leader, you also get to draw one Event card (see what I mean about keeping the Leaders to the front!). If the Adventure card drawn is an Event card it must be played immediately, and the described actions taken. You can take another card after resolving the Event card if this happens, drawing until you gain a Mission or Power card. You can only have a maximum of 4 Adventure cards in your hand at any one time and must discard cards down to that number.
5. Regain a Leader – If you have no Leaders on the RISK board at the end of your turn, you can place one back into any of your own territories. Think Aragorn walking through the gates of Helms Deep in a spectacular return to support your army!
6. Advance The One Ring – Move The One Ring to the next territory, rolling a die as described previously when required. If The One Ring reaches Mount Doom and a player successfully completes a die roll greater than 3, the ring is tossed into the fires of Mount Doom and is destroyed. The game ends here, and the player with the highest score wins!
To score in RISK: count 1 point for every controlled territory, 2 points for every controlled Stronghold, points for controlled regions (i.e., all territories of the same colour) as indicated on the side of the game board and points for completed Adventure cards played throughout the game.
Pros & Cons
Pros
· Great additions to standard RISK gameplay from the Adventure cards, with Event cards in particular nodding back to The Lord of the Rings storyline. The bonuses can make or break a game, depending on whether they go in your favour or not!
· Path of the Fellowship acts as something of a “countdown timer” on play, adding another factor when developing a strategy.
Cons
· Playing as the Evil army can feel a little handicapped, depending on what Neutral territories you end up with, as you start in one of the lowest scoring Regions and can end up bottlenecked.
· The green (Good) and grey (Evil) character pieces are quite similar in colour and can be tricky to distinguish. Would advise using the yellow (Good) pieces if playing the 2-player variant.
Final Verdict
The Lord of the Rings RISK is a great variant on what is already a highly strategic game. The Adventure cards add a bit more of a “wild card” element to gameplay and players must be prepared to pivot their strategy rapidly to adapt for these unexpected changed. Highly recommend for Lord of the Rings fans and RISK fans alike!
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