If either of you obtains the Rankin-Bass inspired Hobbit game, please let us know what it is like and how it plays. I'd be interested to hear about it.
One thing I hope happens as the result of The Hobbit movie is a better board game based on The Hobbit than the recent one Alatar and I have. It has very nice physical components but I find that it is not very interesting to play (for an adult anyway) and as I said, mostly dependent on luck. [Not that games based on luck can't be lots of fun. We enjoy playing "Trouble", which is really a variant of Parcheesi, and it is loads of fun although who wins is pretty much a matter of luck. Games of "Trouble" are quick and usually very close.] I find that "The Hobbit- the Defeat of the Evil Dragon Smaug" is kind of a slog and takes too long to finish for the minimal fun it provides, although it is fine for younger children.
LOTR Board games (and other cool Tolkien stuff)
My kids have the Reiner Knizia cooperative boardgame and the extension sets, plus the trivia game in the same series, and LotR Stratego. Latest acquisition is The Hobbit (The Defeat of the Evil Dragon Smaug), which they all love, especially my youngest who's a month off 7. She can cope with that kind of game, where as the older ones who've read the books can answer the questions accurately, and work together on the cooperative game.
My eldest son (13 1/2) wants to be a boardgame designer "when he grows up"
My eldest son (13 1/2) wants to be a boardgame designer "when he grows up"
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sauronsfinger
- Posts: 3508
- Joined: Fri Dec 02, 2005 2:25 am
Húrin
Alatar said he was successful at getting it. I did not bid on it but will do so if one comes up in the future.
Alatar said he was successful at getting it. I did not bid on it but will do so if one comes up in the future.
There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.... John Rogers
I just bought the following on Ebay. Its from 1983 and was one of the Iron Crown Enterprises Boardgames. Its essentially a boardgame version of MERP and its something I've wanted to own since I first heard of it. Of course, back then, we didn't have Ebay, and now we do!
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1187
Aravar mentioned at the Ireland Moot that he had a copy and it all came flooding back to me. I had £50 from my Godmother for my 40th birthday that I was saving for something special, so off to Ebay with me.
Its almost complete, but missing the dice. I've requested they send me on dice of a similar size in the correct colours to replace the missing ones.
P.S. Sorry about the lack of review for The Hobbit, but since the rules are printed on the back of the box, you can assume its not very complex. I hope to play with the kids soon.
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1187
Aravar mentioned at the Ireland Moot that he had a copy and it all came flooding back to me. I had £50 from my Godmother for my 40th birthday that I was saving for something special, so off to Ebay with me.
Its almost complete, but missing the dice. I've requested they send me on dice of a similar size in the correct colours to replace the missing ones.
P.S. Sorry about the lack of review for The Hobbit, but since the rules are printed on the back of the box, you can assume its not very complex. I hope to play with the kids soon.
The Vinyamars on Stage! This time at Bag End
Actually I just got another game. This one's really rare:
I can't help myself...In this fairly simple game based on the Lord of the Rings, You play one of four Hobbits or one of four Black Riders. The players are playing Co-operativly on the different sides. The Hobbits win if they can get the one ring to the cracks of Doom and survive for one turn. The Black Riders win if they can get the ring to Barad-dûr and survive for one turn.
There is a map of Middle Earth but this is a card driven game. The map generally hinders movement and supplies places to draw cards.
Cards can be tools to help you fight or move through types of terrain at a reduced cost.
The Vinyamars on Stage! This time at Bag End
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Voronwë the Faithful
- At the intersection of here and now
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FelixPhantasm
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Sat Jun 20, 2009 6:30 pm
- Location: Parsippany, NJ, United States
Just had to post my fav...
Gotta be LotR:Confrontation for me. Quick and elegant - I love it.
I also pine for the days when I got some use out of my MECCG collection.
Well met everyone, I hope to get in some good gamer chatter here on the forums.
PS - came across some old Vassal of the Ring files that fell of the back of a truck recently... too good.
Gotta be LotR:Confrontation for me. Quick and elegant - I love it.
I also pine for the days when I got some use out of my MECCG collection.
Well met everyone, I hope to get in some good gamer chatter here on the forums.
PS - came across some old Vassal of the Ring files that fell of the back of a truck recently... too good.
FxP
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FelixPhantasm
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Sat Jun 20, 2009 6:30 pm
- Location: Parsippany, NJ, United States
Its the Vassal mod for LotR: Strategy Battle Game by Games Workshop. I'm not aware of GW officially having a problem with the mod existing but I gather that generally the files are passed by word of mouth.
Its a pretty cool mod. Lets you play the TTG virtually at the Vassal servers plus all the models and terrain are available (... well nearly all) as part of the free files so you can build any army or play any scenario straight "out of the box".
Its great if you're a gamer dad like me and have very little time to play let alone paint up dozens of models and matching terrain.
Its a pretty cool mod. Lets you play the TTG virtually at the Vassal servers plus all the models and terrain are available (... well nearly all) as part of the free files so you can build any army or play any scenario straight "out of the box".
Its great if you're a gamer dad like me and have very little time to play let alone paint up dozens of models and matching terrain.
FxP
So I played "The Hobbit" with my kids. To be more accurate, I played the Rankin Bass Film Tie-in game.
Its basically a very simple game. There are 4 paths to the Lonely Mountain.
The Goblin Gate Path.
The Elf Path
The Old Forest Road
The River Running
Each path has a different number of steps to reach Smaugs hoard, and each has a different number of "Adventure" and "Creature" spaces to land on. Also, the shortest path, while the most dangerous, also is worth 10 extra gold.
To explain. The object of the game is for each player to make their way to the hoard, collect gold and return it to "Hobbit Hill". Rinse and repeat until you collect the required winning total (suggested as 200g).
Now, the variables. Each player gets two green cards at the start, which when played change the environment. For example, one might make the Goblin Gate path extra dangerous, or the Elf Path impassable. At any time you can also play one of your green cards to change the environment. There are also 5 items, the Ring, the Sword, the Armour, the Eagles and the Map. Each is a "save" against particular hazards.
All in all, only vaguely based on The Hobbit, but there's enough flavour there to make it work. This isn't like LotR Monopoly, which is just Monopoly with LotR names. Its a proper Hobbit game, but doesn't really capture the story of The Hobbit. The ICE game, likewise, is based around a different dragon in Carn Dum. The Fantasy Flight game is better, and tries harder to stick to the story of The Hobbit.
Still, I hope we'll get a really good co-op version when the new Movie comes out, similar to Reiner Knizia's LotR. However, there's a problem with that also. Knizia's game is wonderful, but far too complicated to play with kids. I hope there's a good balance found in any Movie tie-ins to come.
Its basically a very simple game. There are 4 paths to the Lonely Mountain.
The Goblin Gate Path.
The Elf Path
The Old Forest Road
The River Running
Each path has a different number of steps to reach Smaugs hoard, and each has a different number of "Adventure" and "Creature" spaces to land on. Also, the shortest path, while the most dangerous, also is worth 10 extra gold.
To explain. The object of the game is for each player to make their way to the hoard, collect gold and return it to "Hobbit Hill". Rinse and repeat until you collect the required winning total (suggested as 200g).
Now, the variables. Each player gets two green cards at the start, which when played change the environment. For example, one might make the Goblin Gate path extra dangerous, or the Elf Path impassable. At any time you can also play one of your green cards to change the environment. There are also 5 items, the Ring, the Sword, the Armour, the Eagles and the Map. Each is a "save" against particular hazards.
All in all, only vaguely based on The Hobbit, but there's enough flavour there to make it work. This isn't like LotR Monopoly, which is just Monopoly with LotR names. Its a proper Hobbit game, but doesn't really capture the story of The Hobbit. The ICE game, likewise, is based around a different dragon in Carn Dum. The Fantasy Flight game is better, and tries harder to stick to the story of The Hobbit.
Still, I hope we'll get a really good co-op version when the new Movie comes out, similar to Reiner Knizia's LotR. However, there's a problem with that also. Knizia's game is wonderful, but far too complicated to play with kids. I hope there's a good balance found in any Movie tie-ins to come.
The Vinyamars on Stage! This time at Bag End
As a casual update to this, I have played Confrontation, and like it alot. The new mass battles game, "War of the Ring" from Games Workshop is great in concept but has some pretty severe flaws, especially regarding cavalry. And, Fantasy Flight is coming out with another Middle Earth game this fall, which is already on pre-order. Yep, I'm a sucker for vicariously wanting to live in Tolkien's world any way I can.
Last edited by Folca on Mon Aug 17, 2009 7:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"Ut Prosim"
"There are some things that it is better to begin than refuse, even though the end may be dark" Aragorn
"Those who commit honorable acts need no forgiveness"
http://killology.com/sheep_dog.htm
"There are some things that it is better to begin than refuse, even though the end may be dark" Aragorn
"Those who commit honorable acts need no forgiveness"
http://killology.com/sheep_dog.htm
I assume you mean Middle-Earth Quest, I have it pre-ordered also. This one looks really interesting. Set in the 17 years between the Long Expected Party and Shadow of the Past, the game is all about setting the stage for Lord of the Rings.
Nice review here:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/431341
And the rules can be downloaded here:
http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/ffg_c ... es_Web.pdf
Nice review here:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/431341
And the rules can be downloaded here:
http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/ffg_c ... es_Web.pdf
The Vinyamars on Stage! This time at Bag End
Yes, I am referring to Middle Earth Quest. In general I think Fantasy Flight has done rather well in capturing the feel of Middle Earth in the games they have produced and hope the trend continues. In the US I don't believe it will be available until October...Drat it all!
"Ut Prosim"
"There are some things that it is better to begin than refuse, even though the end may be dark" Aragorn
"Those who commit honorable acts need no forgiveness"
http://killology.com/sheep_dog.htm
"There are some things that it is better to begin than refuse, even though the end may be dark" Aragorn
"Those who commit honorable acts need no forgiveness"
http://killology.com/sheep_dog.htm
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solicitr
- Posts: 3728
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- Location: Engineering a monarchist coup d'etat
I have the Iron Crown "Fellowship"- yes, the tiny dice they use for board tokens are insanely easy to lose. Fortunately most game shops have or can get replacements. It's actually a pretty good wargame of the fox-and-hounds sort, in some ways more like a naval than a land game. It generally works well (except for the Flying Balrog 
)
I knew the people who founded ICE- they were classmates, or a year or two ahead, at U.Va. It's a real shame Zaentz scurvily pulled their license and effectively killed the company.
)I knew the people who founded ICE- they were classmates, or a year or two ahead, at U.Va. It's a real shame Zaentz scurvily pulled their license and effectively killed the company.
Well, MEQ arrived and its a beauty. Large 2-piece board like "War of the Ring" and same size box. One pet peeve. It comes with a cardboard insert filling some empty space in the box. Why oh why don't they use that space for some proper storage trays? Simple plastic ones would be fine!
The Vinyamars on Stage! This time at Bag End
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FelixPhantasm
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Sat Jun 20, 2009 6:30 pm
- Location: Parsippany, NJ, United States