War of the Ring: The Card Game Review — A Lord of the Rings Surprise

We reviewed the original area control board game, so onto this card game version! War of the Ring: The Card Game is a 2022 release from Ares Games, designed by Ian Brody, trying to capture the magic of the Lord of the Rings fantasy trilogy, with 4 decks of cards and a shorter runtime. Play as Gandalf or Frodo in the decks to protect Middle Earth, or Saruman and the Witch King to spread corruption in the form of tabletop chits. With plenty of thematic rules, mechanics, and interactions that make Tolkien fans happy, including stars of the fellowship like Legolas, Strider, Gimli, and more, War of the Ring CG seeks to create the same epic tensions as the original tabletop war game. Does it create amazing stories like the predecessor? Does it need to? How much are the hand and randomness mechanics affected by trying so hard to be faithful to the original? Are the Shadow even depicted in a similar way as in the board game or original lore?

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Table of Contents:
Intro & Overview – (0:00)
How to Play – (2:51)
Pros – (5:26)
Cons – (17:31)
Nitpicks – (29:15)
Recommender Score – (29:58)
Grinding Gamers – (35:20)
Ashton’s Personal Score – (35:54)

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Stuff Used:
“The Underworld” Music By Jamez Dahl

Music: Heroes Of A Thousand Battles by MusicLFiles
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License (CC BY 4.0):

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