The Battle of Five Armies Battle Report: Part 1

[@Chris4ever92]

Omg! Yes yes yes! I love it! Thank you so much. This and war of the ring are my favourite games! Greetings from Romania!

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Glad you're enjoying it Christian!

[@stylemer]

I'd love to clam that Brian, but it's been 30 years since I read the book and, unbelievably, I haven't seen the movie yet!

[@mikestrand3023]

Saw your fist replay in Feb and ordered the game imediately. I received and have had a constant game in play ever since. Believe it or not, the game has yet to fall into a routine of "well, first do this and then do that." The cards make every game play differently. I've been looking forward to a replay that wasn't a basic rules introduction, and this is spot on, great vid. One aspect of the game that you hit on exactly is the tension and the "one more turn" feel. You just can't call this game until somebody does have the ten VP in hand. One aspect that may not be apparent to the uninitiated is the limits placed by the action dice. If it were a typical game where every unit could move and attack every turn it would be a Dark forces win every time, but the dice simulate the comand and control limitations that all comanders lament. I was impressed that Will was able to get an army around to attack the ford from the back side in concert with the cross ford assault. He must have had some extra character die results.

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Mike Strand Thanks Mike! I agree, a great game. Yes, Will got his army around there very quickly.

[@indeans48]

Did somebody actually paint the full new set of figures from scratch or are some of those brought over from a previously painted 'War of the Ring' set?

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

The latter.

[@jeffa6841]

I know this is old, but do you remember where you got the little holders for the Gandalf/archer firing template?

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

I thought they came with the game - but if not, I have drawers full of bits and bobs like that from all over the place, so I can't tell you I'm sorry.

[@G36Sperrfeuer]

I'm from germany and really had to laugh when Will said "the Volkssturm". 😂

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Will's WWII knowledge is pretty impressive - I learned a lot about various battles of the period while playing Memoir '44 with him!

[@mendercap]

Heya. BGG may be the better place to ask, but could anyone comment on how this game compares to Chaos in the Old World (i.e. what shall I spend my monies on)?

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Very, very different games. And they’re both great, get ’em both.

[@mendercap]

The Esoteric Order of Gamers Thanks! I'd love to, but mortgage happened, so choices. If both games are equally great, I think the setting of Chaos in the Old World may just win me over.

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

This one is a tactical wargame, Chaos is an area control game. They both have a lot of theme and atmosphere, but Chaos is more a 'game', FiveArmies is more of a battle, if you know what I mean. :) BGG will have heaps more detail than I can fit here, it will depend on the type of game you prefer - but I recommend them both.

[@mrbrianparker]

Will doing the classic, "don't do the same as 'history'" ploy.

[@Anuket73]

Hello. Where did you buy those card holders? Thank you so much for the video!

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

They're from Memoir '44, by Days of Wonder.

[@Anuket73]

Mmm, thanks!!!

[@AndrewRichesson]

2:26

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Ye olde renowned Gandalf spell cast impression!

[@smolle8906]

Would you say this game is less complex then war of the ring and play's faster also ? Edit because the time suggested by BGG is really confusing me hehe War of the ring is 150-180 min but war of 5 armies is 90 - 240 min. This is a real time difference i can't really understand.

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

I haven't played both enough to say definitively, and our games always take much longer because we're usually filming them! I'd really say they are similar in complexity, perhaps BoFA a tad less - though BoFA doesn't have the business with the Fellowship, it does have its own share of special characters and special rules. Bottom line: they're both long and pretty complex and very enjoyable.

[@smolle8906]

Thank for sharing your toughts :D

[@dustinboatman6134]

I have both this game and WoTR. I haven't gotten to play WoTR ring yet(just recently got it) but I love this one, and I was just curious as to which of the two do you prefer? I am sure I will enjoy them both. Also, I have the Lords of Middle Earth expansion as well, and does it add too much extra complexity to play it on my first go?

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

WotR is my favourite game of all time. Definitely play it without the expansion first - in fact, a few times, to get the hang of it. There's plenty of time for the added complexity of Lords later on. BoFA definitely needs some more play at my place, it's only hit the table twice!

[@dustinboatman6134]

The Esoteric Order of Gamers awesome. Yeah, I can't wait to play it. One thing (from reading the rules of WoTR) that I think The Battle of Five Armies improved on is the combat. The combat looks fine in WoTR, but I really like the unit cards that activate when a unit hits, as well as units having different strength stats for how many dice they roll.

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

The game focusses in on the one battle, so it's perfect that the combat system is more involved.

[@deepdivegaming6127]

did you paint the figurs or is this the special set?

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

I painted them. I don't belive there is a pre-painted version of BoFA.

[@deepdivegaming6127]

I'm going to have to plaint mine now too. It looks great. Ya. I think there is a limited edition of The War of the Ring which is painted. I'm trying to get the regular edition of that game right now. Good job. That's 123 figures, ya?

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

War of the Ring came in a pre-painted Collector's Edition with a large wooden box, and recently in a pre-painted Anniversary Edition. BoFA doesn't have a pre-painted edition. Note however that I painted the leader and hero figures in my WotR videos myself.

[@choychoymaster]

@@EsotericOrderGamers now there is . :-)

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

@@choychoymaster Indeed! I'm looking forward to getting my copy!

[@TBouran]

Firstly, big fan of your channel! Loved watching your second run through of War of the Ring. If you guys haven't already, check out Sekigahara: The Unification of Japan Very fun game. Link: boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/25021/sekigahara-unification-japan Make more videos!!

[@PMMagro]

???

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Huh?

[@PMMagro]

@@EsotericOrderGamers I did not know back then, how could I know now?