The North and Boromir-Led Gondorians Rally to War -- War of the Ring 2023 World Tournament

[@guskeller241]

Hey Ira, your content is awesome! You got me interested in the game and now it’s one of my favorite board games! Just wanted to say thank you

[@WarOfTheRingChamp]

Hi Gus! Thanks for the kind words! I'm so glad you are getting to enjoy the fun of WotR!

[@NigelIncubatorJones]

Ira, in my pseudo face-to-face game today, I got the chance to crown Aragorn on turn 2, and much like you did, I separated him with Boromir and Legolas. I figured I'd give it a try. It led to an epic game that I wrote up on boardgamegeek forums.

[@WarOfTheRingChamp]

Awesome! So glad! :)

[@matzerotti]

9:11 you want to Scout to WLR. As soon as they besiege WLR North is at War and you can start to muster in Dale. To prevent that they have to attack Dale first and you have the chance to bring this Army to WLR before it gets besieged. At least that is what I read in that Action. Furthermore you can bring elves and gondor to war with any die because of Legolas and Boromir.

[@matzerotti]

Haha, should have watched the next Seconds of your Video 😅

[@WarOfTheRingChamp]

@@matzerotti Still, it's a good analysis, and good practice to think these things out! Nice to see we agreed! :)

[@luudest]

17:28 Why did you hide the Fellowship at the end of the turn and not at the beginning? Was the pressure of acting militarily higher than risking nasty fellowship cards?

[@WarOfTheRingChamp]

Yes, exactly right! By mustering the North first, I set up a situation where I could muster in Dale immediately after the attack in Old Forest Road. Since they attacked Old Forest Road right away, I proceeded to muster as many times as I could in Dale. That seemed higher priority than hiding, though obviously it wasn't great to get hit by Morgul Wound!

[@NigelIncubatorJones]

Glad you're back! Curious about Axe and Bow and Horn of Gondor. It looked like you were sort of going for a possible military victory here, and if so, those cards have pretty powerful combat effects. I probably would have been thinking about saving them for that. Do you think that would have been a valid option? For what it's worth, I probably would have played Bombadil.

[@WarOfTheRingChamp]

Yes, Mighty Attack is great when going for a military victory! I definitely wanted to keep them, but I'm not sure what would have been better to do. Given the corruption situation, it seemed worth 1 corruption to play Axe and Bow, but maybe it was a waste. Curious to know what you would have discarded instead!

[@NigelIncubatorJones]

@@WarOfTheRingChamp Now that I look at it again and see the cards you had available, I think I might have done the same thing, though I would have been bummed to miss out on the combat effect later.

[@captainiceberg8637]

Lovely game! I was impressed by how much pressure he put onto every region, but this seemed to spread his forces too thin in the end. My question is, why didn’t you move the Lorien force to take Dol Guldur while moving towards Mt Gundabad with the combined Eleven-Northern force at the top? Just a thought 🧐

[@andreikoenig5718]

Yay new video!

[@WarOfTheRingChamp]

Thanks for your excitement! :)

[@andreikoenig5718]

Finally watched to the end. Always so exciting to see FPMV

[@Zarl451]

Opening move I wouldn't go for a turn 1 Aragorn, I feel that early taking him out of the Fellowship is losing a lot of flexibility. Especially when it's going to cost you a Ring as well. You have a nice start to use Gandalf's guide ability to get a card draw out of the palantir and then good movement options. To add overall, you discuss briefly about the muster to get the North to war. Something of an observation from mulitple games now - getting the North to war early seems to often open up military opportunities on Angmar and Mt Gundbad. You can slowly accumulate troops in the Shire / Bree, and then hit north, where Shadow often isn't prepared, and that's potentially a lot of points for Free.

[@roberthill8244]

Loved the ending! Never tire of it no matter who is played (edited to remove spoiler)

[@WarOfTheRingChamp]

Agreed!

[@benh6835]

This comment is top comment and is a spoiler for the video

[@petermenkveld4162]

Spending a ring and 4 dice to get Aragorn sounds much to expensive. I was surprised that Ira was considering it. What am I missing? Spending 4 dice to get back 1 die per round over the next 6-7 rounds? And the opportunity cost of not getting Gandalf as soon means that you might not get any + dice over the game. And stridder not helping move the fellowship. I have not played near as much as Ira but the math doesn't make sense to me...

[@petermenkveld4162]

my math said he had almost a 70% chance of getting Gandalf the 1st turn and getting to move the fellowship, and without using a ring.

[@adamthebatmanwest]

Since Gandalf is easier to get later (he just needs to die + will) a definite Aragorn means +1 dice for the rest of the game, something you can't always get later with him. It also usually gets other relevant companions into other locations, ie: Boromir in Minas Tirith, Legolas in Lorien, you can put Gimli in Edoras or a hobbit in Fangorn. And lastly, it accelerates cards that are relevant to Aragorn (dead men, last battle, challenge of the king)

[@doppelganger2012]

​@@petermenkveld4162 cant get Gandalf turn 1 unless shadow has a minion. Shadow should get Saruman last action of round

[@Lancer234]

It also can be risky getting aragorn later if they have day without dawn as if you seperate then plan on using a will that round, who knows how long you might have to wait for another

[@WarOfTheRingChamp]

It's interesting you say spending 4 dice now isn't worth 6 dice later. Getting 2 extra actions during the game seems great to me! Also, because I'm separating companions, I'm increasing my military defenses, which also increases the length of the game, giving me even more extra actions over time. I think the real risk is corruption - removing 3 (or in this case 7!) corruption from the fellowships is the real risk, in my opinion. 4 dice for 6 dice is a great trade! But if I can't make a credible threat to destroy the ring eventually, then that's the real problem.

[@jackcoleman5955]

I am baffled by your opponent’s play across the game. They were terribly inefficient on the DEW line, leaving Gondor free to crush. They also wasted some great army synergy walking off to Shire instead of dominating Rivendell. They had one really bad turn with no character/P dice, but that should have set them up to stomp Helms deep. Instead, they allow you to get Eomer into position. Extremely easy win for you.

[@WarOfTheRingChamp]

Please remember that people have different experience levels with the game, and the point of the videos is to help everyone improve. If you notice a play that could be improved, feel free to mention it, but I'd like to maintain a spirit of constructive feedback and not critical feedback. Also, I'd rather err on the side of giving the benefit of the doubt. That said, I understand the point you're making, and it's fair.

[@jackcoleman5955]

@@WarOfTheRingChamp You're exactly right, Ira! Maybe I didn't have my coffee when I wrote this, or maybe I just want to play a fresh game myself. Either way, I'll delete this comment in a day. Thank you for your excellent commentary and novice-friendly discussions.