The Battle of Five Armies Review - with Tom Vasel

[@MisterChris1978]

just picked this up fro Goodwill yesterday for $15. Looking forward to getting it to the table soon.

[@Lothriel]

Great video! I just purchased this game over Christmas and am still getting the hang of it, but I’ve enjoyed every minute of its complexity so far. While I’m here, I wanted to put out a question for all/anyone who has more experience with the game, since I literally have no one else to ask: I’m finding Bilbo’s character card and the Warg-rider maneuver cards a bit difficult to understand. For example, if one effectively plays the Warg-rider card while attacking an army in a fortification, does that mean they tear through the fortification as well, until there’s only 1 damage token left (or is the damage only applied to the army)? If Bilbo is in that defending army, can the Free People’s player use his ability to mitigate some of the Wargs’ damage? And does Bilbo regain a full stack of 5 ring tokens every time you put him back into play, or does he only have 5 tokens to be used throughout the game? If anyone could clarify, I’d very much appreciate it. Thanks, and happy gaming!

[@rockandmetaljunkie]

Have you ever played The Hunt for the Ring? The result of that game can be brought to the War of the Ring and effect the final outcome. Essentially these two games can be connected if the players choose to do so! Does this game feature a similar mechanic?

[@link670]

Excited to get finally get a copy to live next to my copy of War of the Rings + expansions with the upcoming reprint, snagged a preorder last week!

[@VinceYT2408]

Hello, thanks for the Review, Tom. Well, after playing the Battle of the Third Age (from which the game system is based here), The Battle of Five Armies sounded already great in my mind. The board is fantastic, the system great...And your review confirm all I thought. Finally, the game will be more interesting and more epic than...let say...a movie of the same name ?

[@SoloBattles]

Great review Tom! Like you, I really really like this game. For a couple years I had it setup and playing constantly. I found it great solitaire, as well. Usually, there is a smartest card to play, so the hidden card aspect wasn't really an issue, IMHO. The two points I would add is that, with the cards and the dice, every game feels different. The other point, and this is huge, is it's one of those games that has you thinking "One more turn and it's decided!" This is rarely the case, but both sides can feel that they are close to winning. This makes it un-put-downable! It's hard to quit before the victor is determined. Makes it a number one pick for me.

[@winterplum]

Yahoo! My copy is due here tomorrow! I am very glad to hear you liked this Tom, since I knew you liked War of the Ring. I am also glad to hear it does not play as long as it's predecessor, so we can get it to the table more often. This simply looks like an all-round winner of a game! Thank you for your very, very timely review!

[@steviev2504]

So excited to get this! Thanks for the great review Tom. Do you ever paint mini's? I wonder if Ryan or Dan or someone on the Dice Tower would be interested in do a tutorial/play thru of War of the Ring and 5 Armies!?!? I would LOVE that

[@Mournblaze]

"Just as cool as the book" ...SOLD! and Thanks Tom!

[@outlawlaw]

I laughed when he said it, not because it was funny but he's like JUST AS GOOD AS THE BOOK! *drop mic*

[@onlythistube]

Hey Tom, I really would like to see your opinion (review?) about Five Tribes. I know there is already a Dice Tower review about it, but very often I like your version/vision better :) Anyway, anything from the Dice Tower is very much appreciated! Thanks so much, guys! Btw... I really enjoyed Sam's & Zee's Top 100's... a big THX to them as well...

[@blackgandorf]

@Joseph Lynn The game will be available again between the end of October and the begin of November.

[@JaKamps]

Tom did the equivalent of 'dropping the mic' at the end of this review. Boom! ha

[@KNOCKEMout]

Hey Vasel, Could you do a Gameplay with Jason or with Sam? I've had this game for three weeks and still can't figure out how to play it. My kids and I have been playing Thunderstone Advance instead since it arrived on my doorstep on the same day. I really want to play this game but i don't fully understand the rules. Could someone in Dice Tower put something together? -Thanks!

[@SamHoughton]

Rick Royal has done a play through, check out his channel! :)

[@homelessjoe]

woohoo been waiting on this one for some time. Anybody know if war of the ring will be reprinted?

[@bbblackwell]

Big fan of the Hobbit -- read it or listened to the Robert Ingles audiobook countless times (highly recommend Ingles' Hobbit and LOTR readings) -- but I'm still on the fence about this one; I just don't know how often I'd actually be able to get this 2-player non-cooperative to the table. I like the way the orcs spill out from those squares. Seems like a lot of components, setup, and complexity for an hour long game, but I guess once you familiarize yourself with it you can get it running more quickly.

[@deepdivegaming6127]

Listen to Nichol Williamson's audio version of the Hobbit. About 1972. He was Merlin in Excaliber!

[@bbblackwell]

Jim Wilson Oh cool, will look for that for sure! Thanks!

[@Gustave154]

15:45 to 15:47 best part of the video

[@machinegunface]

Haha yeah. It's like his version of dropping the mic. Boom! Great review, Tom! I always dig your enthusiasm.

[@JaKamps]

How does this game compare to Kemet, or Battlelore 2?

[@supereggman2000]

Barry

[@darkmatterdragongames6516]

I am currently painting my war of the ring set. I love that game I want this one too. My taste seems to follow Tom's pretty close so I am sure I will enjoy this one as well.

[@wfp9378]

It's the end of 2018....so is either War of the Ring or Battle of 5 Armies in Toms top 100 games?

[@GGdeTOURS37]

LOOOL

[@azraelswrd]

Sounds great. I'll be interested to hear from the ultragamers and see if the sides are balanced or if there is an "ultimate" can't-lose strategy for a faction.

[@vibingwiththewind2889]

Yea. In War of the Ring evil is much easier than good. Evil just has to wipe out Gondor and Rohan and make sure the Fellowship can't advance while they sneakily remove the Shire and Dale and win the game. Good has to win using the fellowship as Evil's larger army and endless reinforcements allows them to storm good way before the Fellowship reaches the Mordor Track.

[@lonniecraig5186]

I have played WotR three times, and all three times, the Shadow won. However, two of those games came right to the Free Peoples getting the Fellowship to #4 on the Mordor track, with the Corruption being either at 10 or 11, and one right tile would have won it for the Free Peoples. If memory serves, we counted the tiles after the game was over and the odds of drawing a tile that would have won it for the Free Peoples was a little under 50% in both cases. One time, there was one more tile that won for the Shadow than the Free Peoples, and the other time I think it may have been 50/50, actually, but it's been a while. I understand and even agree to a point that evil is easier to play than good, but based solely on my personal experience, it's pretty balanced. But, three games is not enough to form a definite conclusion, so take what I say for what it's worth. And I am a pretty novice player, so maybe against an expert it wouldn't be anywhere near as close. LOL

[@ryokuhasu9699]

It seems interesting and fun, but it seems a bit convoluted... I rather play Civ if the mechanics are going to get that complex.

[@Aeravon]

Putting cards directly in front of the camera was causing me a headache. Had to skip to the end :(

[@syd4890]

yeah playing as the shadow was no fun when after like 3 turns you realize you didn't do anything relevant and the good guys are OP and have the tactical vantage (e.g. they don't have to move anywhere...)

[@befirmbefair6674]

The game actually favors a clever, experience shadow player.

[@jimjim292]

The Hobbit better than Lord of the Rings? Hipster:)

[@mikestrand3023]

I really enjoy this game and its predecessor, but I feel it is not very well balanced. It is very difficult for the dark forces player to win. I have played several games, and though it has seemed close, as soon as the eagles show up the dark power has all he can do to hang on, then Beorn shows up and seals the deal. The dark forces player could win if all the right cards show up and he rolls enough goblin dice...But that's a lot of ifs. The game is still super fun, but it is most interesting to see if evil can pull it off.

[@wombatwad]

Passed on this at GENCON. the girl demoing it had no idea about the game and had no interest in figuring it out. I may need to relook it.

[@gurtana]

Is Smaug in this game? (as miniature?)

[@dkoppenol]

He's already dead when the battle takes place.

[@fingerdrop]

You know what, it might be time to freshen up your whole set up. Animation, video thumb art, animation ,and background for your videos. Your contents is always excellent however, and I'm a loyal watcher.

[@jeffreyscarbroughboardgame2822]

Cool war strategy board game so I won't it

[@MechaJoezilla]

The Battle of 5 Armies, but it's for 2 players only!?!? No, I don't think so.

[@bbblackwell]

Good point; it would have been awesome to at least see a variation where each player could be one of the five armies, but it seems that a group like the eagles wouldn't support full-game play, and it would almost be like designing a whole new game to balance everything.

[@befirmbefair6674]

Damn you, Tolkien, with your false advertising!

[@robertogualdi5390]

Do not americanize people's names please. The first author is called "Roberto Di Meglio"

[@danrather3153]

i think he is pronouncing things the best he can. asshole move man