Post originally by Justin Bacon at 2004-03-31 16:56:01
Converted from Phorums BB System

I found it interesting that you felt the game distanced you from the world of Middle Earth. What I, personally, found so amazing about the game is that:

(a) It featured very flexible, easy-to-learn gameplay.

(b) You could still tie the mechanics directly to the game world.

I mean, you can literally use Shadowfax to race to Minas Tirith. But you can also use Shadowfax to race across Mordor.

Sure, everything is modeled using a core set of mechanics. Thus the journey through Moria and the long march across Mordor are both modeled as long traveling lines. But this is an RPG site, so the concept of modeling diverse elements on a core mechanics isn't all that foreign to us.

The game's reply value is also very high, IMO. I'm very impressed by the fact that there are a variety of successful tactics for every board and across the game as a whole. I've had the game for about two years now, and in that time it's seen about 10x as much gameplay as all my other boardgames combined.

Justin Bacon
triad3204@aol.com