by Snowman
and for those of you who do not read Croatian here is the google translate version:LoTR the team card game, meaning that players play together against the game, not against one another. LCG stands for Living Card Game and I will explain the meaning of the term at the end of this text.
The game is set in Tolkien's world of Middle-earth. Uses characters, locations and elements from the book The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogy. Sam's set in a period of 17 years between the celebration of 111-th birthday of Bilbo and Frodo day leave the Shire with the Ring. Players will play with Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, Faramir and numerous other well-known characters. Mirkwood will explore the area around the upper river Anduin, where they might encounter orcs, trolls, spiders, goblins and many other enemies.
The game consists of cards that are rich text in English. Often, the text refers to an element of the game that is hard to translate into Croatian language, and this text will abound English name. During the game, players use English names, and there's not much point to translate.
Boxes and accessories
The game comes in a large box, which seems excessive. About a third of the box is used. The rest is suitable for organization charts in various cups and storage numerous expansions that came after the base game. The game consists of over 200 cards: 12 cards hero cards for 120 players, 80-odd enemy cards, 10 cards scenarios; marks for progress, injuries, and resources, and counter threats (threat counters).
The box itself, rules and maps are perfectly painted. Visually rarely anyone will like it. The visual identity is taken from the famous Jackson's adaptations but it is quite new. The authors illustrate the rich drew inspiration from Tolkien's description.
Tickets and labels are very good quality and after more than a year of playing is only starting to see signs of wear.
During the game
Heroes and tickets for the players are divided into four spheres of influence: Leadership (leadership), Lore (knowledge), Spirit (boldness) and Tactics (grit). Each sphere has its own advantages and disadvantages. Spheres of influence are important, because the map of the hand can be paid only resources associated heroes. Lore cards are the best in treatment and getting more cards in hand. Spirit tickets are the best in research and reduce the level of risk. Tactics cards are the best in direct combat. Leadership cards are good at everything a bit: higher yield resources, getting more cards, some benefits of the research.
In the base game there is only one neutral map that can be paid in any of the resource, and it's Gandalf as an ally.
Tickets for the players are divided into 3 types: attachment (various accessories, weapons, defense, permanent knowledge), Ally (Allies) and events (favorable events, in some cases, one can look at them as magic).
Enemy tickets, against which players compete are divided into four types: the enemy (enemies), location (location) Treachery (treachery, ie adverse events and negative spells), objective (these are maps that can help players, or they must be collected to win).
In the base game, there are three scenarios playing, each consisting of multiple cards. These tickets scenarios (quest cards) consisting of A and B sides. On the A side usually prepare written policies that step scenarios. On side B is more important part, which is the minimum number of marks progress players must put on the map to complete this step. Often on the B side writes additional or more of the play and the resolution of this step.
The first scenario is called the weight of 1 Passage Through Mirkwood (Journey through Mirkwood). In it, players carry a message from the king of the forest elves mistress Lorien. Thranduil (father of Legolas) is concerned about the growing threat of harm from near Dol Guldur and wants to inform Galadriel (grandmother of Arwen).
The second scenario (weight 4) is adjacent to the first. It's called Journey Down the Anduin (Walking down the river Anduin). In it are heroes managed to escape alive from the dark forest and trying to escape on a raft of serious pursuit of the forest led by evil trolls.
The third scenario is the most difficult (difficulty 7). In Escape from Dol Guldur (Escape from Dol Guldur) heroes explore the area around the notorious part of Mirkwood. Nekromacerove forces captured one hero, and the rest remains a difficult task his rescue.
Playing surface consists of areas detected enemy maps (staging area), their cup and cup for the rejection. Each player has his players in front of him surface with heroes and allies, Cup and Cup of their cards to discard.
Playing consists of two parts. The first part will skip the beginners, and it's making the cup cards that deck-building. For this part need more time to play the game and get to know them all well. Beginners can take predefined jednosferne prepared cups that come with the game, along with the accompanying heroes. They will serve them well for exploring the maps, the specificities of each sphere. Later, the players will want to work optimized cups or those that are thematically linked. Optimizing Cup is done for each scenario gaming, since various scenarios puts the player in front of different challenges. Themed cups are left to the imagination of players. Can be done by key words on the map (Rohan, Gondor, Dwarf, Warrior, Noble, ...), priced ticket (say that all expensive or cheap all) or something else that a player like him.
Few rules that players should stick with the selection of tickets for your cup. Must not have more than 3 heroes nor more than 3 cards of the same name in the cup. Everything else is allowed. So players can try to play with three different heroes every sphere of influence, and in the cup have maps of all four spheres of influence. This is potentially problematic, because the cards from hand to pay the associated resource sphere (eg Spirit tickets are paid resources Spirit hero). Cups are made mostly of two spheres. for example, in a game with two players, one player you make a Lore-Spirit Cup (good for treatment, obtain maps and survey ie cups for support), and another player take tickets spheres Leadership and Tactics (a combination of defense and attack).
The second part is just playing, that prepares scenarios and playing by circles, and each circle has 7 phases:
resource (phase resources) in her every hero gets 1 per resource, and each player one card from his cup.
Planning (Planning): players buy allies and accessories. Prices are usually 1-3 resources, and stronger cards costing 4 or 5, and only two ticket prices sixth
quest (ie exploration campaign): players sent heroes and allies in the research. Reveals the hostile one ticket per player. For a successful campaign players need to have more power to explore (will power) than the overall level of threat (threat Strength) the enemy cards in the staging area. On the current map scenarios put tokens of progress in the amount of surplus a successful campaign. After an unsuccessful campaign, all players raise their level of vulnerability for the lack of an unsuccessful campaign.
travel (trip): players can travel to the location, that is, remove it from the staging area.
Encounter (opposition): first the players can clash with the enemies of your choice, and the enemies are confronted by the rules. Enemies clash with players whose level of threat equal to or greater than the level of threat to the enemy. Fights take place in the next phase.
combat (fighting): the first enemy attack players who are defending heroes and allies. Enemies get reinforcement in the form of shadow effect with a ticket to join the cup. Players can choose and undefended attack in which all of the damage that injuries are going to one of the heroes, and the damage is shadow effect is stronger in this case.
Players then attack the remaining enemy heroes and allies.
Refresh: preparing for the next round in which alters the initial players, all the cards are prepared at the ready position (upright), and all the players raise their level of vulnerability for the first
Players can heroes and allies used only in one phase of the game in most cases, that is, only to hit or defend or attack, or any specific action that the map has.
Heroes, allies and enemies come out of the game when you have a number tag on it the same injury to or greater than their overall "health" (large red figure in the middle of the map). A player is eliminated from the game if he loses all his heroes or threat level is 50 or higher. All players lose a game together, if all ejected from the game. Wins if at least one player is in the game and failed to meet the condition of the B final tickets scenarios. When the players win, they can calculate the number of points with which they won. I never do this, because we are not attracted to each other comparing gameplay, ie efficiency.
OVERALL IMPRESSION
This game is hard, especially for solo play. Best in two or three, and if you play by yourself, I recommend that you play with 2 cup, or you play another player. Get to victory over the real challenge. The first 10 will win a beginner playing 1-2x. That is tough does not mean it is not fun, just the opposite. Her weight more interesting, challeng and large reigrivosti. Much of the appeal of the game is a deck-building when you try to pick the cards that will work with each other better. As in most card games, it is important to play as many as possible return ticket in hand. After that, it is essential to have a higher yield of resources to pay for these tickets. Some tickets will be in a particular scenario be necessary and it is difficult to win without them, and in other scenarios will not be much use for them. Not everything is so easy to just choose one or a few strong cards. The point is, combinations and discovering how what combinations work in certain situations and scenarios.
Reigrivost is very large in the base game, so continue buying extensions. The base game has three scenarios, and the map is divided into 4 spheres of influence. It means that you have to play at least 12 times just to see how each sphere behaves in a particular scenario. If numbered among multiple players in the game, playing with 2 or 3 spheres of gameplay moves quickly 100th With numerous extensions, reigrivost only growing because of new scenarios and new maps for players.
Thematic connections are excellent. There are many characters, locations from the books and a real pleasure to play with them. Build stories that they might have to happen. Of course, it should be a little blink one eye, or accept some inconsistencies and inability as a part of the game and the creative freedom of artists. Some characters would never do the things you do in the game or not at all to find the part of Middle-earth in a game that took them. There are players who used to play cards and combinations that are more in line with the books and avoid gross violations of Tolkien's creativity. I do not mind things like that, but I'm not sure if I'll go to great eagles Moria. Maybe for rehearsal, but from the standpoint of the story, Eagles have nothing to do in the underworld.
This game is a strategic and tactical. Strategic part of going to the deck-building when you know the script and try to pick the cards for him. Tactical part refers to the cards in your hands and get that guy out of the enemy. This is part of the happiness and sometimes will come only difficult enemies and Treachery cards that will mow your allies, and sometimes you choke location. Deck-building and increasing the yield of cards in hand, you can manage happiness that reduce its impact on the player's map. Using maps and other heroes that operate undetected enemy Cup tickets, affect the good aspects of the game. The combination of the two gives you a number of options against scenarios.
To me this game has provided hours of entertainment, especially in a multi-player game. When I'm playing it right now, part of playing is like solving a puzzle, a part of the disclosure that the story ran (which will happen today heroes). Play solo runs really fast, so it is possible to play the game 2-3 times in one hour (and more if you are soon lost). Multiplayer Gaming presents numerous advantages of social games. There are negotiations, discussions about the maps, mutual help, shared anticipation of bad things from the enemy side, and a lot of laughter when they tell us something goes wrong. I can say that we are no longer laughing when we lost than won. Sometimes it seemed that the whole of Middle-earth conspired against us. Since all the players involved at all times in all phases of the game, there is no waiting time to move another player. All they do everything at once, and when a player and are waiting to decide on the choice of a ticket, they can study your cards, hostile, and plan what will continue to play.
The game has its flaws of course. Need all of these maps rearrange, organize, keep lots of bags. Just playing knows sometimes be petljavo ie randomize this cup, mix one cup, marks left, tags right. The rules are ambiguous and sometimes several times I sought answers to BoardGameGeeku and the official FAQ, which certainly recommend downloaded.
All flaws are acceptable to me, since the game itself is complex, rich in detail and numerous interactions of various maps. I think the game makers had solved all the problems as best they could. The only thing they blame text on some maps that could have been clearer.
And finally LCG. This game is a Living Card Game format, and the LCG part refers to its enlargement. The Collectible Card Game (CCG), ie the Trading Card Game (TCG) players would get expansions random map. LCG expansions are all the same, that the players know exactly what they will get for their money. In the case of this game that are smaller and larger expansions. After the base game came out 6 "Adventure Pack" in the Shadows of Mirkwood cycle (Shadows of Mirkwood). Each AP brings new scenario gaming, and the plot of this cycle revolves around capturing Gollum in various branches in and around Mirkwood. In addition to the new scenario (scenario new maps and a new enemy Cup tickets), each AP brings a new hero, and reinforcement for all 4 spheres (new allies, accessories and events). Khazad-dum deluxe expansion is necessary for the next cycle of expansion (Dwarrowdelf). Revolve around Moria and research what happened to the dwarves in them. Coming out with a new deluxe expansion that will take players to Gondor, which is under direct threat from Mordor. Two separate extensions with a total of 6 scenarios follow the action Hobbit. There are 2 separate extensions particularly severe scenarios: Massing at Osgiliath, where the heroes are fleeing devastated city, and the latest Battle at Lake-town in which players fight against the dragon Smaug.
tamo ga imate