Note: For those unfamiliar with the Hasbro-related controversy, the original LotR RISK set had a game board that stopped above Gondor and Mordor—which was particularly odd since the ring travels toward Mordor throughout the game and because one or more players play the forces of darkness. It appears that because the initial release was tied to the Peter Jackson films, and The Two Towers had just been released at that point, the minds at Hasbro disliked the idea of revealing the full board. As a result, the buyers got a truncated board, and when the so-called Trilogy edition was released instead of containing an add-on board piece, as was expected, it contained another whole game with a full board. Folks who had purchased the initial set felt screwed and felt as if they had to buy the whole game again to complete the set. They complained. Loudly. Hasbro soon stepped up to the plate and made a “filler set” (my term here) available for a small fee.
I purchased the add-on, and for about $16 I received the full board, a full set of game pieces (some in different colors than the original set), and new rules and cards—basically everything in the Trilogy box except the box itself, it would seem! (A nice bargain.) To add to the confusion (and insult for some), a UK version actually did include just an add-on board piece, which also had a new, additional siege game printed on the reverse side!
At game start, the players had the majority of their holdings as marked in the large graphic below.
Initial turns saw Larry easily take most of Gondor, right to the edge of Mordor. He largely abandoned pursuit of other areas elsewhere.
Markus, having deposited virtually all his troops up north, made an early and expected push for Eriador (light green on map). Here came the first game-changing sequence of events… The Shire, held by Larry with one brigade, held off a huge force of elves, costing Markus numerous brigades. After seeing six or seven brigades fall to the mighty halflings(?), Mark quit his assault in disgust. It was a major blow from which he would never fully recover. He took his required three countries and ended his turn.
Meanwhile, in the south, Willie and I prepared for what I thought would be a hideous war of attrition in Mordor (dark grey on map). We both began with even holdings in the region, as well as him having some above and me beneath—a deadly clash seemed inevitable. I feared we would destroy each other, leaving the crumbs left to Larry’s hordes. Then—shock!—Willie proposed a plan: he would leave Mordor and Haradwaith (gold) to me, and he would move his troops north to mass on Rhovanion (brown). He asked that, in exchange for awaiting his peaceful withdrawal, that I limit my incursions onto Rhovanion. I happily accepted his terms. In the long run, it probably helped him more than I, but it certainly prevented a dual extermination that would certainly have destroyed one or both of us right from the start.
Soon, as expected, Willie gobbled up most of Rhovanion and also made some inroads into Rhun (burnt umber). Strengthened by a lucky, early trio of cards (netting me an additional 10 brigades) I took portions of Mordor and Haradwaith, and moved to clash with Larry in a deadly face-off that would decide the fate of Mirkwood (dark green). Some of the elven brigades in the Anduin Valley turned traitor (thanks to a played card) and I finally took the forest.
Subsequent turns saw Larry secure Gondor, although Willie skirmished with him frequently in Ithilien and South Ithilien (the far eastern area of Gondor near Mordor). He nudged his troops slowly northward as well. I gobbled up the strongholds in Mordor one by one, beginning with Barad-Dur, and I took Mirkwood from Larry. Soon Haradwaith was mine as well. Willie took the rest of Rhovanion, clashed with Larry outside Mordor, and steered toward Fangorn and the Gap of Rohan.
Markus meanwhile took over various northern countries but failed to take a continent. I continued to bolster a contingent of men I had placed in Eriador—mainly to prevent his taking this region early on—and their presence seemed to dissuade him from making a push for Eriador due to his lack of troop strength.
Late turns saw multiple attempts to slow the ring and everyone tried to complete missions (I think only Larry was successful in this) and secure regions. I finally took Mordor, only to watch helplessly as Larry invaded via sea to seize 90% of Haradwaith for his own. I unleashed my northern hordes to take 90% of Eriador and I took all of Rhun but a single country (which was inhabited by Willie’s ogre force).
Willie continued to assault the edges of Gondor and ruined Larry’s chances of securing that continent. Willie marched on Fangorn.Markus eventually took and lost different northern and central countries, and used his final turn (the last of the game as it turned out). As the One Ring plunged into the fires of Mount Doom, Markus attacked Moria and Carrock in a successful attempt to play “spoiler” and disrupt our control of Rhovanion and Mirkwood, respectively. (I stupidly never claimed all of Rhun or Eriador, losing complete control of two regions by one country each.)
When the smoke cleared I edged to a clear point victory, helped by the numerous strongholds I held, and Markus and Willie tied for second. Larry, despite the best starting plays of the game, fell short of victory. I was a great, edge-of-the-seat clash between four very evenly matched forces (and players)!
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