This is where the meat of the game happens. Players roll all of their action dice and then take turns using them. The dice can have 6 possible results: The Battle of Five Armies is a strategic board game designed for two players that simulates the epic battle scene from J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit.” In this game, players take on the roles of either the armies of dwarves and men or the armies of goblins and Wargs. The objective of the game is to either capture the opponent’s stronghold or eliminate all their units. The game typically takes around an hour to play. Components: Once the round ends, a new rounds starts with Phase 1. The game continues in this fashion until one player completes their objective.

The game also includes a set of event cards, which can be played during the game to provide additional actions, bonuses to combat rolls, or other effects. These event cards add an element of unpredictability to the game, as players must be prepared to adapt to changing circumstances. Design Process: The designers started by reading the source material and studying the battle scene in detail. They wanted to make sure that the game accurately represented the different factions, units, and heroes from the book; While not as grand of a scale as The War of the Ring, The Battle of Five Armies captures your attention from the first die roll and I guarantee it will keep you glued to the board for the long haul. The game play, production values and the minis help to make The Battle of Five Armies worth every penny of its hefty price tag. If you are a fan of the Lord of the Rings series, or even just fantasy war games in general, then treat yourself to a copy of The Battle of Five Armies. It’s an absolutely stellar and bloody romp through Middle-Earth. The designers wanted to include as many of the iconic units from the battle scene as possible, so they created a diverse set of units for each army. Each unit has unique strengths and weaknesses that make them useful in different situations. The designers also made sure to include the different leaders and heroes from the book, such as Thorin Oakenshield and Bolg, who provide special abilities and bonuses to their respective armies. Gameplay:The Battle of Five Armies features a game board representing the Eastern and Southern spurs of the Lonely Mountain and the valley they encircle, and a number of plastic figures representing troops, heroes and monsters. The Shadow player commands the armies of Bolg, son of Azog, the King of the Goblins of Mount Gundabad, while the Free Peoples player is in control of Men, Dwarves and Elves, led by Gandalf to fend off the goblin army. The Battle of Five Armies is a two-player game that allows you to re-create the epic conclusion of The Hobbit, the world-renowned masterpiece by J.R.R. Tolkien. The Shadow player commands the armies of Bolg, the King of the Goblins of Mount Gundabad, while the Free Peoples player is in control of Men, Dwarves, and Elves, led by Gandalf to fend off the goblin army. Recruitment: Each army has a set number of units, but players can use action tokens to recruit new units during the game. Each army has a different set of units with unique abilities and strengths. Event Phase: Free People: Fate Marker reaches step 15, Bolg is killed or Beorn enters play and the Shadow Player has less than 6 Victory Points.

The stalwart warriors of the Free Peoples – Elves, Dwarves and Men – formed an uneasy alliance to defend the Lonely Mountain and the treasure of Smaug. Now, they are facing the endless horde of minions of the Necromancer. The Shadow Armies, led by Bolg, son of Azog, are going to sweep the ruins of Dale and the Front Gate with an unstoppable onslaught. then began to brainstorm different game mechanics that could simulate the different aspects of the battle and played numerous prototypes of the game, tweaking and refining the mechanics until they found a set that was both fun and balanced. Those are fairly brief explanations of what the dice do. In addition to those results, cards can be played on any die result where the symbol matches the symbol on the card. Overall there are a lot of ways to use your dice on a turn. For the most part, Ares Games did a stellar job of putting together the components in The Battle of Five Armies. First off, each players gets a pile of miniatures to use to represent their various forces. From the different humanoid factions to the monstrous races, all are well sculpted and fun to play with. The character minis themselves are especially just begging to be painted.

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The actual army units are fine. I prefer standees because it's hard to tell all the units apart (the elven archers and spearmen look too similar, as do the Elvish King and Gandalf, and the dwarf units), but they are high quality. You will sadly probably need to paint them to make them easier to tell apart at a glance.