Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation

Let’s face it, for fantasy fans; it’s tough to imagine a more perfect mythos than the one created by J.R.R Tolkien and apparently game companies don’t need to be told this twice. Everyone from RoseArt to Games Workshop to Fantasy Flight Games has unique variations of the universe on the market and that’s not even beginning to address the countless earlier incarnations that have existed for the better part of the past 30 years.

I’m a bit partial to the Fantasy Flight stuff personally thanks to high quality bits, beautiful maps, and really just a subliminal tone that harkens to the richness of the classic novel series itself. While quite busy (and satisfied) with the epic quests War of the Ring and Middle Earth Quest, I often regretted never having picked up Fantasy Flight Games’ The Lord of the Rings (and subsequent expansions) written by none other than board gaming mastermind Reiner Knizia and these days it’s getting harder and harder to track down an unopened copy. Though not complete consolation, I had always heard good things about another game he had developed using the same characters and environments called The Confrontation. Considering the Deluxe Edition (tested here) includes several variations of the classic rules, four new special cards, larger character tiles and corresponding plastic stand sculpts, and new artwork on all of the components, the time to get involved had been delayed long enough.

Hard facts are pretty short and sweet: The game is for 2-players only and is recommended for individuals 12 & up and rounds are estimated at 30-minutes in length.

Inside the box are a game board, 18 Fellowship & Sauron combat cards, 8 special cards, 18 plastic stands, 18 character tiles (that go in the stands), 18 character tokens, 2 full color reference sheets and one 12-page rulebook.

As is the case with most FFG titles, it’s only fair that I begin by discussing the rulebook. As is the trend of late, or so it would seem, the book, while beautiful to behold, seems to take the long way around explaining what really is a pretty basic game structure. Make no mistake, the 12 pages are filled with full-color photographic examples, go into great detail with the traits of each character in the game, and even contain two variations of the rules. The point is, actually playing the game is a lot more intuitive, not to mention perhaps simplistic than a player might suspect by reading the book alone.

The real strategy here is rather not unlike the system that’s made classics such as checkers and chess so successful since their inception: To reach the opposing side of the board. In the case of the Fellowship, it’s to get Frodo onto the enemy’s Mordor square to be victorious. Sauron needs only get three enemy figures into the Shire or to kill Frodo.

Unless otherwise stated in a character’s tile, movement is forever forward toward the opponent’s side of the game board, which is divided in the middle by Middle Earth’s infamous mountain ranges. Plop your character (which your opponent cannot see due to the plastic stands that house the tiles) onto a space already occupied by an opponent’s piece and as they might say in Seinfeld, it’s go time.

Battles begin by the players revealing the shrouded combatants to one another. Next the actions on the character’s tile text take place (this could be something like “Merry Instantly Defeats the Witch King” or “Gimli Immediately Defeats the Orcs”.

After this phase of action, the players will likely find themselves in a test of strength, which in this case is indicated by a number on both the character’s tile and on the reference sheets. The player can then choose a combat card to throw from his hand, which is simply added to the tile’s strength number. Whoever’s player has the least strength after doing so looses the confrontation and is hence removed from the board.

If it looks like you won’t be successful in combat based on strength alone, your hand also contains some special ability cards that are great for getting characters out of tight spots. Among these could be a magic spell that allows you pick up a previously discarded card or an Elven Cloak that allows the opponent’s strength (combat) card value to be ignored and so on.

Basically, that’s all there is to it. Of course like all Knezia-designed games, there is inherent strategy to be found despite an initial impression of being far too simplistic for lasting enjoyment. Games can almost always go either way and while often shorter than the 30-minute average time, are usually quite intense. When playing as the Fellowship, I’ve found myself attempting various strategies from placing my higher strength characters on the front line to forming a “huddle” around the ring-bearer. Sometimes it works and sometimes my best-laid plans result in slaughter. Indeed, perhaps that’s what makes the game so enjoyable.

Of course repeated rounds with the same opponent can eventually lead to the observation of patterns (like when I place my Merry figure to intercept what I suspect is my opponent’s Witch King) but the variant games included do away with such concern. The first variation simply demands that the player flip all of the tiles within their stands around to reveal character variations for both the Fellowship and the forces of Sauron. These are indicated by a star symbol next to the character rather then a ring. The variant plays by the identical rules of the classic version except that the character texts are switched up. For example rather than simply having the ability to retreat sideways when attacked, the variant Frodo has the ability to ignore the Shadow player’s card text. This version actually introduces a few new characters to the mix such as Wormtongue, Treebeard, and Smeagol, who are notably absent from the classic game’s roster. Finally, the ways to win are tweaked as well with the Shadow simply having to get the Witch King into the Shire for instant victory and Frodo having the ability to pass the One Ring off to Samwise should he be defeated in combat.

The second variation is called The Draft Game and like in professional sports, it allows each player the option to assemble their own army using classic characters, variant characters, or a mix of the two. In this version of play, the players present tokens for their players to reference at will that simply demonstrate the army they’ve got on the field (no surprises in other words).

Finally, I should note that the game offers one final bit of variation in the form of eight special cards (4 for each player that is reduced to 2 apiece for play) that bring an interesting dose of randomness to the strategy. For example, the card of Gandalf’s white stallion Shadowfax allows the Fellowship player the ability to move sideways (rather than forward) to an adjacent unoccupied (by the enemy) spot while the Recall to Mordor card allows the Shadow player the ability to move any one of his characters back to his Mordor square at the cost of a turn.

In all The Confrontation has very little in common with the LotR titles it shares space with in the Fantasy Flight Games catalog other than the names of characters, locations and so on. While the others seem to follow the massive war game dynamic, The Confrontation works more like a personal strategic romp between two individuals. Again I hate to draw such comparisons because it’s not as if the game actually borrows from or mimics either, but the best way to describe this system would be to compare it to what makes checkers or chess operate: Fairly simplistic decisions that can make or break a player’s chance of success.Also noteworthy is that since Peter Jackson’s incredible motion picture incarnations of the franchise were created, seemingly all Lord of the Rings art, either consciously or otherwise, has begun to look like the film interpretations. Interestingly enough, The Confrontation is one of few examples that I’m aware of that makes a deliberate effort to present its own unique perspective of the beloved characters (sorry ladies who’ve come to lust over Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, and Sean Bean).

In all, The Confrontation is quite an enjoyable, albeit brief, exercise in strategy and light warfare. Like most of the Reiner Knizia games I’ve played so far, it takes only minutes to learn but offers a strategic element that never tires. I would definitely recommend it to LotR fans for its sound use of characters, locations, and moments that make the books/ films so memorable and to non-fans alike, as it never relies upon such elements to present its addicting dynamic.