The Battle of Five Armies

BGG Rank: 737

Players: 2 - 2, Recommended: 2+, Best: 2

Playing Time: 240 minutes

Weight (Complexity): 3.59 / 5

Mechanisms: Area Majority / Influence, Area Movement, Dice Rolling, Hand Management

Category: Adventure, Fantasy, Fighting, Novel-based, Wargame

Family: Authors: J.R.R. Tolkien, Components: Miniatures, Fictional Events: The Battle of Five Armies, Players: Two-Player Only Games, Series: War of the Ring (Nexus/Ares Games), Theme: Medieval Fantasy

Designer: Roberto Di Meglio, Marco Maggi, Francesco Nepitello

Artist: Lucas Graciano, Jon Hodgson, Francesco Mattioli, Ben Wootten

Publisher: Ares Games, Devir, GaGa Games, Galakta, Heidelberger Spieleverlag, IELLO, Raven Distribution, REXhry

Category: Wargame

Game description from the publisher: The Battle of Five Armies – based on the climax of JRR Tolkien's novel The Hobbit – pits the hosts of the Elvenking, the Dwarves of Dain Ironfoot, and the Men of the Lake led by Bard the Bowman against a horde of Wolves, Goblins and Bats led by Bolg, son of Azog. Will Gandalf turn the tide for the Free Peoples? Will the Eagles arrive, or Beorn come to the rescue? Or will Bilbo the Hobbit perish in a last stand on Ravenhill? 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 Battle of Five Armies is a standalone game based on the rules for War of the Ring, which is from the same designers, but with the rules modified to function on a tactical level as they describe a smaller battle rather than the entire war. Ares Games plans to expand the Battles game system in the future, releasing expansions depicting other battles from the Third Age of Middle-earth narrated in The Lord of the Rings, such as the Siege of Gondor and the assault of Saruman against Rohan.

Average Playing Time	2-4 hours
Best Player Count	2 Best
Collection	Kevin
Difficulty	Heavy
Played	Played
Recommended Player Count	2 Players

JayRa rated: N/A/10

squash rated: N/A/10

WTP 3/4 [LotR BATTLE] 2 players; 90 minutes; A quicker, deadlier, War of the Ring

AslanFrodo rated: N/A/10

We wants it, my precious.

pohy rated: N/A/10

with 127 painted figures.

throwingmuse rated: N/A/10

As new/unplayed

jayjonbeach rated: N/A/10

musttt resist_the EYEEEEEEEEEaaaahhhhhh

TrophyChase rated: N/A/10

Waiting in anticipation.

norgano rated: N/A/10

I'm seriously wondering how different The Battle of Five Armies will be from the scenario expansions in "Battles of the Third Age" which was part of what was included in the only expansion for War of the Ring first edition. I liked those scenarios a lot but I didn't like how you had to mix and match pieces from the regular game that were used in both with ones that were just used in either regular expanded game or scenario game. Felt like it would have been better if it had completely independent components and played as a seperate agme instead of sharing some components and having it so mechanics were similar, but different enough that you couldn't remember which rule applied for each game. That being said, the Gondor and Rohan scenarios included in the expansion for first edition war of the ring were worthy, fun, and a different experience than the main game, expanded or otherwise, but did one feel they were worth playing because of those factors and the fact that they took about as much time as war of the ring proper in addition to the fact that thematically those battles are included in the larger game? not sure, it's a question of taste. I will probably play them at least once or twice a year, but Battle of Five Armies seems like one I would play more because it will be a standalone game and represents a different scenario than what War of the Ring already includes. I hope that it will achieve this.

mothertruckin rated: N/A/10

Verified complete. 2014 English Edition.

samoan_jo rated: N/A/10

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