Every now and then you see a departure from the usual "licensed" movie property, where for once you don't see a mediocre product relying on the movie license to sell it, and instead you get a great license combined with a great game. Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation (both the deluxe edition and the original) is such a game -- famed game designer Reiner Knizia did the design, and this is one of his best. Frankly this is one of the best two-player board games ever made. It draws a bit of inspiration from the classic Stratego, but combines it with a fast "modern" pacing and a lot of creativity. You'll want to play it over, and over, and over, and over!

Brian Reynolds

COMPONENTS:
1 gameboard - very artistically painted board that has very highly themed regions (ie., Shire, Mordor) and funtional details (River Anduin and Moria tunnel). Easily laid-out and folded.

18 plastic pieces (with the character cards inserted) - Simple yet functional plastic pieces that hides easily switchable character cards. Character cards includes a brief description of each character attribute. Can be prepared and stored easily.

22 cards - High quality art, medium quality card stock. I immediately need to laminate them because dirt sticks on it easily but due to the lamination, it cannot fit the box anymore. You dont need to shuffle the cards during the game so it retains its quality.

GAMEPLAY:
The rules are simple yet the tactical options are immense - from the game set-up to its end game. You will really need to play the game at least twice (2 each on both sides) to memorize each unit's attibutes (strength, weakness, abilities) . The beauty of the game is its assymmetry. The two sides differ on their overall characteristics.

The Fellowship exceeds in special skills like sacrifice (Boromir), counter-measures (ie., Gimli against the Orcs) and special skills (Pippin's scouting skill). The Fellowship's Text cards have an edge over Sauron's.

Sauron's forces, on the other hand is simply powerful when it comes to strength (ie., Shelob, Balrog and Witch King) and brute (ie., Cave Troll). Their Strength cards supplement their already strong fighting force.

What's really great in this game is its BALANCE despite the assymmetry. Reiner Knizia designed each character's attributes ingeniously while keeping them believable when it comes to the theme (ie., Sam is stronger when with Frodo in the same region).

CONCLUSION:
Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation is a very well-themed, highly tactical game of bluffing and strategy. I think this is one of Reiner Knizia's few highly-themed game masterpiece. Most of the time, you need to have a good memory to remember your enemy's units. It plays very quick (me and my officemate can play a game, 1 round for each side, in as low as 20 mins. I have never experienced a dull moment with this game even if I'm playing with a complete newbie. The game can really suck you to play it more and more. An experience you shouldn't miss!

If you don't have this game yet, do yourself a favor and get yourself a copy!