Lord of The Rings Expansion : Friends & Foes

Lord of The Rings Expansion : Friends & Foes
by Fantasy Flight Games

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Product Summary

Manufacturer: Fantasy Flight Games
Brand: Fantasy Flight Games
Model: LTR02
Product features:
  • Experience a journey through J.R.R. Tolkien's classic novel and immerse yourself in the world of Lord of the Rings!
  • A cooperative board game by renowned designer Reiner Knizia and artist John Howe
  • Ages: 12 - adult, Players: 2 - 5, Game Time: 60 - 90 minutes
  • Look for the Lord of the Rings board game also from Fantasy Flight Games

Toys and Games Reviews of Lord of The Rings Expansion : Friends & Foes

Customer Review: A key expansion for an amazing game
Summary: 5 Stars

If you've played the Lord of the Rings board game several times, you may refuse to believe that it could get any better. The brilliant co-operative nature and well crafted scenario design make for a challenging and fun gaming experience every time. What else could one need?

Trust me, once you've played with Friends & Foes, you'll never want to play without it.

The expansion adds several new angles to the game, all of which were obvious intended from the start, as they integrate seamlessly into the rules. The most obvious is the Foes deck -- now as you adventure forth, Sauron's armies gradually threaten to overrun Middle Earth, forcing you to fight them back. It adds a fun and challenging element to the game, and the fact that the "discard 2 cards" symbol now reads "reveal 2 Foes" also means that you're less likely to lose a hobbit to something as silly as merely running out of cards.

The two new scenario boards, Bree and Isenguard, fit into the game flow perfectly. Bree is relatively easy, though full of Foes, but Isenguard is hard, with a potential "Game Over" event at the end of its track. To offset these extra boards, it is now possible to skip up to two different scenario boards (your choices are Moria, Helm's Deep, and Shelob's Lair) if you can defeat enough Foes.

If there is one solid criticism of Friends & Foes, it is the new "Military Victory" option, which allows you to win the game by defeating every Foe (instead of having to destroy the Ring). This option, as written, is far too easy to attain -- with it, we've actually won games while still on the Helm's Deep board. Fortunately, Fantasy Flight did release an official errata (do a web search for "black gate card" for details) to fix this, so I'm not counting it against the score. (I also know of many people who play that defeating all the Foes only moves Sauron back 3 spaces, and you keep playing. I've come to like this option even more than the Black Gate fix.)

Friends & Foes adds another level of depth and immersion to an already great game. Perhaps more importantly, it does so without adding significant complication or taking anything away from the game. Adding it feels like you're upgrading from a trial version to the "full game", in my experience, and it's a wonderful feeling.

Description of Lord of The Rings Expansion : Friends & Foes

This expansion to the Lord of the Rings board game adds two new scenario boards (Bree and Isengard), 13 new feature cards and 3 new Gandalf cards. It also adds two completely new features to the game: Foe cards which add a major new aspect to the game; and Character Ability cards which give each character a unique one-shot ability.

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