The Lord of the Rings never goes out of style, particularly since Peter Jackson immortalized the characters for a new generation with his films; the story of Frodo and the rest of the Fellowship remains as topical as ever amongst gamers of every ilk, and while many PC enthusiasts are currently battling away inside Middle-earth via Turbine’s Lord of the Rings Online, board gamers also have plenty from which to choose to satisfy their appetite for all things Tolkien. One such option is Reiner Knizia’s classic 2-player game: Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation.

If you have played the timeless board game Stratego, then you have a (very) basic idea of what to expect. However, The Confrontation, first released back in 2002, is not a mere tactical memory game but rather a wickedly clever strategy game that forces you to think on your feet and change strategy on the fly. Best of all—it squeezes tough decisions out of each player which adds nearly infinite replayability.

The basic idea is simple: the “Light” player attempts to move Frodo from The Shire into Mordor to destroy the One Ring while the "Dark" player attempts to either wipe out all nine Light characters or capture Frodo before he reaches his destination. Just like Stratego, the characters are kept hidden from the opposing player until they are attacked.

The Fun Factors:

Mechanics:

What makes the game more than just "Stratego with Orcs" is the fact that each character (there are nine Light and nine Dark) not only has a basic strength value but also a special skill. For example, Frodo has the ability to automatically retreat sideways when attacked (unless he's in the Mountains), which makes the little bugger extremely hard to corner. Boromir acts as a walking land mine, blowing up any enemy, as well as himself. The Warg nullfies any character's ability, including Boromir's suicide run. The characters play off one another exceptionally well in this regard. There is a delicate balance between the units. Other examples include the Balrog, who automatically kills a character that tries to use the Mines of Moria to sneak through the mountains. Thus, if you see a Dark character guarding the Mines, you might assume that it’s the Balrog – but there’s no guarantee. Maybe the Dark player is bluffing? Maybe it’s simply a Black Rider?

In addition to the strength and skill of each character, the game comes with several cards, one of which must be played by each player every time a battle ensues. The cards are either a strength modifier or a ‘special’ card that might allow you to retreat from battle, cancel out your opponent's special or strength card or some other dastardly trick. It’s the play of the cards that makes the game particularly special and utterly addictive. If the Witch King attacks Aragorn, for instance, the fight is resolved in the following manner:

Aragorn has a strength value of 4 while the Witch King has a 5. However, the card mechanic makes it so that Aragorn isn’t automatically slain. If the Aragorn player plays a high enough strength card (or a retreat) he can beat (or escape) the Witch King unless the Dark player plays a high strength card in return. But again, this is where the strategy comes into play – how vital is this fight? Do you want to waste a high strength card or a vitally important special card now or do you want to save them for later? It’s the decisions – these frustrating choices – that make the game so compelling.

Duration and Downtime:

This is one of the game’s biggest strengths. You can zip through a game of The Confrontation in about 30 minutes. This game is like that old potato chip commercial: ‘bet you can’t play just one game…’