The Battle of the Five Armies board game
[ BGC stock id 5747]
Description of The Battle of the Five Armies board game
The Battle of Five Armies recreates the fierce struggle witnessed by Bilbo Baggins, at the end of his quest for the Lonely Mountain. The game makes use of the rule engine that debuted in the “Minas Tirith” and “Rohan” battle games, included in "Battles of the Third Age", the War of the Ring expansion we designed in 2006. Similarly to War of the Ring, the system merges our unique action dice system and card-driven mechanics, to ensure a high replay value. The mechanics have been further developed and refined for The Battle of Five Armies, to place a greater emphasis on the epic role of characters in the battle. This system is intended to be further developed in the future, to cover other battles from "The Lord of the Rings".
Despite its name, The Battle of Five Armies is a two-player game. One player is in command of the Shadow armies, led by Bolg, son of Azog, the King of the Goblins of Mount Gundabad, and a second player controls the Free Peoples army, composed of Elves, Dwarves and Men. The Shadow player will maneuver a host of Orcs, Great Orcs, Goblins and Wargs, reinforced by Great Bats from Mirkwood, in an attempt to vanquish the assembled forces of the Free Peoples and win the dominion of the North.
The Free Peoples player defends the valley between the arms of the Lonely Mountain, commanding Wood-elf archers and spearmen, Dwarf veterans from the Iron Hills, and warriors from the town of Esgaroth on the Long Lake. Bilbo Baggins, Bolg Son of Azog, Gandalf the Grey and all the other main heroes of the story are in the game, represented by plastic figures, their abilities summarized on beautifully illustrated character cards.
