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I like the fact that Elves cause Terror in WOTR. I can see a Balrog hesitating before attacking a full regiment of them- after all, he doesn't want to die any more than the next Ancient Evil.

I do think the game would be well served for having a lesser Terror mechanic for Trolls and Ents and the like, and then the proper Terror for supernatural evils and so on.

Nice point but a full regiment of elves still has a hard time dealing with a Balrog. Especially seeing how he attcks first.

Yup, they will. That's why the Balrog has nice high Courage.

There are some typos in the rulebook. there are some iffy rules but alot of the issues my gaming group had we figured out because we were reading to much into it. As for Boromir and Lurtz's special rule .... it clearly stats that Heroes act as part of a company in the formation so when that company makes the attack its like boromir attacking. Boromir and lurtz are worded differently but do the same exact thing.

Da Boss wrote:I like the fact that Elves cause Terror in WOTR. I can see a Balrog hesitating before attacking a full regiment of them- after all, he doesn't want to die any more than the next Ancient Evil.

I do think the game would be well served for having a lesser Terror mechanic for Trolls and Ents and the like, and then the proper Terror for supernatural evils and so on.

I also see your point and share this as my thoughts initially seeing elves causing terror.

But a valid argument could easily be made that elves are quite supernatural themselves. While not malignant, they are awe inspiring enough to cause terror in a manner of speaking.

In other words, not terror in the sense of "I am scared of you because I think you boil babies for lunch" but terror in the sense of "I am confronted by a creature created and favored by the Valar and deserves my respect to the point of fearing their powers instilled in them by such favor".

In that sense, I feel that the all encompassing term of "terror" is suitable enough, and makes the game mechanics simpler and less convoluted by doing so.

Balrogs and other nasty monsters which cause terror are still not to impressed by the elves due to their own leadership values, so for the most part, it reflects the tolkien mythos in game well enough. Besides, balrogs should occasionally fail terror checks against elves, as reflected by Glorfindel's slaughter of balrogs during the fall of gondolin, etc.

I think people dont give as much credit to the system as it sometimes deserves. It most certainly has its faults of course, but some areas can be logically rationalized within the realm of reason..

Oh, you've misunderstood me. I actually agree with everything you've just written, my idea for an extra "fear" mechanic would have been limited pretty much to trolls and ents, who are scary because they're big and strong, not because of some inner, supernatural power.
I also really like the WOTR rules, and am sorry I don't get to play it much.

Some Nazghul failed a Terror check against Glorfindel in the book... when trying to chase him down while bringing Frodo to Rivendell, he turned around at the edge of the river and gave them a blast of the full-on elf aura (the one in the twilight world that the Nazghul can see)... it said the Ringwraiths were "dismayed" and stopped, allowing for enough time to get washed away by the river. So there's certainly precedence to evil nasties faltering against "good guys"... that was the example my playtest group went with when we finally decided that maybe it wasn't just an oversight to leave out fantasy-stlye "Terror-causers don't fear other Terror-causers."

Da Boss wrote:Oh, you've misunderstood me.

Nah, I understood you. The mistake was mine in that I quoted you instead of Nieto. I was just too lazy to back track and fix it. lol

Let's not forget that Glorfindel has bitchslapped a few Balrogs in his time. It's not inconceivable that a Balrog would think twice before attacking his kinfolk.

Alright points of which are all well conceded. Im just so use to WFB . Hopefully the dice gods will shine upon me when I face those pointy eared again on the battlfield with my dragon and balrog cutting huge swaths through their ranks.

Just about to set off on my War Of The Ring journey. Finally bought the book yesterday, and now I'm trying to work out what exactly I wish to field. Which is always my stumbling point.

Was thinking Rohan, but I fear the army will look a tad repetitive on the board?

A well-painted army of Rohan would look fantastic on the board. Almost anything would look repetitive but it's the gameplay that makes it terrific.

Paint it up and enjoy. Besides, wasn't the charge of the Rohirrim in ROTK at Minas Tirith amazing? Recreate it!

That's true I suppose!

Plus they are one of the best covered forces in terms of available models!

Rohan it is then!