I’ve just had a very entertaining evening spent playing games with Randy.

Which games didwe play?

War of the Ring – This game, published by Fantasy Flight Games, is pretty much the ultimate Lord of the Rings wargame, capturing the concept of the books extremely well. Although the game admits the possibility of varying from the books in some aspect (like the Free People winning by a military victory) for the most part you win the game by following the theme of the books.

Thus, my Sauron spent his time both searching for the Ring and attempting to crush the Free Peoples militarily, while Randy’s main job as the Free People’s player was to resist my armies long enough for Frodo to complete the Quest.

In the early game, I sent a force of Easterlings up to attack the dwarves in the Iron Hills and Erebor. The Iron Hills fell easily, but Randy had moved the Elves to a war footing, and the Woodland Realm reinforced the dwarves of Erebor just before the stronghold fell to my sieging armies.

At that point, I moved the Southrons in to invade Dol Amroth, aided by the Witch King. Dol Amroth fell quickly, and the Southrons moved north towards Minas Tirith as the Black Gate opened and the orcs of Mordor also moved out towards the White City.

Frodo had, after a difficult period, reached Rivendell. Gandalf had fallen and Gandalf the White was now waiting in Fangorn. Strider announced that he would go alone, and reached Minas Tirith ahead of the armies of Mordor and was crowned King. Unfortunately, the effect of his presence was sabotaged by Denethor, whose folly robbed the city of one of its defenders and rendered the leadership powerless against Grond, the Hammer of the Underworld, which the Witch King now brought into the fray.

Minas Tirith fell and Aragorn was lost as Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin approached Mordor, their other companions having fallen along the way except for Gimli (who was aiding the dwarves in Erebor). The Witch King then took control of the Necromancer’s armies around Dol Guildur in Mirkwood, and marched them northwards. Gandalf the White frustrated the Witch King’s initial advances, and Frodo reached Mordor.

Merry and Pippin fell to the horrors of Mordor, and Gollum began to guide Frodo and Sam along the final approaches. Alas for the hobbits, Isildur’s Bane eventually revealed its treacherous nature, and betrayed Frodo in Shelob’s Lair. The ring was captured and Sauron was victorious!

The game took about 2 hours, which is pretty good going. Normally the game takes me (either playing with Sarah or Randy) about 2 to 2-1/2 hours, which is a good length for a game.

Combat Commander: Europe was the second game we played. This was a massive scenario – #9 “Rush to Contact” – which has the time marker start on 2 and the sudden death marker on 12. Quite a number of units on each side, although they come in in waves!

Randy played the Allies (Americans) and I played the Axis (Germans). Everything looked good at first for me, with minefields causing a lot of grief for Randy’s initial advance. However, Randy was able to get a few units around my small initial force and take two of the important objective buildings.

I was able to fortify a building with a pillbox, and this definitely held up Randy’s forces for quite some time, but eventually his hero was able to reach the building and engage the defenders in melee, ambushing them! The resulting combat saw my units destroyed, and Randy now held four of the five objectives.

The remaining part of the game saw my defenders trying to go on the attack, something they were eminently unsuited for. My heavy machinegun managed to keep Randy’s forces busy, but I wasn’t able to take enough ground.

As the end approached, I was able to move four of my units up the side of the battlefield and off the far end, thus gaining a number of very useful victory points. Not quite enough, but it gave Randy quite astart. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time left to get back any more points. As time was called, Randy was 6 points to the good… but it had been a very enjoyable game. This had been one of the longer scenarios, taking about 2-1/2 hours.

The final game we played was Agricola, which I’m happy to report is as enjoyable with 2 players as with 4. Indeed, it was a very tight game, and – as normal for Agricola – it was very difficult to tell who was winning.

I had, by far, the more balanced farm, with all types of crop and animal represented and in good numbers. My trouble came from my house, which was only four rooms big and made of clay bricks. Randy had a group of complimentary occupations that allowed him to make a big 6-room house of stone! Add to that the Half-Timbered House improvement, and he was getting a whopping 18 points from his house, compared to my 4 measly points!

However, Randy hadn’t quite completed his farm and had a few negative points to contend with. When we added up the points, we discovered we were tied on 52 points apiece – a fair enough end to a very enjoyable evening.

Agricola Scoring:

Fields Merric 4, Randy 1; Pastures Merric 4, Randy 4
Grain Merric 2, Randy 1; Vegetables Merric 4, Randy 4
Sheep Merric 2, Randy -1; Wild Boar Merric 4, Randy 2; Cattle Merric 3, Randy 3
Unused Merric 0, Randy -3; Stables Merric 3, Randy 3, House Merric 4, Randy 18
Family Merric 15, Randy 15; Occupations: -; Improvements Merric 7, Randy 5

Totals: Merric 52, Randy 52.