The Battle of Five Armies – A Review of the Epic Two-Player Board Game

Before I dive into The Battle of Five Armies, I have to mention its big sister – War of the Ring, created by the same authors: Roberto Di Meglio, Marco Maggi, and Francesco Nepitello. If I had to choose only one board game to take to a desert island, or create a ranking of my favorite board games, War of the Ring would be right at the top.

War of the Ring

Few games offer such an epic feel that is also beautifully tied to the game's theme. While playing, you simply feel like you are part of the Middle-earth story. The game itself subtly pushes you to reenact scenes from the books and movies. The Fellowship is constantly under pressure from Mordor and its minions, while the band around Sauron and Saruman tries to conquer Middle-earth and finally defeat Gondor at the gates of Minas Tirith. All this using clear and intuitive mechanics and rules.

Despite its clarity, with two players, it can sometimes feel like a lot – dozens of miniatures moving on the table, always something to solve, and battles happening everywhere. The miniatures and the potential for clutter are one of the few weaknesses of the game. However, everything is resolved by playing with four, which works great. Roles are clearly defined, and it rarely happens that one player takes the initiative while the other just sits there twiddling their thumbs.

War of the Ring is simply top-tier among board games. At least for someone who doesn't mind a significant role of luck and knows how to enjoy the atmosphere and the story.

The Battle of Five Armies

It took unexpectedly long. We waited over ten years for the Czech version of another game from the authors of War of the Ring – The Battle of Five Armies – to hit the market. Was the wait worth it?

The Battle of Five Armies is the event taking place at the end of The Hobbit. Smaug the Dragon rests contentedly at the bottom of the Long Lake, the Lonely Mountain is back in the hands of the dwarves, and the gold treasure in its depths tempts everyone around. Men and elves head to the mountain with visions of help and compensation from the once-again wealthy lords of the mountain. Added to this are the orcs and wolves from Gundabad, who also want the treasure and are pretty ticked off that the dwarves and Gandalf killed their King of the Goblins from the Misty Mountains. And wandering around is Bilbo Baggins, who, just to be safe, spends most of the battle unconscious after being hit in the head by a stone.

The board game The Battle of Five Armies begins right at the start of this mess. The units of the Free Peoples are deployed on the game map, waiting for the attack of the dark forces.

The Battle of Five Armies takes everything good from War of the Ring. However, instead of the whole of Middle-earth, it focuses on a smaller part of the map. It's no longer about the journey of the Ring and moving troops. The battlefield is clearly defined, and so are the game goals. The Free Peoples must repel the orc attack and hold out long enough for key characters (Beorn) to enter the game or defeat the main orc, Bolg. The armies of darkness win the moment they control enough settlements (and thus gain victory points) or conquer and hold the Front Gate of the Lonely Mountain.

The rest of the game is very similar to the big War of the Ring. You play story cards, activate armies, use character abilities, and most importantly – you fight using dice. The game is primarily focused on combat; you can't avoid it. There have been minor changes to its system that bring more tactics.

The Battle of Five Armies may have lost a bit of its epic scale, but under the hood, it has finely tuned components that make the game flow nicely. From the beginning, the Dark Forces have the upper hand; the Free Peoples must hold out, other well-known characters gradually join the game, and the forces even out. But there isn't much time. Every hesitation at the beginning of the game quickly turns against you. In the end, just like in the book, the arrival of the Eagles solves it all…

I wouldn't call it a flaw per se, but a big disappointment for some might be the fact that The Battle of Five Armies is purely a two-player game and cannot be enjoyed with four. The size of the game is adapted to this, and it would be very difficult to add more players. On the other hand, the game is faster and finished within two hours. I'm just not sure about the replayability. Compared to War of the Ring, it doesn't offer as many options and game variants.

The Battle of Five Armies brings everything good from the big War of the Ring in a more compact package. It still manages to conjure up dramatic situations and offers plenty of tactical options. If you are comfortable with a large role of luck and are looking for a pleasant game for two, this piece is just for you.

author Karel Krajča