The publisher Ares Games announced in the fall that it would bring “Kings of Middle-earth,” the third expansion for the strategic board game War of the Ring, onto the market. That has now happened, and the second wave of production rolled out in February.
The wait for the new War of the Ring expansion has been long. According to the publisher, the content was supposed to arrive as early as 2020, but there were significant delays. In December the time had come: “Kings of Middle-Earth”, the original English title of the third expansion, for one of the best-rated wargames ever came onto the market – and was obviously very well received by the fans. Pre-orders for the second wave are at least possible, and delivery is scheduled to begin in February.
War of the Ring expansion takes a lot of work
Far more interesting than the information about mere availability were the reasons for the years-long delay. According to Ares Games, there were several: In particular, the considerations for gameplay improvements took up time, especially since they didn't want to make any mistakes with a top board game like Ringkrieg. Each expansion requires “careful design, thorough development and extensive play testing,” explains Ares Games.
The thematic development was also challenging. This time it's about the kings of Middle-earth, important figures in the history of the saga. Ares Games had correspondingly great ambitions to implement the backgrounds appropriately.
The creators also had to sensibly integrate the playful concept of the third War of the Ring expansion into the previous gameplay: new miniatures and cards of the sovereigns are therefore available in two states in order to be able to represent the corruption. In addition, the dark leaders were a new element for the shadow player to provide variety in the strategic options.
Ultimately, Area Games states that “Kings of Middle-earth” would fit seamlessly into The War of the Ring. The makers have apparently achieved their set goals. The English version of the extension costs around $45.
In the second edition, Ringkrieg is considered one of the most popular representatives in the wargame genre and regularly appears at the top of top lists and rankings. Especially as a two-player experience, Ringkrieg is hard to beat - given the training period. Added to this is the successful thematic implementation of the Tolkien stories.
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