Lmao, little do they know that I’ve studied the map of Middle Earth since I was in kindergarten. I knew this skill would come in handy one day.

Everything you say in this review about what a commitment this game would be makes sense. I definitely wouldn't have time to play it, probably not even once. However I've had two glasses of wine so I just bought it.

So after watching this review, I bought the game, found a friend who was into LotR as much as me and started playing it on a regular basis.....Its now 1½ year later and we still play this game every 2nd week. It has become my favorite game of all time, it has defined multiple new friendships i have made and it is still as exciting to play now as when I started playing 1½ year ago. Thanks SU&SD for making this review and really communicating how a glorious experience this game can be. PS: And yes, the game is still complicated, have properly only played the game right without a rules mistake 2-4 times :)

Had a buddy in high school who was really into strategy games like me. Maybe two days a week we would get together at his house and play this game for an hour or two in the dining room where we kept this board permanently set up. When we finished the game, we would reset it, change sides, and start over again. After spending a few hours at it, if we didn't feel like finishing, we just walked away and left everything exactly where it was and picked it back up in a few days. Really, really fun times.

I know you're just pronouncing these names wrong just to piss me off specifically.

"Sean Bean was like 'One does not simply walk into Mordor.' I know. I've tried... There's loads of orcs."

I'm ashamed at how many times I've rewatched this review. Probably going on 7 times at this point. I absolutely adore this game!

The depth of this game is best explained this way: The books The Lord of the Rings could be read as an in depth game report for one specific match of War of the Rings. The reviewers hardly mentioned the cards, but everything that could have happened story wise is on the cards.

That feta cheese visual was amazing

L'Oreal; home of Cate Blanchett where you can receive a waterproof and a magic biscuit. Because you're worth it.

This is a game where the theme and game mechanics are inseparable, if you're not a LoTR fan just forget about it. But if you are and if you're willing to invest some time, this game will offer you one of the best board gaming experiences of your life. It's a beast that I only pull from the shelf once or twice a year because it's the far opposite of a casual game. But it has remained through the years as my #1 favourite game of all time. It's one that I recommend to all LoTR fans.

Completely agree: WotR made me far more interested in LotR and its lore. But for anyone interested in this game - PAINT THE BASES OF THE MINIATURES. It makes playing it so much smoother and easier when you can tell which faction is which at a glance. I've even gone as far as painting the rims of the faction chits on the political track for the same reason.

This is the best game in our collection and the best 2-player game I have ever played. It is so thematic. It's not a board game, but a gaming experience for people who love Lord of the Rings -- the books. I am so glad I bought this game and cannot recommend it highly enough. The more you love Lord of the Rings (love as in, you've read it over and over for the last 30 or 40 years and have a lifetime of investment in Middle Earth), the more you will be floored and amazed by this fantastic game. My husband and I play this game, but not all in one sitting. We set a timer for 45 minutes and when it goes off, we finish the turn we're on and leave it out on the table until the next day. That's usually 3-4 turns per night. A game takes about 3.5 hours, so 3 or 4 nights. We find this is the best way for us to attack this game, and the long down time between sessions gives you loads of time to think about what you're going to do next. :)

One of the things that simply amazes me about this game is that, despite the massive disparities between the Shadow and the Free Peoples, most of the games I play of it come down to just a handful of actions at the end. The race between Frodo getting to the top of Mount Doom or the Shadow earning its 10th VP is almost always intensely close. That is an enormous achievement for a game as asymmetrical as this one is.

24:00 “all games and jobs have been outlawed by the govt” damn watching this in 2020 hits different

Sauron is actually a really good singer, he once had a sing off with an elf, then he won and imprisoned the elf which was than devoured by his werewolf

Frolo King of the Bobbits lol

The feta cheese and tomato Barad Dur was 11/10, oh my god. Thanks for another stellar review, dudes.

play with a friend...HAHAHAHAHAH HA ...HA...Ha...ha *sobs*

these guys are the Monty Python of boardgames reviews

“In a hole in the ground there lived a bobbit.”

Congrats for 1M views guys. This was the video that introduced me to SU&SD, which have been my guide of board gaming world ever since entering the hobby. I genuinely believe that you guys are one of the best KZfaqrs out there, and this is one of your best videos. I love you guys Quinns, Paul, Matt, and Tom!

*singing* "where did I put my ring, have you seeeeeen my jeweeell'ry" "My lord, i-im still here. I had other questions-" "OH, ... SEND THEM EAST SARUMAN" "Yes but how many? To send?" "...loads" "Ah, of course. Were you singing?" "I'M VERY BUSY" "Yes my lord" This skit is unbelievably good

"You can't just march into mordor - I know I've tried There are lots of Orcs!" haha xD

0:30 Er... No, those weren't the Easterlings you were showing off there, they were the Haradrim, men from the South who rode atop the Mûmakil. Both the Easterlings and the Haradrim fought for Sauron in the War of th Ring but Sauron's special ability is controlling minds and dominating wills. The two Blue Wizards rallied the Easterlings who rejected the Dark Lord in Rhûn and started a rebellion, and the Haradrim were humanized by Sam in the books and Faramir in the films, by saying he wondered if they truly wanted to be here fighting for Sauron, and not instead to be with their families, and living happily and peacefully. Indeed they were deceived by Sauron or at worse were forced to fight.

I got this game for my birthday this year and fell in love with it! Last month I finished painting all the heroes and got one of the expansions! It's absolutely great!

If I could never play another board game again, I would be content just listening to your guys reviews. I could binge watch you guys for weeks.

This is the game that brought me to Boardgame's. Like You said. It's a steep learning curve. First 6 months there was always al lap-top and BBG to help us. Learning the game. And After 5 Year's It's stil our Top 1 game. And we can set it up blindfuld. And play the game within 2 hour's. But it's always a hard trip to Middle earth.

Bent elves? Are there any other kind? Its okay I can make that joke I'm half-elvish

So I stumbled on this video and the KZfaq channel. Well, I showed this to my friend and we decided to buy the game! (And now I can’t help but binge on this channel.) And you know what? This game really is time consuming. We spent HOURS setting it up and learning the rules. And then we spent hours to get HALFWAY through the game. So we’re going back this weekend to finish it. But, dang it, I can’t stop thinking about this game! Now that we know what we are doing, it feels really engaging. And the feelings and frustrations you talked about in the review are dead on. My buddy is looking at me march orcs across Middle Earth towards his elves and he’s panicking about how he doesn’t have enough soldiers. Meanwhile, I’m staring at all those strongholds thinking “I need more orcs! How am I supposed to get more orcs where I want them??!!” This game is tremendous fun.

Bought this game on the back of this review ... me and my dad absolutely love it! Played around 6 games so far and like you both said neither of us have swapped sides yet!

The Easterlings were never described as "dark skinned". They were described as being diverse and having skin colors from olive to sallow. Also they were in conflict with the Free Peoples long before orcs ever existed.

"You're expected to know what the Book of Mazarbul is; which sounds like someone who tried to pretend they're allowed to be in the library, when actually they're quite drunk" !! LOL

This was an epic review. I watched it a second time through mostly because I was enthralled by the way the two of you talked about the experience. Keep it up guys!

Bought this game like a month ago and the beginning of this review made me think I made a mistake. But the bobbits saved my hopes and dreams.

This was hilarious. You truly showed the emotions you got playing this game, and it was extremely well written overall. Even as a 25 minute long review, I still watched it, like, three times just laughing at it. Thank you!

That bit with the pear made me a subscriber.

I got this game back in 2004 and played it a lot with the same friend. Its like you said: once both players got the rules, it is a great experience, and you can play it over and over again. Sadly I ve never „trained“ a new player to this point, so the game is sitting in my shelf... Watching your review made me laught (and cry... thinking at the good hours I spent with WotR) Thank you!

17:00 'like a waterproof cloak or a magic biscuit' I am amused and annoyed at the same time.

Saruman the Shower Robe

This game is wonderful! I played this with my brother who lived with me for a year like every week for about a year. We NEVER got tired of it, if anything we liked it more and more and more. Then we got the expansions and it got EVEN BETTER. I have played easily 100+ games of this and it is super fun and enjoyable every single time I play (with my brother, everyone else we play against we have to chill out and not trash them in the first 4 rounds) But if you have one nerdy friend close by, this is easily one of the best boardgames you could ever play.

I am so thankful for finally finding your channel. Probably most entertaining and worthy reviews on board-games I ever saw. Especially with the little puns and jokes, and those small improvised jokes like the dialogue between Sauron and Saruman. Love it! Keep it up!

What I love about the Shut up & Sit Down is the care and work they put into their videos. Not only the production. Every single video they treat like a special thing, with its own "story". With beginning middle and end. It's kinda funny to say this, but the writing on every video is VERY good. Their videos have souls. I watch some of the reviews more than once and get entertained every time. (War of the Ring is one of them, also Captain Sonar, Root, Treasure Island, Blood on the Clocktower, Great Western Trail... Not to mention the Megagame which is one of the best videos ever) Those videos mean a lot to me. Thank you Shut up & Sit Down.

19:24 Is that supposed to be the Gold Saucer theme? (FFVII for those wo don't know)

Lost it at 'bobbits'!

Have to agree with a lot of this, even if it is now my favourite game. I'm a big Tolkien fan and this game is hands down the most fun I've had with any LotR game in any format, mostly because it feels like LotR. There are so many references to things from the books and so many interesting things that can happen, that no two games will play out in the same way. I first played this with my sister, also a LotR fan. We had a first experience very similar to you guys; we both went away quite frustrated at the game and not really sure we'd ever touch it again. But then we talked the next morning, and had that feeling of 'we know we can do better next time' and what I really love about this game, is that this feeling never really goes away. Whether you win or lose the game, there are going to be moments you look back on and think 'I should've done something differently' and that's such a huge thing for me in gaming. You know that it wasn't your only choice, nothing forced you to attack that stronghold on that turn, but your impatience ended up with your attacking troops getting decimated. The cards are great fun too, it plays into the unpredictability of it all. You know how many units your enemy has in a given place, but they could well turn around and play a card that renders your own leaders completely useless, greatly weakening the effectiveness of your army. And I love that, I love this idea that there's always more to things than it seems. I also love the dice. I love the idea that they're your resources for the turn and you don't get to choose what you get. As someone once said "all we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us" and this is what I mean; the whole game is a huge love letter to fans of the books. My sister and I also had this moment where we had set up for another game, this time we were going to switch sides. But when it came to it, we both wanted to play the same side again, and trying out new strategies and seeing if our luck could turn. In one of our first games, she felt crippled by the lack of dice, so in the next game she split Strider off within the first two turns of the game, and soon enough he went to Gondor and became Aragorn, giving her the extra die she had been craving. Yet on the very next turn, she made an attempt to take back Pelargir from my forces with Aragorn leading the charge, and as a result, he was killed and she immediately lost that die. It's one of those moments that we'll never forget because while it was hilarious to me, it was heartbreaking for her because she thought she was doing it 'right' this time, that by expanding her own opportunities and taking a more active approach, that maybe she could buy enough time for the Ringbearers, or maybe even counterattack. But in the end, the strategy she had been obsessing over in her mind was cut short because one combat didn't go her way and because I had played a card she had no way of knowing I had. And all of these are reasons I love this game. I love all the tiny facets of it, but it is certainly not for everyone. I love the dice as resources, and the fact that as the Shadow player, you're fighting Sauron's obsession with the Ring, and all you want to do is take this stronghold but you can't because Sauron is fixating on the Ring for the third turn in a row. I love the constant hiding, moving and hunting of the Fellowship, the way companions can split off or be killed off, the way companions can advance nations to be at war, or lend their strength to combats. I love that you can retreat into sieges and that sieges take extra time and effort from the attacking player that they don't want to spend. But I think the people who will get the most out of this game are those who are huge LotR fans, especially of the books. Film fans will probably enjoy it too, but I think for maximum enjoyment, anyone who loves the books and who knows all the places and races and all these little events that are referenced, will have the most fun with it. TL;DR This game is fantastic if you're a LotR fan, especially if you love the books and as these guys have said; it's deep and engaging and you'll end up obsessing over what you could've done differently after every session of play

The Easterlings joined up with Sauron because he'd been manipulating them back when he gave some of their kings rings of power. Getting screwed over by Numenor didn't help matters.

8:01 "The Fetaship" Makes sense, since Saruon's tower is made of feta cheese.

Tolkien didn't dislike dark skinned people. The harad were very similar in colour to many Hobbits. They were described as swarthy or brown faced. Tolkien's works are some of the most diverse in fantasy history. Soooooo. Yeah.

Can you please do a play though of this game?!

>Easterlings, remember them? You don't remember them brother, because those are Haradrim figs.

This remains my favourite of all your many presentations. It was in fact the first one I ever watched. I have been a regular watcher and subscriber ever since. Watching it always brings a smile and I have watched it many times for just that reason. Thank you boys for all you do.

Just played my first game of War of the Ring! Turn One, I had the Elves immediately go to war, while my opponent had Sauron go to war, then began moving his forces from Dol Goldur and Moria to Lorien. Turn 2, Lorien fell and my opponent gained 2 victory points. Simultaneously, elves from Rivendell and the Woodland Realm each moved 2 spaces towards the now-empty strongholds. Turn 3, they arrived, and my opponent could not recover. What a great game!

"On, on they went" Epic game. Its one of the best boardgames ever made.

i adore that cheese-and-tomato tower like you wouldn't believe

The expansion of the first edition "Battles of the Third Age" is also amazing with two standalone scenario's to play (Battle of Helms Deep & Minas Tirith)

I have one of the original copies of War of the Rings from the 1980's. No figures just hundreds of little card board pieces.

That dissing on the Haradrim early in the video feels like someone wanted to make a joke and didn’t know the lore context behind it. There’s a story reason why the Haradrim were allied with the orcs. And it has to do with a theme you find even throughout the movies: corrupting of the race of men, regardless of affiliation or geographic location.

Ya know, being a lifelong Tolkien super nerd, it didn't even occur to me that some of those problems you mentioned, would actually be problems, like the lack of flavor text, or no helping to find where a certain region is. I went into this game just...knowing. The moral: Make sure at least one of your gaming buddies knows their way around Middle Earth if you undertake this bad boy.

This really is my favourite of your videos. One, it got this game off the fence and into my collection. Two, it's probably the best job you've ever done waxing poetic, but with frustration (ROOT comes close), but also I just love how the camera continues rolling a touch over long, and just how much of YOU I feel is in this video. Great watch and much appreciated.

Captain glitterpants noooooooo :'( He was my favorite character from the books...

I have never played this game but who doesn't know where Minas Morgul is? xD

Reference pear sighting!

I was hesitant to watch this review for awhile because this is one of my favourite games, and I was afraid you guys would hate it. I'm glad to see you enjoyed it,and can still recommend it even if it's a niche game. Keep up the great videos!

"Aspirations that make you feel warm are inportant". Thank goodness. My board game collection relies on this

"Noisy Gothic Seagulls." Love it

Just realised Middle Earth looks a bit like Wales, which would make Mordor Swindon?

"Too may bobbits do spoil the broth" Instant sub

"Too many bobbits do spoil the broth."

I've watched this several times over the years because it is just one the best board game reviews I've ever seen. Brilliant!

You guys do the best reviews out there ever! Not only you very well can relay the feel of a game but it is crazy entertaining and fun to watch! I watch other channels to learn more about a game. I watch yours to have fun!

I will never play this game. Thank you for giving me a chance to live vicariously through you both :)

"In the afternoon" *laugh in Twilight Imperium*

“Managed to Injure my back during the setup” lmfao. Dang this game is intense.

So it’s Total War: Third Age, but in board game form. Sounds awesome

Lmaoooo when he brang in the expansions xD

I kinda like games that are sort of leaning to a "youre in an advantage BUT!" And "youre in a dissadvantege BUT!" Makes things intresting.

Calling the Elven woodland Loreal would be the best non copyright description ever.

Like the bit talking about stakes of the game and story. It's exactly how it was in the books. The stakes are huge. You feel like Frodo is going to die for 3 books. As a big fantasy reader, not many fantasy books recapture this. Good for the game.

Loving the golden saucer theme tune singing when presenting the expansions.

That Feta Cheese Barad-Dûr at 6:00: Hilarious!

"Sure is good to play boardgames in this universe where all jobs are outlawed." 2020 - oh..

I don’t even play board games, nor do I want too. But I found this fascinating.

Just found this channel and I must say, its very interesting. SUBSCRIBED! Now time to surf through more of this channels content XD

I feel like this game would be amazing online with when you looked at a card that mentioned a place, there would be a ‘look at’ or view option that would highlight the area.

If it weren’t for this review, I would have never known about this game! I was able to play it for the first time last month and it is amazing.

I actually teared up at the sacrifice of those little blue plastic Gondor soldiers. Big damn heroes, those guys.

I heard those opening notes and I was like Nobbel87 is that you?

Pure comedy gold. Bravo, gents! I watched with my kids and they laughed themselves silly. One of the greatest KZfaq channels.

You guys remind me of Richard Hammond (Matt ) and Jeremy Clarkson 😂 great chemistry, great story telling, speech and cadence 👏🏻 new subscriber

As a Greek, I loved the feta cheese with the tomato for an eye xD

"That's the home of Cate Blanchett" hah!

I've played this game three times since I got it last summer and I have to say it was worth it. The hidden movement and the war make this game so special. It just like the books and the translation is so fantastic.

This one made a subscriber out of me- and it was only the last few seconds, the delivery of "And next week... War of the Ring!" that really made me go "Yeah, I gotta watch more of these guys." :-) Great video- informative, entertaining, and perfect for a major board game geek and minor Tolkien geek!

At 20:46 you're picturing yourselves as whisky connoisseurs and then at 16:39 your drinking Tyskies

Would love to see you do a review of Battle of the Five Armies, which was designed to be a more streamlined experience to War of the Ring

This is undoubtedly my favorite board game. Played it over and over again with my roommate. Never gets old and some of the strategy is bonkers

as kids, we used to start a game during vacation, leave it on the table and come back to it whenever we weren't playing outside or whatever, great times

I'm going to comment the timestamp 5:28 so that I can explain myself if my friends catch me saying "Frolo, King of the Bobbits" one more time.

I think if you are more in the lore of The Lord of the Rings, it might be easier to find all these tiny regions spread over the map. For example Faramirs Archers allow you to attack the regions east of Osgiliath, and if you are a bit into this universe you probably know were Faramir and his archers were scouting around, or at least you should know that the regions have to be somewhere near Gondor.