Josh Yaks about what is ALMOST the best board game of all time

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I get to chat about what what was my favourite board game for about a decade (and is still in the top 3). It's called "War of the Ring", and is an epic recreation of Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. One player plays the fellowship and the forces of good, while the other plays the minions and forces of the shadow.
Royalty-free music has been provided by RU-vid's audio library, by freesound.org, and by my video editing software, Wondershare Filmora.
Find me on Facebook here: / josh-yaks-48. .
Write to me at writetojoshyaks@gmail.com
Thanks so much for stopping by!

Опубликовано:

13 окт 2017

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Комментарии : 126

@joshyaks 6 лет назад

THIS IS A SAFE COMMENTS SECTION! Thoughtful and courteous discussion and respectful disagreement are appreciated and encouraged. Comments that are completely off-topic (such as spammers) will probably be deleted. Any users that are disrespectful to anybody in any way will definitely be banned. Thanks for participating in the discussion! Show less REPLY

@alike6517 6 лет назад

So which is your #1?

@sooooooooDark 5 месяцев назад

@@alike6517 4:13

@scyldscefing3913 5 лет назад

My wife and I played this for the first time last month. We loved it so much we vowed to play it once a month for the rest of the year. Her Birthday is in April, and we'll be playing it in celebration. So begins our unexpected journey.

@joshyaks 5 лет назад

WOW - that's amazing!! (My wife and I were both born on the very same day in April - the 24th!) Also, I've kept track of my plays of this game over the years: www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/41944/war-ring-list-keep-track-results-epic-battles-my-w

@ormhaxan 4 года назад

I purchased the 2nd edition, both expansions and Treebeard a year ago. Been my favourite game ever since. Absolutely mesmerizing to play with the right person.

@joshyaks 4 года назад

Yes! That "right person" has been my wife, and I have recorded our games here: www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/41944/war-ring-list-keep-track-results-epic-battles-my-w

@iheartfire 5 лет назад

That set is just jaw dropping, wow! And those additions of scenery-...I don't think I'd ever stop playing it.

@joshyaks 5 лет назад

I agree, Max! I wish I never had to stop playing it!

@brannonb8955 6 лет назад

Great video! Loved the showcasing of the special edition of the game and your personal additions to the set up. Those outtakes at the end were great, and super pure and relatable. Keep up the awesome reviews (the Yaks!)

@joshyaks 6 лет назад

Thank you so much!!

@Paladin6785 3 года назад

Thank you for pointing out that reading up on specific strategies for a game spoils the fun of it!!! Totally in agreement with you! I have a friend whom after learning the basics of games, goes out and reads up on "the best strategies" and says "this is how you should play X...". It definitely feels like it spoils the game... any game TBH. Either way, glad to know I am not alone in thinking that. Thanks!

@joshyaks 3 года назад

The joy of playing a game is in exploring its strategies while others do the same to see whose strategy comes out best! If everyone plays an identical "optimal" strategy, then I guess the game comes down to luck based on who rolls best or draws the best cards, or whatever.

@Paladin6785 3 года назад

@@joshyaks I will say though, War of the Ring can easily throw off a potential strategy via roll of the dice or play of the card (by either side), which is what I love about it. Every game I have played of it has been neck and neck.

@U.F.O_0908 2 года назад

Yeah man I believe the same goes for videogames as well. Specifically games that require exploration and trial and error (talking about you, Dark Souls) Some people just check online where to find the best gear, the best spells etc. That completely destroys the mystery and wonder of finding something awesome by yourself.

@jasonrollins2701 6 лет назад

love the vid! also love how you scored a mint selling the old version of the game just before being able to buy the new upgrade version. lucky... either way i'm super envious... ive been wanting to play this game for a while. cheers.

@joshyaks 6 лет назад

Thanks, Jason! Yeah, I REALLY lucked out on the timing of all that!

@freakfire74 3 года назад

Great review! It’s one of my favorite games. You are a cool person!

@joshyaks 3 года назад

Thanks so much, Mike - I appreciate it!

@cstenzy9167 5 лет назад

So jealous of the anniversary edition! Planning to paint at least the bases when I get the game (kinda nervous to paint everything). Those fortress minis are fantastic as well!

@joshyaks 5 лет назад

Painting the bases is a good plan. It sure would have been nice if they'd done each nation in a different coloured plastic at least, since it can be tough to differentiate some of them at a glance! And yes, I LOVE the stronghold minis!

@stowcreek1999 2 года назад

What a wonderful and succinct ode to this game! I’ve had it for years (just 2nd edition) but could never get it out. It is now as we speak out on the table for me to explore its rules. LOVE your edition! I hope they put in to make this again. May I ask if it is still #2?

@joshyaks 2 года назад

Thank you so much for your kind words! This is still my #2-ranked game of all time after Gloomhaven, though I haven't played it in a few years. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have!

@b-vos 3 года назад

Those custom strongholds are amazing. Just bought this game and the two expansions last month. Still working my way through the rule book!

@joshyaks 3 года назад

Yeah, that rule book is a beast!

@athanasiospetsas9367 Год назад

This looks amazing!!!

@joshyaks Год назад

It IS amazing!! :)

@eriksjogren800 2 года назад

Awesome!

@joshyaks 2 года назад

Thanks, Erik!

@eriksjogren800 Год назад

Thanks :)

@joshyaks Год назад

@lystic9392 2 года назад

Darnit, I didn't know there was an Anniversary Edition. XD It looks so good! Now I'm so jelly! I have the 2nd edition, but I do have a hand-painted mount Doom that I'm a very proud owner of.

@joshyaks 2 года назад

Nice! A good Mount Doom model is practically essential for this game! :)

@JB-ym4up 6 лет назад

I have a 1954 hardcover lotr book set, it's survived many finical hard times, and is still with me. I believe it's the first printing of second edition. War of the ring is one of my favorite games of all times easily. The stronghold sculpts look nice but that's outside of my budget. What limited money I do have for games will go to purchasing a very few new games for my collection rather than cosmetic upgrades on old ones.

@joshyaks 6 лет назад

Oh wow - that book is certainly a treasure! And I definitely get wanting to put your money toward enjoying other games, too.

@JB-ym4up 6 лет назад

Josh Yaks I think the set is worth between 1000$ and 1500$ but it's the set I learned to read with when I was a small child so the monetary value doesn't represent it's value to me. Shame you had to sell the ultra nice war of the ring, but at least they released that really nice version.

@davedogge2280 5 лет назад

I've got the standard base game + the two expansions and I have battle of the 5 armies also. I'll play if for the first time at the club next Wednesday.

@joshyaks 5 лет назад

I hope you love it, but I'd highly recommend starting with just the base game before throwing in any expansions! I've never played Battle of Five Armies because I feel I have more than enough to keep me busy with War of the Ring, but it does look fun!

@davedogge2280 5 лет назад

@@joshyaks I got the base games cheap and I got the expansions cheap also there's a guy at the club who has the 1st special edition but he never takes it out to play.

@bgm-1961 6 лет назад

What you said at the end about why Gloomhaven is the more epic experience from game to game is exactly why I don't want to even try it. I simply don't have time in my life to devote to so many sessions of only one game in order to get the total experience. Which is why WOTR excels in this regard, because you can have the total experience in only 4 or 5 hours. Then do it again next week. Can't do that with Gloomhaven. ... BTW, it would've been nice for you to show an "up close" of those extra bling items that you mentioned in the beginning.

@joshyaks 6 лет назад

That's fair. There's enough content in War of the Ring to explore for many years, especially with the expansions! As for my custom components, over the next few weeks I'll be recording videos of my most blinged-out games: Fury of Dracula (Third Edition), Hunt For The Ring, and PitchCar (which I turned into Mario PitchKart).

@Zwerggoldhamster 4 года назад

I adore Gloomhaven, and I am really privileged to have a game group it works really well with. My suggestion however is, if you don't have a group of 4 people (incl. you) you can regularly play with, you shouldn't pick it up. Our disciplined group actually managed to inspire a different group of friends to pick it up, and although they are still very hyped about the game, the have experienced a lot of frustration as well with people dropping out and dropping in and just overall not playing as much as we do.

@tothepanels 8 месяцев назад

Do you have anything to reference the custom things that you added to the game? or somewhere we can look at the anniversary paintings done to the figures? I am curious about where you got your strongholds done and the bases for your force pool

@joshyaks 8 месяцев назад

Here is an old list of all the things I added to my first War of the Rings game: boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/38850/war-ring-expansion-definitive-guide-increasing-pla And here's where I purchased the strongholds from: boardgamegeek.com/thread/672224/mt-doom-stronghold-miniatures-wotr-anniversary-edi If you're curious about anything else, let me know!

@ClayDoghs 6 лет назад

I am really trying to love this game... but so many of the videos are about game play. This video took me more into why you love it which is really nice to hear. The problem I have is it looks really bland at some points and I am very bad at 1 on 1 games. I may just pick it up just to see what its all about even if its not for me. I think the art is weird because it is bland but at the same time I love how traditional Tolkien it is?

@joshyaks 6 лет назад

As much as I personally love this game, I wouldn't recommend picking it up just to try it if you're feeling doubtful. This game is an absolute beast to learn and takes hours to play, especially the first couple of times as you're trying to assimilate all the rules. Since it requires so much commitment to get into, it would be most ideal if you could find someone who has it already that could teach it to you and to see if you enjoy it enough to buy it for yourself. But yeah, everything about the Lord of the Rings universe just pops out of this masterpiece!

@ClayDoghs 6 лет назад

Josh Yaks Great advice, Thanks!

@bgm-1961 6 лет назад

Have you seen the WOTR review video by Fraser Mackenzie? He spends the entire video discussing WHY it's a great game while hardly even mentioning anything about the actual game play. Sounds like exactly what you're looking for.

@grutto83 5 лет назад

Nice vid! I also own this amazing anniversary edition. Really like the sculptures of the strongholds. Where did you buy them?

@joshyaks 5 лет назад

Thanks! The anniversary edition really is fantastic! I obtained the stronghold minis from here: www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/773232/middle-earth-strongholds-now-available-order

@guillermoyaroslavlverduzco1551 4 года назад

It's a game I soooo rarely play but love a bunch. Here´s your like good man.

@joshyaks 4 года назад

Thank you, Guillermo! I'm with you on both loving the game and almost never getting to play it!

@guillermoyaroslavlverduzco1551 4 года назад

@@joshyaks lol

@guillermoyaroslavlverduzco1551 4 года назад

@@joshyaks Hey bro, forgot to tell you. Have you tried the bot to solo this game? Is awesome and it works pretty well. You should try it. boardgamegeek.com/filepage/141333/queller-bot-war-ring-solo-play

@joshyaks 4 года назад

@@guillermoyaroslavlverduzco1551 Oh shit, I had no idea such a thing existed! I'm going to download this immediately - thanks so much for the link!!

@guillermoyaroslavlverduzco1551 4 года назад

@@joshyaks Enjoy it bro. It works pretty nice.

@sniffingdogartofficial7257 5 лет назад

Great video, the music should come *right down* in volume, if you use background music at all, it's made the video hard to get through but the content was really nice. I'm really thinking about getting War of the Ring and yeah it was nice to hear your comments.

@joshyaks 5 лет назад

Thank you, and I appreciate the constructive criticism! I definitely caused problems with some of my earlier videos with music levels (I recently deleted one altogether because it was barely watchable), and have mostly eliminated background music from my videos since then. Thanks again for the advice!

@sniffingdogartofficial7257 5 лет назад

I'll definitely watch more of your content, I really like anything that champions The Lord of the Rings and after watching this, I spoke with my brother today about possibly going halves on buying a set (sadly it'll be the cheaper version hahah). Thanks for responding and keep making the great content!!

@joshyaks 5 лет назад

I appreciate it! If you can both handle very complex, rules-heavy games and have a lot of time for a game, then you'll more than get your money's worth from this one!

@apexwar_ 4 года назад

Thanks for the info at the very end, . . . . it's hard being a youtuber.

@joshyaks 4 года назад

@mcintma2 6 лет назад

Best BG of all time

@joshyaks 6 лет назад

There's simply no game like it - it's a work of absolute genius!

@tofalotutu 6 лет назад

Great video, where did you get the curved card holders? Thank you

@joshyaks 6 лет назад

Thanks! I bought them at a local board game convention. I don't have any info for the guy here in southern Ontario who made these specific ones, but a search on Amazon for "curved wood card holders" brings up similar products.

@SaladinBarchan 5 лет назад

Nice looking setup!👌 Especially curious about those cards under each faction army. Where did you get them?

@joshyaks 5 лет назад

Thanks! Those cards simply have the name of each nation and an illustration, and they can be found here: www.boardgamegeek.com/filepage/22333/war-ring-enhanced-army-boards-v10pdf A decade ago I made a list of enhancements for the game, though I'm sure that some better things have come along since then: www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/38850/war-ring-expansion-definitive-guide-increasing-pla

@RFtheswisslegend 4 года назад

@@joshyaks do you think that could be possible to update the cards of the armies due to the new expansions?

@joshyaks 4 года назад

@@RFtheswisslegend Those files aren't mine and weren't designed by me, but it would be pretty cool if someone were to do that!

@je_mere 6 лет назад

Hello so much envy u got the anniversary edition, can I ask where u got the strongholds minis?

@joshyaks 6 лет назад

Yeah, I'm really happy I got the anniversary edition! I obtained the stronghold minis from here: www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/773232/middle-earth-strongholds-now-available-order

@je_mere 6 лет назад

tks then i saw those already, i was hopping new ones available my top thematic game has to be like u by far; War of the Ring no other game make u feel u r living all the adventures from the books, but after a lot of games (50 or more) its start to get harder to replay cuz becomes more like a chess match, no random setup so u know with a few rounds where its gonna end, the expansions give a nice fresh air of replay value saying all that my top game to replay over and over in semi complex range cuz all the random setup Mage Knight what u think?

@joshyaks 6 лет назад

I've never actually played Mage Knight, though I have a friend who owns it and has been suggesting I try it, so maybe I'll get to that one of these days!

@eierlose 6 лет назад

good question

@U.F.O_0908 2 года назад

Dude you look just like my friend whose name is also Josh (he doesn't have the same hair and beard tho). I know that's random. I miss him....... Thanks for the video!

@joshyaks 2 года назад

I was going to say that maybe I AM your friend Josh, and then I remembered that I have no friends... :D

@U.F.O_0908 2 года назад

@@joshyaks That sounds like something he would say too.... Maybe you ARE actually him in a parallel universe !? 💫👁

@U.F.O_0908 2 года назад

By the way I love your book reviews, they're great and the same kind of genre that I like.

@joshyaks 2 года назад

@@U.F.O_0908 😄

@joshyaks 2 года назад

@@U.F.O_0908 Awesome! What are a couple of your favourite books/series?

@boardmastersmexico6697 5 лет назад

Hi Josh, I recently played the Anniversary edition (after couple of years not playing the game), and just recall how complex sometimes is to reference each army. On your video I see you have some cards below each army not in play. What info is contained on those cards? Is it possible for you to share files or pictures?

@joshyaks 5 лет назад

Hi! Those cards simply have the name of each nation and an illustration, and they can be found here: www.boardgamegeek.com/filepage/22333/war-ring-enhanced-army-boards-v10pdf Searching for that file also reminded me that 10 years ago I had made this list of enhancements for the game, though I'm sure that some better things have come along in the past decade: www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/38850/war-ring-expansion-definitive-guide-increasing-pla

@joshyaks 5 лет назад

Sorry - I just realized that I had put the wrong link in my first reply! I've fixed it above, but here is the correct one: www.boardgamegeek.com/filepage/22333/war-ring-enhanced-army-boards-v10pdf

@scyldscefing3913 5 лет назад

We own Gloomhaven, and it sits heavy on our shelf, begging us to play it.

@joshyaks 5 лет назад

Ooooooh, dang!! It is a BEAST, but if you have an opponent or two who can handle the deep complexity of the game, it's quite an experience!

@jimmzik3097 2 года назад

You and I have exactly the same tastes in games. You anywhere close to Northern Ohio? I have the CE edition updated to 2nd edition rules and using MY painted figs from the 1st edition plus some re-painting.

@joshyaks 2 года назад

Hi, Jim! I live an hour outside of Toronto, so wrong country, unfortunately. That's great that you have your own painted figures!

@andreikoenig5718 Год назад

It is a fantastic game, I play it once a week :)

@joshyaks Год назад

Wow, once a week!! Do you use any of the expansions?

@andreikoenig5718 Год назад

@Josh Yaks 90% of the time, it's just base. A popular competitive way to play it is with cities mini expansion, tree beard and 1 or 2 action tokens for free people for maximum balanced game. I like LOME, but I haven't explored WOME much (only played that twice)

@andreikoenig5718 Год назад

Also playtime goes down quite a bit. Most games are down in about 1.5-2 hours not counting setup/teardown

@joshyaks Год назад

@@andreikoenig5718 Holy heck, that's a quick play time for this game!

@andreikoenig5718 Год назад

@Josh Yaks once you know the cards and played a couple times, turns go super quick. Move army, move Fellowship, roll, safe, play card, put units, move armies. Etc

@tothepanels 8 месяцев назад

Do you know if there is a way to read the stragety guide that is not the abbreviated version? I really want to read the book and see all the charts

@joshyaks 8 месяцев назад

Do you mean the full game rulebook? That is available to download here: www.aresgames.eu/768

@tothepanels 8 месяцев назад

@@joshyaksno 4:48 100 paged strategy book

@joshyaks 8 месяцев назад

@@tothepanels Oh, that one! I'm not aware of that being available anywhere. (I just looked at the "Downloads" section of the Ares website and the BGG game files and didn't see it there.) As a "next best thing", BGG has nearly 150 strategy articles, and if you sort them by "Top", you can find a lot of great stuff: boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/115746/war-ring-second-edition/forums/67

@calypsoshoard9132 4 года назад

where did you purchase the additional sculptures for the game?

@joshyaks 4 года назад

I obtained the stronghold minis from here: www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/773232/middle-earth-strongholds-now-available-order

@crossfire507pty 6 лет назад

Where did you get the 3D add one?

@joshyaks 6 лет назад

If you're referring to the 3D stronghold, there are a couple of users on boardgamegeek.com who make and sell them: www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/773232/middle-earth-strongholds-now-available-order www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/672224/mt-doom-stronghold-miniatures-wotr-anniversary-edi The ones I purchased were those made by user "sickdave".

@GGdeTOURS37 9 месяцев назад

I love very much the LOTR universe but we sold back this one because, as you say, our lives don't allow us to play too many big games. So we kept CCNapoleonics, TFMars, Eclipse, SWRebellion, BTSun etc and sold back this one, TI4 and other big ones to save our precious lives lol! To be said: Among our lighter games we kept WOTR THE CARD GAME which is fast so much more playable between our monster's sessions!

@joshyaks 9 месяцев назад

Those are some great games to have kept! I did the opposite of you: I sold Star Wars Rebellion because it filled a similar niche to War of the Ring and I enjoy the Lord of the Rings theme more (but Rebellion is definitely a great game!). I'm glad you're finding that the card game allows you to play a much faster game in this world!

@sargondp69 4 года назад

Hum, the books are nice but I would like to just have the larger game board ... check ebay. Nope! That is a ridiculous price. Could make a custom painted terrine board for that find of money (not a bad idea). I am not familiar with the rules of this game. I owned LOTR RISK years ago (a good version of RISK with ways to make it even better if you do some thinkin'). As a big Tolkien fan, I do not know how War of the Ring has escaped me for so long.

@sp1cychick3n 4 года назад

I wish they would reprint the anniversary edition but I highly doubt it. Oh well...

@joshyaks 4 года назад

Yeah, I can't see them making money on that giant wooden box anymore, especially with the cost of shipping these days.

@conorleyden 5 лет назад

Where did you get the card holders?

@joshyaks 5 лет назад

I bought them at a local board game convention. I don't have any info for the guy here in southern Ontario who made these specific ones, but a search on Amazon for "curved wood card holders" brings up similar products.