- Experience a journey through J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic novel and immerse yourself in the world of Lord of the Rings!
- The second expansion for The Lord of the Rings board game adds a whole new dimension to the game play
- One player can play Sauron against the Hobbits
- Players: 2 – 5, Game Time: 60 – 90 minutes
- Ages: 12 – adult,
Product Description
The second expansion for The Lord of the Rings board game adds a whole new dimension to the game play. With the Sauron expansion, the fellowship of Hobbits are no longer competing solely against the game and its boards. In Sauron one player takes on the role of the dark lord and seeks to thwart the fellowship’s crucial mission.Editorial Review
Okay look, we’ve all seen the movies, many of us have read the books, and plenty of us have already played the incredibly cool Lord of the Rings board game designed by Reiner Knizia. And while the determined pluck of the hobbits is obviously worthy of admiration, haven’t you ever thought there was something kind of cool about Sauron? Sure you might not want to admit it, or maybe you do, but the guy is in at least a partially sympathetic spot. He just wants to rule all of creation and to do that, all he needs to do is pry some jewelry away from a hobbit. With this Sauron expansion set to the original board game, players can get their chance to play the bad guy himself, employ the Black Rider, and rule them all. But beware: with this set, the pesky hobbits have some new weapons of their own. The set includes 30 Sauron cards, nine Nazgul cards, and five Fellowship cards. It’s not capable of being played on its own but makes a great counterpart, and counterpoint, to the original board game. –Charlie Williams
This game is tons of fun. I really enjoyed it. It adds a whole lot to the original game. With both expansions it makes the game pretty long and adds a lot more difficulty but it’s always fun to have the option to add the expansion or not. The only problem is that you have to play with people that already know how otherwise it just takes too long.
Amazon Rating: 5 / 5
I had originally put off buying the Sauron expansion, as the thing we like best about LOTR is the cooperative nature — the players working together against the game itself. But now I own it, and use it, even though we rarely have anyone playing Sauron!
This is because this expansion, unlike the other two, contains *multiple* options for changing your game, not just the one. In rough order from major to minor:
1. The Sauron expansion itself. Two decks of cards and a new Nazgul figure (for the corruption track) that let one player play Sauron, trying to stop the hobbits at all costs. In brief, Sauron gets a “mini-turn” before every player, and a “full turn” every time the game says to roll the die (instead of rolling it). Sauron’s cards contain various ways to hurt the hobbits, and if the Nazgul ever reaches the Ringbearer and then makes it back to Sauron, the game ends.
Part of this upgrade are new “special power” cards for the hobbits, just like the ones Friends & Foes introduced. These abilities are almost exclusively related to stopping Sauron or the Nazgul, and give the hobbits a fighting chance… but once used, they’re gone forever.
Playing with this upgrade is *brutal*. An intelligent Sauron is far worse than a random die roll, and it means the players can no longer safely plan out loud… not with the enemy sitting right there at the table, smiling.
2. The Dark Tiles. This is a beautiful velvet bag and a bunch of new Event Tiles — mostly bad. You mix the old and new tiles together in the bag, and then draw from it. Because so many bad tiles were introduced, you now have the option of discarding a tile and drawing a new one, though! So if you’re desperate to avoid a sundial, you can toss it and hope that your replacement (which you have to use) won’t be any worse.
This upgrade adds a lot of fun to the game! Technically, it makes it harder — I’ve run the numbers, and even with the extra control, you’re a bit more likely to get a bad tile. But the feel of being in control of your draws is a powerful one, and it adds so much tension to the game! (“This tile is bad, but if I throw it away I may get a worse one… do I take the pain or hope for something better?”) Also — and this is not a small thing — it makes it *much* easier to reset the board between scenarios! Just throw the tiles in the bad and shake ‘em up!
3. A set of generic power-up cards and tokens that make the game easier. First, this expansion comes with a set of Resource Tiles that you can place on the “alternate paths” on each board — one in the middle and one at the end of each. Each Tile gives a benefit, such as drawing shields, healing slightly, or drawing one of the new (included) Resource Cards. These can make the game much more survivable, without disrupting the balance of play. Second, you get two new cards: “The One Ring” lets the hobbits pass the Ring (i.e., change who’s the Ringbearer) once, while “Watchful Peace” moves Sauron back 3 spaces. These are two powerful effects!
While these cards are designed to help mitigate the difficulty of using Sauron (and they do help, but it’s still *brutal* if you have a smart Sauron player!), you can also use them separately to help adjust the difficulty of the game. See below for an example.
HOW I USE THIS EXPANSION (AND OTHERS)
We have all three expansions. Friends & Foes adds *so* much fun, and a lot of challenge, but only if you fix the broken Military Victory rule (otherwise you can win halfway through the game, easily)! And Battlefields adds complexity and a ton of challenge. Because of all this extra challenge, we found that things were more balanced by adding in aspects of the Sauron expansion, even if we don’t use Sauron himself. With this set up, we can beat the game about 20% of the time, which keeps it challenging but still fun.
1. Except as indicated below, follow all the rules for playing LOTR with F&F and Battlefields.
2. Use the Dark Tiles rule and bag.
3. Place “The One Ring” on top of “Watchful Peace” (from Sauron) and slide the pair under the Foes deck.
4. Follow the Sauron rules for placing the Resource Tiles on the minor paths.
Then play! The minor path Resource Tiles help to offset the difficulty of the other expansions, but not much. When you defeat all the Foes, you get “The One Ring” card, then follow the Black Gate rule (an errata posted by the designer): Pull out the 8 Foes with a black symbol as its “price” and assemble them into a new mini-deck, then set *that* on top of the “Watchful Peace” card. If you can beat *those* Foes, you don’t win, but you get “Watchful Peace”.
This setup keeps things coming at you from all directions, while guaranteeing that you have a chance to win, even though your only option for doing so is making all the way into the heart of Moria. Fun and challenging.
Amazon Rating: 5 / 5
I must say I loved the original game, and the Sauron expansion definately was a great addition to the game.
Still, when comparing this expansion to the Friend and Foe expansion, it doesn’t compare. If you are going to buy both, then this is worth getting, but if you can only buy one, get the friend and Foe expansion first.
My only complaint about this expansion is it can sometimes weigh to much in favor of Sauron with a smart human player. Otherwise, it is awesome.
Amazon Rating: 4 / 5
This is an amazing expansion to the already amazing LOTR game. It features a new obstacle, The Nazgul, that further make the journey more exciting for the Fellowship. Instead of a die roll controlling Sauron’s choices, one may play the Dark Lord. This game provides with instructions to show when Sauron takes his turn (at the beginning of every player’s turn and instead of die rolls, and what he can do. Sauron now controlls the Nine and if they reach the hobbits and reports back to Mordor the game is over. Sauron also has his own deck of cards to make even more bad events occur. 4 more Sauron tiles are used and 23 evil black tiles may be added. Also, a new Gandalf card is provided, and a replacement Gandalf card for Foresight, because tiles are now drawn out of a Sauron bag. This is truly a worth-while expansion to the LOTR board game.
Amazon Rating: 4 / 5
If you already love LotR, you need to get this expansion. If you know of LotR, but were turned off by its solitaire aspect: this is the expansion that fixes that.
The one complaint with the otherwise innovative, beautiful, and challenging LotR game was that it was possible for a single player who knew the game well to ruin it by bossing the other players around regarding their plays. Not only could this happen, but it was a good strategy. The Sauron expansion fixes that.
Now, the more the hobbits plan openly, the better Sauron knows how to wreck their plans. It’s up to each hobbit to judge what to share openly, and what to keep hidden from allies and enemy alike. In doing to, it makes the game more fun and challenging for all.
Note: Some players complain that this expansion makes the already difficult LotR challenging to the point of masochism.
Amazon Rating: 5 / 5