A new Lord of the Rings game is on the Horizon, although this one isn't as new as it first appears! Launching now on Kickstarter - 'Lord of the Rings: The King's Gambit', is a modern reskin and updated design of a long gone gem from over 25 years ago, 'Star Wars: The Queen's Gambit.'
I've never had the opportunity to play 'Star Wars: The Queen's Gambit', and it is a game that hasn't been in print for many many years set during the final four battles in a Phantom Menace. It was a 2 player asymmetric war game where you fought war over four different arenas with a ton of miniatures in the box and a fascinating 3d environment in which the battles took place. Battles were resolved using action cards each round and then lots of dice chucking to determine the results of the battles.
Well fans of the original game, and fans of Lord of the Rings, can now rejoice that a remake is very much on the way! Restoration Games and Space Cowbies are giving us a Lord of the Rings version of the Star Wars classic, replicating the final battle across Middle Earth as you compete across four different battlefields. Again you'll be playing action cards, throwing dice, and completing objectives for rewards.
It looks absolutely amazing, with loads of minis, requires two boxes, contains a giant 3d Minas Tirith and Mount Doom, new rules for a four player version of the game, and a solo variant by David Turczi. The kickstarter is now live, with a couple of different versions of the game available. There will be a retail edition of the game coming next year, with Space Cowboys publishing it, although it's been stated that it won't have the level of components as the Kickstarter version. I'm excited to see how the Star Wars classic has been modernised into the Lord of the Rings world, and can't wait to see what this looks like sprawled across the table!
