I picked up this game when I was a kid. I tried playing it with my brother a number of times but at the time we couldn’t quite wrap our heads around the rules. I wanted so bad to learn to play it and I used to admire the card artwork all the time. I wish I knew what I did with it…
It's a very dense rules set with a lot of detail. It definitely takes a while to get into, and I know I struggled with it when it first came out as well.
Don't use Region Cards - use the Maps. There are some good ones out there. And don't let the fact it's a card game that uses dice put you off. Interestingly there were plans (before Decipher took over the License to cash in on the Peter Jackson Film's) to shift the game to a fixed pack system in a Second Edition release (the Challenge Decks were 10 different all fixed decks made up of reprints - as was the last expansion of new cards - "The Balrog" set was split between 2 fixed deck releases) - this Second Edition was also planned to use a Map with playing pieces instead of Regions & Sites to track company locations and massively simplified the mind & influence systems. This is one of my favourite games, so flavourful, really captured the feeling of building your fellowship and going on an adventure in Middle Earth. Never quite got that same feeling from anything else. They even published several solo scenarios to play - and multi-player scenarios too, the community varients (Arda, the shared deck game is probably the most popular) all build on that idea of using the same cards to play slightly different game types. Some of the expansions started making things very complicated (Underdeeps, Agent Hazards, Fallen Wizards, Minion Decks, different Dragon Manifestations, Hoard Items, using your Wizard to sideboard cards into your deck during the game etc.). But I still love it. Warts and all. Good video. If you ever delve into the expansions, I'd be interested in seeing if your head explodes trying to take it all in and if that experience changes your opinion of the game at all.
Yeah, like I said in the video, region cards are a faff and you are better off using a map. I imagine most people do that. I am using the one I showed in the video, which I find very easy to work with. I'm definitely not bothered about the game using dice. I've seen some of the scenarios that were printed in the Companion book. They seem quite fun. I already have a fair bit of the expansion stuff. I have a full set of underdeeps locations, and I think enough minion characters to run an "evil" deck. I'm not too interested in delving into that. I've pulled out the cards that can easily work with the base game and I'll probably leave it at that. I think I've spent enough years playing games that my head will stay firmly attached to my shoulders regardless.
If you would like a map file to print out an use that has all of the sites, site key, region types, etc, I can email it to you. Even printing it out on paper and laminating it would work fine, but it really completes the game.
A round of applause to those two blokes who gave you cards to re-explore this game and bring us these two videos. MEccg is the #1 game thus far created for diving into Tolkien's worlds, for all the reasons you stated. And you are right that this is effectively a boardgame in CCG clothing. Sadly, FFG's LotR LCG is significantly less thematic in my book as it plays more like a puzzle (a great puzzle and fun game, but scratches a different itch). Had the LotR LCG followed the Arkham Horror LCG format, then FFG would have hewed much closer to MEccg. War of the Ring is the most compelling LotR game currently in print. Middle Earth Quest is very good too.
It's a lovely game that captures the world expertly. I have Middle-earth Quest in my collection and I love it, and while I don' have War of the Ring I just recently got Ares' Battle of Five Armies.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring another thing that is worth noting about this game is the number of variants and scenarios it can allow for, which I believe is also the reason it still has a small but fanatic base of Tolkien enthusiast players
Thanks for the kind words. Although I briefly mentioned alternative rules in the video it's a rabbit hole I haven't personally dived into yet having only recently been reacquainted with the game. I might talk about that in another video one day (start working on that trilogy!). I've read a couple of the narrative scenarios from the MeCCG Companion book, which is a book I will probably pick up at some point to add to the collection. There really is a lot you can do with the game, and it offers much more scope than probably any other collectible card game I can think of. I am doing my own challenge deck and themed hazard decks at the moment.
Yeah, it has a certain ethereal quality to a lot of it. I know it's subjective, but I definitely feel some pieces are much stronger than others. The landscapes are all immaculate.
Very good overview. I was an avid collector and player in the 90's, but sadly lost all of my cards in a move. During the lockdowns I collected a complete core set again (luckily right before prices spiked). One thing that really stands out with this game is that it's actually very fun to play solitaire, and there are some really fun solitaire scenarios available online.
Thanks for the great video! One of my favorite games, and my favorite game for flavor and fidelity to the lore. Correction, you can have three of your wizard in your 60 card standard deck.
That would explain it. I am using the rules for the Wizards set from the mecgg website, which the site says is an unmodified version from the Unlimited rules set.
Yup, when they eventually compiled the rules for tournament play, they increased a few of the numbers from the limited/unlimited rulebooks. It was now a 30 card minimum for both hazards and resources, a 20 card sideboard, your characters in deck, and up to three copies of your wizard or ringwraith. It was done to try and balance out the advantage of one player drawing/playing their wizard much earlier in the game than their opponent. They later added another 5 cards to the sideboard making it 25 cards for tournament play.
Looks like an interesting gaming experience. Enough downsides to keep me away, but a fascinating thing indeed. And honestly if I was at all drawn towards collectible card games, this would be high on the list.
It's a very clunky game, and very difficult to get all the cards to pull off the coolest combos, but it's really very clever, and rather beautiful (most of the time).
Ioved this game as a kid but never fully understood the rules and had no game partner. I used to play a stitched together solo variant trying out turns for fun
It's a very densely packed rules set, and it can get very convoluted. I think the thing I find trickiest is when you play an event that changes how and where you can key hazards, because that's already quite a busy set of rules before you start layering more rules on top.
Missed this one, but I do play the LotR Living Card Game, which is both beautiful and a great co-op/solo experience. And I finally jumped into MtG with the release of Tales of Middle Earth, which has been fun to collect, and fun to play as a stand alone, though I have no intention of playing standard Magic. And I agree LotR: The Confrontation is awesome. Shame it's out of print.
FFG's LotR card game has floated in my "I will get that one day" list since it first came out. I'm not a big fan of the gameplay, which has similarities to their Warhammer Quest card game, which I didn't enjoy, but the theme and the art makes me want to get it anyway! I used to love Magic back in the day. Nothing to date has convinced me to get back into it. Yet...
I certainly have. All of my novels are still available through Amazon, but I temporarily hung up my writing hat to invest time into this channel instead. I still write when I find a chance but one day I may go back to it seriously.
There was one licensed/tie-in game from the 90's CCG boom- I think it was Star Wars- that actually made the headline characters commons, the design idea being that the more you saw of a character in the movies, the more easily they should be playable in game. I always wanted to play ME:TW, though... like VTES, it was far too complex for my lot, who generally stuck with Magic, Star Trek, and if I was really lucky, Rage. Ah, Rage. I wish that'd get a LCG re-release.
Making the main characters easy to get is very consumer-friendly, but it doesn't drive those sales. I do plan to gradually hunt down the other rare characters I need for this game. It doesn't seem right to have Aragorn but no Arwen, and Samwise but no Frodo.
Certainly have. It landed at number 11 in my list of top 50 games of all time. It's a little crunchier and more detailed than I normally enjoy, but as with Middle-earth, it does such an amazing job of creating a world that feels alive, and all the crunchiness feels thematically relevant.
Huh! I must have completely missed this game when it first came out... It doesn't even look vaugely familiar! How does Barliman Butterbur stack up in this game?
Ha. I admit, I have no idea how to use Barliman. He's the cheapest warrior in the game, but warrior is the most common class so that seems irrelevant. He has no direct influence, has negative modifier's on influence and corruption checks, no special skills, and little combat prowess. I am sure there are things I'm missing, but at the moment... no clue why you would use him.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring maybe he's just there to provide refreshments? 😅 Oh, that reminds me, have you watched any of "Gandalf Reacts" videos done by Charlie Hopskins?
Thanks. Sadly, I am a complete dunce when it comes to languages. I actually feel I have a decent collection of these cards now. There are really only a few of the rare characters from the initial set that I still really want to get.
@@Wolf-sl5ty That's a really kind offer, thank you. To be honest, while there are some rare cards I am missing, the only four I am actively hunting for right now are Frodo, Bilbo, Galadriel, and Arwen.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring By my firt look into my cards..the most cards in english are from against the shadow and dark minions and lidless eye.... in the wizard Series i have Smaug and Denethor... but i need time to write a list...for example i have Galadriels Phiol..i have Galadriel, Bilbo and co in German....and i have many Promocards...
This is probably the most unique tcg ever made. It’s more a board game with cards but man is it thematic! Such a great game!
I've certainly never seen another card game like it. A very interesting design - and yes, very much like a board game.
The best Card game i ever played, still play and enjoy. Its fantastic!
I can't think of any other card game quite like it. I do have other card games I prefer, but this one does stand alone as something a bit special.
God we were so confused when trying to figure this game out.
We really were. Not having any decent cards didn’t help either.
I picked up this game when I was a kid. I tried playing it with my brother a number of times but at the time we couldn’t quite wrap our heads around the rules.
I wanted so bad to learn to play it and I used to admire the card artwork all the time. I wish I knew what I did with it…
It's a very dense rules set with a lot of detail. It definitely takes a while to get into, and I know I struggled with it when it first came out as well.
Love this game! Printed the map and bought everything I could find in my country!
Don't use Region Cards - use the Maps. There are some good ones out there. And don't let the fact it's a card game that uses dice put you off.
Interestingly there were plans (before Decipher took over the License to cash in on the Peter Jackson Film's) to shift the game to a fixed pack system in a Second Edition release (the Challenge Decks were 10 different all fixed decks made up of reprints - as was the last expansion of new cards - "The Balrog" set was split between 2 fixed deck releases) - this Second Edition was also planned to use a Map with playing pieces instead of Regions & Sites to track company locations and massively simplified the mind & influence systems.
This is one of my favourite games, so flavourful, really captured the feeling of building your fellowship and going on an adventure in Middle Earth. Never quite got that same feeling from anything else.
They even published several solo scenarios to play - and multi-player scenarios too, the community varients (Arda, the shared deck game is probably the most popular) all build on that idea of using the same cards to play slightly different game types.
Some of the expansions started making things very complicated (Underdeeps, Agent Hazards, Fallen Wizards, Minion Decks, different Dragon Manifestations, Hoard Items, using your Wizard to sideboard cards into your deck during the game etc.).
But I still love it. Warts and all.
Good video. If you ever delve into the expansions, I'd be interested in seeing if your head explodes trying to take it all in and if that experience changes your opinion of the game at all.
Yeah, like I said in the video, region cards are a faff and you are better off using a map. I imagine most people do that. I am using the one I showed in the video, which I find very easy to work with. I'm definitely not bothered about the game using dice.
I've seen some of the scenarios that were printed in the Companion book. They seem quite fun.
I already have a fair bit of the expansion stuff. I have a full set of underdeeps locations, and I think enough minion characters to run an "evil" deck. I'm not too interested in delving into that. I've pulled out the cards that can easily work with the base game and I'll probably leave it at that. I think I've spent enough years playing games that my head will stay firmly attached to my shoulders regardless.
If you would like a map file to print out an use that has all of the sites, site key, region types, etc, I can email it to you. Even printing it out on paper and laminating it would work fine, but it really completes the game.
A round of applause to those two blokes who gave you cards to re-explore this game and bring us these two videos. MEccg is the #1 game thus far created for diving into Tolkien's worlds, for all the reasons you stated. And you are right that this is effectively a boardgame in CCG clothing. Sadly, FFG's LotR LCG is significantly less thematic in my book as it plays more like a puzzle (a great puzzle and fun game, but scratches a different itch). Had the LotR LCG followed the Arkham Horror LCG format, then FFG would have hewed much closer to MEccg.
War of the Ring is the most compelling LotR game currently in print. Middle Earth Quest is very good too.
It's a lovely game that captures the world expertly. I have Middle-earth Quest in my collection and I love it, and while I don' have War of the Ring I just recently got Ares' Battle of Five Armies.
If you like Tolkien and adventures this is the best game to play. And you can do that online as well. We are many and welcoming!
It really does a fantastic job of letting you adventure in Tolkien's world. It has an impressive level of depth.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring great video, by the way. One of the best summaries I've seen!
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring another thing that is worth noting about this game is the number of variants and scenarios it can allow for, which I believe is also the reason it still has a small but fanatic base of Tolkien enthusiast players
Thanks for the kind words. Although I briefly mentioned alternative rules in the video it's a rabbit hole I haven't personally dived into yet having only recently been reacquainted with the game. I might talk about that in another video one day (start working on that trilogy!).
I've read a couple of the narrative scenarios from the MeCCG Companion book, which is a book I will probably pick up at some point to add to the collection. There really is a lot you can do with the game, and it offers much more scope than probably any other collectible card game I can think of. I am doing my own challenge deck and themed hazard decks at the moment.
I'd never heard of this game, but the artwork very much fits my image of LOTR.
Yeah, it has a certain ethereal quality to a lot of it. I know it's subjective, but I definitely feel some pieces are much stronger than others. The landscapes are all immaculate.
It’s a great game.
what a nice surprise of video. I luv meccg
Thanks for watching.
Very good overview. I was an avid collector and player in the 90's, but sadly lost all of my cards in a move. During the lockdowns I collected a complete core set again (luckily right before prices spiked). One thing that really stands out with this game is that it's actually very fun to play solitaire, and there are some really fun solitaire scenarios available online.
Thanks for watching. It's a really great game, if somewhat complicated.
Thanks for the great video! One of my favorite games, and my favorite game for flavor and fidelity to the lore. Correction, you can have three of your wizard in your 60 card standard deck.
It says two wizards in the rules I have, and they don't have to be the same one.
The “3 wizards/ringwraiths per deck” rule was added years later, when the rules for tournaments were compiled, so it wasn’t in the original rulebook.
That would explain it. I am using the rules for the Wizards set from the mecgg website, which the site says is an unmodified version from the Unlimited rules set.
Yup, when they eventually compiled the rules for tournament play, they increased a few of the numbers from the limited/unlimited rulebooks. It was now a 30 card minimum for both hazards and resources, a 20 card sideboard, your characters in deck, and up to three copies of your wizard or ringwraith. It was done to try and balance out the advantage of one player drawing/playing their wizard much earlier in the game than their opponent. They later added another 5 cards to the sideboard making it 25 cards for tournament play.
Such a great game
It's such an unusual design. They were really shooting for something special.
Looks like an interesting gaming experience. Enough downsides to keep me away, but a fascinating thing indeed. And honestly if I was at all drawn towards collectible card games, this would be high on the list.
It's a very clunky game, and very difficult to get all the cards to pull off the coolest combos, but it's really very clever, and rather beautiful (most of the time).
Ioved this game as a kid but never fully understood the rules and had no game partner. I used to play a stitched together solo variant trying out turns for fun
It's a very densely packed rules set, and it can get very convoluted. I think the thing I find trickiest is when you play an event that changes how and where you can key hazards, because that's already quite a busy set of rules before you start layering more rules on top.
One you get a partner and use a map for regional movement, you’ll be hooked
Missed this one, but I do play the LotR Living Card Game, which is both beautiful and a great co-op/solo experience. And I finally jumped into MtG with the release of Tales of Middle Earth, which has been fun to collect, and fun to play as a stand alone, though I have no intention of playing standard Magic.
And I agree LotR: The Confrontation is awesome. Shame it's out of print.
FFG's LotR card game has floated in my "I will get that one day" list since it first came out. I'm not a big fan of the gameplay, which has similarities to their Warhammer Quest card game, which I didn't enjoy, but the theme and the art makes me want to get it anyway!
I used to love Magic back in the day. Nothing to date has convinced me to get back into it. Yet...
Fascinating complexity and depth. After listening to your description I am curious have you ever written any fiction?
I certainly have. All of my novels are still available through Amazon, but I temporarily hung up my writing hat to invest time into this channel instead. I still write when I find a chance but one day I may go back to it seriously.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring excellent. Nice.
There was one licensed/tie-in game from the 90's CCG boom- I think it was Star Wars- that actually made the headline characters commons, the design idea being that the more you saw of a character in the movies, the more easily they should be playable in game.
I always wanted to play ME:TW, though... like VTES, it was far too complex for my lot, who generally stuck with Magic, Star Trek, and if I was really lucky, Rage. Ah, Rage. I wish that'd get a LCG re-release.
Making the main characters easy to get is very consumer-friendly, but it doesn't drive those sales. I do plan to gradually hunt down the other rare characters I need for this game. It doesn't seem right to have Aragorn but no Arwen, and Samwise but no Frodo.
I like how you seem to have the exact same taste in games as me. Have you played Mage Knight? If not then you should!
Certainly have. It landed at number 11 in my list of top 50 games of all time. It's a little crunchier and more detailed than I normally enjoy, but as with Middle-earth, it does such an amazing job of creating a world that feels alive, and all the crunchiness feels thematically relevant.
Huh! I must have completely missed this game when it first came out... It doesn't even look vaugely familiar!
How does Barliman Butterbur stack up in this game?
Ha. I admit, I have no idea how to use Barliman. He's the cheapest warrior in the game, but warrior is the most common class so that seems irrelevant. He has no direct influence, has negative modifier's on influence and corruption checks, no special skills, and little combat prowess. I am sure there are things I'm missing, but at the moment... no clue why you would use him.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring maybe he's just there to provide refreshments? 😅
Oh, that reminds me, have you watched any of "Gandalf Reacts" videos done by Charlie Hopskins?
I have actually. They're pretty funny. I like it when Boromir is involved.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring Yeah, him reacting to people surviving arrow wounds always gets a chuckle out of me 🤣
One of the best card games ever made
Oh My Gods. That was first game.
It's one heck of an introduction.
If you need cards in German... i have all...the wizards...dragons and dark minions ...against the shadow etc pp i love the game too
Thanks. Sadly, I am a complete dunce when it comes to languages. I actually feel I have a decent collection of these cards now. There are really only a few of the rare characters from the initial set that I still really want to get.
Ah no problem... I think I have cards in English too... Don't know which one... But if you need one of them, you can have it... I don't need them
@@Wolf-sl5ty That's a really kind offer, thank you. To be honest, while there are some rare cards I am missing, the only four I am actively hunting for right now are Frodo, Bilbo, Galadriel, and Arwen.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring By my firt look into my cards..the most cards in english are from against the shadow and dark minions and lidless eye.... in the wizard Series i have Smaug and Denethor... but i need time to write a list...for example i have Galadriels Phiol..i have Galadriel, Bilbo and co in German....and i have many Promocards...