The Battle of Five Armies is back! The epic game that recreates the fierce struggle witnessed by Bilbo Baggins at the end of his quest to the Lonely Mountain is coming back in a revised edition. This first printing also includes a bonus scenario for the War of the Ring boardgame, The Fate of Erebor.

The Battle of Five Armies is a two-players game that allows you to re-create the epic conclusion of The Hobbit, the world-renowned masterpiece by J.R.R. Tolkien. The Shadow player commands the armies of Bolg, the King of the Goblins of Mount Gundabad, while the Free Peoples player is in control of Men, Dwarves, and Elves, led by Gandalf to fend off the goblin army.

Based on the acclaimed mechanics first used in the War of the Ring boardgame, The Battle of Five Armies merges action dice and event cards, to make each game a unique experience. The system has been further enhanced by the addition of the “Fate Track” mechanic, handling the arrival of the allies and the triggering of special events. The Battle of Five Armies includes 126 plastic figures, with all the main characters of the battle, and many more top-quality components.

What if the Battle of Five Armies was lost by the Free Peoples? The Fate of Erebor is a variant for War of the Ring which you can play to answer this question. The course of history changes drastically and you will play the game with a different setup. A real challenge and a must-have for all War of the Ring fans!

The Battle of Five Armies – based on the climactic battle of JRR Tolkien's novel The Hobbit – pits the hosts of the Elvenking, the Dwarves of Dain Ironfoot, and the Men of the Lake led by Bard the Bowman against a horde of Wolves, Goblins and Bats led by Bolg, son of Azog. Will Gandalf shift the battle for the Free Peoples? Will the Eagles arrive in time, or Beorn come to the rescue? Or will Bilbo the Hobbit perish in a heroic last stand on Ravenhill?

The Battle of Five Armies features a game board showing the Eastern and Southern spurs of the Lonely Mountain and the valley they encircle, and a number of plastic figures representing troops, heroes and monsters.

The Battle of Five Armies is a standalone game based on the rules for War of the Ring, which is from the same designers, but with the rules altered to function on a tactical level as they describe a smaller battle rather than the entire war. Ares Games has plans to expand the Battles game system in the future, releasing expansions depicting other battles from the Third Age of Middle-earth narrated in The Lord of the Rings, such as the Siege of Gondor and the assault of Saruman against Rohan.