Morgoth Bauglir drawing, Christopher Tolkien, Rings of Power, Telchar & Angrist

"Morgoth Bauglir"

 "That crown he never took from his head, though its weight became a deadly weariness."

-          The Simarillion, Of the Flight of the Noldor

 An ink drawing illustration for the "Wars of Beleriand" game.

Telchar’s notorious knife Angrist broke when Beren tried to take a second gem from the Iron Crown. What can one say about a blade that wounds the King of the World? Is there another?

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The Silmarillion is one of my favorite books. Few works of fantasy literature can compare in terms of epic scope and completeness of vision. I think it's safe to say it's as much Christopher Tolkien's as it is his father's: a beautiful collaborative effort, a true labor of love.

Recently, there's been yet a new generation of Tolkien fans brought into the fold, for good or ill, by the Rings of Power series. I admit I haven't seen any of it and I can't say I've heard good things. No need to go into all that, but we know how Tolkien felt about a great many things and what he thought and I know he wouldn't have been particularly pleased with how his creations have been treated by media these latter years. Telling that these projects were only greenlit after Christopher's death...

 

 

Repost from 2021: Wars of Beleriand Unpublished Wargame designed by Nate Dray.

 Edit 2/6/26 - Reposting this because I want to. I worked on this for like 20 years and it actually works pretty well. It's a shame I can't really share it with people because I can't quite bring myself to make it free because it was a ton - and I mean a ton - of work. :)

I should, though. Part of me would really like to...

 

Wars of Beleriand Update.

Still on it or back on it, really. 

Typing up the rulebook. Tweaking some graphics. But that about wraps it. There were some things - still are -- in the endgame latter stages of play, situations that only arise during the endgame part of the game, that weren't thoroughly played through before. Unique situations and things. The last few Turns are the most mechanically complex parts of the game. I'm sure there are things I missed, but...it should work and we'll correct as we go from here on.

Probably just release the rules online, post a link somewhere, something. 

 Wars of Beleriand rulebooks. Only two exist. They are different from each other and unique. 

 

 

Wars of Beleriand game Control Display. Players keep track of different Force types they control on this chart.

Players can have Complete or Incomplete Control of different Force types, or some Forces may be Controlled by a rudimentary AI algorithm unique to each class of Force.

 

 

 Wars of Beleriand game Dragon Maturation Track. The Morgoth player tracks the development of Dragon units Inside Angband with this. Dragons must be mature before they can be deployed and used against the Noldor Player.

 

 

 Sample Game of Wars of Beleriand in progress.

Note the Eagles counter, City Markers, and Ents and Green Elves in Taur-Im-Duinath. 

 

The Silmarillion board game challenges. An explanation of some design issues encountered during the development of the "Wars of Beleriand" board game by Nate Dray

 

Silmarillion board game.

Silmarillion tabletop wargame?

 

I think I like "The Dispossessed," though.
Cirith Ninniach.  It just isn't that important to the overall narrative (or strategic) situation. I thought about making a special hexside that only good guys can use and that is an impassable hexside for bad guys, but ultimately the area is so strategically unimportant that adding that little piece of detail would just be superfluous. Another block of text and cross-referencing for the already bloated and probably incomprehensible rulebook. (As of now the rules are 25 pages with a few sections yet to be written up, so I'm thinking it's going to be at least 30 pages in the end, really more depending on space requirement for illustrations.)

Amon Rûdh. Should there be a special rule for hex 1121? Turin can hide there and attack with impunity or something? There are already several exceptions and special abilities for the Turin unit.