Lord of the Rings: Confrontation

I own the original small box game and enjoy it quite a bit. I understand there was a 'deluxe' edition that came out as well as a newer release. So, I guess there's been three editions of this game now.

I doubt I'd be interested in the latter two as I don't believe they have John Howe art (which is a big plus for me). Am I correct on that? A different artist with the other two releases? I'm also keen on the small footprint.

I think the deluxe edition has new powers for all the characters, but I'm fine with their abilities as is.

So, what are all the differences between the three sets? Do F:ATties have a preference?

I prefer the original for its small size. I've played the deluxe edition and felt the new powers weren't as thematic. I recall hearing they weren't designed by Knizia, but not sure if true.

I didn't mind the new powers found in deluxe. In fact, we would mix and match so that we were never sure what to expect just because we saw the classic symbol or deluxe symbol on a character.

Great game, no matter how you play it.

It's one of my all-time favorite games so I don't really care if the box is slightly larger.

The original game is great, the expanded powers just improve on it- especially if you play it a lot and/or regularly and mix them up, doing a kind of "squad building" before the match up. You can figure out new strategies and get surprised more often with a mix-and-match game. But I also like the original set AND the newer set, without intermingling.

The game is just awesome, regardless of how you play it.

I have the bigger, deluxe set but have never tried the variants--which I should. My wife really likes Knizia's LotR, and I thought she'd take to this too but so far hasn't, so I'm not sure when I'll get around to it. The deluxe edition is arguably a little too "much"--too big, too bulky, too baroque--but the small box one seems a bit too little itself.

The alternate characters and the optional special cards found in the Deluxe Edition were done my Eric Lang and Christian Petersen. I like them but tend to play with the original content.

I've got the original too and really like it, but never play it with anyone. Why'd we never play, Jeff? I guess because we never really did any 2-player gaming.