I really like the description of every style of ally. How the historical are the book/movies ones, and the "It kinda makes sense" are the "Allies of convenience"

Also, I wonder where the regular non-The Hobbit dwarves are going to be. Are they rolling them all into the Iron Hills army? I'm thinking of things like Khazad Guard, Dwarf Rangers, etc.

They should be staying as Durins Folk, same way as Erebor should be seperate from the Iron Hills too.

They are now The Kingdom of Khazad-Dum, as evidenced on the new Middle-earth section of the GW website.

Also, LOTR plastics boxes are missing, as they are rebranded and boxed into double-size infantry sets.

 ZergSmasher wrote:
Allies matrix looks pretty restrictive, but then they are trying to encourage historical alliances rather than WAAC-style wombo combos of models. Looks like actually taking Thorin's company pretty much penalizes you, unless they are really, really beefy on the tabletop. Having not seen how any of The Hobbit stuff is statwise, I don't know.

Considering the worst "tier" of penalty is modest at worst, and really a non-issue unless you're trying to break the game, I don't see an issue. They didn't invalidate, or forbid a single list/combo, that's pretty open as far as I suppose.

NewTruthNeomaxim wrote:

 ZergSmasher wrote:
Allies matrix looks pretty restrictive, but then they are trying to encourage historical alliances rather than WAAC-style wombo combos of models. Looks like actually taking Thorin's company pretty much penalizes you, unless they are really, really beefy on the tabletop. Having not seen how any of The Hobbit stuff is statwise, I don't know.

Considering the worst "tier" of penalty is modest at worst, and really a non-issue unless you're trying to break the game, I don't see an issue. They didn't invalidate, or forbid a single list/combo, that's pretty open as far as I suppose.

If you're doing a matched play and mixing Thorin's company with Numenor then something's amiss, lol

Where did the Grey Company/Arnor end up?

 judgedoug wrote:

NewTruthNeomaxim wrote:

 ZergSmasher wrote:
Allies matrix looks pretty restrictive, but then they are trying to encourage historical alliances rather than WAAC-style wombo combos of models. Looks like actually taking Thorin's company pretty much penalizes you, unless they are really, really beefy on the tabletop. Having not seen how any of The Hobbit stuff is statwise, I don't know.

Considering the worst "tier" of penalty is modest at worst, and really a non-issue unless you're trying to break the game, I don't see an issue. They didn't invalidate, or forbid a single list/combo, that's pretty open as far as I suppose.

If you're doing a matched play and mixing Thorin's company with Numenor then something's amiss, lol

Agreed, but if you hypothetically ONLY owned those models, you can still play them together. I appreciate this permissive move, even if it is measured, and grounded.

 Eldarain wrote:
Where did the Grey Company/Arnor end up?

No idea, just an example matrix so far, as The Kingdom of Khazad Dum isn't listed either

Pre-order is up on GW:

https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Lotr-Battle-Of-Pelennor-Fields-2018-eng

I got my order in on Element, where the price for the starter set feels even more wondrously value-for-money

im really skint atm but I put an order in for the 3 dice sets as I imagine they're most likely to go out of stock.

Ugh, I was interesting in trying the game, but 90 euros just for 2 rulesbooks is a forbiddenly expensive entry price for me

Sadly it has the Kirby touch on this release. :(

Davor wrote:
Sadly it has the Kirby touch on this release. :(

What? Could you elaborate somewhat?

 Inquisitor Gideon wrote:

Davor wrote:
Sadly it has the Kirby touch on this release. :(

What? Could you elaborate somewhat?

Oh I thought I did. Sorry for that. Selling the profiles separately. *edit* I made a mistake. We have to buy the points and stats separately still. */edit*

Other than that, it's a fantastic deal and it seems it has improved so much, BUT one of the reasons I didn't get into The Hobbit and I quit LotR was because buying the boxset you still had to buy a $100 Canadian book to be able to still play. You still need to buy two products in order to play. That left a foul taste in my mouth back then, and seeing it now, I remembered why I quit. $70 for just stats and points? So now we still need to but the rulebook and or boxset for the rules and STILL NEED TO PAY FOR STATS AND POINTS.

So the reason I left GW is still doing it.

I guess it's 2 steps forward and one step back in this case.


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As a side note, why are we still paying for stats and points? If anything, Age of Sigmar should show you how to get people back into the hobby.

I am not complaining about paying for something, but keeping things separate in order to play a game especially a pick up game, I believe is wrong. Everything should be included in the rule book like it was before with LotR.

A single codex for one army in 40K is CAD$50. One book for all the rules for all the units is CAD$70.

Sorry, not seeing the problem beyond you need to buy stuff beyond the starter to play bigger games, which is true for basically all games?

 Azreal13 wrote:
A single codex for one army in 40K is CAD$50. One book for all the rules for all the units is CAD$70.

Sorry, not seeing the problem beyond you need to buy stuff beyond the starter to play bigger games, which is true for basically all games?

More of principle. To each their own I guess. Thing is what if you are not buying the starter set? You still have to buy the rule book and the other book. So not sure what you mean you need to buy more from the starter to play bigger games.

Also this is not 40K. This is LotR. If you want to compare to another GW game system, how about Age of Sigmar? It goes both ways.

Yeah, and AOS has Battletomes?

But my point was broader, any game requires purchases beyond the starter to play larger game, and practically any game requires expenditure to update after an edition change. This is not Kirby-esque, nor is it unique to GW, and in this particular instance they're not even being particularly gougy about it.

Sorry, but it's never been like that. The original 3 books had profiles because they had to be staggered because of the movies. Once the movies were done and the rules expanded, we got the source books, which were £15 each split into 5 volumes, which would have cost you £75 for all. The new one is £35 (before discount) considerably cheaper than they ever have been before.

 Inquisitor Gideon wrote:
Sorry, but it's never been like that. The original 3 books had profiles because they had to be staggered because of the movies. Once the movies were done and the rules expanded, we got the source books, which were £15 each split into 5 volumes, which would have cost you £75 for all. The new one is £35 (before discount) considerably cheaper than they ever have been before.

Aye. Quite the discount. And unless you specifically want Rohan or Mordor, you can bypass the starter set altogether as a cost. Just get the rulebook and whatever models you want.

Azreal13 wrote:Yeah, and AOS has Battletomes?

But my point was broader, any game requires purchases beyond the starter to play larger game, and practically any game requires expenditure to update after an edition change. This is not Kirby-esque, nor is it unique to GW, and in this particular instance they're not even being particularly gougy about it.

Not understanding what you are saying. So what about Battletomes? They came out after Age of Sigmar was introduced. Of course you will have Battletomes once the game expands. So your point?

As for your broader point games require more after the starter set, I still don't see your point. This wasn't done for Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game. Wasn't done then, no need to be done now.

Inquisitor Gideon wrote:Sorry, but it's never been like that. The original 3 books had profiles because they had to be staggered because of the movies. Once the movies were done and the rules expanded, we got the source books, which were £15 each split into 5 volumes, which would have cost you £75 for all. The new one is £35 (before discount) considerably cheaper than they ever have been before.

Uh, you are incorrect here. You are talking about the source books AFTER the release of the game and a few years by that. So of course things will change and new stuff will be added in. I am talking about starting a new edition. Just like how LotR SBG came out. It was a new edition but had everything all in one. Be it the hard cover rule book or the beginner rule book in the starter set. Making them seperate is Kirby-esque as our friend Azreal13 put it. You can read all the complaints about paying more and getting less and having to buy more again with something we already have.

I know we all have been conditioned now to accept this because "everyone does it now". All I am saying is this is one of the reasons why I left. I am sure it is also one of the reasons why lots of people left and to have one of the reasons for leaving still here just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. That is all.

Will I get it? Eventually when I have the spare money to do so. Will I accpet it? Yes, I know it's a buisness. All I am saying is how I feel. I am not saying anyone has to feel as I do. Just a shame one thing upset me is still around. At least everything else is so much better and the good out weighs the bad. If anyone sees it differently great. I am not saying anyone is wrong.



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Now can we buy all this stuff from our LFGS and 40K shops or do we have to go through Forge World to get all the LotR stuff now?

Davor wrote:

 Azreal13 wrote:
A single codex for one army in 40K is CAD$50. One book for all the rules for all the units is CAD$70.

Sorry, not seeing the problem beyond you need to buy stuff beyond the starter to play bigger games, which is true for basically all games?

More of principle. To each their own I guess. Thing is what if you are not buying the starter set? You still have to buy the rule book and the other book. So not sure what you mean you need to buy more from the starter to play bigger games.

Also this is not 40K. This is LotR. If you want to compare to another GW game system, how about Age of Sigmar? It goes both ways.

You mean the game with yearly book to buy?

Big Rules Changes: Magical Powers on Warhammer Community

Personally the price is a deal breaker for me, as a potential curious new player in a place where no other players exist with experience in the game to teach, so the new book are necessary *.It is just too much money for just books.

*Unless you want to play Rohan and/or Mordor then the starter set is more than worth since it also comes with all the profiles

Is so refreshing to see magic that does "strenght X" impacts back and not only Mortal Wounds... I'm loving everything here! I know many things have always been like this but after like 10 years not even looking at this game everything looks fresh and new



Also, I like that they are making the magic more proper Tolkien. Before it was a little too warhammer-y.

Also, I love that now "common sense" is part of the actual rules



OMG, They have already reboxed nearly all infantry of the game?! I tought only uruk-hai and gondor infantry for now!

£56 for basically every rule you'll ever need seems pretty cheap to me.

I'm splitting a starter, so it's all ridiculously good value as far as I'm concerned

Anyone know if you can assemble the witch king model in the starter set as a normal ringwraith?

As a long term player, I kind of already have the original version...



On that note, I'm really glad that GW are going back to the original box sizes for the models.

This genuinely might be the first GW purchase I make in 6 years.

Yes you can. You can make either the Witch King or a non titled wraith.

22€ for 20 easterlings from Element Games. What is this, 2002!?"

Am I crazy or did someone mention a new on foot Dain model that's different from the one that comes with the warpiggy? I wonder what that's about. Maybe to coincide with new men of Dale models?

Also, the starter set has the full rulebook so if you ask me it's a no brainier to wait for a 15% coupon on eBay to get it and the armies book.

I have to say, i was considering getting into the re-launch (only played a bit a long time ago, but I'd like to do some Fantasy at some point)...but $120 for essential rules is a pretty big miss for me. I'm not a die-hard-must-play LOTR guy, so a fringe target, but I'm absolutely not interested at that price.

So I always wanted an Easterling army... but a lot of the models are still GW Direct Only. Do We know more kits will make their way back into the market and/or army boxes (Start Collecting!) are coming?

Wasnt this what people wanted? Every list into a comppendium. Is like all the 40k indexs, but in one book.

Yes, and it's bootiful.

LOTR is $120 for main rules and all faction rules.
40k is $100 for main rules and one codex.

So, pretty good considering.

Apparently some people wanted it to be like the big blue rulebook and have most of the profiles in one book.

It's whatever. If you play your cards right you can get the starter set and the armies book for about $165. That's basically buying the rulebooks and a Winged Nazgul, and getting 83 minis and some dice for free. Maybe not too enticing for long time collectors (but still has some value because of the new WOTD and Theoden) or people that have zero interest in the included factions.

 Hanskrampf wrote:
So I always wanted an Easterling army... but a lot of the models are still GW Direct Only. Do We know more kits will make their way back into the market and/or army boxes (Start Collecting!) are coming?

Pretty sure the Easterlings were available @20% off for pre order when I was ordering the core set

Are they new Warriors of the Dead and Theoden?

They just look like the old ones to me.

 Compel wrote:
Are they new Warriors of the Dead and Theoden?

They just look like the old ones to me.

Weren't the WOTD metal or finecast? Theoden is definitely a new plastic model.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure WOTD were sold in blisters up until now.

There was the original metal Warriors of the Dead, that came in a box of 9 with the metal king, - you then had additional blisters you could add.

But around 2009-ish, when the plastic Knights of Minas Tirith came out, GW released a plastic set of them.

You can see some unpainted ones of them at the back here, behind the painted blue metal ones.



You're right though, the Theoden is new, the original Pelennor fields one was more in a standing pose than a gallop.

Gotcha, didn't know there was a plastic box for them. So, yeah not much of a value for long time collectors

Warriors of the Dead have been plastic for quite some time now. The only new model in the box is King Theoden who has a new multi-part foot and mounted model.

I've played LOTR ever since it first released and don't have one single issue with them using the same old models. I never owned a Fellbeast or Mordor Troll, so it's great to finally get those in an affordable boxed set (considering what's included). As someone who is as long-time a collector as you can go with the Peter Jackson LOTR GW product, this entire set is huge value for me. It also has the selling point of being a massively more narrative release, which suits the LOTR line. The old movie 'starter' sets were boring - some Uruks v Rohirrim cavalry, Gondorians v Orcs. This is far more exciting with well-matched armies featuring monsters and heroes.

As someone who was sad at how 'dead' this line was a couple of years ago and preparing for it to be gradually pulled from sale completely, this relaunch is superb and I've seen overwhelming positivity of response and encouraging signs that plenty of new gamers will be taking it up (as well as those of us who have always been there, or used to be).

Dandelion wrote:
LOTR is $120 for main rules and all faction rules.

It is worth noting that it wont contain the Hobbit rules and points.

There is a 'get you by' PDF though https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/resources/PDF/Downloads//Heroes_and_Villians_%20Hobbit_ENG.pdf

@MangoMadness: We can expect by now that the book with the Hobbit profiles will cost as much as the current one. I also think that some scenario books are planned, to replay the stories with the current rules.


Some of the rules seem to be taken straight from tournament rules, like determining your leader by tier.

Some changes raise my eyebrow, like the Heroic Challenge. The heroes in the upper levels, that couldnt fend of an enemy middleclass hero, where few in the last iteration and mainly wizards on both sides. And nobody worth their salt gets their high cost hero in battle with an enemy duelling machine. For me it doesn´t make sense, to utter a challenge, when in a fight and not before, like in 3 inches of the enemy hero. As when the fight is happening, the other player already made mistakes and this is just an additional penalty, which seems pretty situational. Or am I overlooking something?

This box gives insane savings.

$250AUD for $628 worth of gear



I really like that they give you the actual rulebook and not just an abridged one.

The measurers are a bit of a let down. Fun and funky, sure. But did we really need 5 different sized swords? Why not give us the witch mace instead? Or Sam's frying pan rather then the morgul dagger. I'd love a wee frying pan to measure gak with.

Any of the US internet retailers offering this for pre-order? I didn't see it on the Warstore or Miniaturemarket.

Great to see LotR being properly treated again, tbh.

And they've done the preorder exactly the same week Humble Bundle is doing a One Ring bundle. What a serendipitious coincidence...

 CptJake wrote:
Any of the US internet retailers offering this for pre-order? I didn't see it on the Warstore or Miniaturemarket.

The Warstore has it, just listed under their "Lord of the Rings" section.

Probably already been mentioned, but the digital version of the rule book is significantly cheaper than the hardback if you're looking to save as much money as possible.

 D6Damager wrote:
Probably already been mentioned, but the digital version of the rule book is significantly cheaper than the hardback if you're looking to save as much money as possible.

You're right... but I noticed there's no digital edition for the Armies of LotR book? Any idea what's up with that?

I literally cannot believe people are bitching about the price.

the entire Lord of the Rings range got a price decrease overall, _especially_ the cost for armies and stats. Previously (the 2010-2018 era) you needed five $28 books - totalling $140 - to get the profiles just for Lord of the Rings, now you need a single $60 Armies book that is 260 pages hardcover containing 27 army lists and 269 profiles. Even the rulebook decreased; the last edition of SBG was a $74 rulebook.

I'm looking forward to people complaining next that there's not enough books. "Last edition seemed like a value when you had the AUJ rulebook and 5 LOTR army books and 1 Hobbit army book so it felt like you were gaining muscle mass lugging around a hundred pounds of rules, but now there's a single rulebook and only two army books? I feel GW is cheating me that I'm not getting enough of a workout"


Automatically Appended Next Post:
For example

Davor wrote:
Uh, you are incorrect here. You are talking about the source books AFTER the release of the game and a few years by that. So of course things will change and new stuff will be added in. I am talking about starting a new edition. Just like how LotR SBG came out. It was a new edition but had everything all in one. Be it the hard cover rule book or the beginner rule book in the starter set. Making them seperate is Kirby-esque as our friend Azreal13 put it.

Davor wrote:
Everything should be included in the rule book like it was before with LotR.

This person may be unaware that they are pining for the old blue hardcover SBG rulebook which had only a few dozen profiles in it - roughly 20% of the model range had their stats and points in the One Book, as it was called, and it was immediately invalidated by the series of supplements that GW released that all had a mismatch of new profiles and scenarios. And throughout this entire phase there was still no cohesive army creation and mached play system. So half of the rulebook was invalid and was replaced by ELEVEN other softcover supplements. And then you needed Legions, a twelfth book, to even build an army, using the profiles from the eleven other books, which had all invalidated the profiles in your main rulebook. These are some seriously rose-tinted glasses you got on here. AND THEN all twelve of those books were invalidated and five new books replaced them in 2010! Welcome to having bought the rulebook plus seventeen books.

Either you are advocating for a single hardcover book that contains _everything_ so 208 page rules, plus 260 pages of Lord of the Rings, plus, we'll say, 150 pages or so of The Hobbit, and all the accompanying scenarios - ie, a 600 page book, which is awful,
Or, you are advocating for a book that contains one fifth of the profiles and armies and then eleven additional supplements you would have to buy, one every few months, to get all of the armies, and then a twelfth book so you had the rules to build an army list?

This viewpoint, or opinion, is absurd, and wrong. Subjectively and objectively. What is happening now is the opposite of the Kirby-era days, where you HAD to buy a dozen books. SBG now has a single rulebook, a single book for LOTR, and a single book for The Hobbit. It is cheaper now, in now dollars, to have everything for SBG than it was from 2005-2010 not even adjusted for inflation, and there's quadruple - or more - the number of profiles and army lists now than in the "glory days" of 2005...



For those that scoff at this "dozen" books claim:






Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Galas wrote:
Wasnt this what people wanted? Every list into a comppendium. Is like all the 40k indexs, but in one book.

Yes, it's literally what the entire SBG community has been asking GW for for fifteen years.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Hanskrampf wrote:
So I always wanted an Easterling army... but a lot of the models are still GW Direct Only. Do We know more kits will make their way back into the market and/or army boxes (Start Collecting!) are coming?

Most of the plastics are being branded for retail release; but I believe all metal and finecast will remain direct only _for now_


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 CptJake wrote:
Any of the US internet retailers offering this for pre-order? I didn't see it on the Warstore or Miniaturemarket.

Ministomp has everything at 15 to 30 % off.

New branding.

Notice that the plastic eagles have The Hobbit logo but the package is still uniform to the Middle-earth branding.

I'm with Doug here. I just got six new Middle-Earth players for our venue, and five more sign-ups for our upcoming GT on the strength of the game, and its insane value proposition.

These were 40k/AoS players, absolutely blown away by how far their money could go in this game system.

Now, if I could just pre-order a digital Armies of LotR book, i'd be set. :-p

Newest update: https://www.warhammer-community.com/2018/08/27/27th-aug-army-special-rules-good-middle-earthfw-homepage-post-3gw-homepage-post-3/

Against lighter troops, like normal Orcs, Rohan cavalry just got devastating. No more -1 to hit for thrown weapons when charging means it's very possible for Rohan cav to charge, throw spear, kill enemy, redirect charge, get +1 S for charging, kill enemy. Yowzas!

Also, love LOVE the Ent army rule.

From Warhammer Community:

Middle-earth at NOVA
With the new edition of the Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game launching this weekend, Adam Troke – part of the team behind the game – will be on hand with a preview seminar looking at what fans can expect for the game going forward (in short – you’ve got a lot to look forward to).

Really looking forward to seeing out comes out of this.

 judgedoug wrote:
Newest update: https://www.warhammer-community.com/2018/08/27/27th-aug-army-special-rules-good-middle-earthfw-homepage-post-3gw-homepage-post-3/

Against lighter troops, like normal Orcs, Rohan cavalry just got devastating. No more -1 to hit for thrown weapons when charging means it's very possible for Rohan cav to charge, throw spear, kill enemy, redirect charge, get +1 S for charging, kill enemy. Yowzas!

Also, love LOVE the Ent army rule.

With Hurl requiring a little more positioning/skill, but still being quite strong, I feel like Fanghorn/Ents have just become really massively improved thanks to those special army buffs!

Would you look at that, 15% off on eBay tomorrow.

Box set and armies book for $160? Yes please. Might see if I can snag an Ent or a metal Treebeard too.

judgedoug wrote:I literally cannot believe people are bitching about the price.

Spoiler:

the entire Lord of the Rings range got a price decrease overall, _especially_ the cost for armies and stats. Previously (the 2010-2018 era) you needed five $28 books - totalling $140 - to get the profiles just for Lord of the Rings, now you need a single $60 Armies book that is 260 pages hardcover containing 27 army lists and 269 profiles. Even the rulebook decreased; the last edition of SBG was a $74 rulebook.

I'm looking forward to people complaining next that there's not enough books. "Last edition seemed like a value when you had the AUJ rulebook and 5 LOTR army books and 1 Hobbit army book so it felt like you were gaining muscle mass lugging around a hundred pounds of rules, but now there's a single rulebook and only two army books? I feel GW is cheating me that I'm not getting enough of a workout"


Automatically Appended Next Post:
For example

Davor wrote:
Uh, you are incorrect here. You are talking about the source books AFTER the release of the game and a few years by that. So of course things will change and new stuff will be added in. I am talking about starting a new edition. Just like how LotR SBG came out. It was a new edition but had everything all in one. Be it the hard cover rule book or the beginner rule book in the starter set. Making them seperate is Kirby-esque as our friend Azreal13 put it.

Davor wrote:
Everything should be included in the rule book like it was before with LotR.

This person may be unaware that they are pining for the old blue hardcover SBG rulebook which had only a few dozen profiles in it - roughly 20% of the model range had their stats and points in the One Book, as it was called, and it was immediately invalidated by the series of supplements that GW released that all had a mismatch of new profiles and scenarios. And throughout this entire phase there was still no cohesive army creation and mached play system. So half of the rulebook was invalid and was replaced by ELEVEN other softcover supplements. And then you needed Legions, a twelfth book, to even build an army, using the profiles from the eleven other books, which had all invalidated the profiles in your main rulebook. These are some seriously rose-tinted glasses you got on here. AND THEN all twelve of those books were invalidated and five new books replaced them in 2010! Welcome to having bought the rulebook plus seventeen books.

Either you are advocating for a single hardcover book that contains _everything_ so 208 page rules, plus 260 pages of Lord of the Rings, plus, we'll say, 150 pages or so of The Hobbit, and all the accompanying scenarios - ie, a 600 page book, which is awful,
Or, you are advocating for a book that contains one fifth of the profiles and armies and then eleven additional supplements you would have to buy, one every few months, to get all of the armies, and then a twelfth book so you had the rules to build an army list?

This viewpoint, or opinion, is absurd, and wrong. Subjectively and objectively. What is happening now is the opposite of the Kirby-era days, where you HAD to buy a dozen books. SBG now has a single rulebook, a single book for LOTR, and a single book for The Hobbit. It is cheaper now, in now dollars, to have everything for SBG than it was from 2005-2010 not even adjusted for inflation, and there's quadruple - or more - the number of profiles and army lists now than in the "glory days" of 2005...

Spoiler:

For those that scoff at this "dozen" books claim:

[spoiler]this is what you actually needed in 2005-2010 to play SBG with all of the profiles:
The Lord of the Rings SBG blue rulebook
Shadow & Flame
Siege of Gondor
The Battle of Pelennor Fields
The Scouring of the Shire
A Shadow in the East
Fall of the Necromancer
Khazad-Dum (replaced about half of the content in Shadow & Flame)
The Ruin of Arnor
Gondor in Flames (replaced about half of the content in each of Siege of Gondor and Pelennor Fields)
Harad
Mordor
Legions of Middle Earth (to build your army lists) which was then replaced with...
Warhosts (to build your army lists)

and then everything above was replaced by five books, so if you happened to get into LOTR right before the Hobbit came out, you only needed six books to have everything!)

this is what you needed in Hobbit era (from the last era, up to next Saturday!)

The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey (rulebook plus profiles for the first Hobbit film)
LOTR: Mordor army book
LOTR: Fallen Realms army book
LOTR: Moria & Angmar army book
LOTR: Free Peoples army book
LOTR: Kingdoms of Men army book
Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug (replaced)
Hobbit: Battle of Five Armies (replaced)
Hobbit: There and Back Again (replaced Desolation and Battle of Five Armies)

[/spoiler]

To be fair a few people tried to mock me or shame me for having an opinion with no real explanation. Am I complaining about price though? No. My complaint is about buying a separate rule book for points and values when before we didn't need to. So please don't try and shame me by saying I am complaining about price. Also I SAID was this was one of the reasons why I left when The Hobbit came. In the One rule book we had ALL the stats and Prices points in the book. Be it in The One Rule book or Boxset. When The Hobbit came out we got all the stats in the Boxset but no point costs. So to get point costs we had to rebuy the new The Hobbit hard cover book.

That is my point. While everything else was done well with this new release the point that LOTS OF OTHER PEOPLE HATED was having to buy The Hobbit hard cover book just for the points. Funny how GW eventually gave out the points for free about 2 or so years later when the sales for The Hobbit were not there.

Point is not about PRICE but about buying separate products when the game line NEVER INTRODUCED it EVER. Only done when the Kirby years was to take more for less.

So pleas if you are going to mock me, or shame me, mock me on something I am talking about not what I am not complaining about.


As for about the One Rule Book about having 20% of the units. That is a great point. Maybe with my failing memory, I am forgot. That would be a great reason to why it's done. Sadly the rest of the people who tried to shame/mock me never brought that up. I admit when I am wrong. So maybe I am wrong in that regard. Thing is, the supplements that added stuff to the game, didn't come "right after" but I do see your point. Just explain why GW can give all the stats to ALL the armies in the starter set, but not the point costs. Going by your explanations, all the stats shouldn't have been in The Hobbit Boxset then either.


That said, I never complained about price, and when I have the money saved, I can't wait to start buying all these products. Hopefully they will still be available when it the time comes.

Yeah you need to buy separate book rather than hving to buy 11 separate books. Whee! The horror!

tneva82 wrote:
Yeah you need to buy separate book rather than hving to buy 11 separate books. Whee! The horror!

I edited my post because I hit post by accident. So you didn't get to read all I wanted to say. Ok Mr Mocker/Shamer please explain how The Hobbit boxset can give you ALL the stats for the previous minis but not the points. They already did it for one book. All stats in the boxset. So I am not sure where this buying 11 separate books is coming from.


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That said, I said my point, people disagree. We are allowed to have our opinions. We don't need to try and prove someone's opinion wrong just because you disagree.

Let's talk about the awesomeness that is coming out. Remember if I said something in the negative a few days ago, I am fighting depression and that day saying what I did I just let it out. Disagree with me, just let it go. I still think what is coming is awesome.

Davor wrote:

judgedoug wrote:

Davor wrote:
Everything should be included in the rule book like it was before with LotR.

This person may be unaware that they are pining for the old blue hardcover SBG rulebook which had only a few dozen profiles in it - roughly 20% of the model range had their stats and points in the One Book, as it was called, and it was immediately invalidated by the series of supplements that GW released that all had a mismatch of new profiles and scenarios. And throughout this entire phase there was still no cohesive army creation and mached play system. So half of the rulebook was invalid and was replaced by ELEVEN other softcover supplements. And then you needed Legions, a twelfth book, to even build an army, using the profiles from the eleven other books, which had all invalidated the profiles in your main rulebook.

That said, I never complained about price, and when I have the money saved, I can't wait to start buying all these products. Hopefully they will still be available when it the time comes.

I do apologize as I did not intend to pile on you - there had been several other price complaints, which is mind-boggling to me. It was specifically your quote about the One Book rulebook that I was like... whaaaaaatttttt??? to, because that book kinda really sucked.

But yes, the One Book rulebook did not have all of the unit stats/points nor proper army creation for matched play. By the end of 2009, you needed literally eleven sourcebooks to have all of the profiles, plus Legions and then Warhosts to "properly" make a points match army... and those books invalidated half of the One Book rulebook, so those pages were filler/wasted. So that you didn't have to lug around several pounds of useless paper in the One Book hardcover, you had to buy the Mines of Moria starter set to get the tiny blue One Book softcover that didn't have all that extra stuff that had been invalidated and replaced. The five new army books in 2010 helped by reducing 11/12 supplements to five, but then the Hobbit stuff just added on even more...

I am personally so, so happy that there is a single rulebook that is focused entirely on the rules, without extraneous profiles and scenarios cluttering up the main rules, and that it's a "slim" 208 pages instead of 300+ page monster like the Hobbit rulebook. But, it's because Adam and Jay spend the last several years interacting with the community online, on facebook, in person, at events, and attempting to craft the new SBG releases into what the community really wanted.

Davor wrote:
Just explain why GW can give all the stats to ALL the armies in the starter set, but not the point costs. Going by your explanations, all the stats shouldn't have been in The Hobbit Boxset then either.

I'm not sure what you mean with this one.

I don't know to word this without getting a response in big red letters so uh...

Just... uh... "Borrow" the contents of the armies book from someone who bought it. Or wait for the points and profiles to find their way to BattleScribe or a similar service.

Thank you judgehog. I swear the ORB had all the profiles. If I am mistaken thank you very much for the correction.

Now I can be wrong here, but didn't The Hobbit mini rule book that came with the boxset had all the profiles of the minis but no point costs. I think the exception was the Ghost Warriors (see memory fading forget what they are called) were not in the Mini rule book from the boxset.

So for people to say that it wasn't done would be incorrect is my point. GW have already did all the stats in one book. So why do it again separately?

But I see your point in having a smaller book carrying around instead of all the rules. Those things are huge and heavy.

So I see your point and thank you for the explanation. I can understand why it was done while I still may not like it.

 zend wrote:
I don't know to word this without getting a response in big red letters so uh...

Just... uh... "Borrow" the contents of the armies book from someone who bought it. Or wait for the points and profiles to find their way to BattleScribe or a similar service.

Oh I am going to buy it. All my point was that I didn't agree with this one point that GW did. You know, just stating an opinion.

Davor wrote:
Thank you judgehog. I swear the ORB had all the profiles. If I am mistaken thank you very much for the correction.

Now I can be wrong here, but didn't The Hobbit mini rule book that came with the boxset had all the profiles of the minis but no point costs. I think the exception was the Ghost Warriors (see memory fading forget what they are called) were not in the Mini rule book from the boxset.

Ah, you mean the stats reference index? Yup, it was a quick reference you could flip to, to make sure the D of that model you're beating on is 6 or not. But it contained no information such as what type of model, it's wargear, options, special abilities, or anything else. Sure, there's Dalmyr's statline, but how do his smoke bombs and his assassination abilities work? Even if there was a points cost it would have been useless as anything other than a stat reference. By adding in all that information, well, then you start to actually have the full profiles, and then it takes up a ton of room, and that's the point of the separate Armies of Lord of the Rings book, with 27 army lists and 269 profiles and a dozen narrative scenarios and pretty pictures and all that jazz

You win judgedoug. Fully explained very well.

So my new question is, is this only going to last for a year and a half? I can't remember where I read that GW got the LotR license extended to 2020. Is that true? So this will be a short run if GW doesn't renew the license? Please someone tell me I am wrong and this can last another 10 years or more.

Obviously the ideal set up for rulebooks would be one master rulebook that would take precedence over everything with three army books for the elves, seven army books for the dwarves and nine army books for the kingdoms of men.

Its been a long time since I was up to speed with the details of GW's licence, but I would be amazed if they were unable to renew the licence. They'll surely do well enough from this re-release that it will suit all parties to negotiate a deal extension.

Honestly, the time to be worried about GW LOTR's longevity has passed and we won't need to worry about it for a good long time at any rate.

Davor wrote:
So my new question is, is this only going to last for a year and a half?

Would be pretty silly to go to all this trouble for a year and half, no?

 Manchu wrote:

Davor wrote:
So my new question is, is this only going to last for a year and a half?

Would be pretty silly to go to all this trouble for a year and half, no?

I am sure GW would try to renew but I thought I read the people who hold the rights might not let them renew anymore. All I remember was that LotR license was renewed (last year?) and it could have been the last time it was renewed not on GW part but on the license holder. (Tolkien Estate?) Hope they get it. This looks even better than AoS and 40K.

Davor wrote:
You win judgedoug. Fully explained very well.

So my new question is, is this only going to last for a year and a half? I can't remember where I read that GW got the LotR license extended to 2020. Is that true? So this will be a short run if GW doesn't renew the license? Please someone tell me I am wrong and this can last another 10 years or more.

Haha

From what I recall, last year they announced the license was renewed for a decade. A few weeks ago Adam mentioned on the Twitch stream that they had planned for monthly new releases through 2020, and that Theoden was the first in a series of new plastic kits.

So there might have been some conflating of the 'releases thru 2020' as the license, but that's not the case. Just that they have 27 months or so of releases planned

I don't think it's likely, no but... It's not without precedence.

Basically, so far, GW have sculpted 2 models, Theoden on foot and mounted.

The rest has been printing new cardboard boxes, modelwise.

The main investment so far has been in the books.

6th edition 40k was out for 18 months, had similar amounts of writing in it.

Broadly speaking, most of the specialist games throughout the late 90's and 2000s had releases for 6 months, general acknowledgement of existence for a further 6 months, then left to wither and die on the vine. EG: BFG, Gorkamorka, Epic40k, Mordheim, Inquisitor, Warmaster, Necromunda 3rd Edition.

Heck, should I even mention "War of the Ring?"

Like I said, I don't think it's likely, New Line do seem to be investing in keeping the franchise going (EG Shadow of War) but I wouldn't dismiss someones concerns about its life.

Me, personally, I'm buying the things, but with a very good eye looking at using them for Kings of War.

Doubtful that they'd randomly decide to drop it at this point. The game has been continuously supported, in print, with models available, since it first launched almost sixteen years ago. Even during the "dark days" of 2015 and 2016, there were still hundreds of models available. It then got a dedicated rules and miniatures design team and has had several oop models come back in print and dozens of new models and two supplements be released _before_ the new edition was made official. The renewing of the license for a lengthy amount of time coupled with an announced far-reaching release schedule seems to indicate that GW is in it for the long haul.

I would be remiss to not mention the intense support from the SBG community, who continued to hold massive events worldwide that GW staff would attend. Adam Troke attributes much of the renewed vigor to the rabid fanbase as well. It also speaks volumes that the GW staff themselves actively participate in the fanmade Facebook groups - and let's not forget that the person in charge of the new edition is Jay Clare, who has attended and participated in basically every major event for the last few years with the purpose of ironing out matched-play rules loopholes - and there's also apparently a huge number of community playtesters, bound by NDA as they have been playtesting the new edition for quite a while along with future releases.

Yeah. GW has the license for another 10 years at least. Since lotr was handed over to forgeworld they have done more than 50 new resin sculpts.
They have a dedicated rules writer and designer. I wouldn't expect new minis every week or anything but I fully expect the range to be supported for the foreseeable future. I would not be surprised if GW try to pick up the license for the TV show when that comes out.
Honestly the box set was more than I was expecting but this release, along with the promise of a selection of new plastics, has really got me interested in the game again.

The demand has exceeded supply by a fair margin, it seems.

Several UK retailers are posting on the Facebook group that they are not getting their full orders. To be fair, it seems these retailers placed their trade orders after the cutoff date. But as of today, GW UK Trade allotment is completely out of Pelennor Fields box and might have to shift some from Direct or GW Retail. Always good to see the demand outpacing what GW expected!

Hope I ordered in time, I only got around to ordering last night.

Glad to hear it's doing well.

I couldn't be happier that it's done so well, there's such an enthusiastic community around LOTR/Hobbit that have kept going in spite of years of almost no new releases/support - really nice to see the game come back from that

Preordered mine with my FLGS. Timing was good as I sold some stuff at our biannual auction last weekend and had a fair chunk of store credit! Very excited, now all I have to do is figure out how to expand both armies!

I've had to be a grown up and pass on the pre order. I'm keen to assemble enough for two small Titanicus forces, and I've got a pile of unpainted Guild Ball to work through.

Still keen to pick this up though, but if supplies are tight one of you lucky people will get yours because I was sensible. You're welcome!

These are some of the first GW products that I've ever pre-ordered. I've been waiting to do a Minas Tirith army since they shrunk the boxes and jacked up the prices, so I've got 5 boxes of the WOMT and 4 of Knights on order.


Very much looking forward to the re-release.

I wonder if they'll tie it in to the 'TV series.'

It would make sense, given that New Line and the estate have heavily invested in it, might as well pick up some money with existing relationships.

That's been asked on the live stream; IIRC, it's a "maybe". Their licence covers the books and the six films (including likenesses), and allows them to add characters from the books in the style of the films. The likenesses of the TV series, and any events created in it*, will be a separate matter. I'm sure it's being discussed, but nothing to be announced yet.

* as in, if GW only had the licence based on the books, then they could make an Aragorn miniature, but they couldn't make it look like Viggo Mortensen, or have it wearing the clothes he wore in the films.

From Warhammer Community:

Gandalf the White™ and Pippin™

With the new rules available to pre-order, there’s never been a better time to return to Middle-earth – and it’s about to get even better. Having brought King Théoden to life in glorious plastic in the Battle of Pelennor Fields boxed set, more characters are due a long-awaited makeover – starting with Gandalf the White and Pippin as they appeared during this climactic conflict:



With the new Middle-earth Rules Manual and the Armies of The Lord of The Rings™ book gathering all the aforementioned forces and rules for easy reference, we’ll be supporting the game going forward with a series of in-depth campaign books designed to explore the most iconic moments from the series.

The first of these will be Gondor at War, covering the events of the War of the Ring as it sweeps across Gondor, from the ambush at Ithilien and the fall of Osgiliath to the Battle of Pelennor Fields and the march on the Black Gate of Mordor itself. You’ll find tactical primers, loads of scenarios and rewards for theming your army to the forces that fought in this time of war – like King Théoden’s final epic charge.

My heart! I'm so happy!!

Oh that is beautiful.... now lets see a new Imrahil!

Wow, that Gandalf really looks like Ian McKellen. At the same time... what happened to Pippin? o.O

Pippin's face has just suffered a poor paint job I think. But goddamn having to paint another thousand shades of white and cream again..

My emptying bank account sheds another tear...

The Pellinor Fields box isn't a limited one-and-done release, is it? I'm interested in getting back into LotR - still have ALL my models - and the box contains a lot of stuff to fill holes in my collection. But, I'm not going to be able to pick it up for a month or three, and I hope it's not a case of, "We sold out at release and that was all we were making, sorry."

No more than Dark Imperium or Soul Wars is.

Anyway, unless the hole in your collection is Théoden, there's nothing in it you can't buy separately anyway (apart from the dice and counters, I suppose).

I think it's more for the massive discount you can get that people are more concerned. But it is a starter set, so it should stay around for a good few years.

 Psychopomp wrote:
The Pellinor Fields box isn't a limited one-and-done release, is it? I'm interested in getting back into LotR - still have ALL my models - and the box contains a lot of stuff to fill holes in my collection. But, I'm not going to be able to pick it up for a month or three, and I hope it's not a case of, "We sold out at release and that was all we were making, sorry."

The only thing that might happen is it goes to Direct Only, but I don't think that will happen.

New article up:

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2018/08/30/middle-earth-strategy-battle-game-big-rules-changes-army-bonuses-for-evilfw-homepage-post-3gw-homepage-post-2/

Evil bonuses this time. Like the Mordor one, that's a bit more thematic. A little bit split on the Easterling one. It's not going to come into play until the game is pretty much over. Although being able to influence when the game ends could throw up some interesting possibilities.

I plan of starting an Easterling from Rhûn army... and I don't know how usefull will be the trait... but I have lost enough games where if I had one extra turn I could have won... so I think it will become usefull.

That's a huge bonus for Easterlings. There have been many games of SBG where an extra turn would have been REALLY useful, especially against horde armies, as their numbers have usually dwindled enough and another turn will allow you to take objectives from them.

Sgt. Cortez wrote:Wow, that Gandalf really looks like Ian McKellen. At the same time... what happened to Pippin? o.O

My thoughts exactly.


Sorry I can't remember if this was answered. Is the boxset time exclusive? Or will this be still available in a few months or next year.

Davor wrote:

Sgt. Cortez wrote:Wow, that Gandalf really looks like Ian McKellen. At the same time... what happened to Pippin? o.O

My thoughts exactly.


Sorry I can't remember if this was answered. Is the boxset time exclusive? Or will this be still available in a few months or next year.

It's a starter set, like 40k or AOS, so it will be in print as long as they want to keep it in print, but has not been announced as limited in any way.


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Sgt. Cortez wrote:Wow, that Gandalf really looks like Ian McKellen. At the same time... what happened to Pippin? o.O

Inquisitor Gideon wrote:Pippin's face has just suffered a poor paint job I think. But goddamn having to paint another thousand shades of white and cream again..

I'm gonna have to go with "his face is like 2mm in diameter and the painter tried his damndest because they blow up models about five times their actual size on the preview images"

Thank you judgedog. Good to know it's a starter set and will still be available later. Was stressing out. I want all this so bad but can't right now since I already bought GW stuff with my budget blown now. :(

Apparently we have our own website now (kinda)

https://middle-earthstrategybattlegame.com/#utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Facebook&utm_campaign=FWWebsiteAug30&utm_content=FWWebsiteAug30

Also apparently, Pippin is detachable from the new Gandalf model. So you can just have Gandalf on Shadowfax if you wanted. Could be cool for a different pony version of Pippin. (confirmed by Adam Troke on the GBHL fb page.

 Inquisitor Gideon wrote:
Apparently we have our own website now (kinda)

https://middle-earthstrategybattlegame.com/#utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Facebook&utm_campaign=FWWebsiteAug30&utm_content=FWWebsiteAug30

Also apparently, Pippin is detachable from the new Gandalf model. So you can just have Gandalf on Shadowfax if you wanted. Could be cool for a different pony version of Pippin. (confirmed by Adam Troke on the GBHL fb page.

Also confirmed he comes with a plastic on-foot version.

Makes me wonder if we will see an Eowyn with Merry mounted model, or even a remake of the old Arwen with Frodo down the line. Certainly, given where they are kicking off things, an Eowyn with Merry on horse would be logical. Not that I think the Eowyn mounted version we have is by any means a bad model of course.

Any thoughts on what other new models we could see for this Gondor at War expansion? As nice as that new Gandalf model is, some new stuff from the books could be nice. I guess new knights of Dol Amroth are one thing we already know of.

There were a couple of little dioramas I expect will make a limited return. Pretty sure I already have them in a long forgotten box somewhere though...

Hurin of the Keys from FW is probably gonna be in there

I got an email from The Outpost yesterday saying they'd received a lot less of their Pelennor Fields order than they were expecting and weren't getting firm answers from GW on where the stock was and when it'd be getting to them but hoping next week. Bit of a bummer, but at least it's not a Titanicus situation...

GW has posted a get-you-by FAQ for The Armies of The Hobbit until the book is released:

https://whc-cdn.games-workshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Heroes-and-Villians-Hobbit.pdf

 Commander Cain wrote:
Any thoughts on what other new models we could see for this Gondor at War expansion? As nice as that new Gandalf model is, some new stuff from the books could be nice. I guess new knights of Dol Amroth are one thing we already know of.

There were a couple of little dioramas I expect will make a limited return. Pretty sure I already have them in a long forgotten box somewhere though...

I'd hope to see a new Faramir Ranger model (and Damrod, if they can be bothered). That's one model that I really don't like anymore for its proportions and look.

I know there's a disclaimer on the pdf that says the profiles are likely to change, but damn that Azog and Bolg are still F7. That should never have been the case at the start and I am hoping it gets reduced on the review.

 Inquisitor Gideon wrote:
I know there's a disclaimer on the pdf that says the profiles are likely to change, but damn that Azog and Bolg are still F7. That should never have been the case at the start and I am hoping it gets reduced on the review.

I'd agree... but my Azog's Hunters army struggles so much... i'll take anything I can get. :-p

 Ghaz wrote:
GW has posted a get-you-by FAQ for The Armies of The Hobbit until the book is released:

https://whc-cdn.games-workshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Heroes-and-Villians-Hobbit.pdf

One of the GW people posted the wrong one - correct one is - https://www.warhammer-community.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Heroes-and-Villians-Hobbit8qi.pdf


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https://www.warhammer-community.com/2018/08/31/white-dwarf-september-previewgw-homepage-post-4/

For the first time in many years, White Dwarf's front cover is Middle-earth, and it beats out Rogue Trader and Space Wolves Codex

Are White Dwarf books really that thick now?

Davor wrote:
Are White Dwarf books really that thick now?

They are pretty damn beefy. I subscribed earlier this year because of all the Middle-earth content, scenarios, campaigns, and Battle companies rosters and scenarios, and have very much enjoyed all the crap they pack into each issue, along with a surprising amount of interesting content (the article/interview with Brian Nelson about designing the AOS Nighthaunts was really fascinating to read)

Thanks again judgedoug. One of the reasons why I stopped buying White Dwarf was there wasn't any LotR content. So glad they are back.

Once my financial situation improves I will have to start collecting WD again.

Watching the Fellowship of the ring. The final battle reminded me one of my favourite battle reports in white dwarf of the end with first Aragorn cutting through Uruk-Hai's in record time(Albeit helped by Uruk-Hai player going for cool rather than optimal) before second scenario with Boromir where Boromir performed heroic tricks before falling(appropriately enough) 3 shots.

These kind of scenarios were my favourite things about LOTR besides siege. Hoping new books will have plenty interesting ones like this.

tneva82 wrote:
Watching the Fellowship of the ring. The final battle reminded me one of my favourite battle reports in white dwarf of the end with first Aragorn cutting through Uruk-Hai's in record time(Albeit helped by Uruk-Hai player going for cool rather than optimal) before second scenario with Boromir where Boromir performed heroic tricks before falling(appropriately enough) 3 shots.

These kind of scenarios were my favourite things about LOTR besides siege. Hoping new books will have plenty interesting ones like this.

I agree completely; but it seems that Adam and others have very much pushed Narrative play to the forefront, especially as the first official expansion is what appears to be a narrative campaign book with Gondor at War. I am personally so very excited about this news.

 judgedoug wrote:

tneva82 wrote:
Watching the Fellowship of the ring. The final battle reminded me one of my favourite battle reports in white dwarf of the end with first Aragorn cutting through Uruk-Hai's in record time(Albeit helped by Uruk-Hai player going for cool rather than optimal) before second scenario with Boromir where Boromir performed heroic tricks before falling(appropriately enough) 3 shots.

These kind of scenarios were my favourite things about LOTR besides siege. Hoping new books will have plenty interesting ones like this.

I agree completely; but it seems that Adam and others have very much pushed Narrative play to the forefront, especially as the first official expansion is what appears to be a narrative campaign book with Gondor at War. I am personally so very excited about this news.

That's why I'm hoping for plenty interesting ones like That. These are exactly fit for narrative game so if that is being put on forefront it's promising for chances of getting lots of them

I wonder if the other re boxed units like the knights of dol amroth or morgul knights will no longer be web store exclusives soon. I hope so, discounts at FLGS are nice.

Hopefully. I'm eyeing up a Kházad-Dum force, but typically it's all still direct only.

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2018/09/06/look-to-the-east-for-classic-models-return/

There is exciting news this week, with the Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game released into the world, along with the mighty Battle of Pelennor Fields boxed game and a slew of new dice, measurers and repackaged kits (perfect for building your own army of Rohan, Mordor and more). There were even exciting previews from the NOVA Open convention about the future of the game, with confirmation of a brand-new plastic Gandalf the White and Peregrin Took kit heading our way, and a tease of the the first sourcebook for the new edition, Gondor at War, shown during the Studio preview event.

With all that said, eagle-eyed fans of the game, scouring Games Workshop’s online store with the determination of Nazgûl pursuing the Ringbearer, have spotted that a number of metal and resin kits have vanished. Do not fear, many of these models will be returning in new packaging in the not-too-distant future.

In even better news, we’ll also see the return of certain classic The Lord of the Rings™ models that haven’t been available for several years.

With Gondor at War announced, we have a pretty strong clue as to what the theme of the first of these will be. Expect to see much requested classics, such as the Khandish King on Chariot, Corsairs of Umbar Captains, the Army of the Dead Banner Bearer and more returning to the range alongside this forthcoming supplement.

That’s not all. There are also plans afoot for some special Made to Order releases. For those unfamiliar with Made to Order, these are limited-time releases of classic miniatures, so that veterans of the hobby who missed out on a key figure can add it to their forces, or newer players can pick them up for the first time – these models won’t be on store shelves, but will be specially made once your order is placed. So, if there’s something you would like to see become available for a short period, why not let us know on our Facebook page? We’ll make sure to forward your suggestions on.

Until then, enjoy discovering all the exciting developments in the new edition of the game, and building your armies for war. And remember, keep an eye the on Warhammer Community website for the very latest news!

Goodbye my money, I knew ye well

Yeah, if they are repackagin many of those metal and resin models, does that mean they will no longer be direct-only?

Does that mean I'll be able to buy a Black-Guard of Barad-Dur force?!

I have a feeling that GW is not prepared for the demand existing for certain OOP LotR sculpts.

Looks like I'm starting a small Khandish army.

I'm definitely looking forwards to the re-release of models. The army lists have a lot of stuff that is missing from the stores.

I got my rulebook today; only to discover that the profiles rulebook is a separate book. Godammit.

Oh man... there are soooooo many limited/rare sculpts i'll be buying, and that is just speaking of characters I already own, that have even cooler alt models I could never track down or justify.

 Ketara wrote:
I got my rulebook today; only to discover that the profiles rulebook is a separate book. Godammit.

I take it you didn't see what I said a few pages back and the responses to it.

So, for those with more of a clue, I'm not likely going to pick up anything until the new year of any substance, but given the Made To Order stuff is time sensitive, is there anything that a prospective Rohan general with a touch of Mordor on the side should grab while they're available?

 Azreal13 wrote:
So, for those with more of a clue, I'm not likely going to pick up anything until the new year of any substance, but given the Made To Order stuff is time sensitive, is there anything that a prospective Rohan general with a touch of Mordor on the side should grab while they're available?

Rohan's not bad at the moment. There are variant character sculpts missing - unarmoured Eowyn springs to mind - and an OOP model of Hama the doorwarden. IIRC they also made a sculpt of Theodred, Theoden's son. Eorl the Young is also missing.

Troops-wise, it was always a small list. There are variant sculpts for the Royal Guard and Outriders in the product listings. The Son of Eorl is currently the only troop not on the GW website - someone correct me if I'm wrong, please.

Edit: the Son of Eorl mini is searchable on the GW site, but not in the Rohan listing...

The army is well playable with the currently available minis.

Pretty much any sculpts available through Made To Order for armies you are interested in running will be worth buying.

Are there many metal casts left in the LOTR range or is it just plastic and resin?

Loads of metal. As a rule of thumb, if a set contains three models, its metal, if its 4, its resin. Some of the largish single models like the cave troll and warg chieftain are also metal.

 Manchu wrote:
I have a feeling that GW is not prepared for the demand existing for certain OOP LotR sculpts.

It all depends on how much they listen to the Middle-earth team, who are quite aware of the demand for existing certain OOP LotR sculpts.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Azreal13 wrote:
So, for those with more of a clue, I'm not likely going to pick up anything until the new year of any substance, but given the Made To Order stuff is time sensitive, is there anything that a prospective Rohan general with a touch of Mordor on the side should grab while they're available?

Unless something has changed drastically from the last half-dozen times GW has brought it up - including this article - there will be no Made To Order for profiles that only have a single model. Made To Order is for alternate poses only, in case you wanted a specific Aragorn.
This first wave of re-releases will center on ROTK/Pelennor, and then at some point they will cycle out this release wave and rerelease whatever next (maybe Two Towers, who knows) for x number of months.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Ketara wrote:
I got my rulebook today; only to discover that the profiles rulebook is a separate book. Godammit.

At first I was a fan of the 200 page rulebook being separate from the 260 page Armies book but now I kind of wish that the Armies book was split into two books (good and evil) because it's fething massive. Either people want a giant 460 page book or they're me and want a 200 page rulebook and 130 page good army book and 130 page evil army book. no matter what GW can't win. and then don't forget Hobbit armies book will be probably 150 pages. there's a lot of hobbit army profiles

Thankfully the enhanced iBook of the Armies book is coming very soon so I have a feeling the iPad I specifically bought for Middle-earth will be getting more usage than the books

 Galas wrote:
Yeah, if they are repackagin many of those metal and resin models, does that mean they will no longer be direct-only?

Does that mean I'll be able to buy a Black-Guard of Barad-Dur force?!

Most will remain Direct Only but all the white box packaging is changing to Middle-earth branded stuff, even Direct Only items.

(source: John McConnell of ASBGA/DCHL posted that his Direct-Order Uruk-Hai Scouts set came in a generic Middle-earth branded Direct Only box)

So Doug... the digital armies book has finally been confirmed somewhere?

Like you, it only took a handful of trips to the gaming shop to get sick of carrying the giant army book... Its beautiful and belongs on my shelf, but i'm ready for a digital copy. :-p

NewTruthNeomaxim wrote:
So Doug... the digital armies book has finally been confirmed somewhere?

Like you, it only took a handful of trips to the gaming shop to get sick of carrying the giant army book... Its beautiful and belongs on my shelf, but i'm ready for a digital copy. :-p

Yep, the other day, GW responded on Facebook "There will indeed be a digital edition of Armies of the Lord of the Rings, Ryan, though it has been slightly delayed. If you sign up for our newsletter you'll find out as soon as it's available: https://mailchi.mp/gwplc/games-workshop-signup"

It's a beautiful book. It's just heavy. lol

 judgedoug wrote:

NewTruthNeomaxim wrote:
So Doug... the digital armies book has finally been confirmed somewhere?

Like you, it only took a handful of trips to the gaming shop to get sick of carrying the giant army book... Its beautiful and belongs on my shelf, but i'm ready for a digital copy. :-p

Yep, the other day, GW responded on Facebook "There will indeed be a digital edition of Armies of the Lord of the Rings, Ryan, though it has been slightly delayed. If you sign up for our newsletter you'll find out as soon as it's available: https://mailchi.mp/gwplc/games-workshop-signup"

It's a beautiful book. It's just heavy. lol

Now try carrying one, the rules, and a Battlefoam bag, while using a wheelchair! :-p Digital books forever!!!

 judgedoug wrote:



Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Azreal13 wrote:
So, for those with more of a clue, I'm not likely going to pick up anything until the new year of any substance, but given the Made To Order stuff is time sensitive, is there anything that a prospective Rohan general with a touch of Mordor on the side should grab while they're available?

Unless something has changed drastically from the last half-dozen times GW has brought it up - including this article - there will be no Made To Order for profiles that only have a single model. Made To Order is for alternate poses only, in case you wanted a specific Aragorn.
This first wave of re-releases will center on ROTK/Pelennor, and then at some point they will cycle out this release wave and rerelease whatever next (maybe Two Towers, who knows) for x number of months.

Hopefully that means we'll get Eomer Marshal of the Riddermark, then I can convert my other 2 Eomers into Sons of Eorl


And the Helmingas Command set:

New WHC post up, this time community member Damian O'Byrne discussing Theoden and Rohan in general - https://www.warhammer-community.com/2018/09/10/10th-sept-riding-to-glory-with-king-theodengw-homepage-post-2gw-homepage-post-4/

Some good photos of the unrealeased forgeworld models in here: http://battlebunnies.blogspot.com/2018/09/golden-demon-winners-day-2018.html?m=1

Can we please get some foot knights at this point.....

nickelkers wrote:
Some good photos of the unrealeased forgeworld models in here: http://battlebunnies.blogspot.com/2018/09/golden-demon-winners-day-2018.html?m=1

Picture for the lazy! Spoilered for size



I think the guy on the bottom is Faramir but I could be wrong, seems too armoured for him

If I remember correctly, it's Beregond(one of the Fountain Guards in the novel).

Hurin the Tall, a captain of Gondor during the War of the Ring, and temporary Steward when Aragorn rode out to the Black Gate and Faramir was still in the Houses of Healing.

Bloke with the shield is Ingold, Warden of the Rammas Echor, the big wall that surrounds the Pelennor Fields.

Beregond already has a miniature, albeit an OOP one, but now that you've mentioned him, I'd love to see a return alongside an expanded Guards of the Fountain Court range

I'm thinking of building a Dark Denizens of Mirkwood army using some Reaper Bones proxies and was hoping to get some basing advice. Looks like Bat Swarms are on 40s, Fell Wargs are on 40s, and the standard Mirkwood Spiders are on 60s.

What sizes for the Spider Queen, Broodling, and Giant Spider?

Middle-earth stream about to start in ten minutes on Warhammer Twitch TV.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Middle-earth General's Accessories pack confirmed for "the future"

Guritz and Murgash and other FW releases "by Christmas" along with Gondor at War

Gondor at War is first in many narrative/campaign supplements

They are combating with limited warehouse space and if you want models back in print/etc please email GW as they do record these requests.

Thanks for everything Judgedoug!

 judgedoug wrote:
Middle-earth General's Accessories pack confirmed for "the future"

What is this?

Here's unboxing vid for the General's Accessory Pack with "Hobbit" branding, which was available as a direct-only purchase:

Do we know if there will be more new plastic releases, or will it just be OOP models coming back and new resin stuff?

Yes, Theoden and Gandlf/Pippin are just the first new plastic figs. There will also be a plastic Gandalf on foot. No word on which new plastic figs will follow after.

Yay. More fellowship models. Just what the range needs, Gandalf #8. My shelf felt so bare without another one...

Seriously, they could have done plastic Denethor, Gamling, Kardush, or a host of other characters which could use a plastic. What's next, Aragorn #11? Bit annoyed they're wasting valuable limited HIPS time on characters with multiple models out already in metal, finecast, and plastic.

 Ketara wrote:
Yay. More fellowship models. Just what the range needs, Gandalf #8. My shelf felt so bare without another one...

Seriously, they could have done plastic Denethor, Gamling, Kardush, or a host of other characters which could use a plastic. What's next, Aragorn #11? Bit annoyed they're wasting valuable limited HIPS time on characters with multiple models out already in metal, finecast, and plastic.

We we almost certainly get Aragorn #14 (there are 13 Aragorn sculpts currently) as the goal is to replace everything with plastic or FW resin. I'd put money on a plastic Elessar.

 Ketara wrote:
Yay. More fellowship models. Just what the range needs, Gandalf #8. My shelf felt so bare without another one...

Seriously, they could have done plastic Denethor, Gamling, Kardush, or a host of other characters which could use a plastic. What's next, Aragorn #11? Bit annoyed they're wasting valuable limited HIPS time on characters with multiple models out already in metal, finecast, and plastic.

At first i was of the same opinion as you but after seeing the new Theoden in person I really want them to redo all the character sculpts in plastic. The difference in technology is so big. It was one of the only things that had me hesitant for a moment. I love the LOTR sculpts but the plastic units like morannon orcs, etc... are so...after buying the new plastic GW stuff, the quality drop is noticable.

You can compare it inside the LOTR range. Just compare normal dwarf warriors with Erebor warriors.

My only reluctance is that the plastic Theoden doesn't appear to look as much like Bernard as the original, or is that just a paint issue?

 Azreal13 wrote:
My only reluctance is that the plastic Theoden doesn't appear to look as much like Bernard as the original, or is that just a paint issue?

Hmm... after looking for images:



I would say, painted like this, at least this looks more like him.
But also, the new plastic version, is very similar to the actor. I can confirm than the oficial paint job "blends" his facial features.

Swan Knights of Dol Amroth on foot are up for preorder!

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2018/09/21/the-ship-and-the-silver-swan-knights-of-dol-amroth/

 judgedoug wrote:
Swan Knights of Dol Amroth on foot are up for preorder!

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2018/09/21/the-ship-and-the-silver-swan-knights-of-dol-amroth/

£32 for six models that don't even look that good? Bloody hell.

Look very good. I'll be picking up 6 initially as I need some dismounts. I'll be picking up a couple of warbands in the near future.

 blood reaper wrote:
models[/i] that don't even look that good? Bloody hell.

Yikes, well, proof that opinions can be both subjectively and objectively wrong.

Ive been waiting so long for these... but $50 for 6? Feelsyikesman

Thats why I wasn't that confortable with the idea of FW taking over LOTR... is not like GW prices are cheap... but this is even worse.

And no 3-rd party discount possibility.

 Galas wrote:
Thats why I wasn't that confortable with the idea of FW taking over LOTR... is not like GW prices are cheap... but this is even worse.

And no 3-rd party discount possibility.

Now imagine the pain I feel being a WOTR player primarily...If I want a full strength Formation of these guys it'll run me $400. And preferably I wanted my army to have 6 formations of them. Soooo im boned.

Yeah I can even justify their cost in LOTR, being a skirmish game, but WOTR... impossible.

Yep, that price is a killer. Shame cause they're great models and I much prefer them to the old ones, they seem to be better proportioned. I can tolerate FW prices for character models and the like, but if this is the precedent for 'infantry' type units then I really hope none of my true favourite ground-pounders get done cause I'll never be able to afford them. Obviously compared to some of the Hobbit characters they're better value, but given these are infantry I'd be buying more than the one set. Like I say, I can stomach a one-off hit on a character.

This really has me torn. I really do like the models. *sigh*

Funny how I hesitate on the price now but I spent quite a bit more $/model on custom squads.

A shame, maybe when I get a big paycheck.

Edit: Gotta give props to FW for alternative heads and shields, however.

The models look great but are pretty pricey! It would be cheaper to buy the mounted guys, steal their heads and shields and add them to a regular gondorian I think...

I ordered some, but I'm also used to the price of Finecast.

I bought Gundabad, Lake-town Guard, Lake-town Militia, and Mirkwood Infantry when they were packed 3 for $25 in Finecast.

So 6 for $50 in real resin with lots of customization options wasn't so hard.

The good news is that these are even cheaper than second-hand foot knights of Dol Amroth who routinely sell for $30 for a pack of 3. Hopefully it'll reduce the value of the old sculpts in the secondary market. But these new models are superior in every way (helmets, cough)


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Galas wrote:
Thats why I wasn't that confortable with the idea of FW taking over LOTR

That's not accurate. the Middle-earth team is separate from Forge World Specialist Games; GW proper handles most of the game while FW will release limited stuff. ie, the new plastic character series, normal infantry boxes and commanders, books, etc, is all normal GW.

Thats good to ear Judgedoug! Thanks for the information.

I'm just gonna play normal LOTR so to buy a couple of expensive units (Like Black Guard of Mordor) is not a problem for me , but I can absolutely understand the problem of people that still plays WOTR and wants to make FW armies.

But at the same time it is not that much different from playing 40k FW armies...

Well if I can come up with $3600 Ill have all the Knights I desire

 judgedoug wrote:


That's not accurate. the Middle-earth team is separate from Forge World Specialist Games; GW proper handles most of the game while FW will release limited stuff. ie, the new plastic character series, normal infantry boxes and commanders, books, etc, is all normal GW.

Actually yes it is.

The middle earth team and middle earth game are under forge world specialist games. It's why fw Facebook page posts about all the middle earth stuff cos it's their game just like blood bowl and necromunda etc. A lot of the plastic kits already existed which is why they've not been redone. The plastic characters are easy enough for gw to do while fw concentrates on book stuff and units gw main no longer produce ie swan knights on foot

 Motograter wrote:
The middle earth team and middle earth game are under forge world specialist games.

Nope; Specialist Games is a specific division of Forge World devoted to specialist games - AT, Necro, BB, etc. The Middle-earth team is a separate team outside of the Specialist Games team. This has been stated a multitude of times.

Duncan's Dol Amroth army is featured in today's Middle-earth community article

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2018/09/26/26th-sept-middle-earth-strategy-battle-game-duncans-knights-of-dol-amrothgw-homepage-post-3/

Imrahil is a great candidate for one of those fancy new plastic re sculpts....

Certainly the foot version at l east. He looks like what happened when you put the old metal mounted heroes straight into a slotta base instead of a horse. Battle Games in Middle-Earth had this fun way of using heroes before you had a horse for them by simply sticking them into a base - as the mounted metal versions often came with slotta rods attached to their feet. They looked ridiculous, and Imrahil on foot has that same look. I never much liked the old Swan Knights, the new ones are such an improvement. I'm still just so put-off by the price.

The actual army itself is a beauty, though. I'm not surprised given who painted it, but I love seeing a nice cohesive yet diverse army.

chinacasters can go to hell. The game may have gotten a breath of life and some new resurgence, but it's still going to suffer if people act like that.

Maybe the problem is with GW setting pants on head crazy prices for some stuff instead? I mean, I don't envision many people going for a chinacaster for the stuff from the Pellenor box, after all.

Well people have got three options then.

1) Save up for the item they want like most normal people
2) Convert
3) Use third parties that aren't criminals. This obviously comes with the caveat that you may not be able to use them for tournaments, if you participate in such things. But that's entirely up to the individual in question.

Edit* I don't usually agree too much with Tneva up there, but he is quite correct with what he says.

Some strong opinions there, interesting that they are both from the euro zone

I wonder if their opinion hold true for copying music, dvds, video games, non genuine car parts, generic medicine, branded clothing etc.

Personally I have never bought any chinacast but I would rather give them my money than forgeworld with their pricing policies.

You shouldn't support illegal practice. Competitors, yes, absolutely. But supporting criminals only reflects poorly on you and drives legitimate businesses away.

 MangoMadness wrote:
Some strong opinions there, interesting that they are both from the euro zone

I wonder if their opinion hold true for copying music, dvds, video games, non genuine car parts, generic medicine, branded clothing etc.

Personally I have never bought any chinacast but I would rather give them my money than forgeworld with their pricing policies.

My personal opinion holds to all of those. One of my biggest concerns is that you have no idea how that money you're giving to counterfeiters is spent. These are criminals after all so you have no idea how and where that money is ending up and being used.

 Inquisitor Gideon wrote:

 MangoMadness wrote:
Some strong opinions there, interesting that they are both from the euro zone

I wonder if their opinion hold true for copying music, dvds, video games, non genuine car parts, generic medicine, branded clothing etc.

Personally I have never bought any chinacast but I would rather give them my money than forgeworld with their pricing policies.

My personal opinion holds to all of those. One of my biggest concerns is that you have no idea how that money you're giving to counterfeiters is spent. These are criminals after all so you have no idea how and where that money is ending up and being used.

Criminals in the UK. Not in China. Over there, they're more or less legit businesspeople. Thery pay taxes and everything.That said, whilst not as averse to recasts as Inquisitor up there, I wouldn't buy LOTR casts at this stage. The game is too small; and if we want to see more kits, GW need to show the highest possible profit. It would be self-defeating and short termist.

Either way though, the morality of recasting is something that's been hashed out a million times on the site, and this thread probably shouldn't be derailed by it.

tneva82 wrote:
You know why? Because plastic is actually suitable for mass cheap product. Resin is not. At resin you can't do cheap mass product so you have to price them and then on that margin no legit company CAN fight recaster on price point AND be profitable. Recaster has none of the expenses legit company actually has to pay. It's 100% impossible to match recaster price AND be profitable. How you are supposed to pay warehouses, customer service, miniature design etc etc etc?

Recasters certainly don't have the expenses that legit companies do. But at the same time, other legit companies do indeed have the same costs GW/FW does, and a lot of other companies seem to be able to price 6 "historics scaled" resin troop minis at less than 40 euros. Or they simply use metals. Ther is no need to go for recasters, either, to see how FW prices compare.

With plastic it's bit different as material and automated casting process makes spinning 100,000 sprues for basically free in material and personel expense. Price comes with moulds and casting machine neither which recaster can afford(and it would be hard for recaster to sell in scale needed to justify the fixed fees requires to set up plastic casting).

Yes, thank you, I didn't know that . Funny how that is still true for plastic characters and the still manage to do those and put even insanier prices to those. Plus, given how resin mould work, there is also a fixed cost to those that can't be avoided even if you're not casting an original mini.

And yes FW prices are high. Tough. They aren't essential to your life. If you can't afford it buy something else. I would love to own warlord titan but too high price. So what? I'm not addicted to miniatures so badly I need to own every single model in the world.

So don't buy. It's what I'm going to do in this and any other case I feel the price is not worth it.

I'm just saying that there is a reason why there's a cottage industry that caters to people not willing to pay those prices, be it legitimate companies that do alternate minis (the best choice), resellers (also good) or recasters (the obviously worst choice).

I'm currently buying Oathmark minis myself to use for LotR, and they are great, and give me plenty fodder for conversion.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 MangoMadness wrote:
Some strong opinions there, interesting that they are both from the euro zone

I wonder if their opinion hold true for copying music, dvds, video games, non genuine car parts, generic medicine, branded clothing etc.

Personally I have never bought any chinacast but I would rather give them my money than forgeworld with their pricing policies.

I don't support recasters, nor pirate anything if I can get it legally, actually. My Steam and DrivethruRPG libraries are of a size that it's kinda stupid xD. I do buy alternate minis for a lot of stuff from legitimate companies, though, or stuff not meant to be alternate that I use for other purposes.

 MangoMadness wrote:
Some strong opinions there, interesting that they are both from the euro zone

I wonder if their opinion hold true for copying music, dvds, video games, non genuine car parts, generic medicine, branded clothing etc.

Personally I have never bought any chinacast but I would rather give them my money than forgeworld with their pricing policies.

It's doubly interesting considering it wasn't that long ago the EU had to desperately bury a gigantic study into copyright infringement they themselves commissioned when it came back with the conclusion that in almost every circumstance there's no statistically measurable negative link between copyright infringement and profits.

I can afford to save up a bit and buy FW stuff and, living in the UK, I have reasonably easy access to it, but I don't clamber up on to a high horse so I can pish on folk who go elsewhere. Then again, I don't see myself as some kind of Volunteer Copyright Police Officer for big companies as some folk evidently do.

If we could drop the recast tangent that would be great.

Frankly, I'm surprised at how many fanatic War of the Ring players are on Dakka. Very specifically, hardcore War of the Ring players that didn't own any Foot Knights of Dol Amroth and are now suddenly struck by the need to own twenty four of them NOW instead of acquiring them during the twelve years that the metal ones were in production.

Or is it a case of there suddenly being an infection sweeping across the internet of people rediscovering the mediocrity of War of the Ring, falling in love with it, and all simultaneously deciding to collect armies composed entirely of Foot Knights of Dol Amroth?

To be honest only one poster said anything about buying this new knights. The rest of the discussion was a more about a general problem using this specific case as an example.

 judgedoug wrote:
Frankly, I'm surprised at how many fanatic War of the Ring players are on Dakka. Very specifically, hardcore War of the Ring players that didn't own any Foot Knights of Dol Amroth and are now suddenly struck by the need to own twenty four of them NOW instead of acquiring them during the twelve years that the metal ones were in production.

Or is it a case of there suddenly being an infection sweeping across the internet of people rediscovering the mediocrity of War of the Ring, falling in love with it, and all simultaneously deciding to collect armies composed entirely of Foot Knights of Dol Amroth?

The first models I purchased from GW back in 2007 were the metal foot knights of Dol Amroth, it was entirely my intention to play LOTR but when I paraded into my local FLGS with my box of easterlings and warriors of minas tirith along with some foot knights I was sorely disappointed that literally zero people in my area played the game. Then I looked at the GW wall and saw some 40k Orks...and that lead to me playing 40k for the past 11 years.

I only recently discovered WOTR about 6 months ago, Im a big fan of the Medieval TW2 mod called "Third Age Reforged", I love the massive scale of the game and the really creative units the Devs had come up with in order to make every faction, (even one as underdeveloped as Dol Amroth in the lore) a playable army in itself. I also have a fondness for re-writing game systems to purge them of idiotic rules (7th edition Look Out Sir! for example) and after reading the WOTR rule system, I determined it was a fantastic game system that was brought low due to insanely unbalanced army lists. So for the past few months I have been writing new army lists for WOTR using the unique units from Third Age Reforged as a template.

Coincidentally about the same time that I started this re-writing process, FW previewed these fantastic Foot Knights, and since Dol Amroth is aesthetically my favorite out of all LOTR factions, I was pretty excited naturally. (Plus first model nostalgia). Fast forward to now, I have truly balanced army lists written for almost every faction in the Middle Earth setting, all with new units giving plenty of conversion and painting options. Seeing as I have written Dol Amroth into its own army list, I have a reason to purchase a large amount of them. As well as a bunch of Gondor warrior boxes to use for men at arms and such.

That about sums up my "infection" haha. I haven't had a reason to purchase them for 12 years, and when I did, new ones were on the way.

 judgedoug wrote:
Frankly, I'm surprised at how many fanatic War of the Ring players are on Dakka. Very specifically, hardcore War of the Ring players that didn't own any Foot Knights of Dol Amroth and are now suddenly struck by the need to own twenty four of them NOW instead of acquiring them during the twelve years that the metal ones were in production.

Or is it a case of there suddenly being an infection sweeping across the internet of people rediscovering the mediocrity of War of the Ring, falling in love with it, and all simultaneously deciding to collect armies composed entirely of Foot Knights of Dol Amroth?

I think this is a little bit of an unfair characterisation of the reaction to the new SK models. At least in so far as it affects me.I think only one person specifically mentioned WOTR? For me, I'd like to have at least 12, preferably 18, of them. I don't play WOTR, but I also just like owning blocks of infantry - I'm more of a painter, collector and displayer than a gamer. For that to be possible, I'll be dropping £96 just for the 18 Knights. It's a tough sell and one I'll have to think about, that's all. And that's coming from someone who owns a bunch of FW items and has taken the hit and justified the cost to myself. These are just a bit tough, that's all.

As for buying the old metals at the time, quite frankly I found them very goofy - especially the helmets and some of the postures. So they were never really an option! I guess feeling a bit miffed that these great new models are made but come with a hefty premium is part of it, to me.

But hey - they've still got nothing on plastic Primaris Marine characters!!

I like the new Knights and would gladly buy 1 or 2 sets of new, remodelled Warriors of Rohan for that pricetag.

As for the illegal casting of LotR minis, just look at ebay. There are some "rare" minis that get selled mutiple times and in a very suspicious condition (out of the blister, not stripped of colour, no bended weapons, "strange" metal, etc.). People still buy them, just to have them. Even if they know, they don´t buy original products.
I hope GW´s plan to reproduce this rare minis on demand for a while, harms this "business".

And I´m hoping for an Eomer in plastic in the next wave.

Legolas and Gimli go head to head for Uruk-hai kill-count



https://www.warhammer-community.com/2018/09/28/theres-plenty-for-the-both-of-us/

 judgedoug wrote:
Legolas and Gimli go head to head for Uruk-hai kill-count

Spoiler:

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2018/09/28/theres-plenty-for-the-both-of-us/

May the best dwarf win!

Is there a book coming out with reworked stats and points for the hobbit figs? If so any idea when?

Yes and I don't know.

From Warhammer Community:

A second book, catering to the armies from The Hobbit™, is due out later this year.

What’s the state of the version that was played with th company movement trays? Is that still a thing in the new version or does this just cover the single figure type game?

War of the Ring was played with movement trades. It has been OOP for years. The movement trays go for a pretty penny sometimes.

This thread is about Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game, which is (generally) about smaller engagements. It doesn’t use movement trays and never has.

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2018/10/11/great-news-for-middle-earthfw-homepage-post-1/

Great news for Middle-earth


Great news, Middle-earth fans!

Since the 1st of September, and the release of the new edition of the Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game, the beacons of war have blazed hot – from the walls of Minas Tirith to Mordor, the Shire and far, far beyond.

The reception from you – the fans, collectors and gamers – has been incredible. So much so, in fact, that we sold out of a number of kits completely in various locations around the world. That is both humbling for us, and also a call to arms to the tireless legions who man our factory and warehouses. Most of the items we ran out of have already been restocked and are ready for order right now – and we’re pulling out all the stops to get the rest ready to go very soon.



As a second point, many of you have also asked if we can bring back some of the older models from The Lord of the Rings™ that had faded from our range – it’s like you read our minds! The legions of Isengard need Lurtz (especially after his rules have improved so much in the new Armies of the Lord of the Rings book) and what Mansion of the Dwarves would be complete without Durin to lead it? We’ve heard your call, and the fires of industry are already burning. In fact, a selection of models will become available again from our webstore in the coming weeks with even more arriving before Christmas.

Spoiler:

All this news sits alongside some very exciting plans to release a swathe of fantastic NEW models, along with new expansions. The future looks very bright for the Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game.

One last thing before we leave you: some weeks ago at the NOVA Open, we teased an image of the forthcoming Gandalf the White and Peregrin Took model. Well, we’d like to give you another little sneak peak. Feast your eyes on the dismounted versions of Gandalf and Pippin from the same set!

Spoiler:

As always we’ll bring you more details when we have them! For now, if you want to get started, you can pick up the Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game Rules Manual and Armies of The Lord of the Rings™.

Nice!

So good to see this system getting support. Hopefully the old metal blister packs will be resurrected at some stage.

Those models are gorgeous

Aa usual, I'm not sure the current painting style does the sculpt any favours but I can't wait to get my hands on those. These continue to be exciting times.

Surprise no one's popped this up yet:

https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-GB/Guritz-Gothmogs-Enforcer-2018

I'll definitely get these two Orcs in the future Looking very good. I do have the old Guritz, but you can never have too many Orcs. Especially in Orktober.

Looking forward to my next FW order - Guritz & Murgash, and probably a set of Goblin Mercs and a Troll Brute.

Edit: Old news.

Original post:

They have allready announced it, Gondor in Flames, a Campaing Book with new miniatures (like the new pippin and gandalf)

Gondor At War is the upcoming supplement, the first in a series of new books for Middle-earth that will feature campaigns, scenarios, new units, and new army lists for specific battles. It focuses on every aspect of Gondor during the Third Age and the War of the Ring.

(gondor in flames is the very old 2003-era book)

Yeah, my bad, thanks for the correctiong Judgedoug!

 judgedoug wrote:

(gondor in flames is the very old 2003-era book)

*looks over at bookshelf, grumbles for no particular reason.*

Guritz and Gothmog's Enforcer both arrived today. Delighted with the quality. Just like the Swan Knights, they're an immaculate cast. Great details and no blur, warpage or holes in the cast. I'll be honest, I was a little worried hearing FW would be handling resin models for LOTR but I really shouldn't have been. Between the Knights and this, they're demonstrably top quality.

If you're on the fence - get them!!

The legendary “FW quality” mostly affects older kits with worn moulds that warp like mofos. Their newer stuff is always good quality in my experience. Not even close to the best resin I’ve seen but perfectly ok.

I can attest that the newest Middle-earth releases from Forge World are directly on par with the finest resin casts I have received from Mierce. To be honest, I can not even imagine how one would improve these newer FW casts. The older FW stuff I've gotten looks like an amateur garage kit in comparison.

Meanwhile I rarely had issues with FW orders, but the only Mierce model I got (Guillaume le Pèlerin) came in warped and broken mess

been using enough mithril models to fill in missing GW gaps.

Found this release list via an unofficial Facebook page

In metal? NICE!

These are not 1 week limited made to order right?

Seems as if they may be here to stay, but not 100% on that.

From the Warhammer Community website:



Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Hanskrampf wrote:
In metal? NICE!

Just got a Resin Witch King, so I share your joy.

A better picture.

Direct only web re-release in metal.

Yesss. If they keep up re-releases like that my wallets gonna be a sad little bastard. Armored Glorfindel is one of my all time favorite sculpts.

Hoping either the return or replacement of Elrond isn't too far off.

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2018/10/29/good-news-from-middle-earth/

Spoiler:

In the next few weeks, Armies of The Hobbit™ – your complete guide to the forces of Middle-earth at the time of the Battle of Five Armies – will be available.

This book lets you build a host of forces from The Hobbit™ Motion Picture Trilogy, featuring rules for your favourite units and characters as well as allies tables and special bonuses for themed collections. With 20 different armies covered in the book, you’ll have a huge amount of choice about just what you collect – keep an eye out for more news on this in the coming weeks.

With the latest edition breathing new life into the world of tabletop gaming in Middle-earth, we’re bringing back some classic and fan-favourite miniatures for you to add to your collection. These kits will be going back into the range for good, and are the first of a number of waves that’ll bring a host of models back to the online store – in the first set, you’ll find:

Armoured Glorfindel
Cirion and Madril
Durin and Mardin
Elladan, on foot and mounted
Elrohir, on foot and mounted
Haldir
Lurtz
Minas Tirith Citadel Guard
Minas Tirith Citadel Archers
Erestor
Uglúk and Vraskû, Uruk-hai Captains

They've also got a new Products Manager for the Middle Earth range coming in in the form of Rob Alderman (Ex of Hysterical Games ) who's a huge fan of the system to help push growth

 Ghaz wrote:
https://www.warhammer-community.com/2018/10/29/good-news-from-middle-earth/

Spoiler:

In the next few weeks, Armies of The Hobbit™ – your complete guide to the forces of Middle-earth at the time of the Battle of Five Armies – will be available.

This book lets you build a host of forces from The Hobbit™ Motion Picture Trilogy, featuring rules for your favourite units and characters as well as allies tables and special bonuses for themed collections. With 20 different armies covered in the book, you’ll have a huge amount of choice about just what you collect – keep an eye out for more news on this in the coming weeks.

Awesome!


I was a bit disappointed the stats for my Hobbit box set were not included in the book. This should fix that!

Oh god. That gandalf and pippin are horrifyingly bad models

ValentineGames wrote:
Oh god. That gandalf and pippin are horrifyingly bad models

The versions on foot? If so then yes, they are far from great. The mounted version is pretty decent (and actually manages to look like the actor). The paint job on the foot versions is pretty shocking for a showcase model and the sheer 'swirliness' of the foot Gandalf's robes is too much. The LotR range is usually pretty understated and this just looks like they did a head swap on a AoS Nighthaunt or something (I exagerate but still).

ValentineGames wrote:
Oh god. That gandalf and pippin are horrifyingly bad models

If by "bad" you mean Michael Jackson then yes. Especially amazing considering Pippin is like a centimeter tall. If by bad you mean "not good", well we already know the calibre of your taste based on your horrifyingly bad opinion about the stunningly superb Dol Amroth foot knights

Yes the foot ones.
They look horrific. I can't see how the end product was looked at with any pride or acceptance that it was suitable.

This was my fear with LotR returning. You no longer have the perry twins. So you no longer have competent sculptors who actually give a gak about what they do.

... Mithmee?

ValentineGames wrote:
Yes the foot ones.
They look horrific. I can't see how the end product was looked at with any pride or acceptance that it was suitable.

This was my fear with LotR returning. You no longer have the perry twins. So you no longer have competent sculptors who actually give a gak about what they do.

Eugh...it's headache inducing reading some of this stuff. Do us all a favour, get the models in hand, examine them and then comment.

I agree the paintjob of the model could be better. Ok, it is very small, but it is not like GW can't pay for painters that can do that kind of stuff. Is a marketing image afterall. They should try to achieve the best paintjob possible.
Not best in the sense of Guiraldez, but by GW standards, and those are normally for the paintjob to show all the details of the model, but this kind of paintjob and the necromunda FW ones actually hide the crisp details of the models. Thats why they paint their Death Guard with those bright and clear paint jobs, to show all of the details.

 Inquisitor Gideon wrote:

ValentineGames wrote:
Yes the foot ones.
They look horrific. I can't see how the end product was looked at with any pride or acceptance that it was suitable.

This was my fear with LotR returning. You no longer have the perry twins. So you no longer have competent sculptors who actually give a gak about what they do.

Eugh...it's headache inducing reading some of this stuff. Do us all a favour, get the models in hand, examine them and then comment.

why? The majority of his posts are just criticisms of the last fifteen years of GW. This is what he does. With no knowledge or experience, just vomit uninformed opinion TMP has Mithmee, Dakka has Valentine...

Seems like everything went up for preorder spare Armored Glorfindel...the model i wanted lol


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ah nevermind, It seems they just restocked Glorfindel instead of putting him up for pre order.

Ahoy!

Unconfirmed list of re-releases set for Nov 24.

GALADRIEL & CELEBORN metal blister
KHANDISH HORSEMEN metal blister
ARATHORN & HALBARAD metal blister
WARRIORS OF ARNOR metal blister
ARNOR COMMAND metal blister
KING ARVEDUI & MALBETH THE SEER metal blister
SERPENT RIDERS metal blister
FORLONG & ANGBOR metal blister
SERPENT GUARD metal blister
MAHUD KING FOOT AND MOUNTED metal blister
MAHUD WARRIORS WITH BLOWPIPES metal blister
CORSAIR ARBALESTERS metal blister
DALAMYR FLEETMASTER OF UMBAR metal blister
DUINHIR metal blister
KHANDISH KING IN CHARIOT metal box
ELENDIL AND ISILDUR metal blister
NUMENOREAN BOWMAN metal blister
NUMENOREAN SPEARMEN metal blister
DURBURZ metal blister
MAHUD WARRIORS metal blister
MAUHUR resin clam
ELROND & GIL-GALAD resin clam
CORSAIR BOSUN AND CAPTAIN resin clam
GROBLOG KING OF THE DEEPS resin clam

Good news, but includes some I spent rather too much for ob eBay

That’s a very common sentiment, I’m sure!

This is awesome, not for my bank account, but awesome!!

Im hoping we get a long list like this each month, that would be great!

Question on the Pelenor fields box set: The assembly guide says to leave the shields off the orcs to play the included scenarios, but the included scenarios list orcs with shields. Which is 'correct'?

I'm getting ready to start assembly, and do want to play the included scenarios but eventually (obviously) want to expand to other scenarios.

Honestly I would just put them on and say they dont have them in that specific scenario.

It is official - in emails to retailers today.

Neat, actually a few bits on there I never got before. Looks like I can finally do that camel cavalry.

Hm, were Elrond and Gil-Galad and the Bosun and captain released in resin before they went oop? I could have sworn they were only metal.

 Inquisitor Gideon wrote:
Neat, actually a few bits on there I never got before. Looks like I can finally do that camel cavalry.

Hm, were Elrond and Gil-Galad and the Bosun and captain released in resin before they went oop? I could have sworn they were only metal.

Yep! In the last wave of Finecast redos. Along with like the Hasharin 2012 resculpt.

Hm, oh well. RIP Aiglos, you'll never be straight again in Finecast.

 judgedoug wrote:
It is official - in emails to retailers today.

Carrying this over to the next page so the news isn't missed. also can a mod update the title to like "giant wave of oop models being re-released Nov 24" or somesuch?

Saw ‘Blackstone Fortress’ and was like ‘HOLY HELL! THEY’RE RE-RELEASING BFG MODELS!!!!11!!ONE!’

And then I remembered (and read) ‘it’s a book, not the model’ and then there was sadness.

But hey, the Arnor models will find a welcome home in my house, so that’s something!

Ingold and Húrin, finally. How long has it been since these two first appeared? 4, 5 months or so?

https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-GB/Wardens-of-Gondor-2018

METAL

do you guys think mounted Elrond & mounted Aragorn (Strider) will come back to the store this year? I am having trouble finding those miniatures even second hand.

Preview: Armies of The Hobbit™ on Warhammer Community:

As per the Warhammer Community article announcing the preorders https://www.warhammer-community.com/2018/11/18/coming-next-week-project-boxes-tiny-titans-and-heroes-of-middle-earth/

Here's the North American preorder/release list for Middle-earth SBG. (USD/CAD)

Note that the Hobbit infantry sets are being re-released with their contents doubled for $10 more (effectively a massive price decrease)

I'm usually the last person to slate Forge World's paint jobs, but good lord that face on Legolas.



I'm happy to see Arathorn/Halbarad back. Two of my favourite LotR models. Hell, the whole Arnor release - Good and Evil - was spectacular.

"Damnit Legolas, how many times do I have to tell you, one Lembas bread is enough! You're grounded!"

-Thranduil, King of the Woodland Realm.

 Arbitrator wrote:
I'm usually the last person to slate Forge World's paint jobs, but good lord that face on Legolas.

Spoiler:

Those are the existing plastics that were released by Games Workshop back when 'The Desolation of Smaug' was released. They're not new sculpts or paint jobs.

Legolas... yeah, uh, wow. That's something.

Starting to get worried about Thrydan Wolfsbane and the Dunlendings/Wild Men. I really hope they're not getting updated by ForgeWorld.

But yay, more Harad and Khandish models are back!

 Ghaz wrote:
Preview: Armies of The Hobbit™ on Warhammer Community:

That suggestion for Smaug is horrible. Having another dragon trundling around behind him is possibility the most lore breaking thing they've ever come up with.

This just posted up on the community site. I wish I had this to follow when I was painting my Rohan years back

 zend wrote:
Starting to get worried about Thrydan Wolfsbane and the Dunlendings/Wild Men. I really hope they're not getting updated by ForgeWorld.

But yay, more Harad and Khandish models are back!

I get it if it's an availability thing, but why wouldn't you want updated sculpts?

Legolas there is a plastic kit. He was awful when first shown during Desolation of Smaug.

Voss wrote:

 Ghaz wrote:
Preview: Armies of The Hobbit™ on Warhammer Community:

That suggestion for Smaug is horrible. Having another dragon trundling around behind him is possibility the most lore breaking thing they've ever come up with.

Eh. Let people have fun and experiment. Having got Smaug, the idea of him leading around a bunch of lesser cold drakes amuses me I have to be honest.

Smaug, and his annoying little brother that Mom made him babysit.

 Kanluwen wrote:

 zend wrote:
Starting to get worried about Thrydan Wolfsbane and the Dunlendings/Wild Men. I really hope they're not getting updated by ForgeWorld.

But yay, more Harad and Khandish models are back!

I get it if it's an availability thing, but why wouldn't you want updated sculpts?

Legolas there is a plastic kit. He was awful when first shown during Desolation of Smaug.

Updated sculpts in plastic? Sure!

Updated sculpts in resin at slowed ForgeWorld costs? No thanks! I don't want to spend around $10 per model for basic, most likely monopose, warrior models. I don't even want to pay $60 for Dain and his piggy, and I love that model.

 zend wrote:
No thanks! I don't want to

So don't


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Voss wrote:

 Ghaz wrote:
Preview: Armies of The Hobbit™ on Warhammer Community:

That suggestion for Smaug is horrible. Having another dragon trundling around behind him is possibility the most lore breaking thing they've ever come up with.

It's definitely a thousand times more lore-breaking than "all evil can ally" and "all good can ally" that existed for the previous 17 years.
How dare they post a suggestion for Matched Play games that have nothing to do with Narrative games?

 Inquisitor Gideon wrote:
This just posted up on the community site. I wish I had this to follow when I was painting my Rohan years back

That is fantastic! Thankfully, I've still got almost all of the Rohirrim from the box to paint. I do however have about 30 Gondorian Knights that I wished I'd had this for before doing though!

Online shops in UK just added few bundles for pre-order. Legolas and Tauriel, White Gandalf with Peregrin and they are re-stocking the Fellowship. Well that is my Black Friday sorted

So what did folks score for themselves? The book, Gandalf, the dice, Forlong and Angbor, Arvedúi and Malbeth and Dúinhir (long has he evaded me...)

 Inquisitor Gideon wrote:
So what did folks score for themselves? The book, Gandalf, the dice, Forlong and Angbor, Arvedúi and Malbeth and Dúinhir (long has he evaded me...)

Where are you buying mate? Some online store or through GW direct?

The book, Gandalf and the dice through Element games. All three for about £50. Everything else direct as they're direct only anyway. And still kept their old prices, so cheap as.

 Inquisitor Gideon wrote:
The book, Gandalf and the dice through Element games. All three for about £50. Everything else direct as they're direct only anyway. And still kept their old prices, so cheap as.

Ok thanks I thought so but making sure there are no 'hidden' stores which sell GW web exclusives

Must say that GW has such a great and wide range of minis that it is hard to resist. Shame other online retailers have such a limited offer

Wow, repacking all the plastic Hobbit infantry kits with double the amount and selling them at just over half the cost? GW might get a mirkwood army out of me yet...

This is really cool.

Great move in a series of moves correcting some of the Hobbit era missteps.

Awesome to see as the game system is easily the best GW has put out and Middle Earth's imagery looks fantastic on the table.

Building up my forces again and awaiting a couple key minis return for my Elves.

 Inquisitor Gideon wrote:
So what did folks score for themselves?

Groblog, Corsair Arbalesters (2 packs), Bo’sun & Captain, Dalamyr plus the Knight of Umbar and a box of plastic Corsairs.

Well my Fiefdom characters and Moria stuff came back. Hope this means their respective missing choices come back soon..

 Inquisitor Gideon wrote:
So what did folks score for themselves?

I grabbed 5 riders of the dead and a King of the dead (to pad out the dead from the new starter ) and a copy of Battle Companies.

Now I need time to assemble and paint... Wish Santa could deliver that.

Slightly calmer week next week, but Thórins company (plastic) finally gets an individual release:

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2018/11/25/coming-next-week-titans-teams-gangs-and-army-sets/

Has anyone else just had a shipping email for their pre-orders for this week?? A bunch of metals I ordered on Saturday have just been listed as dispatched. Not that i'm complaining, just confused.

The speed with which many of these brand new, rereleased models are now out of stock is maddening. I have missed out on several key models, including the Khandish King on Chariot simply due to being unable to get online during the holiday weekend. 22 of the 37 new models are now out of stock! Frustration level HIGH.

Well look on the bright side; it means the game is alive and kicking, despite what the naysayers believe.

Very true. I suppose this means the wait for another production run will be much shorter than the last.

 Inquisitor Gideon wrote:
Slightly calmer week next week, but Thórins company (plastic) finally gets an individual release:

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2018/11/25/coming-next-week-titans-teams-gangs-and-army-sets/

Thorin's company?!!?!?! Just take my money

New FAQ's went up yesterday:

https://www.warhammer-community.com/faqs/

Nothing major from what I glanced, but nice to see that Uruk bomb teams got a boost.

Did we know this new clampack of Denethor and Irolas was coming?

No. At least I've heard no rumour of it, neither here nor in the GBHL.

No it was never announced or even mentioned anywhere

I got a reply from FW. Apparently it's an early release for PAX and will go on general sale soon.

In other news:

Awesome there is an armored version coming. Can't wait to see him with the alternate maul.

Fantastic! Gondor are my favourite faction and even though I've got all the older sculpts painted up for my army I'm not complaining having these new ones. The Middle-Earth team continue to do fine work.

From Warhammer Community