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I stumbled across the rules for battle companies in LotR and was pretty drawn into reading up on it. There's a lot that's familiar in it - much of it reminds me of Mordheim, down to the roster alone - and I really like the chance to use some of those nice LotR models that have been accumulating, especially those nice, cheap plastic units they make now (Easterlings, Haradrim to name two).

Of course, I've never played LotR or wanted to up til now, but I'd really like to build up a nice small company of those lovely haradrim and maybe game a little bit. So to the point: anybody tried this Battle Company system out? Is this a new thing that might be gaining support, or does it all come down to me getting people at my flgs interested? (which won't be easy as Warmachine & YuGiOh own the place now)

Thanks for the insights.

- Boss Salvage

Hiya Boss Salvage! As a longtime Battle Companies player, I thoroughly endorse the game system.

Pros

- easy to get into. The Mines of Moria has the main rulebook and 24 goblins - instant Battle Company!

- easy to learn if you already play 40k/Fantasy, wounding is similar, and Priority is a nice change to the standard "I go, you go" system

- most races have a plastic box set or only require 2-3 blisters to start up. Recruits don't tend to require more than 2-3 blisters after that

- easy to paint - somehow the smaller scale and less assembly make these models 2-3 times faster to paint than 40k/Fantasy models

- quick to play! After you've got a handle of the rules, each game will take about 30 min tops

- good scale - LOTR can get tedious as high points games (anything over 500pts) due to the combat system (think 2nd ed. 40k) but fits just right in the "dozen men or so" scale

- if you like skirmish/campaign games you'll like this as your men gain experience/skills, develop injuries, recruit more guys...etc

- there is a system by which you can convert your Battle Company heroes into real heroes to be used in non-Battle Company games (essentially, you pay for thes stat changes, skills...etc)

Cons

- can't use the uber-powerful heroes from the movies (Aragorn, the Balrog...etc)

- missing certain races (notably, Elves) and units (Trolls, siege engines...)

- the underdog system doesn't quite balance out the differences between a fresh Battle Company and an experienced one (fresh/less experienced ones tend to get owned, with very little recompensation)

- after a while, the game can feel overly-simplistic as there isn't a ton of depth to the strategy/tactics of LOTR, however, transitioning to full 500pts games where you can use any kind of unit mitigates that

- like any skirmish/campaign game, unless you have a decent pool of different players/battle companies, the games can get pretty stale pretty fast (so Doug, Moria Goblins again, eh?)

Anyways, hope you found this useful. Good gaming!

Clarence

Much of what Clarence said is true, although I haven't had a chance to play with the updated BC rules (the new Khandish and Easterling Companies look good though). They're fun, quick, very exciting and, probably most importantly, cheap. Usually buying a few $10 blister packs or the larger plastic forces gives you all the guys you need to start one (and if it's the platics, you have some left over for when you pick up reinforcements).