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How popular is the GW LOTR system? I feel as though a following hardly even exists now that the movie frenzy is long past. Perhaps it would be best financially for GW to kiss this system goodbye if it isn't producing a great profit and then poor its resources into WHFB and 40k? Just looking to see if LOTR has an active following.

I chose the third option. I bought some LOTR stuff when it came out, but shortly thereafter stopped. Tolkien and LOTR is its own interest in my life, apart from wargaming.

Why isn't, "Not no, but hell no" not one of the choices?



LOTR? Whats that?

I think after the Hobbit is released, they'll milk the franchise a little more, but then dump it.

I'd consider the game if it weren't such a awkward scale.

I doubt they would ever drop it completely, but an eventual drop to Specialist Games wouldn't be surprising - I guess we'll see.

The competitive WOTR scene exists, and they sure wouldn't be happy about it.

If it was more popular in my area I would defiantly be tempted to give it a try.

I'm starting to get sick of all the "heroic scale" fantasy games and I'm not really interested in historicals.

But yeah, as of right no. Nope, no way...a game isn't any good if you have no one to play.

ps. yes, i realize the irony of me posting this and my avatar being an Epic: Armageddon picture.

What's awkward about the scale, Absolutionis?

I collect and play both the SBG and WOTR. I've never had any trouble finding players locally. Both games are technically superior wargames to both 40k and WFB, in terms of rules clarity and tactical depth (notwithstanding some major oversights in the WOTR rules that were finally cleared up in an FAQ last year), plus the rules have a great deal of broad adaptability (Legends of the Old West and Legends of the High Seas both use the same core mechanics as SBG).

I don't, actually, have all that much time for either films or books (haven't seen the films), but I do rate the games very highly. I'd put them both in the top five good wargames internationally. 40k and WFB only just sneak into the top 10 thanks to their ubiquity.

R.

Like some of the sculpts but thats it

Here's the thing about LotR that I have noticed - the people who play tend to stay in their own homes, away from stores, and stay within their own group of friends. It's what I did and probably will do when I begin to pick it up again very soon, and it seems to be what most people do that play it. I've seen people buy it at the store I go to, but never play. All you gotta do is find some local players and groups, and you'll be set. Ask around, look online, post on notice boards. It's a fantastic game, at least the SBG is. I've yet to play WotR. The models, for the most part, are beautiful and the setting is fantastic.

Personally, I'd say just wait 'til next year when the Hobbit breathes new life into the system and it's players. I'm sure more people will pick it up or come out of the woodwork.

Also, this is just a pet peeve of mine, but it seems really stupid for people to assume that LotR is sucking away cash and resources from GW. Do you REALLY think they'd have supported the system for almost ten years now if it was just a sinkhole for money? Really? After all the cutbacks they have made? Sure, it's second string now, but they've yet to drop it completely, and they require their stores to carry products. People must be buying, otherwise GW, with all their purse tightening, would have stopped support whenever they needed to renew their license.

I don't think so, models are too small scale and I only like the Balrog.

I would play if it was rolled into the Warhammer Fantasy ruleset, or built as an expansion. In my opinion the rules are the part that make it such a farce.

I don't play it personally and I occasionally mock its existence, but I'm sure there are people who enjoy it and more power to them.

In an ideal world it become a specialist game with some level of support (the Perry's would probably be happy to carry on sculpting miniatures for it).

I would still be playing it if my opponents didn't all prefer WHFB. Gave all my models to my brother, who plays regularly and nothing else.

I liked the fact that each side was good or evil, so each player had access to a huge variety of models. At the right scale, the rules were clear and intuitive, and it was surprisingly tactical. Brilliant minis, and I preferred the realistic design. I never played WOTR, so can't comment.

It is definitely a different approach to gaming when compared to the other systems, but I enjoyed the fact that the same rules would suit a skirmish of 10 models each, up to a decent battle of 100. And, whilst moving each model individually is a pain, the clear rules mean that it's quick to do.

It's been a while since I played it, but as I remember, it didn't suffer from the built-in obsolescence that seems to be the very foundation of GW's approach to WHFB and 40K. Each time a new rule set or army came out, it didn't involve binning old rules or army lists, but simply enhanced them. So, within each of the two main systems, you could start with one of the early rule sets (a few points tweaks aside) and build up to the most recent ones, and none of your books would be out of date. GW obviously have a different strategy with LOTR, and I prefer it.

The thing that winds up my brother is the fact that LOTR very much feels like GW's embarrassing child, next to the WHFB and 40K proteges. He gets sick of redshirts trying to tell him he should play fantasy or buy fantasy minis, and hates White Dwarf, which rarely features anything to do with LOTR. So, GW seem to perpetuate the poor popularity of the system by treating players as second-rate customers, waiting in the wings until they can be hooked onto the proper games.

I love collecting the models and enjoy painting them. I would play more, but everyone that is local either doesn't play, or is a super serious player.

Flashman wrote:I don't play it personally and I occasionally mock its existence, but I'm sure there are people who enjoy it and more power to them.

In an ideal world it become a specialist game with some level of support (the Perry's would probably be happy to carry on sculpting miniatures for it).

I agree with that and move Blood Bowl to main games.

When LOTR game came out I collected a fair size of each side. I love the rules, as they are a complete change to 40k, which is the other system I play. The game was brilliant, and I really like the models, however during all that time I only found one person in my local area to game against, which was fine, but then he moved away to go to college and we lost contact.
More people took up WOTR when that came out, but I'm not intrested in that, as I always felt LOTR worked well as it was a skirmish game, if i wanted ranked up units I would take up WFB.

The result of this is a large box sat in my cupboard full of LOTR models who never see the light of day!!

Oh well, at least I've got my 40k group to still get games in with

Rumor has it that there was once a game called like that.

Absolutionis wrote:I'd consider the game if it weren't such a awkward scale.

It's only awkward in scale compared to other GW games. 25mm is a very common scale, and while 28-30mm heroic is very popular for fantasy and sci fi, 25mm is more common for historicals.


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I've played a few games of it and I didn't enjoy the rules. The models are mostly very, very good though. I tend to skip the LotR section in White Dwarf. If it wasn't making money GW would have dropped it a year or two ago when they renewed their copyright for it.

GBL wrote:I would play if it was rolled into the Warhammer Fantasy ruleset, or built as an expansion. In my opinion the rules are the part that make it such a farce.

Well , we all are entitled to our opinions , whatever floats your boat - but in my opinoin LOTR SBG is THE best ruleset GW ever released and the notion of it being corrupted into WHFB ruleset is.... - well no point in going on - its never going to happen .

Its good enough to be able to 'Port' the basic system over to a Wild West system LOTR with guns!
Its ruleset is not periodically revamped so is going to last , the basic rules havent changed significantly for some time , why fix something tha isnt broken ?

Thats off topic I guess . In answer to the question , I think I have enough LOTR models to do me fine , so rarely buy more , but my club has many members who play .

Thats all for SBG , I dont play WOTR which is a different game .

Absolutionis wrote:I'd consider the game if it weren't such a awkward scale.

It is the correct scale
The rest of GW stuff is out of kilter!

i have a a set of rohirrim warriors and 6 riders of rohan, but because of it's recent drop in popularity, I have nobody to play with : (

I only really bought the figures because I liked the film. There's some good likenesses and there are a lot of very nice figures. I couldn't really be bothered to try the game itself, that isn't the appeal of the miniatures line IMO.

WOTR is a pretty awesome game system when compared to 40k and WHFB. The way things die so easily in it is great. Its very easy to play compared to the other 2 systems and its really a whole lot of fun.

Yep, massive fan of the range here. As somebody who also plays WHFB, I can comfortably say that WOTR is a far more elegant, tactical experience, and is by far my preferred large-scale fantasy combat system. As an added bonus, the sculpts are great - though certain lines are better served than others. And I feel for the poor buggers collecting metal-only armies (like the clans of Gondor) - while the plastics are generally far better priced than the Warhammer ranges (standard rate of £20.50 for 24 infantry), the fact that many units have to be made from metal units which sell at £8.20 per 3 models, which doesn't exactly go well into armies made up of companies of 8 men, is awful. Particularly as the average infantry formation is made up of 3+ companies of men, or a minimum £65.60 worth of metal figures. Not fun. If I were to make my Grey Company entirely out of the correct figures (Grey Company and Rangers of the North metals), it would have cost me £114.80 to put together. That's for 40 men, or 5 companies, which make up only 275 points (out of a 1500 point army). Fortunately, I can proxy plastic rangers to bulk out the company, but other formations aren't so easily fixed: I wouldn't want to run Men at Arms of Dol Amroth, or Clansmen of Lamedon, for example, who not only have no viable proxies, they're cheaper, points-wise, than the Grey Company.