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 Ghaz wrote:

 Paradigm wrote:
As it looks like they sourcebooks for LOTR are sold out...

Looks like all of the sourcebooks are available on the US web site and the Canadian web site

Several of them are listed as no longer available on the UK site.

I wasn't doubting you, just stating that they were still available this side of the pond as an option. They're probably sitting in a corner of GW's warehouse, collecting dust...

Some nice models there Wolf! I too loved the Last Alliance stuff, but I think all mine is being converted...

Welcome to the fray ckig. Paradigm has given some sound advice on army building there, but on the collecting front if I were you I wouldn't try and start collecting too many armies at once, because you'll create a backlog and become stressed and won't get to use your fully painted army. I say this because LotR and especially new games are quite easy to get swept up in and buy more than you need.

Good luck though and I look forward to progress.

Also, regarding rulebooks, I'm afraid I am not allowed to tell you that there is a PDF version of the actual Hobbit RULES not just stats online. But of course I can't tell you that as that is unprofessional...

I've only just recently started playing LOTR and am doing all i can to encourage it within my local club. I will be posting up some pics soon i what i have shortly. It would be shame to lose this game.

Cool, good to have you on board!

Here are the next instalments my Gondor force, some Fountain Guard (with Numenorean shields) and Denethor:

Really nice models again Paradigm! I'm jealous of you having the time to paint! I also used Numenorean shields for my GotFC (but did a slightly different conversion) and I think they just look so badass!

Fine, I'm in. Played a 700 point game on Saturday (list below) and painted angry Galadriel on Sunday and started on Elladan and Elrohir as well.

I played:
Azog on White Warg
Knight of Umbar on horse
Gothmog on Warg with Shield
Shaman on Warg (really just there for Fury; failed to cast)
Yazneg on Warg with Lance
Fimbul on Warg
Sharku on Warg

My opponent had Thranduil and Tauriel with a bunch of Mirkwood Rangers and some Palace Guard and a Elven noble with a bunch of the Rivendell knights.

The scenario was the one with an objective in the middle and random deployment. I hit up the objective pretty quickly. We spent a turn or two with him shooting me (killing a warg or two) and resisting my black dart. Then I sent Azog and Sharku to go fight his cav. They wiped them out around the same turn my ringwraith died to bows (I failed both my fate rolls on a previous turn and had to might one of them up just to live). Then they swept back around as Gothmog and friends went up the middle towards the Elven battleline. Azog wiped out a bunch more elves and Sharku somehow held his own against Thranduil and five buddies (the elves even had a banner!). Then Gothmog managed to kill Thranduil and Azog finally wiped the grin off Tauriel's face. Unfortunately, several of the rangers had managed to make their way to the objective and I lost 7-4.

Welcome aboard! Gaming and painting points coming your way as well.

Very interesting list! I've often been underwhelmed by all-hero lists myself, while a ton of might and specials keeps them in control I find once they get outnumbered and cut off. I'd be intrigued to see how that list would do against an orc/goblin horde setup!

Thank you!

Yeah, that is a bit of a problem. I think I would have done slightly better against a horde because they would have had far fewer bows (and S2 bows at that). This means they would have had to come towards me rather than waiting for me to make the first move (oh, and all the turns where I wanted to go second? I went first. All the turns I wanted to go first? I went second). All that might did come in very handy, but I did use up all of it except for one of Azog's. And Yazneg might have had a couple when he died.

At any rate, against such poor individual opponents you'll kill a ton of them every turn. Once they're broken they'll start running. Even orc/goblin heroes don't have great Courage (with a few exceptions, obviously). The real problem is that you'll have 3-4 dice with which to roll a 6 every turn you're in combat, and, assuming spears, they'll have a good 6-8 dice. If you're not rolling 6s, it will turn against you very quickly.

Another all heroes list I really want to try out is the white council. Glorfindel, Elrond, Saruman, Angry Galadriel. Sounds like fun


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also, question, I noticed a couple of you say you don't like the new rules. I'm wondering why not. The only things that have really changed are the special strikes (and the monster versions). Also magic has changed a bit, but I rather like it all.

The White Council could be fun, plenty of magic too throw around, but you'd be relying on Glorfindel and Elrond to do the real ass kicking while the casters buff/rebuff and throw the odd Sorcerous Blast.

On the new rules, I at first didn't like the Warband stuff as it has, in general, caused me to up the points I spend on heroes. In the old days, I used to do about 1 hero to 20 guys, so felt the 1:12 ratio was a bit restricting, but it works well with enough now I've actually got some games in. I also wasn't a fan of the Special Strikes, but in general I just ignore them. If I were playing Battle Companies I'd probably use them, but at an army level I think they'd slow things down a bit. I've not tried the Monster rules yet.

Yeah, the warband stuff can quickly feel a little limiting. There's nothing stopping you from houseruling it to 1:20, though. In fact, there's a couple of armies where I think you kind of need to (orcs/goblins for example). I was kind of skeptical about them at first as well, but I've always kind of preferred hero-hammer, so there's that.

Pretty much the only special strikes I worry about are the piercing (axes) since it really helps with high defense guys, and I would occasionally feint with things like orcs since their fight is gonna be lower anyways. It doesn't take up too much time once you have that down. Just say "feinting/piercing" right before you roll.

The monster ones...hurl is the only one that's worth anything for the most part. Picking dudes up and throwing them at things is pretty sweet. Rend is almost useful, but you're not often going to need a lower number against S rather than D unless they're D7 or higher.

But that's just my opinion.

Here are some images from the new army challenge we had at our local gw. All armies were selected randomly so we had to pick a system and then pulled a random army and were stuck with it. Luckily I picked a good one. These are from before this started so please no points. I brought these with me to adepticon last year. I literally finished them the morning of.

Cool stuff! Dwalin with the Grimhammers must do some serious damage! I'm not sure what you've done, but the Erebor dwarves also look a lot better and more cohesive there than in the GW product picture!

 Paradigm wrote:
Cool stuff! Dwalin with the Grimhammers must do some serious damage! I'm not sure what you've done, but the Erebor dwarves also look a lot better and more cohesive there than in the GW product picture!

I didnt do anything special with the grimhammers. They barely meet the tournment 3 color minimum. Same with the erebor dwarves I just tried to eyeball the box art and did the best I could in about 6 hours. I was the only one of the 3 hobbit players to finish my army challenge in the months time, though i spent only about 15 hours painting total.

Well, congrats because they do look pretty good. I don't know what it is, but I've always found it easier to make the LotR range of models look good than I do any of GW's other lines.

 spyguyyoda wrote:
I don't know what it is, but I've always found it easier to make the LotR range of models look good than I do any of GW's other lines.

Speaking for myself, I think the fact they lend themselves to fairly muted and 'realistic' schemes helps; you don't need to do more than a couple of highlight layers, washes work wonders on them, and you don't usually need to worry about NMM/OSL or anything like that to make them look good.

In the last week I've painted up 30 minis for my Gondor force, there's no way I could have painted 30 Space Marines in that time, and I think the Gondorians look just as good as any of my SM armies.

Just played a cracking game (albeit against myself), 650 Gondor vs Mordor, a baptism of fire for the newly painted men of the West.

To say it went badly for the Gondorians is an understatement! 2 of the 3 D7 Fountain Guard went down to their first fight off the game, a Khandish cavalry charge left the WOMT in tatters, and everything singularly failed to wound the Witch King, from volleys of Ranger fire to a couple of Sorcerous Blasts from Gandalf. Faramir scored 2 wounds over the whole game, and several times my heroes failed to charge the Witch King, who did down swathes of the army.

It wasn't all bass luck, though; Boromir, predictablely the last man standing, had a kill count well into double figures (and bagged the Witch King at last), only going down to fired-into-combat crossbows!

Great fun indeed! Anyone else get any hobby in over there weekend?

 Paradigm wrote:

It wasn't all bass luck, though; Boromir, predictablely the last man standing, had a kill count well into double figures (and bagged the Witch King at last), only going down to fired-into-combat crossbows!

Great fun indeed! Anyone else get any hobby in over there weekend?

Oh Boromir! Always getting yourself shot.

Sounds like a fun game

Thanks for the list help! Haven't gotten round to painting yet. Had to repair a few broken pikes. Man those things are fragile lol.

I didn't get any games in this weekend, but we're looking at starting a league. I've got to talk to the store manager again, but I won't have a chance to do that until this weekend (if even then).

Would anyone be down for an army painting challenge? The idea is it would be something new(you dont have to go buy it but me painting more elves isnt really exciting), 300~points or so, 2 warbands minimum, and say a month to do it in?

Good luck with that! Getting a store league going is sure to drum up some interest!


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 namiel wrote:
Would anyone be down for an army painting challenge? The idea is it would be something new(you dont have to go buy it but me painting more elves isnt really exciting), 300~points or so, 2 warbands minimum, and say a month to do it in?

Yeah, certainly. I am getting close to the end of my Gondor list (just 5 Knights to go) but am looking at grabbing some Dwarves soon as well, and still have plenty of Mordor to do!

It could fit in with this challenge well enough, or we could save it until the new year, but it's a cool idea!

 Paradigm wrote:
Good luck with that! Getting a store league going is sure to drum up some interest!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 namiel wrote:
Would anyone be down for an army painting challenge? The idea is it would be something new(you dont have to go buy it but me painting more elves isnt really exciting), 300~points or so, 2 warbands minimum, and say a month to do it in?

Yeah, certainly. I am getting close to the end of my Gondor list (just 5 Knights to go) but am looking at grabbing some Dwarves soon as well, and still have plenty of Mordor to do!

It could fit in with this challenge well enough, or we could save it until the new year, but it's a cool idea!

How about we shoot for january to do it. From jan1-jan31 everyone posts pics of unpainted minis to paint up by the end of the month then as the month goes along we post up what we have done.

Yep, sounds good! I'm sure there will be a fair few people getting some minis over Christmas that will be able to join in.

 Paradigm wrote:
Yep, sounds good! I'm sure there will be a fair few people getting some minis over Christmas that will be able to join in.

I already have mine planned......

12 blackroot vale archers

12 army of the dead

6 knights of dol amroth(maybe)

this or

24 easterlings

6 haradram raiders

Both lists look nice! Personally, I'm not really a fan of the Blackroot archers (while rerolls on Monsters is nice, I don't like the F and C drops), they certainly seem interesting to paint.

Depending on I get done between now and then, I think I'll go with either:

BoTFA Thorin
12 Grimhammers

2x12 Erebor Warriors+Balin/Dwalin (characters already done)

Or:
12 Easterlings with Banner and Captain
8 Easterling archers with Captain
12 Haradrim with captain
Maybe some Corsairs or Khandish

Then again, my plans tend to be in constant flux, so we shall see what I have come 2015...

I am looking at a fallen realms army or fiefdoms. I like the odd men out besides my elf army. I only want to paint the vale archers simply because of their look. I have more minis that I REALLY REALLY want to paint but im saving to use for future armies and to paint them would be a waste as the process will ruin the paint.

I was thinking of going with something similiar to your 2nd army using a unit of haradram, raiders, corsairs, and easterlings with a few ring wraiths mixed in.

Would defo be interested in that challenge. Need to start my galadrim army...

I've just bought Deathstorm so probs won't be doing much LotR related stuff for a while. I've also got a commission for some gladiator models... Oh no so much to paint :(

Paint the rangers however you like and it doesn,t matter what stat line you use for them tbh. Just have fun! I personally don't mind the BVAs but I also don't really use them much...

I've been meaning to start LotR for some time but didn't know what i needed,i have the Mines of Moria set rulebook,do i need any other books?

As for models,this is what i have:

-46 Moria Goblins(15 bows,15 spears,15 Sword and shield)
Grôblog,King of the Deeps
-Moria Goblin Commanders (2 Drummers,1 gob with spear and 1 with sword)
-Cave Troll with Hammer/Spear
-Fellowship of the Ring

Is there anything useful i can make with that?

In terms of books, you have two options: the big blue book (4th ed rulebook) that is just like the mini one on MoM but with more profiles, or the Moria and Angmar sourcebook, which has all the profiles you'll ever need for Goblins and friends. The latter is technically the most up-to-date and comprehensive, so go for that if you can. It should be pretty cheap if you shop around.

In terms of minis, you're off to a good start. Plenty of Goblins is always good, and you have the commanders to lead them (Groblog, and the sword and spear guys in the Command set). The Troll adds some punch, but another wouldn't go amiss, they're very nasty with the Hobbit edition Monster rules (if you can get the Hobbit mini rulebook, it's also worth having). You might need another Captain or Shaman, it you want to use all the Goblins (you need a 12:1 ratio of troops to heroes), but there's plenty there to get going with.

 Jinx Magiga wrote:
I've been meaning to start LotR for some time but didn't know what i needed,i have the Mines of Moria set rulebook,do i need any other books?

As for models,this is what i have:

-46 Moria Goblins(15 bows,15 spears,15 Sword and shield)
Grôblog,King of the Deeps
-Moria Goblin Commanders (2 Drummers,1 gob with spear and 1 with sword)
-Cave Troll with Hammer/Spear
-Fellowship of the Ring

Is there anything useful i can make with that?

You can always use more goblins but taking advantage of the other units that they have available to them is where the armys true strength is. Goblins themselves while cheap wont put out a whole lot of damage unless amassed on targets, which is a viable approach but the way I see it is you need to enhance those mass numbers through things like was already said. Trolls, characters, bat swarms, ect will make your goblin army far more effective. Give us a list and let us see what you come up with.

The fellowship is over 700 points by itself. Thats an army already, not very effective but an army. There are some great characters in there that would be good building blocks for future good armies.