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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.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
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.