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Hey everyone, I was just curious on what exactly i would have to do to make/start a Gondor list. I already have 3 groups of LOTR sbg minis (Moria Goblins,Gondor warriors, and Easterlings) and also the black cover lotr sbg rulebook with the wringwraith on the front. the LOTR sbg game is really what got me into the whole GW gaming world, but i was quickly taken out of the lotr sbg part of it when i had nobody to even play a game with..... And then comments from a very rude guy at my local store also really discouraged me from even really bringing up the subject of starting any lotr sbg games up, with stuff like " Thats not even popular,not that fun,dumb, and nobody would even PLAY it around here" etc,etc. it all really took me down , but that was a while ago, and i no longer feel that i would be viewed as an oddity for starting up the lotr sbg and that 1 odd guy who tried to play the lotr sbg when nobody else did, in a mainly 40k popular area.( I went to 40k after the whole lotr sbg interest/excitement sort of fell over for me) But now i would somehow like to get back into it, and introduce others to it (maybe with the mines of moria set? or the hobbit set?). I have only played a few games of it with the groups of warriors i possessed at the time, and no hero units, or any special units, mainly just the basic units with swords, bows and spears and whatever terrain i could find ( usually my old PLAYMOBIL castle stuff) or things that came in the old military action figure playsets i got when i was little. So, basically i am asking- what is the best way to start with Gondor (adding onto the 1 group of warriors i already have) or rohan, but im mainly looking to run the gondor side. Wouldnt buying the 'MINES OF MORIA' set be a good way to get some good stuff, along with that miniature rulebook, and other stuff?

Welcome back to LOTR SBG. It can be really hard to get people to commit to playing the least supported of GW active games. You have to push it, or get the Store Manager to help push the game if you want it to grow. I still think it is the best of the three systems. I have not been able to play in about a year, I moved to a new location, and no one plays it where i moved to. :(

As far as gondor goes, The Mines of Moria Set is best for a Goblin player and to get the Small book, Sure you get all the Fellow ship. which gives you two Gondor heroes. but all and all it will not really help with your gondor army.

As you say you already have a box of warriors, I would recommend you get another box of warriors, a box of Knights, and couple of heroes. This will allow you to build a good start to your army. The Most important part of LOTR is that you play the army you like. And best of luck in finding some people to play against.

Try to persuade your store manager to start a LotR/Hobbit SBG campaign, and preferably do so in Decemeber, when the next wave of Hobbit Releases are expected, along with the new film.

It doesn't have to be a large campaign, and the armies don't have to be big. You could make it an escalation campaign, starting at 250, then moving to 500 then onto 750, or even smaller points costs, with a massive battle at the end. Hopefully a lot of people will be encouraged to start, especially at the 250pt level, since very few models are needed.

Thanks! and yes i agree on getting something going, like a campaign, or something like that. And like cawizkid said on the gondor army building, the knights and stuff, i found a segment in an old WHITE DWARF magazine that sort of had an example army that consisted of-

Gandalf the White (riding on Shadowfax)
Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth
22 warriors of Minas Stirith
1 warrior of Minas Stirith with banner
5 knights of Dol Amroth

The caption said it totals to be a 700 point force, but it could have changed if the books for the stats were updated or something. But would it be about the same if i just switched out the Dol Amroth people? and added in just some knights of Minas Tirith? and a Minas Stirith HQ guy or maybe Aragorn? something like that? and i think i might just be able to get someother people into the game.........since i know a guy who is sort of an lotr nut, but not really a hobbyist, (but i could help him with that part,with the modelling and painting,etc.) and another buddy of mine who im trying to rope into 40k, but maybe he would be more interested in the lotr sbg, since 40k is sort of complicated sometimes.


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Would that be good? and also, the 'warriors of gondor' i have are actually the 'warriors of minas stirith' but couldnt i just call them warriors of gondor?, otherwise, who would be a good HQ for a Gondor/minas stirith force besides gandalf, or aragorn?

Would an Isengard army be good to start? or goblins? like which might work better?


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I really have no idea.....but i saw on some forum that someone had given a short synopsis on each army on their strengths and weaknesses, or is there a better way of finding out?

Isengard works well enough as a army, the Uruks are solid troops, and you have the option to field those Dunlendings, whom can prefer well as fodder. You could also ally in some Easterlings to provide some much needed heavy cavalry

Ok, yeah, because I was thinking that since the Uruks are a very solid troop choice, then add Lurtz and some of the Berserkers, and maybe a 2nd troop choice, it might work well? Or mak a Minas Stirith army/force with mostly foot soldiers?

Well the most flexible army type in my experience is two units of regular Uruks, one of scouts with bows and a unit of Dunlendings for fodder duty. Then ally in some Kataprakts or Harad cavalry. Lurtzs is okay but your regular captain will work well enough.

As for Gondor you really need a solid core of foot soldiers to have a battle line that can sway with the tide of battle. Cavalry or some other more hard hitting troops should be added for maximum effect. same with rangers or regular bow men. Add faramir or Boromomir plus a few captains and you have a good army.

I don't play the game, but for what it's worth while I was watching the LoTR movies I was actively rooting for the bad guys because they just seemed so much more...interesting I guess is the right word. If they had a Saruman force with lots of custom bred orcs and smoke belching war machines I might actually have to look into the game just so I could recreate that scene from the second movie against the ents and try to get a white hand victory out of it.

ok, thanks! But is there much of a difference between the uruk-hai 'scouts' and the uruk-hai 'warriors'?

Well yes there is a substantial difference between the two. Better defense for the Uruk warriors, heavy armour and more front line tooled options. And crossbows. while the scouts only have armour and fewer choices in the way of gear but make up for it with being cheaper point wise

Ok, so i should mainly take JUST the warriors? And also, i was thinking of going goblins, and also run the BALROG with the army to pwn whoever im facing, ive heard/read that its very OP.

No, you should take a mix of those two, scouts for ranged fire. And Uruk Hais for picthed batte.
Goblins are good but need some serious numbers to prevail.Balrogs are good but not unbeatebal, a opponent whom knows what he is doing will be abel to kill it.

Ok........so i guess you could say that an lotr goblin player would sort of have to play as if he/she was playing orks in 40k? Also, i have some very good news, a guy i met at my local store last night said he would give me a box of Minas Stirith knights for FREE! ( He doesnt want them AT ALL) and another guy said he might be able to set up an lotr/hobbit sbg game night or game sometime, which is going to be sweet.

No you need to play it tacticaly, well unless you wish to provide your opponent with easy options for killing your troops. But being agrresive, and playing on the strehgts of your army is also imporntalty. And trolls!

Agreed! such as deployment and how you move your troops around the board will also factor into a win or loss

So im most likely to start Gondor/Minas Stirith, but mabye have a side army, would Easterlings be any good? i heard their whole phalanxe formations, were ideal, or however that goes, and the Uruk-Hai, are good also, but since the game has those ally rules now, couldnt i take the balrog with an Isengard army?


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Or maybe a Mordor army, and run both the Balrog, and Sauron? a bit OP, but just an idea...

Gondor is a solid army, they have good troops and solid leaders. So you wont be disapointed with them, Easterlings are a solid army too, their phanalxes are good, but not something you should hinge your whole battleplan on. Always work in unison with your more mobile troops, to drive a wedge in the enemy lines. And then break his forces up.
Isengard are also good, a good mixture of heavy Uruks and ligther orks that can pepper the enemy with bow shots, trolls are also good. Same goes for the warmachines. The ally rules has always been there for as long as i can remeber, Yes you could take the Balrog with a Uruk army, but I would find it a bit unfitting to be honnest, such massive beasts belong best with the army they where intended for. Adding a Cave drake and agreeing with your opponent that it will be treathed as a indepented characther is something myself have done, and to great amusment. As for the fire drake that you can find in the Moria army well. That one works best alone.

Ok, yeah, the Gondor forces look very durable, but a big question is also- who do i take as a hero? my local store has the citadel finecast blister of the King Elessar version of Aragorn, i have heard he is good, but i am still not sure....and faramir and boromir also look very good to add in as heroes, but i'll probably just run the Aragorn, also, i am going to be getting a FREE box of Minas Stirith knights this coming tuesday, which i am excited for, since now i dont have to buy them, but the isengard faction/army looks super tempting to start still......

You need more than one single leader, each warband need a captain or hero to make them legal. Aragorns is good but not a walking tank abel to mince anything that comes along. And never start a new army unless you have completed/built your first one up to game standarsds

Yeah....agreed, but thats another big thing i was curious about. the command/HQ units needed for each warband. wouldnt that be the gondor commanders unit? and then all 4 of those commanding units, i would have to add 1 of them to each warband? i am very confused......or...i could convert a model to be the captain.....?

No, you need one captain for each warband. if you choose to include a banner or something like that you need one model carrying a banner. In that regard a command set is a nice way to fill those spesefic needs.
You could of course convert a model to be a captain, but still regardless of how you set about aquering said captain you still need one deicated captain for each warband

Ok, so then what is the command squad even really for, besides commanding? just using each of those models to fill in a spot in each warband as the captain or hq/commanding unit in each warband? hmmmmm.....

 orkkiller21 wrote:
Ok, so then what is the command squad even really for, besides commanding? just using each of those models to fill in a spot in each warband as the captain or hq/commanding unit in each warband? hmmmmm.....

Well okay I suppose I can see your problem though. So look below, and read the text beneath the shiny pictures in the link I would strongly suggest going to the GW site, read up on the actualy heros/captains you want. And then read the rule book I hope you have. Its very clearly stated in each sourcebook

Isengard command set.
http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat980003a&prodId=prod1460151a&rootCatGameStyle=

Easterling command set
http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat980023a&prodId=prod1460145a

Ok, thanks! and i dont have a rulebook.......but i plan on buying one, or the Escape from Goblin Town set for the smaller version of it, and a collection of models, that i can use to teach others how to play the game with,etc, but then i will have to find a store that also has the Kingdoms of Men sourcebook, because my local store has them all except for that one, but thanks!

I bought a bunch of badly painted miniatures a while back that I am getting rid of due to having not having the time or interest to paint them.They are a combination of men and goblins I believe some most in need of stripping. I am not gonna use them so if you want them you can have them for free as long as you cover the shipping costs. Rather someone make use of them than throw them.

Im not sure if i really have the money right now, sorry, but i would if i could, but thanks for the offer! maybe you could re-paint them (at some point,maybe), and set them up in a cool diorama? with some cool scenery? just an idea


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Wait.....how much would the cost be?........like what are we talking?

Honestly not a clue. I haven't really shipped anything to america before. Cant imagine it being to high.

Depening on the weigh of the parcel, I dare think the cost would be low. Since well, I assume there is not hundreds of figures involved?
And well....before you even can consider to make a army you need the source book. Because if you lack the essential information, it makes the whole damned thing harder. But then again, you seem to have firmly made up your mind now. And esthetich looks also counts for much when starting a army

hmmmm...yeah, i will have to ask if they can order the source book, for me, and i dont think i really have the money for the miniatures right now, sorry........maybe you could sell/give them to a kid just starting the lotr/hobbit sbg? or i could find out if i can actually afford them, so i will get back to you on that