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Hey all. I used to dabble in SBG but I really had troubles finding games in my area. I've recently found a group who may play, but at the very least their is a biannual tournament that has games for I believe it's Hobbit SBG now (I don't know if the two are intertwined), so I want to have an army since I really like LotR. I want to use Bolg, and I saw his stats in a WD. If I remember the game, he seems pretty good; a beatstick if you will. Anyhow, even if he isn't, I want to use him. I also want to use some other hunter orcs and maybe some gundabad orcs to kind of have a mix of the force that was with him in the barrel and laketown scene, and from his army from Gundabad. He's my favorite character as I'm a sucker for orcs. Anyhow, what should I get? How do I play in the Hobbit? What is the best use for Bolg? Any help for a returning player would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome back to the game! The Hobbit SBG is exactly the same as the LotR one, just the most recent edition. The main changes, which I'm sure yout opponents will be happy to talk you through, are: shooting has changed a bit (no Volley Fire, -1 to hit when moving), each type of weapon has a 'special strike' that grants a bonus if you win a fight, a penalty if you lose, and
Monsters have a bunch of new attacks that make them far more dangerous. You also need 1 Hero per 12 Warriors now, which may or may not be more than you are used to.

As for Bolg and friends, you're on the right lines. Depending on startup budget, I'd grab Bolg, and a box each of Foot and Mounted Hunter Orcs (and maybe another of Bolg's lackeys, like Fimbul or Nazrug). That should give you 2 Warbands to start off with, Bolg leading a mounted charge with the foot Orcs following. After than, then you should add or convert some Gundabad Orcs, to bulk up your staying power a bit.

Bolg is a pretty good beatstick. As he gains a special rule every few Wounds he deals, you want to target weaker troops to buff him up a bit before going after heroes and harder stuff. He's pretty dangerous, though.

Hope that gives you some ideas.

Thanks! Ok, great. So are models fro LotR SBG usable in the Hobbit game? What book do I need to get to find the points for my relevant models?

The LotR and Hobbit minis are 100% compatible, you can have Aragorn face Azog or Erebor Dwarves take on Mordor Orcs.

Since you'll be using just Hobbit minis with this army, you'll want:

The first PDF from Black Library, you'll find the Hunter Orcs and Fimbul, Nazrug, Azog and Yazneg in here:
http://www.blacklibrary.com/Downloads/Product/PDF/The-Hobbit/Heroes-and-villains-of-Middle-earth.pdf

You'll find a version of Bolg in this free Supplement:
http://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/The-Hobbit-The-Battle-of-the-Five-Armies-Strategy-Battle-Game-PDF

And when you want Gundabad Orcs, and the DoS version of Bolg, you'll find them in this book (the only one of these you'll need to buy)
http://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/The-Hobbit-The-Desolation-of-Smaug-EN

Thanks for the quick and thorough reply. I'll try and post a rough army build soon to see if I still understand the mechanics. Thanks again! Also, what's so special about the DoS version of Bolg? also, is there anyway to get that DoS book in an ebook format?

Any ideas of good Bolg (or Azog) proxy models that look somewhat like their movie appearances? Obviously come conversion will be required regardless, but good base figures that aren't priced like the GW ones would be welcome.

 Azazelx wrote:
Any ideas of good Bolg (or Azog) proxy models that look somewhat like their movie appearances? Obviously come conversion will be required regardless, but good base figures that aren't priced like the GW ones would be welcome.

I can't think of anything that looks like the movie Bolg save for the GW Bolg figure.

The Weta designed Orcs are just too distinctive.

There are other manufacturers who have created Orc "Bosses" that are just as, or more, impressive as the movie Bolg.

Mithril and Thunderbolt Mountain come to mind (Further down the topics, is a post with a photo of the Thunderbolt Mountain Orc Boss miniature, painted, as part of a command group).

Mithril make an actual"Bolg," but it is not much like the movie Bolg at all.

MB

Yep. While I like the way they both look, for whatever reason, my wife really likes the look of Azog from the films. She also really liked Grishnákh as well. (Hm.. what does that say about the way I look?) Anyway, I just refuse to pay AU$40/70 for one figure or a foot+mount. Especially in finecast. Maybe I could "build" something out of existing Uruk-Hai figures. I might need to get hold of some more berserkers, though.

Your TBM orc has a nice "feel" to it, but I really can't see it properly in the photo, and it appears to be heavily hunched over.

I am doing new photos of the TBM miniatures I have with my new Camera, so I will be getting better images of the Command Group.

And... Bolg would be bent over.

He was a Hithaeglir Great-Goblin, not an Uruk-Hai (which were pretty much limited to Isengard - although there is some reason to think Mordor might have some, but not the Hithaeglir nearly 80 years prior to the WotR).

So he would be "hunched over" some.

The TBM commander is much more upright than the rank-file, though.

MB