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Howdy folks - having never played LotR in all my 2 decades of gaming, have a few daft questions:

Friend of mine recently got the Hobbit - Goblin Town box set and wants to go back to playing it; we've both become disillusioned with AoS having originally been WHFB players. I've got the rulebook for LotR but no army yet (planning on doing Mordor). He wants to use the new dwarfs from Forgeworld.

Are the rules any different? Where can we get the points values for everything? I'm planning to get the Mordor book but have been holding off in case our armies aren't compatible.
Any help appreciated!

All the Hobbit and LotR models and rules are totally compatible. so long as you're using the most current version of the main rules (as found in the Goblin Town set) then thee should be no problems whatsoever.

For Mordor, you'll want the (aptly named) Mordor sourcebook, it's there you'll find the full rules for everything they can take, which is an awful lot as Mordor is one of the most varied armies in the game. For the new Dwarves, you'll want the There And Back Again sourcebook from Forge World, I don't know if that's back in stock yet though.

Basically it's like this
Lord of the Rings SBG Fellowship of the Ring rulebook 2001 - 1st edition
Lord of the Rings SBG Two Towers rulebook 2002 - 2nd edition
Lord of the Rings SBG Return of the King rulebook 2003 - 3rd edition
Lord of the Rings SBG blue book, 2005 - 4th edition
The Hobbit SBG 2013 - 5th edition

So you'd want The Hobbit book for the most current edition of the rules.

Points values are in the supplements that have the army in them. The Mordor book has everything you'd need! And if your buddy is doing the Iron Hills Dwarves, he needs the There And Back Again sourcebook.

Ah, ok! So I need the Hobbit Rules (which he has) and the Mordor sourcebook, for now. I'll let him know too. Thanks for the help!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Just checked - the There and Back Again book is on GW not FW, is that correct? But yes it's out of stock anyway :(

 grantosjones wrote:
Ah, ok! So I need the Hobbit Rules (which he has) and the Mordor sourcebook, for now. I'll let him know too. Thanks for the help!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Just checked - the There and Back Again book is on GW not FW, is that correct? But yes it's out of stock anyway :(

Yeah, it's an official GW release! It keeps going out of stock as it's quite popular. Just sign up for the "email me when back in stock" option

Wait, wait, so do i get this right:
*The full rules can be found in the small rulebook that comes with "Escape from Goblin Town".
*The full rules are in "The Hobbit: An Unexpected journey" as well, but it's not needed, if I already own the small version from "Goblin Town" - not interested playing scenarios further, not interested in armies featured there.
*The "There and Back Again" is an expansion to "Unexpected Journey" and is not needed, if I'm again not interested in continuing scenarios from "Unexpected Journey"/ not interested in armies featured there.
*The points values for other armies are still legit in their respective sourcebooks.
?

So, in theory, I could just buy the Escape from Goblin Town, get to know the rules, trade it away for some other army, buy the sourcebook and be good with it?

Absolutely.

 CragHack wrote:
So, in theory, I could just buy the Escape from Goblin Town, get to know the rules, trade it away for some other army, buy the sourcebook and be good with it?

AFAIK, the only thing missing from the EFGT rulebook is the point costs for the heroes and warriors. That's only found in the hardcover Hobbit rulebook (or the new There and Back Again book)

Or as a free PDF on the Black Library (or possibly GW now) called Heroes And Villains of Middle Earth. The only reason to buy the Big Book is if you want the AUJ scenarios in there.

 CragHack wrote:
Wait, wait, so do i get this right:
*The full rules can be found in the small rulebook that comes with "Escape from Goblin Town".
*The full rules are in "The Hobbit: An Unexpected journey" as well, but it's not needed, if I already own the small version from "Goblin Town" - not interested playing scenarios further, not interested in armies featured there.
*The "There and Back Again" is an expansion to "Unexpected Journey" and is not needed, if I'm again not interested in continuing scenarios from "Unexpected Journey"/ not interested in armies featured there.
*The points values for other armies are still legit in their respective sourcebooks.
?

So, in theory, I could just buy the Escape from Goblin Town, get to know the rules, trade it away for some other army, buy the sourcebook and be good with it?

All that is true. And certainly you could do that, but I'd keep the terrain and rulebook and just sell the models to someone else. The rulebook is very very handy for referencing spells and special rules.