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Made in nl
Regular Dakkanaut






The new edition of the Lord of the Rings tabletop is just a few weeks away. It is called Middle Earth: the Strategy Battle Game and the LotR miniatures will return to GW and retailer stores. It seems so that GW remembered that they also had a 3rd game on the shelfs next to 40k and AoS.

I want to use this thread to collect any information regarding Middle Earth: the Strategy Battle Game, discussing the game or answer questions. Everyone is invited to post content here if it is related to Middle Earth: the Strategy Battle Game.

It is one thread to bind them all....


Soon you will find those fancy boxes in your local GW or FLGS
[Thumb - 38014742_10104209344157968_7068648766210834432_n.jpg]


   
Made in fr
Longtime Dakkanaut






I'll post some army pics later on today when I get back onto my main PC.
   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut






UK

Here are a few LOTR figures I have painted recently - I've been working through the old Journey Books putting together the models and terrain needed for each scenario.

Soon I might even start playing them





   
Made in us
Haughty Harad Serpent Rider





Richmond, VA

So the big, relevant info is:

Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game is the official new title for Lord of the Rings / The Hobbit Strategy Battle Game. The main rulebook contains updated SBG rules. The first supplement is Armies of Lord of the Rings which contain all the army lists and profiles for every LOTR figure and army. Later on, Armies of The Hobbit will be released, and contain the same, but for The Hobbit.

GW renewed their license for, I think they mentioned, a decade.

GW has monthly releases planned for SBG through the end of 2020.

The plastic Theoden sculpt is the first in a new series of new plastic kits.

Boxes are being rebranded and prices adjusted (infantry doubling count and going down in price, monster kits going down, some cavalry going up).

The relaunch is set for September 1. The kits in the free standing display unit are the ones ones 100% confirmed with the rebranding and rebox for retail distribution.

GW has like a thousand molds for metal LOTR figures. their current warehouse/production/inventory system is incapable of bringing all those models back in production, so they will be cycling sets into production for a few months and then cycling those out and cycling new sets in, repeat.

They also plan to do some runs of Made To Order models for alternate oop poses of models that are available already (so, alternate Aragorns, Faramir, etc)

"...and special thanks to Judgedoug!" - Alessio Cavatore "Now you've gone too far Doug! ... Too far... " - Rick Priestley "I've decided that I'd rather not have you as a member of TMP." - Editor, The Miniatures Page "I'd rather put my testicles through a mangle than spend any time gaming with you." - Richard, TooFatLardies "We need a Doug Craig in every store." - Warlord Games "Thank you for being here, Judge Doug!" - Adam Troke 
   
Made in us
Lieutenant General





Florence, KY

I'm surprised they didn't wait a few more weeks and release on the 22nd instead of the 1st, since it's the birthday of both Bilbo and Frodo

'It is a source of constant consternation that my opponents
cannot correlate their innate inferiority with their inevitable
defeat. It would seem that stupidity is as eternal as war.'

- Nemesor Zahndrekh of the Sautekh Dynasty
Overlord of the Crownworld of Gidrim
 
   
Made in gb
Regular Dakkanaut





Scotland

Is there a recommended way of army expansion? Should you focus on one specific faction or get a mixture of themed allies like the first rerelease of boxed sets would allow.
   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut






So a couple of army shots and some random bits and pieces. Really need to get around to taking pics of my Minas Tirith, Isengard and Easterlings soon.
[Thumb - DSCF2105.JPG]

[Thumb - DSCF2532.JPG]

[Thumb - DSCF2595.JPG]

[Thumb - DSCF1816.JPG]

[Thumb - DSCF1956.JPG]

   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





I love seeing this thread, and an engaged community.

The raw, uncontrollable hype of the game returning, and local players asking me to run the game again got me to pull the trigger on an uncomfortably expensive Iron Hills Dwarf army from Forge World.

While I am waiting for it to arrive, i'm FINALLY going to sit down a paint a box of Minis Tirith Knights i've been sitting on forever, alongside the White Tower mounted Boromir!

11527pts Total (7400pts painted)

4980pts Total (4980pts painted)

3730 Total (210pts painted) 
   
Made in nl
Regular Dakkanaut






NewTruthNeomaxim wrote:
I love seeing this thread, and an engaged community.

The raw, uncontrollable hype of the game returning, and local players asking me to run the game again got me to pull the trigger on an uncomfortably expensive Iron Hills Dwarf army from Forge World.

While I am waiting for it to arrive, I'm FINALLY going to sit down a paint a box of Minis Tirith Knights i've been sitting on forever, alongside the White Tower mounted Boromir!


I really got hit by the hype train. I have bought 20 Uruk Hai & 1 shaman. The next step is to remove the paint off my 14 years old Uruk-hai Captain, 4 Berzerkers, and Lurtz. This will be the first force I'll paint and then buy the new starter set. Manly to have to playable forces to grab a friend and play. It is really hard to promote LotR in a pure 40k community :(

   
Made in us
Grim Dark Angels Interrogator-Chaplain






A Protoss colony world

I don't have any pics, but I've got a pretty decent collection of LotR stuff that's been sitting in my closet gathering dust for years. Much of it is still on the sprues, as with no one around to play against I had little motivation to get the stuff painted. For funsies I'll go ahead and list what I have (I'd have to look again to be absolutely sure):
GOOD:
Dwarves:
Dain Ironfoot, King Under the Mountain
Balin
Dwarf Captain
Dwarf Shieldbearer
Warrior with Banner
Warrior with Horn
3 Iron Guard
12 Warriors
24 Rangers
Gondor:
Faramir Foot & Mounted
Denethor
24 Warriors of Minas Tirith
6 Knights of Minas Tirith
Elves:
Haldir
Wood Elf Captain
Wood Elf Warrior with Banner
24 Wood Elves
12 Galadhrim Warriors
In addition to these, I also have the plastic Fellowship of the Ring from the Mines of Moria box, and 24 Rangers of Middle Earth
EVIL:
Moria:
Moria Goblin Shaman
4 Moria Goblin Prowlers
36 Moria Goblins
1 plastic Cave Troll
1 metal Cave Troll with Spear
Easterlings:
Khamul the Easterling Foot & Mounted (lost pieces of the horse, though )
20 Easterling Warriors
5 Easterling Kataphracts
Mordor:
The Shadow Lord Foot & Mounted
1 metal Ringwraith Foot & Mounted
9 finecast Ringwraiths on foot
Spider Queen & Swarms
4 Giant Spiders
24 Mordor Orcs
1 Mordor Troll
I've got a decent amount of rank and file troops, but few elite troops and far too few leaders, especially on the Evil side (unless you count all those Nazgul). Something for me to work on if and when I get back to the game, which will depend on if a community develops for it.

My armies (re-counted and updated on 11/1/23, including modeled wargear options):
Dark Angels: ~15000 Astra Militarum: ~1200 | Adeptus Custodes: ~1900 | Imperial Knights: ~2000 | Sisters of Battle: ~3500 | Leagues of Votann: ~1200 | Tyranids: ~2600 | Stormcast Eternals: ~5000
Check out my P&M Blogs: ZergSmasher's P&M Blog | Imperial Knights blog | Board Games blog | Total models painted in 2023: 40 | Total models painted in 2024: 7 | Current main painting project: Dark Angels
 Mr_Rose wrote:
Who doesn’t love crazy mutant squawk-puppies? Eh? Nobody, that’s who.
 
   
Made in au
Fixture of Dakka





Melbourne

 judgedoug wrote:
GW has like a thousand molds for metal LOTR figures. their current warehouse/production/inventory system is incapable of bringing all those models back in production, so they will be cycling sets into production for a few months and then cycling those out and cycling new sets in, repeat.
That's a good way of doing it. Hopefully it won't just be a single cycle and if you miss they're gone again. A thousand moulds is a lot to get through though.

They also plan to do some runs of Made To Order models for alternate oop poses of models that are available already (so, alternate Aragorns, Faramir, etc)
Excellent. There's a few sculpts I missed that i'd like to get my hands on. LotR is one of those things where i'd like to all of the sculpts of everyone. Doubles, triples, quintuples, doesn't matter how man iterations a character has, I need them all!


I'll have to dig out my collection. It's hidden away somewhere. Lots to strip and repaint.

My Blogs -
Hobby Blog
Terrain 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





I'd definitely love to see some of the rare sculpts come back in batches. Obviously anyone who wants to play Gimli in their list has numerous cheap ways to get him, for example, and I respect that for the health of the game. But, sometimes you just want a particular version for your own enjoyment.

I know they aren't super rare, but stuff like Gimli on dead Uruk, or Pellenor Fields Legolas are my favorite sculpts of those characters.

11527pts Total (7400pts painted)

4980pts Total (4980pts painted)

3730 Total (210pts painted) 
   
Made in us
Haughty Harad Serpent Rider





Richmond, VA

 Paintalist wrote:
NewTruthNeomaxim wrote:
I love seeing this thread, and an engaged community.

The raw, uncontrollable hype of the game returning, and local players asking me to run the game again got me to pull the trigger on an uncomfortably expensive Iron Hills Dwarf army from Forge World.

While I am waiting for it to arrive, I'm FINALLY going to sit down a paint a box of Minis Tirith Knights i've been sitting on forever, alongside the White Tower mounted Boromir!


I really got hit by the hype train. I have bought 20 Uruk Hai & 1 shaman. The next step is to remove the paint off my 14 years old Uruk-hai Captain, 4 Berzerkers, and Lurtz. This will be the first force I'll paint and then buy the new starter set. Manly to have to playable forces to grab a friend and play. It is really hard to promote LotR in a pure 40k community :(


Psst you _need_ Uruk Scouts and Mauhur. Just sayin'. Time to fire up an order with GW.

"...and special thanks to Judgedoug!" - Alessio Cavatore "Now you've gone too far Doug! ... Too far... " - Rick Priestley "I've decided that I'd rather not have you as a member of TMP." - Editor, The Miniatures Page "I'd rather put my testicles through a mangle than spend any time gaming with you." - Richard, TooFatLardies "We need a Doug Craig in every store." - Warlord Games "Thank you for being here, Judge Doug!" - Adam Troke 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





Incidentally, since Doug's post reminded me... How long do people find it takes to get a response from Ministomp? I've not heard anything back after two days of asking for quotes on prices.

11527pts Total (7400pts painted)

4980pts Total (4980pts painted)

3730 Total (210pts painted) 
   
Made in us
Ambitious Acothyst With Agonizer




Boston, MA

How "your dudes" can you make ME:SBG? I am interested in the game, but I find named characters really unsatisfying to play with - rubs me the wrong way. Is it easy to make "generic" leaders/wizards/whatever, or are you pretty locked into book characters?

Kabal of the Slit Throat ~2000pts
Elect of the Plaguefather 4500pts

 
   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut






You want Battle Companies. Which is essentailly your warband that levels up, gains unique abilities, equipment etc.
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





Also, another option is to play the full game using "Captains" which every army has access too. There's almost always cheap, generic heroes available.

They won't always be great choices, but they do exist, and functionally leave you a ton more points to take as bodies.

11527pts Total (7400pts painted)

4980pts Total (4980pts painted)

3730 Total (210pts painted) 
   
Made in gb
Ghost of Greed and Contempt






Engaged in Villainy

I can strongly recommend Battle Companies - spent all day playing today and it's great fun.

"He was already dead when I killed him!"

Visit my Necromunda P&M blog, here: https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/747076.page#9753656 
   
Made in nl
Regular Dakkanaut






 judgedoug wrote:
 Paintalist wrote:
NewTruthNeomaxim wrote:
I love seeing this thread, and an engaged community.

The raw, uncontrollable hype of the game returning, and local players asking me to run the game again got me to pull the trigger on an uncomfortably expensive Iron Hills Dwarf army from Forge World.

While I am waiting for it to arrive, I'm FINALLY going to sit down a paint a box of Minis Tirith Knights i've been sitting on forever, alongside the White Tower mounted Boromir!


I really got hit by the hype train. I have bought 20 Uruk Hai & 1 shaman. The next step is to remove the paint off my 14 years old Uruk-hai Captain, 4 Berzerkers, and Lurtz. This will be the first force I'll paint and then buy the new starter set. Manly to have to playable forces to grab a friend and play. It is really hard to promote LotR in a pure 40k community :(


Psst you _need_ Uruk Scouts and Mauhur. Just sayin'. Time to fire up an order with GW.


The benefits for taking Mauhur and Uruk scouts are really great, but just for the cinematic purpose I like to see scouts lead by Lurtz (even if it is not competitive)

   
Made in nl
Regular Dakkanaut






Some new goodies are coming along the box set.
[Thumb - b1d0af6abbf0b9a3bb72b1cfda375387_51394.png]


   
Made in gb
Kabalite Conscript





Scotland

I'm so hyped for this, I spent so much time playing this game back when I first got into the hobby. Who remembers the Battle Games in Middle Earth magazine?
Do we have any idea how much the new boxes are gonna cost? Particularly the Pelennor Fields one?
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





Pelennor Fields is $160 US... so whatever your Soul Wars, 8th Ed 40k two-player box, etc... cost.

Doug mathed it out, and it may literally be the best deal GW has ever offered. Its something like $360 worth of stuff, for something discounters will be selling for $130-ish.

11527pts Total (7400pts painted)

4980pts Total (4980pts painted)

3730 Total (210pts painted) 
   
Made in us
Haughty Harad Serpent Rider





Richmond, VA

NewTruthNeomaxim wrote:
Pelennor Fields is $160 US... so whatever your Soul Wars, 8th Ed 40k two-player box, etc... cost.

Doug mathed it out, and it may literally be the best deal GW has ever offered. Its something like $360 worth of stuff, for something discounters will be selling for $130-ish.


MSRP was leaked in GW email at $150, so it's an even better deal.

"...and special thanks to Judgedoug!" - Alessio Cavatore "Now you've gone too far Doug! ... Too far... " - Rick Priestley "I've decided that I'd rather not have you as a member of TMP." - Editor, The Miniatures Page "I'd rather put my testicles through a mangle than spend any time gaming with you." - Richard, TooFatLardies "We need a Doug Craig in every store." - Warlord Games "Thank you for being here, Judge Doug!" - Adam Troke 
   
Made in gb
Kabalite Conscript





Scotland

 judgedoug wrote:
NewTruthNeomaxim wrote:
Pelennor Fields is $160 US... so whatever your Soul Wars, 8th Ed 40k two-player box, etc... cost.

Doug mathed it out, and it may literally be the best deal GW has ever offered. Its something like $360 worth of stuff, for something discounters will be selling for $130-ish.


MSRP was leaked in GW email at $150, so it's an even better deal.


Oh man, as if I wasn't sold already!
   
Made in gb
Ghost of Greed and Contempt






Engaged in Villainy

That is a maniacally good deal... I've got more than enough Rohan and Mordor stuff, yet I'm still so tempted to buy it anyway. Oh, my poor poor bank account!

"He was already dead when I killed him!"

Visit my Necromunda P&M blog, here: https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/747076.page#9753656 
   
Made in gb
Kabalite Conscript





Scotland

I really regret selling all my LOTR minis back in something like 2006/7.. but I had fallen out with the hobby at that point. I must have had just about everything the evil side had released
   
Made in gb
Ghost of Greed and Contempt






Engaged in Villainy

I know that feeling - I sold off a bunch of Easterling and Harad stuff - really regret that now!

"He was already dead when I killed him!"

Visit my Necromunda P&M blog, here: https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/747076.page#9753656 
   
Made in gb
Kabalite Conscript





Scotland

 Dark Apostle 666 wrote:
I know that feeling - I sold off a bunch of Easterling and Harad stuff - really regret that now!


There's only one option.. Rebuild!
   
Made in gb
Ghost of Greed and Contempt






Engaged in Villainy

Way ahead of you on that one!
Luckily, I kept the Mumakil and a few other bits and pieces, so I didn't need to do much more than pick up a few basic troop boxes to rebuild. Incidentally, I have to say that the cavalry (Cataphracts and Harad Raiders) are really, really nice kits - leagues ahead of the outdated ROR or KOMT kits in terms of options and sculpting - I'm almost tempted to do a full Fallen Kingdoms cavalry army (with a Mumak), just for fun...

"He was already dead when I killed him!"

Visit my Necromunda P&M blog, here: https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/747076.page#9753656 
   
Made in gb
Dakka Veteran




Lincoln, UK

 eohall wrote:
How "your dudes" can you make ME:SBG? I am interested in the game, but I find named characters really unsatisfying to play with - rubs me the wrong way. Is it easy to make "generic" leaders/wizards/whatever, or are you pretty locked into book characters?


Just give the characters a new name and backstory, and convert some models. Make sure everyone is clear what the model represents.

My dwarf characters are the royal brothers Kveldulf and Kvitebjørn, a dwarf warden team converted into a hammer-wielder and an axe-and-shield fighter. They just coincidentally happen to have the stats of certain named characters ;-) Their sister Seiðari the loremistress is a Hasslefree sculpt.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/08/05 13:11:19


 
   
 
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