/mesbg/ Middle-earth Strategy Battle Games

How do we know that? I thought that new rulebook in summer is just an unconfirmed rumour for now

It comes from GW themselves. Its a profile re-balancing and a system re-branding. Rules aren't changing on a major scale.

Still, I also hope they will slim the ruleset down a little bit. As a newbie I find it pretty messy - like the 40k 7th edition rules

Sorry but it won't happen. Its regarded as their best ruleset by most gamers, and GW themselves acknowledge this in their interviews.

If you're struggling with it, I'd suggest asking an existingplayer to play a game with you. Most people pick the game up in a turn or two at most.

>Its regarded as their best ruleset by most gamers
Why is it so unsupported then? What's the point of keeping the game in half-dead state if people are finding it so good? Quite retarded even by GW standards

>Its regarded as their best ruleset by most gamers
no

isn't the point of them holding on to prevent any one else from picking up the ip?

>your model's stats literally being irrelevant 5 times out of 6 when determining if he gets to attack at all (!) is GW's best system
Do you enjoy Snakes and Ladders?

Where can you pick up ye olde/non-Peter Jackson/gw LOTR minis? I kinda want some oldschool ones just to have.

eBay, as a first port of call, I'd say. I'll warn you: I've seen quite a few of them on there, and they're not great.

>clearly never played the game

I'd expect to see the game picking up in the next few years. The tolkein license just got put on the market to actually DO THINGS with, meaning that GW finally has something they can do with the minis license other than hold onto it and pray someone makes another movie.

>Why is it so unsupported then?
Movie hype died out and everything that could be covered, had been covered. This was the cashcow back in the day, but people moved on without a steady stream of new releases.

nice refutation brah

Boromir with Faramir

:( sadface. I want to use some classic-looking Rohan as my Free Peoples in AoS but like, damn. The Rohirrim of lotrsbg are so tiny compared to normal citadel scale lol.

They still look nice though.

GW only bought the rights to represent what was in the movies, NOT the books. This limited what they could introduce into the game, to the point that as far as I can tell they've got everything covered. New releases are important to keeping a game going, and even worse moulds are wearing out so the supply of models is increasingly limited.

Not quite true, for example they did guys like the Necromancer and Radagast before they appeared in the films, and then there's all the OC stuff they've made

Long time Moria Goblin player looking to get back in now that there's a bit more interest going on in my group. Looks like there's a few more Goblin options available now; is there anything that's worth taking? Are the Hobbit Goblins compatible with the LotR Goblins?

What rules were these?

They're not the same army list, but only thing stopping you from mixing them in is having a hero lead their warband.

Is there any value in mixing them? Do Hobbit Goblins bring anything to the table that Moria Goblins don't already have?

Not particularly. Essentially just an army of naked spear goblins. The Scribe can call in reinforcements and the Goblin King is a monstrous profile, but the Moria army list would be more diverse etc.

Looking through these threads recently really makes me want to get into it. I got the hobbit and lotr starters and a moria command ages ago when a shop went out of business, I''m not sure what the current scene is like at the flgs though

>I''m not sure what the current scene is like at the flgs though
This is the main barrier to entry these days. You'd be surprised at just how many people have a few models tucked away, so it's always worth asking your local gaming group.
If you're in the UK, you should be able to find an active playgroup using the GBHL or IHL facebook groups.

so why did the hobbit as a miniature game fail to take off? personally i didn't like the design but i fel that there was something more to the failure of it

But is seems to be such a waste desu
>everything that could be covered, had been covered
What about terrain kits, game supplements, upgrade packs etc? There is no way to cover everything if you want to make money

I'm going to guess because the movies were a disapointment and nowhere near the pop culture sensation LOTR was, coupled with GW not putting much effort into milking the series since the initial LOTR SBG fad was long passed. Far fewer players buying far fewer things.

The models having to share the film's designs can't have helped from an aesthetic perspective though.

Movies failed. This not only meant the players didnt care as much, but the sculptors didn't have time to prepare anything so GW didn't support it as much.

Everything up until the barrel scene was released in plastic. This was when the first movie was meant to end. Everything after that was finecast as GW pulled most support. Yazneg was originally Azog. Keeper of the Dungeons was originally Bolg. Scenarios in the books were from the original drafts, not the finished movies. The CGI monsters in BotFA just didn't get a model at release because GW weren't given anything to work with.

Basically, the problems with the Hobbit movie had an adverse effect on the game.

it's pretty petty to me desu, i've always wondered if they relinquished who would take it up

finecast was a mistake from the start, and i had a inclination to the fact that he films failed to reel in as much of a audience as the LOTR

also on the topic of finecast, i think putting the gundabad orcs and elf soldiers into finecast was a serious failing on gw's part

Thats more how Rick Priestley convinced the suits to pick it up in the first place rather than anything else

Ill probably bug my mates to play some of the starter games with me while I paint and have a look around, while digging around in my boxes i also found 20 uruk-hai and two Sam Gamjis aswell

It was, but they had essentially pulled any meaningful support for the game by that point due to the lack of interest to the masses. By all accounts, it's only the independent scene that convinced them to stick with it, albeit as only a Specialist Game. What goes on behind closed doors could be anything mind you, but thats the reason they gave.

but surely it would still apply to why they keep it in the first place, don't forget that gw took the ip off of harlequin miniatures to capitalise on movie hype

Any interesting info from Thursdays stream?

>Some old models will be back for sale
>Even more additional Battle Companies content in white dwarf some guy asked about using spiders in battle companies so I think that Adam meant new companies
>New Nazguls release in january (pic related)
>New conversion kits like Gundabad Orc Upgrade Set
So nearly nothing new but hey - it's something I guess. The dead game just got a dedicated stream

Gonna start playing again and I've settled on Harad as a new army? I'm thinking of centering my force around the Betrayer. Is it worth getting the Warriors of Karna upgrade on my archers? Should I invest in raiders and what are some good mid level heroes to lead from the front?

Depends how you want to play Harad. If you plan to go wide, getting or making a bunch of Captains and loads of warriors is okay. Maybe grabbing a mumak as a reward for something to be a big centerpiece.

However, if you plan to go with the Betrayer, you want people who can make use of his ability more. Warriors of Karna are too close to Watchers of Karna for it to be worth not taking the creepy ghost hunters. Forget having bows on your Warriors. Get Watchers of Karna, and run some serpent guard to protect them. Footslog the betrayer, while either Suladan or a King leads 12 Raiders around being annoying little bitches with charges and horse archers.

As a finale, let me rave about Watchers of Karna. Poison arrows, bows, a 3+ to hit, and 2 Attacks, all for 1 point more than a Warrior of Karna with a bow. The extra point you pay gives you an extra attack, and is so useful. Also, the models are good, and easy to paint well.

So, any chance for Battle Companies or General’s Accessories Pack scans/pics?

I've just picked up an army for the SBG, hoping to play angmar.

currently got a pile of orcs (50+ plastics with 3 banners and some metal captains) and some warg riders and 4 cairn wraiths.

What should i be looking to get next?

Im tempted by Bhurdhur and some cave/hill trolls and maybe a shade, but 2 of the 3 named ringwraith are cool too.

any advice on where to go next?
or on how to equip my orcs? cant find discussion like that anywhere.

Considering nobody bothered scanning There and Back Again, I doubt it. Besides, this game is on it's last gasps, buy something if you don't want it to die.

The Dwimmerlaik and the Witchking are both very good choices for Angmar. Trolls with Might are always good so Buhrdur should be a good shout too. A shade is expensive but will be infuriating for your opponent to play against, so depending how cutthroat your scene is likely to be that could be good.
Banners are typically not worth it unless you have a high Fight value so I wouldn't bother with them to start with. Combined with the Shade you might see some use in them however.
For orcs I'd just use the ratio that come in the kit. You don't want to invest too heavily into orcish archery

Well, right now I found a french version of DoS
pl.scribd.com/document/315439810/Le-Hobbit-La-Desolation-de-Smaug

I want to play it but I dont want to spend my money on stuff I haven’t tried yet. The Hobbit is quite different from games I used to play/still playing so I want to give it a try and proxy needed stuff before spending money on new models and books. Also I want to talk some friends into wargaming so with scans it would be so much easier.
I want to run a Shire army so I will end up with alternative/3rd company models anyway to not play with clones

Check out this in that case

jonathanrbaker.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Battle-Companies-2016-1.pdf

Go on YouTube and watch some videos on it.

I was thinking about getting some Abrakhan Guards for choppy choppy. Watchers of Karna sound good but I don't really want to have that many metal models to deal with.

Abrakhan Guard are very good. Most of the Harad list is very points efficient so you can largely take what you want

Well a bunch of people at my lgs are now doing middle earth sbg. Fuck the naysayers. This game is being revived.

What armies are you running?

I'm doing mordor. I love Sauron too much.

GW always kills their best games, it's tradition

I would kill for them to start releasing some new start collecting sets for this game. they should do a some form of a small starter set (like thunder and blood and know no fear) that has a good starting ground to begin collecting armies.

I would start with one/maybe two that feature the main armies people would know; Mordor Vs Gondor and Rohan Vs Isenguard.

I'd do for the Mordor Gondor box something like 10 Gondorian soldiers, a hero like Boromir or Beregond, and maybe 5 rangers with bows Vs 20 Orcs, a generic orc captain and maybe something crazy like a troll.
For Rohan I would say something like 5 riders plus 10 warriors and a leader like Eomer on horse Vs 10 uruk hai, 5 warg riders, and a hero

I haven't played the game in long while so I have no idea about whether the armies are balanced but the idea is to get people into the game with an easy set from which they can expand. what do you think?

I've wanted that since the beginning, It's a shame the two player starter sets are just hero spam from the good side.

That was the original sets.

The first was admittedly very bad, $40 got you 24 goblins vs 16 elves and 8 numenoreans (bad theme, should have been mordor orcs) some terrain and the rule book.

The second and third sets were better. 20 Isenguard Uruk Hai vs 12 Rohan cavalry. 24 Mordor Orcs vs 24 Soldiers of Minas Tirith. All had some very basic terrain and the core rulebook and were great entry points.

Shame GW then started selling 1/4th the minis for 2x the price.

Post your dudes, pal

The movies failed, the designs (from the movies) weren't as good, most of the people who were hyped for lotr as kids grew up and moved on, new rules were a step back.

Is Desolation of Smaug rulebook useful? I've just found english scans so I can upload them if you need

Not particularly. It got replaced by There and Back Again

>some terrain and the rule book
I want small terrain kits so much. Like a watchtower for orcs or some kind of broken bridge

>It’s fair to say we were utterly blown away by the response. Over 100,000 of you from all around the globe completed the survey. We’re currently pouring over your answers, and later in January we’ll be able to share with you some of the key topics and maybe even a funny anecdote or two
I hope that some of you actually remembered to ask for more lotr/hobbit stuff

...

Not good

New bundle

That's stupid as fuck. I need to buy a bundle to get a hero that was recently sold as a separate product? Also the Ruins of Osgiliath kit is sold out online too but the multi-pack is on the store. I don't like it at all desu

Sucks if you had already picked up Thrain before the bundling, but making the Finecast Hobbit range cheaper for new players is what the system needs.

Ruins of Osgiliath kit not being sold anymore is annoying though. Its not particularly modular so you generally wouldnt want too many to begin with, though again, at least they've made it "cheaper" for newbies.

It can be annoying, yea. Warband of Mirkwood Elves used to cost £15.00 for 3, but now they're only sold in the 12 for £40.00 bundle. On one hand, a saving - that is good. On the other, I just needed a blister of 3 with bow.

Yeah, it's cheaper, but they should give us both options to choose. It's not like they are releasing a new start collecting box for 40k/AoS and get rid of separate kits

From what Adam Troke said on the stream last week, these kinda things have to do with boring Product Code and warehouse space issues. If they can pass on a saving to the consumer then happy days

Looking at getting back into this.

How do the new mirkwood units mix with the old rulebooks?

Ideally my list would be
>warband 1
Rumil
6 guard of the galadhrim court
>warband 2
Tauriel
12 mirkwood elves 4bow 4shield 4glaives
>warband 3
Legolas (the 90 point version if possible)
12 mirkwood elves 4bow 4shield 4glaives

anyone know where I could get good front and back pictures of models? looking to proxy 2 small warbands to play with until I can get some real models

it might be hard desu. You can get such pics if the model has a 360 view on the GW store but I know no other way. Maybe you should rather buy a sticky paper and print some round stickers like RPG tokens?

My other list based off the models ive got is.

>warband 1
Imrahil on horse with lance
8 KODA with horse and lance
>warband 2
Faramir with h. Armour and shield
10 guard of the fountain court with shield
>warband 3
Cirion
10 guard of the fountain court with shield
>warband 4
Beregond
10 citadel guard with bow and spear

Are these lists decent? They dont need to be competitive just somewhat viable or not shitty

I had all 3

Looks expensive points wise

How many points do I need to play a standard game?

Usually between 500-700, the list you posted is 800.

I'm not this user senpai. I just wanted to buy some armoured mirkwood stuff for skirmish games but on the other hand it would be wise to actually know how many models I will need for bigger games

okay that's probably a good idea, I can probably hunt down a printable sheet with the right size circles as bases and copy in some faces maybe

You can always just use ms paint and cut them out with scissors - that's what I've done when I wanted to proxy some AoS stuff before purchase. It worked well as ultra-budget proxying

How do I into High Elves?

So, I got myself
Elrond
Cirdan
Thranduil
Haldir
Rumil
Galadriel
Celeborn
A box of wood elves
A box of Galadhrim

I think I need some high elves and I'm good to go

Seems so. You’re definitely leaning most towards Lothlorien if you want to pick up another box of theirs

kek, underrated

So I read the new rulebook. Looks like only 1/3 of your force may be armed with bows.

But if I wanted to make a mounted patrol of Riders of Rohan, does this mean I'm out of luck since they all come with bows?

Certain forces have their own bow limit rules, either for theme or because of the contents of their kits. It’s usually found on the “title page” of that particular army list, although some are in the FAQs / erratas. I believe that Riders of Rohan are one of the errata’d ones.

How WYSIWYG this game is? Look at the Thranduil, king of Mirkwood model - he can be assembled only with an elven blade. Yet, you can pay 5 pts to equip him with an elf bow. Is it common in LotR/Hobbit?

Depends how autistic your playgroup is really. In general, american playgroups seem much more accepting of it, while here in the UK theres a sort of elitism around WYSIWYG and using the proper model, even if they are OOP.

Obviously that is a generalisation.

>here in the UK theres a sort of elitism around WYSIWYG and using the proper model, even if they are OOP.
Alright, but let's talk about Thranduil's case - I could not find any models of him with an elf bow. Would Brits exile me from their LGS if I tried to use this model but pay points for a bow?