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Battle of Pellenor Fields Boxed Set previewed at Gencon
Lord of The Rings Strategy Battle Game Returns!
- Thread starter TristramEvans
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_Strategy_Battle_Game
Initially released in 2001 in concert with the first film, it's one of GW's most popular and critically acclaimed systems. The minis are normal 25mm scale, but the game was discontinued a few years ago with most of the old line rare and going for high secondary market prices, and still in metal. The reboot, renamed Middle-Earth Strategy Game will also include the Hobbit and Silmarillion, probably also the Netflix LOTR series with Christopher Tolkien not restricting the license anymore. It's a great wargame, and the chance to get updated sculpts in plastic is nice for us fans.
Personally? Or are you talking about the starter set pictured above?
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Are you looking at it on your phone? The minis include in the starter box are the Army of the Dead, The Rohirrim, The Army of Mordor, and the Witch King on Fell Beast.
Chikahiro
SNK Neo•Geo fanboy
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I've looked at it from my phone and my work computer. Its all small. I'm also in denial about needing bifocals right now since that'll set me back a fair sum of money 
That said, I can't remember the movie much, its been 20+ years since I read the book, I've never really seen this game before now, and when I have its always been up-close pictures of individual minis. I've got virtually no frame of reference, and I know its an expansive setting!
That said, I can't remember the movie much, its been 20+ years since I read the book, I've never really seen this game before now, and when I have its always been up-close pictures of individual minis. I've got virtually no frame of reference, and I know its an expansive setting!
Atelerix
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20 Army of the Dead
12 Riders of Rohan
12 Warriors of Rohan
Theoden - foot and mounted
Nazgul on fellbeast - can be built as the Witch King
Mordor troll
36 Morannon orcs
So very much the movie version of the battle. The Haradrim plastics are getting a reboxing, and Gondor and Dol Amroth are getting some new resin sculpts. Models are 28mm, smaller than figures for GW's other games.
The Theooden models are the only new ones, but most of the rest are good. The Rohan models are the oldest, and small compared to the others. For £90 it's a bargain.
You get the rulebook and stats for the battle included. The Armies book (covering every army in the game) is not included.
12 Riders of Rohan
12 Warriors of Rohan
Theoden - foot and mounted
Nazgul on fellbeast - can be built as the Witch King
Mordor troll
36 Morannon orcs
So very much the movie version of the battle. The Haradrim plastics are getting a reboxing, and Gondor and Dol Amroth are getting some new resin sculpts. Models are 28mm, smaller than figures for GW's other games.
The Theooden models are the only new ones, but most of the rest are good. The Rohan models are the oldest, and small compared to the others. For £90 it's a bargain.
You get the rulebook and stats for the battle included. The Armies book (covering every army in the game) is not included.
Atelerix
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The game was never discontinued Tristram. It went online-only a couple if years back, atter the failure of the Hobbit update to the game, but there has been a steady stream of Forgeworld models for the Battle of Five Armies since then.
If they have bagged the rights to the Silmarillion, I'll be in heaven...
If they have bagged the rights to the Silmarillion, I'll be in heaven...
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Can you measure before moving?
Do you need to maintain a certain distance between minis for command and morale effects to work?
Can you measure from your minis to the enemies for range calculation before your turn ends?
How does line of sight work?
My limited experience says those are things that often frustrate newbies.
Do you need to maintain a certain distance between minis for command and morale effects to work?
Can you measure from your minis to the enemies for range calculation before your turn ends?
How does line of sight work?
My limited experience says those are things that often frustrate newbies.
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yes
yes
yes
model's eye view, measured base to base. If the model is obscured at all they can claim a cover save.
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The best way to describe LOTR would be a cleaned-up Skirmish version of the classic Warhammer system. There's a good overview on 1d4chan: https://1d4chan.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_Strategy_Battle_Game
It does have a few twists, specifically in the presence of "Heroic Stats" (Might, Will, and Fate) that let the major characters affect die rolls.
A big shift is that the major character's abilities tend to be buffs for units, and most of the strategy in the game comes from this. So you have heroes and retinues, and finding synergy with these is the key to the game. It tends to focus on much smaller encounters and narrative scenarios, contrary to the direction Fantasy was headed at the time.
It does have a few twists, specifically in the presence of "Heroic Stats" (Might, Will, and Fate) that let the major characters affect die rolls.
A big shift is that the major character's abilities tend to be buffs for units, and most of the strategy in the game comes from this. So you have heroes and retinues, and finding synergy with these is the key to the game. It tends to focus on much smaller encounters and narrative scenarios, contrary to the direction Fantasy was headed at the time.
